Star Wars Infinities: The Master
Chapter 24
By: Christopher W. Blaine
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DISCLAIMER: All of the characters and situations contained in this story are ©2004 by LucasFilm Ltd. They are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. This original story is ©2004 by Christopher W. Blaine.
Fresca knocked on the door to Luke's private chamber attached to their suite and waited until he beckoned her to enter. He stood in the center of the room, stripped to the waste and bathed in sweat. He was indeed a handsome man to behold and it was hard not to be attracted to him. But she knew that he could never love her, not the way she wanted to be loved. Some people would probably find it laughable that members of the Imperial hierarchy were concerned about such things; the common thought was that all that they coveted was power.
For many it was true, even for Fresca. She did want power, she did want to be important and she had naively believed that the path to happiness had lay with Luke Skywalker. The only thing he could offer her was a warm bed with cold feelings.
She concentrated hard to keep her true thoughts hidden. "We have received a direct command from Lord Ravage himself. We are to return to Imperial Center with all possible speed. To quote His Majesty directly, 'tell that damned fool apprentice of mine that my patience is at an end'."
Luke nodded. "I was hoping that Kyp Durron would return to rescue Corran and Leia, but it doesn't look favorable," he acknowledged as he walked over to a small bench and picked up a towel. Though they had been ordered several times to return home, Luke had countermanded the orders by using the excuse that he knew Kyp Durron would eventually show himself. He kept the torture of his sister constant so that she sent waves of pain through the Force, but it was clear that whatever it was that the young Jedi Knight was involved in was more important than his friends.
That concerned Luke slightly. "I suppose that Warlord Thrawn threw his two credits in as well?"
She handed over the flimsy that contained a well-thought out and terse message from the supreme commander of the Imperial forces. There would be political hell to pay when he got back to Imperial Center, but it would be worth it when he presented Corran Horn to his master.
The flotilla was sitting on the very edge of the system, far enough away from the CSA relief forces that there was little chance of any interaction. Damages to the CSA military had already been paid for by Warlord Thrawn, who then ordered that Luke's castle on Imperial Center be seized as collateral on the "loan" the Chiss officer had made to him.
"You are playing a dangerous game, my love," she said, the words nearly choking her. She had to keep up the act, however, as she needed him to believe she was still loyal to him for her plan to work. "We must leave."
"Very well, order the fleet to jump to hyperspace in one hour," he said as he dropped the towel and grabbed her. He reached around and grabbed her buttocks, using the Force to enhance his strength. She gave a squeal and tears from in her eyes and she knew without looking that there would be a horrible bruise. "And I want you to do something very important for me," he said, kissing her. She returned it behind a tear-soaked smile.
"What…whatever you desire, my love," she said as he finally let her go.
"Go execute my sister. She will not turn and I tire of playing with her. She was broken days ago when Corran turned."
Fresca's heart leapt in her chest and Luke seemed to sense it. "Come now, little Fresca, just because I enjoyed my time with my sister doesn't mean you should be jealous," he laughed. She realized what a slip she had just made, but was thankful he was too full of himself to realize what she was happy about.
Again and again she had to fight to keep out of her mind the scenes of depravity she had witnessed as Luke Skywalker violated his sister in every imaginable way. There were simply lines that you did not cross, even in torture; better to just kill the poor bugger than to do the things he had done. Especially when dealing with a blood relative!
She had hoped that would have been his attitude; he did get bored with things very quickly, which is what fueled his sadistic side. In fact, he seemed to almost like to torture himself at times, especially when one thought about the potential pain he would feel for not quickly responding to the Emperor's recall order. Was it possible that he hated life so much that he wanted to die?
It didn't matter right now, or really ever. If she had her way she would be, very shortly, on her was to the New Republic as a defector, bringing along one of their prized Jedi apprentices. Luke was assuming that Fresca wanted to kill a potential romantic rival, as sickening as the thought was. "It will be as you order," she said with a small bow.
"Any other news I should be concerned about?" he asked as they left the room and entered the living area of the suite.
"It is expected that Corellian independence will be announced later today; final withdrawal of our forces from the area is taking place under orders of Warlord Thrawn," she said, looking down at her datapad. "He is expected to be at the festivities under heavy guard."
"So the Mon Calamari operation was a success?" Luke asked. "He really destroyed the Death Star?"
"Yes, but at the cost of planet and its shipyards. Our scientists calculated incorrectly the resultant damage from the explosion of the battle station's main reactor. Efforts have begun to try and clean it up, but there is very little hope in salvaging the world," she commented.
"I bet that put a wrinkle in Thrawn's brow. His perfect little plan had a loose thread and someone pulled it," Luke laughed as he removed his clothing and walked to the refresher. Fresca followed behind, dutifully reading off from the intelligence report while at the same time arranging for her private shuttle to be prepped for launch.
"Indeed; he has ordered the execution of Bevil Lemelisk, the scientist responsible for most of the practical design of the Death Star. It was carried out yesterday," she said with no passion. Lemelisk had been a pig and deserved to die. "Rumor is that he's paying for the work on Mon Calamari himself."
"Idiot," Luke snorted.
"There have also been several more murders on Imperial Center, all attributed to the Killer of Coruscant," she told him and watched as he hung his head down low. She knew that investigating a murder was something he considered beneath him, but she was also of the mind that he considered all but the throne of the Empire below his notice. "The Emperor has sent a personal message as well demanding that more attention be given to that matter."
"That will be another favor you can do for me," He said as he started the sonic shower. He then dismissed her with a wave, little realizing he would never see her again in such a capacity.
Leia walked slowly down the corridor; every step was pure pain and agony, but she did her best to hold herself up high. Though the medical facilities onboard a star destroyer were first-rate, she had not been given anything but rudimentary care since being transferred from Cloud City. Every day was a new torture where the only respite had been brief sleep followed by the bathing she received at the hands of whomever her brother decided to send.
Some of her captors were relatively kind and tried to comfort her. Others saw a chance to achieve some personal glory by humiliating a princess. She was forced to do things that would have destroyed the soul of lesser people, but Leia Organa was a Jedi and she would not be broken.
Her heart was heavy, weighted down with the truth of her existence, with the knowledge that she was the twin to the most evil and despicable man in the universe. What horrors would be unleashed upon the galaxy if Luke Skywalker ever achieved the throne of the Empire? That thought, along with the knowledge that she would have to stop him, kept her going.
She was saddened as well by the loss of Corran, the sweet young man who had only tried to be a good man to her. She should have let him down from the beginning, but she had not been able to. Every time she wanted to break it off, to just be friends, he would look at her with his sad eyes and her heart would melt. Now she saw the folly of her unspoken words and she wondered what sort of price the galaxy would pay for her cowardice?
Ahead of her was the shapely frame of Fresca, her brother's lover and right hand, walking as if she were hurt in the buttocks. Instead of anger towards the woman, Leia felt only pity and she drew strength upon that. The Jedi teachings that had seemed to drone on and on forever were finally making sense. No matter how bad her situation was Leia realized that the woman in front of her had it worse. At the very least, Leia expected to be executed if she could not figure a way out of her situation; but poor Fresca had to remain in Luke's company constantly. What a horrid fate.
With some effort, Leia threw out a tendril in the Force and latched onto Fresca, trying to determine what sort of woman it was that could love her brother. The level of mental barrier she encountered shocked her; Fresca was deliberately keeping her thoughts to herself and that got Leia wondering. Did she know something that she was afraid Leia would find out, or was she protecting herself from Luke's dark influence? No doubt he probed her mind as well, just as he had with Leia's.
Luke's control over the Force was frightening and Leia promised herself that as soon as she figured out a way to rescue herself, she would find Kyp and beg him to treat her like a serious student. She would apologize for setting him and Corran against each other and for leading him on as well. She understood now that the Jedi represented the first and final defense against true evil in the galaxy and that meant a serious commitment.
Suddenly her mind was filled with realization. All of the stories she had heard about the Jedi of the Old Republic and their rigid ways finally made sense. They needed to be disciplined in order to perform their functions. Their only flaw had been that they became so rigid they were unable to grow with the changing galaxy and so they had not seen the new threat the Sith had presented in the form of Palpatine.
A stormtrooper hit her in the back with the butt of his rifle and told her to keep walking. She accepted the prod without even a grunt, but instead focused on Fresca. She detected something was different about her.
They entered the hanger bay that held mostly shuttles and troops transports, Fresca leading the precession up to a pair of Lambda-class craft. The stormtroopers fanned out to surround them and Fresca turned to regard her prisoner. "Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, you have been found guilty of treason against the Empire for your actions as an agent for the New Republic, an unlawful body in open rebellion against the rightful rulers of the galaxy. How do you answer these charges?"
Leia brought her head up and stuck out a bruised chin. "Guilty."
"You have also been charged with being a member of the Jedi order, a crime punishable by immediate execution. How do you plead to this charge?" Leia answered again that she was guilty and silently awaited pronouncement of her sentence. She held no illusions, but had to admit to some confusion. Somehow she knew that not everything that was going on was as it was supposed to be.
Fresca drew her blaster and pointed it Leia. Without another word, she pulled the trigger and shot the former princess in the chest. Leia collapsed onto the deck. Fresca holstered the weapon and then looked to the stormtroopers. "Two of you drag her onto my shuttle; I'm to dump the body into space so the Jedi have no martyr." She then produced a flimsy and extended it to the stormtrooper officer in charge. "Take this to Lord Skywalker immediately."
Leia's eyes opened and she felt pain in her chest, but not as bad as she had thought. A bacta patch was sitting on her bare bosom and she looked about to see she was inside a shuttle cabin. A medical droid of the newer Two-One-Dee series, more humanoid than older models, was also tending to other wounds on her body as well.
Fresca stepped into the passenger area from the cockpit. She no longer wore her sidearm and there was a tired look to her eyes. "We just jumped to lightspeed. We are heading for the Corellian System and from there to Tatooine."
"Why?" Leia asked weakly.
"I wish to defect; I've seen the error of my ways," the younger woman admitted. "I offer my services to you, the Jedi and the New Republic, what's left of it."
Leia didn't understand and Fresca quickly filled her in on the Correllian defection and the defeat of the Death Star over Mon Calamari. "The universe is changing very quickly and it may not be for the better. I only know that after everything I have seen and done that following Luke Skywalker into the Abyss is not my idea of a fulfilling life and career."
"My brother…"
"Is probably ready to order the entire fleet after us, but he won't be able to. He's pushed both Lord Ravage and Warlord Thrawn to the brink. He has no choice but to return home and face his punishment for his actions, but he will be back." Fresca sat down in one of the empty seats and watched as the droid put stitches into a large cut on Leia's thigh. "You look very much like your mother," she commented.
Leia was surprised. "You know my mother?"
"My own was Darth Deceptra's aid for many years; I used to think your mother was the most beautiful woman in the galaxy, as did most of the Empire. They did not want to see the ugliness that was in her heart, a horridness that she has passed on to her son." Fresca turned away. "I wanted to stop him, keep him from doing what he did to you. It was wrong, but I was so weak, I couldn't do anything."
A single tear rolled down Leia's face. It was all she would allow for now. "We were both unprepared for him. He has spent a lifetime preparing himself to take absolute control of the galaxy, and a good portion of the last few years perfecting his torture skills. He's a madman on a mission to destroy everything that offends him. I never took the Sith seriously; I made the same mistake as the Jedi of old."
"And you will rectify that now?" Fresca asked.
Leia nodded and then probed her with the Force. There were no barriers now and she felt that the other woman was telling the truth. "As soon as I can find Kyp. We have to save Corran and Dash as well."
Fresca remembered the dark-haired Jedi Knight and recalled thinking how good-looking he had been. "Perhaps I can help you find him after you have recuperated?" Fresca asked.
"I think New Republic Intelligence will want to hide you some place for about a year," Leia chuckled.
"Afterwards, then?"
Leia took another look at her. "You want to meet the famous Kyp Durron, eh?" Then she looked down at her chest. "Good shot; didn't even scorch the better parts."
"If you had tried to move, you would be dead. As it is, you will need a few days in a bacta tank," Fresca told her as she stood up. "If you will excuse me, I'm going to change out of this uniform and wash the dye out of my hair. It's time I started being myself for once."
Luke kneeled on the small circular platform and several lights came to life around him. A holographic projection of the Emperor appeared before him. "What is thy bidding, my master?" he asked.
"I sense great anger coming from you my apprentice," Lord Ravage's image said in a ghostly voice. "You would do well to worry about my anger."
"I meant no offense to you or Warlord Thrawn, my master, but I was engaged in matters of the Sith," Luke replied, still looking at the floor. "I assumed, incorrectly, that you would want me to pursue that instead of attending some administrative duties on Imperial Center."
"Do not play games with me, apprentice," Lord Ravage snapped. "You pursue your own course of action and it has nothing to do with the Sith. You have been too consumed by personal matters to realize there is a great disturbance in the Force."
"I have felt nothing…"
"Silence! Fool, boy! Of course you have not; the power of the Dark Side is stretched far too thin, as I warned you!" The Emperor's eyes flared with apparent madness. "You must find out the source of this drain!"
"But the Jedi…
"I said silence!" Lord Ravage bellowed and Luke actually felt a cold hand grip his throat. The Dark Side may have been waning, but it was far from dead. "Take your new apprentice and go the world of Korriban…without your fleet…"
Luke's head popped up. "But master, without my fleet…"
"You will have to rely on your skills which is all you should need. You will travel under an assumed name and change your appearance. Whoever is behind this is powerful, powerful enough to silence the voices of the ancient Dark Lords." The image flickered slightly. "Have your fleet return to Imperial Center where it will be used guard the Imperial capital."
Luke's hands balled into fists; the idea of being sent anywhere without his command infuriated him, but he allowed the fires to die down. In a way, he welcomed the chance to slip out from under the radar of his master; it would allow him to also pursue his revenge against his sister and former lover, Fresca. That she betrayed him showed her courage, but he was not in the mood to show mercy to anyone. Both of them had to die.
"I will obey or die, my master," Luke finally said.
"That, young Skywalker, is the first intelligent thing you have said in this entire conversation."