Authors: Co-written by rhonderoo and Jedi Trace
Setting: OT-era
Genre: Drama, AU for EU content, some angst
Summary: A Darth Vader / Mara Jade story set during the OT. Content: canon for the OT, AU for parts of the EU.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Lucasfilm, Ltd. No money is being made and no infringement is intended.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Feedback is always appreciated.
CHAPTER ONE
The galaxy's vastness closed in on the Imperial shuttle as it made the descent from hyperspace. Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith watched out the viewport as the ship made its way into the surrounding space lanes of Coruscant. Wearily he recounted in his head the events of the past 6 days, the young pilot who could very well be the death of him, floating somewhere near his subconscious. The Emperor would not be pleased that his new weapon had been destroyed. The Death Star had been blown from space by the Rebel Alliance, the Alliance that Vader was supposed to have stopped.
Vader thought of the presence he had felt in the X-wing, shining brightly from outside the cold vacuum of space. It wasn't often that Vader encountered force-sensitives who weren't employed by the Emperor....or soon to be dead at the end of his blade. How had someone with a force-signature that bright gotten around Emperor's periodic sweep of planets? Sweeps designed to root out the Jedi and bring them to extinction. There was more than just a feeling about this young pilot, his blood leapt. He would have to be very careful when de-briefing the Emperor, very careful indeed. One did not skirt the Emperor's wrath and come away unharmed.
The Emperor possessed something past the dark despair that kept Darth Vader chained to the dark side. Caring of his situation had long since departed. His lot had been cast, his choices made long ago. Born in rage and forged in fire, he no longer had any living thing for which he should exist, and that made him especially dangerous. It did not, however, make him as dangerous as his Master. His Master who worshipped the dark out of something Vader did not care to consider, who worshipped the dark for something besides the despair and hopelessness that had been his companion for the last twenty years. Something purely evil fired his Master's will.
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Emperor Palpatine's receiving chamber was a cold place, sterile and dark. Black floors and walls housed a long platform in front of a raised dais. The room was empty, save for a revolving throne atop a short staircase. A wall of transparisteel glowed with ambient light and silhouetted the two figures centered on the dais.
Mara Jade, Emperor's Hand, stood to the left of Palpatine's throne. Barely more than a teenager, her stoic posture reflected years of training and discipline. She watched expressionlessly as Darth Vader ascended the staircase and knelt before the throne.
The Emperor spoke abruptly, "Rise." Allowing his anger to permeate the room, he continued slowly, "I have received some disturbing reports of the destruction of the Death Star, Lord Vader. Are they true?"
Vader stood and answered without hesitation, "They are true, my Master."
"How did this happen?"
An image of the victorious x-wing flashed into Vader's mind, but it vanished before the Emperor could grasp it. He responded as planned, "The Rebels were able to use the technical readouts of the Death Star to find a fatal weakness." He did not mention that he had been against the Emperor's idea to allow the plans to be leaked to the Rebellion in the first place. He snapped his mental shields down, cursing himself for his moment of weakness. He knew better.
The Emperor glared at the Dark Lord, narrowing his eyes in a withering stare that would've brought a lesser man to his knees. Vader did not flinch. The Emperor rose to his feet and spoke curtly to the silent figure beside him, "Leave us."
The young woman gave a cursory nod and descended the stairs gracefully, ignoring the towering shape of Darth Vader as she passed. Stepping into the corridor, she heard the Emperor's grating voice as the door slid shut behind her, "You have failed me, Lord Vader..."
She had walked barely ten steps when Mara was staggered by an explosion of agony that bent her in half like blow to the stomach. Breaking over her in a cold sweat, waves of nausea propelled her to the nearest refresher. Clinging to the cold, sterile basin, she vomited.
The pain stopped as abruptly as it had started and left her gasping on the floor. Reaching out with her senses to the Emperor's chamber, she slammed into a Force-generated duracrete wall. Her master was a proud man and she would not be privy to the horrors that continued behind closed doors. Emerging from the refresher, she managed not to stumble down the corridor.
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Sitting in her master's chamber the next morning, Mara wondered for the thousandth time how such a catastrophe could have happened. It was inconceivable that Emperor's ultimate weapon had been destroyed by a rag-tag band of guerillas, especially when her master was in charge of the operation. It was not like him to fail.
Across the room, Darth Vader was re-wiring a portion of the circuitry board from his chest plate. She would have offered to help, but he always seemed content when he was fixing something. She had done it before, years ago when the Emperor's wrath had left him unconscious and barely able to breathe. Fortunately, she'd found him before his brain tissue had begun to swell from the hypoxic encephalopathy that would have happened in a matter of minutes.
She did not have to speak the foremost thought in her mind. He spoke it first, "You are wondering what happened." It was not a question. And, although he was still blocking his emotions, she could tell from the tension in his voice that he remained in a great deal of pain.
"Yes, Master," she answered quietly.
He took a ragged breath. "The Death Star was destroyed by a single Rebel pilot." Ignoring her shock of disbelief in the Force, he continued, "He is very strong in the Force." He paused for another breath. "As you know, the Emperor is leaving tomorrow and will be gone for the next ten days." Another pause as he turned to face her directly, "I want you to find out the identity of the pilot who destroyed the Death Star. Be back before the Emperor returns." He turned back to his workstation. "You may go."
Mara bowed at the waist and silently left the chamber.
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Mara returned to her quarters to plan for her upcoming mission. She had decided that infiltration would be the fastest way to obtain information about the mysterious Rebel pilot. Thanks to the Emperor, she had an almost unlimited database at her disposal. She also had access to delicate information gathered by the Imperial spy network, for which she was occasionally an agent herself.
She felt no qualms about using the Palpatine's vast information sources to carry out her secret mission. He was little more than an employer to her, even if he did provide her comfortable surroundings. The Emperor may have supervised her extensive training in combat and covert operations and even taught her a few rudimentary Force skills, but it was Vader who had recognized her full potential. Sitting back from the computer as it gathered data, she remembered...
It had been somewhere around the beginning of her twelfth year. She did not celebrate Life Days, but she had an approximate idea of her age. She had been training in an elite Imperial facility, attempting to use the Force to enhance her speed through a particularly difficult obstacle course.
She was alone, or so she thought, and so preoccupied with her efforts that she did not notice the hulking form of Lord Vader until she stumbled out of the last obstacle and crashed into him. Falling back to the floor, she looked up, holding her breath and waiting for the reprimand that she was certain to receive.
It didn't come. Instead, Vader held out his hand and helped her to her feet. When he spoke, it was without reproach, "The Force is with you, young one; but you are working against it."
Mara brushed a strand of hair away from her face and huffed, "I'm trying."
Vader's voice softened, "Try again. But this time, concentrate on the moment. Feel. Don't think. Use your instincts."
Mara nodded. Following his instruction, she was able to almost double her time through the course after only a couple of runs. He did not stay long and when he left, she felt strangely disappointed.
After that day, she had looked forward to any chance of being in close proximity to him, secretly wanting the chance to learn from him. Even though he was somewhat detached, he was a good teacher and generally patient in spite of her bouts of teenage belligerence. She'd heard rumors about his temper but eventually followed her instincts and found that she need not fear him. He was indeed formidable, and even a bit stern, but he consistently treated her with respect...almost chivalrous.
The Emperor, however, had no such scruples. He had struck her many times in anger and she'd learned early on that failure or, even worse, disobedience was met with painful consequences. She had made that particular mistake only once, and was left bleeding and discarded on the floor. She vaguely remembered the swirl of a black cape around her as she lost consciousness.
She had awakened in an unfamiliar room and sat up nervously on what appeared to be a makeshift bed. Venturing into a short corridor, she found Vader standing with his back to her in the next room, hands behind his back, looking out at the stars through the viewport. They were in his private chambers.
Her head was pounding and she reached up expecting to feel a gash or a bloody bandage. Instead, she felt only a thin, swollen line across her forehead.
Vader's voice startled her, "It should heal quickly, there will be no scar."
He turned slightly while replacing the black glove on his pale left hand. The room was silent except for his breathing as she struggled to absorb what had just happened. Still fingering the wound on her forehead, she wondered aloud, "You did this?"
It could have been the pain talking or maybe it was the head injury, but she was suddenly and irrationally angry. Voice dripping with sarcasm, she sneered, "You did this. I thought only Jedi could heal."
White-hot anger shocked her back against the wall and she wondered if would actually hurt her. He did not move. She faced him, breathless, as cold moisture formed on her palms. Stretching out tentatively with the Force, her fear dissolved as realization slowly dawned. "You were a Jedi," she whispered.
The room turned as cold as his voice, "I was young and weak. You will not speak of it again." He turned his back to her, "Leave now."
Mara turned to go, but wavered in the doorway. Taking a deep breath, she blurted out, "May I call you 'Master'?" He was silent and she continued quickly before she could lose her nerve, "The Emperor only teaches me what is useful to him. And I want to learn to use the Force...all of it." She stopped before speaking what was truly in her 13 year-old heart, And you are the closest thing to a father I've ever had.
Vader turned slowly and closed the distance between them. For the first time, she saw his eyes behind the mask as they bore into hers. He had blue eyes, and she wondered if anyone had seen them since his accident. Could he read her thoughts? Surely it was her imagination that led her to believe that his voice seemed almost gentle when he answered, "I will train you, but the Emperor must never know." She nodded. "Go home. You will need rest."
...A signal from the console snapped Mara's attention back to the present. Time was of essence and she had preparations to make.
