"How long has it been?" Luke asked. "I don't like leaving her with Vader."
"Neither do I, Luke. I've lost count of the days and weeks since he took her. Myrrha's asking for her," Piett told him softly.
Luke looked at his companion. "Do you love her?"
Piett nodded. "These last three years have been very hard without her. I'm only just getting to know my daughter for the first time. Lord Vader would usually keep his prisoners near him, and he is most often aboard the Executor."
"So is there a chance we can rescue her?" Leia asked.
"Yes. I know a way, but we won't be able to take the Falcon. It's too recognisable."
"How can we trust you?" Han demanded.
"I would have turned you over by now if I was still working for Lord Vader. I can never go back, not now, anyway. Not after Vader finding out."
"Why?"
"My marriage is classed as an act of treason. No matter what I do, if I go back, I can endanger all our lives."
Luke winced. "I'm sorry if I brought you into this."
"It wasn't you. It was my own choice. I made that choice when I married Bethie. I just want her back."
Leia shrugged and looked at Han. "So what do you have planned?"
c d
Beth knew that she had been moved. Vader had used some sort of device to keep her from waking or using the Force. She opened her eyes and looked around the room. Knowing that the room was not one that was aboard the Executor, Beth tried to figure out where exactly she was. She saw a young redhead watching her. For some reason, the redhead reminded her of one of Padmé's later handmaidens.
"Handmaiden," she called, not knowing why she did so. The redhead frowned and then glared at her. "Tell me your name." Beth could sense that she was going to get no reply. "I can remember you. You were sent to assassinate Mace Windu, but you failed."
"Funny, I don't recall seeing you," the redhead snapped.
"I was hiding. What is your name? You remind me of Sabé."
"Who's Sabé?"
Beth fell silent, wanting to know where her brother was. Concentrating deeply, she reached out with the Force to find Vader's presence coming towards her room and with another strong presence.
Palpatine. Which means that I'm on Coruscant. Beth hastily drew herself away and closed off certain memories. This makes an escape a little trickier.
c d
The two stormtroopers flanked either side of Piett. He had found a way onto the Executor with Han and Luke, leaving Chewie and Leia aboard his wife's ship, the Freedom Flyer. He was just hoping for no run in with Vader. Now would not be a good time.
"This way." He took each turn with purpose, trying to get to the holding bay as quickly as possible. The plan he had devised took almost a week to carefully set up and create. They were almost there.
"Check all holding cells down this corridor," he told the two stormtroopers, who were, in fact, Han and Luke. Both were quick to obey. "I'll meet you back at the ship. I have to retrieve Beth's lightsaber."
c d
"You know I was wondering, why is this girl is so familiar?" Beth was looking at her brother as she asked the question, wondering if he could see the resemblance. Vader didn't reply to her question. He didn't know how to.
"I see you have meet my handmaiden, young apprentice," Palpatine seethed. "You are not a Jedi yet."
Beth shrugged. She knew better, but didn't want Palpatine to realise that. Palpatine glared at her and left the room with the handmaiden and Vader. Vader looked back at her before ducking out the door. The lights in the room were switched off and Beth was left in utter blackness.
c d
Piett knew the corridors of the Executor like the map of it was written across the back of his hand. His comm beeped and he reached for it. "Piett," he said, answering it.
"Sir, she's not aboard the Executor. At least not in this part of the ship. We checked all the holding cells like you said, but they're all empty."
"Say that again?" Piett asked in disbelief.
"She's not in this part of the ship. Are there any other holding cells?"
"No. Get back to the Flyer. I have a little detour to take before joining you." Piett knew in his heart that he was not going to see his wife for a while yet, and if Vader was going to be with her, he would also have her lightsaber, if it was indeed in Vader's hands.
Piett decided that three years to be parted from his wife was far too long. He should have retired when Beth had told him that she couldn't stay with him any longer. He understood now about her words that she had said to him. It was because of Vader, but he didn't know how Vader knew of Beth. He then realised why Beth had been scared of telling him of her past. She was the last of the Jedi. He had to find her.
And then, he thought he could glean the information he needed out of one of the men he could trust. He just had to find one of those men. Smiling to himself as one of those exact men rounded the corner and almost ran into him, Piett did in fact stop him.
"Captain, can you tell me where Lord Vader is holding the Jedi captive prisoner?"
"Certainly, Admiral. Lord Vader has taken her to Coruscant."
Piett paled. "How long ago?"
"At least a week."
"Thank you," Piett returned, silently swearing to himself that no matter what was going to happened to him, he would get his wife back, alive.
c d
Beth couldn't decide what she hated more. The silence or the darkness. It was Palpatine's way of making her as uncomfortable as possible, while trying to turn her to the Dark Side. She was stubborn, though. Any normal person would have gone insane with the amount of time she had spent in the darkness. But she was no normal person.
And she was not one who gave up so easily. Reaching out to the Force for comfort, she found that it wasn't there. She wanted to scream out and make some sort of noise. This was more uncomfortable to her than the darkness around her.
She wanted Myrrha in her arms. Her comfort would be in her arms if Myrrha where with her.
Her thoughts swirled around in her mind, always returning to one of the memories she hated the most – the day she had last talked to Firmus properly.
c d
"Firmus, I can't stay here any longer. I can't stay with you, any longer."
Pain filled his green-blue eyes. "But why, Angel? Why?"
"You know the danger I'm in, Firmus. You know the sacrifice I made when we got married. I have been lucky so far with Vader not knowing, but now, with this little one, I don't think it's safe anymore." I ran a hand across my swollen belly and did not look into his eyes. I couldn't bring myself to gaze into his eyes once more. "I'm hurting too, but I can't. I want my daughter to live, and if I stay here, she won't live with freedom. Vader will find out someday, and I don't want it to be over my daughter's dead body."
He turned away from me. "So this is final? We won't be seeing each other again?"
"I want to see you after the war, if the both of us survive," I said. "I didn't want to have to do this, but what other choice do I have? You want our daughter to live, don't you?"
Firmus didn't reply. I saw his shoulders slump with defeat, and still, there was no reply to my question. He never replied.
After a few minutes of dreaded silence, I asked softly, "Don't you?"
"Why do you have to leave, Bethia? Can't we work through this together?"
I sadly shook my head. "I wish I could stay, sweetheart. If I do, Vader will know, and he will take our daughter off us. He will raise her in dark ways and I don't want that to happen. And if he finds out, we will both lose our lives. Do you really want that to happen?"
He turned back to look at me. "No. I don't want that to happen." He sighed. "So when do you plan on leaving?"
"Within the next few hours."
"Before our little girl is born? Don't you think that's a bit tough? First, I won't get to see you every day for the rest of my life, and now, I won't even get to see my little girl?"
"I've put off doing this for too long as it is, Firmus. I've had this growing sense of unease ever since you told me you worked aboard the Executor. What else am I supposed to do?"
"Put aside our differences for starters," he exclaimed, his voice dripping with anger.
"I have put aside our differences. I know you work for the Empire, and I accepted that. Nevertheless, you mustn't forget who is responsible for the massacre of my family. I have no one left but you and our daughter. Both my brothers were killed under orders of the same monster that killed my father!" A silent tear made its way down my cheek, my voice remaining steady. I knew that I wasn't feeling as calm as I looked on the outside. I didn't know then how hard it would be to break up with someone you love.
He bit his lower lip and ran a hand along my jaw. "I'm sorry, Bethia. I don't know how hard this has been on you. You do promise to come back to me after the war?"
I nodded. "Yes. I will come back. My love for you will remain, no matter what happens." My eyes were drawn to his. My eyes filled with hot, salty tears, and I let them fall. I knew that this was no way of saying good-bye, but I had so little time left to spend with him.
"I love you, Angel," he whispered, wrapping both of his hands around my cheeks. His lips met mine and my hands went to his elbows. He gently parted my lips with his and I savoured his breath. He pulled away just as the life within me kicked out. I knew that that was the last time he would ever feel the child within me lash out with an arm or leg.
"I have to go," I whispered, turning to leave.
"Let me hear you say it one last time before you go."
I looked at him and whispered, "I love you, Firmus. With all of my heart." I turned and left, not once looking back at him.
c d
"She will not be turned easily, my master," Vader said. "She has a strong will to fight."
"How much training has the child had?" Palpatine asked.
"She is a Jedi Knight. Her defences are strong, but in time, she will learn that there is no escape from this path that has been laid at her feet."
"Only together can we turn her," Palpatine mused to himself. "You say that she comes very close to turning when in a fight?"
"Yes, my master."
"Maybe then, and only then, will she turn."
c d
Beth felt the Force around her again as she closed off the memory. The ysalamiri must have been taken away while she was thinking of Firmus. Or else there was some other reason blocking her use of the Force. She hated those ysalamiri creatures. Her master had taken her to Myrkr for some reason or another and they had several run-ins with the creatures and she hated them. They made her sick. Her master had told her that most Force sensitive would feel exactly the same way as she did.
Now, she was thankful that she had access to the Force once more and used it to bring herself comfort.
Images flashed in front of her eyes. She knew that they were images of the future, because one of them was of Luke and the handmaiden together. Luke was teaching the redhead to become a Jedi. And then, the next image she saw was of Myrrha as a teenager with a boy a few years younger than herself. A group of Jedi students stood behind them. Amongst the group were three young children, who did not look like Jedi students, yet.
Some how, Beth felt as though she knew the boy with Myrrha, but didn't know where from.
Hearing Piett's voice in close proximity, Beth tried to call out to him. She couldn't, no matter how hard she tried, but the room she was in became clearer, and she knew where she was. She was on the Freedom Flyer.
c d
Piett gathered Myrrha into his arms as he told Chewie to take off. The little girl held her father close to her as she asked where Beth was. Kissing her forehead lightly, Piett answered, "She's on Coruscant, sweetheart. We'll get her back, though."
Piett, already in the cockpit, sat in the chair behind Chewie and held Myrrha close to him. Myrrha put her arms around his neck and leaned her head on his shoulder.
Leia looked over to him. "How are we supposed to get her out now?"
"There are other ways to get on to Coruscant's surface," Han told her, coming into the cockpit after Piett. "But this might be a trap. I have a feeling that they want us to go to Coruscant."
"Mommy needs us, though," Myrrha said, hugging Piett closer to her.
"That's right. Bethia does need us." Piett slid his voice to a whisper as he continued, "I need her."
Luke came in to hear the tail end of what Piett said. He looked a little off colour.
Leia turned around to look at him. "Luke, are you alright?"
"Yeah," came Luke's reply. "I think so."
Piett frowned up at him. "What happened?"
"I think I can see Beth."
"What do you mean?" Leia asked as Piett did.
"I'm seeing black."
"That could mean any number of things, kid," Han said. "Beth's on Coruscant."
"I kind of figured that out for myself when Piett said that she wasn't aboard the Executor," Luke blinked and his left hand moved to his temple. "I hear Vader, but I can't see him."
"What about Beth? Can you see her?" Piett asked.
"No, but I hear her too. She's saying 'there is nothing you can do to stop this, Vader. They won't come and Luke will never turn'."
"Where is she?"
"Somewhere on Coruscant. Probably in the Imperial Palace."
c d
Beth couldn't see anything but she knew Vader was there in the room with her. The Flyer's corridors disappeared as Vader's respirator filled the room.
"What do you want?" she demanded.
"An apprentice, young Jedi," Vader replied in his menacing tone.
"I will not turn, and you will be forced to kill me."
"It is not you I want."
"There is nothing you can do to stop this, Vader. They won't come and Luke will never turn."
"We will see, little, lost, dark Jedi."
Beth couldn't stop her soft whispered reply. "That's what you think, Dark Jedi. I know your past. I know you lost your mother before you could save her." Resentment filled Beth as she said that. For some reason, she could still sense Luke.
He was calling out to her and she didn't reply. She didn't know how he was able to do that, especially over a long distance. Questions filled her mind. How long had it been since Palpatine had commanded her to be left in darkness? Where was the light?
She could almost see Vader's smile beneath his mask, gloating at her. She winced as his voice filled the air. "You are despairing, Dark Jedi, and I know that you will turn."
Her voice was quiet, not quite piercing the air like she hoped, "Go away, Vader."
"Go away?" he scoffed.
"Leave me alone!" she screamed.
"But you are alone."
Vader saying that really got on Beth's nerves. Drawing the Force around her, she lunged at where Vader's Force signature was. She could feel the lightsaber of the Dark Lord calling to her and she reached for it.
Vader grabbed her hands to stop her from advancing on him. He didn't see what she was reaching for, because he, too, was surrounded in darkness. He laughed and Beth hated it. She spat at his face. He didn't seem to care.
Vader was startled to find that the lightsaber at his side was missing. The red blade activated behind him and he realised the danger he was in. The light from the blade illuminated the room dimly and gave Beth a much-needed break from the darkness. Vader tried to take the blade off Beth's Force grip, but her hold on the cylinder was strong. He could not remove it from her and he cursed under his breath. "You should not mess with me, Vader," she smirked, drawing into herself as she did so. "That blade will not return to you until I am ready to return it to you, which will not be any time soon."
Somehow, she managed to free herself from Vader's grip and ducked under his swing. His lightsaber flew at her and she caught it neatly. Vader was backing away from her slowly.
Advancing on him step by little step, Beth hissed, "You have much to pay for, Dark Jedi."
"You are the one who has it wrong, little, dark Jedi," came Palpatine's cackling voice. "You are the one who has much to pay for. And you will pay for it with your life, if you will not turn." The Emperor stepped into the dim red glow of the saber in Beth's hands. Raising his hands, his face became a twisted form of evil as he released Force lightning upon Beth.
Beth was prepared for it and raised the blade in her hand into the path of the lightning, saying, "I don't think so, Palpatine."
Vader, having taken Beth's lightsaber from his belt as he had kept her blade there ever since taking it off her, stepped up to attack her with his full strength. Beth knew that this was a set up to get her to fight and she locked blades with her brother. Her eyes bored into his dark mask and Vader looked away from her, not liking what he saw written on his sister's face.
"How long will you be fooled into thinking that Anakin will come back?" Palpatine asked. "By now, you should realise that he can never be turned from the dark path, as will it be with you, when I have finished dealing with your rebel friends."
"I will not be turned, Palpatine. Kill me now and get it over with," snapped Beth, taking a few steps back. Vader came on her again and Beth let down her defences a little, earning a scar across her right knee. Vader hit her again with the blue blade – this time across the left shoulder.
Beth couldn't really care. She knew something about her blade that Vader didn't know, or at least figure out why it happened. All she would receive from her own blade would be surface deep grazes and cuts. Nothing more than that, but she knew if she received a lot more of them, she would fall at her brother's hand.
It was then when Palpatine unleashed his second assault on Bethia. Beth fell back against the torrent and released the lightsaber in her hand. She screamed out silently, wanting Palpatine to stop, but she couldn't find her voice.
c d
Piett was asleep, not quite between deep sleep and the waking world. He was dreaming of Beth as he first knew her and what he had seen of her since meeting his daughter. Not being strong in the Force himself, he knew that his bond with Beth was unusual between a Force-sensitive and one not being so strong.
His dream shifted to where he imagined his wife to be – in the Imperial Palace on Coruscant. He could almost feel her pain, and he wanted to share it with her.
His eyelids fluttered and then opened, wide with horror and pain. "Bethie!" he called out, now fully in the waking world. "Bethie!" He was panting hard, afraid of not seeing her ever again.
He couldn't keep his mind off her. Knowing that their bond was unusual, he could almost feel her close to him, and he could almost see where she was. He was sure of it. Palpatine had her in his palace.
He tried to get back to sleep but he couldn't. What was happening to Bethia was eating him up inside and he felt tormented.