Chapter 10 – Father and Son

"She knows the location of the Rebel base, but it may take some time to extract the information," Vader concluded his briefing to Tarkin. Though the Dark Lord respected the man, he did not enjoy having to appear to answer to him. It was simply a necessity at times to give Tarkin and the other Moffs the illusion of power and control to feed their egos and keep them happily serving the Emperor.

Tarkin's particular talents were exceedingly useful in controlling dissidents and directing military operations, which granted him a little more latitude. Still, his ambitions were quickly growing close to exceeding his value. Vader was here at the Emperor's command more to oversee Tarkin as he played with his new toy than he was to provide assistance. Any indication that Tarkin intended to use the Death Star in a bid to overthrow the Emperor and he would quickly learn who was in charge.

Tarkin frowned irritably at Lord Vader's last words. "I want the location of that base by the time this station is operational. Use whatever methods necessary."

Tarkin ended his reply abruptly to acknowledge a chime from the communicator station imbedded in his desk. "Yes, what is it?" he demanded.

"Starfighter of unknown classification approaching, sir. He is transmitting one the Emperor's personal codes," a voice replied.

Tarkin looked back up to Vader and watched for his reaction with interest. "It appears a colleague of yours is arriving."

Vader was taken somewhat off-guard and quickly reached out with the Force to verify the suspected identity of the guest. The feeling of resonating dark power he received in response provided the confirmation and stirred his own energies into a whirl of agitated excitement.

Tarkin noted Vader's curious pause and chose to carefully prod for more information. "Darth Arkus, I believe. The Emperor informed me he would be joining us just before you arrived. Some sort of training exercise for him."

"Have him land in my docking bay," Vader snapped, giving no indication of having heard Tarkin. "I will greet him myself."

"As you wish," Tarkin replied nonchalantly. "Just keep him out of my way."

**

Arkus casually surveyed the relatively small docking bay in which he had landed as he methodically completed the powerdown sequence for his starfighter. He had studied the schematics for the Death Star and had therefore known what to expect, but he was still impressed by its mammoth proportions. It seemed Tarkin had finally managed to build a structure large enough to compete with his overblown sense of importance.

The bay was nearly empty save for a Lamda class shuttle, which had likely served as Darth Vader's transportation from the Devastator. There was no one about in the bay, and no one posted at the surrounding duty stations. That was hardly surprising to Arkus given the private entrances that had been arranged for him in the past. He did, however, sense Darth Vader waiting for him in the pilot's ready room just off of the bay. Arkus sighed in exasperation. He was in no mood to deal with Vader.

Having intentionally dragged out the powerdown sequence, Arkus finally popped the egress hatch and climbed agilely down from the cockpit. His dark mood lightened somewhat as he reviewed the sleek and lethal looking lines of his fighter, his soul drinking in its black coldness and cool flow. It was basically a snub-nose design with the cockpit located well forward in the body to allow superior visual scanning. The unique wing assembly flowed out of the main body along the sides of the vehicle just aft of the cockpit and curved around above the fuselage to cover it in a continuous outer shell. At three points, to either side and at the top, the assembly swept gracefully forward past the cockpit as it tapered off to terminate in deadly accurate laser cannons. Resting now on the deck upon its landing gear, the ship gave the impression of a vicious bird of prey in focused search of its meal.

There was nothing in the Imperial fleet, not even his father's TIE Advanced prototype, that could match it. Arkus took great pride in that and even more satisfaction in the considerable freedom his ship's unique design gave him. He would never be restricted by the ridiculous landing sequence and launch racks the lesser pilots of the Empire had to endure. Arkus sneered in disgust as he considered his father's choice to continue to utilize that system for his own personal fighter, but then Vader spent very little time in his fighter these days. That Sith now seemed more content to stand on the bridge of a Star Destroyer and be ferried about by these shuttles like the useless bureaucrat he had become. That life was not for Arkus.

Giving his fighter another appreciative review, Arkus briefly considered performing a post-flight inspection to keep Vader waiting even longer. It was, after all, still a new ship undergoing final testing. But he then decided that it would be best to get the encounter over as quickly as possible. Taking only a moment to retrieve his travel case from the small cargo compartment, Arkus then headed directly for ready room.

Vader was there off to the side of the pilot's lockers, hands on his belt, seeming to assess him as he entered the room. Arkus cast him a coldly indifferent look and offered only a nod of acknowledgement by way of greeting. When no response was forthcoming, Arkus turned his attention to the lockers and opened one at random.

"I was not informed you would be joining me," Vader started, dismissing the boy's initial slight.

Arkus ignored the comment and proceeded to set down his travel case and peel off his flight suit as though Vader was not there.

Vader sighed mentally to himself in frustration. This was how conversations with the boy always started. He was running out patience for it, though. The Emperor had sent Arkus here for a reason, and he intended to find out what it was.

"It would be wise for you to show some respect," Vader warned to probe for a response.

"What would you have me do? Kneel before you?" Arkus scoffed in reply, but kept his gaze focused forward.

Vader suppressed the surge of boiling anger that would have instantly punished any other creature foolish enough to mock him so. It was the Emperor that had so carefully cultivated this disrespect toward him. Vader endured it only because it was necessary to maintain the delicate balance that allowed the three of them to co-exist. Vader wanted Arkus, needed Arkus, to be his ally, but for him to be so while Arkus was young and defenseless would have meant the boy's death. So Vader had been forced to allow the boy's existence and training to proceed according to the Emperor's designs.

But now Arkus was no longer a helpless child, and the increasing boldness he exhibited in his taunts required a lesson to be taught. Not a lesson of painful punishment, Vader knew instinctively, for that would only serve to drive the boy further away. This situation called for enlightenment and required a rational conversation. Vader cleared his mind of emotions and prepared for what could be the first step in opening his son's eyes to the true circumstances surrounding him. It was time the boy grew up.

"I have always treated you like an equal," Vader calmly pointed out.

"You treat Tarkin like an equal," Arkus sneered, rejecting Vader's peace offering.

"I allow Tarkin to feel as though we are comrades only to control him. You should learn to recognize such manipulations," Vader countered.

Arkus felt the sting of the insinuation in Vader's tone and spun around to confront him. "What do you mean?" he demanded, his eyes narrowing intensely.

"Only that the Emperor would initiate conflicts between us just to amuse himself."

Arkus paused at the implication of those words, more in surprise at Vader's open questioning of the Emperor's motives than to give the idea any real consideration. "You don't know what you're talking about," he retorted coldly.

"Don't I? Then why are you here?" Vader pressed.

Arkus bit back the initial, insulting response that sprang to his mind, hesitant to escalate this verbal sparring while his lightsaber was on the locker shelf and out of his immediate reach. However, he was also unwilling to capitulate to Vader's desire to pursue this line of misguided thought by offering a truthful response. So instead he used the answer provided by the Emperor and replied with an insolent smirk, "I'm here to observe the operations of this battle station."

"That is the excuse the Emperor gave Tarkin. Now, answer for yourself," Vader commanded forcefully, raising his voice to further provoke the boy.

This time Arkus was unable to restrain the rising defensive anger at Vader's jab. "I'm here because you bungled this simple operation!" he spat out, releasing his pent up frustrations from the last several days and bracing himself for the worst of Vader's temper. When there was no immediate response, Arkus began to wonder just what he had revealed in his momentary indulgence of his anger.

Vader was stunned by the forcefulness of the boy's outburst. He had surmised the gist of the Emperor's scheming here - to toy with Arkus by first dangling a much anticipated assignment in front of him, only to hand it over to himself, one the boy despised. He had also guessed that Arkus had been sent here to further aggravate the situation. But there was much more than that layered deep within the emotions behind Arkus' resentful response. The boy was taking this much more personally than could be justified by the obvious circumstances.

"Nothing has been bungled," Vader replied calmly, almost cautiously as he prodded for more insight. "The Death Star plans will be secured from Tatooine, and the Rebel princess has been captured for interrogation."

"And has your interrogation revealed anything?" Arkus asked bitterly.

"Not yet," Vader conceded. "But I've only begun the process with her. All beings break eventually," he said, but then completed the thought in his mind as understanding began to dawn, 'or crack from the strain.'

"You'll get nothing from her. You've already destroyed the best chance of finding that base," Arkus argued vehemently, trying to hide his discomfort with Vader's plans.

Vader was not fooled by Arkus' weak attempt to cover his reaction. It was the girl Arkus wanted. The Emperor knew it and was using her to enrage Arkus and worsen the relationship between father and son. This was a delicate situation indeed. Vader took a moment to consider his options before continuing with what he believed to be the best possible course.

"I suspect you may be correct on your first point," Vader began, pleased by the surprised reaction in Arkus' eyes. "But there are alternative means to extract information. Perhaps you should accompany me for the next session to better assess her, then we can decide together how best to proceed from there," he offered.

Arkus only nodded suspiciously in agreement.

Vader smiled to himself. Suspicious or not, he had managed to stun the boy into silence by giving him the closest thing possible to what he wanted. This was an excellent first step toward a new relationship between them. Vader knew that this was all that could be gained out of this exchange.

"Good. We will begin immediately after Tarkin's staff briefing," Vader concluded, noting the relief in the boy's emotions that this encounter was ending quickly. Now he would give his son something to consider until their next discussion. "In the mean time, I suggest you take some time to consider what circumstances brought you to this point, and who controlled them," Vader urged before leaving Arkus with his thoughts.

***

Arkus let himself collapse to the bench and buried his face in his hands after Vader left. He was exhausted from the arduous journey in his small fighter – a journey that had become pure hell when the sensations of the Princess's torture had assaulted him through the Force. Being forced to face Vader, her tormenter, so soon after that experience had tested his control to the breaking point. Now he realized that in his angered frustration he had somehow managed to give Vader exactly what he had wanted, though precisely what that had been was still unclear.

Vader had been baiting him, Arkus knew, provoking him with questions meant to reinforce his initial accusation against the Emperor's motives. That had really been nothing new. Vader had been trying for years to entice him away from the true master. However, there was one question he could not get out of his mind. What *was* he doing here? Such a simple question that had initiated a torrent of possible answers in the back of his mind and now called into question the rationale behind his every decision regarding this princess. What circumstances had brought him to this point, indeed?

But this was not something Arkus wished to explore at this time and certainly not on Vader's terms. He had an opportunity now, while Vader was busy with Tarkin, to attempt reasoning with the Princess one last time. He would take advantage of it.