Padmé angrily stared at the comlink in her hands. She could not believe that Vader had the gall to give her this comlink. Did he actually think she would sit and listen to the deaths of her friends and comrades? The Sith Lord was truly sick, twisted, and extremely morbid.
Unfortunately, Padmé had to admit that she suffered from her own morbid curiosity. As much as she kept on saying that she did not want to know what Vader was going to do to the rebels, there was a part of her that was curious about his actions.
Disgusted with her thoughts, Padmé threw the comlink across the room. It landed on the floor, near the sofa. Padmé briefly glanced at the discarded comlink before settling back against the pillows of the bed. She did not want to stay on the bed, but her dizzy spells required her to rest. To occupy her time, she contemplated what she would do once Vader returned from his grim mission.
Anakin left the bedroom and did a last minute check of his shuttle. He had stripped the shuttle's holds of all weaponry, so that he would appear as less of a threat to the rebels. The only weapon he planned on carrying was his lightsaber, but he had no plans to use it. It would stay secured to his belt during his entire meeting. Anakin also double-checked that his computer could transmit a cease-fire beacon, so that he could make it to Sullust in one piece without the rebels blowing apart his ship.
That risk was why Padmé was not allowed to accompany him on this mission. Anakin felt that his beacon would work, and he would be safe. However, he could not be one hundred percent sure of this, and he would not risk Padmé's life because of it.
Once Anakin was assured that his ship was ready, he went to the bridge to oversee operations.
"What is our status?" He asked his admiral.
"We are nearing Sullust now. We should be dropping out of hyperspace within the hour."
"Very good. Remember, I want the Executor to stay just outside of the system. I will be taking my shuttle to deal with the rebels myself." Anakin replied.
The admiral smiled at this comment. "It shall be done, my lord."
Anakin dismissed his admiral with a wave of his hand, and turned to stare out of one of the view ports. As stars streamed past the ship, Anakin slowly closed his eyes and fell into a light meditative trance, readying himself for the task ahead of him.
An hour later, the Executor had dropped out of hyperspace, and was just outside of Sullust. Anakin walked to his shuttle, and was flanked by a group of his officers that were seeing him off.
"What shall we do if you do not return my lord?" Asked the admiral.
"I will return. You will wait for orders until then." Anakin replied coolly.
"Yes, my lord, but what if…"
Anakin cut off the admiral, "I will return. I have foreseen it."
With this statement, the admiral fell silent and smiled. If the Sith Lord had foreseen success, then it must be true. Anakin maintained a cool composure, but he wished he had been as certain about his last statement as he had sounded. During his meditations, Anakin had tried to foresee the future, but he could not see anything. The future was cloudy, with multiple outcomes of Anakin's discussion with the rebels. He could not decipher anything definitive about what was to come. He was blind to the future, and would just have to wait and face it when it happened.
Anakin and his entourage made it to the shuttle, and Anakin dismissed the officers with a wave of his hand. "You have your orders."
In response, all the officers bowed to him and said, "It shall be done my lord." They then left the shuttle bay for their posts.
As his officers turned and left, Anakin walked into his shuttle, and sealed and secured the exit. He then went to the pilot's seat and began the process of firing up the engines. As his engines fired up, Anakin turned on his comlink, as he had promised Padmé. Then with everything prepared for his journey, he piloted the shuttle out of the Executor's hold, and set a course to rendezvous with the rebels.
Soon, Anakin approached a conglomeration of ships. Once the ships were in his sight, Anakin switched his cease-fire beacon on and silently hoped it would be heeded. Shortly after he had switched on the beacon, a voice called out over his ship's communications system.
"Shuttle, we have received your transmission. Maintain your current heading and speed. A Jedi starfighter will escort you to a designated landing area."
The comm. fell silent, and Anakin soon spotted a red Jedi starfighter fly in front of him. He then heard an accented voice call over the comm. "Follow me."
Periodically, the Jedi starfighter would circle around Anakin's shuttle, insuring that it stayed on its present course. However, this movement soon stopped as they approached a large rebel blockade-runner, Bail Organa's Tantive IV. The ship Vader had failed to capture was now the location for Anakin's redemption.
The Jedi starfighter quickly maneuvered behind Anakin's shuttle, and the accented voice spoke again. "Land in the shuttle bay, and wait for further instructions."
Anakin did as he was told and landed the ship as instructed. He then waited for some sign of what he should do next. Through the front view ports of his shuttle, Anakin could see a large team of rebel troops surrounding his ship, their blasters drawn. There was a lot of movement as more and more people surrounded his shuttle.
Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi quickly exited his Jedi starfighter after he landed it next to the Imperial shuttle. He then met up with Master Yoda who stood near the shuttle's exit. Senators Bail Organa and Mon Mothma stood behind the diminutive Jedi as curious apprehension permeated throughout the room.
"That appears to be Darth Vader's shuttle." Mon Mothma whispered to Bail.
"It can't be. He is not stupid enough to face all of us alone. Even if he took some of us out, he would never be able to escape."
"Don't underestimate the power of the Force. Vader is the master of the dark side, we need to be on our guard." Obi-Wan cut in.
"Agree with you, I do. Proceed with caution, we must." Master Yoda replied.
"Yes, master. What do you suggest?" Obi-Wan asked.
Yoda closed his eyes and briefly called upon the Force for clairvoyance on this question. After a moment he replied, "Discover what Vader wants, we must." Then he looked up at Obi-Wan as he stated, "Tell him to exit." He turned away and stared at the ship as Obi-Wan pulled out his comm. unit. Just before Obi-Wan turned it on, Yoda added one final comment, "May the Force be with us."