Author's Note: Yeah. Sorry it took so long. My teachers all seem to be under the impression that they're the only class that gives homework. x.x I like this chapter, personally. Its a tiny bit filler, but it ends nicely - well, you get to tell me whether you think it does or not. :)
Er, there may be some complications regarding future updates. On the fifteenth, my broken house starts to get un-brokified, and I'm leaving for Maryland on the twenty-first to visit my mom and then there's a sizable chance that I'm going to move to... egh... Florida. xx Just warning you all.
Jedi X-man Serena Kenobi: Thanks:) Yeah, there'll be Han/Leia in it (I can't live without those two, hehe), but it won't be the main focus. We've only just touched the main focus now - I'm really glad you like the father/daughter relationship. I probably put the most thought into that, because I have to portray a Vader that is believable as a Sith Lord and a father at the same time.
dweem-angel: Thanks so much:DD
DarthGladiator45:LOL. Probably, if Han gets caught. xDD
Skywalker Child: Thank you. :) Seven of Nine... err, I'm not quite sure if I'm right about this, but is that Star Trek? I'm not a trekkie, but my mom is. :)
SoaringEagle: Aww, Leia can't watch Vader get killed:( Lol, butyeah, I like Obi-Wan, too - he's my favorite character in the prequel era, McGregor portrays him well, I think probably the best actor in Episodes I-III. And then Alec Guiness is, of course, awesome. You'll see a bit of him, and Luke will come in and stay in. :)
CHAPTER EIGHT: THE SPACE STATION
"Executor. This is Ambassador Leia Skywalker, requesting permission to land."
There was a bout of faint static, Then, a male's voice: "Princess?" it asked with a mixure of disbelief and wonder.
"Yes, this is the ambassador," Leia responded wearily, wishing that the man was a little more professional about it all. "Requesting permission to land," she reminded.
More static, some shuffling and indiscernable voices, then the man's voice broke clearly across the speaker again. "Permission granted, miss, please proceed to platform 27F. But, Princess..."
Leia had been about to shut off the speaker, but felt a twinge of annoyance as the man delayed her. "Yes?"
"If you are looking for the Lord Vader, he is not aboard the Executor."
"What d'you mean, 'he's not aboard the Executor'?"
"Why, Ambassador Princess, the Lord Vader was assigned by His Excellency to oversee Grand Moff Tarkin on the new space station."
Why didn't he tell me this in the first place?
"I can transmit coordinates, if you would like."
As opposed to me using my non-existant Force-honed abilities to sense my way to him? Leia thought sourly, although not voicing it aloud.
"Proceed," Leia said dismissively, picking up her new gun from the empty seat next to her and looking at it idly. It was a standard weapon, used for show by most members of the aristocracy, not as heavy as a DL-44 or blaster rifle, but effective nonetheless. After her first incident of being unarmed and naïve led to an almost-kidnapping, she had decided that she wouldn't walk around Ord Mantell like a vulnerable three year-old. Although she had met no more obstacles on the way, the gun made her feel much more safe and ready. A few towns away from where she had landed, she had rented a small, one to two man ship, and flew off to where she knew the Executor would be floating (there had been no more missions for that particular Star Destroyer for a few weeks).
A beep told her that the coordinates had been sent, and, after saying a brief work of thanks to the receptor, she cut off the transmission.
The new space station... she mulled over the man's words in her head. Surely the rumors couldn't be true? If they were, the Emporer -- or at least her father -- would have informed her...
She checked the coordinates, where the space station was supposed to be at this time. The Alderaan system... why were they at the Alderaan system? The Alderaan system had no weapons since the Clone Wars, last time she checked. Just a smattering of guards and police...
Sighing, she once again set the coordinates for the jump to hyperspace. She was growing to hate flying.
Like a rogue, dark star, it hung in the cold and empty void of space, in clear contrast with the beautiful blue-green orb just beyond it. At first, Leia took the station to be a moon; then she remembered that Alderaan had no moons.
It hit her with a resounding blow; space stations were not that big. It couldn't be a space station. But it was. That's what it was called. She explicitly heard 'space station'.
But, according to the rumors, it was the new indisputable weapon of the Empire. But they were only rumors - and as a rule of default, of both being a poitician and Darth Vader's daughter, she wasn't supposed to believe the various whisperings of the galaxy.
If it weren't a weapon, they sure did a good job of making it intimidating. Huge and round and gray and seemingly faultless, except for a round crater in the northern hemisphere of the station. (Were space stations even allowed to have northern hemispheres? Weren't they supposed to be small enough for it to simply be referred to as the 'top half'? As in the top half of a marble, not as in the top half of a planet?)
Leia relieved the pressure on her lip - she had been biting it in thought - and impatiently checked her watch before realizing that her wrist was still empty from her watch being destroyed. Ah, damn.
"Unidentified vehicle, please identify," stated a voice through the speaker. Leaning forward to reach, she pressed the button to start communications on her end.
"This is Ambassador Skywalker, requesting to land," she said dryly, automatically.
It was a wait until she heard a voice again. "Permission granted, you will be taken to Bay 1138."
Then she felt what must have been the pull of an exceptionally strong tractor beam. She sat back in her seat, watching with wonder her ship approaching the station. Getting closer, it didn't look like the perfect orb as it had before; there were various crevices and notches and ditches of complicated machinery and guns faulting its surface.
She was encompassed within the metallic rind seconds later, and was greeted by bright and blindingly white lights, so different from the dark coldness of space. Dotted throughout bay were men in the rigid dark uniforms of the officers and the white of the mindless stormtroopers. With the hisses and beeps of machinery, she heard the ramp in the tiny ship she had rented be lowered; trying to look as dignified as possible with dirty and frayed clothing and a messy bun, she strode out of the ship.
Almost on cue, every officer in the bay rushed up to her, with inquiries as to her health and the past few days and why in gods' name did she have a gun?; but she had no eyes for them, simply pushing through and toward another rigid, dark figure that was walking with alarming quickness and purpose across the bay.
"Father," she said, formally, ater they had stopped within a foot of eachother.
He didn't answer right away, and she felt herrself start to fidget as slightly as she could under his gaze. He couldn't have expected her to show up in perfect attire, could he?
He nodded in acknowledgement, and with a wave of his fingers the officers, who had bunched up around the pair, suddenly all found better things to do. Then he jerked his finger at her, and she hurried to comply. Together, they walked out of the hangar.
It was a task for her to keep up with his long strides, and she barely managed it. Leia couldn't help but think that her father, Darth Vader, was in a strange mood. She wondered if he suddenly had become touchy with the way she was dressed since she's been gone.
In silence, they walked into what appeared to be her new room (it had some of the items from her old room on the Star Destroyer). Leia carefully opened a drawer, then locked the blaster and set it inside, gently closing it. Her father didn't speak, but it was apparent that he was there; even without the mechanical breathing, she knew she would always know when her father was around.
She sat down, feeling slightly uncomfortable, like a child that knew she was in trouble.
"I was worried."
"I'm sorry. I couldn't contact you," apologized Leia. "I, er, ran into some trouble on Ord Mantell. And on Kessel."
"I heard about Kessel. I have my best officers gathering intelligence on the attacks as we speak."
"I had to hijack a ship," she suddenly stated. "Some old freighter."
She felt a surge of emotion run from her stomach to her chest, giving her a feeling of euphoric elation from - what? Happiness? Pride?
... What in the gods' name would she be so proud about? She almost crashed the thing and then it practically not-so-spontaneously combusted. Not one of her best experiences.
There was a moment of pause between her and her father, a dark, solid tower, heavy breathing filling the air - no change at all.
Perhaps...
No. Did she feel her father's pride? Of course not, that was impossible. Or was it really?
She glanced up to where his face should of been, as if hoping for some clue; the black mask remained as stolid as ever.
"Recount to me your experiences, from the moment we ended our comm call." His voice ended her train of thought.
Leia took a deep breath; she was halfway hoping for some rest and a decent meal before she had to debrief. Apparently not; she should've known.
So the tale began. For almost an hour, she explained, with as much detail as she could muster, everything that happened: the building exploding, her hijacking the ship and landing on Ord Mantell, the ship's owner discovering her at the comm unit, all until her arrival at the station. Darth Vader listened silently and patiently, with no interruptions - although he gave a little jerk of anger when Leia told of the man and his Wookiee.
She finished, exhausted, her eyelids becoming a deadwight with each passing second. She felt so comfortable now, in a familiar Imperial setting, near her father and comfortable beds and decent meals.
Through the periodically closing eyelids, Leia saw her father hesitate - a feat in itself. She could nearly see conflict, then -
"Good night. We'll discuss this more tomorrrow."
A strong hand pulled her up from the couch she was about to collapse backwards into, and led her over to the bed. She made a light, childish noise, somewhere along the lines of 'I can do this myself' - something to that effect. Her father didn't answer, and the light rustling of covers being pulled back was heard. She didn't even feel herself being lowered amongst the sheets and pillows, but she relished in their warmth and softness once they touched her skin.
Leia was asleep by the time Darth Vader tucked his little girl into bed, his gloved and metal hand touching her cheek in a most un-Sithly way, and then sweeping out of the room.
She dreamt of a boy bearing the marks of his world, his hair shining in cheerful incandescence under twin dawns.
