Chapter 5
The best medical treatment was available to the highest-ranking members in the Imperial hierarchy. As Leia stared at the orderly organization of medical instruments in the large pristine gray medical ward of Bast Castle, she realized that the devices and bacta available to Darth Vader could easily supply the Rebel Alliance for a standard year. She was no stranger to well-equipped medical wards, but musing on supply situations helped force her attention away from the monster that claimed to be her father.
Lord Vader's ebony cape billowed behind him, making it seem as if the Sith Lord glided across the durasteel floor. Leia noted that no medical droids or scientists took notice of them. It was business as usual.
A single door hissed as its halves slid into a durasteel wall. Vader and Leia stepped into a small, sterile laboratory. A single human biochemist sat in a black synthetic leather chair, analyzing some results of his research at a computer terminal.
"Doctor Mengul," Vader said.
The human turned his rotating chair so he could face the Dark Lord of the Sith. He was the antithesis of the Imperial military. The man had long scraggly gray hair that he did not bother to pull into a ponytail and his blue lab coat was unkempt. Even more surprising to Leia, he did not stand. "Yes, milord?" he asked.
"I assume the results of the DNA comparison analysis are in your possession," he said. Leia noted that the Dark Lord spoke as if he already had the results.
"I don't get a Level 12 Classified very often," Mengul told him before fishing a clear disc from a pocket in his lab coat. He passed the data disc to Darth Vader. "Good thing you gave me clearance or it would have been tougher than wrestling a gundark to decode."
Leia would have grinned at the man's obvious Outer Rim yokel origins, but she refused to show her emotions around Vader. She broke in front of him once and she vowed to do it never again.
Vader stared at the data disc before walking towards a computer terminal with a holoprojector output device, allowing Dr. Mengul to analyze his numbers. He placed the disc in a drive under Leia's watchful gaze.
The holoprojector flickered to life quickly, producing a humming noise as a three-dimensional comparison chart appeared. Two DNA profiles scrolled, comparing base pairs. One profile was labeled Darth Vader and the other Leia Organa. After a few seconds, two bold words appeared in red, making Leia's heart crash into her stomach: Paternal Match.
"Perform a DNA profile comparison of Leia Organa with Bail Organa," Vader instructed the computer.
Darth Vader's DNA profile disappeared as quickly as the bold red letters. In the place of Vader's profile was the DNA profile of Bail Organa, the deceased former Senator of Alderaan. After the computer performed its comparison test, the words "No Match" appeared in bold red.
"Why!" Leia screamed, earning Mengul's attention.
Vader turned to the biochemist. "Leave us," he ordered.
Mengul nodded. "Yes, milord," he said before walking out of the lab without question.
Vader returned his gaze to Leia. Leia was the perfect picture of shock. She appeared to have taken a trip through the nine hells of Corellia and then pulled through the Kessel Run for good measure. Her face was pale and voice trapped in her throat. Darth Vader had not lied to her.
"Bail Organa was a traitor to the Empire," Vader said. "Obi-Wan must have given you to him so you could remain hidden from me. But now, my former master has failed. The circle is now complete."
Leia said nothing. She only stared at Vader's mask, trying to imagine the man who resided beneath it and the man her mother must have loved. The thought of Vader feeling love brought chills down her spine.
Vader, sounding less menacing, revealed, "I told your mother that the child would be a girl. She insisted that it was a boy."
"How did my mother die?" Leia asked. She observed that Vader appeared to hesitate before responding.
"Padme Amidala was deceived by Obi-Wan Kenobi," he answered. "He told her that I was the enemy and she brought him with her to Mustafar to kill me. But Obi-Wan betrayed her. He knocked her unconscious and did this," Vader gestured to his suit with his right hand, "to me. He must have killed her and presented you to Organa. Obi-Wan followed the ancient practice of taking Force-sensitive children away from their parents so they could be trained as Jedi. I cannot fathom why he did not begin your training immediately. Obi-Wan was jealous of everything I possessed."
"Obi-Wan killed my mother?" Leia asked before taking a seat in Mengul's chair. The revelation was hefty. She never met Obi-Wan personally, but Luke always spoke very highly of him. Of course, Luke had a personal grudge against Darth Vader.
My father, she reminded herself silently. The very monster she saw before her was once a man, but must have been seriously injured by Obi-Wan to be trapped in the armor.
"I realize that you have heard and seen things that conflict with everything you have ever known," Vader told her. "Return to your quarters and meditate before the evening meal. I shall answer more questions if you see fit to continue your inquiry."
Leia nodded a silent thanks. She certainly had much to contemplate.
Yoda opened his eyes. The old Jedi Master's seated meditation was interrupted by a slight disturbance in the Force. Rain splattered against his hut continuously and the sound of animals near his hut was all but silenced by the downpour. Fire crackled in his fireplace, bringing steady warmth.
Probing the Force, Yoda searched for Luke. His apprentice was safe in his X-Wing, moving through hyperspace en route for Tatooine. He sensed mild danger awaiting him, but nothing capable of generating the disturbance he felt. The ripple had to be the work of the Sith.
"It seems as if Anakin has given up on his pursuit of Luke," the disembodied voice of Qui-Gon Jinn said. The long deceased Jedi Master still refused to acknowledge Anakin Skywalker as Darth Vader.
Yoda felt a familiar tingle in the Force as Qui-Gon's apparition appeared before him. "So it seems, my old Padawan," the living Jedi said. "So it seems."
"I know what you are thinking, Master Yoda," Qui-Gon said before crossing his arms over his chest.
"Presume to know my thoughts, you do?" Yoda asked seriously.
"Anakin will not harm his daughter," said Qui-Gon. "I'm sure of this."
"So certain, are you?" Yoda pondered rhetorically. "A Lord of the Sith, he is."
"He is still the Chosen One," Qui-Gon affirmed. "Sith Lord or not, Anakin cannot escape his destiny. The birth of the twins was not an accident."
"Meditate on this, I will," Yoda said. "Luke must complete his trial. Only then will I know what I must do."
Darth Vader snapped the final components of a new lightsaber together. His daughter would need a weapon to begin her training. Though Leia needed to master that trial herself eventually, she needed to be schooled on basic drills as well as rudimentary Force techniques. As he imagined training Leia, Vader recalled his training under Obi-Wan, when he was an eager boy seeking to develop his latent talents.
Obi-Wan guided him on the path to eventually obtaining the rank of Jedi Knight, but Kenobi's training was insufficient to carry him to the next step in his life. Vader firmly believed that becoming a Sith Lord was his destiny as the Chosen One. The Jedi failed to understand their own prophecy and with that lack of comprehension, it was their fatal error.
Leia would doubt Vader at first. The Dark Lord realized it was a consequence of a lifetime of lies. But Vader knew something his daughter did not. He understood what it was like to live a lie and to finally disperse the fog clouding the mind. It was a revelation that only the Dark Side could give.
Vader stepped away from his worktable and thumbed the activation switch of the new lightsaber. The handle spewed a scarlet energy blade, producing the signature hum of a working lightsaber. It was a color produced by synthetic crystals and intense Dark Side meditation to properly align the lattices perfectly so that a blade of higher frequency could be produced. The red was nothing more than a stain produced by the Dark Side's taint. Natural red Adegan crystals were incredibly rare.
"Anakin, what are you doing?" a voice said, forcing the ice in Vader's veins to tremble.
The Dark Lord turned to the source of the Force tremor. "Master Jinn, I instructed you never to disturb me again," he spoke menacingly. "Does your apprentice not keep you company?"
No answer came. The only thing Vader heard was the hum of the lightsaber in the palm of his right hand. If not for the atmospheric controls in his armor, Vader would have been sweating. Realizing that Qui-Gon had nothing else to say, the Sith Lord deactivated the weapon and placed it on his worktable.
"Insignificant ghost," Vader said with a quaky voice. He needed to compose himself before seeing his daughter. He had to be a strong father for Leia.
