Timeline: A close prequel to ANH
Summary: Shortly before Episode IV Darth Vader is sent on a mission to the remote planet of Luki IV… Vader has a déjà vu and learns trivia about the Luki base.
Disclaimer: Star Wars don't belong to me, they belong to George Lucas, i.e.: no profit here for me. I only wish I owned Anakin/Vader! ;)
A/N: Please, I need to know what you think. I beg you to review.
Chapter 2
JUST A SIMPLE DÉJÀ VU
"How does he eat?" Jass wanted to know.
"IV, perhaps. Why should I care? I can't believe that he's back! He'll be staying for a couple of days, at least! Damn, I've been so rude and disrespectful… He won't let me get away with this. I'm doomed!"
Jass rolled a tiny buzzing droid on the table. "How does he sleep in that suit? Must be damn inconvenient!"
Sora froze in mid-motion. Her eyes flashed in a rare display of annoyance. She showed absolutely no interest in how the Dark Lord's suit functioned. She was in need of understanding, but clearly Jass preferred to get off with a jest.
"What am I going to do?" Sora groaned.
"Your job, hon. You do your job and pray he leaves soon".
Darth Vader's temporary quarters surprised him. The room was nothing of military style. Light grey walls reflected the sun's pale rays, playing over the high sidelong ceiling. There was a sofa and two arm-chairs. A plush carpet stretched farther into the other part of the room where a cozy bed was situated, reminding him strongly of various hotel-rooms he used to know. He also noticed a HoloNet apparatus and a holophone. Good. Vader tried to establish a communication with the starship. Negative. Then it struck him that his aide had a separate comlink attached to Vader's private channel.
Kerrit picked up almost instantly. All the communication aboard had been jammed. There was no shuttles available, so he was going to wait for an aid from a neighboring planet of Sahra-Mosca. It wouldn't take long, but Vader would still have to wait up. The situation only got worse when the Dark Lord requested a shuttle in the local service: they refused him, basing it on the deficit. Somehow Vader suspected it was eternal.
"Do what you will, adjutant", Vader rumbled, "but get me off this planet!"
He hung up and left the room. Music thudded somewhere below the floor level. It didn't penetrate into the room which was concealed by the soundproof isolation shield. Intrigued, Vader followed the sounds and ended up in a spacious ballroom decorated with gleaming flashlights. A crowd of people was dancing wildly. The music rattled from every corner. Vader cocked his head, interested.
An old man, also assigned to keep him up to date, showed up beside him. He was a tour guide. Vader asked him: "What is it?"
"Oh, I trust this is no trouble. Commander In Chief believes it to be a useful experiment. Our doctors and officers are hard-working people, I can assure you. This kind of leisure has proved to be efficient".
Vader spotted a familiar face in the crowd. It was captain Zabel, in the arms of a good-looking young man. Vader recognized them as a couple at once: he was holding her as his most priceless possession, a fragile flower. Informal clothes adorned her. A flashy bordo tank top underlined her full breasts, sumptuous skirts swirled around her in an odd rhythm. The Dark Lord kept listening to the old man, still talking about their united team and so on. 'What a strange place', he thought contemplatively. 'I'm not really myself here… I might have been here already what feels like ages ago'.
"Come again? What is the name of that man?"
He meant Sora's companion. He learnt from the old man that he was one of Luki's most perspective MD's. He was working on the Transcend Force project along with worldwide-famous physicists, chemists, engineers. According to the old man, his name was Jass Apollo.
It was incredible how Sora reminded him of Padme. Bewildered, Darth Vader retired once again in his quarters to ponder over the fact in silence. He rarely remembered his wife. His dear angel's image was never to be tainted by his dark deeds in the name of the Empire. Padme died taking their child with her. In some way it was better for all of them. He tried to reanimate her smiling, laughing, dancing, perhaps, just looking at him tenderly, but he only managed to resurrect the last memory of her, her beautiful face stained with tears and touched by awe as she uttered in a choked voice: 'Anakin! You're breaking my heart!' That happened every time he thought of Padme, so he quit. She lived in him like a smoke of memory but he rarely summoned it to life.
Vader grit his teeth. A couple more days! He'd have to spend his birthday on this planet. Cursed it be!
His first morning on Luki IV was dull. Standing by the window, Vader observed the smoky orange sky wrinkled with thin stripes of clouds. He contacted Kerrit again, but no answer came. The Dark Lord decided to inspect to test sites. He expected to find everyone extremely busy. On a contrary – lab assistants, apparently, were having fun. Two medium-sized armored droids, automatically controlled, were racing swiftly from one corner to another. Their operators, armed with control devices, microphones and a pair of headphones, were cheering loudly. An isolated group of spectators applauded merrily.
"Go! Go! Go!" the voices chanted. Vader defined the obvious leader of the race. It turned out to be Dr Apollo, the one who attracted the Dark Lord's attention at the dance. His long hair was messy, his eyes sparkled wildly. His droid reached the finish line a full quarter of a minute faster. The young man grinned triumphantly and bowed theatrically to his fans.
"Thank you! Oh, thank you! Where would I be without you? I dedicate this victory to you, my faithful supporters!"
The gang laughed and wailed. The rivals shook hands, having obviously decided it was time to go back to work. Apollo hurried to the door and very nearly bumped into Darth Vader. He didn't have a heart-attack. It did him credit. Vader had always valued dignity.
"Lord Vader", Apollo spoke up; his voice came a bit shaky but he took over it quickly. "To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"
"Dispense with the pleasantries, shall we, doctor? Would you grant me another excursion? I have grown quite fond of the Transcend Force project".
Unlike Zabel, Apollo wasn't blind to ambition. A request from such a one as the Dark Lord of the Sith was not to be taken lightly. Apollo took his guest to the lab immediately. Plenty of lab assistants kept working on schedule. The Transcend Force 7.1 was a bio-active nuclear rocket. Scientists didn't sleep for hours in order to provide the efficiency not only of its mechanical parts but also its organic materials and its actual similarity to a mind. Several substations charged it up; once started, the artificial brain had to be functional constantly.
"We still have work to do, though", explained Jass. "The TF collaborates with other systems poorly. Not all planetary systems can afford the special installation to make it work, therefore the TF cannot be used worldwide. Besides, we need to finish the connecting procedure to activate its 'thinking'". He smirked at that, doubtful.
"The Emperor is concerned with your progress", Vader remarked. "When will this weapon be fully operational?"
"Quite soon, my lord. Resources are tight, but we're doing the best we can".
Vader moved to another level. This conversation was Dr Apollo was reassuring. Vader respected his enthusiasm. Doubtless, the Emperor would appraise that. Vader only wished the men who had been working on his shuttle were equally enthusiastic.
He paced slowly beneath the orange sky. With the TF rocket and their new secret space station, the Death Star, the Empire would be invincible. That bunch of pathetic fools that proclaimed a revolutionary movement against Palpatine's dictatorship was soon to be gone. Not a spark of the Old Republic would come to life again to leap into flames of memory.
Vader turned towards a platform where a small aircraft was taking off. Something flashed through his mind. Smoke fell in thick clouds from under its hull, compressors were buzzing. The controller lighted green flashlights. Air whistled in the aircraft's engines. With a harsh discordant note it took off, wind howling and raging around its slick frame. It shot off into the golden depth of the sky like a bullet.
Vader shook his helmeted head. He would have screwed up his eyes thoughtfully if he could. He could have sworn he had already seen it before. Not just the start, but this particular platform. Might have even been the same starship. 'Be mindful, Padawan', Obi-Wan's voice rang in his ears. 'Stretch out with your feelings'.
Distraught, Vader plunged his fist hard into the concrete shield of the wall. Incredible! After all those years he was still easily influenced by Kenobi's foolish teachings! He tried to cross that Jedi traitor out of his mind, but it all came back that instant – a molten pit, Obi-Wan's last words ('You were my brother!') and that he'd stolen his lightsaber! Engrossed in frustration, Darth Vader ravished his memory seeking an answer: what did it all mean?
"Just a simple déjà vu", he told himself. "I should calm down". He withdrew from the Force: the Dark Side wasn't used to calm down. Just a déjà vu.
Sandstorms blew hard over the dunes of Sahra-Mosca. The wind happened to be elsewhere, typhooning or hovering in stillness close the planetary surface.
A small aircraft landed in the middle of the sand-valley. The exit hatch opened gradually. Darkness glowed there at first; a sound of movement later on; and finally a young man strode down the ramp, looking around in amusement. Nothing was seen in the nearby save for the dunes that smelled of thirst and spice. The man turned his comlink on.
"This is B-2-4-7-C-9 speaking. I'm in. Repeat: this is…"
"Roger, agent", the reply came. "Enter security password".
The man uttered a difficult combination of numbers and letters. His mouth was parched while the system verified the code transmission. Frankly speaking, he was in no mood to wait. Finally he received the permission to enter the safeguarded zone. Something shimmered in front of him, revealing a forcefield. Its invisible doors disjoined to let him in. the manhole in the sand opened and then slammed shut as he descended into dark. He ended up in a narrow hall worked up with durasteel panels. It led him straight to a corridor with plenty of doors facing each other and into a crowded room. Various faces turned to greet him at once.
"Val Kerrit here to meet Commander Salusa", the man announced.
A slim Twi'lek girl in a white linen gown came out to meet him. A small smile touched her pinkish lips. He spread his arms to hug her, grinning like a little boy. Damn, he was so glad to see her!
"We'd rather talk in my quarters", she whispered. "No need for attention, right?"
Later he was sipping juice in a small private chamber. He added a few drops of Corellian whiskey when the Twi'lek wasn't looking. She paced around restlessly, hearing out his report.
"So where is he now exactly?" she asked in the end.
"On Luki IV. His shuttle went down like a toy replication. Don't worry, we're only a little under schedule".
"I've contacted Leia. Kyle is ready to go to Danuta. After he gets the plans, they're going to transport them on Leia's personal cruiser. Force, this is risky! Even if Kyle succeeds…"
Kerrit smiled reassuringly. "I trust our fellows. They're doing great, especially Katarn".
He observed her as a wonder, her turquoise skin glossy in the dim light. She looked like a Chinese doll next to him, so frail and beautiful. He walked up and stroke her cheek affably.
"O'bar… look, I…"
"I feel this is getting out of hand! I know I sound like a coward. There's no point to retreat now. But I'm just so scared – for Leia, for you, for everything we've dreamt of!"
"We still can accomplish it", Val said willing himself to believe his own words. "I'll be off to Luki soon. I ought to deliver Lord Vader an aircraft unless I want him to start suspecting me. Wait for me, okay? Soon the plans of that station will be in our grasp, after that noone will stop us! Trust me, the Republic will rise like a legendary phoenix!"
With every word he felt the power mounting – the power to do that for real, to crush the ultimate evil embodied in the Emperor and Darth Vader. Still, he admired the Dark Lord in some twisted way: that man was great indeed, he always finished what he started.
Kerrit had to visit Admiral Armin, Commander in Chief of this base. He prepared to leave. O'bar's choked voice held him up. The girl was shaking, trying to suppress brutal tears. Her face turned that intense blue that symbolized blushing with her kind.
"Val!.. I don't want to wake up alone". She was sobbing violently. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered that he loved her, and he always would, and that everything would be alright. At that moment he was actually sure it would be.