The Defection
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. This is merely a fanfiction. I gain no income from this story.
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The shallow breathing of Darth Vader's apparatus was the only sound that could be heard in the Mandalorian cloning facility. Night had fallen and Plagueis had retired for the evening. But Vader would not sleep.
He never could.
The Dark Lord glided through the cloning facility as a phantom, observing all the bacta tanks filled with Plagueis' successful – and failed – clones.
Vader mulled over the genius of Plagueis. Essence transfer. The ability to force your spirit into another body upon death. It seemed Plagueis did find the path to immortality, though not in the way that Vader expected. And certainly not in the way that Darth Sidious had promised him, oh so long ago.
The Dark Lord approached a computer console. With the press of a button, screens lit up across the room. The Dark Lord paused, waiting to hear a sound.
Nothing.
And so Vader pressed several more buttons. Plagueis' firewalls were certainly advanced … but then Vader had always had an affinity for technology.
A receptacle popped out from the console. Vader placed a small disk into it. The machine whirred and buzzed, downloading thousands and thousands of pages of information. Vader stared at the sequences on the screen. DNA strands, midicholorians, alien physiology – it was all there!
It impressed Vader. It exceeded even his own cloning operation on Kamino. Had he had access to this information, then perhaps he would not have encountered such failure in cloning Starkiller.
Perhaps he would have been able to program the clones to be more … obedient.
A voice rang out from the darkness. "What are you doing?"
Unfazed, Vader turned to see Vis emerging from the shadows. A nuisance.
Vis pointed a finger at the holodisk in Vader's hand. "What is that? Why are you downloading Lord Plagueis' files? Who authorized -."
Vis felt an invisible hand clench around his throat. He began gagging, struggling for air.
Vader exulted in his power over this lesser life form. "Who Lord Plagueis authorizes to access his secure mainframe is none of your concern. Clone." With a burst of energy, Vis was hurled across the room. He crumpled to the floor.
The Bith stared up at Vader in surprise. "Lord Plagueis … authorized you … impossible … he would have told – not even I have access - "
"I cannot be blamed if Lord Plagueis has not seen fit to trust you enough with the mainframe."
"I -."
"Perhaps you feel Lord Plagueis is treating you unfairly?"
Vis was rubbing his sore throat. His black eyes widened. "No! Of course not! But I don't see why he should allow you – of all people – access to the cloning records! I sense you're not being entirely truthful, Vader."
"Then you may ask Lord Plagueis about it when you see him. But he will be most displeased to hear of you questioning his orders."
And with that, Vader left Vis lying on the ground. The Bith slowly rose to his feet, his vision swimming. "This just keeps getting worse all the time!"
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Maris raised an unconvinced eyebrow when Vis reported the night's events. "Lord Plagueis authorized him access to the cloning mainframe?"
"I know!" Vis replied. "I'm shocked too!"
Maris folded her arms. "Have you ever considered that maybe Vader might just be lying?"
"But why would he be snooping around the cloning facility? He can't be looking for information on cloning – he has his own facility on Kamino! And the Kaminoans are no amateur cloners. They're probably even better than us!"
The door to their quarters slid open. They stood at rapt attention as Plagueis entered the room. "My Lord," they saluted together.
Plagueis placated them with his hands. "No need for formalities. This won't take long." The Muun paced back and forth, hands behind his back. "I was informed of an … altercation … Vis. Between you and Lord Vader."
"My Lord – he claims -."
"I know what he claims. I have come to inform you that Lord Vader is an honored guest. I have given him full access to our operation. He had some recommendations on how to improve our cloning process …"
"How can you trust him?" Maris blurted out. Her hands covered her mouth as she realized she had spoken out of turn. "Forgive me, My Lord. But … he's a Sith! How do you know he'll follow in our footsteps? How do you know he's not still taking orders from the Emperor?!"
Plagueis merely smiled. "Are you insinuating that a broken-down half-droid could fool me. Me? Lord Plagueis?"
"I – of course not, my Lord."
"Rest assured, I have what Vader needs. Unlike my old Master, I have a way to give him the thing he desires most. Vader will not betray me until I give it to him. Until then, he will serve me faithfully." He pointed a long finger at them both. "And I expect you to give to him the same courtesy as you do me!"
"But my Lord -," Maris protested.
"I will hear no more of it!" Plagueis' patience had worn thin. "Who I allow into this base and what I allow them to do is no concern of yours! Or do you dare to question my orders?"
Vis and Maris shot each furtive glances. "N-no, my Lord."
Plagueis' pleasant disposition returned. "Most excellent. For now, I have a private meeting and I do not wish to be disturbed." With a hiss of the doors, the Muun was gone.
Maris shook her head. "What meeting? He never used to exclude us from meetings before?"
"We used to be his right hands," Vis said. "I don't like this …"
"Still thinking of running away somewhere?"
Vis stared at her. "Right about now sounds good."
"No." Maris was defiant. "I'm not risking our lives when we don't really know what's going on here. I need more than just your gut feeling."
Vis nodded and reached into a pouch at his side. He produced a small device. "Think you can plant this in his quarters?"
Maris smiled as she took the tiny recording device in her hand.
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Maris Brood's ability to camouflage herself had served her well in her days on Felucia. It would serve her well now.
With deftness of speed, she entered her master's quarters. It was large, by far the largest quarter in the entire base. There were shelves, wall to wall, of holobooks containing arcane knowledge. Starmaps and other pieces of lore flooded the tables. In the center was a large meeting table, where she and Vis had once served at the Muun's right hand.
Looking around, she found an old vase from a long-forgotten culture. It was covered in dust, as though it hadn't been handled or admired in many years. She nimbly placed the recording device into the vase.
Camouflaging herself against the wall, she vanished through the doors.
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Plagueis led the Dark Apprentice and Darth Vader into his quarters. Plagueis sat at the head of the table, crossing his legs casually. The Dark Apprentice sat at his side. Vader refused to sit. He stood at Plagueis' left hand, arms folded, staring down at the Dark Apprentice. The Dark Apprentice returned the stare with pure defiance.
Plagueis seemed to sense the tension in the room. "Oh come now. We're not still harboring schoolboy resentments? Let old bygones be bygones, no? We are all on the same side now after all, are we not?"
The Dark Apprentice leaned back in his chair and scoffed. "I'll behave if he does."
Vader did not rise to the bait. He turned his helmet to Plagueis. "When? When can I expect your aid in return for mine?"
"All in good time, Lord Vader. For now, you must be patient."
Vader was not impressed. "I have given you my full allegiance. I helped you defeat that failed Clone of mine on Mustafar. I rid you of Rahm Kota once and for all. And all the ships and troops under my command are yours to control. When can I expect results?"
"When you lead us to Mortis," Plagueis replied.
"I have never been to Mortis," Vader said icily.
Plagueis laughed. "Oh, Lord Vader. You have forgotten many things Anakin Skywalker once remembered. Rest assured, you walked its surface once, many years ago."
"I tire of your games, old man," Vader spat.
Plagueis stapled his fingers. "There are ways to extract lost memories … yes, if you will submit, I can restore what was erased from your mind. It will take some time, but the process will be effective I assure you. In any event, there are some preparations to be made. The boy must be ready for the planet. Only those worthy can harness the power of Mortis."
"I am ready," the Dark Apprentice exclaimed.
"Almost. There are things I must prepare you against once you are there."
"And once I've harnessed the planet's power?"
Plagueis smiled. "We take the fight to Sidious. Oh how sweet it will be to watch him, broken and defeated at your feet. With his own apprentice – Darth Vader – at my side. He will watch as I claim his throne for my own. Emperor Demask. And then – I will finish him myself. I will stare into Sidious' eyes as I take the last breath away from him. He will know the cost of betraying Darth Plagueis!"
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" … he will know the cost of betraying Darth Plagueis!"
Maris and Vis looked up from their holocommunicator and stared at each other. Vis's fingers tightened around the controls. " … I should have known! Why didn't I see this before?!"
"So he hasn't renounced the Sith after all … it was all a ruse …" Maris' eyes darted to Vis. "What now?"
Vis was grabbing his gear. "I am leaving." He grasped Maris' hands. "Come with me. Like we talked about the other day. Just you and me … we can go in peace …"
Maris stared up into his eyes, tears swimming. "Is now too soon?"
Vis grinned and embraced her.
She looked back up at him and wiped her eyes. "There are a couple of two-pilot starfighters in the hangar."
"No good," Vis replied. "Each fighter in this base is linked with the base's security mainframe. They can't take off without permission from the mainframe."
"We'll need a shutdown of all non-emergency systems."
"How?" Vis asked.
Maris tapped her head. "I'll hack the mainframe. My time on Cloud City taught me a few tricks. I can slice right in … make the mainframe think there's a major fire or something. That'll cause all emergency systems to override … and in the chaos, we fly our merry way out of here."
"That may work … Okay, we go together."
"No." Maris shook her head. "You go ahead to the hangar. Get a fighter primed and ready for when all hell breaks loose."
The two embraced.
"I'll see you soon," Maris said, giving him one final loving glance.
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"Why do you torment me?"
The Dark Apprentice was sitting on a chair in the med bay by Juno's bedside. He was leaning forward, his fingers clasped. Juno was unconscious.
But yet, the Dark Apprentice felt drawn here. But why?
"I thought I had eliminated all of those feelings," he was saying. Juno's body didn't stir. Still, the Dark Apprentice gave vent to his emotions. "It would be so easy to just snuff out your life. It would take only a second. Then I would be at peace."
Juno's heart monitor was beeping on.
"I come here, every few hours, with the intent to end your life. But then when I see you …" He struggled to put words to his feelings. "Why do I feel what a another man felt? It's the love of a dead man, nothing more. I thought I had conquered these feelings back on Kamino." He clutched his fingers. "So now the question isn't how to kill you … the question that plagues me is how to kill my feelings for you?"
An alarm blared throughout the ship. The lights dimmed orange-red and Mandalorian troops marshalled in the corridors. The Dark Apprentice rose to his feet. "An emergency? What's going on?"
He reached out through the Force – and that's when he sensed it.
Maris!
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Using her camouflage abilities, Maris had entered the security mainframe. Two guards lay unconscious behind her as she hacked the system software. "I'm in," she said into a device in her ear. "There. The emergency systems are online."
Vis' voice rang through her ears. "Good. I've got a ship primed and ready to go. Hurry!"
"I'll be right there." Maris turned – and a gloved hand lashed out and grasped her by the throat, lifting her off her feet.
The Dark Apprentice's rage filled eyes bore into hers. "So … planned a little getaway, have we?" He thrust his arm back, Maris dangling from it, and absolutely slammed her backwards into the wall. Again. And again. And again.
Maris deflated at his feet like a balloon. She stared up him, her vision swimming. Vis' voice was coming in through her commlink. "Maris? Maris?! Are you there?!"
The Dark Apprentice plucked the commlink from her ear. He smiled, before crushing it in his fist before her eyes.
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Vis was sitting in the cockpit of a two-man starfighter. He plucked his commlink out, hearing nothing but static. He leaped out of the ship onto the docking bay floor and watched as Mandalorian shock troops flooded into the hangar.
Blast it!
Somehow … some way, the Mandalorians had found out about their escape plan.
The Mandalorian troops opened fire. Vis' lightsaber flashed crimson, spinning and twirling, turning blaster bolts back at his adversaries left and right in a blur of red. Three troops went down.
More flooded in from the other side of the hangar, this time four-legged tank droids stomping their way towards him. Vis looked left and right as enemies closed in on him from both sides.
"Enough!"
A voice came from a balcony above. Vis shot his head upward to see Darth Plagueis standing there, flanked by Darth Vader and the Dark Apprentice. Maris stood there, shaking, her body severely beaten, her hands in cuffs.
Plagueis stared down at Vis with utter contempt. "You were one of my most trusted men. Before you and Maris die, there is just one question … why? Why betray me? Why, when I brought you back to life …"
"What life?" Vis demanded. "You lied to me! You told me you were reformed! That you were no longer Darth Plagueis! You wanted to be Plagueis the Healer!"
"Listen to you, so high and mighty." Plagueis was past amusement. "Have you forgotten how you died the first time? Have you forgotten who you once were? Darth Venamis, apprentice to Darth Tenebrous, my old master."
"I died as Darth Venamis. That's where the path of the Sith brought me. Death." Vis spoke with every ounce of defiance he could muster. "I served you after you brought me back because I thought you had changed! I believed in the new you! The ethics of cloning troubled me, but I never doubted your intentions!" He pointed the tip of his lightsaber upwards. "I believed in you!"
Plagueis folded his arms and looked over at Maris. "And you, my dear? Do you agree with our friend's sudden idealism?"
Maris spat at his feet. "Go to hell!"
"I've already been there, thank you." He extended a long hand. Maris rose into the air, controlled through the Force. The Dark Lord waved his arm and she was thrown down off the balcony to the docking bay below, landing at Vis' feet. He knelt and cradled her.
"Aren't you in the least bit curious about how we discovered your sudden treachery?" Plagueis asked. He reached into his pocket and produced the recording device Maris had planted in their quarters. "So you thought to spy on me … as if I never do a sweep of my quarters before entering." He crushed the device in his hands. "You both have disappointed me beyond all measure. I have nothing further to say to you." He nodded at the Mandalorian troops down below. "Finish them."
Vis helped Maris to her feet. He looked down at her. "On the count of three … follow my lead. One."
The Mandalorian troops and droid walkers took aim.
"Two."
The droid walkers charged their weapons.
"Three!" With an upward slice of his blade, Vis had shorn Maris' shackles free from her wrist. The two stood back-to-back, reaching out with the Force. Maris lifted one of the starfighters in the hangar, and with a sudden lurch, hurled it into the balcony above.
With a roar, Plagueis, the Dark Apprentice and Vader dove off the balcony. Vis used the confusion to lift a droid walker off the ground, slamming it into another.
The docking bay was awash in blaster fire. Maris summoned a Force Shield and they were enveloped in swirling blue energy. The blaster bolts from enemy fire lanced harmlessly against the shield. But it was only a matter of time. Already the shield was buckling. "I can't hold it much longer!" she cried out.
Around them, the Mandalorians were closing in. Plagueis, Vader and the Dark Apprentice were on their feet. They were advancing.
Vis grit his teeth. The Force Shield was failing.
Closing his eyes, he reached out towards a droid walker. He channeled the complex lines of its circuits and bolts to the cannon stationed atop its head. The Force sang a warning. Now!
Vis flicked his wrist. The droid's cannon exploded with fire, blasting nearly half the platoon of Mandalorians off their feet.
"Nice one!" Maris cheered.
Behind them, the evil trio of Plagueis, Vader and the Dark Apprentice were nearly upon them.
"When I give the signal," Vis said through grit teeth, "drop the shield and run. Don't look where you're going. Just run to the nearest starfighter and get out of here!"
"I'm not leaving without you!"
"Damn it, Maris! You have to! Get out of here! Find Starkiller! You're his last hope and you know I'm right!"
Maris stared up at him, then at the evil trio approaching.
"Now, Maris! DO IT NOW!"
With a cry, Maris dropped the shield and took off running in the opposite direction, using the Force to enhance her speed.
Vis spun his red blade and stepped forward to meet Vader, Plagueis and the Dark Apprentice head on.
Maris leaped into the air, landing in the cockpit of a starfighter. She saw the chance to take off, to get out of here and save herself. She glanced down.
Below, Vis was engaged in a three-way duel with Plagueis, Vader and the Dark Apprentice. He was being quickly overwhelmed.
Making a split-second decision, Maris spun the ship in midair. Its targeting computer took aim. Maris blasted the deck, riddling nearby Mandalorian troops with a spray of laser fire. Vis saw Maris' starfighter blasting up the deck. He parried a blow from Plagueis, ducked beneath a swing from Vader's weapon and disengaged, racing along the deck in the direction of Maris' starfighter.
The Dark Apprentice spread his legs, energy surging through his palms. He aimed at her starship.
"Oh no you don't!" Maris yelled. Rockets ejected from under her fighter, soaring straight at the Dark Apprentice. The evil clone caught them in midair, stopping them effortlessly.
Vis Force Jumped onto the hull of Maris' starfighter. She swung open the cockpit. "Get in!"
Below, the Dark Apprentice redirected the rockets straight at them.
Vis stood on the hull of the starfighter. He spun, stopping the rockets himself in midair. The Dark Apprentice grinned as he pushed the rockets all the more, exerting more Force energy into them. He was easily overpowering Vis. In moments, he and Maris would be nothing but atomized dust. Vader and Plagueis joined him, reinforcing his power. Plagueis' hands surged with energy. One blast of Force Lighting and those rockets would go off.
Vis turned to Maris, a look of terror on her face. "Maris … I can't save us both."
"Vis?"
"Live your life, Maris. Make a true difference in the galaxy, the way you wanted."
"I'm not leaving without you!"
"I know! That's why I'm taking the choice away from you."
He locked eyes with her over his shoulder.
Tears were streaming from her eyes. "I love you …"
Vis nodded. Then he summoned all of his energy. He leapt off the starfighter. Twisting his body in midair, he repulsed Maris' fighter away from him and the rockets – sending her ship straight out of the hangar door!
At that precise moment, Plagueis struck with Force Lightning.
Vis saw it happening in slow motion. The lightning struck the rockets he was holding at bay. A ball of fire blossomed before his very eyes.
He closed his eyes and accepted the inevitable.
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As Maris flew her starfighter out of the hangar and deep beyond Mandalore's atmosphere, she saw a burst of yellow. She let out a cry of anguish as her fighter went into lightspeed.
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Fifty feet in the air, smoke and debris rained down upon the hangar floor. Vis' charred body slammed onto the deck. Plagueis stood over it with Vader and the Dark Apprentice. He shifted the Biths' foot with his own boot.
"A pity," Plagueis sighed. "But not a true loss. He was always … replaceable. His genetic material is stored away in the lab. It won't take long to grow a new one …" He turned to survey the damage to his hangar.
But as the Dark Lord of the Sith went on his way, the smile of triumph never left Vis' unmoving face …
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