TW: The following chapter contains instances of graphic violence. Read at your own discretion.
Chapter 3 – Failure and Consequence
Leia woke from a dreamless sleep. She rolled over and squinted. It was bright. Where was she? How had she gotten here?
Oh, that's right. She was in her dorm. Val had left to assemble the pact. Leia had stayed behind to get some rest. That's funny. She didn't even remember lying down. She must have been more exhausted than she realized.
She heard an agitated knocking at the door. Had that been what woke her up in the first place? Who could it be? Maybe Val was back? Why would she be knocking, though? Her code cylinder should let her in.
Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Leia schlepped to the door. She pressed the control panel, and when the door opened, she found herself face to face with not Val, but –
"Vader!"
Leia winced. Vader would not take kindly to such impudence. Yet the hulking man said nothing; he peered at her, blood-red lenses revealing nothing. Yet Leia sensed a sort of tension in the air, distinct from her own. Something about Vader – his posture, maybe? – revealed discomfort, anxiety even. What could he be anxious about?
"Leia," he said.
That was odd. She should be Cadet Appenza to him. And yet here he was at her dorm, calling her by her first name. Leia hugged herself, instinctively shrinking, retreating, from this menace.
"Yes, my lord?" she forced herself to say, voice little more than a squeak. For the first time she noticed someone standing behind Vader in the hallway. It was Colonel Roth. His face was sweaty and ashen. He massaged his neck with a gloved hand.
"You are coming with me," Vader said, matter-of-fact.
Leia's heart jumped in her throat. "What? No, I –"
Colonel Roth looked away at something down the hallway. "Wait right there, Cadet," he said.
"What's happening?" a voice asked. It was Val. Leia wanted to call to her, to run to her. She couldn't, of course. Even with Vader serving as a barricade in front of her door, Leia felt rooted to the spot, seized by a paralytic fear. What did Vader want from her? Nothing good could come from this, she knew that.
"Leia," Vader said again. "Now."
"Hold on –" Val began, but Vader spun on her. He raised a menacing finger. Val was quelled.
"Leave us, Cadet," he growled.
"But that's my dorm," Val said.
What was she doing? Didn't she know standing up to Darth Vader was a suicidal endeavor? Maybe she didn't. She came from the Outer Rim, not the Core. Maybe she hadn't heard the stories.
"I don't have time for this," Vader said. Before Leia could flinch, he grabbed her by the arm. Leia gasped with shock, but she couldn't muster an objection; her throat was clamped shut, tongue frozen. Vader dragged her into the hallway. Leia was like a limp doll in his grasp.
Val stood in Vader's way, hands on her hips. "Where are you taking her?" she demanded.
"Out of my way," Vader ordered.
"No."
For a second, Vader seemed stunned into silence. He had likely never encountered such blatant disobedience, certainly not from someone as lowly as a cadet. But Vader quickly regained his bearing.
"So be it," he said.
With his free arm, Vader raised a gloved hand. Val was pulled into the air by an invisible rope. Her hands clawed around her throat, unable to breathe; her legs flailed in a fruitless attempt to free herself; her face drained of color and her eyes rolled back into her skull. Leia was terrified. Yet in some obscene way, she was also fascinated, enthralled even. So this was the Force. Her father had not been exaggerating. This was a truly awesome power. And Vader implied she could wield it.
What was she doing? She shouldn't be thinking about this. Val was going to die! She had to do something!
"Stop! Stop please!" she cried, tugging on Vader's arm her free one. "You're hurting her!" Vader didn't seem to notice. He pinched his fingers closer together and Val let out a strangled sound. Leia continued to pull and tug on Vader to no avail. And so she did the only thing she could: she screamed.
She hadn't expected it to work, but just like that Val was freed from the noose and tumbled to the floor. Vader staggered backward and Leia yanked herself free from his grasp. In complete control just a moment ago, Vader now seemed dazed and disoriented. He held his hands out to keep balance. Leia spared him no mind. She rushed to her friend's side.
"Val! Val, are you alright?"
Val gasped for air, back heaving. She tried to speak, but no words came.
"What did you do?" Leia asked, spinning on Vader. He still looked quite shaken.
Colonel Roth was at the cyborg's side. "Are you alright, my lord?"
Vader pushed him away. "You," Vader said, pointing at Leia. "Do not do that again."
"Do what?" Leia asked.
Vader took a step toward her, and Leia instinctively extended her arm in a futile attempt to shield Val from his wrath.
"You are more powerful than you know," Vader said. "But you are unbalanced. You need proper training."
"Training? What sort of training?"
Vader did not answer. Once again, he grabbed her by the arm. Leia squirmed, but his grip was like steel.
"We are going," he said before dragging her away.
Leia stumbled down the hall. She looked back at Val and saw Colonel Roth kneeling down to assist her. Vader took a turn, and they were gone.
"Let me go!" Leia demanded. Vader, of course, ignored her. Deeming it futile, Leia gave up struggling and instead asked: "Where are you taking me?"
"To my shuttle," Vader replied.
"Why?"
"In due time."
They arrived in the hangar. Just a few hours ago, Leia had been celebrating with her peers in this very room, totally unaware of the menace which had arrived to upend her life. How had things changed so fast?
An Imperial shuttle awaited them with its ramp already unfurled. Vader's grip did not relent as he dragged her up to the cabin. Leia's arm was beginning to feel numb.
"Let me go," she said when they arrived in the cabin. Her voice sounded just short of a whimper. "It hurts."
To her surprise, Vader obliged and released her. The hatch sealed shut behind them with a hiss. Leia felt a spike of anxiety now that they were firmly alone. She inched away from him, cautiously. The back of her legs hit something, and Leia dropped into a bucket seat against the cabin wall. She looked up, trembling. Vader towered over her.
"How is your arm?" he asked.
Leia blinked. Was he joking? She didn't think so. He sounded entirely genuine, although the voice modulator made it hard to tell.
"Fine," she answered. "Sore." Leia rubbed her arm tenderly. "You didn't have to grab me, you know."
"I had no choice," Vader said, monotone. "You were being recalcitrant."
"Recalcitrant?" Leia echoed. "You dragged me out of my room!"
Vader did not respond. He merely stared at her. Unsure how to interpret his gaze – his mask was expressionless, after all – Leia pressed her back flat against the bucket seat, attempting in vain to get as far away from him as possible. She was afraid of this man. She sensed an intrinsic evil about him, an unfettered lack of compunction. He was no man. Nor was even a monster. He was just a machine.
A machine which spoke, oddly, with a hint of compassion.
"I am sorry."
Again, Leia found herself stumped. Again, she considered if this was a joke. A mocking gibe, nothing more. Yet once again, she concluded that it was not. He was sincere.
"We should talk," Vader said.
"About what?" Leia asked. "Why you kidnapped me?"
"I did not kidnap you," Vader said.
Leia rolled her eyes in response.
"You are a feisty one," Vader said. "In time you will learn obedience."
"Obedience? To you, I assume?"
"Yes. To me."
"Why? What do you want from me?"
Vader hesitated. Then he sat down. Leia was relieved. At least he was no longer looming over her.
"I analyzed the sample of your blood," Vader said.
Here we go, Leia thought. He knows who I am.
"I would like you to answer my questions truthfully this time," Vader said.
"What does it matter?" Leia said. "You already know everything, don't you?"
"Hardly," Vader said.
Leia folded her arms and huffed. "Fine," she said. "I'll answer."
"Who raised you?"
That was an odd question. "My parents did," Leia answered, frowning. "My adopted parents, I mean."
"And who were they?"
So he didn't know? If he hadn't figured out she was the run-away Princess of Alderaan, what was all this about, then?
"I'm confused," Leia said.
"What about?"
"This."
Vader stared at her. "I am asking you a straight forward question," he said. "Who raised you?"
Her cover wasn't blown, so it seemed. Maybe she could squeak out of this yet. "My parents were spice merchants," Leia said. "Nobodies."
"You already used that lie," Vader said.
Leia feigned ignorance. "It's not a lie."
"You come from the Core. Only an idiot would not see that. I want to know who took you. Was it the Jedi? Kenobi?"
Leia didn't have to act confused this time. She had no idea what he was talking about. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she said.
"No, Kenobi would not raise you himself," Vader said, mumbling. He stood from his bucket seat and began pacing. "He would have taken the child to someone he knew. Someone trustworthy." He gave her a long look. "Alderaan," he said.
Leia couldn't contain her reaction. She flinched, the name like a slap across the face.
"He took you to the Organas, didn't he? They are known Rebel sympathizers. It makes sense." He stopped in his tracks. "You are the princess. The missing heir to the throne."
Leia jumped to her feet. "Please don't take me back there," she pled. "Please don't tell –"
"They stole you from me," Vader growled. "I will destroy them. And Kenobi. I will destroy them for what they did."
Leia froze, his vicious words sending a shiver up her spine. "Don't do that," she said. "Please."
"Why not?"
"My parents never did anything wrong."
"They are not your parents."
"Yes they are. They raised me."
"They abducted you!"
Leia shied away from him. Vader did not miss this reaction. He faltered.
"Leia," he said.
There it was again. Why was he calling her that? And why did he have to say it so… tenderly?
"What do you want from me?" she asked again.
Before Vader could answer, the cabin was rocked by an explosion. She lost her footing and collapsed into the bucket seat. Vader remained standing, seemingly unaffected.
"What was that?" Leia asked.
"With me," Vader said. He marched to the exit hatch and unfurled the ramp with the press of a button. Once it was fully deployed, he took her arm and pulled her out of the cabin.
"Hey!" Leia protested to no avail. They reached the hangar floor and a voice flagged them down.
"Lord Vader, sir!"
Colonel Roth was rushing across the hangar bay to greet them. He was accompanied by two stormtroopers.
"We felt a disturbance," Vader said.
"A thermal detonator, I believe," Roth said. "The blast damaged a couple TIEs."
"Who is responsible?" Vader asked.
"I don't know, my lord," Roth said. "I was thinking it was an accident."
"No," Vader said. "This was no accident."
By way of confirmation, a second explosion erupted in the hangar a dozen feet away. Leia gasped, partly in fear, partly in pain when Vader's grip on her arm tightened. Debris radiated outward, and Vader pulled her into his body, shielding her. It was ultimately unnecessary – none of the debris came close enough to hit them – but Leia was confounded nonetheless. Why was Vader protecting her? Was it merely because, in his mind, she was a prized asset of the Empire?
Vader released her. He reached to his belt and unclipped a hilt of sorts. "Stay with the ship," he told her. "Troopers, stand guard. Do not let her out of your sights." Pressing a button on the hilt, a crimson red blade burst to life. Leia stared at it in awe. What was that? Some sort of laser sword?
"Colonel Roth, with me," Vader ordered. He flicked his wrist and strode off toward the sight of the explosion, the Colonel fast on his heels. Leia stood at the base of the ramp, watching them go. The two stormtroopers assumed positions beside her. They held their carbines to their chests and scanned the hangar.
"You think it's Rebels?" one of them asked.
"On this rock?" the other said. "Doubt it."
With that, two blaster bolts pierced the air and both troopers fell to the ground, dead. Leia jerked with alarm.
"Leia!" a voice cried.
Leia looked around, ears still ringing from the blaster fire. Whose voice was that? She recognized it.
"Take the shuttle!"
Looking up, she saw him perched on the control deck a dozen feet above the hangar floor. It was Biggs. He wore his fighter helmet and held a sniper rifle. The viewport had been smashed to bits, presumably by that very rifle. The detonator blast must have covered the noise.
"Biggs!" Leia called. "What's happening?"
"We're getting you out of here."
"But what about you?"
"Don't worry about us. Go to the location I told you about. We'll join you if we're able. Now go!"
It was wrong. She couldn't leave her friends to die! But what other choice did she have? This was her one opportunity to escape from Vader's clutches.
She should have hesitated for longer than she did. She should have thought about what might happen to Biggs. To Val. To everyone else in the pact.
But she didn't. All she thought about was herself.
The Princess fled. Like she always did.
Δ Δ Δ
Vader stood amidst the carnage of the first blast site, lightsaber in hand.
Rebels, he thought. That was why he came to Palaam in the first place. He had forgotten all about them until they kindly decided to remind him. What was their goal? To assassinate him? If so, they were doing a terrible job. Neither of the blasts had come even close.
No, this must be something else. Could it have to do with the girl, somehow? She couldn't be involved in this. But then again, could she? The Organas were Rebel sympathizers. Could they have indoctrinated her in their idealistic brand of extremism? That didn't make sense. She had run away from them, hadn't she? They had no influence over her anymore.
His daughter was not a Rebel.
His daughter.
Vader still couldn't quite believe it. Not logically, at least. When he looked at her, though, he had no doubt whatsoever. He felt it in his core, their intrinsic bond, subtle yet strong. The girl was his own.
"My lord, I have reports of two separate explosions in an another wing of the base."
Vader turned to Roth. "This is a diversion," he said. "They are attempting to mask their true goal."
The comlink in the colonel's hand buzzed. "Yes?" he said.
"Is Lord Vader with you?" a tinny voice asked.
"He is," Roth confirmed. "Do you have a report?"
"It's his shuttle," the voice said. "It's been stolen."
"Stolen?" Vader echoed.
"It's leaving the hangar bay now."
"The girl," Vader said. "The Rebels are abducting her."
"Rebels?" Roth asked. "What Rebels?"
Vader did not answer. He was running back to the shuttle. How foolish of him to leave her! She never should have left his side. He activated the comlink on his chest panel and spoke.
"Admiral Wilkins, this is Vader."
An unfamiliar voice replied. "Commodore Brannigan reporting."
"Who is this?" Vader asked.
"Acting Commander of the Prerogative, my lord. Admiral Wilkins is dead."
"Dead?"
"Uh… yes, sir. You killed him, remember?"
That's right. He forgot he had done that. It seemed a lot had slipped his mind when he discovered the girl.
"My shuttle is attempting to leave the system," Vader said. "I want you to prevent it from escaping."
"Your shuttle, my lord?"
"I am not aboard. But do not open fire on it. I repeat: do not open fire. If I learn so much as a single turbolaser was fired, you will end up like Admiral Wilkins. Do I make myself clear, Commodore?"
"Yes, my lord," Brannigan said.
"The cargo aboard that ship is vital to the Empire," Vader said. "It cannot be damaged."
Vader deactivated the comlink. He arrived at the spot where his shuttle was once parked. The two stormtroopers he had left to protect the girl were strewn on the ground, a blaster mark on their breastplates. Vader kicked one of the bodies. Useless.
"My lord!"
Roth came running after him.
"Fighters have been deployed from the aft hanger bay."
"In pursuit of the stolen shuttle?" Vader asked.
"No, my lord. They weren't authorized to depart."
"What?"
"I believe they are attempting to assist Cadet Appenza's escape."
"Escape? She is not escaping. She has been abducted!"
Roth nodded hastily. "Yes, my lord. Forgive me, my lord."
"Deploy any fighters you have available," Vader ordered. "I want those Rebels shot out of the sky."
"But my lord –"
"Do not defy me, Colonel."
Vader understood Roth's hesitation. Those Rebel mutineers were his students. He did not want to see them killed.
"They are your enemies now," Vader said. "Mercy will be considered tantamount to treason. Is that understood?"
"Yes, my lord," Roth said faintly.
"Good." Vader turned away from Roth and activated his comlink. "Come in, Commodore."
"We have a visual on the shuttle, my lord. Permission to neutralize with Ion cannon when it comes into range?"
"Permission granted. You are about to encounter some enemy resistance."
"What enemy, my lord?"
"Rebels. Defected students from the academy. They are flying stolen TIEs."
"Understood, my lord. Deploying fighter wings now."
"Take me to the observation deck," Vader said to Roth.
"Yes, my lord."
The observation deck granted them an unimpaired view of the unfolding developments. Vader saw the shuttle, a mere speck in the sky. It would not be able to make the jump to hyperspace until it escaped Palaam's gravity. It would be there soon. A few arcminutes away in the sky was the Prerogative, the Star Destroyer he had commandeered for this journey. A deluge of two dozen fighters coursed from the Prerogative's hangars to intercept the shuttle. Six identically designed TIEs surged to meet them. It was a futile endeavor. These Rebels would be destroyed. But surely they knew that. All they wanted was to delay long enough for the shuttle to escape.
"Your students are willing to die, Colonel Roth," Vader said. "They were indoctrinated under your watch."
"I don't understand, my lord," Roth said. "My students couldn't possibly –"
Vader held up a hand. "You are responsible, Colonel. For that, you will pay." He closed his fist.
"My… my lord," Roth said, his voice strangled.
"The Rebels want to take my daughter from me," Vader growled. "You are to blame, Colonel Roth."
Just as he said it, the shuttle disappeared, two blue streaks all that remained in the sky. The Prerogative had been unable to make a clean shot with the Rebel fighters in the way. Even as they were shot down by the enemy fighters, the Rebels were victorious.
"You are to blame," he said again. Tightening his fist, he heard the colonel's neck snap. He fell to the ground with a thud.
"My lord?" the commodore said over the com. "My lord, the shuttle has escaped."
"I see that, Commodore."
"We were unable to –"
Vader clenched his other fist. The man was silenced. "You failed me, Commodore. You failed me."
He listened as the commodore suffocated. When he was dead, Vader deactivated the comlink. Trembling, he drew his lightsaber.
"Failure," he said to no one in particular, "will not be tolerated."
With that, he snapped. Screaming, he slashed the red blade at Roth's corpse. Hack after hack, roar after roar. Unmitigated fury, unparalleled darkness; the Force itself trembled before his wrath.
She was out of his reach now.
But he would find her. Nothing would stand in his way.
His daughter belonged to him.
