Chapter 2 - Contemplations
The doors to the meeting room opened and Vader strode in. Governor Tarkin was standing beside the huge table next to his seat at the head. The dark lord was annoyed that the man had ordered him to deliver his report of the incident right now. He would have preferred to deal with the captured boy, but the sooner he gave the report of the situation the sooner he could leave.
"What happened Vader?" The Grand Moff demanded, holding his hands behind his back.
Vader remained where he stood in front of the closed door. "It seems that the ship which was brought on board wasn't empty. A small band of rebels were hidden on board, they then disguised themselves as troopers and managed to save the princess from the detention level and escape the station."
Tarkin's lips thinned. "Impossible! What about the tractor beam?! Wasn't it supposed to remain operative at all times so as to prevent any prisoners escaping this station?"
"It was deactivated. I have no doubt it was Obi-Wan's doing."
"And what of Master Kenobi? Did he escape with them?"
Vader's helmeted head rose up. "No, Obi-Wan Kenobi is dead. I destroyed him."
Tarkin nodded once in recognition, but for a few seconds the two men exchanged no words, Vader's respirator was the only sound that could be heard in the room.
Finally, Tarkin asked, "So how did the other rebels' escape our men?"
"The troopers caught them in shoot out down in the hanger bay. One of the rebels managed to seal the doors before I could enter, so I ordered for reinforcements to cut them off on the opposite end of the hanger. They attacked the ship with detonators. However, the ship had lifted off the ground and was blown out of the bay from the first blast with the rebels on board."
With a cold scowl Tarkin stared down at the dark polished table. He clenched his fist so tight that the knuckles whitened as though they would break the skin. "It would appear that Kenobi's death was all that was accomplished."
"I disagree."
Tarkin's head snapped up. "Why do you say so, Vader?"
Vader took a few steps further into the room and hooked his gloved hands into his belt. "Because I ordered to have a hidden tracker placed on board the rebel ship. Wherever they go, we shall know where."
A cold wicked smile crossed the Grand Moff's face. "Normally I would protest against just letting them go for this reason. I would have preferred apprehending the droid which had been carrying the plans."
"Even if we did manage to contain the droid in question, I believe by now the rebels might have already duplicated the plans and sent the original to the base, and the ones inside the droid would be nothing but pointless decoys."
Tarkin nodded once and turned to face the wall off to the side. "You might be right Vader; our enemies may be smarter than we thought. However, if this tracker plan of yours leads us to the hidden rebel base, we can finally achieve everything in one day, extinguish our enemies, and all that remains of them into nothing but ashes and memories."
Vader allowed two breaths to pass before he said, "That is not all."
The grey-haired man turned back to face the black mask in question. "During the explosion in the hanger bay, one of the rebels was blasted away from the ship and has been taken into custody."
The governor's cold blue eyes narrowed slightly, and then reflected strong interest. "And what of this rebel, Vader? Who are they?"
For a brief second, Vader considered revealing the third lightsaber which was hidden under his cape on his belt next to Kenobi's and his own. However, he decided to keep that information classified for now. He was wasting precious time in which he could be questioning the rebel. Showing Tarkin the saber would most likely make him demand more information of the Dark Lord, especially if he recognized the saber himself. Wilhuff Tarkin had known the Jedi during the old Republic, but that was not a subject he wished to bring up right now, not when there were more important matters to deal with.
"He's just a boy. I do not yet know his identity as he was knocked out by the explosion. Once he has awoken, I shall question him myself and find out all he knows."
Tarkin nodded again. "Well then, even if your tracking plan fails, we may yet gain the information we seek anyway. Hopefully this boy won't be as resistant as the foolish princess was."
Inwardly, Vader did not completely agree with him. The princess's resistance to the mind probe droid had been most unexpected for a girl of her petite physique. Vader would not have assumed such strength from one so small and vulnerable. The probes usually always succeeded in their functions and caused even the strongest of men to break and surrender the information they hid. All for the sake of the victims escaping the excruciating pain and agonizing torment which the droid bought upon them.
"Use any means necessary to extract information from the boy. If it turns out he is just as resistant as the princess, report back to me immediately, and we shall decide what is to be done with him."
The Dark Lord made no response to Tarkin. Instead, he just turned, left the meeting room and headed off down the corridor.
When he made it to a turbo lift, he reached under his cape and gripped his gloved cybernetic hand over the hilt of the lightsaber which felt so familiar. He entered the lift as the doors opened and immediately ascended to the floor where his office was. His mind was racing with questions about this boy. There was something about him which he did not understand. Something which seemed abnormal. Whatever it was he was going to find out.
Author's Notes
Hi there, thank you to those of you who responded to the previous chapter. Since you wanted more, I decided to post the second one sooner than I planned. I know it's short, but I had already written it and I wanted to give you something more to read. The next chapter is where I think things will start to get interesting. So, keep your eyes out for it. And please leave me your reviews if you can.
Kind Regards and "May The Force Be With You"
LouisaJane007
