Chapter 6

Vader was furious as he flew his crippled TIE advanced back to the Executor, the gargantuan Super Star Destroyer that was the flagship of his Death Squadron, it had been dwarfed only by the Death Star. As it stood now, it was the largest and most powerful ship in the Imperial Navy. The death, destruction and chaos Vader felt in the force was almost overwhelming. He had no idea as to the location of his son, only that he was sure he was still alive, or at least he was certain that should he have died he would have felt it in the force.

Approaching one of the many hangar bays he sent a message to Admiral Ozzel to prepare for his arrival. Flying through the atmospheric shield he landed the TIE with a thunk, the damaged wing did not help for landing.

Admiral Ozzel was waiting for him along with a small squadron of Storm Troopers. The display was one of calm and order, but Vader could sense the tension and confusion underneath.

'Greetings Lord Vader,' said Ozzel nervously, making his bow extra deep this time. Given what had just happened he feared Vader was as likely to try to kill him as to greet him.

'Admiral Ozzel, have the Death Squad been given the order to regroup?'

'Yes my Lord, all craft are on their way' replied Ozzel.

'What of my son, has he been in contact?'

'We have had no communication from His highness my Lord. The Interceptor is on its was here, it has been delayed due to waiting for returning members of Black Squadron.'

'Send a message to the Interceptor, I want all members of Black Squadron re-directed here. All pilots are to be questioned as to the failure of their mission and to the whereabouts of my son. The Emperor has requested I contact him, he is most displeased with today's events, ready my chamber.'

'Yes my Lord,' said Ozzel, he turned to leave with a bow but Vader pulled him back.

'And when Black Squadron arrives inform me immediately, I will question them all personally Admiral,'

'Of course my Lord,' said Ozzel, and may the force help them, he thought as he hurried back to the bridge. Vader was not known for his mercy.

….

Han and the medic arrived back to a base in chaos. Celebrations had been put on hold to deal with the injured personnel and to bolster defences. They had succeeded but not without great loss. General Dodonna, Leia and the Senators had already been in contact with Mon Mothma to decide on a new location for the base. They had concluded that it was best for now to keep moving until they could find a suitable planet or moon. They could not stay here now the Empire knew where they were. The injured would be stabilised and transferred to the medical frigate Redemption, it was already on its way with the rest of the Rebel fleet, having been kept at a safe distance. Any craft and weapons that could be salvaged would be loaded onto transports and taken to join the other ships. The Rebel fleet was a hodge podge of crafts of varying sizes, they did not have the luxury, or the credits, for a dedicated yard to build vessels, they had to take what they could.

'Han!, over here, quickly,' shouted Leia, spotting the medic and Han trying to get through the myriad of people.

They hurried over to Leia with their patient who, having had needed a second needle decompression, was doing a particularly good job of trying to die.

'I've informed the medical team and set aside a cubicle, lets try and keep this quiet, we don't want this getting around just yet. Strictly on a need to know basis,' said Leia.

'Agreed,' huffed Han as they pushed the stretcher into the field hospital, there were more than a few on the base who would quite happily have let the Prince die on the ground by his wrecked x-wing.

Inside the hospital medics, nurses and droids hurried about tending to the wounded. They were mostly ground crew, with the odd pilot that had crashed or been shot down by Black Squadron. There were screams and cries from the wounded interspaced with shouts for this and that from the medics. Blood was spattered about the floor, attempts to mop it up where in vain against the steady flow of patients being brought in. Over in a corner was a small but growing line of stretchers, their occupants draped in black sheets. The true picture of war thought Han. Their patient was transferred to a bed and medics set to work. Chewie stood guard outside the door with his crossbow with orders not to let anyone in, his mere size was enough to put most people off. After cleaning himself up as best he could Han joined Leia and General Dodonna in a secluded meeting room whilst the medics worked on Luke. Assuming the Prince survived, what in the Galaxy where they going to do with him?

…..

'Lieutenant Nadir, I am sure you are aware to why you are here?' questioned Darth Vader.

'Yes my Lord,' replied Deek, 'You wish to know why our mission failed'

Deek had been brought to the detention level of the Executor shortly after his arrival onboard. He was terrified but trying his best to hide it. Luke was usually the one to debrief, if you could call it that, Lord Vader on all their missions. It was more like an interrogation. On his way here he had seen two stormtroopers dragging the unconscious form of Tanner, black 14, along the corridor to another cell.

Deek was sat in a steel chair in the middle of the dimly lit, windowless room. Darth Vader stood towering over him; an IT-O interrogation droid hovered in the corner. Luke had often told him of what his Father would do to him when he had failed or not exactly followed orders to get the mission done. Deek was praying he was not going to be the new fall guy in Luke's absence, without Luke the squad were getting the full force of Vader's wrath.

'The leading pilots have already provided the answer to that, what I want from you is to know happened to my son? Where is the Prince?'

'Well, my Lord, after we received the news the Death Star had been destroyed Luke, I mean Lord Skywalker, ordered the squad back to the Interceptor, but he stayed behind to do more damage to the Rebel base and their defences,' replied Deek glancing up at Vader.

'So you left your Prince, wingman and friend, and fled back to the Interceptor?' Vader asked, putting particular emphasis on the work friend.

'No my Lord no!' panicked Deek, 'I offered to stay with Lord Skywalker but he ordered me back, I wouldn't have left him otherwise.'

'And then?' asked Vader.

'I was returning to the Interceptor when I tried to open a com to Lu.. ,Lord Skywalker, but I got no response, I kept trying but nothing. I feared he had been shot down or crashed, I was about to request permission to return to Yavin 4 but was ordered here my Lord,' said Deek hyperventilating.

Vader was silent but for the sound of his respirator. He knew his son was alive, and given the lack of contact with him both via their connection in the force and via his x-wing, what Deek was saying seemed likely.

'You have been most helpful Lieutenant Nadir, you may go' said Vader, he made a motion with his hand and the door to the cell unlocked. Deek stood to go when he felt an invisible hand around his neck, closing just enough to make his breath catch. 'But you are to remain on the Executor, I may need your assistance again,' said Vader. Deek nodded as much as he could, he certainly could not speak. With that Vader released him and he hurried out the door.

'Anymore pilots you wish me to bring for questioning my Lord?,' asked the officer in charge of the detention centre.

'No, the conscious members of Black Squadron may return to the Interceptor, except for Lieutenant Nadir. The rest will remain here. I need to contact the Emperor now I have the information I need, you are dismissed' replied Vader. The officer bowed his head and left to return to his duties.

Darth Vader headed to his personal holo deck where he could contact the Emperor in private before having some much-needed time in his meditation chamber. He had not yet had time to use it to recover from the hit he had taken in his TIE during the battle. Cape billowing behind him he strode along the corridors, officers and personnel bowing their heads as he passed them. A strange feeling of concern for his son was growing in him. Luke had gone missing before but he'd always been able to contact him through the force, this time it was different. Their relationship was not a typical father son one, it was practical, political, militant even. So this feeling was a new one, Vader knew to bury it deep down before contacting the Emperor, concern for another was not the way of the Sith, even if it was for ones own child.

….

Han sat at the circular table in the meeting room sipping on a cup of kaf, what he would not give to slip some Correlian brandy in there. Leia sat to his right with General Dodonna opposite, Mon Mothma appeared via the screen at the head of the table. There was a knock on the door and Wedge popped his head through.

'Mind if I join you?' he asked.

'You are most welcome Captain Antilles, please be seated,' replied Mon Mothma. Wedge grabbed a cup of kaf for himself and sat down next to Dodonna.

'Thank you all for attending, I know you are all exhausted and in need of rest, but we have important matters to discuss. I can unfortunately confirm that shortly before the battle Emperor Palpatine disbanded the Imperial Senate as we feared he would do. All former prerogatives have been given to the regional Imperial governors and military. We have dealt a blow to the Empire but their numbers are still great and their influence extends even into the outer rim. Our spies tell us the Imperial fleet is already regrouping. The most urgent priorities are to locate a new base and to decide what to do….'

Mon Mothma was interrupted by another knock on the door, 'Come in.'

The Chief Medical officer entered with 2-1B, the bases' surgical droid.

'We have an update on the Prince, Mon Mothma,' said the Medic.

'I'm sorry who?' asked Wedge aghast, almost afraid to get his suspicions confirmed.

'Luke Skywalker, the Imperial Prince,' answered Dodonna.

'Chewie and I saw an x-wing crash when we were out looking for survivors. When we got to the crash site, we found the Prince, injured but alive. We brought him here for treatment,' answered Han.

'You did what ?!' shouted Wedge rising from his chair, 'You should have let that piece of bantha shit die, and you,' he continued pointing to 2-1B and the medic, 'why are you treating him now? We barely have enough supplies on this base to treat our own wounded let alone to treat some Imperial scum!'

'Captain Antillies you have been invited into this meeting and made privy to this information out of respect for your recent heroic actions, you will keep everything you hear in this room to yourself,' said Mon Mothma calmly but firmly, 'as for the decision as to whether to treat the Prince this was not up for discussion, the Alliance does not simply leave people to die.'

'It would have been highly immoral to leave the Prince to die Captain,' added 2-1B. The droid was programmed with an overwhelming directive – to heal any living being no matter who they might be.

'He would have left anyone of us to die given a chance!'

'That may be the case,' said Leia, 'I know you lost loved ones at Teralov, you have a right to be angry, but the Alliance will not stoop to that level. Now kindly take your seat Wedge.' It was not a request, Leia was a Princess and a diplomat, she had a talent for dealing with conflict. Wedge hesitated only for a moment before sitting down, if he left now there would be no way he'd be let back in. And the last thing he wanted to do was incur the wrath of Princess Leia.

'Please continue Officer,' said Mon Mothma.

'Thank you,' the Medic said, letting out a breath he had not realised he was holding. 'The Prince sustained a number of injuries the most serious of which is a collapsed lung that was putting pressure on his heart and other lung. Emergency treatment in the field saved his life and we have inserted a chest drain, he is stable and out of immediate danger for the time being. He will need surgery to his chest to repair the damage once and for all, I recommend we get him to the Redemption as soon as we can. He has also sustained a head injury, multiple rib fractures, lacerations to his chest, arms and legs, as well as extensive bruising. We have also given him blood and addressed some of the more serious lacerations. For now, we are keeping him sedated and I recommend we do so until he has had definitive treatment.'

'And in a detention cell,' added Wedge.

'Thank you, Officer,' said General Dodonna, ignoring Wedge for the time being, 'Captain Solo, I wonder if we could ask you to stay and help a while longer. I think it may be best if we could use the Millennium Falcon to transport the Prince to the Redemption, putting him on a transport with the other injured personnel would risk exposure.'

'Sure, why not,' said Han, 'I think I'm in this deep enough now.'

'We'll send a nurse along with you in case the Prince should need anything and to monitor the sedation, he seems to burn through the drugs twice as fast as most of the patients,' informed the Medic.

'I'm with you to,' said Leia.

'No, absolutely not,' replied Han, 'The kid comes here to capture you, fails and you want to walk right back to him?'

'Diplomacy as well as brawn are going to be needed when he wakes and I'm much better at the former than you,' retorted Leia.

'The Princess has a point Han, Leia will accompany you and keep in contact with us when he wakes,' ordered Mon Mothma.

'Fine, but for the record, I think this is a terrible idea,' said Han.

'The whole thing is a terrible idea,' said Wedge.

'Captain Antillies the Prince will be fully questioned on his past crimes and held accountable no matter what he does or does not tell us,' replied Mon Mothma, 'Now we must act with speed, Medic please get the Prince ready for transfer, Captain Solo if you can prepare you ship to leave and Wedge please go and get some rest. Thank you for attending everyone and a reminder, not a word to anyone.' The transmission ended and everyone rose to leave.

'Sir, Princess, it will take a few moments to get the Prince ready for transfer, we will bring him aboard the Falcon shortly with Chewbacca,' informed 2-1B.

'Thank you,' said Leia,' I'll find the droids Han, you go get the ship ready.'

'Yes your Highnessness,' smiled Han as he left.