Thank you for continuing to read my story. I can find no mention of the name of the person who Commands the Redemption, only that she is female. I've given her a name and character fitting what I think the Commander of a ship capable of both battle and healing should be like. Hope you like this chapter. Things are continuing to heat up now.
Chapter 9
'Please do enlighten me as to how you managed to not only let the Ambassador for Mon Cala escape but why you thought it wise to kill the two defectors instead of bringing them back here as ordered?' asked Vader.
'Well I did bring them back,' replied Luke, 'Just not really in the condition that was asked, and I only killed one of them,' he added, looking at the bodies in between himself and his father. Two human males lay very much dead on the throne room floor in between Vader and himself. The Emperor was seated on his throne at the end of the room, having been listening to the two argue for some time, he was growing increasingly impatient at Vader's lack of discipline towards his son.
The TIE pilot and stormtrooper had defected six months ago and had been passing information onto those systems that supported the Alliance. Intelligence had tracked them to Kashyyyk where they had been meeting the Mon Cala Ambassador and other sympathises. Truth be told Luke was not entirely to blame for the complete mess that was the mission. He had succeeded in capturing the Ambassador and the squad had rounded up the two defectors. Luke had been waiting on his shuttle with Deek and the Ambassador when the Wookies attacked, he left to help the squad who where being overwhelmed. Whilst he was gone the Wookies smashed up the shuttle helping the Ambassador to escape with them, Deek had fled for his life, he was no match on his own against the Wookies. In the skirmish one of the defectors then pulled a blaster to Deeks head and Luke had quickly finished him off, he was not having his friend killed at the hands of a traitor. The other was killed in the cross fire.
'Did you at least gain any information from these men? How can I interrogate corpses!' roared Vader.
Luke just shook his head and was about to reply when the Emperor spoke first.
'Your continued inability to follow my orders is not in keeping with your development as a Sith my child,' said the Emperor.
'I accept full responsibility for the failure of the mission and apologise my Master,' he said kneeling and bowing his head, 'my squad were acting under my orders and should not face punishment for my mistake.'
'Get up!' ordered Vader as he approached. Luke stood and straightened himself preparing for what was to come, he knew better than to resist. A vicious backhand slap to his face, with the power of both the force and Vaders robotic arm sent him sprawling across the floor. Dazed he pushed himself to his knees and wiped the blood away from his mouth with his hand, he was fairly sure his cheek bone was broken to. Holding the side of his face he stood to face Vader. A snap-hiss and Vaders red blade was between the two of them.
'No, not this time Lord Vader, whilst I always enjoy watching you discipline your son, I feel your usual methods aren't working. Let me handle this,' said the Emperor, he had approached from his throne whilst Luke had been getting himself up from the floor. Without warning and given no time to prepare himself, not that he could, the Emperor released a blast of force lightening at Luke sending him once again flying backwards and landing hard on the floor. Stunned and winded he tried to get up, but once again the blinding lightening tore through his body, his world a mass of white light and pain.
…
Waking in a haze, the bright lights in the room hurt his eyes and he struggled to open them. Where was he and what had happened? He remembered being attacked by the Emperor but this didn't seem right, no, that was in the past, what was going on now? Closing his eyes against the light he delved deep into his mind and tried to remember, it made his head ache.
It began to come back to him, the attack on Yavin 4, the Death Stars destruction, along with the million or so personnel aboard. But what of the Rebel Base, what had happened to that, he could not remember anything after the Death Star blew. And where was Deek, what had happened to him? And more to that he thought looking around, where in the galaxy am I? Looking around, his eyes becoming more focused to the light, it all looked very clinical. A medical facility, but not the one on the Executor or his own Interceptor, he was far too familiar with them not to recognise them immediately. He looked down at himself, he was lying on a soft bed within an alcove, a white blanket covered his legs and bare chest. He was in his own room, alone but with the feeling of being watched. The familiar smell of bacta filled his nose and judging by how much he ached, he must have sustained a decent number of injuries. An IV was in his right arm and a pump whirred away delivering goodness knows what into his veins. He knew better than to try and remove it though, that would create quite the mess.
Slowly he tried to sit up, the blanket slid down from his chest revealing faint silvery scars, and plenty of them. Under the blanket he wore a light-coloured pair of loose linen trousers. His head span a little and he took a deep breath trying to steady himself, immediately regretting it as a sharp pain shot through his right side. Healing rib fractures he thought, a familiar pain. Slowly turning to the side, he sat up and put his feet on the floor. Cautiously pushing with his arms Luke stood, grabbing onto the drip stand for support. Wheeling the stand along he shuffled to the window and looked out, stars and the blackness of space, no clue to where he was. Turning round he headed to the door and pressed the switch on the control panel that should have opened it, but nothing happened. Why would he be locked in?
It dawned on him, of course, he had been on Yavin 4 when the Death Star was destroyed, the location of the Rebel base. If he had crashed there, he must have been found by the Alliance, but why would they treat him? He tried to reach out to his Father through the force but he didn't seem able to, it just made his head spin. He still felt the familiar dark presence of the force flowing through him, he just could not seem to bring it to bear. There was a small fresher room next to the bed, negotiating his way round the room with the drip stand he reached the sink and splashed his face with cold water. Looking in the mirror above the sink he realised how tired and worn he looked, he also saw the scar that went across his forehead and disappeared into his hairline. I must have hit my head hard if I'm struggling to control the force he thought. Hopefully once he had recovered from the concussion his abilities would come back, a simple healing trance should help, surely he could muster enough of the force to do that.
Going back to the bed he laid back down, grateful for how soft it was. Setting the drip stand back he reached down and pulled the blanket up. Clearly no one was coming to check on him now he was awake, and anyway he could not face a ship full of Rebels in his current state. Taking some slow breaths, he sunk deep into the force and allowed it to wrap itself around him, flowing through his body, finding the sore spots still in need of repair. Focusing on his head and mind, he fell into a deep sleep.
…
Darth Vader arrived back on the Executor, pleased with the success of the mission and anxious to find the Rebel fleet. What was left of the Rebels and their base on Yavin 4 had been destroyed. His probe of the Generals mind revealed his son had been sent to the Rebel fleets medical frigate the Redemption. Captain Piett and a small guard of Stormtroopers were waiting for him as he strode down the ramp of his shuttle.
'Greetings Lord Vader, my congratulations on your success,' said Captain Piett.
'We have gained a small victory, but this is nothing in comparison to what the Rebel scum did to us. We must locate their fleet immediately, inform Admiral Ozzell, put all your efforts into finding it Captain,' ordered Vader.
'Yes my Lord, right away,' replied Piett, and he hurried off back to the bridge. The less time one spent in Vader's presence the longer one was likely to live.
…
A knock on the door stirred Leia from her thoughts. Opening it she found Han and Nea waiting for her.
'He woke up,' said Han,' Nea was on watch and the whole thing is recorded if you want to see.'
'Of course I want to see,' replied Leia hurrying out of her room and keying the pad to close the door behind her, 'what did he say, what happened, did he try anything?'
'Hey slow down Princess give the girl a chance,' said Han.
Nea smiled coyly, gesturing for them to follow her, 'If you'll follow me your Highness I can show yourself and Captain Solo the footage, I was about to go in to check his IV when he got up.'
The small party headed to the turbolift, leaving the passenger level and going up to patients rooms above the surgical suite and intensive care units. Nea headed to the nurses office and brought up the view screen giving a live feed to the Princes room.
'He's asleep?' asked Leia.
'I'm not sure,' replied Nea, 'he looks like it, but his observations are strange,' she said bringing up the recent footage. They watched the few minutes of video, the Prince moving stiffly and slowly around the room.
'What do you mean strange?' asked Leia.
'Before he woke his heart rate was 90 and respiratory rate 16 which are the higher end of normal, not unusual when someone has sustained such injuries. But since he went back to sleep both rates are very low, 30 and 8 respectively,' said Nea.
'Probably something to do with that hokey religion of his,' jibed Han.
'If that's the case then we need to be careful Han,' said Leia, 'where are his weapons?'
'He only had that ancient light sword thing on him, no blaster or anything. Chewie keeps it safe on the Falcon, no one is going to dare try and take something from a Wookie,' said Han.
Leia was not sure what to do for the best, she half thought about going in and holding his hand again, her curiosity had been roused since what happened on the Falcon. Her Father had taught her a little about the Jedi and the Sith, mostly through stories and legends. She had been keen to know more but her Father was never very forthcoming, pressing the subject only seemed to upset him so she had to remain content with just her bedtime stories. He had talked most about Ben Kenobi and how he had served during the Clone Wars, she had been looking forward to meeting him and finding out more, but their time together had been cut far too short.
'Hey you listening Princess?!' asked Han,
Leia deduced from his tone he must have been trying to get her attention for a while, 'Sorry Han, I was just thinking about something my Father said. In his stories about the Jedi he would often mention how they would enter a healing trace if they were injured in battle, this could be what we are seeing here. He will be back to full strength when he wakes again.'
'We could just wake him now,' suggested Han.
'I had considered that Captain Solo but I feared it would only anger him and delay the inevitable healing process,' said Nea.
'Indeed,' agreed Leia, 'we need him to co-operate.'
'Yeah well lets make sure his welcome party has a few good blasters ready,' replied Han , 'and we'll have Chewie to.'
'Nea please inform us right away when he wakes, do not go in there by yourself once he does. Who is on guard duty?' asked Leia.
'Yes your Highness,' replied Nea, 'and its one of the soldiers at the door, he is armed.'
'Thanks Nea,' said Han as he and Leia left the small office, 'I'm going to the bridge,' said Leia, 'Mon Mothma has requested I contact her again.'
'Sure, Chewie is working on the Falcon, I'm going to make sure he's not taking her apart. Let me know when the kids up again, no more wandering off to see him on your own,' said Han.
'I'll be sure to keep you updated,' she replied heading off, honestly who did that nerf herder think he was. She took the turbolift down to the bridge and greeted the Commanding Officer. Commander Cali Inara was a formidable woman who had steered the Redemption to victory in many battles, whilst also maintaining the safety of its patients and the ships 98% survival rate for any injury and species.
'Hello your Highness, I trust everything is going well with our special guest?' asked the Cali.
'Yes Commander, he has entered what we think to be some sort of healing trance and wait for him to awaken. I wonder whether we may have some privacy to contact Mon Mothma?' asked Leia.
'Certainly, clear the bridge, go take a break!" ordered Cali. The half dozen or so crew members immediately obeyed and left, leaving the two women alone. The Commander opened a channel to Mon Mothma and she swiftly appeared on the screen.
'Hello Mon Mothma,' said Leia, 'Have you had come to a decision yet regarding the Prince, he is likely to recover fully very soon.' Earlier, shortly after the Prince had been taken out the Bacta tank she had broached the idea of somehow using Luke against the Emperor. Like Han, the Alliance high command had seen her idea as foolishly hopeful and overruled in favour of a full trial with likely death sentence, but Mon Mothma had shown some signs of agreeing with her.
'With the recent developments from our spies I feel the Prince could be persuaded but it will be very risky,' said Mon Mothma, 'it is likely he will act with anger and what he will do under such circumstances I dread to think, given what we know he is capable of. When you do confront him with this idea, I suggest you take extra security.'
'We have many soldiers ready at the Princesses disposal Mon Mothma, I will personally be responsible for her safety,' said Cali.
'Thank you Commander, I know this hasn't been easy keeping the situation with the Prince quiet, we are very grateful for your expert handling of the situation, 'said Mon Mothma.
'I will take Captain Solo with me as well, we never know it may help for him to see his rescuer,' said Leia, 'that and he is likely to blow a gasket if I go without him.'
'Indeed Leia,' said Mon Mothma, 'and keep me informed of all developments. Act with caution but swiftly, we have received word General Dodonna has been killed at the hands of Vader. It is therefore assumed he knows where the Prince is and is on his way. Commander we have sent you co-ordinates for the hyperspace jumps, may the force be with you,' she said ending the transmission.
'If Vader is soon to be on his way with the Death Squadron we don't have much time, I need to speak with our spies and get to it,' said Leia.
'I'll ready your security team,' said Cali, she ordered the bridge crew back and the two of them headed off, everything depending on them.
….
Darth Vader knelt on the pad in his quarters waiting for the Emperor, he had managed to spend some time in his meditation pod but was still unable to contact his son, perhaps his Master had the answer.
'Greetings Lord Vader, I sense your recent mission went well to find young Skywalker,' came the Emperors voice from the holo.
'Yes my Master. What was left of the base on Yavin 4 is now gone, along with the few Rebel scum that remained. I personally interrogated their General and discovered my son is alive and has been taken to the Rebel Medical Frigate, I have given orders to find the fleet immediately,' said Vader.
'Yes, Good,' said the Emperor long and slow. That always meant he was musing over something thought Vader. 'But I sense a disturbance in the force, I feel it surrounds your son, but I am unable to foresee its conclusion. There is even more motion than usual around your son and his future.'
Vader knew the Emperor had a general dislike for his son, he did not feel he was as devoted to the Sith way as he should be. Vader disagreed, his son was a Sith and strong in the dark side. Luke did have a knack for not always following orders, and the Emperor did not take kindly to being disobeyed by anyone. And as admirable as Luke's temper was, he was quick to anger and lash out, he had on occasion shown a shred of compassion for the odd few.
'I have not been able to contact my son having tried many times my Master, I believe he must be unconscious, maybe this is the reason the force is clouded around him?' asked Vader.
'Hmmmm perhaps, and yet I am disturbed by this. I have decided to come to the Executor Lord Vader, I will personally see to it that the Rebel fleet is discovered, and your son recovered swiftly,' with that the Emperor ended the transmission. Vader rose slowly and made his way to the view screen in-front of his meditation pod. The Emperor coming meant Luke would be in for serious punishment when he was recovered, he would give no consideration to any circumstances, Luke would be entirely to blame for his failure and the destruction of the Death Star. Vader slammed his fist down on the console with anger, smashing the glass and destroying a control panel.
'Admiral Ozzell, the Emperor is unhappy with the progress you are making in finding the Rebel fleet,' said Vader.
'My Lord, we are trying…..' he began to gasp and choke, grabbing at his neck in a desperately vain and fruitless attempt to breath. Captain Piett dithered between looking at him and the suddenly very interesting floor under his feet. A sickening crack sent the Admiral to the floor. Captain Piett came to the centre of the screen not daring to speak first.
'The Emperor will be arriving from Coruscant, it would be prudent to locate the fleet before his arrival, do not fail me Admiral Piett,' Vader ordered. The newly appointed Admiral Piett shuffled and squirmed and pulled at his collar in nervousness, watching as two Stormtroopers dragged the body of the former Admiral away.
