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Chapter Four: Per Angusta ad Augusta
- through difficulties to honors
Vader stood at the viewport of the bridge, his arms clasped behind his straight back. He had felt the Senator regain consciousness about an hour ago, and right now she was on her way to the bridge.
He exhaled his annoyance into the mask that was meant to supply just enough oxygen to keep his lungs stable. There were so many pressing matters to attend to, the last thing his men needed was to practically babysit a grown woman because the Emperor couldn't resist adding some dramatics in his plans to crush the Rebellion.
It was hardly a secret that Senator Amidala had at least some involvement with the Alliance, if nothing more. Surely she realized why she was here?
He had considered letting her rot in her chambers, she'd have enough entertainment, clothes and food to last for days. But Vader had observed her well enough to see her unfortunately vibrant nature. This woman was nothing but trouble and keeping her locked up would only result in more of that.
He felt her bright signature in the force nearing him now, already hushed conversations around him turning into low murmurs.
Padmé would be a fool to not notice the sudden change upon her arrival but her body language showed none of the suspicion she felt on the inside. Her walk was full of grace and confidence, accompanied by a straight back and raised chin.
It was nearly impossible to not spot the tall, dark clad figure at the far end of the bridge. TK-421 led her right to him, stopping at a more-than-respectable distance from the Dark Lord.
She turned to look at him questioningly, only receiving a shrug from his white armor in response, not moving an inch from his spot. "I ain't planning on dying, sweetness."
She stood at a distance of a good two swoop bikes from him. Sure, she could yell over to communicate with him but she already had more eyes on her than she felt comfortable with and the last thing she wanted was for them to hear every detail of their conversation.
Padmé rolled her eyes with a smile playing at her lips and stepped forward alone, amused to a slight shuffle behind her.
"Lord Vader." Only now that she got nearer she could make out his two piercingly yellow orbs from under the seemingly eternal darkness of his hood.
"Senator." he replied in his usual manner, dry. He hadn't bothered turning to face her even as she stood almost next to him but kept his eyes ahead towards space instead.
They stood in silence, a thickening tension hanging over the entire area if not just the two of them, she was certain. She was torn between letting him explain or start interrogating him, most likely risking the little safety she had with the latter. He must've sensed her feelings because he spoke up next.
"Finally awake, I see." came the drawl, full of sarcasm. Small talk, seriously?, she thought and fought hard to not clench her jaw.
"Oh, do you?" she attempted with some sarcasm of her own to equalize. No reply. Not that she had actually counted on one.
Her own hands came to rest behind her back in a similar manner to his own, deciding to play along and see where it leads the conversation. "I must admit I was rather surprised I woke up at all."
Did she sound petty? She couldn't care less, but Vader seemed more than amused.
For the first time since she arrived he physically acknowledged her and angled his body just enough to lean towards her.
Although his movements were slow, Padmé's first instinct almost had her step away and even push him from her but remembered that sudden movements around this deadly man weren't particularly wise. So, to avoid being severed by his lightsaber, she held still.
He took a step to the side and in her direction, their shoulders almost touching now. She tensed, eyes looking out the viewport just as he had done a moment ago, refusing to let his gaze pin her in place, too.
The next thing came rather unexpected; his hooded head stopped next to her ear, the very faint sound of his mask reaching her.
Her cheeks warmed at the proximity, the resentment and disgust towards him resurfacing. However, the disgust was starting to target herself too now - because along with these feelings she was surprised to find herself curious, even excited.
"If it was up to me, Senator," he breathed, so faintly that she held her own breath to hear him properly. "I would've squeezed the last wheeze out of that neck of yours the moment I saw you."
A shiver ran down her spine, her head snapping to her side. She was face to face with him now, her breath slightly hitting the black of his mask, allowing herself to exhale again.
Vader believed he had her, wide brown eyes full of fear and guard up. She would know better to remember her place. He meant what he said, no regrets. He did not regret. On the contrary, the Dark Side flared, fueled his need for fear and terror that he inspired. His work. The power he bathed in in his worst moments was intoxicating.
So when the Senator smiled in his face, his pride was hurt. All fear and resentment faded when her lips curved from a mere smile into a wicked, evil smile grin.
Vader straightened his back, the movement putting some space between them over again, brows knitted. Why was she smiling? Hadn't he just told her of his desire to make her suffer, to end her?
Although he felt his fist clench, he held her gaze leveled, an unspoken challenge birthed that neither of them took notice of.
"Welcome aboard the Executor, Milady." he spoke almost mockingly, watching as the change of topic and his demeanor made her expression morph back into her blasted Senator mask.
"And here I thought I'd never hear it from you." she pulled her gaze from his, growing uncomfortable under the cold stare and once again trained it onto the sight in front of her. "What is my purpose on your personal flagship, then? Military is not quite my area of expertise."
The moment she looked away, it broke. The tension filled bubble they unknowingly had created around themselves burst, noticing that the men around them had already returned to their tasks. TK awkwardly shuffled his feet, most likely wanting to be anywhere but here.
He dodged her question entirely, returning to his earlier posture as if nothing had happened. "Senator. Pray tell, what do you see?"
"Milord?"
"Tell me what you see." he repeated, irritation peeking through his tone for having questioned the simplest of things. Had it been Palpatine, she would be on the floor in bits and pieces.
Padmé furrowed her brows. Did he mean himself? This had to be a trick question, no doubt.
Her head turned to look at his profile, once again not acknowledging her in return other than through his words to her. "A tyrant, mass murderer. Is that what you wanted me to say?" Surely he took great pride in hearing it, anything to boost his ego.
He remained quiet, unfazed. Instead of a verbal response, she felt a gentle, invisible nudge against the side of her face, guiding it back to the front. He wasn't talking about himself, then.
Then it hit her. How could she miss it? She had been staring at the huge, metal celestial body for minutes now. Her mind was so guarded and alert to the monster next to her, she hadn't even realized what she was looking at.
The enormous, circular construction reminded her of a small moon. "A durasteel construction." she spoke, her uncertainty concealed in her voice. "A future...weapon, I assume?"
Her heartbeat sped up under her calm facade as she quickly connected the dots. It reminded her of the Trade Federation Battleship, only far grander, capable of worse. The structure alone was terrifying, despite not knowing what it was. Like a planet's skeleton. The death of worlds.
"Impressive." he said dryly, as if hearing her thoughts. To be fair, Padmé wouldn't be surprised if he had been listening to her thoughts all along. Unpleasant, but no surprise.
"Am I right, then? This is the Empire's future, the Galaxy's future? A moon sized weapon to terrorize your people with." she slowly crossed her arms, projecting her frustration into her grip.
Vader, too, moved his arm, only to summon a small object. The Force, she thought, mesmerized by the way the metal object was floating over his flat palm. Her moment only lasted until he spoke up again.
"You were correct about the durasteel."
That wasn't Vader's voice, she thought, puzzled. It was far more posh, a typical Core World accent. She turned, surprised to find the newly promoted Moff Wilhuff Tarkin standing next to the Sith.
She raised her brow, eyes flickering between the two men.
"Senator Amidala," he said, his face not hiding his disregard for her. "I'm rather surprised to see you here, alive."
The Emperor didn't tell him then, Vader thought, pleased. He saw Tarkin's hand reach out to take the miniature durasteel ball and summoned the Force around it. When Tarkin gripped it and tried to pull it close, it refused to move, resulting in him retrieving his hand.
To Vader's own satisfaction, he felt embarrassment and anger from the Moff at the subtle but meaningful power play. He'd be hearing about it later by the look on his face.
"Moff Tarkin. Aged like blue milk, haven't you." she replied smoothly, her expression smug. Score. Her amusement at the previous moment did not go unnoticed either.
"Charming, as always." he sneered, his chin raising as he looked down on her before shifting his attention to the other. "Vader, what is the meaning of this?"
The Supreme Commander cocked a brow under the hood at his tone, debating whether he should remind Tarkin of his place, especially since he was on his ship or save his little amount of dignity in front of the Senator.
Feeling generous, he decided on the latter. Tarkin's authority over the Senator should keep her in place, it could come in handy.
"I'm sure the Emperor will enlighten you soon enough, Grand Moff. For now, she is mine to deal with."
"Deal with?!" the Senator spoke up, her brows furrowed.
Now both men were looking at Padmé, who was busy trying to remind Darth Vader of her worth as a Senator and former Queen. If only Sola could see her right now.
"I'll have you know that you won't be dealing with anything, Lord Vader. You best know to—" she paused. TK-421 tensed behind her, taking a step back. The collar of her shirt began to feel tight, making it difficult to breathe.
Strange, fear had never stopped her from speaking her mind. Hell, she hadn't even experienced fear that practically choked her before.
Vader stood on the same spot, unmoving, even as her hand came up to pull the collar from her neck in order to breathe only to realize it didn't matter. It didn't matter because Vader didn't let her breathe.
"You best learn your place, Senator." he told her, releasing his force-grip on her throat painfully slowly, her sharp intakes of breath drawing the attention of the men close around them.
Chest heaving, she looked at him with anger in her brown eyes but acknowledged the threat, keeping silent. Her anger turned into fury upon seeing the disgusting smile that Tarkin wore. A score for him as well.
"Now," Vader began, dismissing the moment entirely and turned on his heel with his back to Tarkin, "I believe the Senator would like to see the Executor."
Padmé, too, turned without sparing Tarkin another glance, following the Sith Lord away from the Bridge.
"Even if looks could kill, Senator, I'd be unharmed." he told her without looking back, feeling her gaze burning holes in his back.
"Oh, powerful, aren't you Milord?" she spat, her anger still very present. He seemed to ignore her, something she started to notice he did a lot.
He led her through the flagship in silence after dismissing her guard, TK-421. Despite only having met him mere moments ago, being in the presence of Vader made her miss the Stormtrooper already.
"There," he spoke up, a gloved finger pointing towards the section to their left that lead to her quarters. "are the quarters. You may only enter yours, or else I will make your head a present to the Emperor." he added so casually, it made Padmé wonder even more if he was even human.
His movements, coldness, monotonous voice - nothing about him seemed human to Padmé, and the fact that he murdered in cold blood even seemed to further confirm her theory.
They had left the chambers behind and continued to walk to the other side where Padmé hadn't been yet. Not that she had been to a lot of places since she woke up. He showed her the way to several areas on the ship, still speaking as little as he could.
She tried to memorize the twists and turns, the way to the canteens and meeting rooms. And even after all the walk, she had only seen a small fraction of the enormous size of the Executor.
They seemed to approach another area filled with people from the noise she could make out. Vader's strides were long, much too fast for her to keep up with. When he slowed down she sighed out in relief.
I must've looked like I was holding in explosive diarrhea, she thought with a frown as she relaxed her back while walking, watching Vader turn his hooded head back only slightly as if in a questioning manner. Ah, yes. He heard.
The voices and - wait, yells? - became much louder now, and her eyes widened. "Where..." she trailed off as Vader took a turn into another hallway, a bright room at the far end of it. Vader watched with relief as the Senator was soon to be someone else's problem and he could return to his duty.
Stepping aside, Vader let Padmé step forward to look inside herself. She crossed her arms, clearly processing what she's seeing and trying to make sense of why he would bring her here. "You're not afraid of some blasters, are you, Senator?" he spoke from behind her.
In front of her was a huge room that reminded her of a deadly gymnasium, lit in a bright white and equipped with the newest technology in combat and blaster training. Troopers with their helmets off were busy in combat training, other squadrons she could not identify either doing target practice or simply taking a break from their exercises.
Vader stepped inside, his overwhelming presence sensed by every person in the room as everyone halted in their movements, even the blaster shot stopping midair.
She took a glance at the Sith, once again not seeing any signs of having used the Force to stop the shot from hitting its target. Did he do it with his mind?, she wondered, taking her gaze off him before the thousands of questions could come flowing in.
When she looked away she found many pairs of eyes on her instead. She returned their gaze, not fazed by the amount of people staring. She was a Senator, being the center of attention at times was part of her job.
The silence didn't last long because Vader thankfully spoke up, addressing the people in the room.
"As many of you recognize, this is Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo." he gestured towards her, his voice strained with annoyance. He should've let the new Captain in the corner deal with this instead. Vader remembered him to be more than competent.
"She is to stay here on the Executor for as long as the Emperor sees fit. Given her status," he paused, rethinking if he truly meant what he said. He was basically handing her over to the hounds of the flagship, what respect did he really have for her?
"She is to be treated accordingly. No harm is to be done by any hand...but my own."
Padmé's jaw clenched at the last part, feeling utterly violated in front of these people. Chin high, her mask was neutral and carefully guarded. Darth Vader underestimated her, and soon he'd know that, too.
"But she's a traitor!" one voice yelled outraged, anger written over the man's features.
Vader's hooded head moved to the direction where the man was standing and the next moment, he dropped to the ground with a loud snap!
"If there are no further questions... I believe I have expressed myself clearly enough." he said, eyes on the dead body on the floor. The tension in the room doubled, no one daring to speak up except for a chorus of "Yes, Milord".
Nodding, Vader dismissed them, watching as everyone returned to their activities, the blaster bolt hitting the center of the bullseye. "So... what now?" asked Padmé, a brow raised.
He could sense she was unnerved by the dead man lying in the corner and even more disturbed by the fact that no one made an effort to dispose of the body.
Vader waved the Captain over, watching the young man approach them with his fear hidden beneath a calm face. "Yes, Lord Vader."
"Captain Piett, I assign you to Senator Amidala for as long as we're onboard. I will not have the time to be around... for whatever it is that Politicians require."
It took all of Padmé's inner strength to not verbally lash out at the Sith, the force choke from earlier becoming a good reminder that he wasn't just anyone but Darth Vader, second only to the Emperor himself.
"Very well. Anything else, Milord?" he nodded, stealing a quick glance at Padmé, who was openly grinning at his nervousness.
"That will be all. Contact me only if necessary." he paused but then shook his head, turning on his heels to leave.
"Quite in a hurry, isn't he?" she mused, watching the Sith practically flee. He must either really hate just her or simply all of them. The latter wouldn't be as surprising as it sounds.
"I... suppose. He is, after all, a very busy man." she heard Piett reply, turning back to him to properly look at him. He didn't look much younger than Padmé, still quite young for a Captain. It was impressive, even while she despised the Empire and those who worked for it willingly, almost enthusiastically.
"That would be an understatement." she nodded, eventually holding out her hand. "Captain, is it? Quite the impressive title at a young age. Padmé Amidala, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Piett flushed slightly at the compliment, managing a small smile despite the discomfort he felt. As far as he was aware, Senator Amidala had ties to the Rebellion, a traitorous group of terrorists who threaten the Empire's safety.
Despite his torn feelings, he still had respect for her, her warm words softening his heart only further. He shook her hand. "Thank you, Milady. I am Firmus Piett, from Axxila."
From the topic of Axxila they easily started to converse with another, their initial awkwardness long gone, even sharing a laugh or two in between.
"There you are, Highness!"
Still chuckling, Padmé saw a Trooper approaching her, a faint smile still on her lips. "Hello, TK."
"Protocol, Trooper." Piett spoke, for the first time hearing the authority in his voice as he crossed his arms.
"Nonsense, Captain. Please, we're friends, aren't we?" Padmé asked, raising a brow. That seemed to put him more at ease, his body language however still radiating seriousness, only receiving a nod as a reply.
Padmé frowned. Perhaps 'friends' was a stretch but she liked the Trooper, and she was surprisingly comfortable with the amount of amusing nicknames he had for her. "Well. Good. Because friends don't let a kriffing protocol define them."
TK snorted at her foul language, much to Padmé's relief while Piett felt uncomfortable but surprisingly let it slide with the exception of a pointed look towards the Trooper.
"Now that's what I'm talkin' about."
Padmé grinned. "Have you eaten yet? I was thinking of visiting one of those canteens." she asked, not entirely sure which one of them. She supposed she wouldn't mind either as her company.
And given how she couldn't remember when she had her last meal, getting something to eat as soon as possible was her priority at the moment.
"Hell nah, but if you're hungry then so am I." TK replied and she nodded. In other words, he was hungry. Turning to Piett, she looked at him expectantly, confusing him for a moment before he understood.
"Ah, well— If you're sure, I'll join as well, Milady."
"Wonderful. Lead the way, friend." Padmé said, watching TK exit the room eagerly, spotting a jump in his step with amusement. Together they left the training room with a bunch of eyes following them, deciding to come back later.
On the other side of the Galaxy, a man in his late thirties couldn't wish for a speeder bike more than in that very moment.
Capturing and manipulating a Bantha with the force was not as easy as it sounded. Although they were peaceful, they rarely trusted humans. This had been so much easier with Boga, the female Varactyl on Utapau.
The bantha he had tried to use as a transport in the scorching heat of Tatooine's deserts collapsed into the sand under him, and Obi-Wan Kenobi had no water on him.
Reaching out with the force, he sensed that the poor animal was unconscious. He had no intention of further torturing the Bantha and got off its back, patting its fur affectionately.
A long sigh escaped the Jedi. Pulling out a comlink, he hesitated before eventually pressing the button, head tilted back so he was staring into the sky above him.
"I told you, didn't I?" came the voice from the other side, making Obi-Wan smile despite the situation he was in.
"Yes, you were right. Are you happy now?" he hummed, placing the bag of items onto the sand that started to feel heavy on his back.
"No, are you happy now?" countered the voice playfully before remembering the heat Obi-Wan was stranded in. "I'll come pick you up in a moment. For the last time, Kenobi."
"I'm sending you my Coordinates." he chuckled. "Do hurry, there's a Bantha we need to take care of, too."
AUTHORS NOTE:
Another update! Some characters have been introduced, who could this mysterious partner of Obi-Wan be? Let me know what you think!
For the reviewer who asked if this will be Obidala or Anidala/Vaderdala: Vaderdala, mostly! Don't worry, I have something else in mind for out favorite Jedi Master ;)
Thanks for reading, lots of love!