Padmé remained in the corner of her cell, pondering her brief encounter with Lord Vader. He was taller than she'd expected, and equally as menacing. But his actions were…puzzling. Although she could not see his eyes behind the mask, she could almost feel them piercing through her own as if he were staring into her mind. Perhaps that's what he was doing- reading her mind. Could Vader read minds?
And then there was the unusual politeness. Padmé did not think that the words "excuse me" were anywhere in Vader's vocabulary. If he needed to excuse himself, he'd likely just get up and go. If he needed someone to move out of his way, he'd just shove them. Because he's Vader.
She heard the footsteps again, but found them slightly less frightening and more intriguing this time. The door slid open to reveal the figure in black before her. His introduction to her was less polite than their last meeting.
"Where is the rebel base?" Vader snapped.
Padmé was caught off-guard. How could he know about a base that hadn't been built yet?
Control your thoughts, Padmé- he might be reading your mind…
"What base?" she replied, channeling her inner former Queen to keep her face as still and unreadable as possible.
Vader took two steps toward her and she pressed herself against the wall, unable to move any further away from him. "The base you and your rebels are building!" Vader shouted at her. "My men intercepted a communication earlier today between you and your rebel friend Organa."
Padmé immediately lost composure of her face, letting the concern for her friend show. "Bail?" she asked. "Is he alright?"
"We're holding him here," Vader answered, slyly evading her question. "Now tell me where the base is."
"It's not a base," Padmé responded. "It's a camp for slave refugees from the Outer Rim. Now, I know even the Empire doesn't endorse slavery. Therefore, you should be supporting this operation."
"Even if that were true," Vader began, "the Empire would know about it. And I solidly guarantee that although we do not encourage slavery, we do not put any time or effort into such worthless planets."
"It's an undercover operation from the Emperor," Padmé countered, taking a step forward to prove her boldness. "Operation Red Sand."
"You're digging yourself into a deeper hole with each lie," Vader sneered, stepping forward until they were only about a foot apart. "Tell me where the base is, and this will all be over quickly."
"I guess I should thank you for offering me a swift death, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to refuse," Padmé replied.
She mentally braced herself for some infliction of pain, but still none came. I just blatantly sassed the Dark Lord of the Sith and the Emperor's Second-in-Command- why aren't I half-dead yet?
He was doing the thing again- the staring thing. Their closeness made it even more obvious. She forced herself not to look away from the mask, not to show weakness. Unable to hold his supposed gaze any longer, she blurted out, "Please don't look at me like that."
Vader took another step forward, their bodies now only inches apart. "Why not?" he asked.
"It makes me uncomfortable," said Padmé as she turned her back and made her way to the other corner of the cell.
"As you wish, my lady," Vader responded.
The door slid open behind him without him pushing any buttons and he made yet another swift exit.
Vader's head was burning. Pure, fiery rage flowed throughout his mind like the lavas of Mustafar. Not only had he failed to interrogate her again, but he had showed her weakness. As you wish, my lady? What on Hoth had possessed him to say such a thing?
This was unacceptable. He could not let this woman think she had any power over him. Vader was the only one that could control Vader, with the exception of Sidious, of course. He scowled at this thought.
His conversation with Padmé had brought up another nostalgic moment for him. His main goal during his rise to power had always been to free the slaves. The Emperor seemed to find it a trivial issue, so it had been pushed aside. Operation Red Sand…not such a bad idea. That would be his first course of action when Vader overthrew his Master. Padmé would make a good Empress someday…
Anakin was a slave once. Perhaps that's why Vader felt such a close attachment to the issue.
"I am Lord Vader, I am Lord Vader," Vader muttered under his breath as he stalked past rows of cells. "I am not Anakin, I am Lord Vader. Padmé is my prisoner."
Yet he couldn't bring himself to torture her. He didn't know why, but each time he began to embrace his Force choke or Force push or Force anything around her besides Force-opening-a-door, it was as if all his Dark Side training eluded him. He needed to get rid of her, and quickly.
Suddenly, Vader had a brilliant idea. He may not be able to torture her, but there was someone he could to get her to talk…
"Please don't look at me like that."
"Why not?"
"It makes me uncomfortable…"
Padmé awoke from her restless sleep with a jolt. She couldn't seem to get more than a few minutes at a time. She was too busy analyzing their second encounter from the night before and trying to put a face to the man behind the mask. What color was his skin? His hair? Did he even have hair?
Why the hell does it matter, Padmé?
As if on cue, the door slid open again and she sat up to face the mystery man. "I see we meet again," she said.
"Yes, and this time you WILL tell me the truth," Vader commanded. "Guards!"
Two Stormtroopers dragged forward a bloodied Bail Organa. It appeared that a clump of his dark hair had been ripped out and there were holes in his pantlegs, revealing bruised knees. His face was covered in scrapes and one rather deep gash.
Padmé cried out. "What have you done to him?!"
"Surprisingly, this is not my work," Vader answered. "Your friend here has been a bit of a nuisance to my troopers. Unfortunately, because of your lack of willingness to tell me what I want to know, I'm going to have to add a few more bruises myself…"
"Don't…tell him anything…Padmé," panted Bail. He coughed once before Vader slowly clenched one fist together, initiating a slight Force choke.
"Stop it!" Padmé screamed. "Let him go!"
Vader held onto his Force choke a bit longer, showing the woman that he did not take orders from her. The power felt so invigorating. But there was her voice again- "Leave him alone!"
Vader released Organa from his grasp and let him fall to the cement, gasping for air, and signaled for his troopers to leave. He turned his attention to Padmé…who was crying. He had made his Angel cry.
"Just tell me what I want to know," Vader ordered, "and I will end this. I…I won't kill him." It was a reluctant phrase for Vader to utter, but he sensed it was the only way to get through to Padmé.
She took a deep breath. "Dantooine," Padmé answered quietly, keeping her eyes locked on her friend. "The base is being built on Dantooine."
"Good," Vader replied. "You've been very helpful."
Vader pulled a reluctant, wincing Organa to his feet and slid the door open.
"What about me?" he heard Padmé call from behind him.
"I'll think of something," he called back, shutting the door quickly before she could escape.
Vader then turned his attention to the man from Alderaan. "Will you join the Empire?"
Organa spat and turned to look at him defensively. "Never."
He won't join me, and I can't kill him, so…
Vader had a brilliant idea.
"Guards!" he shouted, and two Stormtroopers were immediately at his side. "Take Mr. Organa to level four. I think it's about time we test my new memory eraser."
"Yes, Sir," both troopers replied as they grabbed hold of Bail.
"Do as you wish," the man said to Vader, "but please don't hurt Padmé."
"You have my word," Vader replied as his troopers carried on with his order.
Vader grew frustrated with himself once again. Why was he making promises to these rebel scum? Why didn't he just kill both of them like he had with the rest?
And now…what was he to do with Padmé? Surely she would become a horrible distraction and she hated everything about him, but Vader felt as if the Force had brought them together again for a reason. It would just take him a bit of time and a lot of willpower to find out what that reason was…
Thanks again for your support! Let me know if you enjoyed this update.
