Chapter 34: The Long Game
When Darth Vader received the reports on the attack on the rebel base, he wasn't very surprised.
The rebels had proven to be quite resilient, exploiting every opportunity they had to survive. It seemed like no matter how many of them died, more would always take their place. The Force was strong with the rebellion, even if the Jedi were long gone. At best there were only two Force sensitive among them, and only one he suspected was actively developing his talents. Darth Vader had yet to meet this particular rebel in person, but had felt his presence from time to time. He had his suspicions on where this one had come from, yet couldn't be certain about it.
Darth Vader knew he would have to deal with the rebels soon, that much was certain by this point. It was also clear that stormtroopers and military hardware were not going to be enough, given their repeated failures to stamp out the rebellion. Continuing to wage this war the same as always was only going to produce further failures, and alternative tactics were going to be required to make a difference. Specialized henchmen would be needed, with unconventional methods for fighting an unconventional war.
To that end he traveled to Coruscant, arriving unannounced and in the middle of the night. It was like changing one set of stars for another, the brilliants lights of the planetwide metropolis forming their own constellations. His specialized TIE Fighter descended into the brightly lit cityscape, heading down toward the capital. It wasn't noticed by the people below, lost amidst all the other traffic above the planet, too small to be seen by the naked eye for most of the descent. It only took a few minutes to descend from space to low altitude, right on top of his destination.
It was a specialized research and development/prison complex, maximum security and built to withstand anything short of orbital bombardment. Darth Vader sent his authorization codes, and a landing pad was quickly cleared for his use. He could imagine the staff scrambling to prepare for his last minute arrival, though he didn't care much for appearances. The large doors opened for him, he passed through several corridors with all sorts of security measures, ignoring the checkpoints that let him through without hesitation.
When he reached a main hall the head administrator greeted him. "To what do we owe the pleasure, my Lord?"
Darth Vader didn't bother to slow his pace. "Go about your business. I will not be here long."
The administrator nodded and stood aside. "As you command."
Staff members and security guards quickly got out of the way, and Darth Vader walked through the complex with nothing slowing him down. He soon arrived at a special section, holding prisoners with supernatural abilities, in particular the ones shipped over from Earth. Researchers continued to experiment on these benders, the ongoing effort to reverse engineer their abilities, continuing to meet failure after failure. Those researchers were terrified when they saw Darth Vader, knowing the usual punishment for a lack of results.
He stopped at one particular cell, opened the door and walked inside, seeing the broken man kept here. "If only you had cooperated when we first met, you would not be in this sorry state."
The former leader of Earth's Dai Li, paltry in comparison to the Empire's secret police, Long Feng was slouched in the corner and barely moving. He had long since given up any pretense of authority or respect, letting his physical appearance deteriorate since his capture, becoming a shell of the man he used to be. His hair had grown out long and shaggy, a beard had formed and had a few streaks of grey in it. He had lost a considerable amount of weight and muscle mass, the result of giving up on life and waiting for the end.
Long Feng looked up at Darth Vader, and looked back down at his feet. "What do you want?"
"I am in a forgiving mood," Vader said. "I am willing to give you another chance to serve the Empire."
"Why should I believe you?" Long Feng asked, his voice barely louder than a whisper.
"You do not have a choice," Vader said. "Your existence is meaningless here. I can give you purpose again. You can truly live a life worth living. All you have to do is submit to my will."
Thinking back on all the experiments done to him over the last year, from the mundane to the very painful, Long Feng had become truly desperate. "What would you have me do?"
There was honesty in that question, enough for Darth Vader to know that Long Feng was truly submitting to his will. "There is a task I believe you are suited for."
It did not take long for Long Feng to understand what was needed of him, and could take solace in the fact that it would be taking him off Coruscant. When he was finished Darth Vader did not need to remain there any longer, as he had other matters to attend to in this facility. He left the cell and moved to a different part of the facility, where the more noncompliant prisoners were kept and experimented on. His next recruit was in the middle of one such experiment, according to the computer that monitored activity in this facility.
Darth Vader entered one of many laboratories on the lower levels, containing a special harness in the center rigged to various kinds of equipment. It currently had a subject strapped in for a test, today's experiment involving exposure to electricity in a variety of voltages. Of all the subjects taken from Earth, this one was unique in his ability to conjure lightning from nothing. Darth Vader waited for the experiment to be completed, listening to the painful screams from the subject as the experiment continued on for a few more minutes.
The experiment came to an end, observations were recorded, yet still there were no meaningful results. Darth Vader approached the harness, dismissing the staff along the way. "Leave us."
All of the researchers quickly vacated the area, leaving Darth Vader alone with the prisoner. He used the Force to flip a few switches, activating a mechanism to open the harness and let the prisoner out. Metal bars spread apart around the prisoner, exposing his pale skin and long unkempt hair, complete with a beard that reached halfway down his chest. He fell forward and slammed into the floor, weary from the experiment that left him twitching from electric shock. He struggled to get up, only getting onto his hands and knees, a deplorable state for a deposed leader of a primitive world's nation.
Ozai looked up at Darth Vader, wishing he still had the strength to fight. "Are you here to finish me? Just get it over with already."
Tempting that may be, Darth Vader did not simply kill him. "Are you really so eager for death?"
"Living has become nothing but suffering," Ozai said. He clenched his fists, and heat warped the air around them. "Your people have seen fit to torture me in every possible way."
"Or so you think," Vader said. He reached toward Ozai, fingers slowly tightening, and an invisible grip clenched Ozai's throat. "Remember, there are always new frontiers for pain and suffering."
Unable to breathe, Ozai collapsed on the floor, struggling in vain to get fresh air in his lungs. One hand instinctively went to his throat, trying to pull away whatever was strangling him, gripping at nothing but air. Vision quickly fading to black, Ozai struggled to no avail. Then the grip on his throat vanished, air rushed into his lungs, gasping as life came back into him. Seeing clearly again, though woozy from nearly passing out, Ozai looked up at Darth Vader. There was newfound hate in his eyes, and a reason to keep on living.
"What do you want?" Ozai demanded.
"I see potential in you as an enforcer," Vader answered. He held up a hand and curled his fingers, imagining the power of Force Lightning, only known by less than a handful of people. "You have a skill set that is very rare. I wish to put it to better use than in this laboratory."
"After all of this, you expect me to help you?" Ozai questioned.
"Hate can be a powerful motivator," Vader said. "Make no mistake, I will be keeping a close eye on you. One step out of line, and you will know suffering like nothing you could possibly imagine."
Without a base of operations, the rebel alliance needed to be mobile.
The transports that successfully escaped Hoth flew through a series of rendezvous points, taking circuitous routes to evade pursuit, eventually joining the fleet at the edge of the galaxy. Home One was the command ship at the moment, being the most powerful of the ships currently present, and thus the leaders of the rebellion came aboard to deal with the current crisis. They gathered in a meeting room near Home One's bridge, the room surrounded by security and the ship on high alert, just in case something happened while they were all here.
Leia stood next to a large round table, looking at the other leaders on her left and her right, eyes meeting Mon Mothma directly across. "This is not the time to attack and you know it."
"This opportunity will not last long," Mon Mothma argued. "Most of the Empire's forces are committed away from the Core. If we strike now their defenses will be at their weakest. We can inflict a major blow before their fleets are ready to counter us."
On Leia's left was Admiral Ackbar, looking over reports on the fleet's readiness. "We just took a major blow ourselves. Attacking now would risk everything we have. We should focus on rebuilding our strength and constructing a new base."
"The Empire will grind us into dust long before you think we are ready," Mon Mothma said. "We can't afford to let opportunities pass us by. Fighting defensively is what got us into this mess. An assault on the Empire is long overdue."
"I concur," General Dodonna said, standing across from the admiral. His elderly face was considerably more wrinkled than it had been since Yavin 4, and he knew some in the rebellion believed he should step down due to his age. "It will take another year to build another base. We do not have the time."
Leia voiced her displeasure with a loud groan, and she put both hands on the table. "Do you even have a target in mind? If you're going to risk all of our forces there had better be a big payoff."
"Several actually," Mon Mothma said. She passed a data pad across the table, letting Leia take a look at it. "Our bothan friends are already looking into all of them. Once they've confirmed these are real we can pick one and hit the Empire there."
"We cannot make such a decision lightly," Ackbar advised. "I would not put it past the Empire to manufacture opportunities for us to take just to lure us into a trap."
"That's what the bothan spies are for," Mon Mothma argued. "They haven't let us down yet. Their intel has always been reliable."
"If obtained through questionable means," Leia added. "If that's all, we have other things to do."
The meeting was adjourned, and the four of them went their separate ways. Leia passed through the bridge on her way to another part of the ship, eyeing the crew at work coordinating the fleet, saying nothing as she passed them by. She made her way to her quarters, going inside and locking the door behind her. There was a computer terminal inside, and she accessed the latest reports of fleet activity. She checked the list of ships that had rendezvous with the fleet, specifically the ones that had been at Hoth, wanting to know who had made it here.
It was disappointing to discover that the Millennium Falcon wasn't on the list. There wasn't even an offhand mention of it in the system, no sign that anyone knew what had happened to it. Still, she had a gut feeling that the Falcon was still out there, just delayed for any number of reasons, the most likely being a malfunctioning hyperdrive. Han had a habit of getting himself in and out of bad situations, somehow always finding a way to beat the odds. This just happened to be a bigger bad situation that the usual, yet Leia still believed he would pull through.
In the space above Coruscant, the Executor emerged from hyperspace.
Although anyone with a view of the sky could see it appear, there was barely any reaction amongst the general populace. It was something that happened on a semi-regular basis, becoming more common as more Super Star Destroyers were being built, a few still in dry dock over the planet. The Executor entered orbit directly over the capital, maintaining geosynchronous position directly above the palace. There it would be yet another symbol of the Emperor's power, until it would need to be deployed elsewhere and bring its wrath down on the Empire's enemies.
Grand Admiral Thrawn was not pleased about being summoned back here, especially at a time like this. Death Squadron was still in the middle of hunting down the rebels that fled from Hoth, and one of the Star Destroyers was taking far too long to report back. Investigating the fate of the Stormhawk would have to wait, all because Darth Vader would not be kept waiting. For protocol's sake Thrawn took a shuttle down to the capital, coming in for a landing on the top of the palace, still convinced that this would be a waste of his time.
From the landing pad Thrawn went inside the palace, heading straight to an ornate meeting room, entering at the same time as Darth Vader. "There had better be a good reason for calling me back here. I was in the middle of chasing down the rebels across the galaxy."
"The Emperor wishes for your consul," Vader said. Even though his mask couldn't convey emotion, it was clear that he was not happy about that fact. "He believes your insight will be most helpful in these early phases of construction."
Well aware of what Vader was referring to, Thrawn resigned himself to his business here. "Very well. If you will excuse me, I will not keep the Emperor waiting."
Thrawn left the meeting room and went deeper into the palace, not knowing and not caring where Darth Vader went. Dark hallways greeted Thrawn as he walked, paths rarely traveled by the staff, a passage taken only by those personally invited to meet the Emperor. He had to stop at a set of thick doors, guarded by those strange sentries in red uniforms, never seen far from the Emperor's presence. They opened the doors for Thrawn and let him pass, the silent understanding that they would be watching him.
Inside the next room, nearly as dark as the blackest void, Thrawn saw a simple throne in the single spot of light. "You summoned me, my Lord?"
Sitting in the throne, wearing his usual black robe, Emperor Palpatine gestured for Thrawn to approach. "I did." He moved a hand in a strange way, and a hologram appeared between them. "What would you recommend for protecting this battle station?"
The hologram displayed the current progress of the construction, completed sections in green, parts in progress in yellow, areas not even begun yet in red. The latter color dominated the rest, surrounding the others in this large sphere. Beneath the sphere was a floor of blue, representing a large moon that this construction project was in orbit around. Various kinds of information were shown around the hologram, all the little details regarding construction progress, summarized reports about nearby space, everything one would need to know about this new Death Star.
"Progress seems to be accelerating," Thrawn noted. His eye was drawn to the defenses placed to protect this incomplete battle station, particularly the ground based shield generator. "I still recommend a scorched earth policy around the generator. Make sure that it cannot be destroyed."
"If defense was the point, that would be done," the Emperor said. "The rebels need to believe that it is possible to succeed."
"Given their recent acquisition of supernatural talents, there is greater risk of that happening," Thrawn said. "When the time comes to lure in the rebels, at least employ your own special forces to counter theirs. I'm sure Vader would be most effective there."
"Perhaps not," the Emperor said. "He has been rather… distracted, as of late. I do not want him anywhere near this Death Star."
That was an intriguing insight, but Thrawn knew better than to pry about it. "In that case…"
Once again, Darth Vader walked through the bridge of the Executor.
The bridge crew had not missed his presence, easily preferring to be under the command of Thrawn instead of Vader. He didn't care about their opinions of him, as long as they obeyed his orders and got the job done. They anticipated his desire to get underway, as he usually did when he took personal command of this ship, and were nearly ready to depart when he got to his usual spot to look out the windows. All he needed to do was give the order, and within moments the Executor was leaving orbit and plotting a hyperspace jump.
At a station on the bridge Vader checked the status of the ship, particularly the assets brought aboard ahead of his arrival. They were all in their assigned locations, nearly ready to be put to use, and under secure lock and key. Very few people got to know that they were here, and fewer still knew the details about them. None of them cared about the matter in the slightest, and they wouldn't have questioned Vader's orders anyway. All that mattered was that they obeyed him, and everything he wanted was aboard the ship.
The Executor finally found its vector and made the jump to hyperspace, and they were finally underway across the galaxy. Vader left the bridge and passed through the ship, using turbolifts where he could to quickly move through the massive vessel, making his way to the cargo hold. There were guards keeping watch when he arrived, and they left when he passed through the doors and went inside. They weren't needed while he was there, and Vader didn't want any unnecessary prying eyes. It was dark inside the cargo hold, until Vader used the Force to turn on the lights.
Vader looked over the assets brought aboard, lacking their respective abilities in the void of hyperspace. "I trust you are all doing well."
Living in the barest accommodations, the benders brought aboard were powerless at the moment. None of them were chained down, for the more obvious methods of imprisonment were no longer needed. It was fortunate that they didn't have their abilities here, for there was an animosity between them that Vader hadn't accounted for. Ozai and Long Feng did not enjoy each other's company, the kind of bitterness that only came from former enemies brought together by circumstance, ready to return to their old ways should the opportunity arise.
Long Feng turned toward Vader, the scowl plain for all to see. "Is this some kind of sick joke?"
"I assure you, this is no joke," Vader said. He turned to look at Ozai, also scowling at him. "Whatever history you two have, settle it here or work despite it. I will not have you getting in each other's way."
Ozai wanted to shoot lightning up Vader where the stars don't shine, despite the current lack of that ability. "Surely, you don't need both of us in the same place. Surely you have different tasks in mind."
"Perhaps," Vader said. Only now did he notice something peculiar about Ozai, something in the voice that he just couldn't place. "Plans are ever changing. I may need you to work together sometime."
Grumbling something under his breath, Long Feng looked away from both of them.
"I do not expect you to like it," Vader said. He turned to the left, about to leave this part of this. "All I expect is for you to obey without question. Do so, and you get to live. It is that simple."
Right when she was about to fall asleep Leia received the news, and it had her wide awake in an instant.
The Millennium Falcon had finally arrived.
Right away she sent an order to direct the Falcon to the hangar of Home One, though she made sure the operator wouldn't mention that she personally gave that order. Leia got dressed and left her quarters, keeping to a casual pace to make it seem like she wasn't in a hurry. She reached the hangar just in time to see the Falcon come in for a landing, taking one of the few spots left for a ship that size. Fortunately the ship seemed to still be in one piece, albeit battered slightly more than usual. All that mattered was that it made it back here, and she watched the ship's entry ramp lower to let the passengers out.
"What took you guys so long?" Leia demanded.
First one out was Aang, and he was in a good mood. "Hey Leia, sorry we're late. We had to lie low for a while. Good news, took out a Star Destroyer."
"How did you do that with just the Falcon?" Leia asked.
Second coming down was Katara, and hearing that question had her smiling brightly. "The ship didn't do anything. It was all Aang."
"Well me and that planet," Aang said.
"You're just being modest," Katara said. She and Aang stepped off the end of the ramp, taking a moment to look around. "You're the reason we got out of there as easily as we did."
"Yeah, easy," Aang remarked. "It took everything I had, including stuff I didn't even know I had, and really all I did was make that thing fall. The planet took care of the rest."
That had Leia wanting to know the details. "Where exactly did you go to pull that off?"
Loud footsteps announced Han's approach down the ramp, and he had a big smirk when he saw Leia there. "That doesn't really matter now your highness. I'm sure the Empire will be bombing that city to oblivion any day now."
"Still, it would be helpful if you told us everything that happened," Leia insisted. She heard more footsteps, and saw someone she didn't recognize. "Is that one of your smuggler friends?"
The dark skinned man in blue came down the ramp and stopped in front of Leia, gently lifting up her hand and kissing it. "Why hello, ma'am, I'm Lando Calrissian. It's such a pleasure to meet you miss…"
"Leia," she said. She politely pulled her hand away. "I'm sure there's a story behind you?"
"Oh I've got plenty of stories," Lando said. He looked Leia in the eye and smiled. "Perhaps we could share them over dinner."
"I think not," Leia said. She looked at the other three people, wondered why Chewbacca was still inside the Falcon, but figured he was doing repairs or something. "I would rather debrief everyone together."
Understanding the turn down, Lando wasn't deterred. "Of course, whatever milady wants."
Leia led the four of them out of the hangar and to the closest meeting room, where they could tell her all about where they had been after the fall of Hoth. Han described the Falcon's fuel issue and the need for a quick fix, which had brought them to Bespin and Cloud City for repairs. Lando took over to describe his city in great detail, including the mining and smuggling operation he administrated, sadly remarking that it had been brought to an abrupt end. Aang and Katara put in small details here and there, saying little until they got to the part when the Empire arrived.
Now Leia wanted every single detail, wanting to know exactly how they dealt with a Star Destroyer without orbital support. She had a little difficulty believing that Aang took it out singlehandedly, despite understanding the concept of airbending being stronger on a gas giant planet. She wished she could have seen it firsthand, which according to Katara it had been an impressive sight to behold. Apparently the Star Destroyer fell deep enough to be crushed by atmospheric pressure, and the remains were likely still falling into the planet's core at this very moment.
"Still, we knew that wouldn't be enough," Aang said. He rested his hands on the table, leaning toward Leia. "The Empire was going to send more Star Destroyers sooner or later. So we had to get out of there while the getting was good."
Lando nodded. "I gave the order to evacuate and abandon the city. When the Empire sends its forces to Cloud City, all they will find is an empty shell."
"And you simply just gave up your little operation?" Leia asked, wondering if she understood this correctly. "And then you decided to come here instead of some other smuggler haven?"
"With the Empire coming down on Bespin, there was no profit to be made there anymore," Lando said. It was certainly a disappointment, that much was certain, but nothing he couldn't deal with. "I have a good feeling about this rebellion of yours. If you've got Han working for you guys on good faith, you must be doing something right."
"Don't drag me into this," Han said, slamming his fist on the table. "You're just hoping she'll give you the same reward she gave me two years ago."
"Or a different kind of reward," Lando said, winking at Leia.
"Uh huh…" Leia said, content to let him believe that. "I'm sure we can find a place for someone like you. After all, we did it for Han easily enough."
"Much to my chagrin," Han said, thinking of all the times he'd risked his neck for this rebellion.
"I think I've heard enough," Leia said. She pushed her chair back and stood up. "If you will excuse me, I need to make a few calls."
In a set of guest quarters, still getting used to using technology far beyond her understanding, Katara was reading a message sent to a computer terminal for her. Eyes moving back and forth as they read the message, the bright screen reflecting in her gaze, she could hardly believe what she saw. Although it had been sent through the advanced tech used throughout the galaxy, it was written in the script used on Earth. That was why it had been sent to her and Aang at all, being the only ones on Home One and trusted enough to translate it for the rebellion.
That alone had been a surprise, but what the message said was even more astounding.
It was a message from Sokka.
The message didn't go into specifics, for a variety of reasons, the biggest being in case the Empire intercepted the message. It seemed that just like he had been physically brought into the spirit world, he had been brought out of it in a similar manner. As Aang had suspected when they couldn't find him in the spirit world again, Sokka had gone to a place they could not reach. But as with seemingly everything Sokka dealt with, the universe seemed to go out of its way to screw him over. Although he was back in the physical world, he was stranded on a very different world than Earth.
The message didn't say which planet he was on, given that Sokka didn't know where in the galaxy he had wound up. He even mentioned that he was fortunate to have found a transmitter to send this message, relying on the good graces of those that had found him on this strange new world. But tech experts on Home One had back-traced the message, and had found the planet it had been transmitted from. It was a planet controlled by the Empire, often used for training purposes, and had recently developed a severe insurgency problem.
Katara was reading the message for a fifth time when Aang woke up, and she turned around to see him walking over. "Look at this!"
Aang leaned over and read the message, his eyes getting wider the further along he read. "Is this real? Or is someone pranking us?"
"It looks real to me," Katara said. She switched to another message sent to her, a few short sentences from Leia. "Leia thinks it's real too. And if we're going to do something, we need to do it now."
"When do we leave?" Aang asked.
"Today," Katara said. "At least, if Leia can scrounge up enough support for us."
"Since when do we have support?" Aang questioned. "We're usually alone for this sort of thing."
"I know, right?" Katara said, thinking back on personal experience. "I'm sure there's more going on than just rescuing Sokka."
It had taken a few more days, a needlessly convoluted travel route, and a few stops on unremarkable planets, but Luke finally made it back to the rebel fleet.
Alongside other stragglers that had gotten separated from the fleet, Luke's X-Wing came out of hyperspace near the Outer Rim, where the rebel fleet was passing through at the moment. Hangar doors were opened on various larger ships to welcome them home, Home One in particular taking on the most of the smaller ships. Luke made sure his ship was the first to get into the hangar, flying inside and landing as far in as possible. Once he touched down he shut off the engines and opened the canopy, all while automated equipment hoisted R2-D2 out of the X-Wing.
Luke dropped down from the ship, and he saw the droid being lowered onto the floor next to him. "Thanks for putting up with everything R2. I really appreciate you sticking around after everything."
R2-D2 made a long string of beeps and whistles, then rolled away to find a maintenance station and get cleaned up properly.
"That's fair," Luke said. He walked off in a different direction, heading for the one of the turbolifts to get through the ship quickly. "Where's Leia?"
An officer provided her current location, and Luke gave his thanks before getting on his way. He passed through the ship and quickly reached the front end of Home One, ending up in the upper levels near the bridge. Fortunately it seemed that Leia was in her quarters, kept near the bridge in case of emergency, and Luke knew his way around the ship to get there. When he arrived he politely knocked on the door, and he patiently waited to get a response. It was a few minutes before he heard footsteps on the other side, and he saw the door slide open into the wall.
"Luke!" Leia shouted, surprised that he was here, though for a variety of reasons. "When did you get back? Where have you been? What took you so long?"
Despite being woken up early in the morning, or what was scheduled to be morning in the fleet, Leia still put on an appearance for anyone that happened to be looking right now. Granted, one could see that she wasn't getting much sleep, and the slight mess in her hair was telling enough of that. But seeing Luke was already improving her mood, though she was still annoyed that no one had sent word ahead of his arrival. She had wanted to know the moment he landed, but it seemed that the crew of this ship had wanted her to be pleasantly surprised.
"Just got back a little bit ago," Luke answered. He smiled and tilted his head to one side. "I came straight here after landing."
"I'm glad you did," Leia said. She took a step back into her quarters, and gestured for Luke to come in as well. "It's been very bad around here without you."
"Sorry about that," Luke said, entering the room. "I've been losing track of time a lot lately."
"Apparently," Leia said. She closed the door, and turned around to face Luke inside her quarters. "So what happened on your end? It was like you fell off the face of the galaxy."
"I've been busy training on Dagobah," Luke said. "If I had known the Empire was preparing to attack Hoth, I would have left a lot sooner."
"We really could have used your help back then," Leia said. She thought about what had happened, and all the damage the Empire had inflicted in a few short hours. "That's all in the past now. I could really use your help for an operation I've got planned."
"Sure," Luke said. "What do you have in mind?"