Chapter Twenty-Three:
"Your Highness," the image of the Sullustan pirate he had hired through Fett to offer Solo a job bowed low. "I saw Solo, though he was alone when I met with him."
"I'm sure his companions were not far away. What do you have to report?" Vader asked.
"I sent Solo to Thila as you ordered, Majesty, and I believe he left already. He should be there by tomorrow evening."
"You have done well, Pirate. Expect to be well compensated for this," Vader told the other.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Vader cut the transmission and stood looking out over the stars through the viewport. He and Fett had decided to simply forgo the finding of rarities once Fett's tracker had located the Falcon on Ord Mantell. Both the Emperor and the bounty hunter knew the smuggler and his crew would be looking for hire, and the bounty hunter's contact list had paid off well.
Vader turned from the viewport and settled upon the corner of his lush bed, eyes closing as he sought his son's mind once more. He was ready to fire away with the next vision he'd been planning for a few days now.
00000
Luke was resting in his bunk on the Millennium Falcon while he and Han waited for Chewie and Nella to return to the ship also. Han had commed the pair soon after they'd arrived on the ship themselves, relaying that a job had been found.
Luke didn't know if Han would be willing to listen to Luke, but something kept whispering to the young man to trust the young woman who'd come to him, and also her employer.
Noises were heard as the ramp lowered in the bowels of the ship, followed by annoyed howling. Luke sighed softly and hefted himself up off the bed, making his way out into the lobby. Chewbacca was complaining about something, but Luke only caught the tail end of his words upon his arrival.
[The blasted fool nearly lost his arm...] Chewbacca sounded miffed, and Luke could only guess why.
Luke sidled over to Nella. "How are you doing?"
"I am quite well, Master Velius, thank you," she answered, sounding quite happy indeed. "My circuits have been on fire with the information gathering, and it's been... what is the word? Exhilarating."
Luke smiled softly. "Yeah, the first mission is usually the most interesting."
"Ah, come off it, Chewie," Han was telling his co-pilot. "You know the guy was probably soused. It's a spaceport; people do it all the time here."
[There was also a podrace going on,] Chewie mentioned, piquing Luke's interest.
"They're still doing that out here?" Luke queried, surprised.
"It's illegal nowadays, but yes, some places still run races," Han answered for the Wookiee. "But we don't have time for small chatter right now; we've got to get in the air."
Chewie grunted and placed his furry hands upon his hips. [Don't you think the rest of us should be brought up to speed first, Han?]
Han paused. "Yeah, alright."
He produced a datapad and activated it, showing a map with a route highlighted. "The man I spoke to wants us to go to Thila and pick up a shipment for him. He stashed it there a while back and hasn't been able to get back around to picking it up."
"How convenient," Luke muttered, and Han shot him a look.
"Anyway, we have coordinates, and we are to grab the stuff, which seems to be a lot, and then take it to his headquarters on Reecee." Han indicated the long route from Ord Mantell to Thila, and then to Reecee..."
And as Han highlighted Thila, something in Luke went utterly cold.
"Are you sure this job is the real deal?" Luke tried to keep his voice steady, hoping the quaver he felt within didn't translate out loud.
Han frowned at Luke anyway. "You don't trust me, Kid, is that it?" He stated, the stress showing through in his demeanor. Han was anxious to get Jabba's crosshairs off his back.
Luke blinked, stung. "Of course that's not it! I'm just worried that maybe this job isn't what it seems."
Han looked away, and Luke wondered if Han was actually upset— and if so then for what reason— or simply feeding off of Luke's sudden bad vibes. "I know the man wasn't the most reputable guy, but the job is clean, I know it."
"You know it is, or you hope it is because you're desperate?" Luke countered, a little more sharply than he'd intended. Han's head snapped back around and Luke looked away, ashamed of himself. "I... I'm sorry Han, that was uncalled for."
Han studied the young man. "If you've got a counter offer to my plan, I'd love to hear it."
Luke opened his mouth to speak... but no words emerged. It was as though something was now bidding him to wait, be patient. In fact, he heard a whisper of just that in the Force itself: Be patient, my son... Befuddled, Luke didn't get the chance to look deeper into it before Han nodded shortly.
"I didn't think so. Let's go." Han stalked off for the cockpit and after an awkward moment of silence in the lobby, Chewbacca lumbered slowly after the smuggler.
Nella edged closer to Luke. "Master... are you feeling okay? I'm detecting elevated levels of stress within you."
Luke managed a tiny smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'll be alright, Nella, thank you."
It wasn't really true: Luke was now on edge, and he couldn't even really say why save for that cold feeling from earlier. What was it about Thila that had Luke thinking things were not as they seemed?
Luke wondered if he— not Han— was the one on edge, but then again, the Force had never steered him wrong when it came to these warnings. So what was he feeling?
Luke turned as the ship shuddered beneath his feet and lifted from the ground. With a world-weary sigh, Luke retreated back to his room and shut the door, though Nella slipped inside before he did so.
Luke settled onto his bunk, staring at the underside of the one above and then shut his eyes for a moment.
Stars whizzed by as his ship flew through the red laserfire showering his vessel. But none of that mattered as he jinked and juked like a wild animal, avoiding the deadly barrage as though it was second nature to him.
And it was.
But he wasn't alone.
His ship warned him of a target lock someone acquired on him, and a voice spoke in his ear via the comlink bud. "Hold steady, Son, I'm on him."
Luke's lips lifted in a wicked grin as Darth Vader— the best pilot in all the galaxy— appeared from nowhere, shooting across Luke's own ship from bow to stern. He was so close that Luke could have reached out and touched the underside of his father's ship.
Seconds later Luke saw the flash of a fireball as Vader destroyed the man who'd dared target the Prince.
Luke peeled off and Vader joined him, the two of them flying in perfect synchronization, the sight one to truly behold. They worked perfectly together, the unbeatable pair...
The scene shifted and they were now on the ground, fighting back to back as stormtroopers fought all around them to ward off the ambush that had happened. Luke's blade flashed to cover his father's briefly unprotected side as a shot sizzled past.
Vader in turn speared an enemy soldier who tried to take advantage of Luke's momentary distraction to kill him from behind. Luke and Vader worked in tandem, slowly but steadily working their way to the other edge of the battlefield where Leia, who had been heading the other wave of troopers, was being held down.
She had but one blade whereas Luke and Vader were two, and they cut down foe after foe, working their steady way to their third family member.
Luke was facing her so he saw it when it happened, but one moment Leia was standing strong, her blade lit and her face set in a defiant sneer, and the next a trio of Rebels ambushed her after throwing a stun grenade that took out her escorting stormtroopers.
She screamed as blasterfire ripped into her body...
Luke twisted and turned on his cot, in agony to see his sister taken down like that... and then a very real blast of pain slammed into him.
"Leia!" Luke screamed, gasping awake, his heart pounding nearly out of his chest as he fought for air. He rolled over in bed and ended up falling over the edge, grasping at his heart and head simultaneously as Leia's real-life pain swarmed him.
Then— just as terrifying— Leia's presence abruptly muted, and Luke panicked. "NO!"
He leapt to his feet and, tears streaming from his face, raced to the cockpit. "Wait, we have to go somewhere else!"
Han and Chewbacca both jumped at his sudden, harried arrival. Both the man and the Wookiee took one look at Luke and gaped at his complete loss of control.
"Kid, what..."
"We can't go to Thila!" Luke continued, his voice nearly shrill. "I need to get to her!"
"Get to whom?" Han demanded, rising, and Luke never took notice of the starlines swirling past. "What's going on?"
Luke ignored him and leapt for the controls. "Stop the ship!" he hollered, nearly succeeding in grasping the levers that would bring the Falcon out of hyperspace.
"KID!" Han shouted, but Luke was deflected roughly by two meters of fur that lifted him from the deck and carried him out of the cockpit.
Luke struggled the entire time, his tears intensifying. "No! No, I need to get to her, please! PLEASE!"
Han, utterly baffled and deeply concerned— Velius had ever lost control so completely— followed, though first he made sure the ship's controls hadn't actually been interrupted from their task.
Chewbacca took Velius to the lobby and sat him down, though the young man tried valiantly to break away. He even resorted to using the Force, though in his current state all he managed was to lightly bump the Wookie aside.
"Velius stop!" Han thundered, managing to finally get the Kid's attention.
Velius looked to Han with such anguish of soul that the smuggler's heart clenched unexpectedly. The dark-haired youth's nearly-broken sobs weren't helping matters any.
"Now," Han said sternly, standing in front of Velius while Chewie prepared himself to stop the Kid again if necessary. "What in space is going on?"
Deciding he had little choice now but to impart some of the truth, Luke opened his mouth. "I... I felt my... my s-sister... she was in deep pain... and then nothing! I... I have to get to her, see that she's alright!" His voice cracked. "I... I can't lose her! Not ever!"
Luke bowed his head into his hands, sobbing. "She's... she's all I... h-have left!"
Han stood, dumbfounded. The Kid had a sister? And he'd felt her pain?
At a loss as to what he should do or say, Han looked to Chewie for help. The Wookiee shrugged helplessly as Velius continued to weep in front of them. The pair of smugglers didn't need the Kid's Force powers to feel the deep-seated hurt in the young man before them.
Han felt completely out of his element. What was he supposed to do or say at a moment like this? One thing was for certain, Han knew: he couldn't just leave the Kid alone in this.
Swallowing his considerable pride, Han moved to sit beside Velius and gently wrap an arm around the young man's shoulders. Velius stiffened initially in shock, but Han gently pulled the other into his side, urging him with the other hand to rest his head on Han's shoulder.
"It's okay, Kid. Let it out before it eats you away," Han murmured. "I'm not very good at this whole comforting thing, but I do have a shoulder you can cry on."
Velius seemed to consider that, and then he gave in, burying his face in his friend's shoulder and weeping. Han didn't know it, but the young man was weeping for far more than Leia's demise, whatever that was.
Luke wept bitter, lonely tears that he'd suppressed for years, something he knew Leia shared and understood. Luke wept for a father willing to bully his own son into doing whatever the elder Vader wanted from him, he wept for the loss of the warm man who'd once loved Luke.
Luke wasn't sure at this rate if his grief would ever stop, but this situation was proving to be cathartic for him, and so he let it happen. He was still safe in his anonymity, and Luke felt a measure of comfort in that. Although, as he neared the end of his weeping Luke could feel the Darkness slithering along the layers of the Force, and he knew his current freedom was coming to an end.
Luke would not be returning from Thila with the crew of the Falcon. Luke was certain now that Thila was a trap, and he would have to see to it that Han and Chewie did not suffer for Luke's actions against Vader.
Luke would sacrifice himself for his friends. And now that Luke was calming down, he felt a measure of unexpected calm settle upon him, as though he was a soldier who knew he was walking out onto a battlefield that would be his last.
Luke lifted his head from Han's now soaked shirt and wiped at his face. "Thank you, Han." His voice was a hoarse whisper. "And I'm sorry for earlier."
Han eyed Velius, though choosing to focus on another topic. "What's this about a sister, now?"
[Careful Han,] Chewie admonished.
"It's alright," Luke murmured, not realizing that his awareness of the Wookiee had suddenly become clearer to him. "Let's just say that my sister and I have been... victims of our parents' greed for power and lust for absolute control."
"Wait, what?" Han gaped at the other. "Like... slaves?"
Luke snorted morbidly. "That's one way to put it, I guess." He sighed, exhausted. "I... really don't want to talk about it anymore, please. I'm alright now, really."
Han hesitated, but Velius was already pulling away. "Ah, okay. But y'know if you want to expound later, you can."
Luke gazed at the two for a short time, and something in the young man's gaze worried Han. "I suspect things will become quite clear sooner than you expect."
Without elaborating, and ignoring the confusion in Han's face, Luke locked himself in his cabin. He sat on the bed again and put his head in his hands, elbows resting on his knees.
Nella approached gingerly. "Master Velius..."
"Luke. It's Master Luke now, Nella," Luke murmured, looking up and motioning her closer. "And we have a few things to discuss."
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Darth Vader sat rigidly where he was, having also been taken aback by his daughter's unexpected pain. But it was her now-absence that had him most on edge.
What had happened to his daughter?!
Rising suddenly from his perch, Vader raced for his communications unit and punched in Padmé's private code.
She answered, and upon seeing his face spoke urgently. "What is it?"
"Where is Leia?" he asked roughly.
Padmé blinked. "Don't you know?"
Vader lifted a brow. "Why would I know? I've been away, and last I heard she was on Coruscant."
Padmé's eyes narrowed. "She told me you gave her an assignment and left the other day."
Vader sat slowly in his seat. "I gave Leia no assignment."
At that tidbit of information, Padmé seemed to be thinking, and Vader let her, knowing his wife well enough to realize when she was putting puzzle pieces together.
"I will need to look into this further..." Padmé murmured at last. "Leia lied to me for some reason." She straightened. "I don't know where she is, but why did you call me so suddenly to ask if I did?"
"Because she's been hurt," Vader ground out, though his anger wasn't directed at his wife.
Padmé gasped. "Hurt? How?"
Vader thinned his lips. "I don't know, Padmé."
His wife closed her eyes. "We will just have to track her ship, find out where she went."
Vader nodded. "Will you do that, please? I nearly have Luke, and I need to focus on that."
Padmé didn't hide her surprise. "Already? Wow, you're still the best."
Vader smiled at her change in tone, and the compliment. "Thank you, Angel. Let me know what you find out about Leia."
"You will know as soon as I do." Padmé promised, signing off.
Vader settled back in his chair, thinking. Something was happening with his daughter, and he needed to know what that something was. But though she had been injured, a deeper look into the Force revealed that she was still alive.
Along with that came the whisper of Darkness urging patience. Willing to oblige— the Force had never steered Vader wrong— the Emperor returned to bed and laid down to rest.
(A/N: Sorry for the delay yet again everyone, February was a crazy month. Lots of sick days between myself and my family, and yet the Lord blessed me richly. Thank you all for your patience with me. Hopefully March goes smoother haha.)
