Chapter 26:
Han awoke with a groan, completely disoriented. He raised himself to a sitting position, and realized, somewhat groggily, that he was at the foot of the Emperor's throne. He immediately snapped himself to attention, trying to clear his head in the meanwhile, and figure out what had happened.
The Emperor slowly turned his throne back towards Captain Solo and watched him. Finally he spoke, "Well, Admiral Solo, it seems you have finally recovered."
Solo frowned. He must have hit his head or something, because his memories were confused, but he didn't think he was an admiral. "I-I'm sorry, your highness?"
"I believe I just promoted you to Admiral from a Captain… Admiral Solo. You had quite a fall there, you must be disoriented."
"Yeah," Han muttered. He slowly got to his feet. "Th-thank you, your highness. I'm…. honored."
The Emperor smiled, coldly. "Now go, Admiral. I sense young Skywalker will have need of you shortly."
"Yes, your highness." Admiral Solo bowed, and walked slowly out the doors. Once he was out in the corridor, he rubbed his head, still trying to clear his head. "Dunno what's come over me," he muttered to himself, as he returned to his quarters.
Finally, Luke stepped back from the target, satisfied. He had progressed from durasteel to some kind of incredibly hard rock he didn't recognize. He looked at Mara, to see if his cuts were acceptable, and she nodded, grudgingly respecting him for his quick study.
"You're picking it up pretty quickly," she admitted, slightly annoyed. It had taken her several days of practice for each target to get a high enough level of precision to satisfy the Emperor, and yet Luke had already mastered the first level, after only a few hours' practice, and was close to mastering the second level, as well. "Now try—"
Mara was interrupted by someone entering the training room, Admiral Solo. She immediately turned around and glared at him. "What are you doing here Captain?!"
At this point, Luke turned around and saw Admiral Solo. From the moment Han had entered the room, Luke could sense something was different about him… he seemed to remember nothing of Leia… or anything of Lando, Chewie, or any of the others. "I sense that you are out of uniform… Admiral." He chuckled.
"Yeah, the Emperor promoted me just now. He said that my rank was insufficient to be your advisor." He looked at Luke, noticing the second lightsaber hilt at his belt.
"It also seems that he… decorated your chin, Admiral." Mara said, amused.
"I have no orders for you right now, Admiral. You may have some free time off… after you finish your… other orders."
"Yes sir." Han said as he turned around and headed back to his quarters, knowing exactly what orders Luke was referring to, his orders from Lord Vader.
Leia sat on the ground with her eyes closed, concentrating hard. A small, smooth stone began to rise up into the air, unsteadily. She let the rock float there, for a moment, then, her frown deepening, another rock began to rise up, even more wobbly than the first. She let them both hang there, trembling, for a minute, then let them fall. She let out a long sigh, and turned to look at Yoda, expectantly.
The diminutive Jedi master nodded, once. "Growing, your skills are, Leia. Truly remarkable, your progress is."
She moved to sit beside him, wearily. After a while, she asked him, "Why did Vader fall to the dark side?"
Yoda shook his head. "Seduced by the Emperor, your father was. Tricked into trusting him, until it was too late, and the Emperor had twisted him to his cause."
Leia knew what Yoda meant. Her adopted father, Bail Organa, had told her how the Emperor had seized power, and it saddened her that Anakin Skywalker had been destroyed with the same stroke that ended the Republic. "Is there any hope for-" she couldn't bring herself to say 'my father', "for Vader, and Luke? Obi-wan doesn't believe there is any good left in Vader. Is there?"
Yoda shook his head, gravely. "Impossible to tell. Twisted and evil, Vader has become."
Leia frowned. "But if he could be redeemed…."
"Until your training is complete, strength enough to face him, you have not," Yoda reminded her, gently. "Luke rushed to face him, when incomplete was his training; overcome by the dark side was he."
Leia nodded, content to let the matter rest for now, but even more determined to master everything Yoda had to teach her as quickly as she could.
Han managed to make his way back to his quarters, and found that the Emperor had sent a new admiral's uniform there while he was gone. He washed the blood off his chin where the Emperor had cut it, and changed into the uniform, straightening himself up before making his call to Lord Vader. He then went over to the holotransmitter and activated it, sending a message to Vader's flagship.
"Yes, Admiral Solo?" Vader said, eyeing the holographic form of Solo in an Admiral's uniform.
"The Emperor has your son training with Mara Jade in lightsaber precision. From the tension in the room, I would say that your son is making fast progress with his lessons." He paused, and then continued. "It also seems that he has obtained a new lightsaber. It's a much longer hilt, and looks like it was given to him by the Emperor."
Vader tilted his head upward, slightly. "A saber staff? Curious." He remained thoughtful for some time, sensing traces of the Emperor's work throughout Solo's mind, as well as noticing that Solo no longer seemed resentful of him, as he had before. "Continue to report on my son's status, especially lessons between him and Jade."
Han nodded. "Yessir. I'll keep you posted." He ran a hand through his hair, relieved that that was over. Lord Vader made him feel like he was being cross-examined. "Now, for that time off Luke promised," he smiled, a little. Maybe some hard Corellian ale would help clear his head.