Chapter 38:
Han finally landed the shuttle, and headed for the throne room, with the droids and the sandtroopers in tow. He was sure that protocol droid was going to drive him crazy. It hadn't stopped talking the whole trip, and only the knowledge that Vader wanted the droid had stopped him from turning it into a heap of slag. If the Rebels have more droids like these, we won't have to fight them. They'll be too nuts to be dangerous.
He stopped at the throne room, and ordered the troopers to wait outside. "We're doomed!" Threepio wailed, for the umpteenth time over the past hour, and the R2 unit made a noise not unlike a raspberry. Han sighed, and pushed the doors open, the droids trailing in his wake. He stopped at the foot of the throne, and after a moment's hesitation, knelt and waited to be acknowledged.
Vader slowly turned his throne around to gaze at Han and the two droids. "Excellent work, Admiral. Report on the status of the troopers from Tatooine."
Han jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "I brought the ones that were on board; they're waiting in the antechamber. Most of the troopers are still on Tatooine, though."
"Excellent work, Admiral. You will be rewarded, for now, leave us. Guard the troopers outside those doors, make sure none get away."
Han raised an eyebrow, but thought better about saying anything. "Y-yes, uh… sire." He got to his feet, awkwardly, and went back to 'babysit the troops', as he phrased it to himself. Honestly, if they wanted to leave, one guy like me couldn't stop all of them.
After Admiral Solo left the throne room, Darth Vader reached out through the Force and called his apprentice. The droids have returned to their rightful owner, my son. Come to the throne room at once.
I'm on my way, father. Atrox rose from his meditation, and went to the throne room. He allowed a smirk to settle on his features as he saw Han leaning up against the wall, in a glare-off with the sandtroopers. Han seemed to be losing. The troopers' helmets prohibited any change in their visible expressions, and Han could only maintain his scowl for so long before he had to give it up.
He entered the throne room, and walked up to the throne, where Threepio and Artoo were still standing. Threepio fairly wilted with relief. "Oh, Master Luke! I knew it had to be a mistake!" He turned to Artoo and assumed a scolding posture. "See? I told you there was nothing to worry about." Artoo made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort.
Atrox smirked and lowered his hood. Vader stood up and walked next to his son, Behind the main control panel on his back, there is a backup memory module, restore it.
"Master L—" Atrox reached up and switched Threepio off mid-sentence. He stepped behind the droid, and opened the control panel his father had indicated. He activated the backup memory module, and closed the panel once again. Vader slowly lowered his hood, and with a flick of the switch, Threepio whirred to life. If he'd been able to blink, he would have. "Master Ani! Where did you come from?"
Atrox smirked. "Ani?"
Vader glared at his son. Not now. "Threepio, a lot has changed since your memory was 'wiped' by the Rebels. I go by Lord Vader now, as you are no doubt aware. Luke Skywalker is my son… who now goes by the name Darth Atrox. You will address him as Lord Atrox."
Artoo gave a long, sad hoot. Atrox merely smirked again. There was no way he was letting Vader off that easily.
Vader glared at Artoo, "I can see that you have not changed, Artoo. Need I remind you that I am still your master, even though you were kidnapped by Kenobi after he left me for dead, burning alive in lava! He even lied to my own son, saying that his father was dead!" Vader said coldly, barely restraining his rage.
Artoo beeped, softly, and then was silent. Threepio looked distressed. "Oh my." He rounded on Artoo, and began scolding him. "Just look at all the trouble you caused. I told you none of this was a good idea."
Atrox turned towards Threepio and glared at him. "Can it, Threepio." Atrox said coldly, his burning eyes meeting the droid's.
Threepio subsided, crushed, and Artoo twittered an admonishment at Atrox, before also falling silent.
When Leia awoke, she found herself in bed, with Padmé sitting by, anxiously. "Leia! Are you alright?"
She rubbed her head, and sat up, slowly. "Apart from a headache, I think I'll be fine." She hesitated, a moment, then looked up at her mother, cautiously. "Could… could I ask you something?"
Padmé nodded, gravely, sensing somehow what she wanted to ask. Leia paused, trying to word her question, then said, simply, "What happened the day… the day my father was injured?"
Padmé bowed her head. "That was the first day of the end of the Clone Wars, and the day of the institution of Palpatine's master-stroke: Order 66. Your father believed that I would die in childbirth, and he was determined not to let that happen, no matter what the cost to himself or anyone else. Palpatine… tricked him into believing that the dark side had the power to save people from death, and twisted him into service. Across the galaxy, Jedi were cut down, betrayed by the troops they were leading to defend the Republic, even as Palpatine announced the birth of the Empire. Your- your father…" her voice broke, and she buried her face in her hands.
Leia's voice was grave, but steady. "What did he do?"
Padmé didn't look up. "He killed the younglings in the Jedi Temple. They- they trusted him, and he slaughtered them like- like they were vermin. When Obi-wan told me, I… I couldn't believe it. I wouldn't believe it. Not my Ani… By then, he was already gone to Mustafar, and Obi-wan… Obi-wan wanted to know where he was. He… he was going to kill him! I didn't tell him where Anakin went, maybe I should have, but I couldn't. But I had to know for myself. So… I went to Mustafar to talk to him. Obi-wan knew I would, and so he stowed away aboard my ship when I wasn't looking. When I arrived… it was all that Obi-wan said it was, and worse." She dabbed her eyes with the edge of her sleeve, and stood up. "I- I can't talk about it any more right now. Perhaps later." She walked swiftly from the room, and Leia could sense the grief that still haunted her mother. Her heart had broken that day, and she'd never recovered.
Mara had spent hours laboring over the construction of her first lightsaber. It had been a few years since she had built one, but the Emperor's rigorous memory-training had served her well. She nudged the crystal a hair's breadth to the side, trying to align it perfectly with the activation matrix. Finally, she felt it settle, and she carefully applied the finishing touches before gingerly igniting it. A magenta blade shot out, and she smiled, satisfied.
She shut it off, and surveyed the parts remaining. A double-bladed lightsaber… that was going to be more of a challenge.
Darth Vader looked at his droids and raised his hood again. "Leave us. Report to maintenance, I want to make sure that there are no rebel intelligence devices installed in you." He said as he walked back to his throne and sat back down, watching as Atrox raised his own hood and waiting for the droid's compliance.
Threepio's anxiety level seemed to go up another notch. "Yes, Ma- I mean, Lord Vader." He turned and clanked off towards the doors, with Artoo following. "We're doomed. They'll scrap us for sure."
Artoo beeped derisively. Threepio rounded on him, and snapped, "I know Master Anakin is my maker. I've been with him far longer than you have, you self-important bucket of bolts!"
Artoo made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort, and Threepio immediately began complaining to no one in particular about how immature Artoo was as the two of them turned off down the hall.
Once the droids left the throne room, Vader touched Admiral Solo's mind through the Force. Bring them in, Admiral.
Han brought the troopers in, glaring at them with his fiercest scowl. "Here they are, sire." He then looked around, furtively, for someplace he could escape to.
Vader sensed the Admiral's desire to leave the throne room and chuckled while using the Force to lock all of the doors in the throne room. "You will remain here, Admiral, and you will watch everything that happens, or you will be… punished," Vader said in an icy tone.
Han tried to keep the disappointment out of his face, if only so the troopers wouldn't see it. He bowed his head, and muttered, "Yessir."
The troops shifted uneasily. They continued to stand in formation, their helmets hiding their facial expressions, but their nervousness could be sensed from a yard off, with or without the Force.
Vader's face began to form a dark, sinister smile. "Disarm them, Admiral."
Han's expression tightened, just noticeably, but he stepped forward and took the Blas-tech rifles from the troopers, and tossed them into a pile by the throne. The last one looked as if he wanted to refuse, but reluctantly handed it over.
Atrox watched as each trooper was disarmed and his face contorted into a dark, malevolent, twisted smile as he relished each trooper's fear, enjoying the power it gave him over them.
Han shivered at the look on Atrox's face. It was… unsettling to see such perverted pleasure in another person's fear and suffering.
Vader smirked. His son was truly a great Sith Lord… though he sensed that his full potential was still to be realized.
In a dark, chilling voice, Atrox addressed Admiral Solo. "I can sense you have… issues about Sith Lords?"
"No, of course not, Lord Atrox. I'm… uncomfortable about being here," Han admitted, knowing that it was pointless to try to lie to the Sith Lord.
Atrox's smile grew even more, his burning gaze puncturing into Han's very soul. "Deal with it, Admiral."
Han nodded, even tenser than before, unable to tear his eyes away from Atrox's unnerving stare. "Yessir."
Vader finally spoke up after observing his son and addressed the troopers. "My apprentice, Darth Atrox, wanted to… reward you for your efforts on Tatooine. Your dedication to the Empire is duly noted."
The sandtroopers seemed to stand there, for a moment, as if trying to determine whether it was a trick statement. Finally, their captain said, noncommittally, "Yes, milord."
Darth Atrox began pacing back and forth in front of the troopers like a predator stalking its prey. "You all have been instrumental in helping me embrace the dark side of the Force. You slaughtered my aunt and uncle, and for that… you all will die." Atrox said, not trying to hide his pure rage at the troopers as he used the Force to lift the sandtrooper up several meters by his throat, strangling him.
The captain reached one hand up to his throat, groping for the invisible fingers clenched there, then let it drop, helplessly.
The other troopers glanced at each other, and galvanized into action, some going for the blaster rifles, and the others simply going directly for Atrox.
Atrox laughed, and his eyes narrowed as he gathered the dark side of the Force into himself. His skin seemed to acquire a grayish tinge, and the dark side seemed to emanate from him, almost becoming one with him as he opened himself to it.
All the non-Force-sensitives took an involuntary step backwards, as if they could themselves feel it. Vader crossed his arms, surprised by the overpowering strength of his son's connection to the dark side, and curious to see just what he intended.
At that same moment, Mara looked up from her meditation over the lightsaber parts, and from across the galaxy Leia felt her brother's dark aura.
Atrox's fist tightened and the captain gave one final jerk before going limp, the Sith Lord's grip still tightening on his neck. One trooper finally shook himself free of the daze they all seemed to be in to make a grab for the blaster rifles, only to have his chest completely crushed with the Force. Another rushed Atrox, but was thrown backwards, screaming, clutching his head as Atrox tore his mind to shreds. A third used the distraction posed by his comrades to seize a weapon, but convulsed as Atrox blasted him with lightning. Using the fallen body of their captain as a shield, one trooper simply ran for the door, but the Sith Lord spotted him, and with a twist of his hand, tore him to pieces… from the inside out.
The remaining two sandtroopers stood there, looking at Atrox, and the Sith Lord looked back, a smirk on his face. None of them moved for a long moment, as the tension mounted, then, finally, one of them bolted, and almost before he took two steps, he was down, taken by Atrox's saber staff.
Vader continued to watch his son, impressed, and very proud. His son was greater than Palpatine ever was, and as his training continued, would grow still more skilled and powerful.
Atrox gave the remaining trooper a long glance, then began to mercilessly drain the life from his body. The man screamed as the sensation continued, growing more painful as it was drawn out further. Finally, at the peak of his agony, Atrox finished him, extracting what remained of his life with one final stroke.
Han had somehow managed to watch the whole spectacle. His mind was dazed by the callousness of the young Sith Lord; he'd never, in all his many experiences, seen anything this grotesque.
After several long moments, Darth Atrox deactivated his saber staff and returned it to his belt while turning around to look at his master, refusing to release his hold on the dark side of the Force.
Vader studied his son, for a few moments, then said, "Impressive. Most impressive. You have not yet reached your full potential, and yet you can already perform extraordinary feats with the Force."
"They got what they deserved, and… I feel stronger, more powerful. I have never felt the Force this way before. You were right, the dark side is far more powerful than the light, the Rebels won't stand a chance now."
Vader chuckled at his son's enthusiasm. "The Force is filled with new experiences, my apprentice. Not even the Dark Lords of the Sith have probed all its mysteries. The Jedi certainly have not. They blind themselves by avoiding the dark side."
"Indeed. Why they would deprive themselves of such a weapon is beyond me." Atrox said coldly.
Vader chuckled again at his son. "Very true." He turned to Admiral Solo. "Get a crew to clean this mess up and I want you to supervise them."
"Er… yes, sire." Han muttered, and wandered off to, once again, pull rank on somebody to dispose of bodies in the throne room.