Title: Vader's Quest Chronicles
Summary: Darth Vader learns that he has a son and the search begins
Chapter 12
Disclaimer: Star Wars is the property of George Lucas. No disrespect is intended with this story.
Notes: Events now begin to occur within the context of TESB
Curse it, he missed Tarkin! Especially since Aay'i'sha was now no longer around, either. There was no one with whom to share private jokes and frustrations. Vader was lonely. His men were too afraid of him to give honest opinions when asked -- he guessed that his infamous displays of temper had probably caused that --and his Master only wanted obedience, not casual conversation. Things were just not the same without his friends. True, he had encouraged Aay'i'sha to leave. But why hadn't Wil listened when cautioned to abandon the Death Star? And now whatever, if anything, remained of Wilhuff Tarkin would, along with all the other trillions of bits of Death Star debris, eternally orbit the skies above Yavin IV.
Heartily sick of his personal searches for the Rebel base -- for naturally, they had abandoned the one on Yavin IV -- Vader resorted to a new tactic. He ordered the deployment of thousands of probe droids, sending them to every comer of the Galaxy.
And to step up his search for his son, he hired bounty hunters. He shuddered. They were a villainous lot; some of them almost frightened him. He really didn't like bounty hunters, they were so underhanded; give him an honestly open villain any day! But he wanted results, and was willing to do whatever it took.
Vader now knew the boy's name was definitely Luke Skywalker, and that he had been raised on Tatooine by Owen and Beru. That had been a stroke of genius -- hadn't Tatooine been the absolutely last place he had wanted to search? And 'Skywalker' -- well, duh! nothing like the obvious! 'Luke'-- he liked the sound of that. It really didn't matter, though -- Sidious would change it and tack 'Darth' onto the front; he'd be Darth Somebody-or-Other. Darth Bartus, most likely! Vader was getting rather sick of his Master's Sith pretensions. Why were the code names any longer important? The Sith -- all two of them! -- were out in the open and every one knew -.or at least suspected -- who they were.
Dammit! he'd liked being 'Skywalker'-- it was appropriate to his love of flying. And 'Anakin' was all right, too, as long as no one tried to shorten it. 'Ani'--no matter how they spelled it! -- seemed a bit sissified from any lips but his wife's or his mother's. But when he took over, he'd like to restore 'Skywalker' as his name. 'Emperor Skywalker the First'. He liked how that sounded! Yes, 'Emperor Sky walker' had a good ring to it; his son could be 'Prince Luke' eventually becoming 'Emperor Skywalker the Second'. And none of that Jedi celibacy nonsense. He'd find a wife for Luke, one who would provide many sons and daughters to firmly establish the Skywalker dynasty in the Galaxy. All with the wonderfully immense powers of the Sith at hand to maintain peace and justice.
It had been a long day. Happily daydreaming, Vader drifted off into a well-deserved nap.
It did not take long for the results from the probes. A lot of the data that they transmitted was garbage, of no use, but a few leads seemed promising. Vader allowed his attention to focus on one. "There! The Rebels are in the Hoth System!"
"But, Lord Vader," protested one of the men, "there is no intelligent life on the planet."
Vader turned to him. "Are you presuming to question my judgment?" Using the Force, he gently tightened the man's throat, cutting off his air supply. As he struggled to breathe, the man frantically shook his head. Vader as suddenly loosed his hold. "Good! Set a course for the Hoth System!" He strode swiftly from the bridge, leaving behind a scurrying hive of activity.
Later, as his men prepared for a landing on Hoth, Vader decided to spend a few quiet moments in meditation -- though that busybody Kenobi would likely intrude again. If Vader thought it had been bad before, ever since that laughably short duel in the Death Star had ended in Obi-Wan's suicide -- for what else could you call it when he had let Vader kill him?-- Vader's old Master had really become a nuisance. He spouted off to Vader at every opportunity. Vader sighed. If it wasn't the Emperor on the hated comlink, it was Obi-Wan in his mind. And sometimes both at the same time! Emperor: Go kill this one or that one. Obi-Wan: You know that's not the Jedi way, Darth. If you're going to be in my mind, Vader had told the voice time and time again, get it right -- it's Vader. Darth is more of a title; We're all Darth Something. My name is now Vader.
Obi-Wan's voice had since reverted to 'Anakin' most of the time….Vader guessed that old habits were hard to break. He settled himself for meditation. As if on cue, the comlink went off, but it was merely Admiral Piett with the news that he could prepare for his landing, the Rebels' shield generators would soon be down.
With a bit of regret, for, with Tarkin dead and Aay'i'sha gone, he almost relished and looked forward to the mental sparring with Obi-Wan's voice, Vader returned to the bridge, to lead the landing party at the Rebel base. The Millennium Falcon was there and so was his son -- he felt it. Soon, Luke, he vowed, soon you will know your father and your true destiny. And it won't be as Palpy's Sith apprentice. I will train you in the ways of the Force! For who better to train you than your own father? And it will certainly be nice to have a real human Force trained sparring partner again for lightsaber practice! A smile of anticipation on his face, he boarded the landing shuttle.
Anticipation turned to ashes as he watched the Falcon blast its way out of the icy hangar. He hadn't seen Luke, but he thought he'd seen Leia and took a moment to wonder if she'd learned any new words or if the illusion of safety had tempered her tongue. What an entourage she had -- his son, a Wookiee, two droids -- one of whom suspiciously resembled Threepio -- and a smuggler. He let them go for now; the bounty hunters could track them if his men lost them again -- and, knowing this latest bunch of Imperial incompetents, that seemed likely! Why did he ever expect anything involving this particular small band of Rebels to work out as he'd planned? His son must really be strong with the Force -- he's almost swear he was still on the planet! Vader returned to the shuttle and thence to his Star Destroyer.
The assemblage of bounty hunters was a motley, villainous group. But these were the best and he was sending them to search for the Millennium Falcon -- as he'd predicted, his men seemed to have lost it in an asteroid field. The Executor hovered just beyond the edge of the field in relatively clear space. The sudden reappearance of the small ship had caused a brief flurry, but then it had as suddenly disappeared again. Vader dispatched the bounty hunters just before going to hyperspace.
One of the bounty hunters, Boba Fett, only wanted the Millennium Falcon's captain in return -- his plans were to claim the sizeable bounty posted by Jabba the Hutt. Ugh! The Fett man was as creepy as Vader vaguely recalled the parent having been. What did one call the sole source of a clone's genetic material? Boba Fett could technically call every clone trooper in the Galaxy 'brother'-- scary thought, that! Vader knew that Fett was simply an unaltered clone of the original clone stock, but he still felt using cloning for personal reproduction was just wrong! It offended his sense of ethical behavior for humanity -- even for a Sith lord.
Thankfully, Palpatine had apparently never felt the urge to procreate. The Emperor disliked -- no, he hated -- children; it was just as well he'd never fathered any, as he would probably have lost his temper and fried them with his Sith lightning long before they reached adulthood. Besides Vader couldn't imagine any woman willingly consenting to couple with the Sith Master, especially in his current state of deterioration. However, Palpy apparently intended to live forever, so had never felt compelled to reproduce himself. Vader shuddered at the thought of miniature Palpys -the adult was bad enough!
Well, Vader, he thought to himself, you certainly suck at relationships! He ticked off the details. You managed to kill off most of the Jedi, eliminating the few real friends you had there; you killed your wife; you alienated and then killed your former Jedi Master; you mistook Palpatine's evil intentions for real friendship; you let your troopers destroy your step-brother…. At least you can't really blame yourself for Tarkin's death, you did try to warn him to abandon the Death Star, but he had just refused to see the inevitability of its destruction…. Of course, he recalled, the mental warning was probably too late anyway, coming only while he'd spiraled out of control away from the Death Star in the disabled TIE-AX1 fighter. Fighting for some semblance of control over the tiny ship, he had activated his distress beacon even as he mentally tried to reach Tarkin's mind. Dammit! I did try! There had been time for Tarkin to evacuate...! And now Tarkin was gone. Well, maybe his son would bond with him as he had once himself bonded with Obi-Wan. They could be so much more, though. Not just Master and Padawan, but father and son. Deeper than just friendship and respect, but love and affection…. Somewhat in surprise, Vader realized that those were the very ties he'd had with Obi-Wan, the kind he had mistakenly imagined he would form with his Sith Master. This time, he vowed to himself, I'm not going to muck it up! This time, I'll get it right! When the small voice of his former self insisted that he might have trouble getting past the fact that he had killed the kid's mother, he ignored it and dismissed the fact as irrelevant, just as he had always dealt with the unpalatable and unpleasant.
You're blind, Anakin, blind! Obi-Wan's voice suddenly echoed so loudly that he looked around, almost expecting to see Kenobi standing behind him. He saw nothing but hazy shadows.
Go away. Obi-Wan! Don't you have something better to do? Go haunt my kid -- right now he's probably far more interested in your opinions than I am! And I'm not blind -- I can see clearly where I erred in the past. This time I'll get it right! He deliberately turned his back on the shadows with a last comment, And it's Vader now. I am Vader! Anakin is dead. Maybe, if he emphasized it enough, it would be true; his Anakin-self was sometimes more troublesome than Obi-Wan's shade.
But the haziness now appeared in front of him. You mourn your friend's passing; you do honor to his memory. But you must let him go also as you have the others in your life -- Qui-Gon, your mother, Padmé -
Viciously, Vader interrupted. Leave my wife and my mother out of this! Leave me something of the past! Go away! Just leave! Leave me alone! His head had begun to throb from his efforts to ignore the voice of Obi-Wan. The ache intensified until sustaining his angry impatience became impossible and nothing was important except the pain inside his head. With a moan, he closed his eyes and tried to relax, willing the agony away, until at last the welcome oblivion of sleep overtook him.
Vader cautiously opened one eye, then the other; then he carefully turned his head. The migraine was gone. But every joint in his body protested at his movements. Force! How long have I been in this one position? Must have been hours to get this stiff…. He thought nostalgically of his youthful ability to sleep in any cramped position and still awaken to easy movement. Ruefully, he realized that his age was beginning to rear its ugly head. Mentally ticking off the years, he decided that he must be approaching his forty-fifth year -- give or take a year or two. Smiling to himself, he idly imagined his present appearance had he never had to assume the 'Vader suit'-- he would probably have a lot of gray in his blond hair that would show silvery in the light... Hmmmmm…it might be sort of cool to have a hairpiece made next time he was on Coruscant -- he was getting awfully tired of the ugly scarring on his shaven head. Maybe then he could go out once in awhile without the stupid helmet! Especially since his mustache was coming along nicely. Of course, he'd need some new clothes, too -- as a Sith lord, he had an even more limited wardrobe than he'd had as a Jedi! Naturally, he'd get black -- he liked wearing black, just not the ugly body armor! He pictured himself in apparel similar to what he'd worn as a Jedi -- knee high boots, black pants, black tunic, black leather vest and belt, and a wonderful flowing black cloak with a hood -- he missed his hooded cloak! The cloak was the only part of old Palpy's apparel that he envied, and Palpy knew it! Was that why he made Vader wear the stupid ugly helmet and respirator/mask? Because there was now available a convenient miniaturized respirator that he could carry for emergencies...
Hmmmmm…with that and a hairpiece, and some new clothes, he could go out, socialize, meet women…. After all, he could admire them, even if he didn't desire -- he had never felt that for anyone except his wife, he was just a one-woman man in that respect. But he wanted a chance to look without inspiring fear! He did appreciate a pretty woman! Although clothing seemed a lot more modest now, there were still plenty of low-cut necklines and slit skirts showing off feminine anatomy. Imagining what lay hidden could titillate also. Vader tried to imagine his wife in current fashions, and failed. He'd rather remember her in more intimate moments, clad only in flowing hair and a loving smile. If he never let his imagining reach her eyes…. For her eyes were always the undoing of his reveries. Carefully refusing to recall her terrified eyes, Vader let his mind remember, and something within him stirred as he returned to sleep in pleasantly erotic dreaming.
Fully awakening at last, Vader knew he had dreamed of Padmé , but was unable to recall more than a sense of peace and love. At least it hadn't been a nightmare, this time. However he did recall his midnight resolve for a makeover of his appearance. He could still wear the body armor when he was working, but for his leisure time…. What leisure? jeered Anakin; he expects you to be at his beck and call all day every day, and all night as well! Ignoring his inner voice, Vader arose and dressed, determined to effect the changes as soon as he could arrange a trip to the capital.
Light-years away, Darth Sidious sensed a change in his apprentice, something indefinable, yet disturbing to the Master. He resolved to keep Vader too busy to do anything...foolish. Perhaps it was time... time to reveal the identity of Lord Vader's son. For Palpatine had known his identity for some time, It was just so ... satisfying to watch Vader's frustrated efforts to trace the boy... The Emperor sighed. Vader's time was ending; the son of Skywalker would soon eclipse the father and become the new Sith apprentice of Darth Sidious. Poor Vader. Like his predecessor Darth Tyranus, he would be ... eliminated by his successor, fully aware of his fate. And Sidious anticipated Vader's sudden realization of the delicious irony that he had provided the means of his own ending -- the son for whom he'd searched so diligently. The Emperor cackled maniacally at his own thoughts. Yes indeed, poor Vader!
His dreams continued. Although thankful that they weren't nightmares, Vader could never recall their exact content, only that they had involved his wife; he always awoke feeling impatient for the next dream. He could recall a feeling of erotic intimacy, but never details. He wanted to remember, but was afraid to recall either the dreams or the memory of the reality, kept buried deeply in a secret corner of his mind, where the memories were all of a time before the world fell apart, and Anakin opened himself to Vader and the Dark Side. He kept that part of himself hidden from the Emperor, for the Sith Master would somehow corrupt the purity of the memories, as he had tainted Vader's life since…. The man is a miserable blot on humanity, and the Galaxy would be much improved by his absence! thought Vader. I fully intend to bring about that absence when the time is ripe.. He wasn't yet sure how, but it would involve the boy whom his Master referred to as 'the son of Skywalker' in a voice edged with the tiniest hint of fear. For, Vader knew, Palpatine feared his son, yet wanted to possess him also. Was Luke already so powerful? Perhaps. Only time -- and the Force -- will tell.
One of his troopers brought the message -- Boba Fett had determined that the Millennium Falcon was bound for the gas mining colony on Bespin, and would meet Vader's men there to collect his reward -- Solo. At last! Vader ordered his shuttle prepared as the Executor went to hyperspace to arrive well ahead of Vader's prey.
Leaving the Star Destroyer in orbit a discreet distance from Bespin, Vader and a few of his troopers took the shuttle to Cloud City. There Vader confronted the facility's Baron Administrator, Lando Calrissian. Vader knew the type only too well -- gambler, adventurer, pirate, whatever role was convenient for the current situation. At the present Calrissian was a quasi-respectable businessman and was only too willing to deal with Vader and the Empire if it protected his own interests.
Sure, he knew the Falcon, had once owned her before losing her in a sabacc game with his friend, her captain and present owner, Han Solo. Betray Solo and his passengers to the Empire? Certainly, no problem, if it meant that the Empire would go away and stay away, henceforth turning a completely blind eye to Calrissian's little operation here on Bespin.
Vader felt his skin crawl as he dealt with the man. True, Vader had no intentions himself of keeping the deal, but Calrissian surely realized that and was still ready to betray a friend...! The Empire settled into a quietly obscure suite, along with Boba Fett, to await arrival of the Millennium Falcon and its passengers.
To Vader's intense, but well-concealed, disappointment, his son was not aboard the Falcon. He had suspected as much, but had hoped he was wrong. However, some discreet torture would perhaps wring Luke's whereabouts from Solo -- he refused to chance Leia's apparent immunity to interrogation, and torturing Wookiees was usually unproductive. And, if Luke had even half the power that the Emperor thought, the distress of his friends should bring him flying to their rescue.
Fett demanded his prize -- Solo. But Vader refused to release even one hostage until he was certain that Luke was on his way. Fett fumed, but remained polite. He wanted Solo alive, for the Hutt's posted reward specified 'live' in order to claim the optimum bounty; his actual physical condition was not especially important.
As he awaited Luke's arrival, it gradually dawned on Vader that an aspiring young Jedi wielding a lightsaber could be a bit difficult to transport to the Emperor on Coruscant without bodily harm to those involved in the attempt. He ascertained that Cloud City contained the perfect solution -- a carbon-freeze unit. He could use the facility to put the boy into hibernation for the trip! Theoretically, it shouldn't harm him. He could also get Fett off his back by testing the process on Solo beforehand!
"But, Lord Vader," protested Calrissian, "we only use it for the carbon-freezing of gas for transport. "
"Solo's no good to me dead," growled Fett.
"If he dies, the Empire will compensate you!" Vader snapped, then commanded his troops, "Bring Solo and the others. We will test the facility on Solo. After I have Skywalker, you may take Solo to the Hutt on..." Vader shuddered and forced himself to put name to his despised home world, "Tatooine, and claim your bounty. The Princess and the Wookiee must never again leave this facility." He turned to the Baron Administrator. "Do I have your full cooperation on this, Calrissian? I should hate to have to leave a garrison of soldiers behind when I go."
Calrissian hurriedly agreed to cooperate. Vader had no intention of adhering to his end of the deal, so why should he trust this pirate to uphold his? The captain of his Star Destroyer would send in an occupying force on his prearranged signal no matter what deal he struck with Calrissian. As for leaving Leia here and trusting this man to see to her safety? He would probably gamble her away if the opportunity arose. She was far more valuable as a pawn for the Empire. Besides, Vader was beginning to like her more and more.
Across the hissing carbon-freeze pit, Leia glared at him. Although she remained silent, her thoughts were as plain to Vader as if she had spoken them aloud. Oh, Leia. Such language for a Princess! Tame, though. Is your tongue tempered by love for this... this smuggler? And my mother, though unmarried at my birth, was a respectable woman; don't impugn her memory with obscene references! As Leia's attention returned to Solo, Vader gestured to the men. "Put him in!"
Braver than he would have expected, Solo stood calmly, his eyes intent on Leia as he sank into the pit. He actually loves her, Vader thought in wonder.
Leia spoke through tears. "Han! I love you!"
A small smile played on Solo's lips as he replied, "I know," just before he disappeared into a cloud of super-frozen air.
Phtah! Vader thought in disgusted embarrassment at his own reactions to the scene, for it eerily reminded him of another last-minute declaration of love on Geonosis. To cover his own unwelcome emotions, he turned his attention to the carbonite slab encasing Solo's body.
"He's alive," declared Calrissian, "and in perfect hibernation!"
"Good! He is all yours, Bounty Hunter. Reset the chamber for Skywalker." Turning to his troopers, he added, "Take the Princess and the Wookiee to my ship!" After he had his son, he would find good use for them. Besides, the Empire still considered the Wookiee a wanted war criminal!
Calrissian quickly protested. "That was never a part of our deal, nor was giving Han to --"
Vader swung to face him. "I am altering the deal. Perhaps you would like me to alter it further?" he asked in a voice rife with unspoken menace; he gently tightened the man's throat, then as suddenly released his Force grip. Calrissian fell silent and, rubbing his throat, left the chamber with the others. Vader watched him go. The man bore watching, but he would see reason -- or else. Vader melted into the shadows to await young Skywalker's arrival.