Title: Vader's Quest Chronicles

Chapter 14

Timeframe: Beginning between ROTS and ANH

Disclaimer: Star Wars is the property of George Lucas. No disrespect is intended with this story. Notes: And it is already into ROTJ as Vader's quest to find his son begins to wind down...

He awakened with a start, drenched in sweat, every nerve end a-tingle. And, for a change, the memory of the dream was still vivid -- he and Padme, their naked bodies passionately entwined, heavy breathing, long yearning kisses, busy hands caressing his body -- Whew! He hadn't had dreams like that since he was a teenage Padawan! He smiled in memory -- the reality had been far better than the dreams! And now he recalled what had caused him to awaken -- her eyes, he had let himself look into her eyes and seen them turn from tender and loving to terrified. He stood and began to pace, his mind busy with memory... regrets... longing... a still strong love for his vanished wife. On another level he reveled in the ease of movement in his legs, the natural feel of his new limbs. He was achieving part of his secret dreams -- that of becoming less dependent upon machinery for his body to function, of regaining his own humanity. Perhaps the erotic dreams were a sign that he was succeeding...Vader returned to bed. Maybe, the dream would return, but this time he would not look into her eyes...
In his own bedchamber, the Emperor also awakened. He sensed another one of those disturbing changes in his apprentice. Why couldn't Vader do his changing at more convenient times? He had interrupted a pleasant dream -- Sidious had the Princess as his sex slave, clad only in a brass bikini and chained to him...Since she couldn't become a Sith lady -- too bad; he'd liked the idea, even had chosen a name for her! -- she had, in his dream, become a Sith's slave, forced to endure his kisses and his touch. He knew that she would cringe and shudder -- it was so exciting to his twisted fantasies! And now Vader had managed to interrupt! Maybe if he could go back to sleep...Sidious closed his eyes and focused on the vision of an attractive brunette in a brass bikini, shrinking from his caresses...Oh, yes! It was so real; so exciting! He slept.
On faraway Tatooine, Princess Leia, clad in a brass bikini, was chained to the disgusting slug, Jabba the Hutt. She turned her face to avoid his sloppy kisses. Eeuw! Ugh! She shuddered. Even her knowledge of obscenities wouldn't help her now. Jabba pulled her closer. Somebody help me! Please, Luke, hurry; rescue me; rescue us all!

When Vader finally arose from his slumbers, he could still recall his dreams. At the memory, he felt something stir deep inside him, something he had always associated with desire for his wife. By the living Force, it was distracting. Let his Anakin-self wallow in it! He was Vader, Sith lord, above such petty lusts and desires! He tried to ignore the voice in his mind that taunted: You wish! You are still Anakin and you know it! Deep inside you will always be Anakin Skywalker!

Obi-Wan, go away! I'll handle this in my own way, thank you -- it's private! A sudden suspicion struck him. It is private, isn't it? You aren't using my dreams like some sexual fantasy holovid, are you Obi-Wan?

Anakin! Would I do that? Of course not! Although, if I had thought of it -- but no, it's not the Jedi way, so yes, it is private. You do broadcast your thoughts pretty loudly, though, when you daydream! The hazy face of his one-time Master grinned and winked at him, then disappeared.

Dammit, Obi-Wan --I... Now he would have to try to shield his dreams. Life just got more and more complicated. If Obi-Wan's Force ghost could pick up on his dreams, what of his present Master? Oh, Force take it. double blast and damn! That old sarlacc's spawn Sidious will really make my life miserable if he can sense them! Quietly muttering further imprecations, Vader donned his boots, picked up his lightsaber, and left his quarters.

With all of Jerjerrod's usual overly ceremonious assembly, Vader and the Moff awaited the Emperor's arrival ort the still incomplete Death Star. Vader quietly sighed. Can't this man do anything without overindulging in ceremonious clap-trap? Dinner last evening had been excruciatingly dull, with stilted conversation and too much poorly prepared and ill chosen food. Vader nostalgically recalled Aay'i'sha's brief tenure as Jerjie's personal chef -- that little Twi'lek excelled in the kitchen! He didn't need his Master's powers to foresee another such evening tonight. Only with Palpy's presence to exacerbate the boredom. He hoped that he wouldn't fall asleep between courses. At least Jerjerrod was a teetotaler and had not served wine -- thanks be for small favors! He hoped that Palpy hadn't brought his own supply...

The shuttle landed, and as the Emperor descended the ramp, Vader knelt, surreptitiously motioning a hesitant Jerjerrod to do likewise. Might as well keep the Commander in what favor he could -- Vader certainly did not want to be saddled with the command of this incomplete battle station!

Palpatine was angry -- he had been awakened from a sound sleep and a very pleasant dream. He summoned one of his guards. "What is happening? What is that abominable racket?" For sirens were blaring and there were heavy running footfalls outside his quarters.

The guard looked into the corridor and quietly questioned a passing trooper, then returned followed by the trooper.

"Well," snapped the Emperor, "what is going on? I will not put up with having my rest disturbed! Out with it, man, now!"

"It's a drill, Your Highness." The trooper had a bad feeling about this.

"A drill? In the middle of the night? What incompetent idiot ordered that insanity?"

The trooper sighed in resignation. He was going to die, he knew it. "Um…er... you did, Sir." His last thoughts were that this must be the Imperial retirement plan for clone troopers. His body hit the wall and fell lifeless to the floor.

Palpatine smirked in satisfaction and waved for his guards to remove the body. "Now, contact Moff Jerjerrod. I will have an answer!"

Jerjerrod's figure appeared on the holopad. "Yes, Your Highness? Did you have a question concerning the drill?" He appeared calm on the surface, but his eyes held an edge of fear.

"One of your ...late... idiot troopers tried to tell me that I ordered this drill! Would I do something so stupid as to order a drill during my scheduled sleeping cycle?" Palpatine's tone dared him to agree with the question's premise.

Jerjerrod visibly swallowed. "Uh... no, Sir. Of course not. He must have been mistaken. I'll look into it and cancel the drill immediately, Sir!" He saluted smartly.

"See that you do!" snapped the Emperor. "And do not disturb my slumbers again!" He ended the transmission. At least it hadn't been Vader this time! He nodded in satisfaction at the sudden silence and returned to bed.

With arrogant purpose, Vader strode into Jerjerrod's command center. Jerjie has certainly stepped into a boatload of bantha doo this time! Any idiot knows better than to disturb Palpy's ...umm... 'beauty sleep;' What had the man been thinking? Doesn't he value his career at all?

Jerjerrod snapped to attention. "Lord Vader. To what do I owe the honor of --"

"Just be quiet and listen, if you want to retain command of this battle station. You are in a precarious position, Jerjerrod. Palpatine will not forget last night's fiasco!"

"But... but..." stuttered the Moff. "He himself ordered the drill! I was only following his orders...

"Jerjerrod. He is an indolent, senile old man. He has had things arranged to suit his own satisfaction for more than twenty five years. Would he now begin to arrange things to inconvenience himself? Even when he set up his own kidnapping by General Grievous, he was in less danger than he was during his rescue. Watch yourself, or he will decide that you have become an irksome inconvenience, to be permanently removed at will!"

Jerjerrod swallowed hard. "But, Lord Vader, were I to fail to follow his orders..."

"Exactly my point, man!" Vader was losing his patience with the Moff"Follow his orders, but do not disturb his comfort. In other words, don't call a drill at midnight when he is asleep! If you know for a fact that he is awake, fine. Otherwise, be creative. Follow his orders to the spirit -- if he wants a drill, give him a drill-- but when he is awake!" Vader's already considerable dislike of Moff Jerjerrod was rapidly increasing. The man was an idiot!

"If you say soLord Vader. But he did not even remember ordering any drill at all."

"I said he's getting senile. But he does have periods of extremely sharp memory. Just do what he says without disturbing his sleep -- or his meals. Do you understand, Jerjerrod?" Because, much as I dislike you, I do not wish his favorite Sith-powered wrath upon you...

Jerjerrod nodded. "Yes sir, Lord Vader. I will do my best."

Vader nodded curtly and left the command center, hopeful that Jerjerrod would show at least a semblance of common sense. Now to run interference with Palpy, who has assuredly by now convinced himself that young Jerjie is a totally incompetent idiot... Vader wasn't altogether certain that he could succeed in his mission.

Vader approached his Master and knelt. "Master, I have spoken with Moff Jerjerrod. He was told that you ordered a drill, but there was a miscommunication over the timing." He stood -- new knees or not, he refused to kneel until given leave to rise! "He sends apologies, and will seek out and punish the miscreant who caused last night's fiasco." There! That ought to smooth things over...

Palpatine looked at him narrowly. "And do you believe him, Vader? He seems to have become incompetent if he cannot maintain better control here. He should have sensed the wrongness of the order!"

"I agree, Master. He should have sensed that something was not quite right. But he is, after all, not Sith; He is an ordinary human, and as such, is prone to occasional errors in judgment. He will not so err again." Force be, let that be true! This incomplete pile of space junk is so poorly constructed that all the drills in the Galaxy wouldn't help it! Firing that super laser cannon will likely cause the entire satellite to blow! Vader prayed that he would be anywhere else in the Galaxy when that happened.

Vader gave a jaw-cracking yawn and wondered What does Palpy want now? Don't disturb his sleep, but it was perfectly fine for him to disturb mine! I have to get off this pile of space junk and away from Jerjie's all around incompetence and Palpy's unpredictable paranoid senility before I go crazy and get shipped off, babbling incoherently, to a padded room...! He entered the Emperor's throne room, formerly the main command center of the Death Star, commandeered due to the huge round view port window that it contained. The ever present Imperial bodyguards noted his presence and nodded. Vader approached his silent Master and knelt. "Yes, Master?"

Palpatine gave no sign that he was aware of Vader's presence, but continued to silently stare out into the immense star-studded void of space.

Vader surreptitiously shifted his weight; his knees were starting to feel the strain -- a hazard of having real, flesh and blood ones again, but a hazard he welcomed. Was Palpy even awake? He glanced at the guards -- they stood silently vigilant. Vader didn't dare stand until his Master at least acknowledged his presence. And one leg was going to sleep. Oh, bantha crud! Now I'll look like a real idiot when I try to stand! Is he doing this to deliberately annoy me? Come on, Palpy! Get with the program! You summoned me!

Finally, Palpatine turned his attention back inside the room. He started as he noticed the silently kneeling figure of his apprentice.

"Lord Vader! Why are you here? Has Jerjerrod performed another incompetent idiocy? I sensed nothing"

"No, my Master." Vader rose somewhat awkwardly. "You summoned me, sir." He cautiously shifted his weight from one leg to the other and back again. Aaah! That's better...

"I did? Are you certain? For I do not recall doing so" He regarded Vader with sudden suspicion. "Are you trying to confuse me? Are you also a part of this plot against me?"

Uh-oh! Paranoid Palpy alert….Vader chose his reply with care and deliberation. "There is no plot, sir, that I an aware of. So no, I am not a part of it. Have you sensed something sinister?" It's probably just more of your own paranoid delusions...

"There is a plot against me!" quietly hissed the Emperor. "There is always a plot. Even among my own guards! I had to remove three of them! They were insisting that I indulge in frequent 'ritual c1eansings' and wanted me to change into new robes all the time. I knew what they were doing... they thought to make me vulnerable! Well, I put a stop to that!"

Oh, make me a bantha brained idiot! thought Vader, No wonder I haven't seen Nerak lately; I just thought that he was off duty whenever I happened to be around. Poor Nerak! He was almost human...He was dimly aware that his Master's delusional paranoid ramblings continued and that they were starting to sound vaguely familiar. Hey! Wait a minute...

"...since they do not trust you, you must be the only one unaware of their plot against me, Go, Lord Vader, do what you must..."

Oh, no! No! Vader vividly remembered what had followed. He silently mouthed the words as Palpatine uttered them.

"...show no mercy..."

And Lord Vader had shown no mercy, even to the younglings. That act he had always regretted, and Anakin had wept at the apparent necessity to slaughter even the children of the Jedi Temple.

Palpatine had stopped speaking and was staring at him. "Well, Lord Vader? What are you waiting for? Go, destroy all within the Jedi Temple"

"Yes, Master." Vader turned and left the makeshift throne room. Palpy was really off the deep end, thinking that events of some twenty odd years ago were happening now. Oh, Son! Where are you? I have to locate you and then together we can overthrow this senile old man before he destroys everyone around him!

Vader returned to his quarters, but instead of sleep, he prepared to meditate. Perhaps he could sense the whereabouts of his son. Or at least calm the sharply escalating feelings of urgency within himself.

Look where you've gotten us now, Mr. Big Shot Sith Lord! You are going to get us both dead, that's where! Dead, dead, dead! As in not alive, one with the Force -

Shut up, Anakin! You were the one who wanted Power, before I even really existed! So don't blame me! If you hadn't opened yourself to the Power of the Sith, I wouldn't even be here. And I'm trying to find a way out of this mess...! Anakin's voice continued to make rude comments in his mind, interrupting his meditations. Finally, one comment made sense.

He told you to go, so go! So what if we've already done his bidding in the matter. Just get us away from here before he goes completely bonkers...If he asks, tell him that you're hunting Jedi, that's what he told you to do, isn't it?

Vader thought it over. Hunting Jedi... well, Luke was something of a Jedi now, at least he thought he was. Yes, he'd tell old Palpy that he was going to hunt down a JedI…. He closed himself off from his surroundings and from Anakin's voice within and let himself feel the Force, reaching out with his feelings, searching the Galaxy for his son's presence. And felt him, much closer than expected, along with a smaller presence, the feeling of another, a newly developing vergence in the Force...

Startled, Vader's eyes flew open. Did Luke have a child? Had he been out sowing his own seed among the Rebel women? For that was definitely a second living presence. But it did not feel childlike, just undeveloped. And familiar, somehow, as if he knew the person...Vader frowned in concentration, then smiled. Maybe it was a child of Obi-Wan's! Perhaps he hadn't remained the perfect, attachment-free Jedi, true to his vows all these years! As he recalled, there were some pretty attractive girls on Tatooine, nothing compared to Padme, of course.… The idea intrigued him, and he tried to imagine his former Master with a girl, seducing her with his Jedi mind tricks. It was of no use; he simply could not picture it. Maybe if the girl seduced Obi- Wan? Oh yeah! If that man had enough of his favorite alcoholic cocktail... What had it been? Something sort of blue that had really packed a punchAh, yes, now I can imagine...And Vader dozed off, as Obi-Wan turned into Anakin and the faceless, anonymous girl he'd imagined became Padme.

For a wonder, Palpatine was lucid this morning and had commanded Vader to join him at breakfast. Vader surveyed the buffet table. Well, apparently Jerjie's new cook understood breakfast entrees...He filled his plate and sat across from his Master. "Did you have a specific reason to command my presence this morning, Master? I am not objecting, just inquiring."

Palpatine chewed deliberately and then swallowed before replying. Vader took the opportunity to quickly eat a few bites from his own plate.

"Yes, my boy. I want you to go with the fleet to the far side of Endor. The end of the Rebellion is within sight! This battle station is fully operational and the Rebels have been allowed to learn of its existence and position." He cackled with self-satisfied glee. "Soon we will finally end the conflict and restore peace to my Empire!"

"But, Master, what of the rumors of the Rebel fleet massing? Surely --"

The Emperor interrupted. "It is of no matter, my apprentice. Rejoin your own command ship -which is it nowVader -- Exactor, Destructor, or Executor! Or is it still another one? You seem to change your Star Destroyers like most people change their clothing! I can't keep them straight..."

"The Executor, sir." And why in the name of a Corellian hell did he care? Unless it was for the purposes of spying arrangements, that is...

"Rejoin it and wait. The time is at hand."

Vader paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. "Am I to be allowed to finish my breakfast first, sir? I don't have much left." Unfortunately, he had eaten so fast that he hadn't really tasted any of it.

Palpatine cackled. "Of course, Lord Vader. We mustn't let you leave hungry. We well remember how much you appreciate good food. Have some more eggs and toast. And these sausages are excellent. Try this fruit -- it's something new from a recently discovered planet just beyond the Outer Rim." He heaped some of each suggestion onto Vader's plate.

Vader tried some of each, declared himself satiated, and excused himself. Now he would have indigestion for the next few hours. The amount of food wasn't the problem; It was the speed with which he had consumed it! He muffled a belch, and headed for his shuttle, the Emperor's irritatingly maniacal laughter echoing in his ears.

The Star Destroyer restlessly patrolled the Endor system, mimicking Vader's own restlessness. For he found that he could not remain still. He wanted action. So his ship patrolled. On one pass near the Death Star, he sensed a presence -- Luke! And that other...He hurried to the control room.

On the viewscreen was a Lambda class shuttle, requesting clearance for shield passage.

"Where is that shuttle going?"

Admiral Piett asked, "Shuttle Tydirium, what is your cargo and destination?"

"Technical personnel and parts for the Sanctuary moon of Endor."

Vader stared at the shuttle a moment, reaching out through the Force. "Do they have a code for clearance?"

"Yes sir, Lord Vader. It's an older one, but it does check out. I was about to give clearance. Should I hold them, sir?"

Vader briefly continued to stare at the shuttle before replying. "No. Let them pass. I will deal with them myself. Have my shuttle prepared. I must consult with the Emperor." He turned abruptly and strode away, his mind in turmoil. Luke was on that shuttle!