No. 10—Poor Unfortunate Souls

Taser | Whipping | Waterboarding

"Go! I'll be right behind you!" Anakin planted a kiss on Leia's forehead. Sending a ten-year-old off alone in the midst of an Imperial sweep of the city was dangerous, but not as dangerous as letting her be captured with him.

Tears filled Leia's brown eyes. "But, Daddy…"

"Go!" Anakin gave her a little push and stood up. "Go to Tatooine. Uncle Owen can get you to Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan can get you to Mommy and Luke." They were supposed to have reunited together, settled down on a more out-of-the-way world where neither their Jedi children nor their Rebellion efforts could be found by the Empire. Guess that wouldn't be happening now.

Leia nodded, wiping her eyes with her green poncho. "Yes, Daddy." She turned and bolted down the alleyway.

Anakin turned and reached into his raggedy jacket. He pulled out three mechanical pieces. His lightsaber, kept in a less recognizable form to protect it from searches. It hadn't been activated in three years. He quickly rebuilt the hilt and activated the saber. The blue blade hummed with a warmth in the Force his heart reacted to. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed this.

Stormtroopers ran into the alley, firing off stun bolts and disabling shots. Palpatine still hadn't let go his hope to turn Anakin, then.

Anakin spun in a blur deflecting all the shots. More and more stormtroopers flooded in, firing off so many shots he could barely block them. Sweat trailed down his face.

Danger prickled in the back of his mind. A flash of the near future. Stormtroopers flooding the alley behind him. Three stun bolts in quick succession dropping him. But for once, the intuition did him no good. If he turned away from the troopers in front of him, he'd drop as well.

Numbness spread over his body, dropping him to the cobblestones.

Anakin jolted awake on a hard table in a dark cell. Hard metal cuffs wrapped around his wrists and ankles. He pulled at the cuffs, but they didn't budge.

"Ah, General Skywalker, so nice to finally see you again." Wilhuff Tarkin strolled into view, planting himself right near Anakin.

"Tarkin," Anakin growled. "Aging as poorly as usual, I see."

Tarkin pressed a button on the table's base below Anakin. "And still as impertinent as ever. Now, I'm afraid before your transport to the emperor, you must answer a few questions for me."

The table began to move, elevating Anakin's feet until he was at a small incline. He curled his hands into fists and glared at Tarkin. "I'm not going to tell you anything. Just skip to the torture part."

Tarkin smiled. "So brave." A door hissed open behind him and two stormtroopers strode in. "You may begin."

One stormtrooper laid a wet cloth over Anakin's nose and mouth. The other hefted a large keg of water.

"Now, where is that lovely little girl I've spotted with you? Or, for that matter, the small blond boy who so loves ships? I'd settle for either," Tarkin said.

"My children are not your playthings," Anakin said, his voice muffled by the cloth.

"Ah, so they're your children! I was wondering. Congratulations," Tarkin said.

Anakin's heart missed a beat. He hadn't known? Oh, no. He'd just alerted the Empire that Anakin Skywalker had offspring. Now, Palpatine would have a backup plan if he couldn't turn Anakin—no, two backup plans.

"Carry on," Tarkin said.

The trooper hefted the keg over Anakin and opened the tap. Water streamed over Anakin's nose and mouth, soaking through the cloth and pouring down his throat. He choked, gagging. He thrashed in his bonds. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't…he couldn't…

"Stop," Tarkin said.

The trooper closed the keg.

Tarkin leaned forward. "Anything to say, Skywalker?"

Anakin shook his head. He would die for Leia, for Luke, for any of the people he loved if need be. And he would rather die than betray them.

"So be it." Tarkin gestured to the trooper.

The trooper reopened the keg. Water streamed back onto Anakin's face. Some spilled down his neck onto his shirt, but too much went into his nostrils and down his throat. He gagged. Water clogged his chest. He tried to breathe in, but all he could breathe in was water. He was going to die. He was going to die here in this cell, drowned by Tarkin and his troopers. He jerked against his cuffs, but nothing happened. He had to get out of here.

Tarkin held up his hand. The trooper closed the keg.

Anakin shuddered, choking and coughing harshly. The other trooper removed the cloth from his face.

"Well?" Tarkin asked.

"I…won't…tell…you…anything," Anakin panted, his voice ragged.

"Not a very wise decision." Tarkin gestured again.

The trooper replaced the cloth.

"No, no," Anakin whimpered despite himself.

"Then tell me where to find your children," Tarkin said.

Anakin shook his head. Not that. Never that.

The other trooper reopened the keg. Anakin tried to keep his mouth shut, but water ran up his nose and down his throat anyway. He coughed, his mouth opening involuntarily. The trooper kept the water streaming down until Anakin's vision flared with darkness. He thrashed violently in his bonds. Memories flashed in his mind of an underwater battle, Padmé's helmet broken, electric eels torturing him.

The water cut off and the troopers removed the cloth. Anakin slumped against the table, coughing water out. He wheezed and coughed for at least a minute before Tarkin spoke.

"Well, Skywalker? Ready to talk?"

"More…water," Anakin rasped.

Anakin's clothes weren't wet anymore, but he still shivered. Chills had gripped him ever since his session with Tarkin.

Stormtroopers dragged him away from his huddle against the cell wall and marched him through the ship into the old Senate office building that had become Imperial Palace. His head was heavy on his shoulders and his chest burned. The mechanical rasp of a respirator accompanied him everywhere he went. An oxygen mask pinched around his nose and mouth. Every breath was a labor, but the mask helped some.

The stormtroopers brought him all the way to a throne room and shoved him to his knees. Anakin wrapped his arms around himself, shuddering. A dark cloaked figure lounged on the cold metal throne.

Sidious.

"Well, well, well, my apprentice returns," Sidious said. "Welcome back, Lord Vader."

"My name…" Anakin said through heaving breaths, "is Anakin. And I would rather die than be your apprentice."

"That can be arranged," Sidious said. "But I don't think we're quite there yet, are we, Vader?"

Anakin closed his eyes and let his head drop. So it had begun.

Force help me.