I'd Rather Kiss a Wookie Chapter 8: It is a matter of perspective

"Get up." Vader said looking down upon Anastasia who woke to his words. She was in better sorts than the day before, still weak though. She forced herself to stand on shaky legs; Vader did not need to see more to know that Anastasia would not be able to keep pace with him. He took hold of her arm and dragged her along next to him storm troopers following behind him.

"Have we arrived Lord Vader?" Anastasia asked as she stumbled along next to Vader. She had never been able to keep up with him and now only did so because he dragged her.

"We are in orbit of Coruscant now. We will take a shuttle to the Imperial District and from there to the palace where you will be brought before the Emperor." Anastasia listened to Vader's words and for a moment was unsure that he was confident the Emperor would find use for her. In all honesty Anastasia was becoming most fearful of this meeting. She had only felt the presence of the Emperor in brief moments and not in his full force. If the Emperor had such a power to control Vader just how strong was he truly?

Upon reaching the hanger Vader took Anastasia onto a shuttle and they began their decent to Coruscant. Vader let go of Anastasia when she tugged away from him. Anastasia nearly fell when Vader let her go but caught herself. She edged herself to one of the small windows and looked out unto the planet. No not a planet, a city. The entire planet was covered in a massive city. Vader watched her with a curiosity; she looked down on the planet with the awe that reminded Vader of a child.

It was easy for him to forget what a primitive world she came from. So much was new to Anastasia that she was hardly more than a child in her knowledge of the galaxy. The sight of Coruscant must have been awe-inspiring, he could still recall the first time he had seen the capitol city. His reaction had been much the same, though he had been a child the first time he saw the city.

Anastasia had forgotten herself once on the shuttle, she had gone to the window with fervent excitement at the sight of a system she had never been to before. She had heard many tales of Coruscant but had never been for it was the Imperial City and perhaps the most dangerous place for any rebel, whether they were part of the alliance or simply hiding from the Empire.

The shuttle descended quickly heading to a portion of the city that was dominated by an enormous building. Even before they entered the atmosphere the building was distinguishable as was the land around it. It was perhaps the only area where one could see green. It was something that Anastasia missed the sight of living things.

"You forget yourself." Vader said silently through the force. He had in the time since he decided to take Anastasia to the Emperor had not lessened the hold he had over her mind. She had been closed to him though in the time she spent gazing out the window onto the city she had forgotten where she was and had let her mind open. In that moment Vader could sense her awe and wonder at the city. Anastasia looked to Vader her mind becoming closed to him, even as she did so the awe of the city. There was a sad sort of emptiness that followed when that sense of awe vanished. It was quite concerning that such a simple emotion had caused Vader to wish for it to linger. He had not felt the pleasure of such simple emotions in years, for a moment, just a moment he missed these emotions. The yearning did not linger as he saw Anastasia watching him brought him back to the present.

"What is he like? Truly."

"Overwhelming, there is nothing he does not see." Vader stated after a moment of consideration. He knew that the Emperor would see much of Anastasia's mind and in that he hoped she was strong enough to hide the distant past they shared. In truth he knew better than to hope she would be able to keep anything from the Emperor.

"Strange, I thought he would be more than what the rebels told me."

"You are about to find out exactly what the Emperor is like. We are here." Vader said as he took her by the arm once more and pulled her from the shuttle. The docking platform was set atop one of the large structures when the shuttle opened they were greeted by the Emperor's Red Guard and a man in deep blue robes of the imperial court.

"Lord Vader, it is good to see you. The Emperor has been expecting you. If you would please follow me I will take you too him."

"I do not need you to guide me. Be gone." Vader said with a wave of his hand. The man in the blue robes bowed and took several steps back and to the side moving out of the way. The Red Guard fell into step behind Vader silent as they escorted the Sith Lord to the Emperor. Anastasia was in a great deal of shock so accustomed to imperial grey and clean lines she had become that the color and magnificence of the Imperial Palace was entirely unexpected. The structure stood grand with wide and tall halls that were decorated so richly that not a single aspect of the place could be called plain.

The moment that they entered the halls all natural light was lost. Only fragments of sunlight entered through the windows high in the halls yet it did not reach those who walked in the halls. The halls were lit by cool blue lights that Anastasia was unsure how they worked.

For all the splendor of the palace it was not without a growing sense of dread. She could feel the Emperor now. They were getting quite close to him and even though Vader kept a tight hold on her mind preventing her from seeking out with the force she could feel the presence of the Emperor. That all-consuming blackness of his force signature was growing and not even the combination of Vader's mental block and Anastasia's own mental barriers could keep it from reaching her.

The throne room was a grand hall, a dark hall. It echoed with their movement their steps carrying through the large room. The lighting was poor and Anastasia could hardly see the throne that the Emperor sat on yet the power he wielded was unbridled before Vader and the court. Yes the court was there, they drifted silently in silk slippers through the hall their robes shifting slightly as they did so. There were only fifty some people there as part of the court and nearly double that number in Red Guards. Most of the guards were for show, they were stationed at each pillar that ran down the hall towards the throne. What was more than this though was what Anastasia could not see, but rather could feel. Something else lurked in the hall, watching, waiting, unseen and deadly they were there. Anastasia could not locate them; whatever skill of the force hid these things from sight prevented them from also being located.

Anastasia was unable to linger on these unseen things that lurked in the hall as they neared the throne she had to focus on protecting her mind from the force of the Emperor's power. It was no wonder that Vader was controlled by such a man. Upon nearing the throne Vader stopped, perhaps ten feet from the raised dais.

"Master. The Rebel Jedi." He stated simply releasing the hold he had on Anastasia's mind as well as letting go of her arm. Anastasia staggered, no longer protected by the barrier Vader had been maintaining the Emperor's power seemed to increase. There was no question that he need not even try to see her mind. Regardless of how futile the task was Anastasia tried to strengthen the barrier around her mind. He laughed.

Upon his throne on the dais the Emperor sat in black robes his face was shadowed and from what little of his face that could be seen he appeared to be an old man.

"You are a persistent one. A useless attempt your emotions betray you. Ah but I do sense a great potential with you. Sensing them was proof for one so poorly trained as you."

"I was trained by a Jedi – Ahgr!" Anastasia was cut off as the Emperor crushed Anastasia to her knees with a casual exertion of the force. Anastasia did not hear what the Emperor said next it did not matter, he had as if it were not there shattered her mental barrier and saw her for all she was and had been. Images of her own past flickered by settling on one moment in particular. The first time she met the Jedi Ferras.

The shuttle landed on the un-colonized moon of some system that Anastasia could not pronounce the name of. Six months had passed since they set out together and in that time they had managed to sell the imperial shuttle they had stolen for a pile of scrap metal that was barely able to fly. Yet it was one that was too small to be a smuggling vessel and too old to hold anyone of import. They had slipped passed imperial star destroyers and cruisers alike. They were all too important to bother themselves with such a shuttle as theirs.

When they landed they took very little time to hide the ship, it was not as important to Anastasia as finding the jedi was. She needed help and she had lost all contact with the jedi who had made the connection before. Where that man was or if she had followed the right leads to the right jedi she did not know. Only that someone on the moon was a jedi.

She had left Tarruffa behind to hide the ship and make repairs on the damages that they had sustained when they flew. It was a miracle the ship held together. She trudged off kicking up the grey dust as she went. The gravity was lighter here than some of the other planets she had been on. But it was not so light that she was concerned for her ability to breath.

The moment she had set foot on the moon she had cast herself out searching for the jedi through the force. She had not yet found him, though for a large ball of dust the moon had a surprising amount of life on it. She smiled lightly at how drastically Earth's history would be changed if its moon had been like this one.

She had walked for some time not really knowing where she was going but keeping part of her sight on Tarruffa should she get lost. It was in her pondering of how Earth would be different if life had been on the moon that the Jedi attacked her. He had leapt from a hidden place light saber screaming as it ignited the green blade nearly blinding Anastasia as she dodged back barely saving her life as the sword swung through where her head had been. She ignited her own red blade and clumsily blocked the next attack.

'Sith bitch! You will pay for what your kind did at the Jedi temple!" The Jedi screamed at her as he attacked again.

'No I am not a Sith! Please I need help! I hate the Empire as much as you do!" Anastasia cried out as he knocked her blade from her hands. She backed up quickly holding her hands up in surrender.

'What does a filthy dark sider like you have to hate the Empire for?' The Jedi asked still holding his light saber as if he would attack her. Now that he was not trying to kill her Anastasia got a good look at the man. He was perhaps forty and had greying hair, his eyes were wide and wild. The kind of eyes that one got from living in fear.

'They destroyed my home world for no reason. They found me there and assumed that I was being trained by some Jedi! I need your help.'

'That is impossible there is no way to destroy a planet!'

'There is, it is a battle station larger than any star destroyer I have ever seen. Including Vader's own ship.'

'Where was your system?' The Jedi asked now as he lowered his blade.

'Beyond the outer rim. It was a place called Earth. Until that battle station showed up we had no idea that the Empire or any of this was even possible. The furthest we had gotten in space was still within our own solar system. None of us had been any farther than our moon.'

'Shut up girl!' The Jedi yelled at Anastasia and waited a moment to make sure that she had indeed quieted down.

'Now suppose all of this you say is true. Where did you get that Sith blade? How did you find me? How can you be sure you were not followed here?'

'I stole the blade from a merchant who did not know what it was. The force led me here, and we have been flying in an old beater of a star ship to avoid notice.'

'We? Who is we?'

'Me and a wookie.'

'Where did you get a wookie? They are an enslaved race.'

'I saved him from the empire, it isn't important are you going to help or not?'

'Everything is important Sith!" the jedi yelled as he ignited his saber once more and attacked Anastasia. She raced back and pulled her light saber to her hands turning and igniting it in time to block a strike.

'I am not going to give you over to the empire!' Anastasia tried to calm the jedi as she blocked avoiding his attacks. The jedi attacked with rampant movements attacking in quick succession, Anastasia was forced the retreat blocking what she could and barely dodging his attacks. He did not bother to continue on until Anastasia could not block instead he pushed her back with the force causing her to fall to the ground. Another push and her light saber flew from her hands.

Anastasia tried to rise and get away but she did not move fast enough as the green blade came down burning through her shoulder. Anastasia screamed as the jedi held the blade in her shoulder as he stood over her.

'You will feel all the pain you and the other sith have caused!' he said with a hateful tone. He slowly pulled the blade down the saber burning through her flesh as he freed the blade cutting only half of her arm off. Anastasia screamed in pain as she writhed under the mad smile of the jedi. She could not move her arm but she could still feel it. The pain was unbearable and she could not help the tears that fell. The Jedi's smile broadened and he brought the saber to the top of her shoulder and slowly pulled the blade down cutting through the remainder of her arm. Anastasia screamed and for a moment she blacked out. It was to the intense heat of the light saber burning her bones that caused her to come to with a scream. Anastasia rolled away from the light saber and her severed arm.

'There is no surviving this Sith! I will kill you slowly very slowly.' The jedi said as he held the saber next to Anastasia's throat. She looked up at the man with fear. She had no doubt that he would do exactly what he promised. He moved the blade to rest next to her other arm close enough to burn her skin but not cut her. His smile spread wider as he was about to move when there was the sound of a blaster and he was thrown back by a flash of red blaster fire.

Anastasia saw the jedi lying in the grey dust eyes still open with that wild look he did not move as the pool of blood turned dust to mud. Anastasia closed her eyes and rolled onto her back with a cry of pain. There was movement and she opened her eyes to see Tarruffa holding a blaster looking down at her. He put the strap of the blaster over a shoulder and gingerly picked her up. Even this movement caused her to cry in pain. Tarruffa said something but the pain was too much for her to hear the sounds and make sense of them.

The trip back to the star ship was an agonizing one as each movement caused her pain. Though it was lesser than the pain that she experienced when the jedi removed her arm it was still great. There was a period of lost time between Tarruffa taking her to the shuttle and when the wookie was wrapping her torso tightly in bandages.

The next day, or at least Anastasia deemed it to be the next day she woke. At first she thought the whole thing to be a terrible dream but when the pain hit she knew that it was no dream. She pushed herself up with her left arm as she whined as the pain increased with movement. Tarruffa came into the cabin and growled out a question.

'No we need supplies, the jedi was living somewhere here he had to have supplies of some sort. We need to find it and then we can leave.' Tarruffa grumbled out and picked up a blaster. Anastasia pushed herself up and Tarruffa growled at her.

'I am not staying behind… No I don't know what I expect to find but I am going so deal with it.' Tarruffa gave an exasperated sound but did not argue the point further. It took them several hours to find the jedi's home, mostly because Anastasia had to continually stop and rest to let the pain ebb away. She constantly wanted to use her missing arm and was forgetting that her pain was caused by its absence.

When they found the cave that the jedi had made his home it was with a great deal of relief. As expected the jedi had stores of food and some other supplies. What Anastasia found most interesting were the glass tablets that held information of the jedi way and different forms of saber fighting and uses of the force. They were more than she ever hoped to find in the place. On top of that she had now a second light saber. Tarruffa had been collecting what supplies he deemed needed when Anastasia came back with these things bundled up in a cloak that she held under her left arm. The process that she had to go through to tie the cloak closed was maddeningly frustrating as she was still becoming accustomed to the loss of her arm.

The memory faded and more memories flashed by landing on the first time she met with the rebel alliance, though she was hardly registering what happened.

Anastasia was unsure how many days had passed since the jedi Ferras had cut her arm off. While the blade of the light saber cauterized the wound; the sheer size of the wound subjected it to reopening and poor healing. As it was Anastasia was waiting in the star ship for Tarruffa to return, her torso was wrapped up with cloth that was soaked through with blood. She would have wanted to go with the wookie but her condition prevented her from moving she was so weak.

The ramp lowered and Anastasia turned her head to see Tarruffa enter the ship with three others. Two humans and one alien that looked like a fish and had large bubble eyes. She did not greet the rebels she just rested her head on the back of the chair and focused on Tarruffa's words. Even though she had studied the wookie's language there were many times that she did not understand him and he had to repeat so she might understand. This was one such occasion that no matter what Tarruffa did Anastasia could not understand him. Thankfully the fish eyed rebel seemed to understand.

'He wants to know how you feel. When did this happen to you jedi?' Anastasia tried to think of how long it had been but she could not recall. Tarruffaa answered for her claiming that it had been two days.

'How do we know that we can even trust her? If we help and she betrays us.' One of the men said but was cut off by the other.

'If we don't help then we will never know.' Tarruffa gave a series of growls at the three rebels. Fish face looked at Tarruffa and nodded then said.

'Alright, we will help.'

'What do you mean we will just help? How can we trust them?'

'Tarruffa has offered to work as a technician and that the jedi here will help us.'

'What good is a jedi with one arm?' One of the men said and fish face answered.

'Better than no jedi at all.' The man grumbled and Fish face looked down at Anastasia and said with an almost forlorn tone.

'Welcome to the Rebel Alliance.'

The memory faded and Anastasia came back to where she truly was, lying on the marble floor in the throne room of the imperial palace being scrutinized by the Emperor himself. He was laughing, no cackling. Anastasia pushed herself up she was shaking the power that the Emperor wielded was almost unbearable. She pushed herself to her knees and saw that the court had gathered closer to observe. It was not every day that the Emperor was presented with a rebel jedi. What was worse was that Anastasia knew she would not be able to stand so trying was the Emperor's invasion of her mind.

"Lord Vader, take this rebel from my sight. I will deal with her later." Vader did not say anything he only nodded and grabbed Anastasia's arm pulling her to stand. She had to grab hold of his arm as she was still unable to stand even with him holding her up. He did not wait for her to try and find her footing though and turned dragging her along with him. Anastasia stumbled and tripped along next to him her hands holding tightly to Vader's arm. The court laughed lightly along with the Emperor as they watched me go. She was thankful for the distance from the Emperor as his presence became less overbearing and managing to walk was made slightly easier without this extra weight on her shoulders. She was unsure how Vader managed to be in the Emperor's presence like that. Though it was very possible that the Emperor was cautious with who he let his full strength out on.

Vader pulled Anastasia along and to a door he threw her through it when it slid open. Anastasia stumbled and fell to the floor as she was thrown into the room. She looked at him as he stood in the open door way looking down at her for a moment and said in a disappointed tone.

"Pathetic." With that the door slid shut and it bolted with a resounding clang. Anastasia sighed and looked about her it was a simple room with no furnishings and no windows. It was a prison cell more oppressive and depressing than those of the Death Star. There wasn't even a seam or sign of where the door had been. Anastasia's world had become a dark seamless box. In the hours that passed were left uncounted and filled with fear for all that the Emperor now knew about her. She feared that he knew more than what she had seen during his search of her mind.