I'd Rather Kiss a Wookie Chapter 10: In a lot of ways Earth was awesome
Anastasia had left her room early in the morning and wandered around the palace for a long time trying to find her way through it. She made sure to be aware of those around and was careful to avoid the Emperor. He was no longer her enemy but she couldn't help but feel that if she showed herself in front of him again it would not end well for her. She was still counting her lucky stars as she had somehow managed to convince the Emperor that she could be useful. Now that she was under Vader's charge though she was not sure what it was she would be doing. Tagging along with Vader as he went hunting for the rebellion she supposed. Anastasia turned down a hall towards what she hopped was towards the front gate of the palace. It was such a massive building that she really couldn't figure what way she was going.
"Oh my, aren't you the little girl who everyone is calling the rebel Jedi?" Anastasia turned to see a woman dressed in imperial robes a black cloak draped over one arm. She had a very regal look to her though in truth she was probably a member of the imperial senate.
"Rebel no longer. I have been given the opportunity to rejoin the empire."
"Well I don't blame you for wanting to rejoin the empire. Could those heathens not even provide you with proper clothing? Dear take this cloak those clothes are completely unsuited for the imperial palace."
"Oh no it is quite alright. I am going out to get some better stuff now. Thank you for the offer though." The woman looked Anastasia up and down and said.
"Well if you are certain about it. Please do find something nice however don't go just yet. Wouldn't you like to see the imperial court when you aren't under interrogation?"
"Ah, no I don't think I would fit at all." The woman smiled and said in a terribly sweet voice.
"It is not an invitation. Come along now before everyone arrives, I have been instructed to bring you to the Emperor for a word." Anastasia wanted to run, to refuse this offer yet she knew it would be no good. If the Emperor wanted to speak to her without Vader there then she knew she should not refuse. She nodded slightly and the woman held out the cloak, Anastasia took the cloak and wrapped it around herself. It was a nice thing, with black and silver embroidery at the hem.
"Very good, this way if you please." The woman led Anastasia to the throne room when they entered it was empty, though Anastasia could sense the Emperor was moving through the palace. The two of them waited in the throne room and Anastasia thought it very odd that the Emperor would take such an interest in her after proclaiming her to be too weak to be bothered with. When the Emperor entered it was with a number of red guards, the woman who had delivered Anastasia to the room bowed and left.
"Your feelings betray you. Don't worry about your safety. If I wanted to kill you I would have done it when Lord Vader was foolish enough to try taking you on as an apprentice."
"You knew about that?"
"I am not ignorant to what my apprentice does. I would be insulted if he wasn't trying to find his own apprentice so he might overthrow me."
"I don't understand why you are telling me this." Anastasia said, she was confused not because of how the Emperor knew about Vader training her but rather why the Emperor was talking to her now. If he wasn't concerned about Anastasia he wouldn't need to be talking to her or even bothering to acknowledge she existed. Yet, he was.
"You are not Lord Vader's apprentice and wont become his apprentice. Should you progress and improve your capabilities you might be worth training. I placed you under Lord Vader's supervision because he will continue training you, but never forget that there can only be two sith. The master and the apprentice. When you are no longer useful you will be disposed of, that is unless you prove yourself worthy to become the apprentice."
"You mean, if I want to live I have to take Lord Vader's place?"
"If you are worthy. Though I doubt you will ever become strong enough clinging to the light side of the force as you are." With that the Emperor gave a dismissive gesture and Anastasia was unsure for a moment what to do. Taking a cue from the woman that brought her to the throne room she bowed low and left quietly. Only when she was in the hall did she realize that the Emperor did not have the suffocating pressure of his force filling the room like the first time she met him. It made her wonder if wielding his full power like that was exhausting. He was after all quite old, perhaps such things as always having a presence in the force was taxing. Although Vader had always been able to maintain his silky force presence around him, then was it just because the Emperor was old? Anastasia sensed it there buried and hidden by the show the Emperor would put on, she sensed the weakness of age within the Sith lord.
Anastasia walked through the halls and rounding the corner saw the woman who had taken her to the Emperor.
"How was your talk with the Emperor dear?" The woman asked again in that too sweet tone. Anastasia pulled off the cloak and held it out to the woman who looked mildly offended by being offered the cloak.
"It was fine. Thank you for letting me borrow this." The woman reluctantly took the cloak as if it was now a dirty thing because Anastasia had worn it.
"What did he want to talk to you about?" She asked again prying. Anastasia looked at the woman, it was clear to see that the woman was only looking for information that might benefit her.
"We talked about microsoft and funions. If you would please excuse me." Anastasia said giving the woman a smile before walking off. The confused look on her face was priceless. She wondered how much effort the woman would put into trying to figure out what Microsoft or funions were. The idea of it almost made Anastasia laugh. Though after this diversion Anastasia did not have much time before she expected Vader to be ready to leave.
Finding her way to the front gate of the palace took some time but once she was there she found a cruiser in which she knew how to drive. She awkwardly climbed into it and powered the cruiser on pulling out and taking off away from the palace and through the busy traffic of the city.
'Where are you going?' Vader spoke to her through the force as she merged into a line of cruisers.
'I will be back in a moment, don't worry I am not running.' Anastasia could sense the irritation and uncertainty that Vader felt through the force.
'Come back to the palace now.'
'I will, I just need to go somewhere really quick.' With that Anastasia broke her connection to Vader and continued on her way. She knew Vader would probably follow her but she didn't care too much. It was after all just a quick errand she was running.
Landing the cruiser outside the abandoned building Anastasia paused looking up at another cruiser that was following her. She didn't need to use to force to know it was Vader and that he was pissed at her. Anastasia ignored him and continued on into the building. She knew that he would stop her if she waited for him. After all anyone here could be called a rebel just because they were there.
Vader was landing just as Anastasia entered the building. It would not be long before he caught up to her. So Anastasia did not meander around she went directly to the dormitories within the building. There was a collection of robes and cloaks and all the standard attire that was common for the jedi. Anastasia grabbed black robes and a few black cloaks. She felt that taking anything tan or brown was perhaps not the best plan. She didn't intend to look like a jedi now, and black didn't seem to be the color a jedi might wear. She shoved the lot into a bag and looped it across her back.
Now she only had two more stops here to make. The next was the armory. She left the dormitories and in the hallway ran into Vader. By the way he was standing so rigid she could tell she was in trouble.
"What are you doing here?"
"Just getting a few things. I told you that I would return. Do you not believe me?"
"No I don't believe you and I don't trust you. What did you come here for? Don't you realize what this place is?"
"Yes it is the ruined jedi temple. I came to get some equipment and to download some information from the library."
"Download? You do realize that the jedi rebelled against the empire and that is why they were destroyed? Don't you think that being here makes you look like a rebel?"
"I know, I have been here before. It is a waste to leave all of this stuff here unused. Uhm downloading is an earth term I guess, I just came to get information from the library."
"You have been on Coruscant before?"
"Yea, hid out here for a few months actually. I came because of the archives in the library but when I saw how much this place actually had I decided to stay. It has everything I need to survive. Well everything but food. I'm heading this way if you want to come with." Anastasia said heading down a hallway not really waiting for Vader to follow or not. It was the echo of heavy footsteps that told Anastasia that Vader was following her.
"You are getting a new lightsaber aren't you?"
"Yea, so you know your way around her also?"
"The teachings of the jedi are very much the same as the sith, many sith used to train in secret under the guidance of the more powerful jedi."
"Did you train here also?"
"The temple fell ten years ago, most of the valuables have probably been looted already."
"Not so, everyone is too scared of being pegged as a rebel to even come here. Everything is basically intact." When they reached the armory Anastasia pushed open the door and entered, the room was beyond dusty. Anastasia walked over to a shelf where the dust had been disturbed more recently. There were spaces where lightsabers had been and others still waiting to be taken covered in dust. Anastasia grabbed two clipping them to her belt. Vader waited at the door expecting her to take just the two and then leave. When she went into the room further he frowned to himself, the only thing that should be in the further shelves were the padawan practice sabers. They were smaller and nonlethal, they wouldn't even cut. When Anastasia returned she had three of the padawan sabers clipped to her belt.
"Why do you have those?"
"Lightsabers are all made from the same materials its in the adjustments that they differ. These make for good short swords. Want one?"
"No, I don't need more than one lightsaber. You would have been expelled from the jedi order for taking more than one saber let alone the practice sabers. Those are meant for children who are beginning to learn."
"I guess it is good I was never part of the jedi order then huh?"
"You shouldn't need more than one."
"I have a bad tendency towards losing them in some way or another. Before the two you took I managed to lose one to a blaster shot, it hit right above my hand and caused the blade to explode. Though I guess I don't have to tell you the story, you were there after all." Anastasia said as they walked to the archive library.
"Was I?" Vader asked, he did not remember such an event happening. Anastasia blushed and said.
"Yea it was on that moon near the Naurga system. You had caught up with the rebellion and fighting broke out. You were directing the Storm Troopers further back so I suppose you didn't see. When my lightsaber broke we retreated." Vader looked at Anastasia, he remembered the battle now that she had described it. He hadn't been aware she was there, or what signaled the retreat for the rebellion. He had only known that the rebellion had until their sudden retreat been holding their own. He was almost ashamed to say he hadnt been aware that Anastasia was there. That battle happened a year ago, if he had been aware of her there he could have captured her and crippled the rebellion before it got it in their heads that they could steal the plans for the Death Star.
As they walked they passed a small practice room that was an oval shape half being made of windows. Across the floor and mostly towards the far side of the room were the stains. Brown with age but clear what it was. Vader stopped looking into the room, remembering. The fear and pain was still present in the space and could be felt through the force more here than anywhere else in the temple. Anastasia made it a few feet before she realized Vader had stopped. She looked back to the room he stood facing. Realizing what it was she walked back towards Vader, his mood had changed. His emotions were so mixed Anastasia couldn't pick them out, she could tell that his mind had become dark and he was thinking back to something.
Anastasia almost too fearful to say anything with him in such a mood took hold of his arm and pulled him away from the room. The small gesture seemed to cause him to realize where he was.
"Leave that place be. It's nothing good there."
"I know better what has happened here than you do, I don't need you to coddle me." Vader said pulling his arm from Anastasia's hold. She didn't react to his sudden hostility, she expected it.
"You don't have to come with me you know. I can go to the archives on my own."
"I don't trust you to not disappear again."
"It almost sounds like you would miss me if I did."
"Hardly, you always seem to cause trouble when I'm not watching you." Anastasia shrugged one shoulder and said.
"Whatever floats your boat."
"What is it you are even going to the archives for? Couldn't you use a holoscreen on the Executor?"
"Maybe, but this is more convenient. Besides this system is easier to use than what is on the imperial ships."
"They are the same system."
"Imperial archives require access keys."
"Just how many times have you had to use the imperial archives without an access key?" Anastasia looked at Vader with a little smirk on her face.
"Do you really want to know the answer to that?"
"It would be wise to not play games with me." Vader threatened which only made Anastasia's smirk more prevalent.
"More than fifty times I'd say."
"Is no one in the empire competent?"
"The farther out you go the more slack the empire is. It is more the case with Tat-Uhm Dattooine. The storm troopers there are a joke. I was able to get into an imperial facility by wearing an old uniform and posing as an officer. It wasn't even standard issue."
"Dattooine…"
"Anyway back to your original question I am actually looking for any records that might exist about Earth. Trouble is I cant seem to figure out what exactly it is listed under in the archives. It was a developing system after all and…"
"Why are you looking for information about your system, it doesn't exist anymore."
"You might think it stupid but I miss Earth music. Somewhere around the 1970's Earth years, we sent a golden record up into space with a small craft we called the Voyager. It contained what was decided as the most important cultural facts from the time. It had things like music, and sounds from the system on it. I was hoping that it was maybe found and recorded in the archives. It had a few of my favorite songs on it." Anastasia explained as they entered the archives and she went to a holoscreen and clearing the dust off the unit turned it on.
"Look under primitive systems then pull all the archives to the handheld unit."
"To I detect mild interest?"
"No, you are just wasting my time with this foolish endeavor." Anastasia did her best not to roll her eyes as she pulled the data from the wall unit to the handheld. The sheer number of 'primitive' systems was startling and Anastasia was not sure if Earth would be in the listings or not. Once she had the data in the handheld unit she pulled it from the wall and turned it off. Vader turned and began to leave the archives, he did not however get so far ahead that he couldn't see Anastasia. She followed after him putting the handheld unit into the bag with the clothing she had taken. The trip out of the jedi temple was quicker than the wandering they did within. Anastasia wondered if something had occurred to Vader that was making him hurry.
When they left the temple Anastasia frowned seeing that her cruiser was gone. She frowned at Vader and said.
"Really you had someone take away my cruiser? If I was going to run I wouldn't have gone to the jedi temple and I wouldn't have waited for you to catch up with me."
"As I said, I don't trust you. Get in we are already late because of this detour."
"As you wish mi'lord Vader." Anastasia said climbing into the passenger side of the cruiser that Vader had brought to the temple. Vader sighed audibly and getting into the cruiser said.
"Your time with the rebellion has made you far too comfortable around me."
"Why should I treat you like I did before? After all this time its different. I am not your apprentice and you are not my master."
"I am still your superior, and the Emperor has put you under my supervision." Anastasia looked out the side of the cruiser as Vader sped towards the transport that would take them to the superstar destroyer that was in orbit.
"I suppose so, but honestly back then you scared the crap out of me. Much of my behavior then was due to fear. Now I think how foolish it was for me to behave differently, and I am not so scared of everything now."
"So you are saying that you are don't feel threatened by me."
"Don't misunderstand, I am completely aware that you are stronger than me and if you wanted I would be dead. I am saying that while I am aware of this I do not fear it. Falling into a nest of angry Bha'lir will change your perspective on what scares you." Vader looked at Anastasia and asked.
"When did you get to Lyred?"
"Uhm it was last year I think. I have gotten to go to many places in the past five years and I can honestly say that I never want to go to Lyred again."
"I would never go to Tatooine again, too much sand." Anastasia looked at Vader then quickly away from him and out the window. She didn't want to breach the topic of Tatooine. She didn't want to admit to having been there, it would cause too much attention to the remote system. Anastasia didn't want Vader to know that she had been there and she defiantly didn't want him to know about her debt to the Hutts.
The remainder of the trip to the shuttle and to the star destroyer was silent and Anastasia had followed Vader in silence, a silence that did not go unnoticed by Vader. He would have to explore what Anastasia was hiding about Tatooine. Her sudden silence made him suspicious of her having gone there in the past five years. After all five years was a long time to explore the galaxy and a long time to find her way too many of the outer rim systems.
Once upon the super star destroyer Vader and Anastasia were greeted by one of the officers.
"Greetings Lord Vader, we were expecting you earlier."
"I was delayed. Escort Lady Anastasia to her officer quarters, then give me full report of all rebel movements since the incursion on the Death Star."
" Yes Lord Vader. Lady Anastasia please follow me." The officer bowed slightly to Vader and Anastasia looked between him and the officer reluctantly following the man after Vader went on his way. Anastasia watched after Vader for a moment as he walked off and it was the officer who pulled her attention.
"Lady Anastasia?" Anastasia looked at the man and nodded.
"Yes, let's go."
"This way please." The officer gestured and walked after Anastasia started to follow him. The halls within the Star Destroyer were almost identical to those within the Death Star and Anastasia knew that if left alone she would get lost trying to find her way through the place. The officer lead her through many halls and up a few floors, down more halls, and the fifth room on the left.
"Here you are Lady Anastasia, if you would please excuse me Lord Vader is waiting."
"Thank you." Anastasia asked and the officer gave her a look like he was shocked she was even saying something like that to him. He didn't respond but gave a short bow and left. Anastasia entered the room and halted laughing slightly. The room was very similar to the ones that Vader had on the Death Star, they were slightly smaller but the room she stood in was a sitting room with a door at the far end. Anastasia looked around the room as she ventured further in, it was then that the far door slid open and C4SB came walking out stiffly.
"Oh! Miss Anastasia! I have been looking forward to your return. Goodness what happened to your arm! Do you require medical attention?"
"C4? Uhm, no I am fine, it is old. Why are you here?"
"After the wookie kidnapped you from the Death Star Lord Vader was certain that you would return once you escaped from those dreadful Rebels. I was brought here to provide you with assistance as before when you returned."
"How long have you been here?"
"Oh since you were kidnapped. I brought all of your personals when I was transferred over."
"My personals?"
"Oh yes, the medicinal salve, your wardrobe and the book."
"Book?"
"Yes, the book the wookie gave you. I did not bring it personally; indeed it was Lord Vader who ensured that it was brought to the star destroyer. Everything is through here if you want to settle in. May I take the bag for you?"
"I can manage, could you get me something to eat?"
"Oh course Miss. I will return shortly." With that C4 left the rooms and as soon as the door slid shut Anastasia was through the door to the other room. It was a simple bedroom with a full size bed and small desk with a shelf next to it. On the other side of the bed was a dresser this didn't concern Anastasia however. She looked at the shelf and on it saw the small metal tin that once held the burn cream and next to it was the book. Anastasia grabbed it off the shelf setting it on the desk flipped it open. She had to laugh at the sight of it. Her old drawings, most of them of Vader covered the pages. She flipped through them and saw some of her scrawling in English.
"I was stupid enough to leave it behind and he saw it. Oh gods he's seen it." Anastasia said to herself as she flipped through the book, pausing when she saw two pages ripped free. She couldn't for the life of her remember what was on those pages yet she was sure she hadn't ripped anything free from the book. After all removing pages so roughly was a sure way to ruin a book. Looking at it Anastasia was curious what Vader had ripped from the book. Only then did she remember that he still had her current book. The one that spanned roughly six months with the rebel alliance, the older books were with Tarruffa, he was the only one she trusted with her old books.
"I need to get that book back…" Anastasia said to herself yet stopped when she heard the door slide open and closed again. Looking at the door she sighed and left the bedroom. C4 had returned with a tray of food and set it on the coffee table. The protocol droid had brought Anastasia a glass of water and a plate with a small assortment of vegetables a slice of grilled bantha.
"Thank you C4. After I finish take me to Darth Vader, I need talk to him."
"I am sorry Miss Anastasia but you are to stay here until Lord Vader sends for you."
"So I cant leave until Vader says I'm allowed out of my box?"
"I am sorry miss but it is for your protection. After the incident your security upon your return is my primary function. I have been programed to not allow you to partake in actions that could be a risk to your safety."
"Great I am a pet in a cage now." Anastasia said cutting the bantha viciously with her fork. Anastasia ate a bite and it was about as much like bacon as she could find, which was nice but at the moment she couldn't enjoy it. She was quite pissed that she was stuck in the room, yet she wasn't sure what to expect. She knew Vader wouldn't trust her, not yet. But she hadnt thought she would be so trapped once aboard an imperial starship.
She set her fork down and reached out with the force looking for Vader. She had full intentions of giving him a piece of her mind and telling him outright that she would not be locked in a cage. Yet when she reached Vader's mind it was strange, the dark silk of the force was around him still yet he was somehow different. His emotions were not so concealed as they normally were. He seemed almost happy, which Anastasia found strange. She did not contact him through the force but actually pulled away. She had never sensed his emotions so plainly and she didn't want to ruin or dampen his good mood. She suspected that if he knew that she could sense his emotions he would bury them deep and never allow them to surface again. Anastasia picked her fork up and resigned herself to being caged, at least for the moment.