"In Need of Wings"
Chapter the Twenty-Seventh
Three months later
.
The funeral had been one year ago to the day.
Two of the smallest coffins she had ever seen, and hoped never to see them in that size again. They now rested in Varykino, the same lake retreat where their wedding was held. She made sure it was on a hill overlooking the most beautiful view of the lake below, and a tree overhead provided a little shade during the afternoons. It was the exact sort of spot she would have taken them during her vacations away from the Senate.
One year ago, she held their lifeless bodies in her arms after over thirteen hours in labor. The medical droid could not explain why they were stillborn. But Padmé had felt something pulling at them. Something…or someone…taking her babies from her.
She had no proof of it, but she knew that whoever stole Anakin had stolen the babies as well. Hoping that would be enough to kill her. It wasn't. But she came close. Thoughts of suicide tasted so sweet in the days leading up to the funeral.
Naboo had mourned the twin children she named Luke and Leia before their bodies had gone cold. But Naboo never knew who the father was. Theed cried, but did not know why. Just when she thought her tears were used up, one year later, they came back. But she only let the tears fall when she was alone at the end of the day. No one was allowed to see her cry.
The Republic was gone. Her husband was gone. Her children were gone.
Some would say that Padmé Amidala had lost everything. At least, so was whispered around the ranks of the Ami Dala Confederacy, especially by new recruits.
But in the end, she had not lost herself. And she had never been one to go down without a fight. This morning, Padmé awoke early. She had the urge to take a few hours out of her day and go visit Varykino again. But there was too much work to do. Her grief would have to wait longer.
Rex…formerly Captain Rex of the Grand Army of the Republic, currently Colonel Rex of the Ami Dala Confederacy…knocked on the door of her chambers.
"General Amidala?"
Padmé's handmaidens had just finished helping her dress and apply her makeup. Although looking presentable was the last thing Padmé wanted today of all days, she had to play her part. She had to give them someone to look up to, to fight for, and most importantly, to follow.
Just under ten months ago now, she had forsaken her former title of Senator in favor of a new role. Although technically a political leader, her duty was to the military force now, in a direct rebellion against the Galactic Empire. Along with her role in the Senate went Naboo's allegiance to the former Republic.
"Yes, Colonel?" she asked. By old habit, Padmé put on her japor snippet necklace before her handmaiden answered the door. Rex stood there with a guard on either side. Their armor was more worn, more faded and mismatched. On each helmet, a large red circle was painted on both cheeks, and a vertical red line painted down the bottom center.
"There is a prisoner outside who demands to see you, sir," Rex said. "He arrived in the city this morning and we took him into custody without resistance."
"Did you get a name?"
He nodded.
"Cad Bane, sir."
She frowned. Of all the days she had to deal with criminal scum, it had to be the one-year anniversary of her babies' deaths. She was not in the mood for this.
"Did he say what he wanted, why he is here?" She followed Rex down the hall, outside the palace into the barracks. Naboo, and its capital city Theed, had not seen this much military presence since the Trade Federation invaded years ago. Today, Ami Dala forces had taken up entire neighborhoods with bases and equipment, forced to depend on Naboo's natural resources to strengthen the soldiers. The Galactic Empire truly had changed everything.
"Just that he would only speak to you, sir."
Padmé prepared for the worst, only for the sight of the prisoner to hit her like a stun blast. Guarded by four Ami Dala soldiers, forced to stand in front of her, Bane did not look like the man who had held her hostage in the Galactic Senate building back during the war. For one, he was thinner, weaker, a shell of who he used to be. And for another, he had a mechno arm, crudely constructed out of rusted junk parts, with three sharp metal claws instead of a hand and what looked like a flamethrower welded to the forearm.
"Cad Bane. You had better have a very good reason for demanding to see me," she said coldly.
He looked up at her.
"I have something I think you'll want." He spoke simply, not out of any emotion.
"Well, tell me what it is."
Expecting a devious smile, all she received was a blank stare.
"Information."
Padmé watched the interrogation from behind the glass wall. Sabé stood beside her, arms crossed as she kept her eyes on the Duros prisoner with great interest.
"He's being strangely cooperative," Padmé finally said to break the silence. Cad Bane was sitting hunched over at the table, idly playing with his hands…one of them, anyway…while two Ami Dala interrogators took notes between questioning him. It had been like this for two hours now.
"What does he know?"
Padmé bit her lip, afraid that if she said too much of what she had heard during her own private session with Bane before the interrogation, she would be unable to hold back her tears.
"He says that he was with Ahsoka Tano when she was a fugitive from the Empire. And that he has eyewitness proof that she is now Darth Vader's apprentice. He also has information of a secret Imperial base on the Mustafar system."
"And Vader…"
"Yes. It's Anakin Skywalker. Bane saw him as well." Saying his name aloud killed her inside. And she thought keeping their marriage a secret during the war was hard enough. A private divorce once she heard what he had done at the Jedi Temple had just barely escaped the tabloids. "Bane brought a techno-service droid with him. Said its memory will confirm all his testimony. Our analyzers are scanning the droid's databanks as of now. Makes me really doubt that he's lying. If you can imagine that."
Another thirty minutes or so of the interrogation went by.
"And he's coming to us now, why? What's the reason?" Sabé asked, a bitter taste in her mouth. She had even lesser trust for criminals than the former Queen of Naboo.
"That is what I'm going to find out." Padmé entered the room and motioned for the interrogators to leave. When they were gone, she sat across from Bane at the table, studying him. Why did he look like this? What had happened to him? She had to know.
"In case you are going to demand a payment for this information—"
"No." Bane shook his head before she could finish her sentence.
Padmé arched an eyebrow.
"You, not interested in money? What sort of bounty hunter do you consider yourself to be, then?"
"I'm not a bounty hunter anymore." He looked at her.
"Then what are you?"
That made him smile. For some reason.
"I haven't been anything for a while now, if I may speak honestly, General. Was a bounty hunter, but that hasn't been working out for me so well lately. I don't have anywhere else to go."
"How do you make a living, then?"
"Steal, hitch rides, do what I can. Like I said, I'm not anything. Or anyone."
Judging by the state of his health and clothing, she guessed that he had been living like this for a while now. In a twisted way, it seemed sad, even heartbreaking, that the Empire had turned the best bounty hunter in the galaxy into a homeless, one-armed, petty thief.
Padmé sat up a little straighter and spoke bluntly to him.
"Since you knew the location of our base, I assume you know who we are. The Ami Dala Confederacy is an army of rebels against the Galactic Empire. We're in alliance with the Armies of Twelve across the Mid Rim. I lead this army, meaning I'm the top in command here. So if everything you just told me comes back false, I have the power to make you very, very sorry you wasted my time. Are we clear, Mr. Bane?"
He didn't bat an eye.
"Quite clear, General." He hesitated, as if expecting the question she was about to ask next. "I know that…you were friends with Ahsoka. When…we were fugitives together, she spoke well of you. Said she missed you and hoped you were well. And I also know you were close to Skywalker."
Two names now that killed her to hear aloud. Ahsoka. Ani's Padawan. Betrayed by the Jedi and the Republic. Cast aside. Now in Vader's clutches.
"Then why did you decide to bring me this information? What's your interest in helping the rebel cause?" she challenged him.
He leaned back in his chair, staring at the table while he spoke.
"I have something personal against the Empire now. I'd like revenge for what they took from me."
"What did they take?"
"A career. A future. A friend." He showed her his mechno arm. "And this. So if there is a place for me in your little army, General, I'm willing to cooperate."
She looked into his eyes, searching for deception that she did not find. After a long pause, Padmé rose from the table. Her mind was already made up on the matter. Couldn't deny her gut feeling.
Ami Dala could use people like him.
"Let the guard know if you need a drink of water or a trip to the fresher," she said, a bit more curtly than she intended to, before she left.
Purple bruises formed a pattern up Ahsoka's arm. With a small smile, she danced her fingers on each of them until they hurt.
Pain was a drug and she had become addicted. Well, pain and a bunch of other things.
She asked Vader for another cigarette. The ones he smoked now were cherry flavored. He let her have one, but she wouldn't light it herself. Ever since the last time she had been on Mustafar, fire had filled every one of Ahsoka's nightmares.
"Is something wrong, Master?" she asked meekly, knowing better than to raise her voice at Vader, ever. He had not spoken since they left the Imperial Palace to smoke on the balcony.
He looked out to the horizon of Coruscant. By now, the memories of what once took place here…all her training in the old Jedi Temple, fighting beside Skywalker, rescuing Bane from Vader…they were nearly all gone now. Like stars fading into the black.
"Do you sense that, Snips? The growing threat in the Mid Rim?"
She shut her eyes as she smoked her cigarette, idly playing with a broken toe.
"But Master says the Armies of Twelve will not be a threat. Master knows what he says."
"The Armies started out that way, anyway. The rebellion is not united, not even in ideals. Everyone chose a different leader they idolized and wanted to see in the Emperor's place, and followed after them. To them, it's only a race for which of the Twelve will take over first. Their loyalty is only to their leaders." Vader paused to smoke his cigarette. His black fingernails were speckled with ashes. "That means we get to watch as the Twelve rebel armies turn on each other. It'll be a bloodbath, Snips."
"And the threat?"
"The ensuing chaos. You remember your teachings. Strength emerges from chaos. From fear."
"Not our own this time. Now I understand…" She hugged her skinned knees. Her leggings were torn in several places, and she began chewing her thumb. "The remaining Jedi may use the chaos to rise up."
"Jedi are deceptive that way. So we need to be ready for them."
"Master…" She looked out to the horizon again. Her coat was one size too large, but she only wore it when it was cold out. She hugged it to herself, loving how it scratched against her healing cuts. "Should we be wary of any of the Twelve?"
"Mandalore's leadership is weak. Kiros is small. Ami Dala, too extremist. Grand Mothma, perhaps, we'll keep an eye on them." He smiled. "I wonder…how fast they'll be snuffed out. Like little cigarettes, Snips. Just…like…" He pressed his cigarette butt against the balcony railing. "That. All just little cigarettes we'll smoke and put out, smoke and put out."
"What does the smoke taste like, Master?" She put her hand on his arm and watched her fingers dance.
"Why, like blood, my little tart. All the bloods of all the galaxy in one. And I know how much you love that taste." He grinned and played with his long dark hair.
"Oh, I do, Master…so many kinds of blood I still have to taste." She smiled humbly and thought of the Armies of Twelve. How hopeless their cause seemed. As having been Vader's apprentice for almost a quarter of a year now, she still waited her chance to prove her worth to him in direct combat, by killing an anti-Imperial. Instead, she had been spending her time finishing her training. And how much she had to catch up on. But the time was well worth it. Especially after a long day ended in more cuts and bruises that she loved to count until she could not count anymore.
It was always the first kill that hurt, Vader promised her. But not like the rest. The rest, you learned to enjoy. And always, finding strength out of their chaos. Out of their fear.
She couldn't wait to find out for herself.