Until We Die

—Chapter 3—

IMPERIAL STAR DESTROYER DEVASTATOR

"We are tracking an escape craft," the Captain announced from the helm. "There's one life form aboard."

"That's him," Vader said, staring through the viewport of his star destroyer.

Standing alongside the dark lord at the Devastator's viewport, and sensing his sudden intention to abandon their chase to go after the Jedi, the Grand Inquisitor turned to face him. "My lord, we must continue our pursuit of the insurgents," he warned. "Now is our chance to wipe out this network in its entirety. We cannot prioritise... one lone Jedi."

Vader immediately growled at him. "He is not just "any" Jedi." Then, after watching the ship shoot across the viewport like a man possessed, he'd ordered: "Follow Kenobi."

And so, they had... and the Jedi had led them to a small moon. Seeing the escape craft make for the moon's surface, Vader had turned on his heel and left for the main hangar. "Prepare my ship. I will face him—Alone."

And that was the last they'd heard from him.

The Grand Inquisitor paced back and forth across the Devastator's viewport, the events from earlier replaying in his mind. It had been four long hours since Vader had left his star destroyer, and yet still, they'd received no word from him.

In most ordinary of circumstances, this would be of no real concern. But this was no ordinarycircumstance. A seething tremor had eddied from Vader through the Force, moments before he'd left the Devastator. Even though disquiet in the Force was hardly unusual around the dark lord, this tremor had been... different. Deeply rooted, bordering obsessive. The passionate and possessive kind of tremor that traditionally stemmed from attachment.

Lord Vader was as mysterious, as he was irritable. And in the Force his powers were unrivalled; second only to those of the Emperor himself. As a general rule the Sith kept his emotions closely guarded, both physically and through the Force. But when faced with this particular Jedi... his self-control had slipped, and a powerful surge had radiated from him through the Force. A surge so powerful, that even the Grand Inquisitor himself, had sensed it.

To Vader, this was clearly personal... He wanted Kenobi. But he'd also insisted on taking the Jedi alone, as if he'd had something he needed to prove. Whether to himself, or to someone else.

"Grand Inquisitor!" the captain called to him from the helm, and he turned around.

"Yes, captain?"

"We just received an urgent message from Imperial Centre," the captain explained. "Sir, it's the Emperor. He demands to speak with Lord Vader."

So, it seemed the Emperor had felt the surge, too. On Coruscant of all places. Light-years away from their current position. And now he was asking for Vader. There was no question in his mind. Vader's continued absence was definitely a cause for concern.

The Grand Inquisitor looked to the ship's Captain, and nodded. "Very well, Captain," he said, moving from the viewport. "Put it through to the bridge. I will speak with the Emperor in Lord Vader's absence."

• • •

"Come on, Anakin... You've got to have something lying around this ship of yours, somewhere," Obi-wan muttered, hurriedly digging through the passenger cabin of the abandoned Imperial shuttle. He tugged on all the doors, rifled through the contents of each of the overhead storage compartments.

Getting Vader to go to sleep, had been the easy part. But keeping him that way, seemed to be the real challenge. Vader had already woken up while he'd been securing him in the dropship's cargo-hold. The Sith's struggle to breathe through the broken mask, apparently severe enough to shock him from even the deepest sleep.

And that was a problem. A very big problem.

The last thing Obi-wan needed, was for Vader to wake up and try to kill him while he was flying the ship. That wasn't a situation he foresaw ending very well for either of them.

So, he'd flown back to Vader's ship, and set his own down beside it. Then proceeded to rummage through the shuttle, hoping to find something to ease his breathing long enough, to see them safely delivered to their next destination.

Obi-wan closed the last storage compartment, and blew out a long, frustrated breath. He'd found a whole pile of nothing. Plenty of Imperial junk—a few bacta patches, and some basic medical supplies that he'd quickly stuffed inside his rucksack—but other than that, nothing. Vader had to have something hidden inside here somewhere. He was just missing it.

Moving away from the last overhead, he turned to face the door at the rear of the cabin, then opened it.

And almost fell over.

• • •

"WHERE... is Lord Vader?"

The Grand Inquisitor bowed his head, turned his eyes away from the ghostly apparition flickering above the bridge holo-deck. The Emperor was displeased. The hidden threat lingering within his angered tone, exceedingly clear. He tried his best not to stammer. "We... we don't know, my lord," the Grand Inquisitor said.

The Emperor hissed at him. "What do you mean... "You don't know"?"

"Precisely that, my lord," he said. "We were chasing the insurgents, when a small escape craft jettisoned from their damaged freighter."

"You may continue, Inquisitor."

He hesitated, then, looked up. Warily met the Emperor's foreboding glare. "The scanners picked up only one lifeform aboard. Convinced it was the Jedi, Lord Vader instructed the Captain to abandon the chase for the insurgents. Choosing instead to follow the Jedi," the Inquisitor said.

Sensing the Emperor's ire rapidly building, he again, averted his gaze and looked down. "I cautioned him against it, my lord. I warned him that this could be our chance to vanquish the network. But he—"

"Which Jedi?" the Emperor heatedly interrupted.

The Grand Inquisitor choked on the rest of his statement, then bit down on his tongue. "The very same Jedi we've been hunting for the past several days, my lord. Obi-wan Kenobi."

"WHAT?" The Emperor's angered snarl tore through the cool bridge like a flaming hot meteor through snow. And the Grand Inquisitor involuntarily shuddered. "Where is he now?" the Emperor demanded.

Now, he was truly scared. He'd not been on the receiving end of the Emperor's fury before. That was Lord Vader's domain. "We... we are unsure, my lord," the Grand Inquisitor stammered. "Lord Vader took his shuttle, then went down to the moon to confront him."

"You let him go... ALONE?"

Stunned by the accusation, the Grand Inquisitor looked up. "I "Let him" do no such thing, my emperor," he contested. "Lord Vader insisted. I have no right to question his authority on such—"

"Then go down there, and FIND HIM!"

The Grand Inquisitor shook his head in disbelief. Was the Emperor seriously telling him, to personally go after Vader and somehow bring him back to the Devastator? And just how was he supposed to do that? March down to the moon, grab hold of Vader by the arm and ask him nicely? "Please, forgive me my ignorance, my lord. But "Find him"?"

"You heard me, Inquisitor," the Emperor confirmed. "Lord Vader has his own personal tracking ident programmed into the control panel on his chest. Go down to the moon, use that signal to locate him... and bring him back."

"And then what?" he asked.

"When the two of you have returned, you are to inform Lord Vader... that he is to report to me at the palace, at once!"

Unbelievable. He'd never seen the Emperor get so worked up over one single rogue Jedi before. Sure, it was Master Kenobi, the acclaimed negotiator himself... but still?

And if he wasn't mistaken, the Emperor had almost sounded... afraid? Or was that nervousness he could hear?

Pushing the thought to the back of his mind for the minute, the Grand Inquisitor bowed his head and nodded subserviently. "As you command... my emperor."

• • •

Obi-wan walked inside the second cabin and glanced around. Upon observation, this was, without a doubt, Vader's own personal shuttle. The private cabin screamed: Anakin. From the odd-looking model star-fighter displayed on the workstation; to how everything else inside, was black. Even the walls and floor, were black. Somehow, he doubted thatwas standard Imperial design.

Stepping around the central holo-pod, which surprisingly took up most of the cabin's floor space, Obi-wan walked to the back of the room, and stopped. His attention drawn to what appeared to be, a secure locker built into the front of the wall's cladding. He moved closer, reached for the wall, then ran his fingers along the seams. Felt around the ridges of the cladding for some kind of locking mechanism.

Abruptly, the hidden locker sprang open. And the face of Vader stared back at him. Well, not his face, per se; but a freshly polished, spare helmet and mask. Relieved by the find, he smiled and pushed his hair back. This was more than he could've hoped for.

Reaching for it, he removed the headgear from the stand and weighed it in his hands. It was heavier than he expected. Much heavier than the helmets the clones had used to wear back in the war. It was a wonder Vader's neck hadn't broken from sustaining the weight all the time. He shook off the macabre thought, then bent down to put it inside his rucksack... when a loud beeping sound echoed from somewhere inside the shuttle.

Obi-wan froze, and looked to the doorway. In his experience, beeping sounds were never good. They usually meant only one of two things. Either the shuttle's tracking beacon had been activated, and the Empire was on its way... Or there was a bomb hidden somewhere, and it was about to go off.

Not exactly comforting.

His heart began to race, and he quickly worked to shove the helmet and mask deep inside his rucksack. Then, slinging the heavy bag over his shoulder, he took off and ran for the exit. No matter what this beeping sound signified, he was not about to stick around and wait to find out.

When he reached the dropship, Vader was already starting to stir again. Obi-wan placed his bag down, and immediately dropped to his knees beside him. "You just won't stay asleep, will you?" he grumbled, as he tugged on the strands of cargo-webbing securing the Sith to the floor, ensuring they were still tight enough. Vader groaned beside him, his helmeted-head slowly rolling from side-to-side.

Slumping back to rest on his heels, Obi-wan cautiously studied the damaged helmet and mask. Okay, so he'd managed to locate a spare set. But now, the next problem was, figuring out how to take the blasted thing off his head, without fully waking him.

He stroked his beard. Stared curiously at the no-longer-sleeping Sith.

In all honesty, he didn't even want to attempt it. Yes, Vader's entire body was bound and wrapped to the floor, but he could still kill him. Obi-wan knew all too well, that when it came to his former padawan and killing, hands and lightsabers were simply optional extras. All he really needed, was eye contact. And knowing that... was enough to make Obi-wan hesitate.

Deep in thought, he sat there silent a long moment, and just listened to Vader groan. Heard the pained wheeze in the Sith's lungs as he fought to breathe.

How had he allowed for this to happen? The Third Sister had been right to accuse him; this was his fault. Anakin was his padawan, and as such, was ultimately his responsibility. Yet somehow, he'd missed this. Overlooked the events that had led him to choosing this path.

And as he'd said earlier, he was... truly sorry. Sorry for everything. Sorry for all of it—For the Jedi, for the Republic, for what had happened to Padmé, for their two orphaned children, and mostly... for Anakin.

Always... for Anakin.

The worst part was... he didn't even know, exactly what it was that he'd missed. Had it been the doomed relationship between him and Padmé, that he had knowingly turned a blind eye to? Yoda would've said so. But then again, Yoda was not always right about all things. Even Qui-gon, his own late master, had alluded to such. Actually, come to think of it... Yoda had admitted the very same thing himself, too. Right at the end, of course. When it was far too late for either of them to fix it.

Closing his eyes, Obi-wan fought back the tears threatening to fall, and shook his head. They'd been fools. All of them. Kriff! No, he'd been the biggest fool. Even Dooku had tried to warn him, years ago, back on Geonosis. And in his youthful arrogance, he'd dismissed it. Believing that the Jedi would have sensed a Dark Lord of the Sith hiding in their midst.

My, oh my... How wrong he'd been. And Anakin had paid the ultimate price. So too, had the Jedi he'd murdered. They had all paid for his mistakes with their lives.

And it was all... his fault.

A sudden wailing sound shocked him from his self-loathing, and Obi-wan leapt to his feet. Oh no, that can't be good. Then, fearing the worst, he turned and ran for the cockpit.

"BLAST IT!" he cursed, slamming his hand hard upon the console. That was the proximity alarm, and another ship was approaching—Fast. He had to get Vader away from here—Now!

Panicked, he dropped into the pilot's seat and immediately started to flick at the controls. Even as the engines revved up, Vader groaned from within the cargo-hold, and Obi-wan glanced over his shoulder to him. "I'm sorry, Anakin," he apologised, grabbing the control stick with both hands. "You're not going to like this. But you are just going to have to hang in there, until we reach hyperspace."

Obi-wan knew he didn't have time to wait for him to answer. He'd wasted too much time as it was, and now the Empire was coming. He gave the controls one final check, hit the main thrusters, then yanked hard on the stick... and forced the dropship into the air at full speed.

• • •

"We have a lock on Lord Vader's Lambda. Five and a half clicks from our present course, North to north-East."

The Grand Inquisitor leaned over the pilot's shoulder to study the ship's nav-display. He could see the blinking red dot indicating the shuttle's location, but nothing else. "Have you had any luck in tracking down the ident I gave you?" he asked.

The pilot shook his head. "Nothing yet, sir. The tracker may have been switched off."

"I find that highly unlikely," the Inquisitor muttered, more to himself than to anyone else. "No. Continue on to the shuttle. In the meantime, see if you can widen the scope on that ident. Perhaps we're still out of range."

"Right away, sir."

Returning to his seat, the Grand Inquisitor folded his arms and tapped his fingers along his elbow. Something about this whole scenario felt off. They'd found Lord Vader's shuttle, but no signs of him, or anything else for that matter. What was perhaps bothering him even more so, was the fact that the small escape craft they'd been tracking earlier, was now nowhere to be seen.

Which probably meant that Kenobi had escaped again. And their hunt for Lord Vader, had potentially become no more than a routine retrieval of the Sith Lord's—now broken—corpse.

And that morbid thought both thrilled him, and chilled him to the core. Thrilled him, because he would finally be freed from Vader's service. But chilled him all the same, because he'd then have to face the Emperor's wrath at losing his prized apprentice. At this point, it was difficult to say which Sith Lord terrified him more: Darth Vader, or the Emperor. One had promised to keep him enslaved even after death, and the other had promised to keep him alive and in their service, indefinitely.

So, for the Grand Inquisitor, not even death was enough to escape the service of the Sith.

"We're setting down on the moon's surface now, sir," the pilot called again from the cockpit. "Prepare for landing."

• • •

Blinding flashes of green turbo-lasers slammed and flared against their shields, turning the tiny dropship into a makeshift ping-pong ball. Obi-wan held on to the shaking control stick for grim death, fighting to keep the ship on a steady course while he prepared for their jump to lightspeed.

Another brutal volley pounded their rear shields, and the dropship bucked, almost knocking them completely off course. He cursed again, and fought to right the ship.

"I wish you'd tell that blasted star destroyer of yours to stop firing at us!" Obi-wan yelled over his shoulder to the once-again sleeping Sith tied up in the cargo-hold. "If they keep this up, they're going to get us both killed!"

Nothing but silence answered him. Well, that... and the panicked whistles and squeals coming from a certain little droid, who was now safely nestled back inside his robe pocket. He quickly tapped at his pocket in a vain attempt to soothe her. "I know, I know," Obi-wan said consolingly. "Don't worry, I'll get you back home safe, soon enough—I promise."

Lola gave another nervous little whistle, then went still in his robe. Great. Just great. Now he had one shut down droid hiding in his pocket, and another half-droid seemingly-sleeping in his cargo-hold. What a fascinatingly peculiar and exhausting day this had turned out to be. He'd have to thank Bail for dragging him from his cave when all this was over. He was sure he'd had enough excitement these past few days to last a lifetime.

Inputting the last final coordinates into the navi-comp, Obi-wan sat forward in his seat, and reached for the yoke to engage the hyperdrive. "Hold on everyone," he announced. Then with one heaving push on the t-bar, they left Vader's behemoth star destroyer far behind, and lurched forward into lightspeed.

• • •

The proximity alarm wailed again, and a split-second later the ship dropped out of hyperspace. Twinkling stars dotted the black expanse of space outside the viewscreen. And thankfully, there wasn't a single planet, or moon, or star destroyer in sight. His plan to do a micro-jump to escape Vader's ship had apparently worked.

Obi-wan sat back, rubbed his tired eyes, then stretched in his seat. The cabin was unsettlingly quiet. No whistling or chirping, and no coughing or groaning. He glanced over his shoulder to check the cargo-hold, noticed Vader was still sound asleep. And a quick tap to his pocket, confirmed Lola was still hiding in his robe.

Good. For once he might actually have enough peace and quiet to successfully think straight. Now... what to do. He still needed to contact Bail. And he also needed to organise Vader's new hiding place.

Tapping at the ship's communicator, Obi-wan entered in the frequency for Bail on Alderaan, and waited. Then the communicator flickered to life above the dropship's command console.

"I am so glad to see you safe and well, old friend," Bail Organa said. "When Leia first returned with Haja, I...I'm afraid... I had feared the worst."

Obi-wan smiled at the shimmering blue image of the Alderaanian Senator, relieved to hear that Leia had safely made it home. "Not to worry, Bail. I am just relieved to hear she made it," he said.

"When she told me you'd left to confront Lord Vader—"

"It's funny you should mention that..." Obi-wan muttered, stroking his beard. "I might have a favour to ask of you."

Bail Organa smiled, but the warm expression never once reached his eyes. "You saved my daughter, Obi-wan. For that, I can never repay you. Whatever you need from me, it's yours."

With a sigh, Obi-wan glanced back over his shoulder to the sleeping Sith in the cargo-hold. "You may not say that, when you hear what it is I'm about to ask."

"Nonsense, my old friend," Organa dismissed. "Now, tell me what it is you need."

Pensive, Obi-wan swallowed, looked back from Vader to the flickering holo-projection of the Alderaanian Senator, and slowly exhaled. "That old military base you once had hidden within the mountains..." he said. "I was wondering, Bail... do you still have access to it?"

The Alderaanian Senator had affirmatively answered his question, but Obi-wan hadn't been able to hear it. The Force had suddenly pummelled him. Thrust a deeply troubling image into the very forefront of his mind.

And when he'd heard the young boy's scream reverberate inside his head, his heart stopped cold... "Luke!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I'm not sure what happened to this story over the last week. For some reason the server had blocked it. But thankfully, I managed to fix it and get it back up again.

I can't get over how much of a response this story has received in such a short space of time. Thank you all so much. As for the plot... well, I'm pantsing this one, a term some of the avid writers out there should understand.

I am normally a heavy plotter, working out exactly which points and scenes lead to what outcome. But I'm trying something different with this one. I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you all for reading, and for your reviews/follows/favourites. They are truly humbling.

I am open to your ideas and plot bunnies, so feel free to PM me with them.

And as always... MTFBWY