Location: Tendrando Arms Secret Base below the surface of the planet Socorro.
He used to feel different things at different times. He had felt joy. He used to feel irritation; mostly when he was riding a loosing streak at the Sabaac table. At times, he had been smug. Oh, Lando had mastered smugness in all it's flavours.
Not anymore. The whole spectrum of feelings, had been replaced by a crimson cloak of anger.
Such rage filled his veins now as he peered through the oneway transparasteel. On the other side of the viewport was a large room; an old weapons testing lab no longer in use. In the middle of the room, shock-cuffed to a reclined med-chair was... Ben Skywalker.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" He shouted, while pointing at the boy.
"THAT ISN'T LUKE!"
As angry as he was at Veradun capturing Ben, it didn't compare with the rage that boiled inside his heart at the sight of Ben. Tendra's and Chance's murderer, was in his grip, and Ben had let her go. Not just that. He actually had come to her aid.
"YOU'VE CROSSED THE LINE VERADUN! I've got representatives from The Hapes Consortium, The GA, and The Empire calling me up and threatening out right war! I gave you those command codes to use if I was incapacitated! I didn't give them to you to use behind my back and attack the Imperial Capital!
I can't believe..."
"Master Calrissian! Please!" Malgus interrupted him with a convincingly pathetic plea.
"Everything I have done was for you... For your goals! When he had gotten all of Lando's attention, he continued
"This was the only way to lure Luke here, and I knew the boy's capture would wound your already scared heart. I wanted to spare you any more pain, by doing what had to been done."
The pleading was successful in that it scrambled Lando's already conflicted emotions, and made it impossible for him to tell up from down; right from wrong.
In the thick silence, Malgus suggested: "Just tell the government representatives, that a disgruntled employee engineered the strike!"
Lando let out a distainful scoff: "You really think that pile of poodoo is going to work? They're not going to just take my word for it."
"Of course not." Malgus soothed. "But it will buy us a little time!"
He paused for a moment and then continued
"In 12 hours, the new YVH series will be fully matured and ready for deployment. Luke Skywalker will be frozen in carbonite, and the Jedi and GA will have lost the upper hand. By that time, it won't matter what they suspect. They won't be calling the shots anymore."
Lando looked away from Ben and walked right up to the mechanized Sith, sticking his finger right up in Malgus's face: "Just remember!" He said unblinking: "I'm the one calling the shots! Don't! Don't ever go behind my back again!
"As you wish, Master Calrissian." Malgus said with a slight bow.
With that, Lando stormed out of the room. Malgus turned back to the window. Cowering and appeasing a weakling like Lando, was absolutely disgusting. It took all his resolve to go along with the charade. But he had to! For 2 very important reasons.
1. Lando could still be slick-talked into doing the Dark Lord's bidding
2. Any emotional outburst from Malgus could be detected by Ben! And that would be absolutely disastrous!
So for now he would continue to bide his time, and store his anger. When the time was right, he would unleash all that pent up rage.
"Soon... very soon." He said to himself, as he gazed out the transparasteel to the still unconscious, Ben.
11 hours later, The Jade Shadow entered the Socorro system. Vestara (Shadree) wasn't surprised when the motley assortment of thug-owned ships kept their distance as she headed toward the planet.
As lawless and violent a place like Socorro was, everyone had enough (just enough) intelligence to know that Lando wielded the biggest stick. Vestara was under no illusion that Lando was expecting her, and would have made sure no petty warlord would interfere with his carefully laid plans.
Well, not expecting HER exactly. She had already deduced the fact that Ben's capture was meant as bait for Luke Skywalker. She knew that they would lay out the synth-silk carpet for her... until they realized who had really come into their trap.
She knew what would happen next. Lando would at last have her in his vengeful grasp: Her! Vestara! The Murderer of his fiercely loyal wife, and his innocent son.
She knew she wasn't leaving here alive. And for once she felt: At peace. She had known, it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that so many good people lay dead in their grave while she breathed in air, and her skin soaked in living light. She was ready for this. She could give her victim's a small sliver of justice, while at the same time convincing Lando to release Ben.
Ben didn't deserve to be in the middle of this mess. Her Ben was truly good! He needed to live! Luke needed to live! Lando would kill her, and his thirst for vengeance would finally be quenched.
While Lando's base was mostly underground, the landing pad was on the surface. However, this wasn't just a simple duracrete slab for freighters to offload goods.
Socorro was a lawless dust bowl. If you had no interest in becoming a victim, you needed blaster power to back you up. And Lando had blaster power. It was as if he had transplanted 1 kilometre of the Death Star's surface, replete with 6 turbo laser towers and half a squadron of droid starfighters.
Since Lando had WANTED Luke to come, he had made sure The Shadow faced no resistance. The towers and defence fighters had been given orders to stand down.
Even so, Vestara thought there was a chance that Ben might have a rough time of it, leaving. With that it mind she looked for a place nearby, out of the turbolaser tower's line of sight. And she found one: Just on the far side of a sand dune that had formed on the northeastern edge of the landing platform.
As soon as the ship touched down, Vestara shot up out of the chair. She couldn't pause for one moment. She was afraid that if she did, the old Vestara would take over. The selfish, backstabbing liar who left heaps of bodies in her wake. She hated her.
As she headed for the ramp. R2-D2 extended his grasping arm, and grabbed hold of her jacket, while letting out a mournful whistle.
She stopped, and turned her helmeted head to the side before saying her last words to the Droid: "You will never know how much your friendship has meant to me, Artoo." Pushing back tears of gratitude and regret, she continued: "It's up to you now! Get Ben home safe!"
With that, she descended the boarding ramp and stepped onto the black sands of Socorro. The little dome topped droid just stayed at the top of the ramp looking on as another friend walked out of his life.
He had lost so many in his 80 some years of existence. Padme, Anikan, Bail, Obiwan, Chewbacca, Anikan Jr, Mara, Jacen... The list just kept getting longer and longer. Like his counterpart C-3P0, he had fears and regrets. Unlike 3P0, R2 had kept those feelings quiet. They could be quieted, but not forever denied. He was watching another friend head to her death. That was the heavy price of befriending Heroes
That's right! Nobody could see it. Vestara herself would never see it. But R2-D2 knew it to be so. Vestara was a Hero, and today she would earn her spot on his list.
In 10 minutes, Vestara had cleared the glistening black sand dune and had reached the edge of Tendrando's landing platform. As she crossed the large duracrete pad, her senses were aware of someone's eyes on her. Not just eyes! Undoubtedly a whole bank of sensors was, even now, taking every conceivable scan as she walked.
There was also the quiet but unmistakable whine of turbolaser motors atop the towers, tracking her as she made her way to the turbo-lift. Despite all that, the force told her that she was currently not in any danger. She would be allowed to walk right into the layer of the beast.
She couldn't decide whether or not the journey from the ship to the turbo lift, was mind-numbingly long or shockingly short. Even if it had taken only a handful of seconds, it still would have been too long.
She wanted it over with! She wanted Ben safe! Now!
Finally, she made it to the turbo lift hatch. The large circular hatch parted to revel a large dark hole, that was quickly replaced by a platform bearing 4 droid passengers!
No! Not just droids!
Sith!
There was no doubt in Vestara's mind. Those mechanical beings reeked of the darkside.
They said nothing and made no move as she walked onto the platform. And with a woosh, the lift plummeted into the dark.
Slowly, Ben's eyelids opened. He couldn't tell how long he had been out of it. His entire existence over the last 48 hours had been one of fitful dreams and semi-consciousness, punctuated by periods of complete blackout. He had been... On a... a moon. And then a... shuttle? Then he was in a... Lab? He couldn't tell where he was now. It was like a large banquet hall. But there was no large table filled with happy guests. There was no mood lighting, or sounds of mirth. The room was... Empty; dark.
He was still stun-cuffed to a chair. It seemed like he had been trapped in that hard med chair for years.
"Wait a second.. " he thought to himself. "I haven't gone to the refresher in days." Horrified by the thought of sitting in his own filth, he wiggled in the chair, back and forth, in order to prob the condition of his lower half. To his grateful surprise, he discovered that he was dry and clean. A med droid must have attended to his personal hygiene while he was unconscious. Thank the force.
"I think I would have to go into exile on Dagobah if I had pooped my pants!" He thought to himself.
"Stop it!" He quickly chided himself. He knew poop jokes were inappropriate when life and death hung in the balance.
Then again, his Mother was the Queen of inappropriateness.
Just the thought of Mara, calmed his spirit and bolstered his resolve.
He heard a door slide open in front of him. He looked up and saw a figure walk into the room. All he could make out was a silhouette. But it was a very well known silhouette. Lando: A man he had known his entire life.
Beside him entered another figure. A droid of some kind.
"Lando?" He asked in a groggy voice.
Lando's response was a sigh followed by "Ben."
"Lando. I don't understand! What's going..."
"Don't Ben!" He cut him off. "Just Don't"
Been took the hint and tried another tact: "What am I supposed to do Lando! Just tell me what you want from me?"
At hearing Ben's query, Lando had to push down the unexpected desire to wrap his hands around the young man's neck and watch as the life left his eyes.
Lando shook his head, to clear the abhorrent image from his mind. Bit by bit, those holocrons where carving out his heart and filling the void with every sort of vileness.
With a great effort he answered calmly:
"Patience Ben! Patience! We're expecting company."
Even as Lando spoke, Ben heard the sound of clanking thuds steadily increase in volume behind him.
He tried to turn his head, but the movement put too much strain on his cuffs, causing them to discharge a small shock. It wasn't harmful, but it was painful. Ben clenched his teeth in an attempt to hold back a scream. He was only partially successful.
A heartbeat later, the door behind him swooshed opened, and he could hear the distinct sound of droid feet enter. 4 droids walked passed the seated Ben, and took up positions just in front of Lando.
That's when he heard other footsteps. These were... lighter... More Natural.They walked right up behind Ben and stopped.
He knew who it was. And that knowledge lifted up his spirits, and dashed them to pieces at the same time.
Vestara had come to rescue him, but had been led right to the slaughter.
There was no question! once Lando recognized her, Vestara's fate would be sealed.
And there was Nothing... Absolutely nothing he could do about it.