Practice to Deceive

Over the following weeks, Vader's small rebellion made meticulous plans. They settled on Boonta Eve for the assassination. Jabba would be a somewhat easier target when he traveled to Mos Espa for the race, and the day was far enough away to give them time to put the other pieces in place. Furthermore, Kitster was very taken with the symbolism of freeing the slaves on the day they traditionally renewed their vows of obedience to their masters.

In the meantime, Vader deputized Theec, Kitster, and Lalla to lay the groundwork in the cells, and the four of them spent hours debating who should be selected for the provisional council. Everyone quickly agreed upon Theec as the representative of the soon-to-be-freed slaves. Vader proposed Kit as president, and Lalla and Theec enthusiastically ratified the nomination. Kit demurred at first, pointing out that Lalla was actually the head of the underground, but she declined.

"I'm pretty good at running the practical stuff, but I'm not going to do very well at all the other things. My education won't hold up and my Standard is just barely adequate. It's why Kit does all the off-world travel—he's fluent in Standard." She directed the last sentence at Vader. She turned to her husband. "And you're good with people. They like you and trust you easily." When Kit started to protest, she leaned over to kiss him briefly. "And, anyway, I've got the children to manage and a house to run. I wouldn't enjoy the job and you will. That's plenty of reasons for you to take it."

Vader could tell Kitster was still reluctant, but he made no more objections. If they debated the matter in private, Vader never knew. To fill the remaining seats on the council, they solicited evaluations of prominent settlers, merchants, and neighborhood leaders. Quietly, they investigated the backgrounds of potential candidates, trying to gauge who would serve with virtue and honor.

One evening after an especially difficult session with only Vader and Banai in attendance, Kitster set down his datapad with a sigh. "Why are you so set on having plans in place for a government before we free the slaves? Can't this wait until after we've taken out Jabba?"

"No, it cannot," Vader replied. "I told you, the Empire will rush in to fill any vacuum of power. But beyond that…" he paused before continuing, "...there has never been a bottom-up revolution which did not rapidly result in corruption, tyranny, and oppression for the very people it was supposed to free. I do not intend to throw down the Hutts only to see something worse take their place."

Kitster nodded in resignation. "And the Imps? I'm no expert on political theory like you are—"

Vader snorted.

"—but if we allow them to keep a toehold here, doesn't that just invite them to take over?"

Vader compressed his lips, then removed his glasses so he could rub the bridge of his nose. "Yes. But it is a risk we must take."

Kitster frowned. "I don't understand. Shouldn't we get rid of the garrisons at the same time we declare independence?"

"We don't have a police force," Vader answered. "Or an army."

"Well, no—but I don't see what that has to do with keeping the garrisons here. They're almost as bad as the Hutts for extortion and corruption."

"They are. But as much chaos as there is here, at least it is controlled chaos. Think what will happen once Jabba is dead if the garrison is gone too. Every two-credit criminal will run amok."

"Oh," Kit said in a small voice. "You think the Imps will act as a police force?"

"I think Semchan doesn't want to see his head rolling on the Senate floor. I didn't have to do much digging to confirm he's deep in Jabba's pocket. The Emperor makes a great show of his anti-corruption stance, and a threat to report Semchan's shenanigans to Imperial Center should keep him in line. He won't want any close scrutiny of how he has discharged his duties, so he will have a vested interest in keeping unrest to a minimum in order not to attract an audit."

"I see." Kit stared at his datapad for a while. "Will we be ready in time?"

"Do you mean by Boonta Eve? I think so. It's two months away, and I have nearly completed the final draft of the provisional articles. As soon as we finish this list," he indicated the datapad of names between them, "we'll hold a meeting to ratify them. Once that's in place, we'll be ready to move against Jabba any time. We could possibly stage it earlier, but I think we had best stick to the plan we already have. By the way, I've been meaning to tell you—I'll be sending a message to some people I think might be interested in helping us. They have special skills that should be of use."

Kitster nodded. "When will you know if they're willing?"

"In a couple of weeks, I expect."

"All right. I don't think we'll make any more progress on that list tonight, though. I'll check out those questions we had and report back. Good night."

As he prepared to stand, Vader put his hand on the other man's arm. "Before you leave, Banai, I do have one more item I want to mention." He gathered his thoughts. "I know the word has started to circulate that I'm running this conspiracy. I can't be involved. I want you to take over as the leader."

Kitster jerked back. "What? I can't do that. I don't know half the stuff you say we need to do. You're the brains behind this operation, not me."

Vader shook his head. "I don't mean that I will stop doing what I'm doing. It's only that I don't want to be the face of our—our rebellion. I want you to do that. You can call yourself a figurehead, if that makes you feel better."

"Why don't you want to be known?" Kitster asked with narrowed eyes.

Vader dropped his gaze to the counter. "There is a being who is undoubtedly very angry with me. I do not wish to be found, and I am concerned that if I am the public face of the revolution—or even known as a part of it—then he will locate me."

Kitster paused for Vader to say more. When he remained silent, Kitster said, "I assume this is your slave master—the one you escaped when you gained your name." Vader merely looked at him without responding. "Okay. If you don't want to tell me, that's your business. Is that all?"

Vader stood and nodded soberly. "Yes. And thank you, Kit."

Once he was alone, Vader opened a datapad to review a document. Satisfied with the wording, he closed it and went to bed.

The next day he left Theec in charge of the shop, rented a speeder, and flew to Mos Eisley, where he accessed a public terminal. Locating a message board used by the surviving clones, he copied the note on his datapad.

NEEDED for operation in Outer Rim to dismantle smuggling organization: 4 to 6 brothers with the following skills: EXPLOSIVES, SNIPING, COMMS, INTEL, INFILTRATION. Job is 4-6 weeks in duration. Base pay 10,000 credits each plus bonuses for special skills. Comms silence essential. For coordinates and exact dates, contact
user:11kaneis38
node:6672656564736c617665
provider:technounion_temp

Satisfied that the first step in preparing for the assassination was complete and that no one was likely decode the hexadecimal text embedded in the temporary address, he erased the record of his activity and returned to Mos Espa. He checked the account daily. The first response, from a brother using the handle BetterThanADroid, came four days after the posting. By the following week, he had five volunteers.

Two weeks after he had posted the initial message and about the time he had completed the final draft of the temporary governance agreement, five men arrived at Vader's shop near closing time. They were bare-headed and clad in civilian clothes. He had expected them to stand out, but most of them blended in quite naturally with Tatooine's hodgepodge of spacers, riffraff, thugs, and upstanding citizens. The first clone through the door was Cody, and Vader had to duck into the courtyard to collect himself. Of the more than three million clones created by Kamino, fewer than one hundred thousand survived. The rest had succumbed to age, injury, or war. The remainder had all been retired from active service, most dwelling in small enclaves scattered throughout the galaxy.

When he believed he had his voice under control, Vader returned to the shop, greeting the clones brusquely in Standard. "I'm Kaneis. As soon as I have closed up shop, I will be right with you."

Once Theec had left, he opened extra folding stools to accommodate the additional men around the counter and passed out shots of Corellian whiskey. "As I said, I'm Kaneis. My message indicated that I am in the process of dismantling a smuggling organization. That is factually correct, but the situation is a little more involved than that. The outfit being dismantled is the Hutt domination of Tatooine." Vader smiled faintly at the gasps. "Yes, I know it sounds ambitious. There are never any guarantees, of course, but I do believe we have a strong possibility of success. Before we go any further, though, what are your names?"

Cody was the only one he had known as Vader, though he was aware any of them could have served in the 501st. There was a possibility that he would know them by their designations, but he was not about to stir up that sarlacc's nest.

Hex, the explosives expert, had a full beard and a daredevil twinkle in his eye. He was clearly delighted with the job. The sniper, Scratch, wore a buzz cut so short, his scalp was visible, displaying a long scar across the back of his head. His bicep bore a tattoo Vader had seen often during the war: a clone trooper helmet peeking over a wall with Mando'a lettering underneath. The comms and intel specialists, Chatter and Dash, were batchmates and appeared to be close. Chatter sported a mustache and his left eyelid drooped slightly. Dash, who was clean-shaven and remarkably unbattered, boasted he would be able to smuggle all of them wherever they needed to go.

When the introductions were concluded, Vader said, "Welcome aboard, gentlemen. Your assignment is to infiltrate Jabba's palace and plant explosives on his sail barge before a major podrace. Unfortunately, we have no information on the palace or the location or security arrangements of the barge. That will be your job, Dash—to obtain the intel we need to make detailed plans."

Hex shifted slightly on his stool. "Excuse me, sir. When does this operation go live?"

"The actual assassination is scheduled for Boonta Eve, which is six weeks from now, and we will infiltrate the palace a week beforehand. The explosives will be placed the night before the podrace. Some of the ordnance will be remote-triggered and some will be on a timer. After the bombs are set, you will position yourselves in the desert where you can observe to confirm the destruction of the barge. You—" he gestured to Scratch "—will kill anyone who survives the explosion. The objective is to knock out all of the Hutt's lieutenants, as well as Jabba himself. I suggest that Cody serve as your backup. You are rated as a sniper, are you not?" he asked the commander, who nodded.

"I see, sir. Thank you, sir," said Hex.

Vader was inclined to remind him that he was not in the military anymore and that he did not report to Vader in any case. But the reproof would be futile. The clones had been conditioned to fall into a chain of command, and Vader wasn't going to be able to undo that programming at this point.

"We will also set charges to destroy the administrative sections of the palace. We will not destroy the slave quarters or the lower levels. This is a targeted raid to destroy records but not kill slaves. Those devices will all be on timers, of course.

"Following the successful elimination of Jabba, you—" he turned to Chatter "—will hack into the public address system at the podrace arena so that an announcement can be broadcast. You will also slice into the planetary comm network with a message that will be provided to you. Are there any questions at this time?"

Cody, eyes intent in an expression that sent a flood of nostalgia through Vader, said, "Sir, if I may take the liberty, how will that break the Hutt cartel?"

"A fair question," Vader answered, quashing his memories. "By itself, it would not. We have some other plans in play that will fill in the gaps. However, this is the linchpin."

Cody glanced around the circle. The clones looked at each other and nodded. "Very well, sir. We understand. Just one more question—you keep saying we will do this. Are you planning to participate in this mission? Because all of us have at least some experience in infiltration, but if we bring a rank amateur, that could blow our plans all to pieces."

Vader smiled faintly. "I have not yet determined whether I will accompany you or not, but I assure you, Commander, that I am quite experienced in stealth operations. I will be no liability if I do tag along." He rose and the clones followed. "If there are no more questions, here are instructions for your accommodations. It goes without saying that you must maintain a low profile for the duration. And comms silence. Absolutely no communications beyond your group."

"Yes, sir."

"Understood, sir."

The clones filed out and Vader locked the shop.

A/N: With special thanks to my husband whose suggestions significantly strengthened this chapter.

Also, it might be rewarding to convert that hexadecimal string in Vader's contact information to text. ;-) [Hint: It's the string of characters for the node.]