Chapter 10
Obi-Wan had to fight a nostalgic smile as he continued the boy's training sessions. Due to his deep sensitivity into the Force, it came to Luke easily. Still, he was years behind in what could be Darth Vader and the Emperor's power. Even longer when it came to the maturity of standing against such darkness.
Fortunately, by the time they'd arrived at the atmosphere of Dagobah, the boy was beginning to get the basics of the first lightsaber form. Yoda could train him in a far more superior light compared to Obi-Wan. He didn't want to lose him as he did Anakin. The boy was deeply attuned to the Light Side, a pure soul who may be borderline incorruptible
But that was only if the light was formed correctly.
If he was forced to face the Emperor now, or Vader, he would fall be it to the Dark Side or their powers. Importantly, Luke mustn't discover the connection to his father.
And now that his sister was most likely dead, he was truly the last hope.
Whenever he wasn't training, he mourned the lost of the Larses. At the end of the day, he did care about them, despite disagreements with his uncle being frequent.
As Luke finished deflecting another series of shots by probes, only being stunned once, the Jedi "Padawan" lowered his lightsaber and extinguished it, looking up at the Jedi who nodded.
He gripped Luke's shoulder and led him off the ramp of the ship. Artoo followed behind, while Threepio slumbered in the back. Seeing those two again, he was happy to have seen them alive, despite how the golden one's memories were mind wiped. Artoo obviously remembered.
"Alright, old man, I got you here! Now, where's my money?!" Han Solo stormed from the cockpit down the corridors until he came face-to-face with the two, his eyes narrowed. "I filled my end of the bargain."
Calling upon the Force, Obi-Wan played his words carefully, knowing all too well that the smuggler's greed could be detrimental. "You should be appreciative, Captain, you've just saved the last hope in the galaxy. If Vader gets his hands on him-"
"Vader is a myth," the captain replied, rolling his eyes. "The Force, as you call it, is just nonsense left and right. Almost feel bad for the kid. He's being lured away to delusions."
"I can guarantee you, young man, that Vader is far from a myth," he answered, fighting a grimace.
"I'm just wondering if I should just end it all here and now." The scoundrel changed the subject expertly, obviously growing weary of these Force talks, and focusing on the fact that he was backstabbed.
"Oh, what is it that troubles you so highly?" The Jedi asked, though he already got the idea. Hiding away on Tatooine, he quickly discovered that Jabba the Hutt was someone who one simply didn't want to cross. The captain seemed to have overlooked that and thus now was expected to pay off the Hutt in full, something that wouldn't go over well when an official bounty was set onto his head.
"I got a fair number of bounties on my back if I don't come up with Jabba's money soon," he admitted, grudging. Despite this, Obi-Wan sensed a good heart in there, someone who could do the right thing under right circumstances-unlike plenty of the Hutt's cronies.
Obi-Wan got an idea. While training Luke without attachments so he could take on the man who was once Anakin Skywalker and conquer him in combat was a preferable outcome, Obi-Wan could see the logic in acquiring Solo's services exchanged for Jedi protection. Besides, if Solo was caught and interrogated, it could lead to him revealing where they were.
Dagobah was where Yoda hid for two decades. If the Empire came during the middle of Luke's training...
Putting on his negotiation smile, the Jedi placed a hand on his chin. "You don't have to work for the Hutts, Captain. Luke would need a pilot and a ship after his training is complete."
Han's eyes shot up. "I don't work for fre-"
"Do you believe that the Hutts would take any excuses?" The former Jedi Hermit inquired. "They are vile gangsters known for their greed and treacherous nature. If you even pay them, who's to say that they won't have skinned you alive anyhow just to clear up any lost causes?"
"And if you're just ma-"
"One should see for themselves if another is jumping to conclusions before depending on that as fact," the Jedi stated wisely. "If the Force is not fake as you believe and is real, with Jedi's protection, you'll never have to worry about the Hutts and their bounty hunters. Effectively, you would have disappeared from the face of the galaxy."
The Wookiee who only just joined the two roared, and Obi-Wan could see the man's eyes flaring with thought. It was obvious that it would take some more persuasion before he'd even considered being their pilot permanently, but it would secure him in the short-term solution. With the Princess lost, they have no allies among the Rebels who hidden base was also gone with her.
"Boy, I'm taking a gamble," the scoundrel scowled here.
At that moment, he heard the sounds of beeping and Luke shouting "HEY!". The scoundrels immediately disembarked from the ship and raised their blasters, prepared to protect the boy.
The Jedi, on the other hand, sighed. Obi-Wan didn't need to even reach out with the Force to know who it was. On top of the rolling astromech, an old friend rested-all four limbs.
Luke had the lightsaber activated, prepared to take on this challenge. Much like his father, that one was. Seeking adventure and battles. Protective over his friends and family. It could be a problem in the future.
"You're okay, kid?" the scoundrel asked, looking all too confused.
"This little green creature just jumped onto Artoo," Luke replied, defensively.
"Boy, this place gives me the creeps already," the scoundrel commented.
The former farmer smirked, "Get in line."
The Grandmaster remained on top of the panicking Astromech before retracting off of him as Obi-Wan approached. The small green toad eyed him. While the rest had their weapons primed at his direction, the green creature stopped and looked at Kenobi with what the old man could register as expectant disappointment.
The Wookiee lowered his Bowcaster, roared, and approached the green creature before bowing to him, much to everyone's surprise. The former Grandmaster placed a soft green hand on his forehead, smiling. Even the brief interaction caught Obi-Wan off-guard, but he remembered that Yoda had close relations with the Wookiees back in the ending days of the Clone Wars.
"Chewbacca, glad to see you again, I am." The green Jedi turned to face Obi-Wan.
"You two know each other?" Solo asked, shocked.
The Wookiee roared in confirmation.
"Why did you never told me you knew some Master Woda or something?" Han asked, arching his eyebrow, not exactly in anger but confusion. Were Obi-Wan a lesser man, he would have cringed at the one letter mistake.
The Wookiee roared some and shrugged which was an obvious, "You never asked."
"Obi-Wan, he's-" Luke began, angling the blue lightsaber even closer, while staring at his mentor.
The next moment, the lightsaber went flying into the available green hand. The young one reached out for it, his now empty hand outstretched to his direction. The dark green eyes observed the hilt for a long moment as Obi-Wan approached, slightly passed Luke to stare at the small green Jedi.
"It's nice to see your time in this wonderful place hasn't changed you a bit, Master Yoda."
"Hmmm, always still rushing into aggression, your Padawans are." Yoda laughed. "Much to learn, you have, young Kenobi."
"Young?" Luke asked, his lips quirking, before placing a hand on his lips.
So much time passed, so little changed...
Yoda smirked and looked down at the hilt, "At least, shattered the lightsaber yet, he has not."
Vader relished his current victory.
He was building Leia's trust.
But she'd been pensively silent since the close brush with the Dark Side. He had one such experience on Mortis as Skywalker when he'd saw his destiny as Vader. For a long time, he'd feared the Dark Side, so much so he was driven to it when Kenobi and the Jedi betrayed him.
Seeing the girl pleading for his help, for salvation, it moved something within him. While she was emotionally stuck in a condition where her feelings were out of place, a condition where Sidious would have preyed upon that and twisted her into a uncontrolled monster, Vader broke her free of the Dark Side, all the while building up on their Force connection by her parental connection that she wouldn't have felt in her moment of peril. It didn't please him to see her shivering on the ground, sobbing about the darkness flooding through her, seeking to gain control over her compromised mind.
Leia mustn't be an untamed monster without any thought and reason when she fell.
The Dark Side was now crawling close to his daughter, with her seconds away from succumbing to it. And Vader came, being her savior and giving her more reasons to doubt any past illusions she had about him.
The Sith recognized he was a pawn to the Emperor, to the Dark Side, instead of the other way around.
The moments afterwards when he buried his hands against her hair and offered her comfort and support, something like Padmé used to do with Skywalker who didn't hesitate to sob onto his wife's shoulders, did make Vader smile. The woman didn't do it constantly around him, keeping her politician mask until the very end. Only on Mustafar did her emotions come undone, and she cried, begging for him to come back to reality. Yet, when he was away, he felt a shock through the Force due to the bond they'd unknowingly forged with one another. Every time, Skywalker felt the urge to run to the woman and protect her from the realities of the galaxy with hugs and soft kisses.
It hadn't been a common circumstance. After Onaconda Farr stabbed her in the back, and yet again when the man died. After her mentor, Mina Bonteri, was murdered by assassins. Again, when Obi-Wan faked his death. When Duchess Satine of Mandalore was murdered as well. Her Handmaiden, Teckla, being found dead near the power grid. And then lastly, when Skywalker battered Clovis's body to death for attempting to force himself onto her and she'd considered ending the relationship once and for all.
Throughout the pregnancy, it was even more common when contraptions settled upon her shoulders. The blissful young idiot, Skywalker, had wavered every time, but assumed it was another tragedy of the war that gave him a drive, not understanding that he was missing her in the best days. Every time when he returned from the Outer Rim or called, she smiled a blissful and sweet smile, talking about unachievable fantasies.
She hadn't even inform him about her condition, only leaving Skywalker in the dark like the rest of the Jedi. Like Kenobi. Ahsoka. And all of them.
Leia resembled Padmé... and Shmi Skywalker in many ways, and he loathed it because it reminded him of all the failures. How he'd failed to save her from certain death. Failed to bring her back after coming painfully close. And then failed to find and raise the child that they had together, allowing her head to be brainwashed with fairytales of how the galaxy didn't properly worked.
Comforting Leia was a moment of weakness that Vader couldn't say he regretted. She was still a slip of a girl, young and foolish. But she mustn't fear his very presence. She must respect him and expect him to be there for her lowest points. If Vader was to give into a weakness that could be morphed into a strength, Leia needn't hesitate to show her true emotions when around him, whatever it was.
That matter aside, Leia's rebellious statements gave him much to think about when it came to his planning. The Emperor devolving the Senate was an arrogant gamble on his part now considering it. Fear and power were unreliable motivators of loyalty. The "first among equals" doctrine that Vader had scheming in the back of his mind and giving the now "useless/powerless" Senate the responsibility of doing the day-to-day governing of the state, would have been preferable in the long run.
Most importantly, treating them with respect could secure his alliances with them. Partially, it was a genius move. The Emperor planned for if he ever was to perish, the Empire would collapse without leaders to pick up the mess. The Sith wouldn't shed any tears for those traitors, but the various sectors now controlled by Moffs were loyal to the Emperor alone.
Vader knew he needed a Capital when the time came. The Empire controlled the vast majority of the galaxy or was in tight alliances with those such as the Hutts, something that the Sith Lord would have to deal with quickly. The Outer Rim once could have been a suitable location if not for that harsh fact, along with the nuisance of the Rebellion. There was the possibility of securing an alliance with Jabba the Hutt and the Hutts, but he'd despised the thoughts of working with those slaver's scum. A small chunk of the Empire would be ripped apart. The Emperor would seek to resolve that problem which meant that the Sith Lord had to work quickly and effortlessly.
Unfortunately, as it stood, if the Sith Lord killed the Emperor without significant backing, it was likely that the foolish Rebellion would gain a victory while the Empire collapsed. He would consent that point with his daughter.
Perhaps...
Suddenly, he had an idea.
He mustn't disregard the Hutts importance after all. It would be the perfect opportunity for the Empire to be damaged at least somewhat.
He typed in his built-in communicator on a terminal for a frequency and waited.
The Emperor was always ten steps ahead, but Vader was not above manipulation of the right people. It would become a necessity soon enough. This meant dealing with dilapidated discipline and incompetence in another light. Killing those fools who he'd loathed wasn't something Vader deplored, but it diminished any support that he could have had even further, preventing him from acquiring useful allies when the time came for him to destroy the Emperor.
This plan he had in mind would be a distraction for the Empire's resources, allowing Vader to take advantage of the chaos and come out even stronger. Leia spoke sense, but she underestimated just how much calculation Vader could be, something that she would soon learn to be a mistake. He mustn't be too lenient with his daughter after all or else it'd spelled disrespect.
"Lord Vader?" The Holo armored form of Boba Fett stared at Vader on the other side as he appeared to life. The bounty hunter had been deadly and effective just like his father was at one point. While he had no official loyalties, the Sith Lord had enough compensation to ensure that he would carry out the mission.
And Vader gave the bounty.