Chapter 32 - Return
Glancing down at his left hand, Vader said, "One more charge." Then he summoned Kirak's hilt to his right and ignited the green saber again, stalking towards the insectoid. "More than enough."
It chittered, regarding Vader with a pair of red eyes on the ends of armored, chitinous stalks.
Kshhhhhh
"The Dragon is mine. As are you."
Whether or not a Sand Demon understood Galactic Common, it certainly felt the Sith Lord's hostile intent. Raising a pair of scythe-like legs, it stood guard over the dead Dragon, no intention of giving up so much meat. And it had no fear. After all, what, on this planet, could challenge it?
"Good." Vader said, and his experimental prosthetics spun to life, electricity crackling in his left arm. A burst of sand and he shot across the gap between them. Through the Force and his own modifications the Sand Demon barely reacted in time, dodging out of the way of a green flash and landing in the dust with a growl. Instead of attacking, its six legs instantly cut through the rock and it vanished underground in a cloud of dust.
Meanwhile, Boba sat up. Looking back, he saw a tangled mess of steel and scrap, the remains of his speeder. Then his head spun back to Vader as a shower of rock and dirt exploded from underneath the Sith.
Side-stepping, Vader avoided a pair of razor claws as the Demon burst out of the ground. His blade flashed and the tip of one claw, blood leaking, splattered against the sand. Then he rolled again as a pair of legs sliced the air with a whistle. A bit of his cloak, severed, fluttered in the hot air, but another flash of green and one eye stalk dropped.
Screaming in pain, the Sand Demon backed away, oozing blood from two wounds.
"Force lightning might still be beyond my reach, but…" Vader's boots pounded and he slammed into the Demon. His saber thrust sank deep into the creature's torso and his free hand used the force to catch a flailing limb.
Then he snatched the chitinous scythe and let the capacitor dump all its energy.
A burst of electricity sent the Sith flying backwards, still holding a charred, smoldering leg. Meanwhile the Demon screamed as electricity burst out of a dozen wounds all over its body. Bits of natural armor cracked and fell away, revealing soft internals.
Getting his feet under him, Vader rose. "More… Give me more." Launching himself with the Force, Vader felt a wave of battle lust wash over him. Again he stood in the thick of combat. Memories of the Clone War echoed out from the past. The thrill of conquest splashed across a life of violence and conflict. A young Jedi cutting through flesh and metal. Death and desolation. Anakin Skywalker sliced through droids by the hundreds and flesh and blood enemies by the dozen.
Vader dropped his saber and caught a limb with his gloved hand. "Fool." The Sand Demon's eye went wide in a shock of pain. Muscle and metal straining, Vader ripped it off, bloody ichor spraying across the burning sand. The Demon tried to bite down, but the Sith's hands shot out and grabbed the jaws.
"As a boy, I heard your kind take in the strength of every kill," Vader said, calling to mind a far of tale of the desert planet from his childhood. "I will take all that you are. Rrrrrrraaaaggghhhh!"
With a surge of strength, bolstered by Vader's call, the Dark Side flowed through the dusty expanse and into the cyborg. Gauntlets tearing, prosthetics straining, the Sand Demon's scream ended as Darth Vader ripped its jaws apart in a spray of vile blood and viscera. Spasming limbs nicked the durasteel armor, but it was in vain.
The Dark Lord of the Sith stood, triumphant, over the spasming body of the insectoid as the last of its life spilled out a torn, shattered head. As its remaining red eye looked up, the Sand Demon raised a weak claw.
Vader's boot slammed down, pulping the creature's brain.
In a surge of wind, Vader stood alone, looking out across the distant wasteland and the oncoming storm.
Kshhhhhh
"Vectivus."
A preliminary lesson. Take its life.
"You think I have not?"
No. Take its life. Take it into you. Consume it. Devour all it is. All it might become. Everything.
Vader returned to Tatooine and glanced down at the twitching monster.
The Dark Side guided his actions and he ripped the helmet from his head. Then the faceplate, then even the breathing apparatus in front of his mouth and nose. A pale, scarred head stood against the desert sands as Boba Fett watched from behind.
Vader reached down and lifted the Sand Demon's remains into the air. At arms length, he let out a breath, then called upon the terrible might of the Force. As he pulled hot air into his lungs, he felt something more.
The insect spasmed.
Life filled his burned, scarred body, and Vader responded. Suffusing and regenerating his wounds, he took it in. Consumed it all. Organs pulsed with new life. The Living Force seared him and Vader dropped the carcass, falling to one knee.
"Haaaaaaah…"As if on instinct, he stumbled towards the Greater Krayt. To the open wound left by the Sand Demon. "More."
Boba Fett's eyes went wide when the Sith ripped the Krayt Dragon's bloody wound open even wider. He watched the mighty body begin to desiccate, as moisture flowed out of its massive corpse.
Then Vader stood, pale head stark against the baking rock and stone. Blood sizzled on the sand.
A motion with one black gauntlet and the helmet pieces flew to him, assembling themselves once more.
Kshhhhhh
"It is done."
Something was different. Although it was hard to believe, Vader felt… stronger. Boba knew, like a Bantha senses predators, Vader was more dangerous than ever.
Behind his mask, Vader's tongue licked his lips. He felt a hunger, one long gnawing at him, finally sated. "We will return to the Hutt."
"That won't be easy, Lord Vader," Boba said, looking over the remains of his landspeeder. "And the hills here are known to disrupt communications."
"No matter." Then, Darth Vader marched over to the corpses. Using his lightsaber, he cut off one of the still intact Sand Demon legs. Tossing it aside, he turned upon the Greater Krayt. Boba Fett watched in a sort of mute, fascinated horror, unable to tear his eyes away. The Sith, up to his shoulder in gore, slowly pulled something out. When his gloved hand emerged, it clenched around the massive esophageal tube and with it came an organ almost as big as a man. Cartilage tore as Vader wrenched it free and a spray of bile sizzled on his boots. He dumped it on the sand. A quick flick of his wrist and the lightsaber's tip split the organ open.
"The gizzard?" Boba asked.
"Krayt consume stones to grind their food." Vader said without further explanation. Using the toe of his boot, he sifted through the flesh and blood. Coming closer, Boba caught sight of several sparkling stones, perfectly round. About the size of his fist, they shone against the suns in shades of blue and green. Despite their beauty, Vader kicked them aside, as if each and every one was worthless. Then his boot made a heavy clunk against something deep in the gizzard. Beckoning with a finger, something bigger than a man's head rolled out.
"What is that?"
Kshhhhhh
"A pearl, but unlike the others, this is the result of the beast consuming Kyber." Vader's hand rose and the pearl followed into the air. As slime dripped off, the swirling colors dazzled and sparkled from deep within. A vortex of black and red around a golden core. Next, Vader sliced of one of the Dragon's legs. "Tie them together," he ordered and tossed Boba a roll of micro-wire from a pouch on his belt. Then he walked to the Krayt's head and ripped out several teeth by hand. "This will do," he said to himself and pocketed the fangs.
As Boba stepped back from his handiwork he flinched when a black cape flashed in front of him and enveloped the grim trophies. Vader's cloak wrapped around them and bore the package back to the Sith. The package, wrapping and tying itself together, settled upon the sand. Hoisting it over a shoulder without any apparent effort, Darth Vader started walking out into the dunes without a word.
###
Deep in the swamps of Dagobah, Master Yoda woke in a cold sweat. His blanket, thin, felt all too feeble against the ice of nightmares. Never in his time on the planet had the Grand Master shivered like he now did. Even during the Jedi Purge. This was different.
"Meditate, I must."
Sitting, cross-legged, on a pillow, the aged Master settled into the Force. Somewhere distant, he sensed something new. Not just the Dark Side, but something more. Deeper. Someone was… eating. Devouring. Consuming life.
Yoda opened his eyes and looked around, starting to panic until he controlled his fear. "No. To the Dark that path leads." He looked around, trying to decipher the Will of the Force. He was in a strange place. One which seemed devoid of all life. Only a dry lake bed, stretching off in all directions. A shiver ran down his spine and he turned, looking up at the sky. "What…?" In the distance a storm, like non he'd ever imagined, bore down upon the world.
"Terrifying, isn't it, Master Yoda."
Turning, Yoda's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. "Impossible this is. One with the Force you became! Impossible to return!"
Qui-Gon Jinn smiled kindly at his master's master. "This is nothing, next to the True Power of the Force."
###
As twin suns settled beyond the horizon of the North Dune Sea, Vader called a halt to their march. They were still at least half a day from Jabba, but as the heat faded, he'd ordered Boba Fett to make camp in a slight depression of the Mesra's high cliffs. It would be enough to provide shelter from the dark and cold. Despite what outsiders might expect, the Night on Tatooine was as frigid as the days were hot. As luck had it, Boba managed to scrounge a few small supplies from the remains of his speeder. Food, blankets, and a small nano-wave stove. One suitable enough for travel and camping.
But Darth Vader ignored it all, placing his back against the stone cliffs and kneeling down. "I require nothing," he said. Entering some Jedi meditations, at least Boba Fett assumed as much, the Sith Lord remained silent and stationary. Trying his best to ignore it, Boba opened a small pack of food and water, which he dumped in a bowl on the stove. It seemed his new employer needed neither. Setting his helmet aside, the young Fett ate, then wrapped a blanket around himself. In time, the trials of the day brought heavy lids over his eyes and he gave in to sleep. It wasn't his choice, but after the mental, physical, and emotional efforts, he could barely hold his eyes open as it was. Soon enough, he fell into a deep sleep.
He shot up with a start as the first sun's light hit the horizon. Night seemed over in an instant.
Kshhhhhh
"Follow," Vader ordered, hoisting the package wrapped in his cape over one shoulder.
The boiling mid-day heat had Boba Fett almost swimming in sweat under his helmet and armor. Even with all its accouterments, he still barely managed. Only luck allowed his water to survive the destruction of the speeder, and only that water kept him going. Meanwhile, Darth Vader neither slowed nor stumbled. He didn't stop to rest, or ever seem to need water.
"Maybe in his suit?" Boba mumbled to himself.
Kshhhhhh
"My survival is not your concern, Fett. We will reach the palace soon enough."
Boba almost fell face first into the dunes. "Was that Jedi arts or technology? He asked. How else would Vader hear the muttered complaint?
"Not. Your. Concern." Whether because Vader wasn't truly angry or a matter of the Sith's self-control, the words carried little malice. Either way, he marched on, Jabba's palace appearing in the distance as they trudged uphill. "We will take a craft back to Eisley. Then on to Coruscant."
Boba tried his best to match Vader's steps. Underneath each boot, sand gathered and compacted, becoming a temporary solid step in the shifting ground for the Emperor. However, as Boba pushed off, he occasionally felt the grains collapse behind him. Another artifact of Vader's Force powers. As they finally reached the stone of Jabba's cliff-anchored home, Boba walked faster, managing to keep pace with his new employer easily, rather than struggling to match the hard march Vader set.
Kshhhhhh
"Pick something," Vader ordered, nodding towards the small handful of hovercraft and speeders outside the palace. "Whichever is fastest. I have spent long enough on this wretched rock."
"I don't know who they belong to." As soon as he said the words, Boba knew he'd made a mistake.
Vader whirled around and a heavy glove slammed down on Boba's shoulder, almost knocking him to one knee. "Do you imagine I concern myself with such things, Clone?" Dropping his prizes in the dirt, Vader never turned from the Mandolorian helmet on Boba Fett's head. "Choose the fastest and secure this," he said with a nod towards his grim package. "I will speak to the Hutt."
The eyebot guarding Jabba's home poked out to watch the exchange. By the time Vader approached it was already opening the gate and any Gamorean guards already stood aside.
Vader vanished into the darkness.
Finally letting out a breath, Boba dropped, landing on his butt in the sand and stone. "Right, he said grabbing the limbs and pearl wrapped in Vader's cape. "Hot-wiring it is."
###
Whatever went on with Jabba, Boba Fett didn't learn. He busied himself hacking into and activating the fastest speeder he could find. The collection of legs and a pearl sat in the back and the craft was humming with power when Vader emerged into the daylight once more. Without a word, he stepped into the driver seat and hit full throttle. Shooting down the causeway and out into the dunes.
"Anything I need to know?" Boba asked.
"You need know only that I am your master. You will serve the Empire."
Not another word passed between them on the way to Mos Eisley Spaceport. Ignoring everything else Vader took the craft straight for his shuttle.
The first thing Boba said, when they walked into the hangar, was, "What the hell!?"
Three headless bodies greeted them, dry and stinking, in front of the ramp to Vader's shuttle.
Kshhhhhh
"Jabba will clean them. Come." Without slowing, Vader activated the ramp and marched inside. Boba followed. As the gangway closed behind them, Vader dropped the package and pointed towards the front of the ship. "Take us to Coruscant."
"Understood, Lord Vader." Boba said, starting to learn what the Sith expected. Without question, he walked to the pilot's seat and quickly familiarized himself with the Imperial shuttle. "Heavily modified," he said to himself. "The Marauder, is it? Made for stealth missions? Certainly feels like it." The ship possessed a suite of systems seemingly tailored for off the record activities. In fact, if Boba Fett didn't know better, he'd swear the upgrades bore the tell-tale mark of Clone activity. "So, he wants me because of my father?" Boba would be the first to admit his progenitor was a mercenary par excellence. And if the new Galactic Empire needed someone like that… "They already have Cad Bane. What am I here for?"
Given the way Vader cut through enemies, Boba had no illusions about his own expandability. If he failed, Vader would kill him as quickly as any other hired gun.
"So if I want to survive, I'd better secure my position with this new power in the galaxy," Boba mused to himself as the Tatooine atmosphere parted and the starry sky revealed itself.
###
"The children seem upset," Obi-Wan said as he entered the house. He, the infants Luke and Leia, along with the three members of the Marek family, called the small farm home. Not to mention the droids R2-D2 and C-3P0.
As he entered the house, Kenobi spied the toddler, Galen Marek, reaching out for the Skywalker twins from his mother's arms.
"Did you feel it?" Kento Marek asked from beside his wife.
"Like a beast, devouring prey," the woman added, trying to calm the children.
###
While Jango's clone handled the piloting, Vader retreated to his private quarters aboard the shuttle. In addition to the upgrades and modifications the experimental Clone detachment made, Vader further modified the shuttle. Now, ideal for his personal use, it housed everything he required. He had no current use for the medical facilities, but he did desire time and solitude. As the stars streaked past his window when the ship entered hyperspace, Darth Vader knelt on the cold steel floor.
He had much to consider. Both for his own future, and that of the Empire itself.
Kshhhhhh
As he exhaled, his eyes opened on the barren wasteland once again.
"Why do you drag me here time and again?"
"Why haven't you found me? If you want to survive the Storm, then I must teach you."
"I am stronger. Even in the time I first set foot on my home world."
"Devouring a lizard and a bug? Don't get ahead of yourself, boy."
The wind stirred and a wet scent carried across the empty landscape. Darth Vader looked around himself. Upon seeing nothing and nobody, he turned again to the horizon. "I sense you, Vectivus. A spirit out amongst the stars."
"Where?" the voice asked, almost starving for an answer.
Kshhhhhh
"North?" Vader questioned. "Yes, to the galactic north."
"If that is all you perceive, I have much to teach," Vectivus whispered in Vader's mind. "Attend to your saber and armor. Seek me."
Ignoring the biting remark, Vader settled even deeper into his Dark Side meditations. The presence of the long dead Sith faded and instead, the full might of the oncoming Storm washed across the cyborg's spirit. "Another challenge to be overcome." He strode across the wasteland, dry earth crunching beneath his feet. "I was born for this. And more. I will not give in. Life and Death are mine!"
A ripple of power flowed out.
"Come, and break against all that I am."
Aboard the Marauder, Vader opened his eye. Reaching out through the Dark Side, he felt the call of home. His current home. They'd arrived. As he realized, Vader saw the stars outside suddenly flash back into solitary dots against the black backdrop of space.
"We're in orbit around Coruscant, my lord," Boba Fett's voice said over the comm system.
Without a word, Vader sent Fett his codes. Even without the Force, he felt all engines thrum as the ship angled through the upper atmosphere. "Guide us towards the former Jedi Temple," He ordered. Built atop a Force Vergence, Vader could sense it as his ship closed in on the destination. Not at Vader's level, Boba Fett's skills as a pilot were nothing to mock. He guided them in quickly and without error. As the shuttle entered the hangar and came to rest on a platform, Vader rose. Although it felt like mere hours, he'd been still for a full day.
And he had repairs to see to, not to mention a lightsaber to build. Then there was the matter of replacing his lost eye. More than that, his workshop needed to be relocated.
Down into the very pit of the temple.
The very heart of the Force springing out from deep beneath Coruscant's traffic riddled surface.
Kshhhhhh
"First, however, I must retrieve things from Palpatine's apartment."
###
Grand Moff Tarkin almost jumped out of his chair when the alert sounded. Walking as quickly as dignity allowed, he went straight towards the elevators and keyed his personal communicator.
"Tarkin to all points. Lord Vader's shuttle is on its way."
The words rippled across the ecumenopolis. Politicians, bureaucrats, functionaries, and the news media burst to life. Of course, Tarkin only meant to inform a select few, but when the Emperor returns from a solo trip… well, word spreads. When the Moff and his security detail arrived at the Imperial Palace landing platform, an entire company of Storm Troopers, the Grand Inquisitor and his subordinates, Black Squadron, and Major Gaunt's Diplomatic team already stood at attention on either side of the gangway. If they'd been allowed, the entire hangar would be choked with reporters and Senators. Such was the love, hate, and interest in Darth Vader.
"Major Gaunt," Tarkin greeted. "You are not required to attend."
"When his lordship left Coruscant we were with him, Grand Moff. It's only right we be here at his return."
"Hmm. Indeed." Tarkin approved. It was the sort of military attitude the young Empire needed. Total deference to the strong hand at the tiller. He'd realized it back when the republic was faltering in those final days of the Clone War. The galaxy needed a single, strong individual. Not a committee of thousands. Faceless, unresponsive, and unaccountable. No, the unique personage of an Emperor was vital. And as much as he might have been unwilling at first, Darth Vader became the best and only choice. True, in a way the black-clad Sith was indeed faceless.
"That mask," he whispered. But it mattered not. A trillion citizens and more on a million worlds saw that mask as a symbol. Vader was man, mentality, and meaning for the Empire all rolled into one. More than that, he was the granite pillar at the center of it all. The immovable core on which everything they were working towards could be built.
Roaring engines drew Tarkin from his reverie and the Nu-class Marauder dropped out of the clouds, sliding through empty air towards the platform. Obviously all traffic was redirected. At the very edge of restricted air space, dozens of reporters with bevies of cam-droids broadcast every second to the rest of Coruscant. The shuttle lowered, slowing down as the landing struts popped out. When directly above the landing pad, it slowly spun around and settled, ever so gently, down. A hiss of hydraulics and the steamy rush of pressurized air sounded out as the ramp lowered. The clang of heavy footfalls rang out across the platform. Without looking, Tarkin could feel tension rise all around him. Even he couldn't stop a bead of sweat rolling down the back of his neck. It'd been some time since he felt the familiar pressure of a Dark Lord of the Sith.
Kshhhhhh
"You have done well in my absence, Tarkin."
Darth Vader emerged from the steam, his cloak billowing out behind him. A few gasps sounded out somewhere in the back. Vader's armor, although complete, bore the tell tale signs of battle damage. Some of the Palace Storm Troopers hadn't seen him after a real fight. Meanwhile, Gaunt and Black Squadron were unperturbed. After all, they knew the Emperor could survive so much worse.
"My thanks, Lord Vader. When you have rested from your journey, I'm sure Senators Mothma and Organa will wish to express their own gratitude in person."
Hitting a few keys on his belt pad, Vader glanced at the assembled forces. "I trust your continued training has produced results, my Inquisitorius?"
"Indeed, my lord!" the Grand Inquisitor said with a bow. "We look forward to demonstrating our dedication and loyalty."
"And the newest members of Black Squadron?"
Captain Mithel almost managed not to flinch when the black helmet turned upon him. "We've continued to improve ourselves and our ships, Lord Vader. The new recruits are adapting quickly."
"Then I look forward to judging that progress," Vader said.
From within the shuttle, three anti-grav containers floated down the ramp. Vader marched down the aisle between the Troopers and officers standing at attention, Tarkin by his side. "I have brought Jango's unique clone."
"Boba Fett?" Tarkin asked.
"Yes. See to it a room is prepared. The mid-levels."
Tarkin nodded and sent orders through his data pad. The mid-level rooms, formerly used by young Jedi before becoming Padawans, were suitable for lower level Officers and as barracks for Palace guards. "What else, my lord?"
"Move my entire workshop into the lowest level of the Temple. I will also require a Mandalorian forge. And we will unseal Palpatine's apartments, along with his other properties."
"There may be… political ramifications. The media will certainly question the decision. Our former Grand Chancellor remains popular." It was true enough. Even dead, Palpatine's maneuvering through the dying Republic's social world was a master stroke. Part of Vader's rise to power was his connection to Sidious. Certainly he'd done more than enough to hold the throne on his own merits, but that succession, rocky though it might be, was an important cornerstone.
"I will handle it," he growled. "It is necessary. Somewhere or other, he hid this:" Illustrating, Vader pulled a palm-sized Sith Holocron from beneath his cape. Through the Force, it floated into the air, bobbing along in front of the two as it unlocked and opened. A hologram projected up into the air.
"Is that a metal ingot?" Tarkin asked.
Kshhhhhh
"Beskar."