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CH 2

Sargent Kreel

In the training room of the Executor, Sargent Kreel was practicing with his lightsaber against a dueling droid. Having received permission from Lord Vader to practice with the droids, the droids were really the only ones besides Lord Vader that he could practice dueling with. Plus, the droids were the only ones he had even a semblance of a chance of beating; as of yet, Lord Vader had never let him win against him in a duel, which would be the only way he could ever beat him.

A bell sounded at the door, the Sargent putting away his blade as he turned to see who had come to find him. "Sir, you have a message request coming from Tatooine." An aide came up to him, offering him a report.

"Thank you."

Mulling over the planet name, Kreel did not remember sending anyone to the outer rim for any missions. Frowning, Kreel took the pad, reading the cryptic message. It was dated as being sent almost a week ago.

A truly loyal servant would have rushed to his Lord immediately and reported what he'd read, but this was far too important to report without further information. If he reported this to Lord Vader without more information, it was highly likely many would die, especially if the information ended up being false.

Getting permission to go check it out, however, would prove difficult without revealing exactly what he wanted to go investigate. There was one higher up, however, that owed him a favor.

Looking at the aide still waiting, Kreel made his decision. "Don't tell anyone else about this note, understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

Heading to the bridge, Lord Vader was thankfully busy somewhere else. The man he was looking for found him first, coming up with a calm expression though Kreel could see the slight tremble in his fingers.

"Sargent? What are you doing here? Lord Vader is in a meeting right now." Vice Admiral Firmus Piett stood before him.

Saluting, Kreel offered a respectful bow. "Vice Admiral, I need to request a leave of absence."

"What? A leave of absence? Why? And why not request it formally through the system?"

"If I didn't, don't you think I'd have my reasons? Besides, making a formal request will take too long."

Piett raised an eyebrow. "The man who regularly quotes regulation thinks making formal requests takes too long?"

Kreel groaned. "Look, just think of this as payback for the favor you owe me."

But Piett didn't look sold. "Look, just because you helped me become the Vice Admiral doesn't mean I'm just a free pass whenever you feel like it."

It was true that on Lord Vader's orders, Sargent Kreel had...pushed, he'd call it, Piett's candidacy...by driving out the other options. It hadn't been particularly difficult especially considering the limited number of options, but Vader had simply called it "insurance" and left Kreel to do as he pleased.

Hesitating, Kreel finally sighed and handed over the pad. Watching the Vice Admiral's expression while he read it, it was obvious the name had little meaning to Piett.

"So what? Who is this Skywalker character? Why would it matter that his son is on Tatooine?"

"If you don't know, you don't-"

"Want to know. Alright, alright. I'll pull some strings – how soon do you need to leave?" Piett fought the urge to appear stressed in front of his crew.

"I'm leaving as soon as I get to the hangar, so that would be great." Kreel grinned. If they had been alone, Kreel would have offered Piett a pat on the shoulder, but he would not offer such disrespect in front of Piett's men.

Stifling a groan, Piett nodded again. "Does Lord Vader know?"

Falling silent, Kreel reached up and scratched the back of his head. "No...not exactly."

"Which is why you are coming to me. How important is this?"

Kreel's helmet tilted just slightly. "Life or death."

Sighing deeply, Piett nodded. "Fine, I'll send clearance ahead to Hangar Bay C. Just if anyone asks, you didn't get it from me."

"Thanks, I'll owe you one!"

Leaving, Kreel headed down the hall, trusting that Piett would have the orders sent ahead by the time he arrived. True to form, as he entered the hangar bay twenty minutes later, a ship was already loaded and waiting for his trip.

"Have a safe trip, Sargent." A technician offered him a farewell, having just finished doing a quick once over on the ship.

"Thanks, I'll be back soon."

The detour to Tatooine would be lengthier than his usual trips – it would be at least a week to make it to Tatooine from where they were. Piloting the ship into space, Kreel had no issues as he set the course into the hyperdrive and blasted off.

Sitting back in his seat, he pulled out the message again and mulled over it. As he was mulling, a slight movement caught his eye. Glancing up, he saw one of Lord Vader's shadows standing in the cock pit, watching him curiously.

"How did you get on board?!" Kreel gasped, jumping to his feet.

Tilting his head, the man finally lowered his hood. "I am my Master's shadow."

"I know that - why are you here?"

"Vice Admiral Piett requested I accompany you to your destination. For this trip, I am yours to command unless my Master declares otherwise." The shadow knelt, Kreel frowning. So Piett had decided to send him some back up.

"Fine. I will probably need the help…" There was nothing Kreel could do about it now that they were traveling in hyperspace (besides kicking the kid out the airlock, but his Lord would probably frown at that).

"May I ask what our mission is?" The shadow asked.

Pausing, Kreel wondered how much of this the shadow would report back to Vader immediately. More than likely that is why Piett chose this particular shadow – the blasted things basically only lived for their masters.

"We need to find a kid. I'll tell you more when we get to where we are going."

Curiosity flashed through the shadow's eyes briefly, but he did not push further. "As you wish."

"And you can't tell Lord Vader anything until we get there – otherwise he might try and stop us."

The shadow froze. "Anything?"

"Anything – don't report to him until we get there. I'll take the blame."

Hesitantly, the shadow finally nodded. "As you command."

Turning away from the shadow, Kreel watched him out of the corner of his eye curiously. The kid – because truly the shadow could not have been much older than sixteen or seventeen – stood in the corner watching him with his head slightly askance.

"You going to sit?" Kreel pointed towards the copilots chair without turning his head, the shadow slowly coming over and sinking into the chair.

"Tell me – how did you end up taking orders from the Vice Admiral anyway? I would have thought your only orders would come from higher up." Kreel poked.

"My Lord ordered me to obey the Vice Admiral."

Now that was interesting information – Lord Vader really did have plans for Piett, then. Chuckling to himself, Kreel wondered how long it would take for Piett to get promoted to Admiral. Admiral Ozzel was too much of a fool to realize how much trouble he was already in.

"I see."

"Sir, is this child yours?"

Finishing entering the coordinates, Kreel leaned back in his chair after setting the craft on autopilot. "No, and it doesn't matter yet whose he is. He might not even exist."

"Then why drop everything to go?"

"You must be new." Kreel commented dryly, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

"New?"

"The inquisitive ones don't last long – take it as a piece of advice from someone whose been around since the Clone Wars."

Falling silent, the shadow nodded slowly.

Closing his eyes, Kreel hoped this week didn't involve endless avoidance of questions from kids that hadn't yet learned their place.

One Week Later

Darth Vader

Standing on the bridge of his Star Destroyer, Darth Vader looked out into space, to all looking like a shadowed figure of power overlooking their work efficiency while in reality he was lost in thought. Around them, they were surrounded by an entire galaxy made up of planets that held useless people.

Useless people. More like annoying people. No matter the species, all they did was create more problems for Vader to solve. All week he'd been pestered with useless problems that apparently no one but him was qualified to handle.

"My lord." His Vice Admiral approached, holding out a pad.

Turning slowly, Vader listened to the hiss of his respirator for several repetitions before finally taking it from his aide.

Mostly made up of mundane things that hardly required his attention except a signature, Vader paused at the last note that only barely made the requirements for his attention. However, it might have been the one thing that actually did.

Vader fought the urge to strangle every officer in the bridge. The air was heavy and tense with his frustration, several of the officers closest to him obviously trembling.

The one standing right before him was stoically trying to hide his emotions, though Vader could feel through the Force how shaken the man truly was.

"What do you mean my Sargent went AWOL? And almost a week ago at that – why was this only brought to my attention now?"

The Vice Admiral flinched. "Not AWOL, sir, he had to take care of something and asked for permission to leave."

"But he did not tell you where he was going, or what he was doing?"

Piett looked down at the ground, falling silent. Piett had been around Vader long enough to know that Vader would know as soon as he said a lie. Though Vader had been impressed by the man's record and how quickly he'd managed to rise through the ranks (partially by his own merits and partially from Vader's meddling), it was moments like these Vader felt like destroying his entire ship in a tantrum.

When Piett remained silent, Vader decided to continue. "Plus one of my shadows went with him? Neither cleared this with me, meaning you were the only other person who could besides Admiral Ozzel. I want the truth, Vice Admiral."

Swallowing, Piett nodded. "All I know is Sargent Kreel got a message from someone, something about someone's son being on Tatooine. Kreel told me it was life or death - I wasn't sure what was going on, so I ordered one of your men to go with him and keep an eye on things."

A slight squeeze of his fingers, and Piett felt his wind pipe grow uncomfortably tight. As soon as Vader saw the slight tremble in the man's eyes, he let go.

"In the future, I expect to be consulted before my men act out on their own."

"Of course, my Lord. This will never happen again." Piett promised, bowing low.

"Whose son are they going to find?" Vader asked, essentially forgiving Piett for his misgivings. There was still a tension hanging over the bridge, Vader feeling through the Force that each and every one there was waiting for someone to die.

Good. Men who are afraid don't question orders or make self-serving choices.

Standing straight, Piett had to pause. "I didn't not recognize the name, my Lord. It was...Sky...Skywalker? I believe it was Skywalker, my Lord. I could have the message pulled up for you-"

The air became a tundra, and Piett was vaguely reminded of the cruel temperatures of Hoth. Every officer on the bridge was frozen, not a single sound emanating from anyone. Vader turned toward him with a wrath Piett had never seen before.

"What?"

"That is all I know, my Lord." Piett gulped.

"Get me Sargent Kreel. Now."

Storming to his private office, the other officers Vader passed in the hall were practically flattened against the walls as he passed, Vader unable to keep a strong grip on the emotions raging through him. Piett followed at his heel, obviously mentally cursing Kreel for getting him into this mess.

Sitting down at his desk, Piett sent a comm request to Kreel, the Sargent answering after a couple of agonizing seconds.

"My Lord." Kreel knelt immediately, still on board his ship.

"So you thought to hide this from me? You dare to conceal the fact that someone in the galaxy is masquerading as a Skywalker?!"

"I only sought to confirm if the rumor was true or not, my Lord. I apologize, I've overstepped my bounds."

"Yes. Where are you?"

"We are approximately a day from Tatooine, my Lord. Once I arrive, I plan to see if the child is real or not and was going to report back immediately."

"See that you do. I expect prompt reports – there will be consequences for this, Sargent."

"I understand, my Lord."

"Find whoever sent the message – if they are lying, bring them to me."

"At once, my Lord."

Ending the call, Vader turned his stony gaze back towards Piett. "Do you know the meaning of the name 'Skywalker", Piett?"

Shaking his head quickly, Piett kept his gaze lowered. "No, my Lord."

"I see. That is why you allowed him to go gallivanting off without discussing this with me first. I have put too much effort into you to see it wasted now – be warned, I will not be so lenient in the future."

"Thank you, my Lord."

"…" Pausing, Vader looked the man up and down. "Piett, what do you think the chances are that the rumor is true?"

"I could not say, my Lord."

"I see. Of course not. You are dismissed."

The Vice Admiral gratefully left the room, Vader folding his hands before him, deeply troubled. It was far too early to report this to his Master, though an anxiousness he had not felt in ages was growing in the pit of his belly.

It was impossible that the child had lived – he had seen himself that the babe had died in her womb at her funeral procession. He had seen it – though he had not been there to confirm it with the Force. It had been too painful.

Was it possible that she had given birth before she died, and had help hiding the child? Could it really be so?

Half of him wanted to commandeer a shuttle and rush off to Tatooine, or simply turn the entire Executor in that direction. The other half knew if he did that, he would draw far too much attention, specifically from the Emperor. Should the Emperor discover a child named Skywalker before Vader, who knew what catastrophes would unfold.

Vader wasn't a fool; though he admired his Master's wisdom in the way of the Force, the Emperor also had a favorite pastime: making people squirm. If the child did exist, the Emperor would enjoy that fact immensely in ways that Vader did not want to imagine.

Resigning himself to waiting, Vader knew there was only one way he'd be able to pass the time without executing every officer on board: getting up, Vader grabbed his lightsaber, heading to his dueling room.