Her words continued to ring through his mind and thoughts as he stood rigidly, his massive arms folded tightly across his broad chest, residual creaking of the synth leather about his biceps and shoulders providing those around him reason enough to keep their distance. The glare through his helmet as he stared through the triangular view port at the distant array of thousands of stars, gleaming with potential in any manner of direction, would not divert the constant thoughts beyond their own construct. In ways she could never have imagined, the simple phrase uttered through a connection now severed on the oddity that was Ambria, ushered in a strategic course of action that would not be undermined.
‘He lives.’ Darth Vader repeated again, solidifying a resolve that had been birthed through his own diligence, something he had taken desperate measures to ensure was both valid and known to his own Master, another wedge that found them on diverting paths. The statement had also cemented his own guarantee that the Togruta would be left to her own designs going forward. Anakin’s apprentice would be hunted by him no longer. He had received all that she was willing to divulge, and anything further would be time wasted through pursuits she would organize and invest in to distract him at all costs. It was an avenue that promised nothing but a monumental waste of time.
“My Lord.” Vader heard from behind him, knowing it would just be another false report filing in from some distant sector or system that would lead their Project Swarm in the wrong direction, blinded by false hopes of a quick resolution. Although impressed with his Masters ambition, the strategy was folly at best, yet another example of straying too far from the promises of some form of discipline that could unite both ambition and the Force, in whatever way was necessary.
“Another lead I assume…” There was no question within the statement, only the cold and agonizingly annoying moments of stuttered breathing from the Lieutenant behind him. The fear the man exuded felt of disdain, pathetic, unwarranted and an impediment to the man’s duty. Vader immediately felt the need to rid the galaxy of such petulance, dispose of this officer’s weakness and dispatch him to the coldness of space where he belonged. But then, he knew, he would be the sole occupant of the Executor, its pristine bow stretched before him, fresh from the docks of Kuat’s drive yards. ‘What purpose would that serve?’ Even Anakin within could answer that through the fear it was borne from despite Vader’s unwillingness to give it credence.
“My Lord?” The man repeated, the fear creeping its tendrils in a death grip about his very soul.
“Show me.” Vader responded quickly, unwilling to continue his inner dialogue any further.
“Straight away my Lord.” The Lieutenant replied, quickly about facing and leading his Dark Lord toward the instituted relay station aft of the crew pit bays throughout the command deck. There, refreshing on a display screen was an unfiltered live feed from a Viper probe droid within the Keloriaane System, it’s fifth planet, Spiies, more to the point. Six T-65’s sat within bunkers blasted out of mountainous rocky walls, dense carpets of lacing vines and choking vegetation trailing between each. The feed was abruptly terminated after a few seconds by a hail of blaster fire with unknown source.
“This is the second probe lost to such circumstances my Lord, surely there must be an insurgency behind the attacks.” The Lieutenant, Clovis, offered meekly.
“We have a third droid entering the same vectors Sir.” The tech at the panels of controls offered to his superior.
The screen quickly switched to the new vantage, again the same scene unfolded. Vader understood within seconds what was transpiring and forced a deep exhale. “Fools.” He uttered just over his breath and turned for his original vantage at the fore of the command deck. With heavy steps he let his mind display exactly what he knew the tech crews and the idiot Clovis would see on the screen, automated blaster fire triggered by proximity alerts. Wherever Spiies was it was not home to anyone resisting his Empire.
Vader returned to his original posture, plastering his vision on the starfield far in the distance, again allowing the memory of Ahsoka’s statement to guide him toward his ultimate prize. The multitude of branches the thoughts themselves contrived, the paths so divergent from the supposed will of his own Master, incredulously leading him even further away from whatever shared agenda could possibly remain. The old man was only set on his own survival, at the cost of everything, not the promise of peace Vader had been assured. It was her comment, her admission that spawned so many contradictions within himself, that of the weapon he had become but also the cries of the man he had thought long dead. Between her words and his current view, the past made itself readily apparent, and nowhere as dead as he thought.
It was the starfield itself, clusters of unobtrusive pin pricks of a lustrous white, random examples of rare flares of reds, blues, and purples, all seeming to define themselves among what was expected. The promise made to a man long dead could never have been kept anyway, seeing them all would have taken a masterful stroke of time defiance as a majority of the fluttering orbs all those years ago perched atop his mother’s overlook had long since perished to the ravages of their own nature. A false promise and nothing more. But it wasn’t the promise itself was it, merely the determination to extend himself beyond some pre-subscribed limitations he would never have considered for himself in any case. No, it was the will to push himself beyond ANY expectations that could be conceived, by himself or anyone else.
There was only one that would ever understand him, that had taken the time to consider his view point, his opinion, and his ability above even her own. He closed his heavy eyes behind the dark mask, willing the encounter on Ambria to replay itself once again. The conversation, for what it was worth. The imagery, or lack thereof as Vader considered the Togruta’s penchant and ability to blend in seamlessly with nature itself. The hope that was rekindled though most unexpected, through a shared commitment to spare the other no matter the cost. She wouldn’t slay him nor would he her, the affirmations through their own bond, no matter how tragic, had confirmed as much as had the most minute of details within the encounter. He knew he would never see her again, at least alive, her decision to finally sever that connection had seen to that.
The only point worth noting moving forward was the admission of his son’s existence and survival. Ahsoka had understood where his own ambitions were leading him, divergent from his own Master or not.
With an internal laugh that made his lungs ache with a newfound pain, Vader shook his head slightly, the star fields no closer than they had been half an hour ago. ‘She serves two purposes…’ He thought to himself, the laugh dying to the pain it itself had caused. He understood then that the potential for manipulation was at a critical point, and offered few words in return as a result, but in the moment the realization hit him as if his own Star Destroyer had plunged head long into the belly of this current systems sun. She had forged a divide that would require deft manipulations of his own to conceal, ones that would place him at odds with his own beliefs and the will of his Master. He would need to proceed with extreme caution, or he would never experience the realities of the visions that constantly plagued him.
✦
“Leia, I am telling you...I know her. I don’t know how though…” Luke said absently over his shoulder, ignoring her placating tone as he continued staring at the gigantic closed shield doors of Echo base’s northern access point.
“She said it herself Luke, you two will always share a common bond...that could easily explain what your feeling now.” Leia replied approaching him from behind and placing a gentle hand upon his shoulder.
“It’s more than that. The feeling now...is...well, fading, but before….I could barely stand on my own!” He responded with a spike in tone, heads turning from the distant mechanic bays in their own response, “and did you notice, she had a saber latched to her hip.” His gaze turned downward toward his own hilt clipped at his side. He unfastened it from his belt and held it in both hands. “She recognized this...I saw it in her eyes.”
Leia moved around the young man to look him in the eyes, placing a hand beneath his chin to raise his own gaze to hers, “I will tell you only what I know Luke. I have known of Ahsoka Tano most of my life, although my father would do anything in his power to conceal his own affiliation with her. They were powerful friends Luke, old allies in the fight for this galaxy’s independence….or so they thought. But then I suppose they all did before rumor became revelation.” She looked downward briefly before returning to his gaze once more. “She is a powerful ally, was, from my understanding, a powerful Jedi.”
Despite the numerous questions that rushed into the forefront of Luke’s thoughts, he kept them to himself, knowing full well Leia wouldn’t have the answers to them anyway. ‘If only Ben were here.’ He found himself thinking. “There was a long moment when I felt emotion beyond reason, an anger that was irrational and a sorrow so deep, but between them was a peace that sort of bound them together, one I didn’t know could exist.” He admitted with a troubled expression, “but only for that moment Leia. It began shortly after she arrived but ended before I had even come close to her. I can’t be sure it was her or because of her, only that I’ve never felt anything like that before.” The more he admitted the wider Leia’s eyes grew. Luke tilted his head slightly as he sought out her own interpretations, his eyes flaring suddenly, “you felt it too, didn’t you?”
Leia looked down at her own boots, shivering suddenly despite the fleecy inner lining of the protective coat she wore against the persistent cold. “I did.”
“Were we the only ones then?” Luke responded, taking the moment to lift her chin this time.
“I can’t know that, but I will say that your description sounds quite a bit more extensive on its own compared to what I felt. The emotions were subtle, yet sudden, and gone just as quickly.” Leia responded softly, staring into the young man’s blue eyes.
“I am glad she is on our side…” Luke said just over his own breath.
“Luke…” Leia began a reply she wasn’t quite sure he would want to hear, “it should be noted that since I’ve known her, she has only been on her own side.”
“That sounds incredibly self-serving.” Luke responded, narrowing his eyes, and proving her right.
“Don’t misunderstand Luke..I only mean that she has only ever gone where she is needed….where few are willing to, and where most would fail.” Leia said openly, her tone intentionally serious as she drove the point home.
Luke floated his gaze from the Princess’ dire expression to the closed shield doors once more, red lights blinking to affirm everyone inside that the locking mechanism was secured between two large latches on opposing sides. ‘We need to get off this planet…’ He found himself saying, the source of which seemed peculiarly distant, well beyond his own reasoning. He continued a brief survey as he swiveled to active crews within notched alcoves into the banks of hard snow and ice, meticulously working to keep lubricants from freezing, tools warm and engines covered. The smells of the indigenous bipedal Taun-taun pens wafting through the artificially heated and abundantly recycled air, several of the creatures bleating as they stamped their wide clawed feet into the packed snow below them. Each of them working to understand the warmth that was not natural. He shook the stink from his senses as he returned his gaze to the saber hilt he had yet to reattach to his belt, wondering what it was about the item that the Togruta had recognized.
“Skywalker?” Greebs sounded out over the whirring of a trajak, “commander...apologies Sir, the General is conducting a briefing based on new intel... and has asked that squad commanders form up their charges…” The Lieutenant was clearly out of breath as he presented his case, doubled over his knees with his hands on either.
“Take your time Lieutenant…” Leia offered, turning from the top of the newcomer’s head to the piercing eyes of Luke once more.
Luke felt assured that the Togruta had provided something quite substantial if the General was willing to act so quickly, the thought easy enough to read through the return gaze he provided the Princess.
“If you would accompany me...to the command center Commander…” Greebs finished with a little more composure.
“Of course, Lieutenant.” Luke replied, offering the Princess nothing more than a simple shoulder shrug as he let the young officer lead the way.
Leia, quite resolute with establishing her own presence at the briefing stood alone for a moment as the two men walked away. She considered the realities before her as she slowly whisked her gaze around the vast manufactured chamber, the duty she felt compelled to continue while assessing the safety and security of everyone here with her. Much like her father would have. She knew Ahsoka as she had admitted, and in ways she would never acknowledge to anyone but herself, the solemn promises made to the Togruta in years long since passed.
Leia found herself locking her gaze on the shield doors just as she had witnessed Luke doing, gently hoping Ahsoka would have stayed with them but knowing the woman had always had enough to contend with and had already provided them with the information they needed to see to themselves for the time being. ‘Perhaps it is the scope that one can see beyond the narrowness of their own vision.’ The thought startled Leia outright in both its forwardness and similarity to lessons relayed throughout her childhood. The Triplehorns always within view as her father would recite those same words verbatim. The man had always placed others before himself, a trait she herself had clearly adopted. ‘For hope then.’ She thought quickly, a slight smile creasing her lips before she turned for the command center and the details the Togruta had risked so much to deliver.
✦
“I won’t temper the direness of our situation, it is only a matter of time before the Empire finds this base.” General Rieekan stated matter of fact, his expression stoic and unchanged as he surveyed the assembled group of squad Commanders, base point security personnel and the Alderaanian volunteers that would staff the V-150, an assignment of a suicidal nature. “They have already begun a massive seek and destroy operation and we have just had word, faithfully circumventing the communications blackout, that we have in our possession several items that will flag our location immediately if discovered.” Rieekan continued, again his tone remained strictly monotonous, revealing no trace of any personal attachment, or feeling the man felt. “Two items in particular we can do nothing about. The shield generator, as you’re all aware, cannot be concealed. Through many attempts to veil its position, the heat alone prevents any practical means.”
“And the second?” Commander Tuul asked after the initial murmurs of side conversations hushed somewhat.
“Should be quite obvious...a V-150 serves only one practical purpose.” General Rieekan almost felt the need to add a certain measure of levity but prevented himself from rolling his eyes.
“Surely we can’t be the only ones with an Ion cannon?” Tuul would not relent.
“Whether we are or not is irrelevant, we have one so will we will prepare as if we are the only ones. Am I clear?” Rieekan’s tone increased somewhat much to the surprise of his senior staff.
“All of you need to prepare your teams as prescribed when we conceived the initial evacuation plan, nothing has changed in that regard.” Leia added shortly after the General’s message had sunk in.
“And in the meantime?” Tuul spoke up again, working to maintain his level of respect in the process.
“In the meantime, we will need to scour our own perimeter, find these probe droids before they find us…” Rieekan answered the question hastily.
“Pardon me General, but how are we to do that? The T-65’s aren’t equipped as such and the T-34’s simply won’t operate in these conditions.”
Luke felt the need to speak up, realizing this is exactly what Ahsoka had referred too, “about those T-34’s...close off the intake ducts…” He had meant to continue but the diverting murmurs broke out once again. He closed his eyes to the perceived ridicule, understanding the implications. “I know, I know...but that’s not all.” He continued with the knowledge that the T-34’s would need to be sacrificed in the process. “We also need to reroute the manifold distributors away from the cooling vents…” The murmurs became a laughter, even Rieekan glaring in response. Luke only looked toward Leia for some form of support.
“If any of you have a better suggestion, this is the time and place for it.” Leia spoke over the ruckus. It took several minutes for the point to be taken seriously and the dumbfounded looks upon all confirmed that none did in fact have a better idea.
“Those fighters took time to acquire…” Someone spoke up finally.
“...and lives..” Someone else added, the voice melancholy and dour, the sentiment within the command center changing immediately and bathing the room in utter silence save the chirping of active sensor equipment.
“Yes...a sacrifice. There have been many prior and there will be many more afterward.” Leia said after a long moment, letting that reality sink in. “We have each experienced it in our own way and are here as a result. We cannot achieve the peace we seek without it.”
“The Princess is correct.” General Rieekan spoke up through the sounds of silence. “Not hearing any further suggestions, we will proceed with the modifications to the T-34’s, designating a planetary rendezvous for their pilots to transfer to either T-65 or outbound transport. In the meantime, we will need to saddle up those lizards and establish perimeter scouts to find those probes before they find us.”
“Sir, the modifications will take time, but we will work around the clock to get them adapted as quickly as possible.” Chief mechanic Nixxie Vod sounded out, her voice consuming the stillness in the air with its booming certainty and unequivocal authority.
“Very good.” Rieekan authored the briefing’s conclusion.
“Sir? If we are discovered?” Luke spoke up again, readying himself for a date with his Taun taun but asking the question everyone felt was necessary.
“Long range scan will notify us the moment anything enters the system at which point we will engage the shield generator. You will all need to prepare then for ground assault.”
Luke could only nod his understanding, the thought returning quickly that he, that everyone, needed to get off this planet instead of scouring for inevitability. ‘The Falcon…’ he reminded himself, noting the freighter wasn’t the only grounded vessel at the moment, ‘they need more time.’
“You all have the same information we do, let’s get to work.” General Rieekan concluded the briefing with a gentle nod toward his company commanders, everyone turning silently toward one another as the gravity of the situation began to truly sink in.
✦
Free from any outward injuries through the ordeal over Botajef, Sidious nonetheless withdrew himself from company of any sort, preferring the sanctity of his private meditations deep within the bowels of the temple set for such purposes by his own order eons past. Despite assurances from his Director of Intelligence at every possible juncture that the assassin in his own company had survived the ordeal, Sidious did not care, she could just as easily be replaced. He was, however, quite unsure how to proceed with the Director herself. The woman, although determined, was anything resembling intuitive or strategic. Isard had become a detriment of her own design, he just couldn’t understand if it were intentional or a byproduct of the self-absorbed bloodline that fathered her. She would need to be dealt with.
More pressing in his thoughts and, more importantly, Sidious’ time, was the case, still bound and latched, that lay on the solid wooden table before him. The muted and dull black case supplied the key to his own progress, an acquisition that would define the zenith of his own Aborah and the resumption of Necromancer which had been waylaid without the necessary carrier sequences to continue. He knew that was about to change, that both projects could once again serve each other toward their end goal of serving him. ‘Such opportunity.’ Sidious thought, then quickly reminded himself that opportunity itself had both come and gone with himself none the wiser throughout that confrontation.
Legend in script was present in reality, too late in notice to be recognized for what it was. That a construct of myth was within his grasp, almost an offering to his manipulations as a gift from the Dark Side itself, stolen away from him by something as simple as arrogance? “No.” He stated flatly into the confines of the stone chamber, the size small enough to contain the utterance without echo, without report. And then there was the second opportunity that should have been apparent, again lost to him through shortsightedness. The power the spirits could have provided, both fully manifest, could have led to alternative methods to achieve his own goals. The confluence of chance caught up in the methods of resolve, bypassing each other without notice or regard.
Sidious could have condemned himself for the oversights, lace into rage fueled conjecture or simply blamed his apprentice for a lack of focus but he knew he had only himself to blame. The tragic duo of Bane and Zannah were lost to him. The myth of Abeloth returned to the pages of legend and written folklore. But he did have what he had wanted, focusing his gaze on the black case once again, focusing his energy on its contents. Lifting bony fingers to the latches, he clicked them open quickly and laced his hands on either side of the case’s cover gently. Swinging the cover open he wrapped his left hand around a clear vial containing a yellow liquid from the foam mesh protecting its viability. A combination of trial and error had led him to this moment, decade’s worth of trial and error.
Sidious set the vial back within the protective case and leaned back into the seat that supported him, waiting, patiently, for the voices to resume. Waiting for the haunts of his former Master to condemn his ambition and decisions. Waiting for Bane to insert his mocking diatribes and derisive chortled laughter. There was only silence. The path forward would be his and his alone. Sidious depressed a keyset within the arm of the chair he rested in, chiming twice before a goliath of a man filled the small holo field above his thick desk.
“My Lord.” The large man said with booming authority before bowing slightly to his Emperor.
“Have you made your selection Doctor?” Sidious asked, ignoring the platitude.
“I have My Lord.” The dark-skinned man within the holo image replied, a creased smile stretching across his lips. “Piers Pershing is young but the most gifted genetics expert we have come across. Shall I send for him My Lord?”
Sidious considered the offer briefly, he himself eager to explore the opportunities within the vial, but decided haste was not warranted. “I will make myself present in due course Doctor, best ready when I do.” He commanded briskly, his cackling voice deeper than normal, laced with a self-conceit he felt well earned.
The stage set, the pieces placed and ready to move, Sidious cast a glance over to the protocol droid that called the chamber home, “droid.” He stated, boring his yellow eyes into the red photoreceptors, “what remains of your medical aptitude and ability?”
“My aptitude remains unchanged since Master De Masks’ ownership, my abilities would depend on what is needed however as you’ve seen to more appropriate uses for my appendage socketing.” 11-4D responded in return, rising from his rested pose in the far corner of the chamber.
“I need to know if the contents of this vial can be replicated.”
“A simple diagnostic then. Yes, I am able. It is organic in nature?” The droid asked without prompt.
“It is.” Sidious responded without mirth, “Spinal fluid.”
“Interesting.” 11-4D quipped, engaging his ambulatory struts to canter forward toward the desk.
In response, Sidious opened the case once more and withdrew the ten-centimeter vial.
“Presenting yellow...the source is near human then?” The droid asked as Sidious pulled the stopper gently from the top of the vial. 11-4D rotated a diagnostic sensor out of his forearm and swung it into position to activate. Plunging its tip just inside the vial, the droid withdrew the appendage immediately as it worked through its findings, Sidious applying the stopper once again and returning the vial to the case atop the desk. “Togrutan CSF. The answer is twofold Master.” The protocol droid relayed, lowering his arm to his side. “The fluid can be replicated, in mass quantities if it is required, but there is an unknown variable for which I can account. A factor that can only be described as a parasitic compound that resides within the organic materials themselves. Not unlike the projects Master DeMask had arranged some years back.”
“You know what they are then, don’t you?”
“I do Master. Midichlorians were an obsession of sorts, if you don’t mind my directness, with Master DeMask. Although they cannot be replicated, they can be manipulated to obey.” 11-4D had given him all the information he had needed.
“Then it is a good thing I learned all that I could before his sudden demise, isn’t it.” Sidious commented latching the case fully and turning toward the droid with a crooked smile.
“If it is your desire to….”
“That was rhetorical droid…” Sidious cut him off and pushed himself to his feet, clasped his hand about the case’s grip and moved toward the steps that would lead him from the depths of his chamber.