Vader's Introspection By SJ 29-12-00 ________________ Disclaimers: None of this belong to me. See my homepage for more details: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Quasar/3702 This story is based on Star Wars Tales #6 "Thank the Maker" ; all the spoken parts are from the comic books, hence belong to the author, Ryder Windham, or else to George Lucas. __________________ The orange-tinted clouds were slowly retreating as far as he could see, as if terrified to be glanced upon by his eyes. He liked it that way, he reflected. He liked to generate fear, to see people around him cringe away from him. He himself had been scared for way too long in his life ; it made for a good change of situation. "Skywalker would get here faster if we spread word that his allies are in danger." the bounty hunter Boba Fett was saying. Lord Vader, dark lord of the Sith didn't even turn around to scold him. The fool didn't know who he was dealing with, he reflected. Skywalker was far from being his regular, average, human quarry. "That won't be necessary." he informed him emotionlessly, "He already knows." Oh yes, Luke knew. He had made sure that the Force would give him most clear signals that his friends were in horrible danger. Even now, he could feel that his son was on his way toward him, toward his destiny. It was unavoidable ; he would join him, and together--- The door behind him slowly swished open. He would not have paid it any attention, if not for the strange feeling that something wasn't right all of a sudden. He turned around to judge for himself if the disturbance was important. His lieutenant had just walked in with the droid that had unexpectedly uncovered one of his hidden squads. "Lord Vader? I-I'm afraid the damage is quite extensive." the slightly frightened man began. He then turned the droid's head so that he could have a better look at it. Vader felt as if his blood had turned to ice in what veins he still had. Threepio! He didn't hear what his soldier said next. He snatched the droid's head from his hands and turned away from his troops to inspect it. It was Threepio all right. He could feel it. His lieutenant continued to describe the droid's status to him, but he wasn't listening anymore. Instead, he was getting lost in the past... The day he had found the strangely attaching if prissy droid. He had been young then, extremely young, and naive. And Threepio was already old, probably older than he had evaluated back then. Strange, he reflected with some bemusement, how the droid once again ended up around him in a pitiful state of disrepair& at least for anybody who wasn't a mechanic wizard like he had been. He still had those skills of course, but nowadays, he rarely had any time to make use of them& except in extraordinary circumstances. He had more important things to do than toy with droids, he sternly reminded himself. As he refocused on the present, and the golden head that was in his black-gloved hands, which were much larger than the ones he remembered from when he had been a child, he wondered how the droid had gotten involved in the Rebellion. The last he remembered, he had left it with his mother... His mother. No, he wasn't going down that emotional path ever again, he growled to himself. When the lieutenant asked him if they were to try and recover the droid's memory unit, he ruthlessly closed the mental door that was threatening him with more unwelcome memories and feelings, then tossed 3PO's head to the younger man. "The droid is useless." he stated, with almost, almost no pang of regret in what remained of his heart. "Have it destroyed." he added quickly before he could let that cursed part of himself overcome his mind once more. He had a job to do. He set to it. His son was coming and he had to be ready for when he would arrive. ****** Late that night, long after the last rays of the sun had stopped shedding their lights upon the city in the clouds, Lord Vader was still awake. He had met with Calrissian to inform the baron administrator of his role for the next morning, then he had meditated until he was convinced that his son was a few days away from his destination. After that, he had tried to find sleep, but he hadn't been able to. Instead, he had kept seeing images of the broken droid... Of his droid. "Master Anakin, you're my maker." he had said the last time he had seen him. He was right, he reminded himself grimly while tearing his mind away from the bittersweet memories that were once again invading his mind. He was his maker, his god, hence, he had the right to decide whether he lived or died. More memories assaulted him nonetheless : Threepio helping him as he worked on his podcar, then as they cleaned his small cubicle... the countless storms he had spent talking with him because he had had no one else... Then the last thing he had ever heard him say. "Sell?" he had exclaimed, horrified at the idea that he would be separated from him, his good master... Well it looked like he had been sold to other masters after all, he conceded, and that he had gotten the outer casing he had been hoping for while he had been with him. No need to whine about it, he sarcastically thought as if he were addressing the droid. Was he the same Threepio he had known?, he then found himself wondering--- he caught his train of thought and frustratingly shook his head in annoyance. If he were still like he used to be, he reflected, he'd be raking his hands in his hair in frustration. But he wasn't that little boy anymore, he sternly repeated to himself, nor the same man either, he added to his stubborn self who was refusing to just die. For good measure, he made sure once again that Anakin Skywalker remained in his grave, slapping him back into it with a wave of dark feelings of lust and contempt. He was Darth Vader, dark lord of the Sith and second in command of the Galactic Empire, and with his son's help, he was soon going to be Emperor. He had no reason to even bother about a lowly droid who couldn't remain in one piece, he haughtily, coldly stated to himself. And good riddance, he finished ruthlessly before going back to uneasy sleep. ****** Solo and the Princess's capture had been easy, all too easy in fact. Unlike his son, they had never seen the trap that had been shutting on them, except perhaps for the young woman who had been reported to be edgy on her way to the dining room. She had matured since he had last seen her, he admitted to himself. She was less emotional in front of a threat, and she knew when she was beaten. Not at all like that Solo character who had had to be stunned on their way to the cells. How his son had ever gotten along with that selfish man was beyond him. No matter how much he had studied what he had on Luke, he had never been able to figure out to what he owed his friendship to the smuggler. Even though he himself didn't have friends anymore, he had had some, way back when. He knew what friendship was about, why he was using it against his son in fact, but he couldn't pierce the mystery of this bond... He put an end to his thinking as he spotted the young lieutenant who was approaching him once more. Why did he have a funny feeling about his obviously coming news?.. He found out soon enough. The renewed sight of the broken droid was most upsetting. Why wasn't he destroyed?! he wanted to scream in dark frustration. What was it about that droid that seemed to be constantly attached to him? He glared at the officer as he tried to explain why his orders hadn't been carried out. Darn Wookiee& Had it been 'enraptured' too by the gangly contraption?.. Like he had been... He picked up the droid's head once more and studied it yet again. His memories also surged forth once again. He remembered how he had argued with his mother to keep the droid. She had tried to dissuade him, but he hadn't been able to give him up. No matter how rusted, busted and out of order he had been, he had 'had' to keep him with himself. He had seen a pair in him... a fellow slave... a friend. A friend to whom he had given a second life... a second chance. Now it seemed that his second chance was over... or was it? After all, his fate was in his hands once more, just like when he had been a child. But if he was fated to be with him, he suddenly thought, they why had he lost him in the first place? His still resurfacing memories provided him with an answer. "Unless you're prepared to care for something, Annie," his mother had gently told him. "you don't deserve to have it." Threepio& his mother... Amidala... Luke... What had he done?, he finally demanded to no one as he slowly rested the top of the droid's head to the front hem of his helmet. Hadn't he cared about them? Hadn't he cared enough not to loose them all?, he mentally argued with whoever was deciding what his life would be. No one decided what his life was, he decided, except himself. And right now... Right now... he was faced with quite a dilemma. Should he let the droid live, hence keep a part of Anakin alive, or should he destroy him and be done with his past once and for all. But then, if he did that, he would have to destroy his son too since he was from before. Still, his son wasn't comparable to a droid, to his droid... to his son's droid, he suddenly understood. That was why he had been with the Princess. If he left the droid to his techs, they would wipe his memory and his son would loose his droid... his friends and he himself certainly couldn't order his troops to destroy him anymore. He was going to give his creation a second chance after all, exactly like he was hoping for a second chance with his son. So what could he do? Finally, Anakin reached a decision concerning the present moment. "The droid's parts carry the stench of Captain Solo's copilot." Vader said. "Deliver this box to the Wookiee's cell." he ordered, aware that the Wookiee's mechanics' skills would probably bring Threepio back to his feet. The Lieutenant also seemed to understand it, but in his mind, it meant confusion. "I am giving the Wookiee was he deserves." he warned him ominously, playing on his legendary bad temper to cut off any arguments. It was frustrating enough to have let Anakin take control of his mind for this decision, he wasn't going to explain it as well. Now he had to bury the Jedi once again. To do so, he focused on what he had to do now that he had dealt with the droid. "Captain Solo has an appointment in the interrogation chamber. Make sure he gets there." he snapped as he left the suite. It was time to put more pressure on his son, to make him hasten his arrival. He couldn't wait to have him with him and set his plan in motion, at last. He too deserved a second chance, without the Emperor this time. He could only hope, he thought as he stepped inside a turbolift, that Anakin wouldn't manage to rise from his grave once more when the boy would be in front of him. The results would be extremely different from the ones he was planning to achieve.