Darth Sentinel

Postscript

2006-08-12T13:56:00.000-07:00

This story is complete. To start at the beginning, click on the following: Chapter One. At the end of each chapter is a link to the next chapter.

I am currently working on a sequel. That will is located at: Darth Sentinel Two. I have one chapter up there so far.

I will probably be posting a cleaned up/edited version of Darth Sentinel up on Fan Fiction. Ditto for Darth Sentinel Two, once it's completed on Blogspot. Will get back to you guys with more information on where to find edited versions. At the very least, I may just post an edited version in PDF form up on Blogspot.

Eventually, I intend to write stuff that's, well, publishable! I don't think George Lucas would publish Darth Sentinel. It's not the sort of thing that I think he would want to be part of the Star Wars universe, LOL! Oh, well. Sigh. His universe, his rules. I can't really complain about that... his is a very cool universe, after all. ;)

Please feel free to comment on this story. I need constructive criticism. Praise is welcome too, of course! ;)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

2006-07-07T23:30:00.000-07:00

“What?” Sentinel exclaimed into the commlink. But the commlink was quiet; Mortis had already shut his commlink off.

“Crap!” Sentinel muttered.

Vader turned to look out the viewscreen. “It’s the Emperor’s shuttle.” he said.

“Crap! He said 3 hours! He lied!” Sentinel said, starting to pace around the cockpit.

“He’s disembarking.” Vader said.

“Crap!” Sentinel said, adding exasperated hand gestures to her nervous pacing.

“Calm down. Go to the cargo hold. Take my fighter, and get out of here.” Vader said, watching her pace back and forth.

Sentinel stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Vader. “No. That’s not how this is going to play out.” she said, licking her lips. She rested her hand on her lightsaber: Vader had given it back to her when they had been alone in his quarters. “Come on, we have a Wrinkled Old Prune to deal with.”

Sentinel whirled and ran out of the cockpit. Vader followed her.

The ‘Wrinkled Old Prune’ was standing just outside the ship, with 2 of his royal guards standing just behind him. The royal guards were resplendent in their dark red robes and polished red armor.

Vader and Sentinel walked down the ship’s ramp even as it was lowering. Once before the Emperor, both bowed down on one knee before him.

“Rise.” the Emperor said, his voice seeming to reverberate.

They both rose, and faced the Emperor. Sentinel swallowed nervously, but otherwise showed no sign of fear.

The Emperor turned towards his royal guard. “Leave us.” he said, and the 2 guards walked back inside his shuttle. The Emperor then turned back to face his 2 apprentices.

“So, Lord Sentinel. You now have Lord Hedra’s abilities.” the Emperor said.

“Yes, my Master.” Sentinel said.

“Lord Vader has more potential than you do, and... was more powerful than you were. However, if you have gained Lord Hedra’s abilities, then you should be more powerful than Lord Vader at this point.” the Emperor said, glancing between the two of them.

Sentinel frowned and pursed her lips. She didn’t like where this was going.

“Lord Sentinel, destroy Lord Vader, if you can, and take his place at my side.” the Emperor said.

Vader stepped back from Sentinel and the Emperor, ignited his lightsaber, and stood at the ready.

Sentinel’s eyes went wide.

“Why are you hesitating, Lord Sentinel. Lord Vader isn’t hesitating.” the Emperor purred. “Lord Vader left you at Lord Hedra’s mercy. You must be very angry at him.”

Sentinel glared at the Emperor, then shot Vader a look she hoped was comparable.

“He did nothing to help me, my Master. And I hate him for that.” she said, giving Vader a spiteful glance. “But I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the very same thing. Lord Hedra was too powerful for him. There was nothing he could have done. And anyway, you are the one responsible, not he, for Hedra taking over my body, in the first place.”

The Emperor ignored the last thing she had said. “Yet you were able to push Hedra out, even though Lord Hedra was so powerful?” the Emperor said.

Sentinel smiled, ruefully. “I am very stubborn, my Master.”

Vader stood unmoving, blade held low, waiting.

“Nevertheless, Lord Sentinel. You will fight Lord Vader.” the Emperor said. “Lord Vader, destroy Lord Sentinel.”

Sentinel ignited her blade just in time to deflect Vader’s stroke, then jumped back into a defensive stance.

Vader moved forward and attacked once more.

The two warriors fought uneasily with each other. Although they tried to make every strike look as if it had their full energy and intent behind it, each one of them was holding back just a little.

The Emperor didn’t seem to notice that. He simply stood there smiling gleefully, waiting to see who the victor would be.

Sentinel caught site of that sinister smile out of the corner of her eye. He sure does enjoy being fought over, she mused.

The two battled, while both of their minds raced, trying to figure out a solution. Vader was considering nudging Sentinel to attack the Emperor with him, but unsure how they would both be able to deflect the Emperor’s Force lightning. He didn’t know if Sentinel had learned how to deflect Force lightning yet, for that matter. He could do so, just slightly, with his lightsaber. But with all the metal in his frame, his body acted like a lightning rod, making it nearly impossible for him to deflect all of it.

And Vader's body was very vulnerable to magnetic and electrical forces.

Sentinel was being led by the Force to wait, to bide her time before taking any rash action. She listened to that leading, feeling a little more hopeful that things were going to work out, after all.

After a moment more of dueling, she sensed her own abilities were weakening. She continued to fight Lord Vader, moving more carefully as her strokes were becoming less and less guided by the Force and more guided by her own instincts. She noticed Vader’s strokes were also becoming less flashy. She hoped the Emperor would take this to merely be exhaustion on their parts, and hoped that the Emperor would keep focused on the show.

Because at that moment, that’s all it was. Their duel was a diversion: the perfect diversion to keep the Emperor focused on them, when the hovercraft suddenly came around the hill, and literally ran into and over the Emperor’s body!

The Emperor's Force senses had been sufficiently dulled by the Force nullifying creature, and he had never sensed the hovercraft's approach. And the sounds of the hovercraft had been blocked sufficiently by the configuration of the surrounding hills.

Mortis yelled at Sentinel to hop in. Sentinel glanced once, longingly at Vader. He lowered his lightsaber and nodded at her, telling her wordlessly to get out of here. She turned off her lightsaber and dove head first into the hovercraft.

Mortis powered the hovercraft down into the valley, heading at top speed for the city of Yuthrub.

Vader turned towards the Emperor’s still body. Was it possible? Perhaps it was unnecessary for Sentinel to be on the run at all: maybe that blow from the hovercraft had killed the Emperor.

Vader crossed the ground to look down on the Emperor. He was torn between the desire to behead the Emperor on the spot with his still ignited lightsaber, or to disengage it and ensure that the Emperor still saw him as ‘the loyal Apprentice’.

Vader then did something he would spend many years regretting. He forsake his opportunity to destroy his Master; he disengaged his lightsaber, and bowed down on one knee to check on the Emperor. Vader sensed movement above him, and looked up to see the Emperor’s royal guard rushing down the shuttle's ramp.

His Master was unconscious, but was quickly coming to. Vader and the royal guards helped him to sit upright. The man was definitely in pain.

“Take me to the medcenter on board the Exactor.” the Emperor weakly commanded. One of the royal guard ran back inside the shuttle, and brought a hover-gurney over. The two guards gently lifted the Emperor onto it, and took him into the shuttle. Before the guards and the Emperor disappeared inside the shuttle, Vader called out "I will meet you on board the Exactor."

Vader went inside his ship. He powered up the engines, closed all openings to the atmosphere, and raised the ship to the heavens, closely following the Emperor’s shuttle.

He lost sight of the shuttle as the shuttle and his ship passed through the hazy upper atmosphere. Then everything cleared, and the shuttle and the Exactor were in plain view.

He landed the ship alongside the shuttle, in one of the main hanger bays of the Star Destroyer Exactor, and hurried outside to walk alongside the Emperor’s gurney.

Looking down at the wounded old man gave Vader a sudden feeling of reverse deja vu. He shuddered slightly, and hoped that Sentinel and the other two were already on their way to escaping this planet.

In the medcenter, the Emperor made some less than coherent demands. In spite of his prior intelligent order to be taken to the medcenter, the Emperor was now babbling something about ‘kill all banthas’. It was then that Vader realized the Emperor was probably suffering from a serious concussion.

Vader left the Emperor alone in the medcenter, and stood on the main bridge, watching the planet below for about 15 minutes. A few transports entered and left the atmosphere below him. He stretched his senses out. The 3rd one to leave the planet had a particularly empty feeling to it. He could sense nothing about it, and that nothingness was deeper than an ocean.

He turned to the nearest lieutenant. “Lord Sentinel is missing. Find her! Search the Yuthrub spaceport, and every outbound transport, prior to allowing it to leave.” he commanded.

“What about the transports already exiting the planet’s orbit, Lord Vader?” the lieutenant asked.

“Let them go. There is no way Lord Sentinel could have gotten a transport that quickly.” Vader said.

“Yes, m’Lord!” the Lieutenant responded, turning to carry out the Dark Lord’s orders.

Then Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, turned back to watch the third transport.

As it disappeared into hyperspace, he said goodbye to the one woman who had ever managed to see past his mask.

Then he turned and headed back to the medcenter, to be by his Master’s bedside when the ‘Wrinkled Old Prune’ recovered.

THE END

Chapter Twenty-Six

2006-07-07T23:04:00.000-07:00

The four of them were gathered in the lab around the table that the Force nullifying creature was caged upon. Vader was refilling it’s water and food supply, while a droid cleaned out it’s cage. The creature was docilely sitting in the corner of it’s cage, watching everything around it with lazy, sleepy eyes.

Sentinel reached in carefully, and scratched the creature behind the ears. It leaned into her hand, obviously enjoying the attention.

“So, how did you find another one of these things, Lord Vader?” Sentinel asked.

“I contacted Commander Javel. This is but one of hundreds recovered in a raid on that one medical facility at Thaadra. The creatures were all taken to Starbase 12, to join it’s one comrade, the one we recovered.” Vader said. “This may in fact be the one we recovered.” Vader mused. Although he wasn’t sure it was the one they recovered, since he was sure it would have been very leery of him. His treatment of the creature they had recovered had not been gentle.

“Can we trust Javel?” Sentinel asked.

“I sense we can. Or rather, I was able to sense I could, prior to this thing's arrival.” Vader said.

Sentinel continued to pet and scratch the creature. They were all silent for a moment, trying to think of their next move.

Everyone jumped a little at the soft electronic chirp that echoed through the ship. The sound indicated that someone wanted to make contact, that they wanted a communication link established.

Vader had been staring at the creature. He now raised his head to look at his lover and his unlikely new friends. “If I don’t make contact, he will be suspicious. It’s likely he’s already started to send out search parties.” he rumbled.

“Perhaps it’s time for us to go.” Mortis said.

“Is there a locator beacon on this ship?” Sentinel asked.

“No. For stealth purposes, I had it removed at the beginning of our mission.” Vader said. “Now I need to go speak to the Emperor.” Vader turned to leave.

Sentinel put a hand on his arm. “We haven’t talked about our plans yet.” Sentinel said.

“Your plans are simple. Pack your things. Leave this ship. Go with Gilly and Mortis. The three of you find transport off of this planet under assumed names. I think we have enough Imperial Credits on board that you should be able to both purchase new identity cards as well as transport to a far off system. I suggest planet hopping for a while, changing transports often.” Vader said.

“I’m not leaving you.” Sentinel said.

Vader turned to Sentinel, and held her in his arms. “You have to.” he rumbled softly. He looked up at the other two. “You will take care of her, won’t you?” he asked.

“Of course, Lord Vader.” Gilly said.

“I’ll never see you again, will I?” Sentinel asked.

“No, you won’t see me again.” Vader said. “It’s not safe, not while the Emperor lives.”

Vader was resolved now, to losing her. He was also resolved to a whole new set of nightmares in store for him when he went to sleep. The nightmares had stopped on the few nights he had Sentinel sleeping beside him... as if she gave him the peace he had been missing for 5 years.

Sentinel buried her face in Vader’s chest, and he held her for several minutes. He wanted to kiss her so badly. He wanted one more moment alone with her, without the mask he had to hide behind. But time was swiftly running out.

“Go pack. I will be better able to deal with the Emperor if I know you are safe.” Vader said, releasing Sentinel.

Sentinel stood back, looked up at Vader, her face grim. She nodded slowly.

“We will meet you in the cargo hold, Dear.” Gilly said. She turned to face Vader. “May we use the holocraft, Lord Vader?”

“Of course.” Vader said.

Sentinel headed for her quarters. Once there, she packed her things quickly. She didn’t have much to pack: she’d left most of her belongings back at her apartment on Korriban. She would not be able to go back for anything from her apartment. She hoped her friends there would adopt her Carg Dragon, T’Ching.

She finished packing, then followed her gut instincts to the cockpit. Vader was there, alone. She dropped all her bags, and rushed to him.

Vader turned when she entered. He removed his mask quickly, hooking up a breathing hose. The second the hose was connected she was almost smothering his mouth with kisses. She fell into his lap, and he kissed her back, violently. He felt as if he was trying to condense the next 10 years of time into one minute.

They both finally came up for air... well, she came up for air. Thanks to his mechanical lungs, he could have ‘stayed underwater’ indefinitely.

“Go, get out of here.” Vader said, having a hard time maintaining his composure.

Sentinel pulled away, grabbed her bags and left. Vader watched her leave the cockpit, then replaced his mask.

Sentinel met Mortis and Gilly in the cargo hold. Mortis was powering up the hovercraft. The cage containing the Force nullifying creature was in the back of the hovercraft. Next to it was a small bag containing an obscene amount of Imperial credits.

“Let’s go.” Sentinel said. She activated the ramp, then jumped in. They sped down the ramp and headed for Gilly and Mortis’s home.

It was daylight on this side of Sevast. But with the perpetual haze of contaminants in the sky, it was hard to tell. The locals never got to see any stars at night, and during the day, the sun merely lit up the haze, and was otherwise invisible. It gave everything a slight orange tinge.

Sentinel watched the retreating form of the ship. She had this nagging feeling that she shouldn’t be leaving Vader alone. She couldn’t push it away from her. They were about half a kilometer from the ship when she said “Stop! I have to go back.”

“What?” Mortis said.

“Stop the hovercraft!” Sentinel repeated.

Mortis pulled the hovercraft to a stop. Sentinel hopped out. “I’ll meet you in the city, at the transport center. If I’m not there in 5 hours, leave without me!” she said.

“What are you doing?” Gilly asked.

“I know I’m supposed to be there when he talks to the Emperor. He’s going to need me.” Sentinel answered.

“How can you sense anything with our new 'pet' in the back seat?” Mortis asked.

“I don’t know, but I can! I have to go.” Sentinel said, then turned and started running.

The further she got away from the ‘pet’, the faster she was able to run, as her Force abilities started to come back to her. To back up that nagging feeling, as her Force sensitivity returned, so did the guidance by the Force that indeed, her place during that conversation with the Emperor was by Vader’s side.

The cargo ramp was still lowered. Sentinel ran straight up into the ship, not bothering to close it. She paused to catch her breath just outside the cargo hold. She was tired from the run. But she should have been completely wiped out, considering she had once again been asleep for a couple of days. The energy the Force was providing her was more than she was used to.

Much more.

She thought about how she now shared some memories with Darth Hedra. Some of Hedra’s secrets. What else did she now share?

Cautiously, remembering how Hedra had threatened Vader in the cockpit that one time, she held her hands out in front of her. Blue arcs of Force lightning began to spark between her hands.

“Bantha fodder!” Sentinel exclaimed.

She let the lightning die down, then aimed her hand cautiously at an empty box inside the cargo hold. She sent Force lightning into it, trying to get a feel for her newfound power. The box jumped about 3 meters further into the cargo hold, with little arcs of lightning jumping off of it and onto the hold’s walls.

Sentinel stared at her hands, as if expecting something else to start jumping out of them. She shook her head, and headed for the cockpit.

The cockpit door was unlocked, she sensed. She stayed back from it, to keep it from auto-opening. Then she used the Force to hold it steady as she came close, and allowed it to auto-open just a bare crack. She had to be careful, in case Vader was already speaking to the Emperor.

While Sentinel had been running back for the ship, Vader had been sitting in the cockpit, feeling his Force abilities return. He waited until he was sure his abilities were fully back, and put in a request to establish a communication link with the Emperor.

As his Force senses returned, he started to have a nagging feeling that he really needed Sentinel here for this talk with the Emperor. He couldn’t imagine why she was needed... he was ready to discuss how Hedra had taken over control of the ship from him, and had brought them to this world. And that Hedra had then run off. He wasn’t sure how well all of this would go down with the Emperor, however. But nevertheless, how would Sentinel being there improve the situation?

Vader shook his head. He realized that he did need a better story. Perhaps if Sentinel had stayed, she could maybe have pretended to be Hedra. But he was sure the Emperor would have sensed if he was talking to Hedra or to Sentinel.

The ship’s main computer beeped. His communication link had been established. Time to wing it, Vader thought.

Vader activated the communication link, and knelt on one knee on the cockpit floor. The hologram of the Emperor appeared before him. Behind him, a second after the hologram appeared, the cockpit door opened just slightly, but went unnoticed by him.

“Lord Vader.” the Emperor said.

“Yes, my Master.” Vader said, reverently.

“Why aren’t you and Lord Hedra on Coruscant? What is delaying your arrival?” the Emperor asked.

“Lord Hedra demanded a detour at the last minute. She was very... insistent.” Vader said.

“Why didn’t you communicate with me concerning this detour?” the Emperor asked.

“She was... insistent about that, as well.” Vader said.

“Where is Lord Hedra? I wish to speak with her.” the Emperor said.

“I don’t know, my Master. She has left the ship.” Vader said.

The Emperor regarded Vader very carefully. “You had deep feelings for Darth Sentinel, Lord Vader. How do I know that you didn’t kill Lord Hedra in revenge for losing Sentinel?” the Emperor asked.

“That would be going against your wishes, my Master. That I would not do.” Vader said, very solemnly.

“If you cannot produce Lord Hedra, my Apprentice, I will have to assume that you have in fact gone against my wishes. And that I will not tolerate.” the Emperor said.

Sentinel had heard enough. Before Vader said anything else, she shot lightning at the cockpit door while simultaneously allowing it to auto-open. Once open, her lightning came very close to hitting Vader, but luckily he jumped out of the way even as she reigned in her new power.

Sentinel stormed into the cockpit, trying to look furious.

“Did I or did I not command you, Lord Vader, to not make any communications?” Sentinel yelled at him. Then she turned toward the Emperor’s hologram. “Ah, Lord Sidious. What an unexpected surprise.”

Vader was crouching off to the side, where he had landed when he’d had to jump out of the way of the Force lightning. The emotions coming off of him were a combination of surprise and anger, and a sudden suspicion regarding Sentinel’s true identity! Sentinel couldn’t fix that right then, however, and hoped Vader would follow her lead.

“Lord Hedra, why have you detoured from coming to meet me?” the Emperor asked.

“I had other things I needed to take care of first, Lord Sidious.” Sentinel said.

“I do not appreciate the mistreatment of my Apprentice, Lord Hedra.” the Emperor said.

“He has not been permanently damaged, Lord Sidious. I respect your rights as Master over your Apprentice.” she said.

Vader rose to his feet, staring at Sentinel. There was a rage coming off of Vader that made the very air temperature in the cockpit increase by several degrees.

The Emperor stared at her for a moment. “There is something strange about you, Lord Hedra. Something about you doesn’t feel right.” he said.

“Perhaps you sense the combined signature of my aura with that of Lord Sentinel’s.” she said.

“Perhaps...” the Emperor said. He tilted his head slightly, thinking. “Lord Hedra, when we were on Gattaws 3, what did I tell you about my old master?”

“Is this a test?” she asked.

“Yes. It is.” the Emperor said.

“You really want me to speak of it in front of your Apprentice?” Sentinel said, hoping she was guessing that whatever it was was of a personal nature.

“Yes, yes, you may speak of it freely in front of Lord Vader.” the Emperor impatiently said.

Sentinel regarded the Emperor for a moment, then decided to opt for a lie that was closer to the truth.

“You have me, Lord Sidious. I am Darth Sentinel. But I’m not the Sentinel you remember.” she said.

“Lord Vader helped you escape Lord Hedra’s control?” the Emperor raised his voice.

“No, your Apprentice did nothing to assist me. Friendship means nothing to him!” she glared at Vader as she hissed the last part. “He fully went along with Hedra taking over my body. But I have reserves of power that Hedra wasn’t aware of, and I managed to push the woman out. But once she was out, I retained many of her memories and knowledge...” and here Sentinel raised her hands to allow the Force lightning to arc between them. “And much of her skill.” She allowed the Force lightning to dissipate.

Sentinel turned to look at Vader, drawing upon times she had been hurt and angry in order to project what she needed at that moment. “Your Apprentice thought I was still Darth Hedra! So I have treated him as if I were. After all, he did nothing to help me!” she practically screamed at Vader. She turned back towards the Emperor.

“You betrayed me too, my Master. What am I to think of that?” she said darkly, to the Emperor.

“Lord Sentinel, you were inadequate as a Sith Lord, but very adequate as a Sith host. I would prefer that Darth Hedra had retained your body. But now that your powers have grown from this experience, perhaps you are worthy of a second chance.” the Emperor mused, unapologetic.

“My Master, I’m glad that you are willing to give me a second chance. But in all honesty, why should I trust you a second time?” Sentinel asked, arching an eyebrow.

The Emperor regarded her, frowning malevolently at her. “You have no choice in the matter, Lord Sentinel. Either you bow down before me as your Master, or you shall be... taken care of.” he said, ominously.

“By Lord Vader?” Sentinel asked.

“By me.” the Emperor said. “It is your choice. Re-affirm your pledge to me, Lord Sentinel, or die.”

This wasn’t quite what Sentinel had expected to happen. But if the Emperor was being honest in his offer, it allowed her to remain somewhat close to Vader. Except, to support the web of lies she and Vader had just strung up together, she would never be able to openly show affection to her Dark Lord.

But it was better than spending the rest of her life on the run.

She bowed down on one knee before the Emperor’s hologram. “I pledge myself in service to you, Lord Sidious, and to the Dark Side.” she said, bowing low.

The Emperor smiled gleefully, baring his teeth. Sentinel remained in her subservient position, feeling as if that malevolent smile were showering her with evil. She sighed a little inside.

“Good. Good. You have made the right choice, Lord Sentinel. This experience has indeed made you more powerful.” the Emperor said, looking down at her appraisingly. “I will be meeting with you in 3 hours. Prepare to demonstrate to me what Lord Hedra has inadvertently taught you.”

Sentinel looked up sharply. “Master? You followed us here?”

“I am careful to keep tabs on the location of my... assets.” the Emperor said, smiling thinly. “I will be landing in your location... shortly.”

The hologram disappeared.

Sentinel sighed, then turned to look at Vader. “Are you alright?”

Vader lunged at her, grabbing her by the neck, and forcing her backwards against the wall. He started to choke her, to lift her up.

“Who are you!” Vader yelled.

Oh, great. I’m being throttled again, Sentinel thought. She used her powers to deflect his choking her, and to support her weight. She wrapped her hands over his arm. “I’m Sentinel! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I sensed you needed help, so I had to come back.”

Vader didn’t release her, but pushed his face forwards, as if he was trying to frighten her. “When did you learn how to use Force lightning?” he growled.

“I realized I had the ability once I got back on board the ship. The minute I got away from the Force nullifying creature -- we really need to give that thing a shorter name, by the way -- I realized my Force powers were greater than what they were before. And I figured I could use them to bluff the Emperor.”

Vader released her. “Are you insane? You could have escaped, free and clear! You should have let me handle this! You were supposed to let me handle this!” he bellowed at her.

“I sensed you needed my help! And I was right! If I hadn’t walked in just then, the Emperor would have decided that you were involved in my escaping from Hedra!” Sentinel turned away to stand behind the co-pilot’s chair, rubbing her neck. “You know, throttling me every time you get upset is getting really, really old!” she said, turning back to face him.

“You could have been free of his influence.” Vader rumbled. “Now you are recommitted to that warped old man.”

“I thought you wanted me to be a Sith Lord.” she said.

Vader turned away from her. “I’m not sure what I want.” he said.

“You want us to be together.” Sentinel walked up behind him, resting her hand on his back. The muscles there were incredibly tense. She gently rubbed his back.

“With the web of lies we have just spun, will we be able to?” he asked.

“Only in secret, but that was probably going to be the case, anyway. At least, I won’t have to be on the run, now, with us never being able to see each other.” Sentinel said.

Sentinel continued to rub his back.

“How did he track us here? I thought you removed the locator beacon?” she asked.

Vader turned back to her. “The Emperor obviously didn’t think our mission needed to be quite that stealthy.”

“Well, considering our idea of the mission and his idea were quite different...” Sentinel mused.

Vader grunted in agreement.

She turned and looked out the cockpit viewscreen. “Oh, frak. I need to tell Gilly and Mortis to get out of here. Just in case the Emperor is still planning something...”

“I loaned them a commlink.” Vader said, handing her his commlink, so she could communicate with them.

After a short exchange, she explained the situation to Gilly and Mortis. They were packing their things in their home. They were reluctant to leave without her, but she finally convinced them it was for the best. They said they would drop her things off at the ship in under 20 minutes... and give her a second chance to change her mind. They were almost ready to leave their home.

Sentinel switched off the commlink.

“I cannot believe we have truly gotten away with this.” Vader rumbled.

“Nor can I. I sense we’re not out of the woods yet. At least he no longer thinks you were involved in driving Hedra out.” Sentinel said.

“You need to get out of here. You’ve done what you could to protect me. When Gilly and Mortis return to drop off your stuff, you will leave with them!” Vader rumbled.

Sentinel glared at him. “We can make this work!” she said.

“No, we can’t! I sense that the Emperor is going to take revenge upon you. I was willing to kill you if Hedra retained control of your body. He’s willing to kill you now that Hedra has lost control.” Vader said.

Sentinel shook her head, holding her fingers to her temples, eyes closed, trying to think. The commlink Vader had handed her chirruped. She switched it on.

Mortis hissed urgently into the commlink: “Get out of there! There’s an Imperial shuttle coming in for a landing near your ship!”

Goto Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Five

2006-07-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

Sentinel woke up slowly, very groggily. She looked around her room blearily, trying to focus. Her throat was very sore, as if she’d been having a screaming match with someone. Her head hurt.

She lay there, and looked around her room. Some items appeared to be missing, but she wasn’t sure which items. She felt like she’d been sleeping for days again. She saw the I.V. taped to her left arm and groaned.

“I’m never letting a medical droid near me again...” she muttered.

She was dressed in her white robe, only. She was lying on top of her blankets. She looked down and realized, by parting her robe, that she was hooked up to collection bags.

“Oh, great.” she said. And proceeded to remove first her I.V., and then the other various items she was hooked up to. That done, she rose from bed, very unsteady on her feet, and looked in her cracked mirror.

She looked like hell.

She stumbled to the fresher and took some time in cleaning the filth from her body, and tried to remember what had happened.

Her last memory was of Vader killing that 3rd child. And her trying to kill him, slicing off his right hand. Then she was pretty sure she had passed out.

There were some other jumbled memories of... tormenting Vader. Something about holding his breathing hose hostage. She shuddered, wondering what the heck had happened.

She came out of the fresher, and dressed herself in pants and a tunic, both black. Then she put her hair up, and observed herself in her mirror.

She still looked like hell. Whatever had gone on had not been pleasant.

She looked back at her bed, and that’s when she noticed the manacles on each bedpost. Then she looked down and noticed the synth skin on her wrists.

No, not pleasant at all, she thought. Well, I’d better to find Vader. See if we’re still on speaking terms.

He had killed those children. She shuddered. But I still love him... I must be a monster. How can I love someone who killed children? she thought.

She opened her mind, trying to extend her senses, find out what Vader might be up to. She met a blank wall. Confused, she reached for a brush on her dresser. It did not come when called.

Ahah. We’ve one of those things on board, she thought. That’s... interesting.

She wobbled towards his quarters. She wasn’t hungry... she was more nauseated than hungry at that moment. When she got near his quarters, his door auto-opened and revealed Vader, deeply asleep.

She cautiously approached his sleeping form. Monster or not, this was the man she was hopelessly in love with. And he looked exhausted, as if his body was trying to catch up on days without sleep.

She sat down gently on the bed, leaned over, and kissed him on the mouth. Vader took some time to wake up. Then Vader responded, gently pulling her down over him, with his right hand on her back, and his left on her neck. She moved down to his neck to nuzzle and kiss him there, affectionately.

She suddenly found herself being pushed back from him, with his left hand solidly around her neck, cutting off her air.

Vader watched Hedra coldly. He was not going to throw her away from him this time, knowing she would just yank out his air supply once more. He realized the shamans had failed. Whether he liked it or not, it was time to snuff the life out of his lover’s body.

But Hedra was slapping at his left arm like it was a frightening annoyance, but still just an annoyance. She wasn’t clawing at his face, or pulling out his air hose... she wasn’t acting in ways he would expect Hedra to act.

Vader released her, unsure what was going on.

Sentinel got up from the bed, rubbing her throat, and coughing profusely, gasping for air. She regained her composure, catching her breath while leaning over the back of a chair. “I thought... we were past... the throttling stage! Teach me... to try to... wake you up... with a kiss!” Sentinel said.

Vader sat up in bed, and his expression softened. “Sentinel?” he asked.

“Yes?” Sentinel said, holding her fingers to her temples, which were throbbing.

“Sentinel??” he said, almost with a sob.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Sentinel asked, approaching him. Vader grabbed her, pulling her into a sitting position on his lap, holding her tightly to him, and sobbing into her neck.

Oh, crap. Something very bad has been going on, Sentinel thought.

“It’s ok, I’m here.” Sentinel said, holding him, and stroking the back of his head gently. “I’m here. Ssshhhh. I’m here, my Love. It’s ok.”

Vader held her, rocking slightly, eyes closed, face buried in her neck, unwilling to release her. They stayed that way for a while, with Sentinel talking gently to him, conflicted with the desire to calm him down and the desire to let him get all of this upset out of his system.

Vader calmed down finally, allowing her to shift position to sit on the bed beside him. With some embarrassment, he swiped at the tears on his face, then accepted a tissue Sentinel handed him.

“What happened?” she asked.

Vader shook his head, not willing to speak yet. He didn’t trust his voice.

“You’re really scaring me.” she said.

He chuckled. “Then we’re even.” he said.

The door to his quarters opened. Sentinel stood up suddenly, facing the door, not expecting anyone to be on the ship with them, and reached for her lightsaber. She didn’t find it, and remembered that she hadn’t been able to locate it in her quarters.

Gilly and Mortis walked in. Sentinel looked shocked, then elated.

“Gilly! Mortis!” she ran to them and hugged them both. “What are you two doing here?” Then she remembered that they were in Vader’s quarters, and looked somewhat confused, and a little embarrassed.

Gilly disentangled herself from Sentinel, to reach for Sentinel's face, holding her still, and search her eyes. Sentinel stood still for this, feeling a little like she was an expensive vase that was being examined for any defects.

“What are you doing?” Sentinel finally asked Gilly, her speech sounding a little funny with Gilly’s hands partially holding her head by squishing her cheeks.

Gilly seemed to like what she saw. She said, “Just checking...”, and then hugged Sentinel tightly, her eyes watering a little.

Sentinel hugged her back, looking up confusedly at a smiling Mortis. Gilly finally released Sentinel, and Sentinel stood back, looking at Gilly, Mortis, Vader (who was still sitting on the bed, and was putting his mask back on in a hurried fashion), and then back at Gilly and Mortis.

“What’s going on?” Sentinel asked.

Gilly and Mortis were watching Vader put his mask on, fascinated. But they looked strangely comfortable with his appearance, with his scarred face.

Vader, on the other hand, was definitely not comfortable having these people see him without his mask on.

“What’s going on?!?” Sentinel repeated. Gilly and Mortis turned to look at Sentinel.

Vader’s mask was in place once more. He rose, and walked up behind Sentinel. Sentinel turned to look up at him, questioningly.

“You were possessed.” Vader said simply.

“I was what?” Sentinel asked.

“You were possessed, Dear, by the spirit of a deceased Sith Lord. A Darth Hedra. She was quite nasty. Lord Vader subdued Hedra with the Force nullifying creature, then brought you to us, so we could expel her from your body.” Gilly explained.

Sentinel looked at Gilly, confused and alarmed. “How did Darth Hedra possess me?”

“The obelisk, in the temple on Latern, was the not-so-final resting place of a Darth Hedra. The Emperor arranged things such that you would be fully using the Dark Side of the Force, right when you would be close to the obelisk. He knew that you had a psychic weakness that his friend, Darth Hedra, could exploit right when the influence of the Dark Side was at it’s strongest.” Vader explained.

“Wait, the Emperor planned all along to have this Hedra person take over my body?” Sentinel asked.

“Yes. He and Hedra have a long standing arrangement. They agreed to help each other return from death. Apparently, Hedra would normally have had clones of her body ready for her, in the event of her death. But her clone supply was destroyed, and her own deceased body was cremated before any samples could be taken to make a new clone from.” Vader said. “When the Emperor found you, he realized that you could take the place of a clone for Darth Hedra.”

Sentinel walked towards a chair and slumped into it, trying to take in everything she was being told.

“Where is Darth Hedra now?” she asked.

“Gone, Dear. She can’t harm you ever again.” Gilly assured her.

Sentinel considered this. “She was gone once before. Why can’t she harm me now?” she asked.

“The Higher Power has banished her.” Mortis responded.

Sentinel thought some more. “So, I’m vulnerable to spirits of the dead when I’m using the Dark Side of the Force?”

Vader swallowed hard. He hadn’t thought of that possibility.

“If you are near the resting place of a strong Force user, yes. But only if it’s the resting place of a Dark Side user, and only if you are a good fit for that person. The users of the Light Side would not be interested in possessing you... they would not desire to do such a thing to a living person.” Mortis stated. He gave Vader a wary glance, and added, “But I would advise you to ensure you are no longer a walking target, by giving up the Dark Side altogether.”

Vader glanced sharply at Mortis, but held his tongue.

Sentinel sat staring at the floor. “The Emperor is expecting me to be Darth Hedra now... he’s not going to be happy when he finds out the possession didn’t take.”

“He thinks the possession did take. When I first discovered Hedra had possessed you, I didn’t know who else to turn to, so I spoke to the Emperor.” Vader said. “I... it didn’t occur to me that this was all part of his plan. I just knew something was drastically wrong with you, and I hoped he would have the answers.”

“You’ve risked the Emperor’s anger for me.” Sentinel stated, looking up at Vader, then at Gilly and Mortis. She sighed. “Was the Emperor expecting me to see him anytime soon?”

Vader looked at the clock on the wall. “Yes. Sometime yesterday.”

Sentinel stood in alarm, then had to grab the arm of the chair to steady herself.

“No... no... you’re in danger, Vader. He’s going to know you helped me!” she said. “All of you are in danger!” She looked at the 3 of them with grave concern.

Gilly walked up to Sentinel and made her sit back down. “Relax, child. Relax. The Emperor doesn’t know we were the ones to help you.” Gilly looked up at Vader. “This Hedra was dreadfully powerful. Perhaps we can fabricate something regarding her overpowering you, Lord Vader, and then escaping from you?”

Vader thought for a moment. “Hedra fully expected to be taken to see the Emperor. I can’t think of a reason that she would decide to instead run from him, or from me.”

“Oh, frak. Oh, frak.” Sentinel put her head in her hands, rocking.

“This is not your problem, Sentinel.” Vader said. “It’s mine. You, and possibly Gilly and Mortis, will need to go into hiding.”

Sentinel sat there thinking. “I need to talk to Lord Vader alone.” she finally said.

“Of course, Dear. We will just go wait in the spare quarters, where we were resting after the exorcism was finished.” Gilly said.

Vader glanced at them sharply. “You left Sasha alone?”

Mortis said “We couldn’t do anymore. Besides, Gilly put her manacles back on.”

“No I didn’t, Dear. I thought you had.” Gilly said.

Sasha looked up with some amusement.

“Why didn’t you wake me when you were done?” Vader asked, sharply.

“Well, we came in here, and saw you were sleeping so deeply. You were obviously exhausted. We thought it would be better to let you sleep.” Gilly explained.

Vader clenched his fists in frustration. He knew he should have stayed and watched over the proceedings! Hedra could have still been inside Sentinel, and wandered through the ship killing them all in their sleep. And then the realization that they had gotten a good look at him without his mask on... he had been so tired, he had neglected to lock the door to his quarters!

He stood there shaking his head, deciding that maybe this Higher Power had protected them from their collective stupidity.

“Gilly, Mortis, please leave. I will come find you when I’m done.” Sentinel said. “And thank you, for saving me.”

Gilly and Mortis started to leave, when Sentinel stopped them. “Wait, how are the others?” Sentinel asked.

“The others have fled the planet. They were afraid order 66 might include them. We fled, but not so far... just from the city to the cave.” Mortis said.

“Why didn’t you leave the planet too? Without anyone to train, what would keep you on this Force-forsaken planet?” Sentinel asked.

“You, Dear.” Gilly answered. “We felt we had to stay, that sometime in the near future, someone was going to need healing from us that medical droids could not provide. We felt that very strongly. And now that we have healed you, we know you were the one we were waiting for.” Gilly smiled. “And now, we will give you two some time alone.”

Mortis and Gilly both left Vader’s quarters, the door auto-closing behind them.

Vader moved towards Sentinel, wanting badly to hold her again. She held up her hand.

“No, I need some questions answered.” Sentinel said.

Vader paused, uncertain where this was going. He was still very tired. “What questions?”

“Please, Lord Vader, sit down.” Sentinel gestured towards the bed. Vader sat, and was sad to see Sentinel remained in her chair... that she did not join him to sit beside him.

“Some things the Jedi said... the ones in the ancient sun-worshipers temple... are bothering me.” she explained.

Vader didn’t like where this was going. He sighed inwardly, then said “Go ahead.”

“The Jedi said that the Emperor engineered the war with the Separatists. That he was controlling both sides in order to give himself more power in the Senate. Is this true?” she asked.

Vader considered it for a moment. When he had first started working with the Emperor, he had chosen to believe that the man had indeed been betrayed by the Jedi, and was indeed merely trying to maintain rule for the good of the Empire. Vader still intended to overthrow the Emperor, as he was sure he could do a better job, and as the ember of his lust for power had become a raging inferno once the Dark Side had settled in.

But had the Emperor actually engineered the entire Separatist/Clone war? At this point, he wouldn’t put it past the Emperor. But he honestly didn’t know.

“I don’t know.” Vader answered, honestly. “But it wouldn’t surprise me if he had engineered the entire war. It would explain where the clone army came from, why it was ready ahead of time. He needed an enemy, to give him a reason to stay in office and request an army be created, and then he needed an army ready for him to claim as his own. It very quickly gave him absolute power.”

Sentinel considered his answer for a moment. “Were the Jedi in fact really trying to take over the Empire, or were they merely trying to depose an evil leader?” she asked.

“The Jedi betrayed me!” Vader growled.

“How so?” Sentinel asked.

Vader rose, fuming, starting to pace. He didn’t like being put on the spot, having questions asked of him that so closely circled his own motivations for joining the Dark Side and becoming loyal to a Sith Lord. Well, somewhat loyal.

“What was the Jedi’s true intent?” Sentinel asked.

“Their true intent doesn’t matter! What matters is that they were willing to kill the Emperor without so much as a trial. This alone made them suspect.” Vader snarled.

“How did they betray you?” she asked.

“They wouldn’t give me the honor I deserved! And they were going to kill the one person who could help me save the one I loved.” Vader said.

“You were a Jedi before you became Sith?” she asked.

“Yes!” Vader roared, still pacing. He stopped, turned to face her, and growled “I was the greatest Jedi ever known! And they never trusted me, wouldn’t help me increase my skills! The Emperor was willing to help me with that.”

“You were Anakin Skywalker!” Sentinel exclaimed.

“Yes! But not anymore. Don’t use that name in front of me again!” Vader hissed, shaking his fist at her.

Sentinel stared down at the floor, processing everything. “Who was the one you loved?” she finally asked.

“My wife. Padme.” Vader said, calming down at the thought of her. Of his angel.

Sentinel was stunned. “You were married? I thought the Jedi...”

“We were married in secret.” Vader said.

Sentinel skipped ahead in her thoughts. “The Jedi said you killed younglings from the Jedi Temple.”

“I had no choice! They would have been a threat to the Emperor. And it was the Emperor’s first task for me, to make me strong enough to save Padme.” Vader rumbled.

“What was wrong with Padme?” Sentinel asked.

“I had visions that she would die in childbirth.” Vader sat down heavily on the bed, staring at the wall. “Prior to that, I had visions of my Mother dying, and I didn’t react to those visions in time. By the time I went to my Mother, I was just in time to have her die in my arms.” Vader clenched his fists. “I would not allow that to happen again, I would be strong enough to save those I loved.”

“But... you said you killed your wife?” Sentinel said.

Vader turned sharply at Sentinel’s words. “YES!” He snarled. “Yes, I killed her. Obi-Wan, my old Master, turned her against me. I... I grew angry at her, and ... and...” Vader stared down at the floor.

Sentinel only wanted to go over to him then, hold him, and end these torturous questions. But she had to find out everything.

“Why did you have to kill the younglings we found?” she asked.

“They would have become a threat to the Empire.” Vader didn’t look up as he spoke, but continued to stare down at the floor.

“They could have possibly been rehabilitated.” Sentinel said.

“Do you think the Emperor would have allowed that?” Vader asked.

Sentinel almost smiled. “No, I don’t think so.”

“It is never wise to disobey your Sith Master... not until it is time to overthrow him, that is.” Vader rumbled softly.

Sentinel licked her lips, pulled her legs up under her, so her knees where just under her chin, hugging her legs to herself.

“I almost killed you. I remember chopping off your hand.” she said.

“But you didn’t kill me. You held yourself back.” Vader said, suddenly concerned that she might be feeling guilt for her actions. He held up his right hand “See, it’s as good as new.”

Tears started to stream down her face. He was such an angry, dark person, yet he was worried about her feelings, worried she would feel guilty for trying to kill him!

“I did terrible things to you... while I was Darth Hedra...” she stated.

Vader sat there, unwilling to respond.

“I did terrible things to you. I know I did. I can see myself... holding on to your breathing hose and laughing at you, while you lay there, helpless.” Sentinel shuddered. “I see myself toying with you... you actually cowering before me.” She hugged herself tighter, but the memories continued to flood in.

“You remember?” Vader asked. He was suddenly very glad he had been cautious, that he had treated Hedra as kindly as possible when he’d had to subdue her.

“I remember.” Sentinel responded. “She and the Emperor have the secrets to eternal life... of a sort. They know how to take over the bodies of their clones.”

“What else do you remember?” Vader asked.

“I can’t remember anything about Hedra prior to her taking over my body. But I remember what she thought, what she herself remembered at the time, and what she said and did to you.” Sentinel pushed her face into her knees, hiding, and started to rock herself.

Vader stood up, went to Sentinel, getting down on one knee in front of her, placing his left hand on her hands that were wrapped around her legs.

“You should have taken her offer.” Sentinel said, her face still hidden. “She was serious about making you her apprentice, about teaching you how to move to a new body. About keeping the Emperor from having you killed when you were replaced. You could eventually have escaped your body. It would have been as if you’d never lost a single limb, never been burnt.”

“There are some things even I... am unwilling to do.” Vader rumbled softly. “Profiting from your suffering was one of them.”

Sentinel lifted her head from her knees, tears streaming down her face.

“Don’t cry, my Love.” Vader said. “You’re safe. I didn’t let Hedra get away with her plans. And I won’t let the Emperor harm you.”

“I’m not worried about myself. I hate what I did to you.” she said.

“You couldn’t help it. Hedra was in control.” Vader said, taking one of her hands and squeezing it.

“No, no... in the temple... I almost killed you. I wanted to kill you. I... the Dark Side was so strong, so intoxicating.” Sentinel shuddered.

“You held fast to our promise. You were strong enough.” Vader said.

“Why did you save me? After I tried to kill you? After I turned on you?” Sentinel looked up at him, eyes red with tears.

“Because you didn’t kill me. You fought off the Dark Side, you fought off the temptation. I know what that’s like. Only moments before you tried to kill me, I almost killed you, after all.” Vader said, himself shuddering as he remembered being ready to lop Sentinel’s head off when she had been protecting the youngling with her body.

The past events were hitting Sentinel all at once, exacting their emotional toll. She sobbed uncontrollably.

Vader himself was fighting back tears, hidden behind his mask.

We’re quite the pair of Sith Lords, he thought.

Sentinel tried several times to stave off the tears and shuddering sobs. After about a few minutes, she succeeded.

“Told you I would make a terrible Sith. How many Sith Lords have emotional breakdowns?” she said, chuckling and sobbing.

Vader raised his hand.

Sentinel laughed. She looked at him, smiling. “So, you were Anakin Skywalker.”

Vader rose and turned away. “Do not remind me of that name.” he growled.

“I merely speak of it because I find it ironic.” she said.

“You find this amusing, do you?” Vader growled.

“No, no. You misunderstand. I fell in love with you the first moment I saw you on the holonet, as Anakin. It seemed a stupid, childish crush at the time, but I knew it was something different. Then when Anakin disappeared, and Vader appeared, it was like I was falling in love all over again, except somehow it felt like I was still in love with the same person. I couldn’t figure it out. My brother thought I was just being a fickle female, but there was something about you...” Sentinel said.

“You knew all along who I was...” Vader said, incredulous.

“Well, my heart did. My head has been playing catch-up the entire time, since it didn’t make sense to me how you two could be the same person.” Sentinel said.

“You fell in love with someone you had never met.” Vader said.

“I know, it sounds really stupid.” Sentinel said.

Vader thought of when he was 9, and fell in love with a 14 year old Queen.

“Not that stupid.” Vader said.

Sentinel sat there, thinking hard. “We need to run. To hide from the Emperor. You and me. I can keep you hidden, I can get you help so you can change your appearance.” she said.

“You would be able to hide much more easily without me.” he rumbled.

“I don’t want to leave you.” she whispered.

Vader returned to her, kneeling on one knee, and held her.

“If I am to keep you safe, I may have to do the one thing that I’ve never learned how to do.” he said, softly, holding her gently.

She leaned her forehead against his chest armor. “What is that?” she asked.

“Let go of someone I love.” Vader said.

Goto Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Four

2006-07-03T23:49:00.000-07:00

The hovercraft traveled through the foothills, approaching a huge cave opening. It had to be a good 20 meters in height, almost 100 meters wide, a yawning mouth in the side of the mountain. Vader brought the craft into the mouth of the cave. He had travelled a full kilometer from the ship, and was grateful to sense that his Force powers had returned. Suddenly, the terrain was no longer dark, but was rife with meaning.

And the ‘meaning’ he sensed coming from the cave was in the form of 2 life-forms, both sentient, and both Force sensitive.

He stopped about 30 meters inside the mouth of the cave, and powered the hovercraft down. He exited the hovercraft, reaching in for a lamp. Once switched on, he saw the small metal building to his left. It was about 4 meters tall, and 30 meters on a side, with no windows.

He walked around to the back of the building, further inside the cave. There he found a door, and a window. There was a light on somewhere inside the building. He could see no movement inside, but then it was very late in the night here. Surely the occupants were fast asleep.

There was no comm button. There was a doorknob. He was loathe to simply break in -- he needed to possibly win these people’s trust. That will be some trick, he thought. No matter, he must try to get these people’s sympathy and assistance willingly, before he gave in to using force. As it was, he was so exhausted he wasn’t sure he was up to using force.

Diplomacy was not his strong suit, even when he was a Jedi. But exhaustion was about to force him to depend upon that route.

He sighed inaudibly from inside his mask, and knocked on the front door.

He heard someone talking inside, walking towards the door. Then the door opened, and an old man in robes was staring up at him, groggily. As the man registered who was standing in front of him, his eyes went wide.

“Gilly, I think we’re under arrest!” He called to an old woman behind him, also wearing robes, who was stumbling into the room behind the old man, probably coming from their bedroom.

“Mortis, what did you say?” the woman walked over, appraised the situation, eyes wide with surprise when she saw who their visitor was.

Vader decided it would be best to cut to the chase. “Are you two the shamans?”

“No... m’Lord... they’ve all left. Order 66 scared them off.” Mortis said.

Vader couldn’t tell if the man was lying or not. He was too tired. But he knew Mortis was Force sensitive.

“Please... I need to find them.” Vader said.

Gilly face changed from being slightly fearful, to suddenly filled with compassion.

“Won’t you please come in and sit down?” she asked Vader.

Mortis looked questioningly at Gilly, but moved out of the way so Vader could come in. Gilly guided Vader over to the kitchen table and sat him down in one of the kitchen chairs. Mortis looked cautiously out the still open door, and once he realized there were no stormtroopers outside, he closed the door.

Mortis walked over, cautiously. His wife, Gilly, had an uncanny ability to read people... but her sudden friendliness with the Dark Lord was unnerving.

Gilly dragged a chair over so she could better face Vader, and sat down in it. “What is it that you need?” She asked.

“I need the shamans to help a friend of mine.” Vader said, uncertain how much he should tell them.

“You’re not here for help... you just want to arrest or kill any Force users you find.” Mortis said.

Gilly seemed not to hear her husband. “What is wrong with your friend?”

Vader turned to Mortis. “I am not here to arrest or kill you or the shamans.” He turned back to Gilly. “It’s a long story, one that I would rather tell the shamans in private.”

Gilly said “We’re the shamans. We’re all that’s left of them. The rest fled the planet when the order to kill all Jedi came down. They felt that they would be grouped together with the Jedi, and decided it was time to make themselves scarce. We fled the city and decided to live in the cave we had been using to train our members.”

Mortis gave Gilly an angry stare. Next she would be telling him where all the other members had fled to, and what their names were.

Vader stared at Gilly, rather astonished at her honesty. “You are taking a big risk telling me all this.” Vader said.

“You’re going to have to trust us if we are to help you. Now, tell us what is wrong with your friend.” Gilly answered.

Vader looked at her, then at Mortis, who was obviously having a hard time watching Gilly be so cooperative with the Sith Lord.

Vader couldn’t help his curiosity. “Why are you even willing to help me?” he asked.

Mortis said, “I’m not sure I’m willing to help you. My wife is willing to help you because she is compassion personified, and can tell you are... in great distress.”

Gilly said, “I can tell that you mean us no harm, and that you have a request that we will be willing to fulfill.”

“You do not even know what I am going to ask of you.” Vader said.

“I don’t need to.” Gilly said. “Now what does your friend need from us? And who is your friend?”

“My friend is someone you may remember. Her name is Sasha Yod.” Vader said.

“Of course I remember her! What’s happened to the girl?” Gilly asked, concern written all over her face.

“She has been possessed by the spirit of a deceased Sith Lord.” Vader explained.

“What?” Mortis exclaimed.

Gilly shook her head.

“She was using the Dark Side, allowing it to fully take over. The Sith Lord, Darth Hedra, was entombed in an obelisk near to Sentinel... to Sasha... when Sasha allowed the Dark Side fully in. Something about Sasha made her vulnerable to Hedra taking over her body.” Vader said. He found himself leaning on the table in front of him. He was starting to feel nauseated from lack of rest.

Mortis moved to stand behind Gilly, his hands on her shoulders.

“You aren’t telling us everything.” Mortis said.

“The Emperor intended for this to happen. He selected Sasha for training in the Dark Side because he knew she would be an appropriate vessel for Darth Hedra.” Vader said.

Mortis stared at Vader in confusion. “Why would you choose to stand in the way of the Emperor’s plans?”

Vader remained silent.

Gilly read Vader’s emotions. “Oh...” she said. “You’re in love with her.”

Mortis’s head snapped down to look at his wife, incredulously.

Vader hated being read this easily. He merely nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

Gilly looked up at her husband. “Sasha could charm a deranged Wookie strung out on death sticks.”

Gilly turned back to Vader. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that in an insulting fashion. I just wouldn’t have thought...”

“That I could feel love for anyone?” Vader remarked, dryly.

“Well...” Gilly sighed.

“Will you help Sasha?” Vader said.

Gilly looked back up at her husband.

“What will happen to Sasha after we’ve helped her?” Mortis asked.

“What do you mean?” Vader said.

“Will the Emperor come after her? Was she fully committed to the Dark Side? If not, would you force her to go back to the Dark Side?” Mortis elaborated.

“The Emperor will not be pleased. He will hunt for her. I will make sure he cannot find her. As to the rest... that is up to her.” Vader rumbled.

“You will protect her from the Emperor... even if she should completely reject the Dark Side, and then join the remaining Jedi?” Mortis asked.

Vader sat silently, considering. “I will not allow the Emperor to harm her.” he finally said.

“I find that hard to believe.” Mortis said.

“I don’t.” Gilly said, looking up at her husband.

After a moment’s thought, Mortis asked, “Do we have your word that you will do nothing to harm Sasha, should she leave the Dark Side?”

“You have my word.” Vader solemnly said.

Gilly stood up. “Take us to her.”

Vader led the shamans to the hovercraft. They rode the short distance to the ship, while Vader explained that Sentinel was currently sedated, and that he had the Force nullifying creature on board to ensure she would be easy to handle. To his surprise, the shamans told him they would not need the creature removed... they would be able to drive Hedra out with the creature still present.

“You see, we can’t drive Hedra out with our Force abilities. We will instead be asking for help from a Higher Power, the one from which the good side of the Force itself emanates, to intervene on Sasha’s behalf.” Mortis explained.

“A Higher Power?” Vader asked.

“Yes.” Gilly said, without giving any further explanation.

“But... won’t the Force nullification also affect this... Higher Power’s Force abilities?” Vader asked, his exhaustion only amplifying his confusion.

“The Force nullification only disables the living’s connection to their Force abilities. It’s not going to nullify the Higher Power’s access to it’s own abilities!” Gilly further explained.

Vader suddenly felt very unsure of these two people. All this talk of a Higher Power, something above the Force, that actually emanated the Force itself? But then, it made him think of how Sentinel had personified the Force. Maybe she had been hearing this ‘Higher Power’ all along.

Nevertheless, their explanations that they wouldn’t even need the Force for their task did not make him feel comfortable. But he didn’t think he had any choice now in turning back. Anyway, this would either work, or he would try something else.

Another thought occurred to him: these two could merely be getting him back to his ship, to the source of the Force nullification, in order to overpower him and take him hostage... or kill him. He wished he had thought of that ahead of time, and had taken some kind of precaution.

All he wanted to do at this point was to sleep. Maybe they would wait until he was deep asleep before they took his life, he thought resignedly.

“You act as if you have heard of these Force nullifying creatures before”, Vader said.

“We have heard of such creatures existing, but not what they are called, or what they look like.” Mortis said.

The ship came into view from behind a small hill. Vader activated the ramp using the remote control, and coasted the hovercraft up into the ship. Once inside, he led the shamans to Sentinel’s quarters, unconsciously keeping a hand on his lightsaber the entire way.

Gilly went to Sentinel's bedside and immediately bent over Sentinel, putting her hand onto Sentinel’s forehead in a motherly fashion. She sighed and said “Sasha, sweetie, it’s ok. It’s Gilly and Mortis. Your friend brought us here to help you.”

Mortis stood behind Gilly, and took Sentinel’s hand, squeezing it. “What have you gotten yourself into this time, child?” Mortis said.

Gilly turned to look back at Vader. “Lord Vader, it would probably be best if you allow us to work alone, undisturbed. This is not going to be an easy task, and will take some time.” Gilly walked over to Vader, gently ushering him out of the room.

“I would prefer to stay and watch.” Vader rumbled. He still wasn't sure these two were really on Sentinel's side.

“Believe me”, Gilly said earnestly. “You don’t want to see any of this. Possession is a terrible condition. You haven’t seen what it’s like when a possessed person has an evil spirit forced out. The evil spirit does not go quietly.”

“I’m not sure I should trust you.” Vader admitted.

Gilly looked up at him. “I’m not sure I should trust you, either. Not without my senses dampened like they are here. But I know what I felt back in our home. You love her. Maybe you were too tired to sense how Mortis and I feel, but we also love the girl. We won’t do anything to harm her. We will do our very best to free her from this Hedra person.”

Vader considered this. “Thank you for...” he said.

“You don’t need to thank us. She is like a daughter to us.” Gilly said.

Vader had a horrible thought. “If the Emperor finds out you had a hand in helping dispose of Hedra...”

“I’m sure you will do everything in your power to keep our involvement a secret?” Gilly suggested.

“Of course. I will do whatever I can. But I may not be in the Emperor’s good graces when this is all through.” Vader said.

“You’re risking alot, aren’t you? Your authority, your power, your very freedom...” Gilly said.

Vader stood there, leaning against the wall, the exhaustion competing with his desire to ensure Sentinel’s safety.

He found himself being led, then, by Gilly, to his quarters. He couldn’t remember telling her where his quarters were. She left him sitting on his bed, after unsuccessfully trying to get him to lie down. Once she had left his room, he reached for the breathing hose, installed it, and removed his mask. He lay down, practically falling backwards onto the bed, and promptly passed out.

Goto Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Three

2006-07-02T22:42:00.000-07:00

“Lord Sentinel is sedated. She will cause you no... difficulty.” Vader said to the droids, once he entered the medcenter.

The droids took the hint and wheeled off, carting equipment and supplies to Sentinel’s quarters.

Vader followed them, watched them work.

The droids finished with Hedra/Sentinel. One of them wheeled up to Vader.

“She should no longer need the restraints, Sir. She will be asleep for at least 40 hours. We will need access to her quarters periodically to see to her needs.” the droid said.

“I will remove her restraints. You have my permission to enter her quarters whenever her needs require it. Have you setup monitors to watch her vital signs?” Vader said.

“Yes, Sir. We will know if she needs us.”

“Then leave us until you are needed once more.”

“Yes, Sir.”

The droids all wheeled out single file. The door auto-closed behind them.

Vader watched them, then turned to look back at Hedra/Sentinel.

Her sleeping form hid the struggling spirit inside her. Or hopefully the struggling spirits. Asleep, she looked like the Sentinel Vader knew.

Vader leaned over her legs, and unlocked the manacles around each ankle. Then he unlocked each wrist, and gently laid her arms at her sides, careful of the IV in her left arm. He pulled a chair over and sat beside her, looking down at her.

“Sentinel... I don’t know if you are still... here.” Vader paused. “I don’t know if you can hear me.”

He leaned in closer, reached over and held her right hand. He felt helpless, and he hated that.

“I will not lose you. But... but if I have to... lose you... I will make sure Hedra loses, too. I will not let her...” Vader stopped, unable to continue. He thought, for a moment, that he felt her squeeze his hand. But who was it, causing her hand to squeeze his?

He sat there, for a long time, just holding her hand. Wondering how he could find someone, 5 years after he had lost everything. And then end up losing that someone... again.

Everything he had done, to keep from losing Padme. And losing her because of it.

His life seemed to be a series of losses.

But he was sure, this time, that he would be able to keep from losing Sentinel. He would make the shamans save her. Or he would somehow even drive Hedra out himself, if it became necessary. Even if it meant he went on the run, and ended up hunting down Dark Side Sith secrets in order to do it.

He sighed. He hoped it didn’t come down to that. Disguising himself for a few missions was one thing; trying to hide while everyone in the galaxy was hunting him down was quite another.

He thought about the past 2 weeks. 2 weeks! It had only been 2 weeks since they had met, if even that. And now she was part of his life, an intrinsic part. But so many events in the past 2 weeks had conspired to take her from him.

He felt confused. How had he become so enamored of Sentinel, so quickly? He was a slow learner, but a fast lover, apparently. It had been that way with Padme. He had fallen in love with her at first sight, at the age of nine! Of course, he couldn’t do anything about it for 10 years.

He groaned at how inexperienced he had been with Padme. His overtures of love to her sounded so awkward to him now. But then, since the Jedi discouraged attachments, he hadn’t exactly had an opportunity to date during his training!

Not that he would have dated anyone... his heart had already chosen, back in Wattoo’s shop. When his 'angel' had walked in.

And now, it appeared his heart had chosen once more.

Why did he have to lose the women he chose?

No, that’s not going to happen with Sentinel. I'm not going to lose her. Vader thought.

Vader berated himself for constantly whining over his losses. This was a sign of weakness, and the Emperor had been quite clear on teaching Vader what self destructive traits Vader had to quell within himself.

Then again, Vader was of the mind right now to toss lessons the Emperor had taught him right out the window. Granted, some of the advice might have actually been good, but right now, anything the old wrinkled untrustworthy prune had said was as good as bantha fodder as far as Vader was concerned.

Vader left Sentinel’s quarters, needing to move around. He didn’t want to leave her side, but he felt so helpless watching her. He needed to think. No, really he needed not to think, but to sleep. He went back to his own quarters, removed his mask, hooked up his air supply, and lay down.

And stared at the ceiling.

He couldn’t help but worry about what his next move should be. Vader had never been very good at waiting. He wanted to meditate, to extend his senses out and search for the solution. But he was completely without access to the Force, to his powers, and this only made him feel more helpless.

After about an hour of staring at the ceiling, unable to ignore his wandering mind any further, Vader left his quarters, and went to the main cargo hold.

He spent several hours tinkering with his new fighter.

Then several more hours in the cockpit, looking up any further information that might tell him the most likely location of the shaman's cave in the mountains to the east of Yuthrub.

There was very little information. He sighed in frustration.

He went back to Sentinel’s quarters, feeling very strung out. He had gone without sleep for days at a time on very important missions. But this was somehow very different. Perhaps the fact that he couldn’t lean on the Force at all for an extra infusion of energy was what was causing him this extra exhaustion?

Sentinel/Hedra was still very much asleep. Droids were rolling away from her body, having changed out various bags of I.V. fluids, and otherwise attending to her.

One stopped in front of him to report. “She is doing well under sedation, Lord Vader. She will wake up with some muscular atrophy, but nothing she won’t be able to rebuild fairly quickly. Is her timetable for being allowed to awaken unchanged?”

“For now.”

“Do you need our assistance at this moment?” the droid asked.

“No, you may leave. Good work.” Vader said.

“Thank you, Sir.” the droid responded, then wheeled off after it’s companions.

Vader sat down next to Sentinel. He felt like he was going to collapse.

“Soon, my Love. This will all be over soon.” he said to Sentinel, holding her hand and gently wiping some stray hairs out of her face.

Sentinel/Hedra moaned softly, a little frown crossing her brow, then became quiet.

Vader leaned back in his chair. Suddenly a beeping alerted him that it was time to bring the ship out of lightspeed. He looked up at the clock, sure that he’d had at least 2 more hours. He’d fallen asleep! 2 hours had come and gone.

Vader rushed to the cockpit, and brought the ship out of lightspeed. To be absolutely correct, he adjusted the controls such that the navputer would bring the ship out of lightspeed at the exact second necessary. He no longer had the necessary skill to manipulate the ship with that amount of accuracy.

The planet, Sevast, hung in orbit directly in front of the ship. It was an unremarkable dark brown on the side that was facing the sun. On the opposite side, it appeared black. The computer scanned the planet, and indicated that the city he was searching for was somewhere on the night-side.

He swung the ship around, scanning the terrain until the computer matched up it’s internal map perfectly and was able to pinpoint the city. He wouldn’t have been able to locate it by just visually searching... there was a smokey cloud cover that obscured everything about the planet’s surface. A sickly haze that made one think that the planet itself was deathly ill.

He brought the ship into the atmosphere, and was then able to see the lights of the city of Yuthrub. It was lit up, but just barely. It was as if these people didn’t care for their city to be easily located in the dark. As if they were in hiding.

He brought the ship down low, coasting among the foothills of the mountains east of the city, scanning for any caves. The mining facility was southeast of the city, but was dark except for a few lights on some structures. The scanners located a few caves, but nothing suggestive of a cave large enough to be used for training.

Then he found it. It was huge. He could actually land the ship inside it if he wished.

He chose instead to land the ship about a kilometer north of it. He wasn’t sure what the range of the Force nullifying creature was, and he wanted all his abilities available to him when he went in to speak with the shamans. Once the ship touched down, he checked on Sentinel one last time, then went to the main cargo hold and powered up the rental hovercraft.

He had to open the cargo hold using a remote control. He placed it on his belt, and used it to close the cargo hold once he had cleared the ramp.

The computer had summarized the weather of the planet for him. The air was full of contaminates. The oxygen levels were sufficient for life, but otherwise, it was dusty, dirty, and cold. When the sun came up in a few hours, it wouldn’t be that much lighter, thanks to the perpetual cloud of darkness that hung around the planet. The cloud contained particulate matter, radioactive elements, and gases that were very unhealthy. The only reason the air in this area was breathable was because there was an atmospheric processing plant just north of the city. And the only reason anyone lived here on this Force-forsaken place was because of the valuable minerals under the ground.

The history of the planet showed that it had once been teeming with life. But the sentient beings on the planet had been warlike, and had unleashed a nuclear holocaust on their own world.

This is where Sentinel grew up... this is what she lived with every day of her life, Vader thought. He had thought his home world was lacking.

He directed the hovercraft to the mountains, hoping the answer to his and Sentinel’s problems lay ahead of him.

Goto Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Two

2006-06-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

Vader entered the cockpit. The navputer was still off, and, as far as he could tell, nothing had been tampered with. He booted up the navputer, and set the timer down on the cockpit dashboard in order to be able to watch it more carefully.

He prepared himself to manually disengage lightspeed, without the assistance of the navputer. If his timing was off, he could have several hours trip traveling at sublight, heading for the agreed upon coordinates.

The coordinates where his package was waiting.

As the timer counted down the final seconds, Vader readied himself. He brought the ship out of lightspeed simultaneously with the timer counting down to zero.

There, off the starboard bow, was the ship he was meeting with: the Illusion.

He thought it to be a rather strange name for a Star Destroyer, but appropriate to his personal mission.

He knew that once he brought the package onboard, there would be no going back. He would be committed to bringing Sentinel back. Hedra’s offer would become null and void. And he might also find himself on the run from the Emperor, if he didn’t play this very carefully.

He sat back in his chair. Hedra’s offer was rather... tantalizing. Being able to rule the galaxy, forever? But sharing power with Sidious... Sidious was a sneaky, conniving politician. Sidious had done so much to him, albeit in order to make Vader a Sith lord. But he had caused Vader so much pain and loss in order to achieve those goals. And Vader knew Hedra was probably right: eventually Vader would outlive his purpose in Sidious’s eyes, and Sidious would seek a replacement, unless of course Vader overthrew the man first.

But was Hedra someone he could trust? And if he made that agreement with Hedra, he would effectively be committing himself to never overthrowing Sidious... to simply shifting Master’s, for the promise of being taught how to switch to a newer body upon his own death.

Too many risks. Too many questions. And again, could he even trust Hedra?

He looked out the cockpit, to the left of the ship. A bright green planet slowly spun in it’s orbit, oblivious to the Star Destroyer or Vader’s ship’s presence.

Sentinel was someone he could trust... and he would rather have merely a normal lifespan with her than several without her.

Vader sent out a coded signal to the Illusion. A small box was immediately jettisoned from a port in the Illusion’s side, and the Illusion promptly entered hyperspace. Vader guided the ship towards the box.

As the ship grew closer to the box, Vader immediately sensed his Force abilities start to weaken. Almost reluctantly, he maneuvered a robotic arm on the outside of the ship to attach and pull in the box. Once the box was secured inside one of the cargo holds, and the navputer had performed new calculations for the rest of their journey to Sevast, Vader placed the ship back into lightspeed. This time, he left the navputer running.

Vader noted that the box was in the hold that was furthest from the cockpit.

He reached for an object on the far side of the cockpit.

The object didn’t budge.

He tried to sense something, anything, with his Force sensitivity. It was as if he had suddenly gone deaf.

Perfect, he thought.

He left the cockpit, stopping briefly in the armory, and headed for Sentinel’s quarters.

Thankfully, her door was not locked. Otherwise, he would have had to either break in, or ask her to unlock it. Since she wouldn’t have been able to unlock it with the Force, she would have immediately known something was up. That would have made her... difficult.

The door auto-opened at Vader’s approach. He walked in to her quarters.

Darth Hedra was lounging on the bed, still wearing the white robe. Music was playing. Hedra looked up to see Vader enter, and smiled.

“Have you come to pay the price for eternal life?” she asked.

Vader noticed Sentinel’s lightsaber was sitting on the table furthest from the bed. And that Sentinel’s bag ‘o’ tricks was sitting on a chair also far away from the bed. It was almost as if circumstances were conspiring with him to take care of the detestable woman in front of him.

“Not exactly...” Vader rumbled softly. He pulled out the blaster he had hidden in the folds of his robe, and aimed it at her. Then he unhooked one of four manacles he had hooked to his belt, and threw it at her.

She caught it, and looked at him, perplexed. “What is this?” she asked.

“A restraint. Consider yourself... managed.” He responded.

She laughed. “You really think you can control me with a blaster and manacles?”

“Yes. I can.”

Hedra reached for the lightsaber on the far table. It didn’t budge. She became confused.

“Put the restraint around your left ankle, and then attach the restraint to the foot of your bed. Do it now.” Vader ordered.

Hedra looked up at him in horror, and then rage. “How did you...”

“Do it now!” Vader yelled.

Hedra rose out of the bed, reaching for anything heavy she could find on the bedside table. But she was instantly knocked unconscious by a blast from Vader’s gun, which was set on stun.

“So much for your complete cooperation...” Vader mused, and proceeded to restrain Hedra, with a limb manacled to each bedpost.

Once Vader was sure she was adequately restrained, he checked her vitals. He could see her chest rise and fall. He couldn’t check her pulse: his cybernetic fingers weren’t that sensitive. He ordered a droid into the room, and it confirmed that Hedra was not adversely affected by being stunned. He then ordered the droid back out of the room.

Vader swept through the room, removing all weapons... anything Hedra might be able to use. These he stored in his quarters. Once done with that, and after a final check on Hedra (who was still out cold), he went to the cargo hold where he had stored the box. He had a droid carry the box from the cargo hold to the ship’s lab, and opened the box there.

Inside was a small tank of oxygen that was about 3/4 of the way full, and one sedated Force-nullifying critter.

Vader had never been so happy to see that creature! He actually reached in and gently pet it on the head and neck. It snored and shifted position slightly, in response.

He gently transferred the creature to a cage, and ensured it had adequate food and water at it’s disposal once it woke up.

Vader watched the creature for a moment, and then headed back to the cockpit. He was headed for Sevast, but had neglected to discover where on Sevast he needed to go! He didn’t have a great deal of time for a lengthy search. So it was time to go looking for clues.

He queried the local copy of the galactic database on the ship’s central computer, and was pleased to find that Sevast was a largely uninhabited world, with only 1 major city. That city, ‘Yuthrub’ happened to be the only mining settlement on the planet. The city sat in a plain, with mountains to the East of it.

Now that he had a very good idea of where to start his search, he started to relax somewhat. But it occurred to him that perhaps, before he relaxed too much, he should check on Hedra one more time.

He didn’t want to have to deal with her anymore than was necessary. They had at least another 34 hours of travel time. He would have to ensure her safety, but also keep her under control. Perhaps it would be best to move her to the medcenter and keep her sedated, and provide her with an intravenous drip of sustenance.

Then again, would it be better to ensure she was physically worn out prior to the shamans performing whatever rites they needed to perform in order to drive Hedra out? Maybe he should spend the next 34 hours tormenting her!

The thought brought a smile to his face. The only problem with the idea was that perhaps Sentinel was actually stuck somewhere in that body, and would suffer along with Hedra.

Vader wondered how the Shamans were going to drive Hedra out. Of course, there might not be anything that the shamans could do. Vader might merely be prolonging Hedra’s life until the time at which he would have to take it in order to cover up his plot against her.

He shifted uncomfortably in his chair at the thought. All this effort to end up having to kill his lover...

And how ironic, since Hedra might truly have helped Vader to attain more power.

Vader shook that thought out of his mind. Even if rescuing Sentinel was a lost cause, the idea of gaining anything from Sentinel’s predicament was detestable to him.

He hated the idea that Sentinel might be stuck inside that body, watching everything Hedra was doing, and that Vader might have to kill her in killing Hedra. He hoped, if it came to that, that she wasn’t really at all aware of anything that had been going on.

He resolved to be as gentle with Hedra as possible, for Sentinel’s sake.

Which brought him to the realization that he should go check on Hedra.

Vader left the cockpit and entered Sentinel’s quarters. Hedra was awake, and trying desperately to pull her right hand loose from the manacle that held it fast. Blood was dripping from her wrist, where she had rubbed the skin off.

“Do not waste your energy.” Vader said.

Hedra glared at him. “You will pay dearly for this outrage.”

“The outrage is that you took over a body you had no rights to.” Vader rumbled.

“Oh, and you intend to preach to me about what is right and what is wrong? You are Sith, just like me.” Hedra hissed.

“That is true. Let us say, then, that I take great offense at your choice in bodies to usurp.” Vader said.

“There is nothing you can do. I am not leaving this body. The only way you will get me out of here is to kill me, and then your precious Sentinel will die as well.” Hedra said.

“If that is your destiny, then so be it. I am sure that Sentinel would prefer her body destroyed than to allow you to continue to use it.” Vader stated. Before Hedra could respond, he whirled out of Sentinel’s quarters and headed for the medcenter.

The droids woke up as he entered the medcenter.

Vader wasn’t sure if the droids were programmed to deal with one sentient being keeping another one prisoner. They were programmed to obey the captain of the ship, which would be him. They were programmed to obey the conscious sentient beings when it came to the care of the unconscious sentient beings. The only droid he thought could have ever questioned Vader regarding restraining Sentinel would have been R2D2, but that droid had a scary and unusual amount of sentience, way more than any medical droid he had ever dealt with.

If Vader hadn’t known for sure that R2D2 was a droid, he would have thought that perhaps the little droid’s shell actually hid a small, Force sensitive living creature inside.

So, would the medical droids try to save Hedra if Vader had to kill her? He would have to destroy her without the droids being present, if it came to that.

And as far as keeping Hedra prisoner: well, it wouldn’t hurt to feed the droids a little disinformation, to keep them cooperative.

Vader addressed the droids: “Lord Sentinel is very sick, and I am taking her someplace where her particular... disease... can be treated. In the meantime, she is a danger to herself. I need you to prepare sufficient sedative to keep Lord Sentinel asleep for approximately 40 hours. And then I need you to hook her up with an intravenous feeding tube, as well as whatever you would... hook her up to... to allow her to relieve herself.”

One of the droids rolled forwards. “In order to keep her asleep for that long, it would be advisable that her sedative be an intravenous drip as well.” It said.

“She is going to be... difficult... to sedate. Perhaps I should handle the initial sedation, and then you can setup the intravenous drip.” Vader suggested.

The droid rolled over to a table and prepared the syringe, ensuring a cap was in place over the needle. It then handed it to Lord Vader.

Vader took it. “Make your other preparations for Lord Sentinel convalescence. I will be back.”

“Will she be stationed in the medcenter, or will you be continuing to keep her confined in her quarters?” the droid asked.

Right. The droid saw Hedra chained to the bed when I had it check Hedra’s vitals, Vader thought. Must remember to have their memories wiped.

“She will remain in her quarters, for now.” Vader said, then whirled out of the medcenter, syringe in hand, and headed back to Sentinel’s quarters.

“You will never get away with this. Sidious will ensure you die hideously.” Hedra’s anger was almost palpable, even with Vader’s Force sensitivity completely dampened.

Vader noted that there was blood actively dripping from both of Hedra’s wrists now. Sentinel’s wrists, he corrected himself.

“I have already suffered enough for several hideous deaths. What is one more?” Vader said, sarcasm dripping off of every word. He approached the bed, and Hedra looked with alarm at the syringe.

“Wait! What is that?” Hedra asked, shifting in bed nervously, trying to distance herself from Vader and the syringe.

“Something to help you sleep.”

“No, wait! Wait, we can still make some sort of deal. Let me live, and I’ll never tell Lord Sidious! I will make it worth your while to spare me! Wait!” Hedra squirmed, but was unable to evade the needle. Vader injected the syringe's contents into her thigh.

“No....” Hedra moaned.

Vader stood back, waiting for the sedative to take effect.

“At least... tell me... how you have... taken... taken away my power...” Hedra said, starting to become drowsy. She looked up at Vader, eyes pleading.

Vader stood there, still as a statue, unspeaking. He watched Hedra finally fall asleep. Then he turned and left the room, heading for the medcenter.

Goto Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-One

2006-06-29T22:28:00.000-07:00

Vader had been up the entire night. He had considered returning to his quarters, attempting to get some rest, but had not wanted to leave the cockpit in fear that Hedra would return, look at the navputer readouts, and discover their true course. So Vader had kept his vigil, not even taking breaks for biological necessities.

He was exhausted, hungry, and, well, irritable for other reasons.

There was a clean air hose he could hook up his breathing apparatus to, in the cockpit. He also had access to water there. So he wasn’t thirsty. But the water had only exacerbated that which was now making him very irritable.

After about 10 hours, he could stand it no longer. He verified, to the second, exactly when he would need to come out of hyperspace. He set a portable timer, which he then attached to his belt. Then he shut down the navputer entirely. Now, their exit from hyperspace in the correct location was completely dependent upon him. And it would also be virtually impossible for Hedra to determine their course without taking the ship out of hyperspace.

He unlocked the cockpit, looked around carefully, then made a beeline for his quarters. Once inside his quarters, he locked the door, and briefly examined his room. Everything looked untouched, and he couldn’t sense any lingering evidence that Hedra had been in there. Relieved, he quickly took care of his most pressing biological needs.

Afterwards, he removed his helmet, hooking up a breathing hose, and ate some food, almost leisurely. Then he entered the fresher, and allowed the droids in there to clean him and his environmental suit thoroughly.

Bathing was no longer a simple matter for Lord Vader, and he had long ago given into the convenience of having the droid’s assistance.

He almost had the droids clean him twice. In the back of his mind, he realized he was trying to remove the spiritual stench of Hedra’s aura.

When he was done, he checked the timer. He had 3 hours before his first stop prior to getting to Sevast. He set an alarm on the timer for 20 minutes prior to when he needed to bring the ship out of hyperspace.

He took a much needed break to sleep.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Vader woke to the touch of lips, gently pressing against his mouth. Hands gently crossing his brow, as if to wipe his cares away.

Vader reached up to put his hands on the back of his lover’s head and back, kissing her passionately in response, pulling her close. He breathed in Sentinel’s scent, feeling arousal take over.

Sentinel moved from his lips and buried her face in his neck, nibbling gently.

Vader moaned softly.

Then his eyes snapped wide open, and he stared at the woman who was partially on top of him.

The stranger in Sentinel’s body. Sentinel’s naked body.

He placed his hands roughly on her shoulders, and shoved her away from him, hard, using his cybernetic strength accompanied by a hard Force push.

Hedra had a hold of his breathing hose. When she was violently shoved away, the hose was also yanked violently out of Vader’s chest.

Hedra landed smartly on her feet, holding the breathing hose, and laughing maniacally.

Vader flipped his chest breathing port closed, reaching for his helmet with the Force. His helmet was nowhere in the room.

Hedra watched him, smiling, holding on to his lifeline possessively.

He looked at her. He felt himself starting to pant, to breath faster, to make up for the fact that the air in his quarters was not the same oxygen enriched air that had been flowing through his breathing hose.

He reached for his lightsaber on his belt, but soon found that his mask wasn’t the only thing missing from his quarters.

He glared at Hedra. She grinned menacingly. She seemed not at all embarrassed by standing in front of him, in the nude. Watching him suffocate.

Vader attempted to rise from bed. If more of his body had been cybernetic, he would have made it. But enough of his body was still biologic, and was not up to the task of operating without enough oxygen. He fell back in the bed, staring up at the ceiling, feeling for a second like he was going to pass out.

He tried to calm down, reduce his need for oxygen. He watched Hedra warily.

She lazily crossed the room, holding on to his hose.

“Are you going to behave?” she asked, calmly.

He frowned, feeling his mechanical lungs straining, and finally nodded, closing his eyes in submission.

Hedra stalked over to him, opened his chest breathing port, and hooked the hose back into place. Vader opened his eyes, felt his heart rate slow down. Hedra then stood next to his bed, looking down at him, laying a hand on his stomach, possessively.

As if he were her personal toy.

He looked up at her warily. His gaze went to the clock on the wall, and he realized they had 30 more minutes before he needed to bring the ship out of hyperspace. 10 more minutes and his timer’s alarm would go off.

He looked back at her.

She was lazily tracing figure eights across his stomach.

Why must my worst enemy keep coming on to me? He asked himself. She’s not attracted to me. Or is she? What is she up to?

Vader sat up carefully. Hedra’s hand slid down his stomach into his lap. She was watching him carefully, hungrily.

“Darth Hedra, I find it hard to believe that you are truly interested in me, in that way.” he said, softly. He watched her keenly, waiting to see what her next move would be.

“I could tell, however, that you are very interested in me,” Hedra said. She grinned at him, lasciviously. Her hand was still suggestively in his lap, although his body armor wasn’t allowing her any undesired access. Thank the Force, Vader thought.

Vader gently moved her right hand out of his lap, trying not to show his revulsion at her physical attention.

“Since you are not truly interested in me, why do you insist on flirting with me?” He looked her in the eyes, making a point of not gazing at the rest of her lovely, borrowed body.

She moved away from the bed, still grinning. She picked up a white robe from a chair, and put it on, tying it at her waist. She walked back to him. As she walked back, Vader swung his legs off the bed, but remained sitting.

Hedra stood in front of him, making a point of standing such that she was in between his legs. “I’ve been dead a long time, Lord Vader.” She rested her hands on each of his arms. “You and Sidious are the most powerful Dark Force users in the galaxy. I don’t count any of the Sith trainers Sidious has employed as being worthy of my attention.” She looked up into Vader’s eyes suggestively. “When you have left me with Darth Sidious, any chance we might have of being together will be gone.”

Vader looked down at her, wearing a vaguely perplexed expression. “You threaten me, you insult me, you come on to me, you try to kill me.” He paused. “Does the phrase ‘mixed signals’ mean anything to you?”

She chuckled, rubbing his forearms playfully. “The fear doesn’t reach you anymore. Or the cold.”

“You were testing me.” Vader said, coldly.

“Of course. Everything is a test, Lord Vader.”

“And this latest test?”

“Latest?” Hedra asked.

“Hiding my helmet? The lightsabers? Yanking out my air supply?”

“Merely verifying what I already knew, that you have your weaknesses. That you can be... managed,” she said.

Vader stood up, forcing her to back up. He looked down at her and growled, “Managed?”

She stood quite close to him, looking up at him, and laughed gently. “You have a great deal of potential. I would like to tap into that, to help you grow. But I need to know that you can’t easily turn on me, and later, that you no longer desire to turn on me.”

“I already have a Master.” Vader said.

“Yes. He is the one who ensured you would be manageable.”

Vader looked stunned. “He saved my life...”

“Come, now Vader. We both know that there were better solutions to your situation than this substandard cybernetic one. I sense you’ve noticed already that your mechanical body is quite vulnerable to electrical shock, to electromagnetic forces. Vulnerable to things that stormtrooper equipment easily recovers from, that most droids can recover from. You will probably never be able to fully repulse Force lightning, nor can you ever safely practice creating Force lightning yourself. You were given these imperfections to ensure you could be subdued, if it ever became necessary.”

Vader looked down at her, in shock. Hearing his worst fears confirmed did nothing good for his emotional state.

Hedra continued. “Now, at some point Sidious is going to want to replace you. He’s going to find some other candidate that he thinks he can also control. Maybe someone younger, with less of your potential, and therefore needing less... management.” She walked away from him, her fingers of her right hand tapping her chin as if to time her thoughts. “I have no viable apprentices right now. Of course, I’ve only been among the living a few hours. But I like to think ahead, have all my options before me. I see you as a very powerful option. I see you eventually becoming my apprentice, and becoming worthy of the secret of immortality, the secret of being able to move from one body to the next.”

Vader stood there, his mouth partially open, still trying to digest how even the Emperor had betrayed him by doing what he could to ensure Vader’s mechanical body was substandard, vulnerable. Although he realized, every betrayal of the Emperor’s should not have been a surprise to him.

Hedra turned to face him again. “I see you becoming possibly more powerful than I am, especially once you have moved from this body into a new, cloned one. The question in that event, of course, is if I can convince you to make the same promise to me that Sidious and I made each other.”

“Even if the Emperor wishes to replace me, what makes you think he’s going to be agreeable with your inheriting me?” Vader asked.

“Oh, I won’t inherit you. The Emperor will have some price I must pay in order to get to have you be my apprentice once he is finished with you. But I’ll figure out some way to pay that price.”

Hedra sat down in the chair next to her, and crossed her legs.

“Other than Sidious, you are the only one who has ever been able to withstand the fear and cold I can project. I have fine tuned the projection of various emotions and sensations over hundreds of years. I would rather rely on that power than my Force lightning, which is second only to Lord Sidious’s Force lightning. Even Sidious is unable to project emotions as well as I can.” She paused, looked down at the floor as if seeing something there. “Even if you will eventually surpass me in power, I intend to ensure you will be able to achieve your full potential. And I believe you may one day surpass both Sidious and myself.”

“Why would you want to help me be more powerful than yourself?” Vader asked.

“Because I believe in ensuring that the Sith will achieve it’s full power. Unlike Sidious, I don’t believe in fearing those who can become more powerful than I can. I do believe in achieving an agreement with anyone who might become more powerful than I am, of course.” She smiled. “But I believe that the galaxy is large enough for a 3rd Master Sith-lord. I believe we three will need each other in order to maintain order and Sith rule in this galaxy.”

“Why should I trust you any more than I should trust my Master?” Vader asked. “And why would the Emperor agree to dividing the galaxy into thirds rather than halves?”

“You will simply have to watch me, and see if my words and my actions agree,” she said. “And as to the latter question, I will have to convince him of the benefits of having 3 Master Sith-lords. It will take some time, but I can be very persuasive.”

Vader suddenly flashed back to one of Sentinel's pro and con Sith/Jedi discussions. Vader wasn’t a stupid person... and he was very experienced. But it seemed to him that events had conspired in his life to ensure that all his experiences came at him fast and hard, and that he never truly had time to evaluate the experiences after the fact.

It was ironic to have been in the Jedi order, being taught how to meditate and calm oneself, and then be thrown into a war, be in a continual state of upheaval, constantly fighting for your life, and never having a moment’s peace to yourself in which to actually practice that meditation.

Since becoming an adult, Vader had only had adequate time to meditate once he had become Sith!

He had become a Sith based upon an emotionally loaded, last-minute decision. He felt very reluctant to make yet another life-changing decision with possibly disastrous consequences.

He felt reluctant to side with this woman when in all likelihood she was just as untrustworthy as the Emperor.

And finally, he felt reluctant to make a decision that would mean Sentinel would never return.

“I will have to think about what you have said.” Vader said.

“Of course, my offer of, in time, taking you on as my apprentice, does have a cost. And the time for payment is dwindling...” she said.

“Cost?”

Hedra stood and walked up to Vader, moving very sensuously.

Vader struggled to keep his expression calm, confident. He was no longer unnerved by Hedra anymore. But his revulsion of Hedra was hard to push down. However, it was competing with his attraction to Sentinel’s sexy body.

Hedra reached him, putting both hands on his chest, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him languorously.

It was still Sentinel’s lips against his, and Vader found himself reacting, starting to kiss her back.

Hedra pulled back and looked at him, as if evaluating his reaction. She appeared to like what she saw, because she leaned in to kiss him once more. Almost against his will, Vader found himself wrapping his arms around her and returning the kiss, passionately.

The alarm on the timer on his belt suddenly beeped, startling them both.

Vader released Hedra. She stepped away as Vader glanced at the timer.

“I have to go.” Vader said simply.

Hedra smiled, and sauntered towards the door of his quarters. The door slid open, revealing his helmet and lightsaber on the floor just outside.

Vader called the items to himself, hooking the lightsaber to his belt, and placing his helmet back on his head. He noted that Sentinel’s lightsaber was not on the floor outside his quarters.

Hedra was standing in the doorway. “Don’t forget... time is running out.” she said. Then Hedra walked out, smiling over her shoulder briefly, and disappeared around the corner.

Vader unhooked the breathing hose, watching her leave. When she was out of range of his door’s sensor, it auto-closed.

Vader shuddered at the thought of how close he had come to succumbing to Hedra’s borrowed charms. He took the timer from his belt and stared at it, gratefully. Saved by the beep, he thought.

Goto Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty

2006-06-28T23:21:00.000-07:00

Vader left his quarters, heading for the medcenter. Halfway there he stopped, and leaned against the wall for support. He really didn’t want to see any more of this Darth Hedra than he had to. He headed instead for the cockpit, locking the cockpit door behind him. He sat down in the captain’s chair.

He should be taking off from the planet. He should be in space right now, plotting a course for home, taking Hedra to see the Emperor. He should be accepting that Sentinel was gone for good, and Hedra was here to stay.

But I’m just not good at accepting the loss of those I love, Vader thought to himself. I love her. I can’t let this happen to her. I’ve got to somehow bring her back, if possible. Kick Hedra out of her body, he thought.

Was Sentinel’s spirit anywhere he could detect? Or had she merged fully with the Force, losing her separate consciousness?

He stretched out his senses. Would her spirit be located, physically, in the ship? Maybe as close to Hedra as possible, waiting for an opportunity to take back what was rightfully hers? Or would it be back at the scene of the crime, perhaps now somehow attached to the obelisk?

He sensed Hedra. Her smell, her signature, was completely different from Sentinel’s. Same body, different spirit. He couldn’t sense Sentinel at all, just Hedra’s spirit.

Hedra’s very evil spirit, he thought. Although he felt rather hypocritical thinking it. But even he, with all that he had done, couldn’t see taking someone’s body away from them.

Someone’s life... sure. But kicking them out of their body and using their body as your own...

Yes, that would be one of those ‘unnatural’ abilities the Emperor had spoken of.

I wonder how many bodies the Emperor has had, Vader thought. Is this current one number 2? Number 3? He seems to have enough experience, and enough deceptive ability, for a Sith Lord who has lived multiple lifetimes.

How to get Hedra out of there.... how to do it. Couldn’t ask any Jedi for help. Or could he? Would they be sympathetic on this issue? He was sure that even if he could communicate the problem to them, in between defending himself from their saber slashes, that they would laugh at the fact that one of his friends had gotten herself into trouble by following the Dark Side.

What about the other Sith? Would Sentinel’s Sith instructor be willing to help her, or would he applaud the Emperor’s move? Or would he be afraid to thwart the Emperor’s plans?

Would it be possible to negotiate with the Emperor, perhaps to find another body for Hedra to occupy, so that she would let Sentinel have her own body back?

There was no-one he could ask for advice on this. There were no other Force sensitives who could help him, or who would choose to help him.

Maybe there was something in the Sith database, or the Jedi database, that could help him. There had to be something. Would the Emperor, upon discovering Vader’s newest database search, think Vader was searching for the methodology in order to upgrade his own body, or would he think that it was in order to get Sentinel back? Could he phrase the database query in such a way as to throw the Emperor off?

Vader closed his hands into fists. He was at a loss. And he wasn’t sure if he was running out of time, or if he had already run out of time to get Sentinel back into her own body.

Sevast...

He turned around, looking around the cockpit. He wasn’t sure if he had thought the word, or heard the word.

Sentinel’s home world. Sevast.

The shamans!

Impulsively, he powered up the engines, and raised the craft into the air, and took off for deep space. Once he was sufficiently clear of the planet’s gravity, he plotted a course.

Sevast was in the opposite direction from Coruscant. He was taking a big risk in defying the Emperor. But he couldn’t lose Sentinel, too.

His Mother. His Wife. His friends in the Jedi Order. No, no one else.

The navputer beeped when it had finished plotting the course. He engaged the hyperdrive. 2 days at lightspeed, and they would arrive at Sevast.

2 days trying to convince Hedra that they were really on their way to Coruscant.

Or... 2 days explaining there was something he needed to pick up at Sevast, before he took her to see the Emperor.

He had to fabricate... something. And he had to keep his mental shields up, keep them strong, and keep her from being suspicious.

His ruminations were interrupted when the locked cockpit door sprang open. There stood Darth Hedra.

She had gotten cleaned up, and was wearing a dark maroon gown that covered her neck, but left her shoulders and arms bare. Her hair was elaborately pinned up, out of the way, in a style Vader hadn’t seen before. It was very classic, from an era long gone. But then she’d been ‘long gone’ herself. She probably would have some catching up to do before she could fully assimilate into today’s society.

Her eyes were back to normal, her jade green irises reflecting the light of the dimly lit cockpit. For a brief moment, Vader thought that maybe Sentinel was back, that she had somehow fought off Darth Hedra. But Vader instantly sensed Hedra’s aura and not Sentinel’s.

Hedra stood in the doorway, looking down her nose at Vader.

“Where are we going?” She asked.

Vader had a sudden inspiration. “Home”, he said. This was, technically, true. It was just a question of whose home.

“When will I see Lord Sidious?”

“Soon, Lord Hedra.” Vader said. When you are both very, very dead, he thought.

“Ah, you’ve spoken to him. Good.” Hedra said.

“He was pleased to know that your transformation had occurred.” Vader said.

She smiled.

“Yes, it did go rather well, don’t you think?”

“I... wouldn’t know, Lord Hedra. I’ve never witnessed anything like that before.” Vader softly said.

“Lord Vader, you should research the transformation. In the future, I’m sure you will be wanting to... upgrade... to a newer shell. I will give you a clue, although it should be obvious. Clone your body. Then you will have the perfect shell to move into.”

“Lord Hedra, if I may ask, why did you choose Lord Sentinel’s body over a clone of your own, then?”

“Someone destroyed the clones I had kept hidden. When I died, I found I had no vessels waiting for me. Then, the fool servant who took care of my corpse neglected to take any biological samples of my body. He had my body cremated and placed the ashes in the obelisk. There wasn’t enough material in my ashes with which to successfully create a new cloned body for me.”

“So, this was the only option?” Vader asked.

“Yes, Lord Vader. My only option. So no, Lord Vader, there is nothing you can say to me that will convince me to... give it back.” she smiled thinly at him.

Vader remained silent.

“You are so frustrated right now.” Hedra said.

Vader glowered at her.

“You aren’t getting Sentinel back.” she said.

Vader clenched his hands into fists, trying to keep his emotions in check.

“You and she... were plotting against the Emperor.” she said. She waved her finger in front of him. “Tssk tssk tssk... Shame on you, Lord Vader.”

Well, thought Vader, that answers the question of just how much dangerous knowledge she has acquired. But did she acquire that from spying on us, or from leafing through Sentinel’s memory, or both?

“I am merely following the Sith creed, Lord Hedra.” Vader stated. “I’m sure you have plotted against your own master. If my Master never allows himself to become less powerful than myself, then he will never have a problem.”

Hedra’s eyes sparkled. “Well spoken, Sith Lord. However, like you and Sentinel, Sidious and I have our own... promise. Our own agreement. And I intend to thwart you, if I must, in order to keep it.”

“Agreement?” Vader asked.

“Yes. Sidious and I promised each other long ago to work together. We recognized that establishing a more permanent and stable alliance between two Sith Lords would be a better way of maintaining our powers, rather than relying on the idea that we would one day usurp the other’s power.” Hedra looked out the cockpit viewscreen, watching the stars blur past. “Essentially, we agreed to divide the galaxy between the two of us. And that if one of us fell, the other would do everything in his or her power to bring the fallen one back.”

Hedra moved forward to place her hands on the back of the co-pilot’s chair, leaning forward as she stared at the stars. “And now I’m back”, she said softly.

Vader stared down at his computer console, wondering if their promise had been based upon affection, or convenience. He shuddered at the thought of the former: would the Emperor want to re-establish a physical relationship with her? To be intimate with Hedra, using Sentinel’s body?

He looked up to find Hedra staring down at him. “You are wondering...” Hedra mused, closing her eyes as she apparently picked through Vader’s mind. “... if the Emperor and I were ever intimate. If we will be intimate again.” Her eyes opened, and she stared at Vader, bemused.

Vader found himself swallowing down bile. “I was wondering what your promise was based upon: affection or convenience?”

“Any mutually beneficial agreement is based upon convenience, Lord Vader. It may be a long-term convenience, as opposed to a short term one. But nevertheless...” she leaned forward, her face close to his.

Vader struggled with himself not to pull back. Having Hedra this close made his skin crawl.

“You are repulsed by me.” She smirked. "You were so worried that Sentinel would be repulsed by you, and here you are...” she casually touched the side of his mask, caressing it with her fingertips of her right hand, while Vader struggled to remain still. “... feeling ill in my presence.”

Vader grabbed her wrist in his left hand, holding it away from his mask.

Her eyes flashed yellow suddenly, and a manic glee came over her face. And just as suddenly, Vader cried out, letting her hand go as if it had burned him, as the fear and the cold washed over him, flooding his senses violently. He leaned far back in his chair, gripping the armrests, his breathing suddenly rapid as his mechanical lungs compensated for the demands of his racing heart.

Hedra leaned further in, obviously enjoying the effect she was having over the Dark Lord, watching him try to sink further into his chair.

Abruptly Hedra stood up and glowered down at him.

“You, Lord Vader. You are too weak to live. I have come back from death, with more and more power at my disposal, each time I awaken in a new body. Sidious is incredibly powerful, but he will also enjoy even more power when he gives up his current frame and takes on that of a newly cloned body.” She leaned in close again, and Vader fought the crazy desire to close his eyes in order to block her out. “You, on the other hand... when you leave this...” -- she gestured disdainfully at his body -- “... shell... that will be that. You will cease to exist. I had thought you might be worthy of being trained in order to exist with us, through the ages.” She stood upright again, staring down at him, shaking her head.

“But your compassion... you hold yourself back from being a true Sith. You are unworthy of the gift of virtual immortality.” Hedra said.

She turned to leave the cockpit.

Vader’s fear quickly transmuted itself into a murderous rage. His eyes, under the cover of his mask, flashed bright yellow. His one and only desire was to crush this abomination that now inhabited his lover’s body. In a fluid movement, he stood, crossed the cockpit, and reached Hedra.

Hedra turned just in time for Vader’s right hand to close about her neck, constricting her airways as he lifted her and shoved her violently against the wall next to the cockpit door.

The door, confused by an object so close to it’s sensors, shifted open, then closed as Vader and Hedra shifted slightly in and out of it’s sensor range.

Hedra’s yellow eyes stared with bright hatred. She had been momentarily surprised, but she quickly recovered. She Force-blocked his choke-hold on her, blocking both his cybernetic hand’s attempt to squeeze out her life, and his Force-choke. And she levitated herself slightly so that her weight was no longer being supported just by his hand on her neck.

She poured wave after wave of fear and cold into Vader, but he held his place, breathing almost normally, and glowering at her, even moving his face closer to hers. In his rage, he had just gained the ability to successfully block her projected fear and cold, and intended to project some fear of his own into her. With his left hand he reached for his lightsaber, but was momentarily confused as he found 2 lightsabers from which to choose from: he had forgotten that Sentinel’s saber was still attached to his belt.

Then sparks arced just in front of his vision, causing him to pull his face back somewhat from Hedra.

Hedra’s hands were raised, held equidistant from his face and hers, about half a meter apart. Small bursts of Force lightning travelled from one hand and back, a small sampling of what was to come if he continued with his intentions.

Vader held his position for a moment, reluctant to back off even in the face of a power he knew he couldn’t block. He finally released his grip, dropped his right hand from her neck, and stood back.

Hedra lowered herself to the floor with the Force, lightning still arcing between her fingertips. She glared at Vader with undisguised malice.

The two Sith Lords regarded each other.

Hedra allowed the lightning to fade and dropped her hands. “You have some spirit, Lord Vader,” she said. “But you forget your place.” She turned to leave, then looked at him. “Don’t make me remind you of it again.” She stormed out of the cockpit, the door sliding shut behind her.

Vader walked backwards until he bumped into the pilot’s chair. He sat down heavily, and stared at the cockpit door.

He took some time to regain his composure. Then he turned towards the computer console, and keyed in an encrypted message to Commander Javel, at Pitoma base.

Goto Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Nineteen

2006-06-27T22:42:00.000-07:00

“What?” Vader asked.

“Sentinel isn’t here anymore.” She repeated. “But you may still call me that, if you like.”

Vader sat back a little from her. “And who... are you?”

“I don’t think you need to know that right now.” She smiled up at him, her grin almost fiendish.

Vader was silent for a moment. “Where is Sentinel?”

“You know, it’s really ironic. The Emperor told you and Sentinel to not make this complex, not get too close to each other. Did you listen to him? Of course not. And now you get to experience love lost, all... over... again. Isn’t that ironic?”

Vader clenched his fists.

“First, as a child, you lose your home. What were you thinking, following an idiotic Jedi such as Qui-Gon Jinn? Did you think you’d found a long-lost father figure? Was it worth it, following him on his mission, only to lose him so soon after finding him? Right after you’d left your mother and your home? And only a few years later, after arriving too, too late to save your mother, you get to watch her die in your arms.”

How does she know this? Vader thought. I never told her this...

“I’ve been following you, watching you for a long time. I watched you kill Padme. You know, you did more damage to her when you broke her heart than when you strangled her.” The woman who was not Sentinel chuckled.

Vader rose, looming over her, holding himself back with difficulty.

“Oh, you want to hurt me... so badly... but then you’d be hurting the body of your lover. You can’t hurt me without hurting her. And it’s driving you crazy.”

He stood there, fuming.

“You know, I might let you touch this body, one last time. I just might. I could overlook your appearance just for that moment when, in our intimacy, you realize there’s nothing left of her in here.” She actually giggled.

“Who are you!?!” He roared.

“Someone you should speak to with more respect.” She said soberly. Her voice seemed to echo in the medcenter, reverberating. And he felt it then, this cold emanating from her.

He was suddenly freezing. His hands and feet were ice cold. It took him a moment to remember his mechanical hands and feet couldn’t sense temperature. But still, the sensation stayed with him.

And the fear.

She was projecting intense fear into him. It cut into him like a knife.

The Emperor had taught him how to project fear into his enemies. It had become his favorite tool of late, really his favorite toy. To stand over his men, and see them trembling ever so slightly... yes. This was power.

And the Emperor had also taught him how to block projected fear.

But he couldn’t block this... not this. It was like trying to block a tidal wave. It washed over him, through him, leaving him feeling weak and defenseless.

He backed away, turned around, and walked out of the medcenter, her laughter chasing him out of the room.

He didn’t know who else to turn to. He went to his quarters and started up a communication link with the Emperor. He knelt on the dais as soon as the communication link was established.

The Emperor’s holographic form appeared before him, and he bowed low.

“Lord Vader. What progress do you have to report?” There was an amused quality to the Emperor’s voice.

“My Master, the Jedi are destroyed. They tried to lay a trap for us, claiming that they had an informant who told them I was coming. In spite of this, Sentinel and I were able to destroy them. But... but there is something terribly wrong with Lord Sentinel.”

Vader raised his face to look at his Master, and was stunned to see him smiling.

“There is nothing wrong with Lord Sentinel, my apprentice. Her transformation is merely complete”, the Emperor said.

“Master?”

“Sentinel was substandard material for a Sith Lord. But I instantly recognized in her a more valuable asset. Her powers, combined with her psychic vulnerabilities, made her a perfect vessel for a former... associate... of mine. A friend who has long been deceased”, the Emperor said.

“I... don’t understand”, Vader said.

“I needed you to help bring out her full Sith abilities, her full allegiance to the Dark Side. I needed a possible confrontation, where she would go too far into the Dark Side to be able to maintain full control over herself. And I needed her to lose that control when she was near the obelisk my friend’s body was entombed inside", the Emperor explained.

“This was all staged... to get her ready to ...”

“To house my friend, so to speak. Yes. You did very well, Lord Vader. I was honestly concerned that you might not survive her... transformation process.”

Vader was silent for a moment.

“What is it, my apprentice?” the Emperor finally asked.

“What about... Lord Sentinel?” Vader asked.

“She was useless to us as a Sith. Yes, she showed some promise, some definite power, but she wouldn’t have ever been able to overcome her own self-imposed limitations. I sensed immediately that her moral convictions would be her own downfall. She would never be able to move past those convictions.”

Vader let his gaze fall, his forehead lowered.

“You grew very attached to her, didn’t you? I warned you, Lord Vader.”

Vader tried to collect himself. “Yes, my Master. But why didn’t you tell me? Why keep me in the dark?”

“I told you all I needed you to know in order to complete the true mission. Anything more, and it might not have gone as perfectly. You will have to accept that I cannot always divulge every detail of my plans to you.” The Emperor sounded a little impatient.

“Yes, my Master.”

“Now. Bring her to me, Lord Vader. Bring her to Coruscant.”

“Yes, my Master.”

“And Lord Vader, be careful not to upset her. She is very dangerous.”

“What... what is her name, my Master?”

“She wouldn’t tell you?” the Emperor chuckled. “Her name, Lord Vader, is Darth Hedra.”

The Emperor’s holographic, smiling image disappeared and the link ended with an audible beep.

Lord Vader remained staring at the hologram’s former location for a long time.

Goto Chapter Twenty

Chapter Eighteen

2006-06-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

Somehow, Vader got himself and Sentinel, and their lightsabers, her satchel, and his right hand, back to the hover craft.

Somehow, he flew one handed, using the Force to activate anything he truly needed a right hand to do.

Somehow, he was able to focus on just getting back to the ship, while Sentinel murmured and moaned in the passenger seat. He had put the passenger seat in it’s most reclined position, and laid her there. When he glanced over, he noted that her forehead was covered in perspiration, and her hair was becoming soaked from it.

The sun had set. But Vader had no problem finding Shareed on the horizon, at the far end of the dune sea. It was lit up with bright golden light, which he found rather ironic considering during the day it was a silver city.

He flew the hovercraft directly to the ship. The area was devoid of activity. He could hear the noise of festivities going on in the heart of the city. He recalled reading that there was some sort of carnival going on this week, with a party every evening. Good. No one here to witness a rather conspicuous Dark Lord entering his ship.

He had left his visor and their robes and other parts of their costumes back at the ancient temple, as well as the holographic recording equipment. On his last trip carting their stuff from the temple to the hovercraft, he had stopped to destroy the holo-recordings with several swipes of his lightsaber.

So now the hovercraft was sitting in front of their ship. Before exiting the hovercraft, he thought better of it, and instead Force activated one of the ship's cargo-hold ramps. Once lowered, he pulled the hovercraft right into the ship, alongside his fighter, and then raised the ramp.

He left everything except his hand and Sentinel in the hovercraft, carefully carrying her to the medcenter, with his amputated right hand laying on her stomach. Their lightsabers were both attached to his belt. He lay her down on one of the beds, and the droids flocked over to evaluate her condition.

He retrieved his hand from on top of her stomach, and collapsed in a chair next to the bed.

A droid approached him questioningly, and he handed the hand to it, and extended his right arm for it to work on. The droid took the hint, and immediately started work on re-attaching his right hand.

The other droids were performing body scans on Sentinel.

One rolled over to him. “She is running a high fever, and is delirious.”

“Check her eyes.” Vader said. He was exhausted to the core of his being. Had this day really happened?

The droid that had been speaking to him rolled back from having checked Sentinel’s vision. “Her eyes appear to be, possibly, covered by a thick red glowing field of flesh. Do you wish me to try to remove it and restore her vision?”

“No. Leave it alone.” Vader leaned back in his chair, causing the droid restoring his right hand to him to have to roll forward.

He watched the droids fuss over Sentinel. There was nothing really they could do other than give her medication to reduce her fever, which they did. Their scans showed that nothing was wrong. The blood-work showed that nothing was wrong. The only physical evidence of something dreadfully wrong was her eyes and her fever.

Vader was gravely worried about her.

The droid finished on his hand. There was some exposed metal visible through his damaged glove... but the droid replaced his sliced up glove with a spare.

He was the walking, talking spare-parts man. No original upholstery on this frame, he thought.

He stood up over Sentinel. Her fever was responding a little, but she wasn’t waking up.

From the sounds she was making, her dreams were very unpleasant.

He tried to connect to her, gently probing her shields. Oh, yes, her mental shields were up... which was amazing considering how sick she obviously was.

He pushed very lightly on them, gently trying to get them to let him in. The shields seemed almost to recognize him, and lowered just enough for his access to her very troubled mind.

He caught her dream. She was reliving his nearly killing her, but from the perspective of a third person. He saw his red aura, her mixed aura, and the child’s blue aura. He saw himself move to strike, and found himself wanting to pull back from reliving that moment. But he saw how his aura had flashed bright blue, and he had stopped.

Very strange. He had seen Force aura’s before, but never in such distinct colors, never with the Light and Dark side separated out like that. She was perceiving the Light side and the Dark side, in herself and in him... and not just the general strengths of their Force abilities.

He felt ambivalent about the fact that he had any light side left in him. Of course, this was her impression, her vision, and might not have anything to do with reality.

Her vision continued, showing him killing the child. And her reaction.

All evidence of blue aura had been destroyed. Her aura had gone an intense bright red, inside and out. And it had a shape to it. It reminded him of something... reptilian.

Her vision’s perspective moved to include the obelisk. It was glowing bright red, as well! And the red was leaking, then pouring, straight into her, until it had left the obelisk and was entirely surrounding and permeating her.

And then she attacked!

Vader found himself sitting on the floor of the medcenter, trying to figure out why he was no longer standing over Sentinel. He realized the last part of the vision had knocked him back -- literally knocked him off his feet.

What is INSIDE her? Vader thought.

He stood back up, stood over her.

“Sentinel...” he said, gently. She was writhing in the bed, as if in pain or distress.

“Sentinel.” he said more forcefully. No response.

He sat beside her bed, and took her right hand in his newly restored right hand.

“Sasha...” he said, thinking maybe using her real name would help.

Her eyes popped open. Those red, glowing, pupil-less eyes. All the writhing stopped.

“Sentinel?” he tried again.

She sat up in the bed, pulled her hand from his and shoved her sweat-soaked hair away from her face. And turned to face him, her lips parted as if confused.

“Sentinel, how are you feeling?” Vader asked.

She looked at him. Her mouth closed, and she smiled.

“Sentinel isn’t here anymore.” she said.

Goto Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Seventeen

2006-06-25T12:52:00.000-07:00

They were riding in a small hovercraft with a large hemispherical cover. They had rented it in Shareed, and to cover their story that they were tourists, they had also rented some holographic recording equipment. They also had shopping bags in the hovercraft, filled with clothing Sentinel had picked up in a bazaar near the hovercraft rental place.

So now, they were officially on their way to check out the ruins to the South of town. This was also remarkably near the location the Jedi were rumored to have set up their encampment.

They crossed a huge ocean of sand dunes. It felt exactly like that... a sand ocean... because they had gone from the city, with it’s silver spires, and were headed towards the mountains on the far side of this dune sea.

Vader asked her to pilot the hovercraft. He seemed to be trying to keep himself in an alert, but relaxed state. She couldn’t get any real reading on him or his mental state as he was doing his best to cloak his own Force abilities from other Force sensitives.

She was cloaking her own Force abilities, as well. She hoped she was doing a good enough job of it. She was pretty sure Vader would have let her know if she wasn’t.

She watched the mountains growing in front of her. The sand/dust storm had thankfully calmed down, and the sky was actually a clear, deep blue. The sun was starting to set, and the mountains surrounding the dune sea left long shadows.

They arrived at the foot of the mountains, near the ruin of a temple. The temple was carved out of the mountain itself. The artwork at the entrance was breathtaking. In the artwork were representations of bipedal creatures, with muzzles, all bowing in worship. At the top of the entrance to the temple was the object of their worship, which looked very much like an image of the sun.

Sun worshipers. So the original inhabitants of this world were sun worshipers, Sentinel thought.

She brought the hovercraft to a halt, and with a push of the button, the hemisphere started to slide open at the sides, leaving the top of the craft still covered with the transparent material.

They both jumped out of the ship. Sentinel reached back in to grab her bag of tricks, and the holo-recording equipment. Best to keep up appearances until they needed to show their true colors.

“Xam, get in front of this entrance! I’ve got to get a shot of you with the artwork!” she called.

Vader seemed to slump his shoulders. In order to maintain appearances, he was going to have to go along with her request, or have some sortof ‘friends-on-vacation’ argument regarding it. It was easier to just go along with her idea. But he wasn’t exactly feeling photogenic just then.

He stood in the massive entranceway, the top of the entrance easily twice his height. “How’s this, Venga?”

“Fine!” Sentinel said, taking the shot, while muttering to herself under her breath, “’Vessa’, you idiot... how hard is it to remember a common name like Vessa?”

Then Sentinel turned on the light she’d brought, shone it inside the temple, and said, “Let’s check it out!”

Vader turned on his light, and they entered the temple.

The walls were covered in similar carvings, more bipedal forms with long muzzles, bowing or somehow showing subservience to something very sun-like. Sentinel got shots of everything as they walked deeper into the temple passageway.

About 40 meters in the passageway suddenly widened into a huge square room, at least 100 meters on a side. The ceiling was out of sight from the light. Every footfall caused an echo.

In the center of the room stood an obelisk, of solid black. It gleamed in the light. It was amazingly shiny and clean considering how dusty this part of the planet happened to be.

Vader approached the obelisk, and caressed it as he walked by. He felt strangely drawn to it.

But Sentinel felt the pull much more strongly than Vader, and found herself just standing in front of it, somewhat dumbstruck.

It took her a moment to realize that it looked out of place here. Why that was, she couldn’t quite say. But it felt like it was an after-thought, something brought in, something alien to the original culture that had lived on this planet.

She walked up to it, reached out to touch it, when someone shouted.

“Sith!” a man yelled, from the far side of the temple.

“So, our intelligence was correct.” A woman said, off to their right.

“And we finally have our chance to strike back.” another man said, on her left.

“You will find, Lord Vader, that we are much harder to kill than Jedi younglings.” This was a man standing behind them both.

They whirled at each new voice. Sentinel set down her light, her holo-recorder, her satchel, and almost joyfully removed her pastel trappings to display just her black jumpsuit. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, Vader placing his light on the ground, and then removing his visor and his ridiculous baby-blue robe, revealing the more dignified and impressive outfit he lived in day and night.

“So, we were expected.” Vader rumbled. “Good. That will only make this all the more... interesting.”

The man behind them, who was blocking their exit, walked closer to them. “You were expected. And alone, of all things. So who is this person?” he gestured in Sentinel's direction.

Vader nodded at her, giving her permission to handle her own introduction.

“Darth Sentinel, at your service.” Sentinel bowed elaborately, grinning. This was going to be fun. As long as there weren’t too many of them.

4 more Jedi came out of various side chambers, helping to complete the circle.

Uh-oh. Ok, it would be a fun, but very challenging, fight, Sentinel thought.

“And you are?” Vader asked the man closest to them.

“I am Jedi Master Wimble. One of the many survivors of order 66. That’s all you need to know, and all you get to know.”

“How rude.” Sentinel commented.

“Rude is destroying our temple, killing our younglings. Attempting to exterminate the rest of us.”

“The younglings would have become a threat to the Emperor, and therefore the Empire. Your paltry attempt at a coup meant your entire organization was suspect.” Vader spoke coldly, but Sentinel thought she detected a speck of doubt in him.

And she found herself struck by a fact she hadn’t known. Vader had killed Jedi younglings in carrying out order 66.

She looked at Vader. “You killed younglings?” she asked.

“Yes, he killed younglings. When the temple was attacked by the Stormtroopers, Vader was at the head of the offensive. With the exception of 5 adults, the only ones left in the Temple were younglings” Master Wimble said. “My informant was very specific about Vader’s role during the initial execution of order 66.”

“You killed younglings?” Sentinel asked again.

“Sentinel, you don’t know who you are working with, do you? Judging from the tone in your voice, maybe there’s still hope for you...” Wimble stated.

Sentinel stared at Vader, mouth slightly open, brow furrowed.

“Sentinel, now is not the time to have these doubts. Now is the time to trust me, and remember your loyalties.” Vader softly rumbled, disconcerted by how easily she was swayed by the Jedi Master.

“Now is the exact time for these doubts, Sentinel! This is your chance to choose to follow the right path, to turn away from the Dark Side, to keep from living a life of evil and regret!” Wimble exclaimed.

Sentinel turned to look at Wimble, anxiety and doubt clearly expressed upon her face.

“But... you Jedi want to overthrow the Empire.” She said, meekly. “You want to continue this dissension, this war.”

“We tried to end the war. We wanted peace for the galaxy. I have sources that state that the Emperor staged the war, that he was actually secretly behind the Separatist movement, using that as an excuse to increase his hold over the Senate and eventually be able to take full control, and become the Emperor. We want what’s best for the Empire: for the Emperor to be overthrown, for worlds to be allowed to govern themselves once more, and for a return to the galaxy being governed by the Senate. We want democracy back. We want personal freedoms back.” Wimble looked at her, earnestly, trying to break through her confusion.

“No, no, you want to take over the Empire for yourselves, you want to take control of it from the Emperor.” she said, shaking her head.

A girl from another side of the room said “We don’t want to rule the Empire. We just want the Republic back; we just want the Republic’s people to be free once more.”

“Sentinel!” Vader roared. “Don’t listen to them! They will cloud your mind with their talk. Their way failed to earn peace for the galaxy. Our way will complete that task. Their way was and is doomed to failure.”

“But... but...” Sentinel faltered.

“Look at me!” Vader yelled. “Trust. Me.” He used every last ounce of his feelings for her in those 2 words.

Vader said trust me.

Sentinel heard love me.

Sentinel turned from Vader, to stare at the Jedi, her eyes suddenly blazingly yellow. “Do not mistake where my loyalties lie, Jedi.” She growled. “They are most certainly not with you.”

Wimble sighed. “Then we must kill you as well. It’s a pity. It sounded like there might have still been hope for you.”

“You can certainly TRY to kill me, Jedi. But I assure you, you will fail.” Sentinel snarled.

Lightsabers ignited all over the room. 2 of them were red, of course, the rest where greens and blues, and one purple lightsaber.

And the battle was joined.

Vader and Sentinel initially took a defensive stance, keeping the obelisk on one side, and their backs to each other.

The Jedi attacked, two tackling a Sith Lord at a time, the rest standing back, waiting for an opening where they could attack without endangering their fellows. When a Jedi started to tire, he would fall back, and a rested Jedi would take his place.

It was starting to wear Sentinel and Vader down. But it was also angering them, both, and thus giving them the Dark Side energy they needed to maintain their defense.

Sentinel sensed a nudge in her mind from Vader, heard him tell her it was time to change tactics. In unison, the both feinted, then pulled back and jumped over their attackers heads, each beheading one of their attackers before landing on the other side.

Two down. Six to go.

This enraged some of the remaining Jedi. But they had no practice with the Dark Side, and the anger merely made them sloppy. A few more coordinated feints, and another 3 Jedi were slain.

Vader relished the power, the fluid motion of the battle itself. He felt Sentinel also glorifying in her skill over the other Jedi, as she allowed herself to become more and more enmeshed in her Dark Side powers.

The remaining 3 Jedi did their best, valiantly fighting. Then there were two. One of them broke off, trying to run for one of the side corridors. He was screaming something... Sentinel thought it was “Evacuate!”, but she couldn’t be sure. He never made it to the corridor... her well tossed lightsaber split him into two pieces.

Running away from the fight... coward, Sentinel thought. Then she called her lightsaber back to her.

She turned to see the final Jedi’s body relieved of the weight of it’s head. The body fell forward, almost as if it were bowing low to the ground to Lord Vader.

And it was done.

They turned to each other. Sentinel was torn between the desire to be with Vader, here, now, in this place, with the dead bodies of the Jedi scattered around them... and the desire to duel Vader and prove for once and for all who the more powerful Sith Lord was.

Promise... she thought.

She took several deep breaths, and disengaged her lightsaber, smoothly hooking it onto her belt. On the last of her deep breaths, as she opened her eyes, the yellow fully dissipated, and her jade green eyes returned.

Vader watched her, head tilted. He sensed her arousal, and shared it. But he didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of either of them being... vulnerable... right now. He sensed something was very wrong with this place.

And the fact that the Jedi had been told to expect him was not giving Vader any warm fuzzies.

Sentinel started to walk towards him, and was about to ask him why he still had his lightsaber ignited. Before she could get the words out, 3 children ran out of one of the side corridors, yelling, short lightsabers ignited.

Sentinel turned, instantly igniting her lightsaber, and easily defended herself against the younglings. They concentrated their attack on her. She could sense their palpable fear of Vader. In comparison, she seemed easy pickings.

She blocked every thrust, and was able to knock the lightsaber out of one child’s hands. She took the blade, using the Force to snatch it out of the air, and while still fighting, hooked the blade to her belt.

The weaponless child backed away, frightened. And Vader strode forward and quickly beheaded him.

Sentinel turned towards Vader, as did the remaining two children. “No! They’re just children!” she yelled.

The two younglings, a little boy and girl who couldn’t have been more than 11 standard years of age, quit fighting Sentinel, and attacked Vader. He cut the girl down almost an instant later. The boy dropped his lightsaber, and ran, but tripped on a rock and went right down with his face in the sand, yelping.

Vader walked quickly towards the boy, but was surprised when Sentinel got to the child first, and covered him with her body, looking up at Vader with tears in her eyes.

“Get out of my way, Sentinel!” Vader ordered.

She shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks, unhindered.

“Move!” Vader yelled.

“No! We can’t kill them!” She sobbed. “They’re just children!”

“Do as I command!”

She shook her head, defiantly, sadly. Vader raised his saber for the killing blow.

Sentinel lowered her head, exposing her neck. Her body would not be a sufficient shield, she thought. But she couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t try to stop him from this terrible act.

And she couldn’t bring herself to instead fight him. She couldn’t. Her lightsaber was still in her hand, but she had turned it off. She sensed that fighting him over this would bring about the end of everything. It would be worse than losing her life.

Suddenly, Sentinel sensed everything as if it were happening in slow motion. Her eyes were closed, but she saw with her inner eye what was happening around her. Her perspective in her inner vision was such that she could see herself, covering the child. And Vader, to her inner-eye’s right, poised to attack.

She had seen it before, but never this clearly: Force aura’s. The boy’s aura was a bright, shining blue around his small frame, with a hot spark of blue light from his solar plexus that was so bright it was almost white.

Her’s... was confused. It seemed to be trying to be both blue and red, with the colors crawling over her frame and sometimes forming a bright purple light. Inside of her, her bright spark was also alternating between blue, red and purple.

To her right was Vader, and his aura. It was a deep, dark pulsating red, both externally and also the inner, almost blindingly bright pinpoint of light.

But also inside him, she caught the barest hint of a bright, blue spark.

She knew the aura’s were perceptions, and that someone else would see other colors, depending upon their perspective. But what her perception told her was that blue was the Good Side, and Red was the Dark Side.

And so she was surprised to see that small, bright blue spark deep within Vader’s form.

She watched, in slow motion, as the lightsaber came crashing down to cleave her head from her body. She knew she would barely have time to register pain. The sorrow at having things end this way, though, was painful enough.

As the lightsaber descended, it seemed her aura changed colors. It went pure blue, inside and out. And she thought, ah, yes, a pure sacrificial act in respect of what is good and right.

But she didn’t fully register the meaning behind that thought.

Also as the lightsaber got closer, moving absurdly slow to her perception, the small, bright blue spark inside Vader pulsated brighter and brighter.

Just as the lightsaber was barely a centimeter from her neck, the bright blue light in Vader outshone the red of his aura. She felt overwhelmed, blinded, even though it was not her real vision that was being affected, but her inner eye’s vision.

The lightsaber had stopped, and was quivering above her neck. She could sense it there, and dared not move, else she might behead herself by accident.

Vader roared something incoherent, lifted the lightsaber from her neck, turned away from her, and swung his saber around in a fury at the air, swearing profusely.

The promise, she thought.

That blasted promise! Vader thought.

She rose up, forgetting the child for the moment, and started to walk around the child to go to Vader, talk to him.

Vader stopped, as if he sensed something in the circumstances had changed. He suddenly turned and threw his lightsaber directly at the now sitting child.

The blade split the child’s head open before it auto-disengaged, and fell with an audible thunk onto the sandy floor. The next thunk was the boy’s opened skull hitting the same floor.

Sentinel stood, staring at the boy in horror.

Vader gestured in the direction of the boy, and his lightsaber flew back into his grasp.

Sentinel's eyes tracked the lightsaber's course from the boy back to Vader. She stared at Vader.

Vader watched her expression turn slowly from horror to something... inhuman. Her eyes skipped turning yellow, and went straight to red irises. Then they did something that made Vader flash back to the Emperor’s speech... on how the Jedi considered some of the Sith abilities to be... unnatural.

Her eyes became completely red. No whites, no black center of the pupil. No distinguishing the iris from any of the rest of her eyes. And they glowed.

The sensation of having Sentinel stare at him, while this strange affectation of the Dark Side was taking her over, made him feel something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Fear.

And then she was attacking him, a lightsaber in each hand, using the child’s lightsaber she had picked up earlier. Blue and red blades flashing so fast...

Vader held his own, utilizing his fear, using it to help power the Dark Side. His anger instantly welled up, anger at feeling fear, anger at her attacking him, and anger at how circumstances seemed determined to undermine her trust in him. And this too fueled his Dark Side powers.

He kept her at bay, but she wasn’t Sentinel anymore. She was something else. She was the Dark Side personified, and he was having a very hard time keeping up. She just seemed to move faster. She was beating him down with every hate-filled stroke.

He tried to distract her by Force choking, but she blocked that with ease, and in retribution, pushed him powerfully with the Force, sending him flying until he hit the wall of the huge chamber.

He hadn’t been able to block her Force shove. What was going on here? He was the Chosen One! Vader knew he should be able to fight her off more easily! It was as if she was tapped into something, some power source he couldn’t even imagine. It was as if her abilities only partly had to do with her Midichlorian rating... as if there was something else about her entirely that helped her channel the Force.

She came at him, quickly covering the distance that he had been flung. And attacked.

He was suddenly very tired, and disheartened. But he did his best to defend himself.

Then she got past his defenses and sliced his right hand off, sending his lightsaber tumbling.

He didn’t know what else to do. She was out of control, like a raging storm. He lifted his left hand up, palm facing her, and pleaded with her to “Stop! No! Stop!”

She raised her lightsabers to strike, began to bring them down, then stopped. And stood there. Panting, trying to catch her breath.

She blinked rapidly, looking down at him. Looking confused.

Staring out of eyes with no pupils.

And then, with a barely audible whimper, she dropped both lightsabers, and collapsed into a dead heap on the floor.

Goto Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Sixteen

2006-06-25T01:11:00.000-07:00

Sentinel got dressed up, put her hair back up in the elaborate fashion she’d had it in for the dance, and put on some makeup. She reached for her perfume, and was disconcerted when she realized she’d broken the bottle.

Hmmm... it does rather reek in here, Sentinel thought. The ship’s air conditioning was doing an incredibly good job of filtering the scent, but there was only so much it could do.

Well, no matter.

She stopped to look at her palms. Her hands had gotten dirty. The small cuts she had caused herself when she had punctured her skin with her fingernails had attracted much of that dirt. She cleaned her hands, being careful to thoroughly clean the small puncture wounds, then dabbed on some synth-skin liquid, watching it as it dried over her wounds, covering them.

She went to leave her room, but stopped just in front of her door, weighed down suddenly by her emotions.

Her only brother.

She swallowed the grief. Not now. Later. She couldn’t bring him back by grieving. She would honor him and grieve for him more appropriately when she no longer had time with Lord Vader. But right now she had to appreciate the time she still had with the living.

She headed for Lord Vader’s quarters. Before she could hit the intercom to request entry, the door slid open. Vader was inside, helmet removed, with a table setup with cheese, crackers, sliced fruit, and wine.

She smiled.

“Cheerier than a sparring match?” he asked.

“Much.” she replied.

She walked in. Vader Force activated a music player she then noticed, sitting in one corner of his chambers. He walked up to her and offered her his hand. She tilted her head a little in question, and he responded “we never really spent that much time at the dance actually dancing.”

She took his hand, and they started dancing. She lay her head against his shoulder armor, being careful not to jostle his breathing hose. He nuzzled her hair, kissing the top of her head, and held her close.

Lady in Red.... is dancing with me.... cheek to cheek.
There’s nobody here... it’s just you and me... it’s where I want to be
I hardly know.... this beauty by my side.
I’ll never forget.... the way you look tonight.

Sentinel blushed. Vader wrapped his arms tighter around her, protectively, gently. She looked up at him, and they kissed.

Vader lay her down on the bed, and held himself above her.

This time it was different, gentle. Soft, slow, and tender. They seemed to savor every moment, and each motion was long and drawn out, languorous. He used every movement to show her, in no uncertain terms, just how much he loved her. She used every response to acknowledge that love, and give back her love in return.

When they were done, he lay back, peacefully exhausted, she once more by his side, her head on his left shoulder. Her dress was somewhere on the floor, along with her boots. Although this time had been slow and gentle, Sentinel couldn’t remember when her clothes had come off. This made her smile.

She rose, and brought them back two glasses of wine, and a plate full of food, which she placed on a tray. She lay the tray down between them, and they both started snacking.

In between bites of cheese and fruit, she asked “What were you like before you became a Sith Lord?”

“I prefer not to remember.” Vader said.

“Well, at least tell me what your name was. I know you weren’t born with the name ‘Vader’. The Emperor gave you your name, right? He gave me mine, as well.”

“The person I was no longer exists.” Vader said, closing his eyes.

She sighed. “Ok, I’ll tell you mine. You don’t have to tell me yours. My name was Sasha Yod. I was named after my Grandmother on my Mother’s side.”

Vader opened his eyes and looked at her. “You are comfortable remembering your life before becoming Sith?” he asked.

“The only thing that’s changed is my name. I was already on my way to becoming Sith when I was training on my own, before meeting the Emperor. Or at least, already on my way to becoming some sort of Force user...”

He watched her. “What was it like for you, growing up? Training in secret?” he asked.

She stared off into space, seeing things from a long time ago.

“I spent my time either in school, or at odd jobs to make more money for the family, or sneaking into the mountains to the caves where the shamans trained. Or I hung out in the library, downloading every publicly available writings I could find about the Jedi and the Force. Often, my brother went with me. He was fascinated by my research, but when it came time for training, he preferred to watch. He had some minor Force sensitivity, but he wasn’t as strong as I am. Nor was he truly interested in developing his own Force abilities, although he did train a little with the shamans, to learn how to defend himself. But he would have none of the meditation training, none of the actual training that would enhance his Force skills.”

She took a sip of wine before continuing. “We also hung out with our friends, of course. And we would often take advantage of my new skills to play tricks on our friends, or tricks on strangers.”

She sighed, picked up a piece of fruit, and levitated it in front of her, studying it. “My brother would start a game of dice. Then I’d stroll in, and start playing. Or I’d just stand to the side. I’d let the dice get our ‘mark’ feeling comfortable, and betting way too many credits. Then suddenly...” -- she grabbed the fruit out of the air -- “... our mark’s luck would mysteriously run out. And we’d be coming home with enough money to feed the family for a week. My parents didn’t like it... they knew we were performing some kind of scam, but they didn’t know I was using the Force. But eating, having money, took priority in their books. They just worried one day we’d trick the wrong person.”

“And did you?”

“A few times, yes. There were black marketeers who would occasionally try their luck. One got so angry, he changed out the dice when he thought we weren’t looking. His new pair was meant to favor certain rolls. I ensured it favored the worst combinations of those rolls, and the guy kept losing. He didn’t handle that very well... he shoved my brother, saying somehow he was being cheated. He had him up against a wall. I came over, just in time to see the guy’s knife come out. I grabbed his hand, which was holding the knife, before he could do anything with it, and punched him hard in the throat with my other hand. He wasn’t expecting to be attacked by a girl. He fell -- I had temporarily collapsed his trachea -- and my brother and I took off. I still have the knife. I don’t know what happened to the fellow... I think he was just passing through town, because he wasn’t there when we came back a week later.”

Vader was sitting up in bed. He took a sip of wine.

“What did your parents do?” Vader asked. “For a living, I mean.”

“My Mother was a waitress. And my Father worked in the mines. The odd jobs that my brother and I often took usually involved working in a restaurant or also working in the mines. Neither one of those career choices appealed to me very much.” she mused. “My parents worked very hard, and always managed to put food on the table.”

She turned towards him. “And... what were your parents like?” she asked, softly, knowing she was treading on thin ice.

He sighed, with some exasperation. She wasn’t letting his past drop.

“They obviously allowed the Jedi to take you to train. You said you were a Jedi, once...” she said, carefully.

He glared at her, and she noticed he was tapping his fingers on his wine glass.

“Ok, ok.” she said. She drank the rest of her wine and set the glass on the bedside table.

“There’s nothing from my past, prior to becoming Vader, that I want to remember. Just a long list of things I lost.” Vader said.

“No happy memories...?”

“Happy memories? Yes, but of things I can’t have back.”

She frowned. “With that attitude, I wouldn’t be able to remember the fun times I had with my brother. I wouldn’t even be able to speak about...” She choked up.

He reached over and gently caressed her cheek.

“For a moment, I forgot he was gone. For a moment, he was alive again.” She sighed.

Vader took her hands in his. “You have to concentrate on the living. On what you still have.”

“You’re talking mostly to yourself again.” She chuckled.

He looked at the wall behind her, and found himself nodding.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

They spent the rest of the day together. They talked, they ate, they laughed. They napped, lazily. They made love. They avoided talking about the Emperor, the mission, or the thing they really feared: losing each other.

There was this feeling they both unknowingly shared: that somehow, the completion of the mission would mean everything would change. Whether it was because they wouldn't have a chance to see each other again for a long time, or because of something else, they weren't sure.

They fell asleep late into the virtual night of the ship, holding each other tight, trying to protect each other from the future, and from their own dark Sith natures.

The next day they rose, and both were of the mind to get the deed done. They meditated apart from each other, and studied the mission plans.

About an hour prior to their needing to leave hyperspace, they both met in the cockpit, to discuss the plans.

The Jedi had a stronghold somewhere near the large city of Shareed, on planet Latern, the 4th planet in the star system. Latern was especially lush, but with a large dessert covering the equator. All of its land was interconnected, so its oceans where landlocked. Shareed was on the edge of a very rocky section of the desert. Sentinel found it odd that there would be such a huge city right there, and not in one of the lush parts of the planet, but apparently many of the people who lived there were once living on a huge desert world, and apparently missed it so much they continued to live on the desert on this, their new homeworld.

Latern had 2 moons. The 2nd moon was called Saddath, which in the native tongue meant “Paradise”. Thankfully, along with speaking their native tongue, the natives also spoke Basic.

The Jedi were rumored to have established a kind of commune on the outskirts of the city of Shareed, in the foothills of the mountains. Nothing more was known.

The locals wore tunics and robes. Even the women. But unlike other desert planets Sentinel had been to, the clothing was all very bright... bright greens, bright blues, bright oranges. They seemed to have adopted a rather pastel and neon lifestyle. It was so extreme Sentinel felt like she would gag if she looked at herself in the mirror again. She was already dressed for the mission. Pink tunic, bright green robe. At least the robe matched her eyes.

She missed her black robes. She secretly wore a black jumpsuit underneath all the glow-in-the-dark layers.

The locals all wore scarfs around their necks, which they could place over their mouths and noses, presumably to filter out the dust storms that were prevalent near the desert. Sentinel had chosen a bright red scarf for that purpose. She was determined to have some red or black visible in her ensemble.

She found it strange that they had dust storms in the desert. Sand storms she could understand, but she thought that this type of area wouldn’t get strictly dust storms. She realized her education on her backwater homeworld had probably been lacking in the area of such planetary conditions.

Maybe the kind of sand they have in this desert is particularly fine... she thought.

Vader wore another huge hooded robe. There was thankfully a very tall race, called the Inglaans, that often traded with the Laternians. This very tall race couldn’t breath the atmosphere without a filter. Vader wouldn’t even need to wear anything to change the sound of his breathing... he would blend in, just another Inglaan, with ancient artifacts or illegal spices to trade.

Rather than have to keep the hood pulled down low all the time, he also wore a large mirrored visor that attached to his mask and covered the front of his mask’s ‘face’ entirely, but was a few centimeters out from his actual mask. It sat in front of his mask’s filters, blocking them from view without actually covering them.

Vader brought them out of lightspeed, but unlike their stealthy entrance to Thaadra, he simply got in line with a bunch of other small cruisers in line to land at the spaceport at Shareed. Half the traffic to and from this planet was due to tourism. Near Shareed, there were numerous ruins from a prior race that had gone extinct, or chosen for whatever reason to leave that planet, a long time ago. The ruins were a famous place to visit. And if one tired of seeing the ruins, the water in most of the oceans was deliciously warm, and other than the hot desert, the planet was temperate and idyllic. There were numerous vacation spots where activities were centered around all that warm water.

This seemed to be one of the few worlds that had been left mostly unaffected by the clone wars, or by the more recent uprising of the Rebellion.

Sentinel had amusedly studied a brochure about the various activities available in the towns much further north of Shareed. As they were entering planetfall, she asked Vader, “After the mission is over, what do you say to a quick vacation here?” She grinned at him mischievously. In spite of everything bad that had happened yesterday, she was in a very good mood.

“Too much sand.” Vader responded.

“Only in the desert region. We don’t have to stay in the desert, we could stay in one of their oceanside resorts.”

“Concentrate on the mission.” Vader rumbled. He wasn’t willing to be distracted right now.

Sentinel sat back and sighed. She consoled herself over his seriousness with the fact that Vader’s robe was a bright baby blue... it was absurd on him. She turned to look at him and had a terrible time trying to suppress an attack of the giggles.

She concentrated, therefore, on the terrain below them. Tall, barren mountain ranges that encircled the globe, like a strange ring around the planet, with greener mountain ranges to the North of their position. Sand dunes, blowing sand... she thought there was smoke in the air, obscuring their view, but she soon realized they were coming in for a landing through a bit of a sand storm. Or dust storm, really. It made the sky a hazy, golden color that was actually rather pretty.

Shareed was laid out before them, all silver towers, and silver hemispheres. She wasn’t sure what the deal was with the hemispheres, until she realized they were actually glassed in living areas. The glass had a strange, silvery color. She realized then that the towers also had glass exteriors... the entire city was glass buildings and domes, with the domes protecting open areas for the pedestrians to walk through.

The domes and the towers were all interconnected, making it possible to never have to be truly outside once you were inside the city.

Perhaps the locals had decided that it was good enough to live near that dusty desert, without actually having to deal directly with it. So much for their nostalgia with their former desert homeworld.

Vader guided the ship in for a landing, coming in smoothly to the their assigned platform. He shut down the engines. He sat back for a moment, then stood, and turned to face Sentinel.

“Time to go.”

Sentinel nodded. Vader walked towards the cockpit door, and Sentinel rose to follow.

She picked up her bag of tricks. She wasn’t taking any further chances... she had powered weapons and unpowered weapons, including her “lucky” knife, the one originally owned by the black marketeer.

They walked through the ship to the ship’s ramp. Vader Force activated the ramp, and it lowered, exposing the ship’s interior to a sudden gust of dusty wind.

Yuck. Sentinel remembered her scarf, and attached it firmly around her mouth and nose. She hoped that Vader’s mask filters were strong enough to deal with this fine stuff.

She stopped, fished through her bag and pulled out a pair of goggles, and put them on. She had tossed them in her bag the minute she read the words “dust storms” under the description of “weather problems in Shareed”.

Ah, much better. Now she could see. Although she felt like she already had half the desert stuck in her eyes.

They strode down the ramp. Once off the ramp, Vader Force activated the ramp to close.

Here we go, Sentinel thought.

Author's Note:
The lyrics from Lady in Red, by Chris de Burgh, used without permission, but with much admiration. :)

Goto Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Fifteen

2006-06-25T00:47:00.000-07:00

The fighter had been loaded up. The bullet holes had been checked, and verified patched. And the ship’s system checks had all passed. The Commander’s team had made sure that everything was refilled, refueled, cleaned up, and ready to go. Vader and Sentinel verified the work of the Commander’s team, ensured the fighter was locked down in the cargo hold, and were soon on their way.

On their way to Latern, about 1.5 days in hyperspace.

Once they were in hyperspace, Vader ordered Sentinel to follow him. They went into an unused cargo hold of the ship. Vader entered first, and once Sentinel was inside, Vader Force-activated the door and locked them inside.

Sentinel numbly looked up at him, questioning him with her glance.

Vader ignited his lightsaber, and commanded “Defend yourself!”

Sentinel barely avoided his lunge. She had to dive and roll out of the way. She rolled back upright, her lightsaber ignited, and held herself in a slight crouch in front of Vader, ready to spring.

Vader held his lightsaber easily with one hand, almost lazily. Then he lunged again.

Sentinel actually did spring. She jumped up into his lightsaber thrust, deflecting it, and then swung around to quickly put him on the defensive, swiping at him.

He easily blocked her swipe with his lightsaber, and then shoved her away entirely with the Force.

She landed badly on the floor, not expecting his Force push.

“You aren’t fully using your power. Now. This is the time to tap into that anger over your brother’s death. Focus it. Attack me.” Vader said.

She stood back up, holding the lightsaber in front of her. “You’re not the one I want to attack.” she said.

“Who do you want to attack? Imagine that person. Imagine I am he, and attack me!” Vader commanded.

“The person I want to attack is inside my own skin! How do I use self-loathing as a weapon, Lord Vader? I don’t understand!” She stalked away to stand by one of the walls in the cargo hold.

Vader watched her walk away. “Then imagine I am you, and take out all your self loathing on me.”

“No!” she yelled.

“Do it! What, are you afraid of me? You’re weak! You’re a weak creature incapable of surviving in this universe!”

“You’re just trying to piss me off!” she yelled.

“Are you sure? Or perhaps I’m expressing my contempt and disgust at how easily someone else’s stupid actions have propelled you into a chasm of guilt! How easily you allow your brother’s ultimate revenge -- by his act of suicide -- to affect you! Your brother was being stupid and petty! Your brother was using the act of revenge, if he was using it at all, as an excuse to kill himself! Your brother was, in all reality, too weak to live! Too weak to do his duty, his job!”

Sentinel yelled something unintelligible, her eyes instantly bright yellow, and lunged at him.

For several moments, they danced the dance of light, their saber’s clashing, sparking, their bodies moving more elegantly than any couple could move across a dance floor.

Vader made certain that each time she defended herself, she would have to twist, to spin, to put her feet down uncertainly. He tried to wear her down with the little pains of overextended muscles. It was working: she was getting angrier. But then it was working too well, she was using the Dark Side of the Force to anticipate his plan, and now, no matter how difficult he made it for her to defend herself, she was doing so quite adequately, with no over extensions, and she was now causing him some difficulty.

Then, it seemed she was exultant in her defiance, in her ability to fight him. And her eyes were no longer bright yellow, but once again red. Almost the color of her lightsaber. A hot, glowing pair of red embers, burning their gaze into his skull. He could almost feel the line of heat coming from them, as she parried, and swiped, and lunged, and ducked, and jumped... meeting every attack, and giving as good as she got.

He was admittedly very proud of her, proud that his lover and friend was also a formidable opponent. He felt as if he were a party to her creation as a fully fledged Sith, even though he was still just getting to know her, just getting to be involved in her training.

He also felt he had found a worthy ally for future battles. And the idea of having someone, Force sensitive, that he could fight side-by-side with... he hadn’t had that kind of camaraderie, that friendship, in 5 long years.

There’s a glory to defeating enemies single-handedly. But for a worthy apprentice, especially for her, he was willing to make... accommodations. He was willing to share at least some of that glory with her, as long as she always knew her place.

But while he was proud of her, he was also angry with her... angry at her defiance, at the arrogant way she was fighting with him. Arrogant at the way, in her fighting, that she appeared not to acknowledge that she was fighting her better, her superior. That this was about training her, improving her, and not trying to show him up!

Being Sith was all about ambivalence. About longing to face your equals, yet hating the competition they represented. Seeking out those who are powerful, in order to learn from them. Then trying to overthrow them, once you believe they have weakened sufficiently, and/or that you have become stronger than they are. Seeking out those less powerful to train them, keep them under your wing, and then using them to assist you in overthrowing those above you. Always ensuring you never train those below you too well, so they are never powerful enough to replace you, and so they know they need you in order to better themselves. Always ensuring those below you know their place, and those above you think you aren’t ready to overthrow them, that there is still more you need to learn from them. Ensuring those above you know that you are an adequate apprentice, one who does not need replacing! And being leery of anyone who was neither below nor above you, as at some point the pecking order would have to be re-established.

And re-establishing pecking order usually meant someone would have to die.

The Master always had to ensure the Apprentice knew there was more to be gained by keeping the Master alive rather than overthrowing them. The Apprentice then became an adequate guardian of the Master, always ready to destroy those pesky persons who were a little early in thinking it was time to take out the Master.

It was very much a love-hate relationship, with uneasy truces between allies who were only allied as long as it suited their goals for more power. It was very much a survival of the fittest.

Basically, it was like doing business with the Hutts.

So... while Vader was glad Sentinel would obviously be an adequate apprentice for him, he was unnerved that perhaps she might be too adequate.

But Vader knew the solution for having an underling who thought they were as powerful as he was. He merely needed to make it clear, perhaps painfully, that he was her better, and that she would be wise never to forget that.

So... he would put his apprentice in her place! And... once she knew her place... once he knew she fully accepted his leadership... together, they would defeat the Emperor, and rule the Galaxy together! His lover, his apprentice... forever. They would learn the Sith’s secret of cheating death. And then their rule of the Galaxy would have no end.

This vision of his future was so real to Vader, he could almost taste it. The Dark Side of the Force actualized it in his mind, made it real.

He fought with Sentinel, showing his mastery of every technique he used on her, showing her how she must defer to him as her better. But she also showed how quickly she could keep up, how quickly she could learn every technique he used upon her. This irritated him, which increased his anger, and increased his power. But it also changed his vision of the future.

Perhaps her goal is not to be my apprentice, but in fact to take my place! Who is she to think she can defeat me! I was... I am... the ‘Chosen One’, after all! he thought. But she kept up with him, even when this new feeling of outrage gave his anger, and the Dark Side, even more fuel.

There finally came a moment when they both just stopped, stood several feet apart from one another, and regarded each other. They were both physically very tired, but still pumped up on the seemingly endless energy the Dark Side was supporting them with.

With a moment to catch their breaths, Vader stood observing his possible future apprentice. Could he truly trust her to hold to that promise they’d made each other? Maybe he was being foolish to think that he could somehow make a relationship with a fellow Sith work, especially one who had just demonstrated to him that her powers were closer to his own level than he had at first thought.

Her strength unnerved him. He didn’t think she could ever surpass his abilities. If it came down to a true duel to the death between the two of them, he would win, but would possibly come out of it with yet more damaging battle wounds, yet more debilitating physical problems to carry around with him.

There was something else to consider. As he stared at her, red glowing eyes, fierce and wicked grin plastered across her face, he realized that this fully Dark Side Sentinel wasn’t the girl he was attracted to. He was instead attracted to the girl who was trying to be the “best of both worlds”, half Sith, half Jedi. Really, considering her distaste for her dark deeds, more ‘reluctant Sith, half Jedi’, he thought. But anyway...

As she stared at him, it seemed she grew conscious of what had just happened. He watched her remember something, whether it be that she had promised to never betray him (and here she was, tempted so obviously by her power just now that he knew betrayal was in her heart), or whether it was having killed her parents, or feeling responsible for her own brother’s death. But whatever it was, her smile had suddenly vanished, and a lost, hopeless look had replaced it. Her eyes faded suddenly from that burning red, back to their normal jade green.

She closed her eyes, and twin tears rolled down her cheeks. She deactivated her lightsaber, and hooked it to her belt, and stood there, with her eyes closed.

Vader watched her, feeling his own darker emotions start to fade, suddenly wishing he hadn’t pushed her. And not feeling so certain of any workable vision of the future.

He didn’t want her to succeed in becoming a true Sith. Not if it meant losing the woman he loved.

Was that it? Vader suddenly thought. Did Padme reject what I'd become instead of actually rejecting me? He pushed that thought aside irritatedly. He switched off his lightsaber and hooked it back onto his belt in a smooth motion.

He decided, firmly, that Sentinel would become a true Sith. If she didn’t become a full Sith, the Emperor would see to it she was destroyed. And then Vader truly would lose her.

Somehow, we will make this work, Vader assured himself.

Sentinel was still standing with her eyes closed. She was shaking her head, engaged in some internal dialogue that Vader couldn’t discern, but wasn’t ready to interrupt.

Then, Sentinel tilted her head. “We’ve received a communication request”, she said.

He looked at her, at first not understanding.

She opened her eyes. “We should probably go see who it’s from”, she said.

He understood, suddenly, and sensed she was right. He felt slightly annoyed that she had picked up on the incoming communication before he had.

He recovered his composure, and walked to the door of the cargo bay, unlocking and opening it with the Force.

With her head down, Sentinel followed.

Once in the cockpit, Vader determined the communication request was from Commander Javel. He brought the ship out of hyperspace, and opened a line of communication. As he was establishing the connection, he said “I asked Commander Javel for further information regarding your brother’s death. I sense there may have been foul play.”

She looked at him sharply. “That’s not what you said earlier, when you said my brother was too weak to live.” she hissed.

Vader was almost surprised. She had taken that seriously? Yes, of course she had... her nerves were raw from grief, Vader realized. “I only said that to enrage you. Apparently it worked too well.” he said.

Sentinel growled, “If you wanted less rage, you should have stuck to something other than my family. I’m sure I could send you over the edge just talking about your deceased wife.”

Vader said, “You are angry with me... that was...”

The hologram buzzed to life, and there stood before them Commander Javel.

“Lord Vader, Lord Sentinel.”

“Commander Javel.” Vader rumbled, with some irritation that the Commander’s prompt appearance had cut Vader off in mid-sentence.

“I have the information you requested, Lord Vader. Should I send that to you privately, or...” Javel glanced nervously between them.

“You may speak freely, Commander.”

“Yes, Lord Vader. The autopsy report is being sent to you now, along with Lieutenant Yod’s service records. The summary of both is that he did indeed commit suicide, and his service records are exemplary. Also, there was no suicide note.”

“I see.” Vader rumbled, glancing between the Commander, and the display indicating the files he had just received.

“Another thing I thought you might like to know”, Javel said. “The Trooper who was sent here, to watch the two of you... he has been re-assigned. To the Hunter.”

Sentinel looked up sharply from the same display Vader had been glancing at. “What?!?” she exclaimed.

Javel said, “I don’t have any more details. The reasons for his assignation to the Hunter were not given.”

“This cannot be a coincidence.” Vader rumbled softly.

Sentinel looked like she wanted to speak, but didn’t feel at liberty to, with Javel listening in.

“Good work, Commander. You have greatly pleased me. If you happen to hear any more information...” Vader trailed off.

“I will alert you of anything else I happen to find out that might prove useful.” the Commander said.

“Thank you, Commander.” Vader said.

“There was one other thing, Lord Vader.” Here the Commander looked a little embarrassed.

“Yes, Commander?”

“I promised my men... to pass on the following. They wanted to thank you personally for your... motivational speech... during the dance.

Sentinel couldn’t see Vader’s face, but she could almost sense his embarrassment. In spite of her emotional state, she grinned.

“I take it the dance was a success?” Vader asked.

“Uh, yes, Lord Vader. Oh, and my men also wanted to thank Lord Sentinel for her... similar... motivational speech with the young women from the nearby college.”

Now it was Sentinel’s turn to be embarrassed. But she couldn’t feel it. Being embarrassed required caring about her own personal welfare, and right now she didn’t care if she lived or died.

“Commander, please tell your men that they are most welcome.” Sentinel said, with a small sigh. She smiled while she said it, but the smile couldn’t reach her sad, lost eyes.

“Please tell your men the same thing from me, Commander,” Vader said.

“I will do that. Lord Vader, Lord Sentinel.” With a small nod, the Commander ended the communication, and his hologram disappeared.

Sentinel turned towards Vader. “Why is the Emperor sending that spy to my brother’s ship?”

Vader responded, “He is either being sent to retrieve personal information, perhaps in the form of personal belongings, or he is being sent to help cover up the murder of your brother -- if it was in fact a murder -- or both.”

“But the autopsy... you think there’s a conspiracy surrounding my brother’s death? Who could gain from his death? If the Emperor is involved, why? What does the Emperor gain by putting me through the experience of the death of my brother?” she asked, exasperated.

“Maybe the Emperor uses loss, or the fear of loss, as a means to progress his pupils in the Dark Side.” Vader said. This hadn’t been the first time Vader had thought that the Emperor knew his relationship with Padme would be doomed by his conversion to the Dark Side. Or that a doomed relationship might make him progress more quickly to the Dark Side, ironically.

“If the Emperor is truly behind this... if he killed my brother...” Sentinel started to clench her fist, but stopped with a wince as her nails encountered the fingernail holes she had already put in her palms earlier. She rubbed the wounds in both palms, gently.

“What could you do against the Emperor?” Vader asked.

She studied her palms. “Spend my life plotting his death. That’s something to live for, certainly...”

“And now you’ve lost the will to live?” Vader said, rather reproachfully.

She looked up at him. “Are you goading me again?” The anger was there, ready, lurking just under the surface. It wouldn’t take much to cause it to flare up. It was what was keeping her from breaking down and crying again.

He watched her carefully. “No. This is not a training session.”

“You stirred up something that I’m having a very hard time putting away.” she said, her voice a little shaky.

“It was necessary... you were eating yourself alive with your guilt and despair.” Vader responded.

She looked back down, at the display in front of Vader. “I haven’t felt the Dark Side that powerfully with me, before. It scared me. It... it went too far. It made me want to do things that... I would regret later. It made me hungry for more power.”

“If you are to become a true Sith, it will have to go as far as it needs to go.” He said softly.

She looked back up at Vader. “I’ve told you that I want to have the best of both worlds. What happened today... that was the worst of the Sith world. I wanted to kill you. I wanted to kill you and take your place, then kill the Emperor and take his place. It was like... our relationship... had never existed. Like I never made that promise to you...”

Vader looked down at the display, glancing at the autopsy, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

She reached over, gently touching the chin of his mask, directing his gaze back up at her.

“What is more important. Us being together? Or my becoming a Sith?” she asked.

He reached for her hand, which was still on his mask’s chin. He held her hand.

“Answer me honestly.” she said.

“Are you trying to say that ... if you finish your Sith training... we will no longer be able to have a relationship?” he carefully asked.

“I think that it’s impossible for 2 people who are fully committed to the Sith... theology... to be able to trust each other. By definition, at least the definition of the current Sith creed, we are destined to try to kill each other. You are already Sith. Or at least, much further committed to the creed than I am. It is unlikely that you will ever want or ever choose to back off on that commitment.” She took a deep breath. “For us to be together, I must back off on that commitment. I was already of the opinion that my destiny would be somewhere in between, anyway.”

“You are fooling yourself in imagining that there is an ‘in between’.” Vader rumbled.

“So, if I’m not Sith, does that make me Jedi?” Sentinel asked.

“And my enemy.” Vader softly said.

“You are so willing to commit to that statement? I can’t be in a third corner, that is neither Sith nor Jedi, but one that means we can be together?” she asked.

“You ... “ Vader paused and collected his thoughts. “I didn’t say anything before about your intentions when you first expressed them, but it is unlikely that you will succeed in keeping one foot in each camp... in learning Sith abilities from the Emperor without truly becoming Sith. He will know what you are doing. He will not approve.” Vader paused, looking directly into her eyes. “If you do not toe the line, he will kill you.”

“I could run. I could hide. We could still...” she said.

“Where are you going to hide from the Emperor, and still be able to see me?” Vader asked.

“But if I keep going with the Sith training, I’m afraid...”

Vader held his hand up. “The only way I see this working out, as a long term relationship, is if you commit to becoming a Sith, and to being my apprentice. We will hold to what we promised each other. When the time is right, we overthrow the Emperor, and rule together. In the meantime, we will meet whenever we are able, and train together, sharing as much of our Dark Side knowledge as we have learned.”

“I don’t know if I can hold to our promise if the Dark Side is given that much control over my life.” she said, shuddering.

Vader said, “You will be able to. We will help each other to hold to our promise.”

“You don’t think you’ll end up seeing me as too much of a threat, and feeling the need to destroy me?” she asked.

Vader struggled not to show that that very thought had already occurred to him. “As I said, we will help each other to hold to our promise.” Vader said.

She looked down at the floor.

“So... I believe the only way this will work is if I’m not Sith. And you believe the only way this will work is if I am Sith. I believe we will kill each other if I’m Sith, and you will see me as an enemy if I’m not Sith. And if I’m not Sith, I gain the Emperor as a more dangerous enemy... when ironically, if I am Sith, it’s your intention that we both take out the Emperor together and rule in his place.”

Vader chuckled. “It’s a conundrum. But I’m not backing down on this. If we are to have any chance together, it is only going to happen if you unreservedly choose to become Sith.”

She sighed, closed her eyes, and rubbed her temples with her fingers.

“This is not necessarily a decision you have to make right now.” Vader rumbled softly.

She looked up. “I’m wasting time. We probably won’t see each other for a very long time after this mission, if at all. I will have to make my decision about this after the mission is over. And I will have to put off my grieving until then, as well. And my hunt for the truth behind my brother’s death. I don’t want to lose this time with you, especially when it may be all we have for a very long time.”

Vader took both her hands in his. “This is a very rough time for you right now. I understand that. I’m... sorry I pushed you earlier. I thought it would help you to focus, to use the pain to your advantage.” He sighed. “I guess it was my way of ‘cheering you up’.”

She smiled weakly, squeezed his hands. “Yeah, well you’re just a very cheerful person, you know.” she teased.

Vader looked back at the controls, released her hands, and got the navputer back up and plotting their course back into hyperspace. The computer finished the calculations quickly, and he engaged lightspeed. Once that was done, he stood up.

“Lord Sentinel, go to your room, and change back into that red dress and boots. And meet me in my quarters.” Vader commanded.

She stood up slowly... she was so very tired. But she smiled. “Yes, m’Lord.” Then she left the cockpit, with Vader following her until she turned to go to her quarters and he turned to go to his.

On the way to his quarters, Vader stopped at the ship’s small kitchen.

Goto Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Fourteen

2006-06-20T22:50:00.000-07:00

Sentinel woke up, slightly uncomfortable. She was lying next to Vader, her head on his left shoulder, and her right arm was completely asleep.

She carefully sat up, trying not to wake the Big Guy. Hmmm... she liked that nickname, but wasn’t sure whether Vader would appreciate it.

She flashed back on how they had cornered the Commander last night. How she had mistreated the Commander earlier, when they were dancing. How he was innocent, except for hiding information from Sentinel and Vader... information that he was under orders from the Emperor himself to hide.

She wasn’t sure she liked how she and Vader had psychologically tormented the man, with the use of implied violence to his person. Her conscience seemed to have returned with a vengeance, and it wasn’t going to gloss over these events as if they truly didn’t matter.

Well, she finally thought, it could have been much worse: Vader could have dangled the man over the edge of the cliff by his neck.

Matter of fact, that was rather what she’d had in mind when they’d taken the Commander to the cliff platform. She was glad Vader hadn’t picked up on her thoughts, but had realized a much lower threat level was all that was needed to convince the Commander to talk.

She looked at Vader. He was peacefully snoozing away. She wanted to kiss him, but she didn’t want to wake him up.

She yawned, and stretched, and then found herself staring at his partially exposed lower half.

His pants were still down, just above his knees! He had been too tired last night to reseal his environmental suit.

She chuckled, but then found herself examining him. She hadn’t gotten a good look at him during the previous nights hurried passion.

A quick glance proved that this area of his body had obviously not been spared during his unfortunate experience with fire. There was synth-flesh covering this area, too, although not as much as on his head. She found herself gently laying her hand on his hip, where the top half of his environmental suit stopped and his flesh started. She traced down his left leg, until she reached where his synth-flesh stopped and pure cybernetics started, just above his left knee.

The wreckage that was his body was still functional, but not very pretty to look at. She found herself wishing she’d spent more time studying the healing techniques of the shamans of her home world. She wasn’t disgusted by his body, but rather felt a sympathetic pain of loss for his sake.

She looked up to see him awake, watching her.

“You’re repulsed by me. Aren’t you?” Vader said, with a hint of venom.

“No.” She said, softly. “Nothing about you repulses me. I thought you understood that.”

“Then what?” His tone was softer.

“I just wish... it seems that they should have done a better job, repairing you. Surely they could have given you cloned flesh instead of the synth-flesh. It seems an injustice, considering the techniques that have been learned during the clone wars.”

Vader closed his eyes. “I apparently wasn’t worth these newer techniques.”

She looked at him, lovingly. In pain for him. “You could still get your own flesh and skin back, have it cloned and have the synth-flesh replaced. You could possibly be made completely whole again.”

He kept his eyes closed. “I’ve already spent enough time tied down to a table, having defective flesh ripped off of me. I don’t need to experience that again.”

She was afraid to ask him who would do such a thing to him, having him go through that experience conscious, and without pain killers. But she had a feeling she knew well enough.

She leaned back over him, kissing him sweetly on the lips. He responded, and then he just held her to him for a moment, her forehead against his cheek.

“Come on, we’ve got a busy day ahead of us. We should be getting on our way to Latern.” he said.

She rose reluctantly, sliding off his bed, picking her dress up off the floor, and slipping back into it. Then she bent over and picked up her red boots. When she turned, she saw that he was now standing, that he had resealed his top and bottom halves of his environmental suit, and had replaced his utility belt, thus covering the seal.

“I need to get cleaned up. Give me 20 minutes.” she said.

She left his quarters, entered hers, and got cleaned up and dressed. She was swallowing the last bite of a bar of food as she exited her quarters, to find Vader standing in front of her door.

“The Commander is waiting outside our ship. He has a communication... for you.” Vader said.

Sentinel looked up at Vader. She sensed it was bad news. She took a deep breath, nodded to Lord Vader, and walked toward the already extended ramp.

She walked down it, Vader right behind her, to see the Commander, with a few troopers nearby.

“Good morning, Commander.” she said, stiffly. She had a hard time meeting the Commander's eyes, still feeling horrible for how she had treated the man.

“Good morning, Lord Sentinel, Lord Vader.” the Commander said. He was also somewhat stiff, and he seemed nervous and unhappy about what he had to say.

“Lord Vader says you have a message for me?” Sentinel asked, hesitatingly.

The Commander cleared his throat. “Lord Sentinel, it is my sad duty to report to you that your brother, Lieutenant Tarnis Yod, has died. The communication came in, from the Hunter, just over an hour ago.” He paused. “I’m sorry.” he added.

Sentinel stood there, staring out into space. She extended her Force sense along the old familiar line she normally would have been checking almost daily, had she not been so busy of late. At the other end of that ‘line’ was emptiness, instead of the familiar life force signature of her brother.

Tarnis was dead. He really was dead, she thought.

She took a deep breath, looked the Commander in the eyes, and asked “How did it happen?”

The Commander swallowed, hard. “He committed suicide. The autopsy isn’t finished, but all the evidence points to it.”

Sentinel shuddered. “How did he do it?”

“He... he cut his wrists while sitting in a tub of water.” the Commander said. “Is there anything I can do, Lord Sentinel? I could notify the rest of your family for you...”

The rest of my family... there’s nobody left, thanks to me, Sentinel thought.

Sentinel shook her head. “Commander, thank you for informing me. And thank you for your... compassion.”

The Commander nodded solemnly, with just a hint of surprise.

Sentinel turned towards Lord Vader. “Lord Vader, if you don’t mind, I need some time... to grieve. I just need... “

“Take all the time you need, Lord Sentinel”, Vader said, very gently. “I do not need your assistance in the final preparations for our journey.” He kept it all very formal, but she could almost feel his arms around her, hugging her, telling her it was going to be ok. He just wasn’t willing to do that in public, especially with the troopers nearby. One of them could have been the Emperor’s spy.

“Thank you, Lord Vader. I will be in my quarters.” Sentinel trudged back up the ramp, keeping a blank face until the door to her quarters closed. Then she slumped against the wall next to her bed, laying her head against the cold metal of the railing of the foot of her bed.

She had sent her brother monthly communications, asking him how he was doing, if he was enjoying himself, what he was learning. She had said always that she was fine, and that she missed him terribly. She had never heard back from him, not once.

She had sensed that he must simply hate her. She had killed their parents, after all. So he had never responded. It was his modus operandus. Whenever he was mad at her, when they were kids, he always gave her the silent treatment.

This was the ultimate in silent treatments, however.

She leaned over her crossed legs, and started to shake.

Meanwhile, Vader was still talking to the Commander.

“Commander Javel, when will the autopsy be finished?” Vader asked.

“I believe they thought it would be done by tonight.”

“I would be very interested in reading it.” Vader rumbled.

“I will request a copy for you, Lord Vader.” the Commander said.

“Thank you. Did he leave a note?” Vader said.

“A note?”

“A suicide note?” Vader clarified.

“Oh, I wasn’t told anything about a note, Lord Vader. I will be sure to ask about that, and ask for a copy of it, when I contact the ship’s commander to request a copy of the autopsy.”

“Thank you, Commander.” Vader paused. “Is my fighter ready to load?”

“Yes, Lord Vader. And we have refueled your ship. Your fighter is also fully fueled. We’ve also restocked your onboard supplies.”

“Good work, Commander. Please see to it that my fighter is loaded in the main cargo hold of my ship.”

“Yes, m’Lord.” The Commander nodded, then gave hand signals to some of his men, who ran off to go fetch the fighter.

Vader turned to go back inside the ship, then stopped. “Commander, I would also like a copy of the service records of Lieutenant Yod.”

“Of course, Lord Vader.” the Commander said.

“Thank you.” Vader walked back up the ramp, closing it once he reached the top. He ensured all the doors were locked, except the ramp for the main cargo hold. Then he made a beeline for Sentinel’s quarters.

Her door was locked.

He pressed the intercom. “Open your door, Sentinel.”

The door unlocked and whizzed open. He walked in, seeing her slumped over, sitting on the floor, eyes red, tears streaking her face. She was a mess.

She was still lovely.

He leaned over and took her hands, lifting her from her sitting position. He walked her over to the bed, and they both sat. She crumpled then, into his lap, shaking. He found himself just holding her there. He sat in silence, while she bawled her eyes out.

He noticed items in the room were a little askew. And then he noticed things starting to... rumble. Glass items cracked down the middle. She was holding her hands in little fists. He gently brought her back into an upright sitting position. She had stopped bawling, and was just shaking, and her nails were dug so hard into her palms that blood was dripping from them. Her eyes were blazing yellow. The mirror in her room cracked right down the center as she stared at it.

He turned her to face him. “Stop it. Save it. Store it for later. You can use this anger later, on the Jedi. But right now, you are only hurting yourself.”

Her eyes darkened. The yellow swirl inside them was almost more of a bright, fiery red. He’d never seen even the Emperor’s eyes do that. It was as if she were trying to put the flame out, but it was somehow intensifying instead.

“Calm yourself” Vader ordered. He felt like he was the Emperor, trying to talk him down from destroying everything in the lab when Vader learned Padme was dead. Only... he wasn’t sure the Emperor had ever really cared about him.

And he deeply cared about Sentinel.

Sentinel’s eyes started to fade back to normal.

“Calm.” Vader said. “That’s better. You will have time to grieve, later. But perhaps it should be after we are underway again, and in a room with less... glass.” He looked about the room. “I assume you can live with cracked mirrors, and broken bottles of perfume?”

She chuckled, wearily. “Yes.” A few tears escaped her eyes as she blinked.

“Good.” He rose. “Come with me. I need to perform some system checks on the ship, and to ensure they really did patch up the projectile holes from our last encounter. Help me do that.” Vader sensed it would be a bad idea to leave Sentinel alone again.

She rose stiffly, grabbed a hand towel on her bedside table, and wiped her face with it. Then she held the towel to her bleeding palms, to wipe the blood off and staunch the wounds. She dropped the towel on the floor.

Vader held out his right hand, and she took it with her left, and let him lead her to the cockpit, for those system checks.

Goto Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Thirteen

2006-06-19T21:28:00.000-07:00

Author's note:

Ok, anyone out there. I need your opinion. Is this too much? Do I need to tone this chapter down?

I've already "cleaned it up". I'm trying to back down from what I'm used to reading, namely Laurel K. Hamilton. If you know her work, you know she writes pretty... explicitly. Let's just say she leaves me in a very good mood. ;) [And therefore, my husband in a very good mood.]

I wanted this to be romantic, but sensual. But not over the top.

So... do I need to further clean this up? Or is this just about right?

Thanks for reading. :)

“So, was that what you are like when you are dangerous?” Sentinel asked.

“No. That wasn’t even close to dangerous.” Vader responded, but a little impatiently.

“I take it our next move is to put the fear of the Force in Trooper TX-567?”

Vader stopped short. He had intended to do exactly that. But now he wondered whether that was the best thing to do.

She smiled up at him, sensing he was turning over all the possible next moves.

He looked down at her. “I think perhaps TX-567 can wait...” he rumbled softly. Then he grabbed her hand, and started walking at a fast clip to their ship. She was a little hard pressed to keep up, and was slightly out of breath once they made it inside.

Vader raised the ramp once they were on board, closing the ship down, locking it.

Then he walked towards her compartment and stopped, and instead turned, still holding her hand, and almost dragged her towards his compartment.

Once inside, he locked the door, and rapidly removed his helmet, hooking up a hose to his mechanical lungs.

He turned, feeling predatory. And she was his prey.

She had denied him the enjoyment of ripping her clothing off, as she had already stripped down to just her boots, and nothing else.

He was torn between almost wanting to strike her for having undressed too quickly, to just wanting to drink in the sight of her for a moment, standing there ready, unashamed, and hungry.

They both crossed the room in a few steps and were locked together. He kept walking her backwards until she was up against the wall, his lips demanding attention from hers, which she eagerly gave.

They made love, standing up, with her body pressed against the wall.

He dropped his mental shields, and opened himself to her, letting her feel what he was feeling, both physically and emotionally. She immediately did the same, and suddenly they were one creature, moving in perfect synchronisity, building upon the same theme, oblivious to anything but the moment, the passion, and the final ecstacy that washed over both of them.

He leaned against her for a moment, exhausted, oblivious that he was making it difficult for her to breath while he still had her pinned to the wall. She finally tapped him on the shoulder. He grinned and backed up, and she slid down the wall to stand, rather wobbly, on the ground, and catch her breath.

He backed away, found his bed, and sat down on it.

He watched her, her body bowed as she caught her breath. She stood up, and he found himself amused by the funny imprints of his shoulder armor, and also his breathing hose, in her flesh. He noticed the red scar of her recent surgery, and was glad to see that their activity hadn’t re-opened her wounds.

She kicked off her boots. She came forward, unsteady, kissed him on the lips softly, then collapsed into a lump on the bed, still trying to catch her breath.

He lay back beside her, and once he was supine, she rolled over to lie with her head on his left shoulder (after padding his shoulder armor with a pillow), and her left arm across his stomach. He held her close with his left hand across her back.

She smiled and closed her eyes.

He lay there, with his environmental suit in a state of dissarray, loathe to move to fix it. He heard her start to snore, and grinned. Eventually he too fell asleep.

Goto Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Twelve

2006-06-18T23:08:00.000-07:00

Several hours later, after another tour of Vader’s new toy, including a very fun test drive through the nearby asteroid field, it was time to prepare for the dance.

They had both considered whether it wouldn’t be a better idea to simply bow out. But Vader had said they were going to be there, no matter what. Vader was in this... mood...

“If someone is spying on us, and sending back information to the Emperor, let’s give them something to report.” he rumbled, dangerously.

Vader was angry, once again, and feeling rebellious. Sentinel was thankful that his anger was directed towards the Emperor this time, and not her.

Her emotional investment was higher now. And suddenly having his anger directed at her was harder for her to bear.

Sentinel wondered if their time alone on the cliff platform had been noticed. The thought crossed her mind that maybe her hospital room was full of recording devices! She squashed it, unwilling to consider the full ramifications. She didn’t need her personal conversations about her desire to be neither Sith nor Jedi to somehow make it back to the Emperor!

They went to their own compartments in the ship to get dressed. Sentinel wondered exactly what Vader would do... she had never seen him wear anything other than his unchanging uniform. Hmmm... this would be interesting.

She told him to give her an hour. Almost exactly an hour later, as she was just putting the finishing touches on her hair and makeup, her door chimed.

She opened the door with the Force, while continuing to stare at herself in the mirror.

“Just a second...” she said as she pinned the last of her long hair into place. It was pulled dramatically away from her face, and into an elaborate bun, with many curls strategically escaping from the bun.

She wore a red shimmering gown that clung to her body like a wet towel, hugging every curve, draping over her thin, sensual frame. On her feet were red boots with very high heels.

Vader watched her putting the finishing touches on her makeup. He had a sudden feeling of dizziness, and was flooded with visions of his deceased wife, getting ready for a special occasion or for a session in Congress... he had to steady himself, with one hand on the doorway frame.

She turned to face him, smiling. He was dressed normally, but every surface that could shine was polished or oiled to an incredibly high sheen. He was one great big black shining statue. That moved. And hopefully knew how to dance, Sentinel mused.

He was gorgeous. Admittedly, this was a matter of opinion. But to her, he was gorgeous.

He offered his arm. “Shall we go?”

She took his arm. They walked off the ship together, down the maze of corridors to the main meeting hall, which had been decorated modestly for this event.

The Troopers were wearing dress uniforms. They were all dressed in identical, white dress uniforms. With those identical faces... there was a surreal effect to seeing this many obviously cloned people together.

The Troopers were all gathered along one wall. On the opposite wall were the collegiate women. For some reason, the collegiate women also were all wearing white. The dresses were slightly different, but otherwise, they were even the exact same shade of white. All Sentinel could think was that maybe they were trying to make a joke. Or doing it out of respect of all the troopers. Or... hmmm.

The non-clone troopers and officers were off to another side of the room, dressed in gray dress uniforms, including the women.

Vader was the only one wearing black. Sentinel was the only one wearing red. Uh-huh.

This was going to be... interesting, Sentinel thought.

The band was on the far side from where Vader and Sentinel had entered the room. They were currently playing some very elegant dance music. No-one was on the dance floor. This reminded Sentinel of one of her first school dances. Except there hadn’t been any clones!

Everyone had watched them walk in. They had apparently made an entrance, being the last to arrive. And for other reasons, of course.

Vader wasn’t easily made uncomfortable in public situations. But this was rather weird! He suddenly regretted his decision to come to this thing.

“What, are we back in school here?” Sentinel asked.

“Hmph.” Vader said.

Sentinel studied the faces of the clones.

“How old are the oldest clones here?” she asked.

Vader paused to consider. “I’d say... about 16 to 22 years old.”

“But... they look like they are in their late 30’s to early 50’s.”

“Their growth was accelerated so that they would be ready to fight for the Empire when the time came. They were ready in under 10 years.” Vader explained.

“Has nothing been done to decelerate their growth?” Sentinel asked, with some concern.

“With the war, it hasn’t been much of a concern. Their life spans have been unnaturally cut short more often than naturally, anyway.”

“It’s not right. Yes, they are a necessity to support the Empire, but we should at least give them a chance to have a normal life span. Even a well-earned retirement. We’ve... “ she raised her hands, then let them drop, despairingly. “We’ve created a subclass of humanity, forever doomed to slavery.”

He looked down at her sharply. Her words struck a chord, and he flashed back to his years of slavery in childhood.

“The least we can do for them is give them a mostly normal life, and a mostly normal life span.” she said.

“You sound like you are about to ask me to take care of that...” he rumbled, with some amusement.

“Well, not tonight.” She smiled. “But I do have a request.”

“Oh. I’m all ears.” Vader replied, sardonically.

“I would like it very much if you would go over to the Troopers and ... give them a pep talk, get them to talk to the girls.” she said.

“Oh, really! What do I look like, a social worker? A school counselor? Or a cruise director, perhaps?” Vader said.

“No, you look like a Dark Lord of the Sith, and they will certainly take orders from you. If you order them to go ask the girls to dance, they will do it.” she said, softly.

“And what will you be doing while I am so otherwise engaged?” he asked.

“I will be talking with the girls.” Sentinel waved a hand in the direction of the wall of nervous collegiate women.

“This...” he rumbled softly. “Is NOT... in my job description.”

“Wow, the Emperor gave you a job description!?! Was it in writing? Hmmm... that would make some interesting reading: the job description of a Sith Lord.” She grinned up at him. “I, however, have nothing in writing. I’m jealous.” she teased.

He gently poked her in the stomach.

“Ouch! Watch it, that was a little too close to my injury...” she said.

“It still hurts?” he asked with concern evident in his voice.

“It’s healed up well enough, but it will still be sore for a while. Now please, do this? For me?” she smiled up at him, and he swore she actually batted her eyelashes.

“We must be an item. I am already considering doing completely foolish things at your request.” he said.

She stood up on tiptoes, and tried to plant a kiss on the side of his mask. But he interpreted her intentions quickly, and before she was anywhere near his mask, he had grabbed her wrists and brought her back down. “Not here.” Vader rumbled softly, but not without some amusement. “Not in public.”

“Ok.” said, struggling not to chuckle.

Vader looked towards the troopers, who were awkwardly milling around the far wall.

“Thank you.” she said.

“I cannot believe I am doing this...” Vader stormed off in the direction of the Troopers. Sentinel strode towards the collegiate women.

“Hello.” She said as the got close.

“Hi”, several of them said, nervously. They seemed torn between glancing at her and nervously glancing at the man they realized must be her date.

“Why are you all just... hiding over here?” Sentinel asked.

One of them stepped forward. “Well, they are all so... old. I didn’t know what it would be like, meeting a clone trooper, but I didn’t realize they would... be so old.” she said.

“They are age accelerated, but they are all around your age, or younger.” Sentinel explained.

“Younger?”

“Yes. And they are less experienced than you are. They’ve been through hell, yet I doubt one of them has ever kissed a girl. Yet these are the most honest, honorable, loyal men you will ever find. And you aren’t here necessarily to start a lifelong relationship. You’re here to have a good time, to go dancing. So... go dancing!” Sentinel said, enthusiastically.

“Are you with... Lord Vader?” one of the girls asked.

“What if I am?” Sentinel asked.

“Just... he’s...” another one said.

“What?” Sentinel said.

“Well, he’s... rather scary.” the first girl responded.

“You’d be surprised how many men are.” She grinned. “Now go walk over there, and find someone to dance with.” Then she stopped them. “Wait, what’s the deal with all the white dresses?”

“Oh, that was my idea.” A diminutive blond replied. “They are clones, and I thought it might make them feel more comfortable if we looked more... alike...”

“Oh. Well, you might be right. Now get over there. And have a good time.” Sentinel shooed them out across the dance floor, following them a little way behind. She noticed that the troopers were starting to cross the dance floor, with Vader just behind them. The girls and troopers fanned out, starting to talk to each other, and she was sure she heard some of the girls giggling nervously. She walked through the throng and up to Vader, smiling broadly.

They were now not the only couple on the dance floor. Vader had to admit to himself that this was definitely preferable... having people actually mingling as opposed to everyone off in their own corner.

And it meant that people weren’t staring at him and Sentinel quite so much.

The music changed into a lively dance song, and Sentinel was surprised when Vader suddenly took her hands, and twirled her into his arms, dancing out to the center of the throng. She laughed with her surprise, then they elegantly danced across the floor, one the extension of the other. The Troopers and girls were doing the same, if much less elegantly. Some of the women had approached the non-clone troopers and officers, and more people were being pulled out onto the floor.

“I wonder what the Emperor will say when he hears that you saved the party?” Sentinel said, giggling.

“The wrinkled old prune can say whatever he pleases”, he said, barely audible.

She laughed out loud, then had to bury her face in his chest to try to control herself.

She finally calmed down, and said “I’m sorry, but that’s exactly what I thought of him as when I spoke to him last.”

They danced through to the end of the song. She was very surprised when one of the girls came up and tried to cut in. Vader seemed a little annoyed, but also rather pleased and amused, and readily went off with the younger girl. Sentinel stood alone, holding her hand in front of her mouth, hiding her grin. When she turned to her left, she saw the Commander there, walking towards her.

“Would you like to dance?” He asked.

She smiled, and nodded, and they started to glide across the dance floor.

“I should thank you, and Lord Vader, for breaking the ice.”

“You are most welcome, Commander Javel. Thank you for inviting us to the dance.”

“You are welcome.”

They danced in silence for a moment. The Commander was a good dancer, she noted.

“May I ask you something, Lord Sentinel?” Javel asked.

“What is it, Commander?”

“What is the... attraction... between you and Lord Vader?”

Sentinel was shocked silent. Eventually, she regained her composure.

“Why do you want to know?” she asked.

“I mean no offense. But I have to wonder... why someone as beautiful as you...” Javel trailed off.

“And I mean no offense, Commander, but it is none of your business.” Sentinel retorted, her jade green eyes flashing.

“I only meant... That there are other men in the galaxy who also would find you... fascinating... and would probably be less dangerous for you to be pursuing.” the Commander said, in as gentle a voice as possible.

“You don’t think I’m dangerous, Commander?” she asked, feeling suddenly playful. Impishly playful.

The Commander did not notice her sudden mood change. “You strike me as much less... volatile, Lord Sentinel. More approachable.” the Commander said. “Admittedly, I haven’t seen you as much this past week as I have Lord Vader... due to your convalescence. And your joint visit to my station is the first time I’ve met either of you two, so this is all based primarily upon first impressions...” the Commander said. “And holonet feeds.” he added the last with a grin.

Sentinel was rather amused. Yes, she supposed she would be much more approachable, or at least to appear so, to others. But Vader, on the other hand...

Vader wasn’t the sort of person you would just casually walk up to and strike a conversation with, Sentinel thought.

“So, Commander, you think I would be more suited with someone less dangerous?“ Sentinel said. “Someone like you, perhaps?” she asked.

“Honestly, no, Lord Sentinel. I am already... spoken for.” he smiled down at her. “But if I weren’t, and I weren’t worried about the consequences of thwarting my... competition...” he glanced at Lord Vader, who was still dancing with the young lady from the local women’s college.

“Commander, you don’t think I’m dangerous?” She asked him again.

“Well, Lord Sentinel, I know you are Sith. I’ve heard a little bit about the Sith... well, very little. But enough to know the Sith usually are somewhat dangerous.” he said. “Very dangerous.” He amended. “But you... you seem... different.”

Sentinel would have normally admitted the same. But right now, with her hopes and dreams regarding having a relationship with Vader finally coming to fruition... it seemed important to her to show just how much she was like Lord Vader. Just how dangerous she could be. Just how fitting it was that she was with the Dark Lord. Her Dark Lord.

Her knight in shining armor, she mused.

Sentinel looked down for a moment at the Commander’s chest, her lids hiding her eyes. She opened herself up to the Dark Side, to the power. To the ability to project fear, and command obedience. The power flooded in to comply, happy to have her utilize it. Happy to have her ‘finally coming to the party’, so to speak.

It was an act of loyalty towards her one true love. But it was more than that, she realized. Something more selfish... and completely addictive.

She felt the vibrating energy coursing through her, resonating with her own spirit. She looked up at the Commander, and he jumped, startled.

Her eyes were yellow.

“Trust me, commander. I am... very... dangerous.” she said, matter of factly.

The Commander cleared his throat.

“Lord Sentinel, I meant no disrespect.” the Commander said.

Some part of Sentinel’s mind was upset with herself, for playing this trick upon the Commander... for taking his interest in her life and using it as an opportunity for this show of power. But she ignored it, enjoying the feelings that were coursing through her. Enjoying feeling what she imagined Lord Vader felt, the power he commanded. The authority over others that he enjoyed.

Lord Vader’s presence in her life made her want to fully accept the Dark Side, if it would mean Lord Vader would fully accept her. The small part of her that refused to allow her to do anything that might mean a loss of control, an unintentional death, balked... complained. Whined. But was not heard in the roar of power that Sentinel was commanding.

The Commander looked away, towards where Vader was dancing with the young girl. Vader was looking right at them. The Commander almost thought he could see Vader’s eyes, glowing, through the mask Vader always wore.

Javel looked back down at Sentinel. Her eyes were back to normal.

Commander Javel loosened his grip on her, and they were no longer dancing quite as closely. He finished out the dance in silence, then politely excused himself and walked back to the side of the room.

If he were a dog, Sentinel mused, his tail would be between his legs right now.

You shouldn’t have done that. That was rude... and cruel, Sentinel’s conscience said to her. She did her best to ignore it.

She turned towards where Vader had been dancing, and found him right there beside her. She eagerly entered his arms. The music started up again, and they started dancing.

“What was all of that about?” Vader asked.

“The Commander was under the mistaken impression that you might be too dangerous for me. I corrected him. And how did your dance go?”

“Was he was interested in you?” Vader rumbled, dangerously.

“Yes... but he is taken, and said so.” She said. “Now, what did you and that young flower talk about?”

“She asked me if I liked you.” Vader said.

“She did! And what did you say?”

“I said it was none of her business. But then I said that yes, I do like you.” he said, affectionately pulling her closer.

“And what did she say?” Sentinel asked.

“She said you seemed like a very nice person.”

Sentinel blushed. “Ah, that was very sweet of her.” She grinned.

“Were you jealous of my dancing with her?” Vader asked.

“A little. And you?” Sentinel asked.

“If he pulled you any closer, he was going to find the air suddenly very thin in here.” Vader said.

She chuckled. “Well, don’t worry. I won’t be ‘tempted’ away from you.”

“And I have no intention of cheating on you.” Vader responded.

“Thank you. I wouldn’t expect any less of you.”

They danced in silence. The next song came on.

If you want a lover, I’ll do anything you ask me to.

Sentinel proceeded to turn bright purple.

“Ah, they’re playing our song.” Vader rumbled.

If you want another, kind of lover, I’ll wear a mask for you.

“You know, “ she said. “You never did give me that list.”

“I haven’t completed it.”

“I’ve been asleep for 3 days. What HAVE you been doing?” She teased.

“I’ve had alot on my mind.” He responded.

If you want a partner, take my hand, or
if you want to strike me down in anger,
Here I stand.
I’m your man.

“Well, surely you have some ideas.” she grinned up at him.

“Several.”

Are the moons too bright, the chains too tight, the beast won’t go to sleep!

“Well? And what are some of these ideas?” she asked.

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

I’ve been running through these promises to you that I made and I could not keep.

Ah, but a man never got a woman back, not by begging on his knees.
For I’d crawl to you baby, and I’d fall at your feet, and I’d howl at your doody like a dog in heat. And I’d claw at your heart, and I’d tear at your sheet, I’d say please! I’m your man.

“I assume ‘howl at your doody’ is still an item on the list.” Sentinel said.

“Only if we agree on our own meaning for ‘doody’.” Vader responded.

She giggled.

She looked around and noticed the Commander, scowling in their direction.

“He’s definitely not pleased to see us dancing together. Or maybe he thinks I was rather rude to him.” she asked.

“Were you rude?” he asked.

“Well, he seemed too curious about the two of us.” she said, thinking. That wasn’t the real reason you treated him so badly, her conscience said.

Vader was silent for a moment, then said “Perhaps he is our informer?”

“That would make alot of sense.” she responded.

“What shall we do with him?” Vader asked.

She focused on Javel, blatantly staring, with a small evil smile playing across her lips. Even from this distance, she could tell her attention was having an unnerving affect on the Commander.

“Do you suppose that he’s afraid of heights?” she asked.

Vader looked down at her, saw her staring at the Commander. She looked back up at Vader.

“Why don’t we find out?” he said.

Together they walked off the dance floor, in the direction of the Commander.

The Commander watched their approach with increasing nervousness. He appeared to not quite know what to do with his hands, and to be swallowing a great deal. He picked up his drink, which was on a table behind him, and downed the entire thing in one swallow.

“Commander,” Vader rumbled softly. “Lord Sentinel and I would like to have a word with you. Why don’t we take a walk.”

“Lord Vader, Lord Sentinel, I wonder if we might have this conversation at a later time. I need to be here to supervise the proceedings...” Javel said.

“I’m sure that your lovely assistant,” Sentinel indicated the woman standing next to him, “can keep the festivities going nicely.”

The Commander looked at his assistant, who nodded in response.

With a reluctant sigh, the Commander followed Vader and Sentinel.

They walked in silence, all eyes on them, as they left the dance hall. A few corridors and elevators later and they were out on the platform overlooking the cliff. In the darkness, the jade moon was just rising, giving everything an eerie green cast. The green light did nothing good for the Commander’s suddenly pale complexion.

“Lord Vader, Lord Sentinel, what is this about?” the Commander asked.

Sentinel felt a nudge from the Force, from Vader. He was giving her the go-ahead... saying to her, in her mind, This is your show. I’ll follow your lead.

She felt a tight ball of excitement in her chest at that thought, and felt the Dark Side suddenly descending upon her like a dark ball of light. She felt powerful, and very, very dangerous.

She found herself approaching Javel... like a cat, stalking him, eyeing her prey.

She cut the distance between them, and poked him in the chest with her right index finger.

“I think someone.” Poke. “Has been telling stories.” Poke. “To the Emperor.” Poke. “About myself and Lord Vader.” Poke. The last poke was emphatically harder, sharper, and hit him as she finished enunciating “Vader”. The last poke obviously caused him some pain, being that it was given extra force, using the actual Force. It also propelled him rather violently against the railing, causing him to flail slightly and then grip the railing in a panic.

“I... I don’t know what you are talking about.” the Commander stammered.

“And I think this someone...” she stood at her full height, which meant she was still looking up at the Commander. But somehow, the Commander found himself feeling like he was being stared down at. Cornered. She continued “... has been making a great deal out of our friendship, and inflating the facts, in order to... shall we say... stir up trouble?”

The Commander knew he was in dire straights, here. But he still managed to keep his cool. “I have done no such thing, Lord Sentinel.”

Vader sauntered up to stand behind Sentinel, and the Commander stared back and forth between the two of them nervously.

“You don’t? Really. Well, why don’t you explain to us, Commander: what exactly have your communications with the Emperor been about?” Vader rumbled.

“I have merely given him standard reports about this base’s operations, I assure you.” the Commander said. He managed to recover some of his confidence as he said “and I resent the accusation by the two of you that I have been... spying... on either of you.”

Sentinel focused in on the man’s vitals. Heart rate, breathing rate, eye movement. She used the Force as best she could to sniff out if the man was telling the truth, or lying.

She turned back to Vader. “He’s telling the truth about his communications. But he’s hiding something.” she said.

Vader strode forward, towering over the Commander, backing him up against the rail.

“Well, Commander. What is this piece of news that you are withholding from us?” Vader growled, staring the Commander down.

The Commander looked reluctant to respond, but he obviously didn’t like his current situation. Being pinned down by 2 impatient Sith Lords was not how he had intended to spend his evening. He said, “One of the Troopers was sent here by the Emperor. He arrived just before you did, and has been watching your activities. I was told not to interfere, and not to tell either of you.” He let out a sigh. ”That’s... all I know.”

Vader said, “Who is this Trooper?”

The Commander said “His designation is TX-567.”

Sentinel said softly, “Now Commander, was that so hard?”

Vader rumbled, almost gently, “Thank you, Commander, for your... cooperation. I understand and appreciate your loyalty towards the Emperor.” Vader started to turn, then looked back down at the Commander. “I trust you will not feel the need to relate our little discussion to... anyone?”

The Commander nodded.

Vader said “If anyone asks... we discussed the ship I’ve had commissioned, and I expressed some concern that you had used substandard equipment in it’s creation. You assured me otherwise. I was satisfied, and pleased with the ship.” Vader paused. “Which I am.” he added.

Then the two of them, Sentinel and Vader, wheeled off the platform, single file. Vader nudged Sentinel ahead of him through the doorway, which opened as they approached, and auto-closed behind them.

The Commander leaned against the railing for several minutes after they had left, staring at the closed door, trying to slow his breathing and heart rate.

Should have known better than to invite the damned Sith to a party, he thought.

Goto Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Eleven

2006-06-17T01:00:00.000-07:00

Three days.

Sentinel had been stuck -- in that hospital room -- for three days. The droid had noted her lack of self restraint, and had decided to tack on an extra day just to be sure any exploits in the near future could do her no harm.

She had been asleep during that entire time. The droid was taking no chances with her, and had medicated her senseless to keep her in bed!

She had been fed intravenously. She had relieved herself while asleep... apparently having been fitted with a catheter and... more lovely things. The medical droid had been explaining it all to her when she cut him off. “No more, I don’t want to know!”

Sentinel felt hopelessly groggy. And very peeved with the droid. "Here, let me give you something to help you sleep...” he had said to her an eternity ago!

She had no idea droids could be that devious.

She dragged herself out of the bed, headed for the shower. It must have been nearly lunch time. She hadn’t been awake in 3 days! Three days! She couldn't get over that fact.

Had Vader been by to visit, she asked the medical droid. The droid wasn’t sure.

She got cleaned up. The medical droid told her she was finally fully healed, and could go back to her normal activities. Her stitches had even been removed. Never the less, after everything she had been through, she found herself moving very carefully. She really didn’t want to end up back in that bed one more time!

She left her room, and then just stood in the hallway. She wasn’t sure what her next move was. She decided she should find Vader, see what she had missed. But she stood still, thinking.

She was dissappointed to not find him by her bedside when she was ready to be discharged. She wasn’t sure if she should read anything into that or not.

A trooper stopped right in front of her, interrupting her thoughts.

“Lord Sentinel, the Emperor wishes you to contact him at once.”

She sighed. “Thank you. I will make contact.”

The Trooper nodded and moved on.

She headed for the ship. She did a quick search, but Vader was not on board.

She entered her room. She closed the door, then stopped. Something wasn’t right. She looked around the room... everything was in the right place, but she felt like it had all been... touched. Lifted, and carefully replaced.

Deal with it later. Contact the Emperor now, she thought.

She started up the communication, and then assumed the position of obeisance, down on one knee. The hologram of the Emperor appeared in front and slightly above her, generated by hologram generators in the room’s walls.

“My Master.” She said it with reverence. She actually did revere him, admire him, respect him. She just didn’t trust him, nor did she approve of his morality. But otherwise, he was a great Sith Lord, and she knew would assist her to further her Force abilities... as long as it was convenient to him and furthered his own motives. She sighed inwardly at that thought: another drawback to the Dark Side. The lack of trust, the withholding of information and power, all in fear of betrayal. No true cooperative spirit.

But she would be something different. The best parts of the Jedi and the Sith. She was sure of it.

“Lord Sentinel. You have been out of commission for quite some time.” the Emperor said.

“Yes, my Master.” she said.

“What was the reason for your recent relapse?”

“The med droid put me into a restorative sleep for 3 days straight. I had ripped one of my stitches.” Sentinel explained.

“How did you manage to do that?” the Emperor asked.

“I was... being stupid, my Master. I simply overexerted myself. I assumed my injuries were further healed than they actually were.” she answered.

The Emperor studied her.

“How did you overexert yourself?” the Emperor asked.

Why is he so curious over this point, she wondered?

“My Master, I was on the viewing platform that extends out over the cliff. I wanted a better view of the waterfall. I went over the railing, held onto the railing, and leaned far over. Lord Vader found me that way, and I jumped back onto the platform. I think that’s when I pulled the stitches loose.” she answered.

“Ah....”

She studied the floor, feeling his eyes studying her.

“It has come to my attention”, the Emperor softly said, “that you and Lord Vader have grown close.”

Oof, Sentinel thought. What did he know? What had Vader told him? What would Vader want her to tell him? She wished she’d found Vader first, to know what to say to keep their stories straight. Should she lie? Should she tell the truth?

Best to tell the truth, but downplay it... maybe. Sentinel licked her lips.

“We are friends, my Master.” she said.

The Emperor wasn’t buying it. She could sense his gaze intensify.

“Close friends?” he pursued.

She pursed her lips.

“We have been through alot together, my Master.” Sentinel said. She added “We have grown to trust each other.” She immediately wished she hadn’t added the last part. But it was too late...

“You know, of course... there is no trust among the Sith?” the Emperor said softly.

“Yes, my Master.”

“Then how can you trust Lord Vader?” he asked.

“I... trust him to be there for me through the mission, as I hope he also trusts me.” she responded.

The Emperor regarded her silently.

“You are fond of Lord Vader.” he stated.

She looked up to face the Emperor.

“I admire him, as I admire you, my Master.” She was able to say that with full honesty.

He seemed pleased with this.... she no longer sensed she was under such detailed scrutiny.

“You would be well advised, Lord Sentinel, to keep this friendship from becoming... complicated.” he cautioned.

Great, Sentinel thought, love advice from the wrinkled old prune. Wait, why does that phrase sound familiar?

“Yes, of course, my Master.” she said.

“Good. Report back to me after the mission is complete.”

“Yes, my Master.” She said, but his holoimage had already disappeared.

“Huh”, she said.

She stood up. She looked around her room. It all... felt wrong. She tried to focus on who had touched it all.

Vader. Vader has gone through my things, she thought.

Why?

She looked around the room, trying to sense what had taken place there, trying to pick up traces of the emotions going through Lord Vader when he’d searched her quarters.

The Emperor. She sensed that something the Emperor had said to Vader had filled him with doubts about her. Doubts about her loyalty to him. Doubts about her love for him.

Great, she thought. Suspicious Sith that he is, it’s going to take some time to fix that.

She sat down on her bed with a sigh. And her thoughts once again started racing.

“I am not Sith. I am not Jedi. What am I?” She asked to herself. Granted, she respected and admired the Emperor. But she was only continuing her... education... under him and the teacher he had appointed because there was no way to wiggle out of it now. She took what she was taught with a grain of salt. She would try it out, but if it conflicted with her moral values, she would not accept it. Same thing for the Emperor’s orders: if his orders conflicted with her moral values, she would do whatever she could to change how she carried out those orders until the conflict no longer existed.

She realized that, most of the time, her moral values were her primary guide when it came to using the Force.

It hadn’t been that way in the beginning. Before she had been fully exposed to the Sith ways, when she was first learning from her teacher and from the Emperor, she had fully adopted the Sith philosophy. It had made so much sense to her, especially with the treachery of the Jedi. But when she realized that, according to the Sith philosophy, there was nothing wrong with her having killed her parents, she suddenly came to a screeching halt in her training.

She had taken time off from the training to do some thorough soul-searching. She had come to the conclusion that she could never fully be Sith.

She had seen no way she could back out of the training. She knew enough of her teacher, and the Emperor, to know that to back out now would be to sign her death warrant.

She realized that her best teachers to date had been the local Shamans she had trained with on her home world. They had assisted her greatly in increasing her Force abilities. And they had tried to teach her their healing powers, which they augmented using their Force skills.

These Shamans had probably been the closest thing to what she was seeking to become: the best of both worlds, the best of the Jedi ways and the best of the Sith ways. Although they did not condone her use of the Dark Side of the Force, they had at least assisted her in trying to control it, and trying not to let it get away from her.

If only she had listened to them harder, spent more time training with them in how to control the Dark Side, then her parents would still be alive right now. Maybe they would even have forgiven her for her choice to leave them, and for her having taken her brother with her.

She fully intended to go back one day and learn from the Shamans once more. She trusted them, and their knowledge, and the fact that they truly had her best interests at heart.

And she knew for a fact that the Emperor did NOT have her best interests at heart.

It would be against the Sith beliefs to have her best interests at heart. That would be too altruistic, and the Sith were anything BUT altruistic.

Sigh. Or trustworthy. Or capable of love or true friendship, she thought.

What have I gotten into with Vader? She wondered.

Got to go find him, she thought. See what damage has been done by the Emperor, and do my best to fix it.

And also see how much her “story” had conflicted with Vader’s... and if any damage control would be possible if the stories had conflicted too much with each other.

She left the ship. She headed for the shipyard. She wasn’t sure where else Vader would be... she assumed he had some free time right now. He was probably overseeing the finishing touches of his new ship. Yeah... that felt right. That was where he probably was.

She increased her pace, and entered the shipyard after a few minutes of walking.

The vastness of the space impressed her just as much the second time as it had upon the first time she’d seen it.

A team of engineers and droids were surrounding the ship Vader was having manufactured. They had the electronics spilled out through a panel, and were busily working on it. But there was no sign of Vader.

She watched them work for a moment. Then turned and headed for the only other location on her tour that she remembered... the platform that extended over the cliff.

There he was, standing at the railing, looking out. The sun was high in the sky, and the waterfall, with the sunlight, had generated a beautiful rainbow, off in the distance.

She stood next to the doorway, just outside it, allowing it to close behind her.

“Hello... Lord Vader.” She said.

He did not turn to face her. “Hello”, he responded.

She took a few steps forward.

“The medical droid says I’m finally fully healed.”

No response.

“Are you... busy, Lord Vader?”

Vader seemed to slump his shoulders. It was hard for Sentinel to tell, with his shoulder armor and all, but that’s exactly what she thought she saw him do.

Vader turned to face her. “What do you want?”, he said, with a very palpable hint of menace in his voice.

“You’re angry with me. I can sense it. What’s wrong? What did I do? Or, what is it that you think I did?” she asked.

“You are doing precisely what you were told to do. Now, why should I be angry with you for that?” Vader snapped. The anger was coming off of him in waves. She could almost see it.

She looked up at him. “I... ok.... Let’s see. Perhaps I would have a better understanding of the situation if you told me who you think gave me my orders, what they were, and if I actually did them?”

“You were sent by the Emperor to test me!” He bellowed. He stormed up to her and she backed away a few paces, in spite of herself. “You are a plant! A trick! You are only here to see if I am really loyal to the Emperor and the Sith, or if I can be... tempted away... by a little... meaningless pleasure.” Vader spat the last 2 words out.

She stood, looking up at him. She looked at the floor, shaking her head. Then she raised her head back to look him in the face. “I am not trying to trick you. I care about you. I....” She waved her hand, shook her head in exasperation. “Listen, the Emperor may have sent me to test you. But if he did so, he did it without informing me! All I knew was that I was supposed to assist you on this mission. Nothing more, nothing less. I was not told to... to... tempt you. I wasn’t told to test you. I was merely told to help you.”

He stared down at her, glowering.

“If I’m a plant, a trick, it’s without my knowledge. I am not trying to trick you, or test you, or tempt you, or... or... whatever! All I know is how I feel about you.” she said, her voice rising.

He still merely stood staring at her.

Her face was hot. She felt something stinging her cheeks, rolling down, and angrily swiped the tears off her face. “I have no intention of letting the Emperor ruin what we have.” She sniffed. “But am I already too late? He spoke to you, didn’t he? Well, he spoke to me too, just a few moments ago.”

“What did he say?” Vader said, sharply.

Sentinel rapidly described her conversation with the Emperor: “He wanted to know how I managed to put myself back into bed for 3 days straight. I explained what happened. He also said he’d heard that you and I were growing close. I said we were friends. He asked if we were close friends, and I said, that with everything we’d been through on this mission, we’d grown to trust each other. He talked about trust not being a Sith quality. I said we’d grown to trust each other for this mission. He advised against letting our friendship become ‘complicated’.” She took a deep breath and sighed.

“And? Is that it?” Vader asked, impatience dripping off of him.

“That was it, or at least, all I can remember.” She said. “When I first left my hospital room, a Trooper found me before I could find you, and advised me that the Emperor wanted me to contact him right away. I went to the ship, looked for you, but you weren’t there. I had a feeling I should talk to you before I spoke to him. But when I couldn’t locate you in the ship, I went ahead and contacted the Emperor first.” She took a deep breath. “I would have liked to have known, ahead of time, what to say to the Emperor when he asked me all of that. What you would have wanted me to say, that is. I hope I at least came close to what you would have liked me to say. I don’t like lying, but I will not violate your trust in me by talking about us.”

Vader didn’t say anything, just stood there, then turned and looked back out over the cliff at the view.

“He spoke to you, didn’t he?” she asked.

Vader did not turn back, but said “Yes. 3 days ago, before the medical droid put you ‘to sleep.’”

“What did he say?” she asked.

“Essentially the same thing. I didn’t care much for his intruding, but I said nothing to that effect. After he ended the transmission, that’s when I came and promised you... what I promised. And then, when I left you, I realized that someone was spying on us, relaying information about us to the Emperor. And that maybe that someone was, in fact, you.” Vader said.

“Well, it’s not me.” Sentinel said.

“It truly is not, is it?” Vader asked.

“No.”

He turned back to face her. “I have thought wrongly of you.” He said it so softly she almost didn’t hear him.

“I’d say the Emperor knew that, by letting you know that he knew we were close, that that alone would rattle you, and maybe put a wedge between us.” She said. “You were provoked into not trusting me.”

“The Emperor wouldn’t want you and me to form any kind of trust. It’s not safe for him.” Vader rumbled.

She walked up to him, stood directly in front of him, put her hands on his arms. “Was he successful? Do you trust me again, or ...” she trailed off.

“You said you care about me.” Vader said.

Sentinel swallowed with difficulty and said, “I’m in love with you.”

She felt his hands on her back, sliding down to the small of her back, pulling her closer. She looked up at him. I've opened up my heart... is he going to say anything? she wondered.

“You don’t know me...” he finally said.

“We can certainly fix that.” She said with a chuckle, gently rubbing his left arm. She could feel, just barely, where his flesh ended, and his synthetic arm began.

He held her close, without speaking, then suddenly released her, turned around and walked back to the railing. She looked at his back, questioningly.

Vader gripped the railing. Sentinel sensed an internal battle was going on inside Vader, and stood quietly, letting him finish that battle.

Vader spoke into the silence. “I killed my wife.”

“What?” Sentinel said, unsure she had heard him right.

“I killed my wife”, Vader repeated.

She walked to the railing, looked over briefly, then turned back to face him, leaning on the railing, looking up at him.

“How did it happen?” she asked.

“I had visions, where my wife died in childbirth. The Emperor promised me that he could give me the power to keep her from dying, that we would discover that lost Sith power together.” Vader paused, stared at the rainbow for a moment before continuing. “In order to save my wife, I pledged myself to the Emperor, and turned to the Dark Side. I used to be a Jedi. I performed some... tasks... for the Emperor. My wife found out about those tasks, and couldn’t accept my choices, wouldn’t let me explain that I had done this all for her... for us. Then my old Master showed up... she had brought him with her. And her betrayal of our love was complete.”

A flock of birds flew far below them. For a moment, Vader just watched them.

Vader continued. “I strangled her from a distance, using the Force. I killed her, and our unborn child. And then, my old Master took my 3 remaining non-mechanical limbs, and left me to be burned alive. I’m sure he thought I would be killed by the fire, but the Emperor found me, and... put me back together. And I realized, that if not for the influence of my old Master, my wife might have understood, might have accepted... might not have betrayed me.”

Sentinel moved closer to him, turning to face out over the cliff, and put her arm around him, leaning her head against his side. He held her, and they stood there in silence, watching the world around them.

“I thought the Jedi frowned on all attachments, including marriage.” she said.

“We kept it a secret. I wasn’t ready to leave the Jedi, nor was she ready to have her political standing undermined by such a... frowned upon... relationship.” Vader said.

Another flock of birds flew by.

“The Emperor, however, did not have any problems with my marriage.” Vader said. “At least, none that I was aware of at the time...”

They stared out as the flock headed for the direction of the far off waterfall. They were both quiet for several minutes.

“The Emperor will only allow attachments that serve his purpose.” Sentinel stated. “If we don’t want trouble with him, we’d better somehow show him that our relationship is not a threat.”

He looked down at her, and she up at him. And how do we accomplish that? She thought.

But also running through her mind was the startling thought that she’d been right, the entire time. She was sure of it now. Vader had been the Jedi, Anakin Skywalker.

Goto Chapter Twelve

Chapter Ten

2006-06-15T20:24:00.000-07:00

Sentinel was just finishing breakfast. Her hair was still wet. She’d been allowed out of bed, and the first thing she’d done was get cleaned up. Her clothes had been freshly laundered. It felt SO good to be clean.

Sentinels thoughts were racing through her head. She was in love. No, that wasn’t quite it... she had already been in love with Vader before she’d even gotten the chance to meet him face to face.

The fact was, she was now head over heels in love... now that Vader had made it clear that he had feelings for her as well.

She couldn’t believe Vader had feelings for her, that he’d finally let his guard down with her. That they had kissed, that they had shared intimate thoughts with one another.

That her Sith Lord trusted her.

Her Sith Lord. She grinned at that thought.

She had fallen in love exactly two times in her life. And in both cases, she hadn’t even met the man at the time she fell in love with him.

The first time was back when she had thought the Jedi were the coolest thing in existence. She had only just been starting to sour on them, knowing their thoughts on attachments, and especially marriage. But their exploits through the galaxy, and of one Jedi in particular, had kept her glued to the holonet nightly, anxious to see what had happened today, and how the Jedi and the soldiers fighting with them had thwarted it.

Especially anxious to see what Anakin Skywalker and Obi-wan Kenobi had been up to.

But mostly anxious to see Anakin Skywalker.

Her parents had been less than thrilled with her obsession with the Jedi. Had they known of her crush on handsome Anakin Skywalker... well, she wasn’t sure what they would have said. But whatever the case, she had fallen in love with the man without even having ever met him.

She at first had thought of her love for him as a kind of crush. But she’d had crushes on men before, and she’d recognized them for what they were: just crushes. Infatuations. But this... this was strange and deep and wasn’t going away, no matter how much she had tried to date any of the young men in her city.

When Anakin dissappeared, and then all the Jedi had become persona non gratis, she was horrified. It took her some time before she was willing to accept that the Jedi had been trying to take over the Empire... but she could never believe it about Skywalker.

Her love had never faded. And then one day, she caught sight of the Emperor’s right hand man, the one who was sent out to solve various problems in much the same way the Jedi had been sent out to resolve issues: Lord Vader.

She couldn’t understand why her feelings suddenly fixated around him. From the first time she saw him, it was as if she’d rediscovered her lost love.

And Vader’s exploits became what she longed to see. His ways sometimes seemed cruel, but very effective. And the first time she heard his voice on the holonet, she melted in her chair.

She grew to enjoy seeing him work. He was very no-nonsense about everything he did. And, much like Anakin, he wasn’t afraid of anything.

She had briefly considered that maybe they were one in the same person. It would make sense, considering how her fixation had so fluidly moved from one to the other, especially considering she couldn’t even see Vader’s face. To her, it felt like her fixation had merely lost sight of Anakin, and had then found him, hiding in this unlikely body, behind this mask.

Her brother had finally convinced her that she was just being a fickle female. She had eventually accepted his verdict.

Besides, she had a hard time seeing Anakin hiding himself behind that mask.

Of course, now she knew that Vader had to wear the mask to survive. That he had been burned very badly on his face, and who knew where else. So, maybe Vader was Anakin Skywalker.

She entertained the thought, then realized she could never bring it up with him. At least, not anytime soon. Anyway, Vader may have well have had to kill Anakin in order to keep the Emperor safe. Her first love may have in fact been in league with the Jedi plot to take over the Empire.

Maybe it would be best to simply never bring up that bizarre subject.

She was chasing the last of her meal around the plate with her fork, when the door opened. In walked Vader.

“I see you are upright. Ready to take a tour?” he said.

She grinned with her mouth closed, full of food, and nodded her head.

“Please... do swallow before you speak.” he cautioned, holding up a hand.

She nearly choked on her food, swallowed, then laughed. “Just because I’m a backwater bumpkin doesn’t mean I’m going to talk with my mouth full, Lord Vader.”

“One can never be too cautious.”

She rose, drained her beverage, then said “Ready when you are, m’Lord.”

“Let’s go.”

They left the room. She was a little weak from the bed rest, but felt her strength returning with every step. “What’s first on the itinerary?” she asked.

“This base is situated on the edge of a very tall cliff. The first thing we will do is take a look at the view.” Vader said.

“Ah...”

They walked down the corridor, and entered a repulsor-lift. They ascended for a moment, then left the lift to follow another corridor to it’s end. A door at the end of the corridor slid opened. They walked out onto a platform extended out over the cliff itself, stopping once they reached the protective railing.

It was impossible to see the bottom of the cliff. She could tell it was at least a 1 or 2 kilometers down, because that’s where the cloud layer began. Along the edge of the cliff she saw verdant forest, green grass, and an incredible number of different species of flowers.

The sun was high overhead, and 2 of the planet's 3 moons were visible in the sky. One was an impossibly brilliant jade green, like a sparkling jewel.

Jade green, like her eyes, Vader thought.

Somewhere impossibly far down and far away, the cloud cover had parted, and revealed land covered in vegetation, ending in a long beach with sparkling blue-green water. The water met the sky at the horizon, and it was impossible to tell where the water ended and the sky began.

“It’s beautiful.” She said.

Vader was standing just behind her, and she found herself leaning back into him, careful of where she placed her head, so she wouldn’t accidentally bump his chest’s control panel.

Vader placed both hands on her arms, pulling her closer.

A Stormtrooper interrupted them.

“Lord Vader, sorry to interrupt, but Commander Javel wishes to speak with you.”

Vader turned to face the ‘Trooper. “Tell the commander that I will be with him in a moment.”

“Yes, m’Lord.”

The Trooper left them alone.

Vader turned to look down at her. She had found the waterfall, and was leaning dangerously over the edge of the railing to get a better look. The way the cliff curved, it just barely hid the impressive view of the water falling the entire distance down.

He reached over, and rather playfully poked her in the back... not enough to send her over, but enough to make her reflexively jump back from the railing.

“Hey!”

“Never turn your back on a Sith Lord.” he teased.

“I figured I was safe with you.” She grinned back at him.

“No-one is ever safe with me.”

She playfully cut short the distance from him, standing up close to him, leaning up against him. Hands on his chest, under his breastplate, either side of his chest controls... rubbing his chest somewhat possessively and affectionately. “Really... how dangerous do you plan on being?” she asked.

He hugged her to himself, hands on the small of her back. He hadn’t flirted in so long. He hadn’t had the opportunity. She felt... very right. “You wouldn’t like me when I’m... dangerous.” he said.

“How about merely... menacing?" she asked.

“Nope...”

“Well... how would I like you?” she asked.

“You would like me best if you... keep me well pleased.” he rumbled softly.

“And how would you like me to please you?” she said, grinning.

He looked down at her, hungrily. He knew she couldn’t see his expression, but that she was becoming very in tune with his emotions... she could read him using the Force. She did it almost too easily, but in a relaxed, nonintrusive manner. Still, he was becoming way too comfortable with her. Complacent. He would have to watch out for himself. She was going to become a weakness for him.

“I’ll let you know... but you had better do a very good job.” he said softly.

She grinned up at him, and he wished he could remove his mask here and now. He wanted to kiss her so badly... and much more.

She was definitely becoming a weakness for him, he thought.

He released her suddenly. “I will be right back.” He left her there.

She watched him go. Then she turned back to the view.

Vader followed the maze of hallways until he reached the Commander’s office. The doorway was open, so he went straight in.

The Commander, Javel, was sitting at his desk, studying some reports on his computer console. He looked up, saw Vader, and immediately stood to greet him.

“Ah, Lord Vader. Thank you for coming.”

“What is it you wanted, Commander?” Vader said.

“We were planning on having a... a get-together, Lord Vader. At the end of this week. You said that you would still be here at that time. I would like to officially invite you and your associate to our get-together. There will be dinner and dancing. We have invited women from the local women’s college, as we currently only have about a 15% female workforce at our station. Anyway, would you and your associate like to attend?”

Vader stood looking at the man. Did he just invite me and Sentinel to a dance? Vader asked himself.

The last 2 words of Vader’s thought escaped. “A dance?” Vader said.

“Yes, Lord Vader. I understand if you find the festivities beneath you...” Commander Javel said.

Do the Sith dance? Is it undignified for the Sith to dance? Or go to a party? Vader asked himself.

I have actually been invited to a party, Vader thought.

“I will pass on your invitation to my associate.” Vader said. “Thank you for the invitation. I will consider it.” He turned and left.

The Commander sat, and watched Vader leave. He had felt obligated to invite the Dark Lord, else maybe experience Vader's wrath at not even being informed of a social event that the entire station was attending. At the same time, he had felt sure that the Dark Lord would think the event was beneath him. Hmmm. Well. This would be interesting, the Commander thought.

Vader returned to the viewing platform. Sentinel was once again trying to get a better view of the waterfall... she was now on the OTHER side of the railing, holding on with one hand, with one foot barely on the ledge, leaning far out into the air.

She turned the minute she heard the door slide open, grinned at him like an idiot, and gracefully jumped back onto the correct side of the railing.

“You have a death wish, don’t you?” Vader rumbled.

“I’ve just never been afraid of heights.”

“Maybe it’s a fear you should learn?” he suggested.

“Nah.”

“Listen. We’ve been invited... by the Commander... to a dance.”

“You’re kidding.” she chuckled.

“No.”

“Do the Sith dance? Do we look like the sort of people who go to a dance?” she asked.

“YOU look like the sort of person.” he chuckled.

“Well, yes, ok. But you? Uh... I mean, you’re too important to go to something like this.”

“Good save.” he said.

“Uhm, yes, anyway...”

“Do you want to go?” he asked, impatiently.

“Uhm... well, do... do you want to go?”

“What are you really asking me?” Vader was starting to lose his patience. Normally, this would have happened much earlier in the conversation. But with her, he seemed to have patience to spare.

She looked down for a moment, trying to choose her words. “Would you feel comfortable going to this dance, to being with me in public, dancing with me?”

“Who said I was going to dance with you? I hear they are inviting all of these lovely, collegiate women...” Vader said.

She tried to slug him; he easily blocked her, chuckling.

“Well?” He said.

She grinned. “Yes, I’d love to. Thank you.”

“Well, then. That’s settled. Let’s continue with the tour.” he said.

“All right.”

He steered her to the shipyard. It took a while to get there, going through the labyrinth that was the complex.

They entered the mammoth underground structure. The ceiling was far overhead, and in the ceiling were hatches through which space craft could take off. There were several new prototype fighters in the shipyard. They both gravitated towards one that was a distinctly V shape, and entirely black.

Her hands traveled the length of the ship, appreciatively. There was an artistry to it. It was sleek, fast, and very lethal, with a wide array of armaments and weaponry. She noted the antireflective coating, and realized it would work very well as a stealth vehicle.

She stopped, and turned to face him. He had been standing still, watching her this entire time. She got a sudden hunch.

“Yours?” she asked.

“Very good. Yes, this one has been created for me, per my exact specifications.” he said, with some pride in his voice.

“How does it fly?”

“I haven’t had the opportunity to try this one out. This is the 5th design I have requested to have made, by the way.” he said.

“Well, you can never have too many sleek fighters.” she grinned.

“No, you cannot.” he said, very matter of factly.

“Are we taking her with us?” Sentinel asked.

“Of course. She was actually under construction at another base nearby, but considering your convalescence, and the timing, I had them bring her here. They are putting the final touches on her. We will be leaving when both you are well, and she is finished.”

“Hmmm.” She looked back at it, caressing it. Her... affection... for it was driving him wild. He felt like she was touching him.

“So, what does a girl have to do... to get one of these for herself?” she asked. She walked the length of the ship once more, touching every sharp edge, admiring the balance, the lines.

“You are Sith. I’m sure, once the Emperor has given you authority over portions of the fleet....” he trailed off. Would he in fact be sharing the fleet with her? Sharing his power... or more correctly, both of them sharing the power the Emperor doled out. Hmmm. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

“I am Sith. But I’d rather have one of these babies than a whole fleet at my command.” She hadn’t even heard the implication in his words. She was focused on his handiwork, in complete admiration of his craft. He hadn’t laid a glove on it, in the act of making it, but his signature was all over it. All of his ingenuity had gone into it. The way she was touching it, he wished he HAD put it together with his own hands.

Of course, one of those hands was somewhere, rotted away or burned up on Mustafar. And the other, on Genoisis, picked clean by insects, but anyway...

He looked at her. She was focused on his creation, with one hand on it adoringly. But the other one had moved to her side, holding her still healing wound.

“I think our little tour needs to come to an end. You’ve pulled your stitches out... am I right?”

She grimaced. “I don’t think I should have been dangling myself over the edge of the cliff like that.”

“Come.”

They walked back to her room in the hospital wing.

Back here, she thought. Was hoping to have moved back into the ship. More... privacy.

Once inside, he merely pointed at the bed. She reluctantly laid back down. A part of her was hoping it was an order of another nature, but she could now see the blood seeping out through her bandages and clothing.

He punched the com button, and requested the medical robot.

DX-3 rolled into the room, and immediately began to rearrange her clothing to expose the wound, ordering her onto her left side, facing the wall. He removed her bandages, cleaned the wound, and started re-stiching it. He then applied bio-adhesive, to act as a second skin, and applied clean bandages. “You have earned yourself another 2 days of bed rest.” the droid stated.

She groaned.

DX-3 rolled out of the room.

She carefully lay back onto her back, grateful to see that her ears hadn’t deceived her: he was still here. But then, she would have to be hallucinating to mistake anything else for his breathing.

“Are you trying to extend your convalescence?” Vader rumbled.

“No. I’m just not very bright.” she smiled weakly.

Vader hit the door lock with the Force. Then proceeded to remove his helmet and attach the breathing hose.

She smiled to see his face once more.

“No more acrobatics. Save it for the Jedi.” Vader said.

“Yes, m’Lord.”

“And yes... that is my title. You need to use it more often.” he chided.

She felt slightly stung by the reprimand. Had she neglected to use it in public? Or was she assuming too much by their relationship? Or assuming too much that a little necking meant they even had a relationship?

“I apologize, m’Lord. I suppose I’ve been enjoying the privilege of our... friendship... a little too much.”

His expression softened. But he then stated “Friendship among the Sith... is a very different thing from... normal... friendship.”

“I don’t understand, and I’m not sure I ever will, why that has to be the case.” she said.

He looked shocked. “The way of the Sith is for the more powerful to rise and betray and/or destroy the less powerful. For a Master to train an Apprentice, to keep that Apprentice in check, and yet for the Apprentice to eventually overthrow the Master and become the new Master.” Vader informed her.

“I’ve studied the ways of the Sith, vs. the ways of the Jedi, m’Lord. I understand the principles touted by both ways of life. And I’ve come to the conclusion that there are good things to both ways, and tragically flawed things to both ways.” she said.

“You think you know more than either organization?” he asked.

“No, m’Lord. I just think I have an outsider’s viewpoint on both, one that hasn’t been completely indoctrinated by either.” she said.

He sat back in his chair, interested. “Explain.”

“The Jedi made 2 mistakes. They refused to use any of their darker emotions when using the Force. They were afraid of having the Dark Side of the Force take over, if they were to do so. I believe it’s possible to use this power, but to maintain restraint over it, to wield it more judiciously. I... I just failed to do that when defending myself from my parents.” Sentinel sighed. “But anyway... The 2nd mistake the Jedi made is to live their life without attachment. It’s part of the fear of having dark emotions come out, due to losing someone they love. But what is life without attachment? Why not have your life of self sacrifice, but also enjoy the love of your family and friends? Oh, that brings up a 3rd mistake: taking children from their families! It should be possible for the children to be taught to use the Force without their being stolen from their families.” she said.

“And the Sith?” Vader asked.

“They ironically endorse having attachments, but they foster betrayal, they foster the absolute right of might, to the point that there literally can be only 2 Sith at any one time, and all other Sith are merely waiting in the wings, vying for position 1 or 2. And while they are not afraid to use the Dark Side, they learn very little restraint. So the Dark Side corrupts them. They are free to love, but they are in no position... no position to trust those they love.”

Vader was silent for a long time, watching her. She was studiously watching her feet.

“So which position are you vying for, young Sith? 1 or 2?” He finally asked.

She looked up at him. “Neither, m’Lord.” She licked her lips. “I don’t know why the Emperor decided to have me trained. I don’t know if he sees me as a future possible replacement for yourself... or just a way to keep you on your toes. I would think he would have seen that I’m not going to be useful, for either purpose.”

“Why not?” Vader asked.

“Because I’m truly not trying to become a Sith. I’m trying to become something in between a Sith and a Jedi. I don’t believe in only using the Light side or the Dark Side. I don’t believe in denying my emotions, but nor do I believe in being ready to betray someone, just to assume that person’s position of power.” She stared directly into his eyes. “I intend to do what the Emperor commands, as long as I believe it is best for the Empire. But I also intend to never again kill someone I love, as I killed my parents.” She looked back at the foot of the bed. “Nor do I intend to live by the rules of betrayal.”

The room was silent for a full minute.

“The Emperor is not likely to agree with your philosophy.” Vader said.

“No... but it theoretically means I will be a loyal subject, one he can trust to not be vying for his position.” Sentinel said.

“Theoretically...” Vader said.

Sentinel sighed. “In all honesty, I greatly dislike the Emperor. And I expect him to betray me at some point. I will defend myself from betrayal, although I refuse to be at the heart of a betrayal.” she said.

“And you would never betray me, then?” Vader asked.

“No, I wouldn’t.” She looked him in the eyes. “But eventually, you are going to decide to betray me, aren’t you?” she asked.

Vader wasn’t sure why what she had just said bothered him. It was, after all, the truth. Wasn't it? Vader asked himself.

“I am Sith. I will probably betray you.” Vader said. The words sounded hollow. He felt as if he was saying what he was supposed to say, and not what he really meant or felt.

She laughed, bitterly. “And I had to fall in love with you.” she said.

“You have placed yourself in an untenable position. You cannot embrace both the Good side and the Dark Side of the Force.” Vader said.

“That’s what the Good side whispers to me at times.” she said, softly.

“Whispers?” he asked.

“I feel like both sides are struggling over me. Haven’t you ever felt that?” she asked.

Vader wasn’t about to comment truthfully on that one, and merely shook his head in denial.

“I sense the Good side, when I’m quiet. It never yells... it speaks softly. Tells me if something is right, or if something is wrong. The Dark Side... it wants me to only use my dark emotions... to only use it. Both sides want me to only use their particular side, actually. But... I sense that the Dark Side wants me, but not what’s best for me. The Good side... I swear, it feels like it actually cares about me.” she said.

“You are personifying the Force. It is not conscious. It is ... it is a Force of nature. It is a power we can tap into. Really, the notion of sides is incorrect, it is merely what tool we use to tap into it.” he said.

“You don’t hear it speaking to you...” She said, almost in awe.

“I sense it’s guidance in a fight, or in other situations, of course.” He was starting to sound indignant.

“Of course.” She nodded in quick agreement, not wanting to antagonize him.

“You must abandon your notions, or else the Emperor will not assist you in your growth, but will very likely.... “ he trailed off.

“Destroy me?” she asked.

Vader looked back at the door. “Yes...”

“Then can I at least ask a favor?” she said.

Vader looked back down at her. “What?”

“No matter what happens... no matter what comes between us... I promise you that I will never betray you, never try to kill you.” She took a quick breath. “And you promise me the same.”

Vader frowned. “I cannot...”

Sentinel grabbed his hand, squeezed. “Please...”

I could simply lie to her, Vader thought. He gazed into her eyes, and realized that no, he couldn’t lie to her. He didn’t have it in him.

But he couldn’t make that promise either.

He stood up, her hand falling away from his, and swiftly replaced his helmet and disconnected his hose.

“Vader...?” she whispered.

He left her room without turning around.

Vader left the hospital wing, and almost bumped right into the Trooper hurrying around a blind corner.

“Look where you are going!” He boomed at the Trooper.

“My apologies, Lord Vader. But I was trying to find you. The Emperor wishes you to contact him.”

Great. Just what I need right now. Vader thought.

“Send the communication feed to my ship.”

“Yes, m’Lord.”

Vader stormed off. A few moments of hurried travel, with Troopers and other personnel parting to make way whenever he entered a corridor, and he was there, in his ship.

He knelt on the dais in his quarters.

“Yes, my Master?”

“Lord Vader, it has come to my attention that you and Sentinel may have formed a personal relationship.” the Emperor said.

Vader remained silent.

“Lord Vader?”

“We have become... friends... my Master.” Vader said, very carefully.

“Friendship among the Sith is a risky thing, Lord Vader.” the Emperor said.

“We have acknowledged the risks, my Master.” Vader said.

“If you let her in too closely, she will take the opportunity to betray you, Lord Vader.” The Emperor paused to muse, “I thought you were... wiser... than this, Lord Vader.”

Vader clenched his right fist, almost imperceptibly.

“I am... managing this risk, my Master.” Vader said.

“I would advise you to distance yourself from Darth Sentinel, Lord Vader. But I am also interested to see how well you do manage this risk.” the Emperor said. “See to it that you manage it very carefully, Lord Vader.”

“Yes, my Master.”

The holoimage of the Emperor faded.

Love advice from the wrinkled old prune. Wonderful, Vader thought.

He rose, glowering at the location the holoimage had been in. Then he stormed out of his quarters, out of the ship, and back to the hospital wing of the base.

Sentinel was flipping through HoloNet feeds, holding a tissue, her eyes red from crying, when her door whizzed open, Vader standing at the entrance. She twitched, and the pain in her side from her newest set of stitches made her grimace at her movement.

“I promise!” Vader practically roared. Then he whirled out of the doorway and was gone again, the door whizzing shut behind him.

“Uhm, Ok.” Sentinel said to the closed door.

Vader headed back towards his ship, when the sudden thought hit him: how had the old prune, ‘er, the Emperor, known about his “friendship” with Sentinel?

Had Sentinel spoken to the Emperor?

Had the Emperor instructed her to “keep Vader on his toes”?

Was this in fact an act on her part, a ruse? Some kind of trick?

The thought stopped him in his tracks. After a moment, he continued back to his ship.

Goto Chapter Eleven

Chapter Nine

2006-06-13T23:06:00.000-07:00

“When can I please get out of this bed?”, Sentinel asked.

“Tomorrow morning.” The medical droid responded.

“Ugh.”

“I could give you a sedative. It would be best for you to sleep as much as possible, anyway, Ma’am.” the droid said.

“Thank you, no. I think I’ll do some reading and listen to my music. Or watch the HoloNet.” Sentinel said.

“Of course, Ma’am. Oh, lunch will be delivered in about an hour.”

“Thank you, Dee-X-Three”

The droid rolled out of the room with some examination equipment rolling behind it on an attached cart.

“At least I can sit up today.” Sentinel propped herself up, piling pillows behind her back.

She looked at the closed door, longingly. She hadn’t seen Vader since he’d left before dinner yesterday.

She stared at the door. She sent out her feelings, stretching them out. He was near. Somewhere in this complex, and not in the ship.

She tried to sense his mood. Was he even thinking of her? But all she could perceive was that he was busy.

She sighed, and turned on the HoloNet feed. Lunch eventually arrived, and she picked at it before finally pushing it away. About an hour later, she fell asleep, with the HoloNet purring in the background, sound muted.

Vader entered her recovery room. Seeing she was sound asleep, he held his breath, and crossed the room. He attached the breathing hose, and restarted breathing in a much quieter fashion. As quietly as possible, he removed his helmet. He turned down the light using the Force as he simultaneously removed the front of his helmet. With the helmet placed on a table nearby, he turned to regard her from his standing height.

She was snoring through her nose, mouth closed. He couldn’t help but smile. Her snoring was rather cute.

He sat down next to her.

He had been thinking about the two of them all day. He wasn’t sure where this was going to go. They were both Sith. He was not her master, she was not his. But they technically should be vying for the same positions, that of the position of Darth Sidious, or the position of Darth Sidious’s apprentice. He knew that once he had learned everything he could from Sidious, or everything that the Emperor was willing to share, that when the time was right, he would overthrow Sidious and take his place. It was the way of the Sith, the way of absolute power. The way of the Dark Side of the Force. It was a survival of the fittest.

Where would she fit into all of that? If she held no Force powers, he would expect her to simply be his... concubine, perhaps. Maybe his wife. But he shied away from that thought... he had had a wife, and she had betrayed him, had chosen not to trust in his decisions. He wasn’t sure he was willing to give any woman that title once more.

But Sentinel... she was Sith. Eventually it was practically her DUTY to betray him. She would learn as much as she could from either him or the Emperor, or both. She might help him overthrow the Emperor, and then become his own apprentice. Or she might overthrow him, to take his place as the Emperor’s apprentice.

It was highly unlikely, but she could even try to overthrow the Emperor herself, and make Vader her apprentice!

Would she willingly simply sit on the sidelines, maintaining loyalty to him alone, disregarding the Sith creed of attaining power at all costs? He greatly doubted it.

There was nothing saying that what they had started needed to have a life beyond this mission. The odds were good that they wouldn’t see each other for a long time after this mission was completed. Perhaps he should consider this an ironic vacation from living the Sith creed. Not worry about making her his apprentice, or being replaced by her. Simply enjoy this gift he was given, for the duration he had it.

Vader sighed. Or course, there were other concerns.

He had been badly damaged on Mustafar. Everywhere. Everything still worked, so to speak, but... Vader knew he just wasn’t a pretty sight.

He had synthetic flesh covering most of his body, replacing the charred remains of what had been his skin and flesh. That particular place was no exception.

He frowned. He probably shouldn’t have allowed this relationship to start.

Sentinel turned in her sleep, murmuring, frowning. Cute little lines formed just above her eyebrows as she frowned. Then she became quiet again... at least until the snoring resumed.

He chuckled quietly. He reasoned with himself: she didn’t seem to mind the appearance of his face, of the still not-quite-healed wounds on the back of his head. His appearance wasn’t the attraction. Perhaps what Yoda had said, and ironically the Emperor had reiterated, was true: we are not just these crude beings of flesh and blood. Maybe the appearance of... the rest of his body... would not repulse her.

The Emperor. Now, there was a possible problem. If Vader should decide to extend this... relationship... beyond the realm of this mission... would the Emperor have issues with it?

Would the Emperor decide it was something that would hurt Vader’s effectiveness?

Or worse, would the Emperor decide that they had joined together in order to overthrow him?

Vader wondered if he would find himself willing to stand up to the Emperor to defend their relationship.

The Emperor was willing to afford him certain freedoms. Maybe this would be one of them?

She turned again in her sleep, a lazy smile crossing her features, more murmuring, then the snoring started up once more.

He would have to take this one day at a time. It had only just started, anyway. And there was no reason to believe, based on only one kiss, that this relationship had any future.

But he sensed he and Sentinel had something special. He sensed it the same way he had known, when he’d first met Padme, that he would one day marry her.

He realized he had found Sentinel attractive from the first moment he had seen her. But he had dismissed the attraction as a distraction from his true purpose. After all, he was already married: to the Dark Side of the Force. But although his reliance and connection to the Force had only gotten stronger, he still found that relationship to be rather lacking. But nevertheless, would a relationship with a woman be detrimental to his relationship with the Dark Side?

How ironic, he thought. That was the last thing on his mind, where his wife had been concerned.

He closed his eyes and cleared his mind. Too many worries and concerns. Focus on the moment.

And the moment was currently being slept away. Must fix that.

He opend his eyes, leaned over her sleeping form, and kissed her softly on the lips. She stirred under his touch, waking, kissing him back, stretching. He moved to kiss her forehead, but her hands came up and pulled him back to her lips.

They kissed for a long time.

They finally broke off. “I was wondering when you’d come to visit me.” she purred.

“You needed your rest.”

“I’m bored to tears.” she frowned.

“You don’t know how to entertain yourself?”

“There’s only so much sleeping, reading, meditation, HoloNet viewing, and listening to music that one person can do before they want to talk to another living being.” she responded.

“I think you want to do more than just talk.” he mused.

“Well, that’s part of the problem.” She grinned.

“When can you get up?”

“Not until tomorrow morning. I’m under strict orders from my doctor.” She frowned again.

“Perhaps I should let you continue resting, then...” Vader feigned leaving.

“No you don’t!” She grabbed his arm.

He grinned.

Something flashed in their view. They both turned towards the muted HoloNet display in the upper corner of the room. A battle was being reported upon, with casualty numbers being displayed in the lower corners of the holograph.

“The conflict continues.” Somehow, even without his voice altering mask, even though his voice wasn’t what it must have been before his horrible injuries... somehow his voice still rumbled.

“The war is over, yet new enemies keep springing up.” she sighed.

“You and I will ensure peace returns. It is merely being delayed by those who cannot accept how things must be for peace to exist.” Vader said.

“Why won’t they let it go?”

“They need to be forced to let it go.” he stated, firmly.

She looked down at the foot of her bed.

“What if it’s the tighter reign of control that they are fighting against? What if it’s their waning freedoms that is causing them to rebel?” she asked.

“Freedom to have wars on their own planets? Freedom to engage in continual dissension against the ruling order, the peace?” Vader asked.

She looked him in the face. Sighed. “You’re right. I know you’re right. We are doing this for their own good. Many of them will never see it that way, but they still must be made to understand, and forced to lay down their arms.” Another sigh. “You’re right.”

“The way you think... the things you say... You make me think that you are not a true Sith.” Vader said softly.

She took a moment to think before responding.

“There are aspects of our teaching that I don’t embrace as fully as you or the Emperor. I believe we must do what needs doing, yes, but I ...” She licked her lips. “I often have problems with the methodology. I don’t think so many have to die in order for our goal of peace and order to be achieved.” She looked back at the foot of the bed.

He sensed she was not finished, and watched her closely.

She continued. “I think there are too many innocent casualties of this cause.” She rushed ahead, afraid if she didn’t say it now, it wouldn’t be said. And she wanted to be completely honest with him. “And I think that while the Jedi were foolish to hide from attachments, from passionate emotion, that the Sith need to better control their emotion, to control their anger, and to use more than just the darker emotions to feed their Dark Side powers. I believe love and joy can feed the Force just as well as hate, anger, and fear. And I want to be one of the Sith Lords who is capable of controlling my anger during the times it would be best to take, shall we say, the ‘Jedi approach’.”

She turned to look back at him at that point, searching his face carefully. She was worried he would take her opinions as a slight against his own anger management issues.

Instead of the reproachful look she thought she would see in his face, she saw instead a questioning, searching look of his own.

“Who, in your anger, did you mistakenly kill?” He said softly.

Her eyes widened. “Am I that transparent?”

“Who did you kill?” he repeated.

She looked back at the foot of her bed. Took a deep breath, and felt it shudder out of her.

“My parents.” she said, almost whispering.

“Tell me.” he ordered.

“Heh. Oh, I get it. I don’t get to ask personal questions, but you do.” She turned to smile at him ruefully, then looked back at the foot of her bed.

She composed herself, and started to tell her story. “Well, we were very poor. Lived on a dirty little backworld planet called Sevast, where survival against the elements was a daily concern. My parents... my Mom was a waitress, and my Dad worked in the mines. My youngest brother wanted to go into the military academy when he was older. He wanted to be a ‘Trooper. My parents disapproved. Thought he would get hurt.”

He watched her start to worry at a piece of loose thread in her blanket, pulling it out.

“When I was very little, I had been tested for MidiChlorians. Even on that backwater planet, the testing was performed. I scored quite high. My parents elected not to release me to the Jedi. Hmmm... I guess I’d either be on the run or dead now, if they had.”

The thread was getting longer.

“I learned of my abilities. I decided I wanted to be a Jedi, and started training by myself, since my parents wouldn’t let me go to the Jedi Temple. I found out as much about the Jedi and their methods as possible. I read everything I could on the Jedi in the library. I trained in secret, since I knew my parents wouldn’t have approved.”

Vader’s interest peaked. She had trained herself how to use the Force!

“I had some assistance from some shamons, who trained in martial arts, and also had learned how to manipulate the Force to a small degree in order to heal. They helped me learn how to meditate, and also improved my ability to defend myself. I learned how to use a sword from swordplay with them.”

She took a deep breath.

“Then, I learned that the Jedi had betrayed the Emperor and the Empire. My affection for the Jedi had already been waning before that event. I had discovered their dislike for emotional attachments. I was glad that I hadn’t gone to the Temple... long before the Jedi were shown to be the pretentious scum they were. Any group of people that is willing to take children from their parents, and train them to be free of any emotions whatsoever... Even love! The Jedi couldn’t even marry!” she snorted in disgust.

Vader nodded to himself. He wished he had understood what he was getting himself into when he had gone with Qui-Gon Jinn. He wasn’t sure how he could have... arranged things... so that he could still have developed his abilities, and still have had time to get to know Padme and win her heart. But things surely would have had a more pleasant outcome had he been free of the Jedi Order’s insane rules.

To not have had to keep their love a secret... it might have changed how everything had gone.

“The Emperor looked through the Jedi records, and found me. He had me approached by one of his men, a Lieutenant Taaz, I think his name was. We spoke. He said the Emperor was interested in me because of my MidiChlorian rating. Would I be interested in being trained, professionally?” Sentinel said.

“’To be a Jedi?’, I asked? Honestly, I sneered. ‘No’, he said. ‘To be Sith, like his right hand man, Lord Vader.’ I was delighted. I wholeheartedly agreed. I made arrangements with the Lieutenant, and went home to tell my parents and my brother, and to pack my things.”

She had started working on a second thread. If her story got any longer, there wouldn’t be any blanket left, Vader mused.

“I went home. I told my parents. My parents hadn’t even realized I was training myself to use the Force. My father was most displeased. He slapped me, twice. ‘That’s for training against our wishes, and that’s for wanting to join a second group of Force users, when the first group screwed up the Galaxy! You think this new ‘Sith’ group of Force users is going to be any better? One, Lord Vader, is enough.’ I screamed at him ‘This is my ticket to a better life, and if we work this right, a ticket to a better life for all of us! The Emperor trusts Lord Vader with his life. It was the Jedi order of Force users that were corrupt, not the Sith.’”

Thread number three came loose at her plucking. Vader put a hand over hers to stop the slow destruction of the blanket. She looked up at him.

“My father said, ’This family has stayed out of the war, and intends to stay out of any further entanglements. We survive by sticking together. If you leave, don’t even come back.’ Well, that was fine with me. But I couldn’t leave my brother in their grasp. He would never escape without my help. He wasn’t as strong as I was. I said ‘Fine, but my brother is coming with me, if he wants to.’ My brother wanted to, but that was the last straw for my Dad. He came up, threw my brother back into his chair, and punched me hard in the face. And that was it. I....” she broke off, closing her eyes, shuddering.

Vader squeezed her hand.

She took a deep breath. “I threw him across the room with the Force. I had never lifted anything so large before, but it was like he was as light as a feather. My father’s head hit the wall, and he ceased to move. My mother... my own mother came at me with a knife. I moved out of the way... the Force told me where to move to avoid her. I plucked the knife from her hand, and sliced her throat... from ear to ear. She dropped like a rock.”

She looked up at him.

“You were defending yourself.” he said.

“My father only punched me once. That was all he had left in him. He... he wouldn’t have hit me again. I killed him outright, from uncontrolled anger. My mother was the same... I had taken the knife away from her, there was no reason for me to ... do that ... to her.”

“What did your brother do?”

“He was in shock. I think I was too, once I calmed down. I checked to see if my father was really dead... he was. I didn’t check my mom, I knew she must be dead. I can’t believe I was so... cavalier... about it, but I told my brother to pack his things, then I went into my room and packed what little I wanted to take with me. When I got back out into the living room, my brother was there with a bag. He looked like he wasn’t sure what was happening. We left together. We didn’t speak. We got to the transport, and I told them my brother wanted to enlist. They directed him to another ship. He’s serving on board the Hunter. I haven’t seen him or heard from him since that day.” She closed her eyes, tears escaping her eyelids.

The room was quiet except for the light buzzing of the muted HoloNet display.

“Sometimes... our growth in the Sith... will require sacrifices.” He paused to choose his words carefully. “We will do things we didn’t intend, or we will do things that we have to do, but wish we didn’t have to do. Our duty and our... learning curve... can be hard to face up to. But they are both necessary... to our growth, and to the eventual peace and order that rule under the Sith will bring.”

She looked up into his eyes. “I can’t tell if you are saying that for me, or for yourself.”

He gazed down into her green eyes. “Maybe a little of both”, he admitted.

“You still won’t tell me, will you?” she asked.

“Is that why you told me your story? So I would share my ‘secret sorrows’ with you?”

“No. I told you because you asked. And I guess because I wanted you to know.” she said, softly.

He looked at her a moment more, then leaned over and kissed her very gently.

“Thank you for telling me.” he whispered, before pulling back fully from the kiss.

“You’re welcome. Thank you for listening.” she responded.

“You’re welcome.” Vader said, smiling gently. Then he sighed, and stood up. “And now I have to go.”

She held onto his hand. “So soon?”

“You still need your rest, and I’ve got my... duties.”

“When will I see you again?” she asked.

“You can get up tomorrow morning, right?” Vader asked.

“Yes...”

“After breakfast. I’ll come and fetch you, and take you on a tour of the base.”

“Promise?”

“Would I lie to you?” Vader asked, grinning.

She considered, couldn’t help but grin as she said “I don’t know!”

“Well, I’m not lying now.” He put his mask back on, and unhooked himself from the breathing hose.

“Tomorrow.” He stated.

“See you tomorrow.” She responded.

He turned and left.

Goto Chapter Ten

Chapter Eight

2006-06-12T23:45:00.000-07:00

Vader walked through the corridors of Pitoma base. 5 hours prior, Vader had dumped the detestable Force-dampening creature at Starbase 12. Good riddance, he thought.

Vader realized he was somehow blaming the helpless creature for the damage he and Sentinel had suffered. His desire to inflict revenge upon the creature had not been assuaged by watching it suffer under the automated tests performed upon it in the lab. In spite of his desire to see the creature suffer further, Vader somehow managed to keep himself away from it and the lab cage it was in. He had left it alone until it was time to drop it off at Starbase 12.

Sentinel had been transferred from the ship’s medcenter to a recovery room here on Pitoma. She was still out cold, even though the anesthesia had worn off.

Vader had stopped to confer with the commander about having the ship gone over, to see if there had been any problems caused by the gunfire the ship had encountered. He had also requested that the ship be refueled, it’s stores of supplies replenished... and the blood near the ramp cleaned up. That done, Vader decided it was time to wake sleeping beauty.

She was terribly pale. The droids had given her gema-blood, a manufactured blood replacement that worked fairly well, but wasn’t as good as the real thing. The gema-blood had the strange feature of remaining colorless whether it was oxygenated or not, which was probably why she looked like death warmed over.

That and how close she had come to death, he thought.

He stood over her, feeling strangely protective. He reached over and pulled her blanket up over her chest, brushed her hair away from her forehead. Her eyes fluttered, and she woke up.

“What happened? Where are we?” She tried to sit up, and instantly regretted it, wincing and sinking back onto her pillow.

“Pitoma base. You succeeded in bringing the creature on board, but you were shot, and it took the droids some time to repair you. The creature is at Starbase 12... we are well out of range of it’s Force dampening abilities.”

Vader sat down in the visitors chair that was next to her bed.

“You failed to keep our presence there a secret.” Vader chided, softly.

“I apologize, Lord Vader. I was at a loss as to how to get the creature out without detection. I didn’t think the wheelchair trick was going to...”

Vader waved his hand. “It is no longer any concern. The Emperor was very pleased. I suspect he will want to thank you personally when we return to Coruscant.” He paused. “I am very pleased as well.”

She looked a little shocked. Then said “Thank you, Lord Vader. That means.... alot to me.”

He smiled behind his mask.

“The droids have said that you need at least a week to fully recover. We will be staying here on the base until you are well enough to resume your duties, and then we will resume our original mission. Oh, and you are to stay in bed for at least a day... contact the nurse if you need assistance with anything.” he said.

“Thank you, Lord Vader.”

Vader stood looking down at her for a moment, then turned to leave. Sentinel took a deep breath, and before he could exit the room, said “Lord Vader...”

He stopped and looked back at her. “Yes?”

“Please don’t leave. Please... just stay a moment.”

“You should be resting.” he said.

“I am resting. Just please, sit with me for a while.”

He studied her for a moment, his hand still reaching for the activator to open the door. He turned around, came back to the bed, and sat back down in the chair.

“I feel I should forewarn you. Just because I’m in a good mood right now does not mean you should expect good bedside manners.” Vader teased.

“I wouldn’t ask you to try to maintain good bedside manners, m’Lord”, she said, grinning.

“Hmmmm.”

“M’Lord...” Sentinel started out, tentatively. “How often do you get time outside the mask?”

Sentinel sensed Vader was startled by the question. Cautiously he responded, “Daily.... why?”

“If you wanted to, you could remove it in here. I just saw a patch panel there on the wall... it looks like there’s a place to hook up to a clean air supply.”

“And why would I want to do that?”

Well, that brought some color to her pale face, Vader mused.

“Just... just if you wanted to get some time away from it. The mask, I mean. While we talk. I mean, if it doesn’t make you uncomfortable. It... it wouldn’t make me uncomfortable, if... if you were concerned about that.”

“Your comfort or discomfort with seeing me without my mask on has nothing to do with whether I will remove it or not.” he rumbled.

“I’m sorry, m’Lord.” Sentinel looked away, then closed her eyes in a frown. Sentinel felt like a fool for having tried to get him to lower his defenses, so to speak... to get him to not hide behind that gargoylish face.

She thought about how she had stood up to him earlier, in order to protect him, to keep him from going with her into a place too dangerous for him. She knew she had antagonized him, in so doing. And now she had made him uncomfortable, talking about his mask. They might not be on such good speaking terms again for a long time. What an idiot she was....

She turned back to look at him.

He was removing his mask. He had already opened the panel, configured the hose settings, pulled the hose out of the wall, and hooked it up to an auxiliary air input connection that was hidden under his shoulder armor.

She watched him remove the back piece to his mask, then the forward piece, with it’s internal control apparatus that he could manipulate with his mouth. Living your entire life in an environmental suit just couldn’t be much fun, she mused.

He was squinting as he removed the front piece, and waved his hand in the direction of the room’s light control. The room immediately dimmed to about half it’s original brightness.

He laid both pieces of his helmet on the bedside table.

“Your eyes... the light...” she said.

“It hurts my eyes.” he explained.

“Oh, m’Lord. I should have done something to protect your eyes when we went outside the medical facility...”

“Yes, you should have. After I specifically told you that the light hurts my eyes...” he said, sarcastically.

But she completely missed the sarcasm.

“M’Lord! I’m sorry, I... must have missed that. I... I...”

“You didn’t miss anything. I never told you.” he said, gently.

“Oh...” she said, confused. “So, why didn’t you tell me about your eyes before we left the facility?”

“You had enough on your hands without having to stop and buy me a pair of sunglasses! Quit worrying, I was fine. I kept my eyes closed for most of the journey.”

“Oh.”

They were both quiet for a moment.

“Does it feel... better... to be outside the mask?” she asked.

“Yes.” He responded in his normal, if somewhat hoarse, voice. He reached for the pitcher of water on the table, and poured them both a drink. He handed her a glass, then drank some water from his. “Yes, it does feel better”, he said, his voice a little bit improved after the drink.

“You know, I guess we’re now even”, she said.

“Excuse me?” he said.

“I mean, I saved your life, and you saved my mine.”

He stared at the foot of her bed for a moment, thinking.

“Why did you save me?” Vader asked.

“I beg your pardon, m’Lord?”

“You risked your life... it would have been much simpler and safer to leave me there.” Vader said.

“I don’t do that.” she responded.

“You don’t do what?”

“I don’t leave my fre... my fellow warriors to die. It wouldn’t have been right.” She glanced down at the foot of her bed, nervously not meeting his eyes.

“The Emperor would have understood, and I gave you orders to save yourself.” Vader said.

“You...” she paused, licking her lips, looking back up at him. “You weren’t exactly in any shape to enforce those orders, Sir.” She grinned.

“I am now, and you’re not exactly in any shape to defend yourself.” His voice rose, just slightly. But he knew that he didn’t truly feel the indignant anger he allowed into his voice.

“So, you're going to throttle me now, aren't you? You had the droids put me back together just so you can throttle me one more time.” She said, teasingly.

He looked away from her, at the door. Remembering the blood... her blood... on the ship’s floor... and remembering waking up to her breathing for him.... he felt a sudden wash of guilt. He had managed to stifle guilt feelings, using the training the Emperor had given him. When the goal is worthy -- and even just the goal of obtaining power was worthy, in the Sith philosophy -- the means are justified, and he had learned to either squash the guilty feeling he would have over the means he had recently used... or to channel that guilt into increasing his Dark Side abilities. All emotion, especially negative emotion, was incredibly helpful in intensifying the power of the Dark Side, and the power of it’s wielder.

He had been feeling less and less guilt, as he repeatedly performed deeds, in the name of 'duty', that by their very repetition, made him more and more immune to guilt.

So this sudden feeling of guilty shame over having repeatedly lost his temper with her took him by surprise.

No! He thought. If she was inept enough to earn his anger, then his anger was justified!

Or was it? he wondered.

He went back to staring at the foot of her bed. Then he felt her hand on his left arm. He looked at her, and saw her expression had changed. She looked very serious, and nervous.

“I couldn’t leave you... I just couldn’t leave you.... because...” She couldn’t look at him. And she couldn’t say it. She just couldn’t. It wouldn’t be reciprocated, she knew. She wasn’t worthy of such reciprocation. Damnit, she felt tears forming. Great. She looked back at him.

He was looking down at her with eyes wide with surprise.

“I just couldn’t...” she ended, lamely, then looked back down at where her toes made the blanket peak. She removed her right hand from his arm, and lay it on the bed.

He stared at her a moment longer.

“You have feelings for me.” He stated.

She turned away from Vader to stare at the wall next to the bed. This was so embarrassing. She wished she hadn’t said anything.

Vader was floored. She actually had feelings for him? But his senses confirmed his statement. If she was faking this, her embarrassment, or her... feelings of affection... then she was quite the actress. He could sense no deception in her.

“Don’t you?” He finally asked.

“Yes”, she whispered. She cleared her throat, still staring at the wall. “I’m sorry if that makes you feel uncomfortable. I... I won’t mention it again.”

He continued to stare at her. Then he reached over and turned her chin, so that she was facing him again. “It... doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable.” he said.

She swiped at a tear that was trickling down the side of her face.

“What does it make you feel?” she asked.

He searched her face. He wasn’t sure... she aggravated him. And intrigued him.

He looked down at her... then leaned over her until his face was just a few centimeters from hers. She realized he was giving her a last chance to pull back, to pull away. So she met him the rest of the way, in spite of the pain it caused her, from pulling herself up off the pillow.

They kissed.

He pushed her down gently, with his lips, until her head was back on the pillow.

He was slightly startled when he felt her hand on the back of his head. No human had touched his head, much less any of his scarred skin, in 5 years. Their kiss deepened.

He leaned over her more closely, pressing her back. He was feeling a hunger he hadn’t felt in... too long. Then he felt his breathing hose catch on part of the hospital bed, and also heard a small whimper in the back of her throat. His upper torso was pushing slightly on her bandage. But in spite of his causing her pain, she was still holding the back of his head, holding onto their kiss.

He sat back, gazing down on her, hunger not satisfied. He realized he was wearing a rather silly, but satisfied grin.

He had felt hopelessly old beyond old for the past 5 years. Suddenly he felt his youth again.

She smiled, and sniffled. She looked embarrassed, but also had a hint of that same hunger in her eyes.

“Well.” He said finally.

She chuckled.

“So, I throttle you twice and send you on a mission that almost kills you... and I earn your affection?” Vader said.

“Well, you were lagging on the task of ‘howling at my doody like a dog in heat’. I had to settle.” Sentinel responded.

He laughed. He hadn’t laughed in so long... it felt good.

“Can I ask you something... without getting throttled?” she said.

Vader grinned. “It depends upon what you ask.”

“Uh-huh. I guess I’ll have to take my chances.” She paused, licked her lips. “What were you upset about, Lord Vader? In the cockpit... the, uhm, first time you throttled me.”

His smile vanished. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Then just tell me this. Do you have anyone you can talk to about it, or things like that? You can’t keep things like this... bottled up.” she said.

“I keep my own counsel.” he said, his face suddenly as unreadable as his mask.

“Lord Vader, I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t pry.” She sighed. “I just hated to see you... so upset. If you ever decide you are ready to talk about it, know that I’m willing to listen.”

Vader said, rather solemnly, “When I’m ready to talk about it... I will keep you in mind.”

She grinned, and Vader smiled in response.

“So, let’s see.” She prepared to tick items off on her fingers. “I rescue you, I retrieve a highly important creature, and I get shot in the back. And you kiss me. What do I have to do for...” she trailed off and grinned up at him.

“Get well first.” He stood up. “Then, I’ll make a list.” His eyes sparkled with amusement.

He put his mask back on, unhooked the breathing hose, and flipped the switch that forced his mechanical lungs to use the ventilation system in his mask instead.

At the door, he stopped and turned.

“’Howling at my doody like a dog in heat’ will be the 2nd or third item on that list.” he stated.

And he left.

She lay there trying not to laugh. It hurt her wounds too much.

Goto Chapter Nine

Chapter Seven

2006-06-11T19:56:00.000-07:00

Sentinel landed the ship some kilometers south of the medical installation. She landed near a shopping mall, and was ironically almost considering slipping out for a quick little adventure. She had a thing for shoes. But this was neither the time nor the place for a little fun trip, especially with Vader stuck in the medcenter, being put back together.

What fun that must be, being put back together like a vehicle after a wreck, she mused.

Besides, maybe her computer was closer to having results.

She powered down the engine, performed a quick systems check. Hmmm... the electrical short she had detected earlier was gone... Vader must have fixed it, she thought.

She left the cockpit for her quarters. The computer indicated the search was still in progress, with not a single Force-nullifying source found.

It was still going through the local copy of the galactic database. This was understandably a much smaller copy than the full database on Coruscant. With some disgust, she stopped the search, then submitted the search, in an encrypted communication, to Imperial technicians who ran the database on Coruscant. She received confirmation of the receipt of the request by one of the technicians, with the promise that it was being submitted to the database search engine even as the technician was typing his response back to her. How long would the search take, she responded. Since she was asking for all results and not just the first result, it would take several hours... it would after all be an exhaustive search. She responded to please run the full search, but send her back a response when each result was found.

Now what? Take a nap? No... some much needed meditation with the Force. She sensed that, while Vader probably wasn’t going back in there, she would have to. She would need all the strength she could get. Maybe she could some how hang on to the strength she received from the Force, even when the Force was taken away from her. Time to work on that, she decided.

Meanwhile, back in the medcenter, Vader watched as they removed his arms, his legs, and portions of his chest.

Every device was replaced... he had 2 spares for everything he required to be mobile and survive. Such was the life of a person who was now more machine than man.

The parts that were discarded were briefly tested to see if anything could be done to restore them to functionality. He watched the droids discard each part, but tag most as being repairable. He knew the EMP blast had made the electronics useless. But with replaced electronics, his limbs were probably salvageable.

The droids had brought his helmet and saber in. After a quick test, the droids laid the saber laid down on a table next to the back of his helmet. The back of his helmet had no electronic parts, and so was completely useable.

The front of his helmet was stripped of everything electrical, and was having all of it’s parts replaced even as they were replacing his limbs and his chest breathing apparatus.

A few hours later found him standing in front of the table, the front of his mask in place. He reached down, picked up the back of his mask, and installed it. He placed the cape around his shoulders. After proving to himself that his lightsaber was indeed functional, he hooked it to his utility belt.

He faced the door. The door shuddered with the speed it was forced to open with.

Vader was very angry. It had been growing with the increasing discomfort of being so helpless on that table. It had been too close a reminder of the first time he had been on so similar a table, having what felt like his entire body replaced.

He headed straight for the cockpit, and was almost surprised not to find Sentinel there waiting for him. He whirled, and stormed into her quarters.

She was balanced on her forefinger, upside down, eyes closed, and her bag and some other items in the quarters were levitated about 3 feet off the floor.

“We are going back in there!” Vader announced.

The levitated items floated back to the floor, and Sentinel allowed herself to fall over onto her feet, turning to face him.

“No", she said, "WE are not. I am. You are vulnerable to the EMP blast, and you are too important a person to risk in that fashion once more.”

Vader was startled by the boldness of her response, and at first amazed and approving of her new found strength. But having an underling talk back to him annoyed him, and he closed the distance between them to wrap his fingers about her throat.

“Do NOT speak to me with that tone, sithling.”

“M’Lord, I mean no disrespect.” She spoke easily, as if her trachea was not being crushed by his cybernetic hand. He realized she was shielding her throat from his fingers. And he realized that she wasn’t afraid of him.

He applied the Force to her throat as well, but found she was shielding herself from his Force choke too.

“You think I would fall prey to such a feeble trick a second time?” he growled.

He released her throat, but not without giving her a little shove. This she was not expecting, and she had to use a momentum dispersing technique to keep the back of her skull from cracking on the wall.

She took a moment to regain her balance, and said “M’Lord, I think that neither of us have the Force to rely on in this matter, so neither of us can tell when the EMP blast is going to be triggered, or from where. I’m betting they are keeping their EMP device dead center in the middle of their Force nullifying devices.”

He regarded her. She rubbed her throat slightly, and glanced towards her computer.

He noticed her glance. “Have you discovered what is nullifying the Force?” he rumbled. He was finding it hard to stay angry at someone who refused to react with either fear or anger in response.

“A search is in progress for ALL Force nullifiers, with orders to report to me with information upon the finding of each.” she said.

“And if this search proves unsuccessful?” he asked.

She frowned. “I was thinking of requesting access to the Jedi library, and searching that as well. If even it too was unsuccessful, I was thinking of requesting a search of the names of all planets the Jedi were LEAST successful in finding Force sensitives.”

“The Jedi tested for Force Sensitives using a blood test that looked for MidiChlorians...” he said.

“Yes, but in the outlying worlds, where they weren’t setup to screen the entire populace, they typically wouldn’t perform the test unless someone was discovered by a Jedi to have Force sensitivity. And it’s also possible that whatever they are using to nullify the Force may have had a bad effect on the survival of MidiChlorians... so it could still be an indicator in this matter.” She folded her hands in front of her.

“That is rather an extensive search.” he commented.

“I’m under the impression that I am looking for a needle in a livestock feed bin.” She said, taking a deep breath. “Worst case scenario, I will probably end up doing a manual search for their Force nullifier when I go back into the complex, and I hope I’ll know it when I see it.”

“They must be punished for even devising such a trap for the Emperor’s right hand.” he said.

“M’Lord, they may have been targeting ANY Force-user. The Electro-Magnetic-Pulse may have been to take out lightsabers, and not necessarily targeting your person.”

“Are you saying they may be on our side?”

She stood still for a moment, thinking. “Yes, m’Lord, it’s possible.”

“It is not up to them to capture and kill the remaining hiding Jedi. That is MY task.” he growled.

She smiled. “Maybe they want to present the remaining Jedi to you and the Emperor as an offering?”

Vader was not amused. “Using a Force-nullifying weapon is justification enough for wiping them off the face of this planet.”

She sighed, and nodded. “You are right, m’Lord. But if I can’t discover the probable weapon they used from the computer databases, before we wipe them out, I should go in and recover whatever it is they used against us. It will require study so that we can be safe from such a weapon in the future.”

“Which is why we should be going back in there...” he said, clenching his right hand into a fist.

“M’Lord, please, you cannot go back there. Not without the EMP weapon destroyed.” She paused, preparing to be throttled once more... “M’Lord, we got lucky this last time. They were merely testing the EMP. They didn’t realize we were in their trap when they sprang it. We won’t be that lucky a second time. And that’s all we have going for ourselves when we go in there: luck. The Force isn’t going to be with us.”

They stood, regarding each other.

“How much longer until the current search is completed?” Vader asked.

Sentinel let out her breath. She hadn’t realized she’d been holding it. She glanced at the computer. No responses. She walked over, and typed a communication. The response was that the exhaustive search was about 3/4 of the way through, with NO positive results. It had been 3 hours. They thought the search would finish in about another hour.

“We have another hour. No results found so far, m’Lord.”

“There will likely be no results. Your search of the Jedi databases might find a positive result, but we need the answer now.” He paused as if for emphasis... “You WILL go in there, alone, as you insist, and you WILL bring back the source of the Force nullification. Prepare yourself, perform your search of the facility, and do not come back without the device they are using to nullify our abilities.”

She bowed low “Yes, m’Lord.”

He whirled, left her quarters, and headed for the cockpit.

She watched him go. When he was out of sight. She took a deep breath, and let it out in a slow shudder. “I thought I had anger management issues...” she mumbled.

She reorganized her satchel. She left the electronic tools in there... she might still need them, and might get some windows in which to use them when the EMP was not active. But she added to the number of non-electronic tools, as well as bladed weapons. Then she took her satchel to the weapons closet in the ship, and put several projectile weapons in there, as well as spare full clips of projectiles.

She went to the costume section of the ship, changed out of her white dress on the spot, stripping down to nothing.

Vader sat in the cockpit. He sensed her activity. She is very focused, he thought. He was torn between admiring her for her clarity of the situation, and being angered at how quickly she had dismissed him as a liability. Admittedly they had both been caught off guard. And the after effects of being caught off guard had been worse for him than for her. But still...

He would have to remind her of her place, once she returned.

Where was she? he thought.

He felt for her presence, and realized she was in the wardrobe room of the ship. His curiosity got the better of him. He switched the ship’s internal viewer on, and set it to the wardrobe.

She was nude, and flipping through outfits. Vader found himself staring. He was disgusted by his desire to watch her, by his lack of regard for her privacy. But he couldn’t look away... she was so beautiful.

He liked to think of himself as immune to any kind of attraction to the opposite sex. There was no way that attraction could ever, ever be expected to be reciprocated, so there was no reason to entertain that attraction.

He was... too hideous... for anyone to ever be attracted to, he thought. He had come to accept it, but on occasion, it still hurt to acknowledge that he would never be physically intimate with a woman, ever again. He would never even be on the receiving end of a hug, from a man or a woman.

Who would even think that the Dark Lord of the Sith might need a hug that day?

And who would be brave enough to give him one, for that matter, he mused.

Human touch, or even alien touch, was denied him. He was a prisoner in his own environmental suit and armor.

Forever the Black Knight.

He thought of his wife. Padme would have still loved him -- even in his scarred, mostly cybernetic state -- had she had the ability to accept his moral choices. But he couldn’t expect anyone else to learn to care about him, much less love him. The walls created by his appearance, and especially by his being Sith, were just too thick.

So... he allowed himself to stare, feeling it was the closest thing to real intimacy he would ever have again.

Sentinel finally chose a holy woman’s outfit, including a robe, and some innocuous brown boots. She dressed fully. She bent over to pick up her satchel, and stopped, stood up, and stared straight at the camera above her.

He felt her staring up at him. She felt him staring down at her.

She nodded with some arrogance, picked up her satchel, and left the wardrobe. She was obviously angry with him, but Vader thought that it was not just for finding her privacy being violated.

Maybe she’s getting tired of being throttled, Vader mused.

He turned off the viewer, and lifted the ship off, moving it quickly back to it’s original hiding place, much closer to the complex. He started to land the ship in the same grove.

Sentinel paused at her quarters, and picked up a crumpled knapsack. This she stuffed into her satchel.

She did not stop at the cockpit. She waited by the ship’s ramp, and once she sensed the ship was coming in for a landing, she Force-actuated the ship’s ramp, and ran down it even as the ship was still landing, and the ramp was still in the process of lowering. She jumped to the ground, hitting it at a full run, heading towards the complex.

He rumbled into the communicator he was holding “I hope you thought to bring a com link with you...”

Without breaking stride, she responded “Wearing an ear bud, m’Lord.”

He watched her through the viewscreen as she ran out of view. He activated the ramp from within the cockpit, saw the light indicating that the ramp was now in the closed position.

He waited.

About ten minutes later, he heard “4th sublevel. Searching floors above and below the target floor first.”

“It could be something biological. Be on the lookout for any caged or otherwise confined creatures.” he said.

“Yes, m’Lord.”

Several minutes later “Found something. It feels... weird being close up to this creature. The thing is vaguely sloth-like, with long, thick hooked claws. Dark fur. Thin, elongated mouth. Long thin tongue... probably an insect eater.”

“Any documentation nearby?” he asked.

“Nothing. But I saw other cages, out of my reach, with what looked like the same creature, all over this floor. All in locked rooms.”

“Your task is almost complete. Get back here, and bring one of those things with you.” Vader said.

“Yes, m’Lord.” Sentinel responded.

He heard some clattering. Then muffled sounds. Then nothing until the background chatter in the main lobby.

In the background... “Hey, you stop.” A man’s voice.

“What’s wrong?” Vader heard Sentinel ask.

“Open your bag, and show me what you have in there.” the man said.

“It’s just my pet, my Carg Dragon. He’s not very friendly with strangers...” she responded.

“Open it now...” sounds of some projectile device being chambered.

“Just a sec...” Sentinel’s voice. Then, *wump*! Scuffle, sounds of violence, shots fired. Fast footfalls, yells of “get her!”

Vader started up the engine, powered the craft in the direction of the facility.

One lone figure was running on the paved area. Several heavily armored figures were just exiting the building, looking to and fro, then chasing after her.

She had her knapsack slung on her right shoulder, and her satchel slung around her left. The knapsack bobbed heavily on her back and her right side.

He brought the ship down on the grass in front of her, hitting the button on the console that lowered the ramp.

He heard shots being fired, heard some rebound off the outside of the ship. Then her voice, “I’m in! Uhh...”

He raised the ramp, and raised the ship in such a way that the ramp would be mostly level, just in case she was still climbing on it as he was rising into the sky.

He powered the ship into space, entered a traffic lane, checked for pursuers. None. And he couldn’t sense any trouble coming... wait, he couldn’t sense anything. Uh-huh. Best not to take chances, he thought.

He put the ships Navputer onto the task of plotting a random course. Once done, he entered hyperspace, and left the ship in autopilot.

“Sentinel, I am highly disappointed in you”, he said into his comlink. “You should have been able to escape without detection. Now we won’t be able to make any future raids for information.”

He rose from the pilot’s seat.

“Sentinel? Sentinel, respond.”

He ran out of the cockpit, down the corridor to see Sentinel face down at the top of ramp. The right hand was on her knapsack, which was in front of her. Her satchel was still over her left shoulder.

A dark stain was spreading across her lower back, from her right side. Blood was dripping into the grates of the floor of the ship.

The comlink he was holding dropped to the floor. He stooped on one knee and gently picked her up. He tried to use the Force while doing so, to make the act as gentle as possible, and cursed under his breath as the Force was completely unresponsive. He noticed that the projectile had gone straight through her, leaving another wound on her right side, about 4 centimeters above her hip.

Cradling her in his arms, he rushed to the medcenter. The droids sprang to life, gently taking her from his arms, and laying her face down on the table. A droid put a U-shaped pillow under her face. A different droid started cutting her robe from her back, gently moving it off the entrance and exit wounds.

He stood and watched for several minutes. A droid came up to him to report.

“She has suffered injuries to her internal organs, but she will live. Had she lost any more blood, we might not have been able to repair her.”

“When will she be well?”

“We will need to work on her for about another hour, during which time she will remain sedated. Afterwards, she should remain sedated for another 3 hours to ensure our repairs are not... jostled.” The droid paused... “It’s hard to predict human recovery times, but I would estimate that she will need at least a week of rest to make a full recovery.”

“Report to me once she is out of surgery.”

“Yes Sir.”

Vader turned and headed for the ramp. The knapsack had squirmed it’s way up against a wall, and was being very quiet. Sentinel's satchel, however, had not moved. The amount of blood glistening on the floor grating, and from the subfloor underneath, was rather impressive.

He snatched up the knapsack, and headed for the lab.

The bag started squirming, violently.

He sensed... nothing. But the ‘nothing’ was indeed weirder than it had been when he hadn’t been so close to the creature.

He opened the knapsack and dumped it’s contents, one sloth-like critter, into a cage on the center of a table in the lab. Instruments whirred to life, probes popping out of hidden orifices in the table. The critter didn’t look very happy. Good.

Mechanical restraints popped out, and held the creature in place in it’s cage. Blood was drawn. X-Rays and other pictures taken. Orifices probed.

Vader watched with a certain, evil glee. The creature was making some whimpering sounds. Very good.

He went back to the cockpit, and brought the ship out of hyperspace. He noted that, having gone from the lab to the cockpit, he had covered the full length of the ship. And his Force abilities were still nonexistent. Interesting and annoying, he thought.

He went back into the lab. He sent the Emperor’s finest scientists the information acquired from the poor sloth. Then, still in the lab, he opened a communication link with the Emperor.

“Lord Vader. Report.”

“My Master, we encountered a trap. We both went into it when they were testing it... they never realized they’d actually caught something. They have a creature that is capable of dampening the Force. And they have an EMP device. Sentinel and I barely made it out the first time. I was completely incapacitated, and she single-handedly got us both out of that situation. She went back in, alone, a 2nd time, and acquired one of the creatures. I have sent your scientific team the lab results from various tests.”

“This explains why I can’t sense you, Lord Vader. How far reaching is this dampening effect...”

“I have not tested that, my Master... but this lab is at the furthest point from the ship’s cockpit, and at that distance, my abilities were still nullified.”

“Completely?”

“Completely, my Master.”

The Emperor’s image appeared to be in deep reflection.

“Have you matched this creature to anything in the Imperial database?”

“We have not attempted a match yet.”

“Where is Sentinel, Lord Vader?”

“She has been injured, and is currently in surgery, my Master.”

“I will have my scientists find the origin planet of this creature, Lord Vader. I have been informed that Sentinel has already attempted a search of the Imperial databases for any creatures with known Force dampening effects...”

“Were there any positive results, my Master?”

“None. It may be that this creature’s effect was never known... until now.”

“Sentinel thought at first this trap was designed specifically for myself, but now thinks it might have been directed at any Force using, saber wielding person. It is possible they are working, if covertly, for the benefit of the Empire.”

The Emperor considered this. “This is possible, but they should have consulted us if that were the case. And my intel that this is a Rebellion contingent is quite good. Either way, they have discovered a weapon that no-one should be permitted to use. It is too likely it would be used against the Sith.”

The two Sith Lords were quiet for a moment.

“I will send a delegation to this planet to... discuss the matter. And a contingent of clone forces to ensure they fully cooperate with us.” the Emperor said.

“Unfortunately, my Master, they were alerted to our presence by the 2nd infiltration attempt. They will be expecting company.” Vader warned.

“That is unfortunate... but was worth the acquisition of this creature.”

“My Master, what is our next move?”

“When will Sentinel be able to perform her duties?”

“The droids say she needs at least a week of rest.”

“Lord Vader, I suggest you drop off this creature at the nearest Imperial base, including any blood or tissue samples, and then head straight for the next nearest Imperial base, on another planet. And rest.”

“M’Lord?”

“Sentinel needs to heal, and I suspect you do too.”

“Yes, m’Lord.”

“Oh, and good work, Lord Vader. I am pleased. Convey my pleasure to our young Sith, will you?”

And then communication cut out.

Vader gave the cowering creature on the table a final, withering glance, then went back to the cockpit.

Goto Chapter Eight

Chapter Six

2006-06-09T19:40:00.000-07:00

On the way to the ship’s airlock, Vader stopped and attached an extension to his breath screen. His breathing was immediately much quieter. He extended his cowl out, and his mask was nearly invisible. But how could he see... well, that was his problem, Sentinel supposed.

They exited the ship, and Sentinel pulled out the computerized map. “The Emperor’s intel suggests we should try the medical facility on the North side of the city. It looks like... yes, that’s it right there, m’Lord. I don’t think you could have parked us any closer.”

“Let’s go, then.”

They walked in silence, with only the occasional birdcall from the trees for company.

There was no fence around the perimeter. They simply went from walking on an animal trail to suddenly being out in the open in a park-like grassy valley, with the facility in the middle. Surrounding the facility were landing platforms on the ground, as well as a multi-story docking facility south of the medical complex. People were walking to and from ships, some being dropped off or picked up, some having parked their ships on either the ground landing platforms or in the docking facility. Grass surrounded the ground landing platforms. Some of the people where being pushed to their destinations in hover chairs.

There were obvious traffic patterns imprinted on the grass, and they found themselves following one straight to the complex.

Most of the patrons were human, with some startling, non-bipedal exceptions. But of the bipedal non-human exceptions, most were very tall, and also dressed in robes similar to Vader’s. They also appeared to have breathing grills that, when visible beneath their cowls, matched the shape of the extended grill Vader had attached to his breath screen.

Must take back what I said about Vader and stealth, Sentinel thought to herself.

Entering the complex was not a problem. There was armed security, but they didn’t even blink twice in their direction. She noticed that they were armed with projectile weapons instead of energy weapons... interesting.

No-one tried to stop or question them. They headed for the elevator, taking it down to a deeper level in the complex. Their goal was somewhere on sublevel 5: the primary computer system. A little hacking here and there, and they should be able to get a feel for the likely hiding spot of the small Rebellion contingent that was using this complex as their base of operations.

Why use a medical facility, she thought. What benefit could it have?

They rode the elevator down in silence. She sensed no danger. So far so good.

Matter of fact, she sensed nothing. Not even Vader. Nothing from her surroundings.

“Xam, something isn’t right...”, she said, using his codename for this operation.

“I know...”

The elevator door opened upon subfloor 5. Sentinel hesitantly looked to the left and the right down the corridor, then exited. Vader followed.

They walked about halfway down the empty corridor, stopping when they heard voices up ahead in a room.

“Are we ready to test?”

“Yep. The terminals down here are off, the electronic dummies are in place to show the far ranging effects both inside and outside the field cage, the...” the voice became fainter as the room’s door auto-closed.

The room the conversation came from was up ahead to the right. Instinctively, Vader opened a door on the left side of the corridor, and briefly peered in (and raising his hood in order to do so), then grabbed Sentinel’s arm and dragged her with him.

“Ouch” she whispered.

“Quiet”, he hissed.

Just then, she could hear a funny hum. The hair on the back of her neck stood up straight, and she felt a little dizzy. Vader was obviously concentrating very hard to discern what the noise was, because he had stopped breathing in order to listen.

She turned to look at him. It was like watching a space wreck. One minute, Vader was standing tall. Next minute, it was as if he were a marionette, and his strings had suddenly been cut away. She watched him collapse in a rather startlingly loud thunk upon the floor!

Sentinel rushed to his side. His head was moving. His torso was moving. His shoulder joints and thigh joints were moving. But his knees and below, and his elbows and past, were useless. And he still wasn’t breathing.

“What’s wrong??” She asked.

Or speaking, for that matter.

Sentinel thought she heard noises from the corridor. Quickly she grabbed Vader’s right arm and dragged him into a small closet inside the lab they were in, closing the manual closet door after her.

She heard the two men enter the room. “Don’t know what the heck I thought I heard... maybe we left some ‘Droid on that the EMP just took out.”

“Whatever it was, it’s not in here...”

“Yeah... let’s go check the electronic dummies, see which ones were fried and which...”

The voices faded and she heard the door to the room close.

Sentinel turned to look down at Vader. She couldn’t sense anything from the Force, but she knew somehow he was in pain and in a panic. He obviously couldn’t breathe. She had no idea how long he could survive without the mask on, but he wasn’t going to last at all if kept it on. She felt around the back of the mask, finding the releases, and removed the back half, and then the front half of the mask. As she popped the releases, she heard some gas escape. The mask was pressurized. Uh-oh.

With the mask off, she could see the panic in his eyes. But he was also able to breathe somewhat. He took rapid, short gasping breathes. He was having to work hard for every short breath he took.

“Can’t breathe... “

Yeah, I noticed, she thought.

“Mechanical lungs pressing down...”

She helped him sit upright.

“Is that better?”

“Yes. Need oxygen. I can’t... function... on what’s... left of my... original lungs.”

Oh, frak.

“Could make it work... with the Force... but that’s... not working either...”

“M’Lord, I’m afraid this was a trap. And we walked right into it.”

“Go... leave me here... no way you... can save me...”

She started to protest, when he proceeded to pass out on her.

Between the time she dragged Vader into the closet, and his passing out, Sentinel's mind had been processing the facts, behind the scenes. She took a millisecond to review them.

She realized that his biological lungs were not large enough or healthy enough to keep him alive for long. And it appeared that his diaphragm was having some difficulty in even moving air into his biological lungs. Either his diaphragm wasn't as strong as a normal diaphragm, or there was some other complication, or both.

Everything electromechanical on his body was now down for the count. His environmental survival suit and his mechanical parts were now a huge dead weight. And he, and Sentinel, were without the Force... unable to defend themselves, unable to even use the Force to assist in moving Vader’s heavy mechanical body.

The light sabers might be working. But she felt at a loss to use her lightsaber to defend herself and him, without the guidance of the Force.

And now Vader had passed out. She realized she had to act fast.

She had to give his diaphragm some time to rest. That meant...

Well, this wasn’t exactly how she had imagined kissing him. But this was probably as close to a romantic kiss as she was going to get.

She gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, giving him small breaths to accommodate what she assumed were biological lungs the size of a small child’s. After a few moments of this, he started to react, coughing. He looked at her with some surprise, realizing what had been going on while he was passed out.

“Stay here... ‘er, be quiet. I’ll be right back...” she slipped outside the closet, and looked around. Nothing here. Damn.

She poked her head out into the hallway, and on a gut instinct, went into the room just opposite it. There were some beds, with oxygen tanks and masks next to them. She grabbed the smallest tank she could find, remembered at the last moment to lift with her knees, since she couldn’t use the Force for this task, and hauled it out of that room and into the room Vader was in, then into the closet.

Vader was starting to wheeze again from the effort of getting enough air. She realized part of the problem must also be that the mechanical lungs probably normally ‘got out of his way’ of breathing in to use his biological lungs to speak. But right now, his mechanical lungs were just sitting there, being more than just a lump in his chest... but being an actual hindrance to breathing.

She set the tank down, and put the oxygen mask on him. His breathing almost immediately became slower, and therefore easier on him. His expression became much more relaxed and less strained.

“Better?”

He nodded, closing his eyes as he did, resting his head against the back wall of the closet.

She stood up over him, studying him quietly. He opened his eyes, and tilted his head slightly.

“Ok, I’ve got some more ‘shopping’ to do. I’ll be right back.”

He watched her leave, just so relieved to be able to breathe that he didn’t think much about what she would return with next.

Several minutes later she returned with a wheelchair, piled high with various items: a huge robe, a scarf, a blanket, and some winches and pulleys.... winches and pulleys? Vader thought. He noticed that the chair had a hover-lift option. She had left it off... probably a good idea in case they decided to EMP this sublevel again. She had also brought some bandages... Bandages? Vader was at a loss to figure out what Sentinel was planning.

Sentinel laid the huge robe onto the wheelchair. Then she took her knife from her bag, and proceeded to cut off his current costume robe. He looked a little alarmed as the knife traveled up towards his neck. She looked up to see his expression, smiled in slight amusement, and put her knife away, ripping the last part of the robe off with her hands. Then she unhooked his cape.

She took the winch and pulley unit and braced it on top of the highest shelves. Then she proceeded to tie ropes below both his armpits, and winch him into a near-standing position. Next she wheeled the wheelchair under him, and lowered him.

She put his arms into the sleeves of the patient’s robe. He was able to help, but just a little... he had no control of his arms from his elbows on down. She tied the robe tight, then put the scarf around his neck, adjusting it to hide his chest armor. She stopped to examine her handiwork, then grabbed his helmet, his cape, and his lightsaber and stashed them into her bag.

He frowned at the loss of his lightsaber, but let it go.

She proceeded to lay the blanket across his lap, ensuring it extended down far enough to cover his conspicuous boots. She braced the oxygen tank in a tray at the back of the chair. Then she started wrapping his head in the bandages.

“Today, you aren’t just Xam. You are now my poor Uncle Xam who is quadriplegic, and a recent burn victim.” She tucked the last of the bandages in place, and then stood back to admire her handiwork.

“And you are my very messy niece.” He nodded towards the huge grease stain across the front of her otherwise pristine white dress.

“Oh, frak. I guess lugging around the oxygen tank and the winch and pulley unit wasn't the cleanest thing for your niece to be doing. Hmph.”

“Another robe?”

“No... I think I need a nurses uniform. Or someone’s jacket. It’s cold enough outside to be wearing one.” She looked around the closet. “Be right back.”

She returned with a beige jacket fastened shut from top to bottom. She plopped her bag onto his lap.

“Ready for this?”

“I’m not sure I have a choice”, Vader responded.

Sentinel noted that she liked his real, if hoarse, voice just as much as she liked his foreboding and ‘dark’ voice. She especially enjoyed being able to see the face behind the mask. It wasn't... it wasn't pretty, not after what he must have been through, being burned alive and then having his flesh and skin replaced with synth-flesh. (Sentinel shuddered briefly, remembering tapping into Vader's nightmare the other day.) But it was his face, the face she had been longing to see. She especially liked his eyes. She was very happy to see they weren't like the Emperors: permanently yellow, permanently in the Dark Side of the Force state.

“Here we go.”

She wheeled him out of the closet, and up to the door of the lab. Peering around him into the corridor for a moment, she then quickly wheeled him out, down the hall, and into the elevator. They went up to the ground floor, and through the front lobby without any incident.

No-one noticed. No-one looked in their direction.

Out they rolled until they ran out of pavement. Then she started up the hover module, and the chair easily glided above the grass, under the direction of Sentinel's hands.

Sentinel noticed that Vader’s mechanical breathing had not restarted. She had hoped that, as in ‘Trooper armor, his electronics would be able to recover from the EMP blast and ‘reboot’. She wanted to ask him about that, but they were still in earshot of other patients, visitors and doctors who were walking to and from their vehicles.

She entered the tree-line. They continued on in silence. She realized her Force sensitivity had returned long ago. She could sense Vader as well as see him. She could sense his Force abilities, his innate power. Whew, back to normal, she thought.

Sentinel activated the ship’s ramp with the Force, then glided Vader up the ship’s ramp. She headed straight for the medcenter of the ship, which was fully staffed with ‘Droid doctors, nurses, and technicians.

As she entered the medcenter, the ‘Droids all auto-activated, and immediately came over to see what was wrong. One droid linked up a comlink to Vader’s suit, and squeaked surprise when NOTHING, no information came back. The other droids seemed to move faster after hearing that alarmed squeek.

Large droids lifted Vader out of the chair and onto a table. They carefully brought the oxygen tank along for the ride, but then replaced it with ship oxygen.

“How are you feeling”, Sentinel asked.

“My Force abilities are back, but that’s it.”

“My Force abilities are back as well. Good to know the effect was localized.”

“This...” he indicated, with a turn of his head, the scurried activity of the droids, who were quickly pulling him apart to replace parts. “... is going to take a while.”

“Do you want me to leave?” Dumb question. They were stripping him like a stolen vehicle. This had to be somewhat embarrassing for him.

“Please.”

She realized she had been treating him with too much familiarity... but perhaps due to the situation, he hadn’t been correcting her. Hmmm. Nevertheless, he deserved more respect from her. “Of course, m’Lord.” She bowed on her way out.

She stopped to check the ramp. She had shut it and locked it on the way up, but this whole incident was making her a little... uncertain. Then she headed to her quarters, and started up a computer search for all things that can dampen the Force. While the search was executing, she lay down on her bed, closed her eyes, and tried not to break down.

She had kept her cool throughout the entire situation, and it felt like to her that she had been keeping all her feelings of fear and anxiety bottled up, for the sake of getting them out of there. Normally, she could have channeled those feelings into her Force abilities, using even the fear to heighten her Force senses and skills. But her years of not knowing of her Force abilities had taught her to do the opposite, and she had quickly reverted to her old ways, when she had no good place to channel her toxic emotions.

She considered channeling what was still boiling within her into her Dark Side powers, but suddenly all she really wanted to do was... cry.

She sat up in bed, and buried her face into her hands and started sobbing.

After a few minutes of that, she felt much better. Stupid, female trait, she thought. Oh, well. It had served its purpose. She collected herself, and rose to check the computer. No results yet. Hmmmm....

She looked at the bag she had brought in... oops, it contained Vader’s helmet. Part of this may still be useful to him. And he might like his lightsaber back! She wondered if the EMP had taken out their tools. She fired up her lightsaber, and was grateful to see that their weapons had not been destroyed. She was betting it would have been different if she’d mistakenly turned it on during the EMP blast. Ick.

Collecting Vader’s 2 piece helmet, his lightsaber... oh, yes, and his cape, she went back to the medcenter.

She hit the intercom outside the closed door. “Lord Vader, I forgot to give you back your helmet, lightsaber, and cape. May I enter?”

There was a pause, then “Leave them by the door.” Vader added, “And move the ship along normal travel routes to a position further away from our... friends.”

“Yes, m’Lord”

She carefully placed the folded cloak on the floor, laying the helmet and saber on top. Then she went to the cockpit to carry out Vader’s orders.

Goto Chapter Seven

Chapter Five

2006-06-08T23:11:00.000-07:00

Author's note: Chapter 4 is a little short, so I am posting Chapter 5 at about the same time as Chapter 4.

2.5 hours later, Sentinel signaled Lord Vader. About 15 minutes later he appeared, wearing a huge robe over his normal clothing. The cowl of the robe was large enough to cover his mask.

Sentinel herself had changed her attire to match the contemporary fashion of Thaadra. Her white dress exposed her arms entirely, but was otherwise discreet. With no folds of cloth in which to hide her lightsaber, she had concealed it in a white purse that matched her dress. The purse was baggy enough to make it difficult to deduce what it contained. Inside she had hidden her favorite bag of tricks: a small kit she had put together containing both explosives, electronics, and various tools. Included was an old fashioned, unpowered knife with an elegant, carved handle, and a wickedly sharp serrated blade. It was her favorite knife... her lucky knife.

When in doubt, pack for everything.

Vader stopped short to look at her. With her hair pulled up in an elaborate style only in fashion currently at Lanari IV, she reminded him for a moment of...

“M’Lord, we are 13 minutes out.”

“I will take us in”, Vader said as he sat in the pilot’s seat. He brought the ship out of lightspeed, and expertly guided it in with Lanari VI between the ship and Lanari IV. The ship seemed to hug Lanari VI so closely that Sentinel was sure she could barely discern the ship being buffeted by the high, cyclonic winds of the gas giant.

When they were on the sun-side of Lanari VI, Vader made for a large cargo ship. He gave a sharp push on the thrusters, then powered down the entire ship. Using discreet nudges from gas jets about the ship, he coasted the ship up close and personal to the cargo ship’s underbelly. With more nudges from the gas jets, the ship eased itself closer to the belly of the cargo beast.

Sentinel started to cringe. We’re going to hit it... we can’t keep just off the belly the entire way... the cargo ship’s gravity will pull us in and...

*Thunk*

Vader had activated magnetic docking clamps that were on the TOP of the ship.

“I didn’t realize this vessel was outfitted with topside docking clamps”, Sentinel said, relief obvious in her voice.

“Did you think I intended to tap the underbelly the entire way down?” Vader commented dryly.

“I, uh, wasn’t certain what your plans were, m’Lord.”

They rode in silence as Lanari IV came into view. She noted, according to the navputer, that Lanari V was currently on the other side of the solar system.

The cargo ship was huge, larger than she was used to seeing. She was wondering what other ship(s) they might have to hide behind, or under, to make planetfall, when she realized that the huge cargo ship itself was making the planetfall for them.

Most large cargo ships never enter the atmosphere during their entire life. They are built in space, and operate only in space, with their cargo being carried down to the planet, or loaded from the planet, by smaller ships. She had a sudden hunch, and switched on the rear view screen. There, behind them, was the actual mother ship of all cargo ships; the ship they were attached to had just visited it to swap cargo!

What were they transporting that they required a ship double the size of any Imperial Star Destroyer in order to carry it either to the planet or from the planet?

The ride to the surface kept her gritting her teeth the entire time, sure they would either be shaken loose in the rough ride down, or swept off by the winds and friction caused by the speed of their planetfall. Just when she began to think she should be worrying about the skill of the cargo-ship’s pilot, the behemoth leveled out and landed expertly on a platform not much larger than the ship itself. The maneuver brought the cargo ship to a hard stop, with a large blast of it’s lower jets. Just as it started this final maneuver, Vader restarted the engine, disengaged the docking clamps, and hit full reverse. Their relatively small ship was completely missed in it’s escape from the cargo dock platform.

Vader brought them to a landing in a small clearing just outside the city limits. The planet was largely undeveloped, in spite of what the cargo ship would normally have implied. Sentinel realized their ship was not likely to be spotted... especially when she watched Vader slide the ship completely underneath the huge canopy of trees to the South of the clearing.

Vader powered down the ship, and turned to face Sentinel.

In awe, Sentinel said “You HAVE to teach me how to do that manuever...”

With a pause that suggested that Vader might be smiling in response, Vader stood and said “Come on. We have work to do.”

Sentinel rose to follow.

Goto Chapter Six

Chapter Four

2006-06-08T23:02:00.000-07:00

Sentinel left her quarters, running to catch up with Vader.

She caught up to him just as he was entering the cockpit. Before she could speak, he said “The Emperor has sent us a request that we drop out of light speed and converse with him.”

“Is that what you were coming to tell me, m’Lord?”

“Yes. That, and that we simply must improve your taste in music.”

“Was there any hint of what he wants to talk to us about, m’Lord?”

“No. Bring us out of lightspeed, and open a channel. And let me do the talking.”

“Yes, m’Lord.”

She rushed past him into the cockpit, and brought the ship out of lightspeed. She noted that the closest system to their position was the Lanari system. She opened a communication channel, and after some negotiation with the software and with various comm-ops personnel at Coruscant, the Emperor appeared before them on the holo-channel. She slid from her seat and bowed on one knee next to Vader.

“Lord Vader, Lord Sentinel, I have a new task for the two of you.”

“Yes, my Master”, Vader answered.

“I have reports before me that there is a Rebellion contingent at Lanari IV, specifically at one of the medical facilities of the city Thaadra. I need you both to infiltrate the facility and report back to me with any information you find. I don’t have accurate information about which medical facility is in use by our enemies, although it is likely to be the one indicated in the files I am...” his image was pressing some buttons, “sending to you. Once you have verified which facility is our target, send that information back to me, and any other relevant information, and I will dispatch a contingent of clones to... excise them from the planet’s surface.” the Emperor’s image seemed to brighten in intensity in emphasis of the word ‘excise’.

“As you wish, my Master”, Vader answered.

The Emperor’s form vanished, and the comlink channel made an audible bleep as the connection was absolved.

Sentinel rose with Vader, and took her seat in the co-pilot’s chair. Vader remained standing.

“We’re only 3 hours out from Lanari IV at lightspeed. The Emperor’s timing is impeccable”, she reported, after having consulted the navputer.

“Plot a course and engage.”

“Yes, m’Lord”

“I will be in my quarters, meditating. Do not disturb me until we are a half hour out from dropping from lightspeed. Do NOT exit lightspeed until I am present.”

“Yes, m’Lord”. It was well known that Vader’s timing in gaining undetected access to installations and spaceports via spaceships was unequaled, and she was grateful to know he apparently intended to handle that aspect of this unexpected mission.

Vader left her alone in the cockpit.

Goto Chapter Five

Chapter Three

2006-06-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

Sentinel sat back in her chair. She had been going over the structure of the building they would have to infiltrate. She had been going over the information available on this planet, and this stronghold in particular, for hours. Her head was starting to throb.

She tilted her head back, and closed her eyes.

Without warning, her door opened.

“What are you doing?” Vader asked.

She sat up straight. “M’Lord, I was going over the plans for the upcoming assault. The layout of the building, the surrounding territory, the culture of the natives... attempting to understand what we will face when we get down there.”

Vader merely stared at her, which started to unnerve her. Then she realized that maybe he wasn’t staring at her... how could she tell when she couldn’t see his face? And to support her conclusion, he asked “What are you listening to?”

“M’Lord, this is my own eclectic collection of songs... ranging from contemporary to what is known as industrial, with some operatic works thrown in.” She suddenly felt the need to defend her interest in music. “The music helps me concentrate... it provides exactly the right level of distraction, of background noise.”

“Hmmm.”

Whew, she thought. Then, “M’Lord, if I may ask, what music do you listen to?”

Vader continued to “stare” at her, although she sensed his concentration was now upon answering her question. “I enjoy mostly operatic pieces from the Moldovians.”

She noticed Vader had turned her music down, using the Force, so that they could speak, but had politely not turned it off. She had neglected to do that herself, caught off guard as she was, but Vader hadn’t seemed to mind.

Just then, an especially racy song came on.

“I also do enjoy more contemporary and harsh pieces of music...” he rumbled.

She reached with her mind to mute the song, but Vader gestured with his hand, unmuting it immediately after, and said “No, I’d like to hear this song.”

If you want a lover, I’ll do anything you ask me to.
If you want another, kind of lover, I’ll wear a mask for you.

Sentinel proceeded to turn bright red.

If you want a partner, take my hand, or
if you want to strike me down in anger,
Here I stand. I’m your man.

“M’Lord, this is rather...”

“Sshhh..”

Are the moons too bright?
The chains too tight?
The beast won’t go to sleep!
I’ve been running through
these promises to you
that I made and I could not keep.
Ah, but a man never got a woman back,
not by begging on his knees.
For I’d crawl to you baby,
and I’d fall at your feet,
and I’d howl at your doody like a dog in heat...

She couldn’t stand it any longer. Maybe he would throttle her once more, but she was slowly dying as it was! She stopped the player with the Force, and clearing her throat, stood up, and turned to fiddle with something in her knapsack.

“So, this is the kind of man you like?”

“M’Lord?”

“A man who will 'howl at your doody like a dog in heat'?”

“M’Lord! It’s just a song! I has no bearing on my... on my preferences.”

Vader just stood there, and this time she was sure he was staring. What she couldn’t sense was the enormous ear-to-ear grin he was wearing.

“Liar.” he said, and abruptly left her doorway.

She stared after his retreating back, until her doorway auto-closed behind him.

I think he just TEASED me, she thought.

Is this a good thing?? This can’t be a good thing. Can it?

Goto Chapter Four

Author's note:
The song lyric's quoted above are used w/o permission. They are from the song "I'm Your Man", by Leonard Cohen, from the soundtrack to the movie "Secretary".

Chapter Two

2006-06-05T06:11:00.000-07:00

Sentinel rose out of a fevered sleep. She had dreamed of being pinned in a cramped, dark room with the Dark Lord, trying to be as quiet as possible. Sounds of yelling, searching. Feeling hunted. Hunted? The Dark Lord’s breathing had been... strained. Raspier.

She shook the dream off, went into the lavatory, and got cleaned up and dressed for the day. She ate her breakfast rations on the way to the cockpit. Vader was not yet there.

A quick glance at the Navputer showed they had a few days of travel yet. She sighed. The past day of travel had been less than interesting.

Vader’s presence had left her at a loss for conversation topics. She was Sith, but she enjoyed sharing her counsel with others. She realized she was probably the friendliest, most approachable Sith in existence. And she was traveling with the most foreboding, easily angered Sith in existence. Bad recipe.

She had tried to get him to open up about his past. No luck. Tried to talk about her own past. He had requested silence, then abruptly left her alone in the cockpit for the next several hours. He had returned, and ordered her to her quarters! He had stated that her presence would not be needed until the morning.

She felt very much like a young girl being sent to her room. But it afforded her some time to catch up on sleep lost due to jet lag from traveling to Coruscant. And gave her time to eat and perform other bodily functions.

But still, it was rather humiliating.

Now she was back in the cockpit, and no-one to talk to. She missed her Carg Dragon, T’Ching... he would have curled up happily on her lap, and purred constantly as she pet him and talked to him. Or gone chasing after toys she threw for him. Maybe she should have smuggled him with her on this trip.

“Oh where, oh where has my little Carg gone. Oh where, oh where could he be?” she sang softly. She checked the instruments... environment control: within normal operating parameters. Engine operating without any problems. Fuel was good. Everything was fine. No missed communications from Coruscant.

Meditation time. Focus. Stretch out the senses.

Her perception crawled through the ship, and eventually had covered every inch of it, feeling it, the weak points, the strong points. But she avoided the section where Vader’s quarters were.

She extended her perception outside the ship, sensing the currents within the Force. Not surprisingly, their presence was causing many ripples. Who else could perceive them? Couldn’t avoid it easily... or maybe they could. Then again, she sensed the biggest cause of ripples was from that area she was refusing to stretch her perceptions to.

Curiosity got the better of her. What WAS he thinking and/or doing at the moment?

Her senses stretched out, tentatively entering his domain.

RAGE!!!!

She quickly pulled back, feeling herself cower in her seat.

Wonder if this vehicle has any lifepods?

She waited... the rage hadn’t felt like it was necessarily directed towards her. Cautiously she stretched her feelings out once more.

Anger. Rage. Sadness.

Pain.

Loneliness.

Nightmare.

She probed deeper, and suddenly felt as if her skin were peeling off, and an intense heat consuming her. She yelped, and pulled back completely.

Maybe it was best not to know the bad dreams of dark lords who are never seen outside of their masks?

“He must have been burned alive”, she murmured to herself. She shuddered. It explained alot.

She tried to calm herself, but the sensation of being burned was rather... unsettling.

After a while she composed herself and began to meditate, but looking inwardly this time. This was usually not a comforting thing for her to do, however. Her Master, her teacher on Korriban, was constantly telling her to look inward and develop her power. Take those moments from her life where her rage, sadness or passion had been most finely honed, and use that to gather more power to her, to feel it coursing through her body.

She had often had success with this technique, and had seen her Sith powers expand exponentially. But she had often also seen herself sink into depression from doing this. No matter how many times she tried to exercise the technique of looking at her acts objectively, without the judgment from her conscience, her conscience still would often take over and show her, in great detail, the magnitude and incredible variety of her many sins.

Her Master told her it might take more time for her to work through this. But eventually she would beat her conscience down. Her problem was her unwillingness to embrace the full truth that absolute power has absolute right.

Her Master warned her that her compassion and mercy would be her undoing. She found it ironic that her Master would tell her things that were, by the very nature of being a forewarning, a compassionate act on the part of her Master! But she kept that thought to herself.

After about an hour of channeling the Dark Side, and feeling her own power and importance growing, her conscience got the better of her and left her feeling a dark despair. She changed her focus to simply feeling... her body, her breath, the beating of her heart. The swirling energy, the brightness of the light of the Force. This was not something she was taught to do, although they did teach modification of bodily functions... everyone in her class, herself included, could hold their breath for an hour at a time thanks to these skills. But this exercise, the appreciation of the Force, of it’s interaction with all Life... of the harmony and generous mercy of the Living Force....

The Living Force. That was a Jedi phrase. She was slipping again. She had heard the litany of the Jedi, “Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will...” She had never been face to face with Yoda, but she had heard his speech mockingly imitated by her Master on Korriban. “Yoda would have sang a different tune had he ever met you!”, her Master had told her once!

Yeah, she was some future Sith Lord. But she had better ideas for her future, ones she kept to herself.

She gave up on her meditation. Where was the Dark Lord, anyway? Surely he must be awake and up and about by now. Hmph.

Should she go check on him?

She contemplated extending her feelings towards him once more, but his nightmare of being burned, and her rather up-close-and-personal experiencing of his pain made her shy away from that idea.

Just as she was about to go find him, a warning light began to flash on the dashboard. Great, there was an intermittent electrical connection between two things that shouldn’t be connected. Sigh. She eased out of her seat, opened the access panel to the rather tight-fitting alcove in the wall behind the co-pilot’s seat, and started examining circuitry. Just as she thought she had the problem isolated, she heard the cockpit door open, and in stormed Lord Vader.

He literally growled as he entered the room, and the negative emotions emanating from him were practically blinding to any Force Sensitive. She found herself instinctively becoming smaller, insignificant, below his notice... melting into the alcove as far as she could. He was being noisy, and she found it ironically easy to slide the alcove door nearly shut. Just in time, too, as he whirled around the cockpit to ensure he was alone.

After this cursory examination of his surroundings, he pointed at the cockpit door, and the door shut in what she could have sworn was double the speed it was actually set to run at. If it had been of the swinging variety, she was sure the slam would have jarred her teeth.

She soon realized his anger was not directed at her, but at... everything. She had a flash of a second nightmare, and realized, without knowing the details, that it had somehow been worse than the first one.

Vader gave an exasperated sigh, and then screamed! The waves of rage coming off of him made her somehow shrink even further into the cramped space.

She flashed back to her nightmare of that morning... but while the space had been cramped, it hadn’t been the same. She hadn’t felt as if she were in danger from the Dark Lord. She had felt instead... protective... Very strange.

She looked out through the small crack she had left in the alcove door. Vader was now seated, elbows on the dashboard, masked head in his hands.

He was... sobbing.

Her fear was still through the roof, but her heart was suddenly in her mouth.

Without thinking about what a foolish move this was, she quietly opened the alcove door, and approached him. She tentatively stretched her right hand out to his shoulder.

Without knowing quite how she had gotten there, she found herself instead sitting in the co-pilot’s seat, with her right hand on his left arm, and his left hand securely tightened around her throat.

“What do you think you are doing?” He growled.

With his tight grip, she could barely breath, but she managed to whisper, “Talk to me.”

“TALK to you?” His grip tightened.

She felt her fear widen, like some great gaping maw directly under her that she was about to fall into. With every ounce of control she calmed her heart, and reduced her need for oxygen. She couldn’t breath at all, so she merely mouthed her response. “Yes, talk to me. Tell me what is bothering you.”

“Why should I trust you with such a thing??” He exclaimed? His grip tightened further and started to cut off the blood flow to her brain.

“Because you can ... trust me...” she mouthed as her world grew dark.

The darkness grew deeper, her vision became more tunnel-like, until all she seemed to be able to see was the “nose” of his mask, when he suddenly released her. She fell backward in the seat, gasped for air like a fish out of water, and started coughing. Vader watched her regain her composure.

Holding her right hand to her throat subconsciously, rubbing a small bruise that was forming there, she said “Talk to me. Please.” She withdrew her hand from her throat, and placed it upon his left forearm. His left hand clenched into a fist upon the dashboard. “Please...” she repeated.

“Why should I?” he softly rumbled.

“Because you need to. Because I will listen and not judge. Because I will not use what you have to say against you.”

“You seem to have me confused with a friend”, he responded... but his gaze did not leave her face.

“I sense you could use a friend, right now.” She said tentatively.

He looked away, out the window at the starscape. After what seemed like several minutes, he said “You presume too much. Leave me.”

Sentinel instantly snapped back into her role of subordinate. There was nothing else she could do... she had been given an order. “Yes, m’Lord”, she said, as she rose out of her seat and went towards the cockpit door.

She paused there, turned, “m’Lord, there’s an electrical short in section B of the...”

“LEAVE ME!!!!”

She turned back to the now open cockpit door, and practically ran out. The minute she had cleared the doorway it snapped shut.

She stopped outside the closed door, sighed, straightened her hair. “Well, that went well.” She headed back towards her quarters. “I’ve done some pretty stupid things before, but trying to comfort an irate Sith Lord in the middle of a nervous breakdown... that one takes the cake.”

She sat at her desk in her quarters, pulled up the information on their upcoming mission, turned on some music, and started studying.

Goto Chapter Three

Chapter One

2006-06-03T17:04:00.000-07:00

The smokey skies floated by. Two buildings in the distance were smoldering due to recently extinguished flame.

The Rebellion, as the newest group of Separatists had started calling themselves, had made a rare strike on Coruscant soil. Sentinel mused that no-one had actually seen Coruscant soil in millennia... the only souls that worked down there now being robotic minions who raised vegetables and animals under false sunlight in storey after storey of artificial surfaces.

Did the animals even remember what real sunlight looked like?

Would they panic and run, if set loose at “ground level” of the skyscrapers, trying to find a lighted cave, with dirt and grass underfoot?

Sentinel's next mission, per the request of the Emperor, was to assist Lord Vader in tracking down a group of Jedi who were rumored to have survived the order 66 of 5 years ago, and were hiding out on a little known planet called Latern. It was a few thousand parsecs from Coruscant, so the travel time in hyperspace would actually be a few days.

She had been in training under one of the Emperor’s Sith trainers, and often under the Emperor himself. He apparently had several on the Sith planet Korriban. She had heard the whole “there can be only two”, but apparently the Emperor wasn’t willing to allow the Sith to be so easily defeated by the destruction of himself and Lord Vader. And there was little risk, however, of the two of them being destroyed from within: there just weren’t that many Force sensitives left in the galaxy who, even combined, could take on the Emperor and his right hand man.

Sentinel would never herself be strong enough to take on either Vader or the Emperor. She was a strange student of the Sith in that she was wise enough to realize this, and be satisfied merely with the enjoyment of exercising her powers within a smaller sphere of influence. The Dark Side was with her, but she was strong enough to not be pushed towards overextending herself. She mused about this, ironically rather smugly. She mused about the smugness itself with some self deprecating humor. But whatever. She could be one of the few Sith in existence who could enjoy power without being power hungry or unnecessarily violent.

Maybe she would be the compromise between the Jedi and the Sith. Blasphemous thought, that. But she was more than willing to learn, on the sly, how to use the Light Side of the Force. She thought there were benefits to using both sides, and only embracing one side was just... short sighted.

She was meeting Vader at his new home some distance from the center of government on Coruscant. He had been assigned a mansion, by order from the Emperor. He had been living in a suite some stories below the Emperor’s suite. The Emperor also had a mansion of his own, and would spend half his time there, and half his time in his suite.

Vader’s mansion was rumored to be very spartan... she wondered at the cause of that. She’d heard rumors that he had once been a Jedi, but she knew better than to ask anyone about that.

She had read up on all of Vader’s exploits in the past 5 years. She had followed his career with a strange passion. She realized her passion was a little... unconventional, even for a future Sith Lord.

She landed the sky speeder at one of the many landing platforms along the top of the Dark Lord’s mansion, and jumped out with practiced ease. She got down on one knee, with her hood hood in place, eyes lowered, waiting in abeyance. The door at the far end of the platform remained closed, as if reminding her that it was her duty to wait on him, her superior. She breathed slowly, letting the tension of the moment infuse her with both calm and energy. This was an incredible moment in her career. It was a moment she had been dreaming of. It could also be the moment of her death. Piss off this important person, and end in a puddle of useless flesh and bones, quivering in the throes of death, on the floor.

But it was worth it. Career ending, even life ending, it was worth it to get to meet him.

She couldn’t deny it to herself. She had been attracted to him from the moment she first saw his images on the holonet. The black knight. His face forever hidden. His deep voice... his unchanging uniform.

“Yes, I am one sick puppy”, she thought to herself. Then she thought she heard the whine of the elevator behind that closed door, and she cleared her thoughts quickly. She wasn’t sure if her adoration of Lord Vader would be appreciated or despised, or even advantageous to her if it were appreciated. Best to not be an open book at this point in time.

The door slid open. A figure stirred in the shadows within the lift. But she did not see him. Her eyes remained downcast.

Footsteps... then only a few feet in front of her, the ominous black boots. She heard him stop in front of her, the shiny boots the only thing she could focus on. The billowing cape blocking her field of view.

“Rise, young Sith”, Vader gently rumbled. She almost thought she could detect some humor in his electronic voice. With some trepidation, she rose from her kneeling position and stood to face... his chest. Oh, yes, you are a tall one. She raised her chin to look him in the “face”.

“My Lord, I am here to serve you on our assignment to take out the Latern stronghold. How may I be of service to you?” Her voice held an unusual confidence.

“We will be leaving shortly. I trust you are prepared?”

“I am packed, m’Lord. And I have all the equipment we should need, m’Lord, in the event that we do need anything more than our lightsabers.”

“Good. Everything I need is already aboard our ship. Bring the cargo and come with me.”

“M’Lord...” Sentinel turned to unhook the antigrav carrier the cargo was resting upon. The cargo and the carrier were both inside the cargo hatch of her speeder. Upon ignition, the carrier rose slightly, and Sentinel easily pulled the cargo out of her speeder, maneuvering it around in front of her, to push it hastily after the retreating form of her fellow Sith.

She followed his form to an adjoining platform, much larger than the one she had landed upon. Thereon sat a ship about the size of a Correllian space freighter. Vader flicked a hand towards the ship, and the cargo hold ramp lowered. Sentinel pushed their equipment up inside it, locked it in place, grabbed her bag from on top of the equipment, and walked down the ramp.

“Come with me”, Vader rumbled.

She followed him up the main ramp, which started to lift and close behind her. They reached the cockpit. She saw no other Imperial staff on board.

“M’Lord, are we picking up the rest of our crew at the military base?”

Vader sat in the pilot’s seat. “The Emperor gave me last minute instructions. This is to be a stealth mission. Imperial troopers are not known for their... stealth...” Vader began to power up the engines.

Alone. With him. Awk....ward. Completely awkward. She sat in the co-pilot’s seat, checked that the navigation computer was on.

Stealth? How were they going to be stealthy with the most recognized person in the galaxy?

“I sense you have some concerns, young Sith?”

“M’Lord, forgive my impudence, but I am wondering how our stealthy entrance to the stronghold is to be accomplished...” she trailed off.

“... because I am not someone who can enter a location unnoticed?”

“’Er...”

“Perhaps you should let me worry about my stealthy entrance, and you worry about your own abilities?”

“Yes, m’Lord. I beg your forgiveness...”

“Spare me the simpering apologies, Sith.”

“Yes, m’Lord”.

Vader piloted the ship into space, expertly avoiding the shipping lanes, and clearing the planets traffic. “Plot our course.”

Sentinel negotiated with the Navputer for a moment. “Plotted, m’Lord.”

Vader pushed the lever, and the ship became a streak of light in the sky.

Goto Chapter Two