"What is thy bidding, my Master?"
From light years away, on Coruscant, the Emperor replied, "There is a great disturbance in the Force."
"I have felt it," Vader said.
"We have a new enemy. The young Rebel who destroyed the Death Star. I have no doubt this boy is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker."
Offspring?! The surviving tissue in Vader's throat suddenly went dry. Through his shock, he managed to say, "How is that possible?"
Without offering any explanation to support his stated conviction, the Emperor answered, "Search your feelings, Lord Vader. You will know it to be true. He could destroy us."
Having fought Luke Skywalker on Mimban, Vader was even more aware of the young man's powers than was the Emperor. But he also knew something else: Luke was as ignorant of their familial connection as Vader had been. If he had known the truth on Mimban, Vader thought, I would have sensed it. Still grappling with the Emperor's declaration, he struggled to find words that might discourage his Master's interest in Skywalker. "He is just a boy," Vader said. "Obi-Wan can no longer help him."
The Emperor believed otherwise. "The Force is strong with him," he said. "The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi."
The Emperor had not said in so many words that he wanted Luke Skywalker dead, so Vader - needing Skywalker alive to accomplish his goals - took a different tact. "If he could be turned," Vader suggested, "he would become a powerful ally."
"Yes," the Emperor mused, as if he had not thought of this possibility. Vader could only imagine what the Emperor was thinking. The Sith had long maintained their rule of two: one Master, one apprentice. Even Vader knew that there wasn't room enough in the galaxy for three Sith Lords, and yet the Emperor's hooded eyes seemed to sparkle as he said more emphatically, "Yes. He would be a great asset. Can it be done?"
"He will join us or die, Master," Vader said. He bowed, and the Emperor's hologram faded out.
Now that the Emperor was interested in Luke Skywalker's fate, Vader knew he had to do everything in his power to find Luke before the Emperor found him. If his own soldiers and even the infamous Boba Fett could not locate the Rebel leaders, then he would have to take more proactive measures.
Vader sent out a signal, summoning bounty hunters from across the galaxy to meet him on the Executor. It was not long before six hunters, including Boba Fett, were lined up on the Executor's, bridge. Mere seconds after Vader addressed the assembled group and stressed that he wanted them to find the Millennium Falcon without killing anyone on board, the elusive Corellian freighter emerged from the asteroid field. The Star Destroyer Avenger gave chase, but moments later, the Millennium Falcon vanished from the Avenger's tracking scopes. It seemed the Rebels had escaped once again from the Imperials.
But they didn't get away from Boba Fett. Several hours after the Avenger lost sight of the Falcon, Darth Vader received a transmission from Fett, who had employed stealthy measures to find the Rebel ship limping across space with a damaged hyperdrive, on course for the Bespin system.
Turning to Admiral Piett on the Executor's bridge, the Dark Lord said, "Plot a course for Bespin."
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Boba Fett had already arrived at Cloud City, a luxury resort and gas refinery in orbit around the giant gas planet Bespin, and the lightspeed-disabled Millennium Falcon was still en route when Darth Vader's shuttle touched down on a Cloud City landing platform. Preceded by two squads of Imperial storm troopers, Vader exited the shuttle to be greeted by Cloud City's Baron Administrator, Lando Calrissian, and his aide Lobot, a cyborg with a computer bracket wrapped around his bald head.
Calrissian was courteous and accommodating as he escorted the Imperials through his facility, and listened with attention when Vader outlined his plan to apprehend a group of Rebels. Upon hearing the name of the incoming Corellian freighter, Calrissian's expression remained completely neutral, which did not surprise Vader. Although a background check had confirmed that Calrissian was a former owner of the Millennium Falcon, he was also an accomplished gambler.
While the Executor remained stationed well out of scanner range of Bespin, the Imperials took up position within Cloud City and waited for Han Solo's ship to arrive. They didn't have to wait long.
* * *
"The Millennium Falcon has landed on Platform 327, Lord Vader," said Lieutenant Sheckil, a gray-uniformed Imperial officer. Sheckil was listening to an incoming progress report, and stood facing Vader and Fett in a Cloud City conference suite. "Princess Leia is with Captain Solo and his copilot," Sheckil continued. "There's a droid too. Baron Administrator Calrissian is leading them into Cloud City now." Sheckil smiled and added, "It was lucky the Millennium Falcon's hyper-drive was damaged or we wouldn't have reached the Bespin system before the Rebels."
"Our journey to Bespin had nothing to do with luck, Lieutenant Sheckil," Vader said. ''Remind your men to stay out of sight. The capture of the Rebels will be at my command."
"Yes, sir. I'll..." Sheckil stopped short as he listened to his comlink. "What? The imbeciles!" Trying not to sound nervous as he returned his attention to Vader, he said, "It's the droid, sir. It... it fell behind the group, and happened upon Gamma Squad's position. They blasted it. Fortunately, the Princess and the others didn't hear the shots."
"Then you are the only fortunate one," Vader seethed. "Do not fail me again. Bring the droid here at once. Its memory might contain valuable information."
After Sheckil left the room, Vader turned to gaze out a window at the Cloud City skyline. He said, "It seems your enterprise is bearing fruit, bounty hunter. By using Captain Solo as bait for Skywalker, you stand to collect two rewards instead of one."
Watching the Sith Lord's back, Boba Fett said, "Skywalker would get here faster if we spread word that his allies are in danger."
"That won't be necessary," Vader said, sensing a trembling in the Force from far across space. "He already knows."
Sheckil returned with a pair of stormtroopers who carried an open-topped container that held the captured droid's parts. The limbs had been torn from the torso, and a tangle of multicolored wires stuck out from the droid's neck socket.
"Lord Vader?" Sheckil said, "I-I'm afraid the damage is quite extensive." Holding the droid's head up for Vader's inspection, Sheckil continued, "As you can see, it's a protocol droid. Probably the Princess's property."
Vader took the head and examined it closely.
"The way these parts were shattered by the blast," Sheckil prattled on, "it's likely the droid was made a long time ago."
Despite the wear and tear to the droid's head, Vader recognized a few small details that indicated Anakin Sky walker's handiwork. He gazed into the decapitated head's blank photoreceptors.
C-3PO.
The last time Vader had seen the golden droid was on Mustafar. I saw you through the window of Padme's ship as it landed, Vader recalled. Holding this relic of his former life, Vader felt waves of anger and loss sweep over his dark soul. His memory flashed to the day that Anakin had found the droid's skeleton in Watto's junkyard, and Anakin had wondered if the repaired droid might help him and his mother leave Tatooine.
Vader wondered whether C-3PO remembered anything of Anakin Skywalker. He doubted it. If the droid had had any knowledge of Anakin in his memory banks, then he would have shared that knowledge with Luke Skywalker. But Luke remained ignorant of his father's identity. Vader felt certain of that.
All things considered, Vader thought as he looked into the droid's eyes, I should have left you in that scrap yard. He had the sudden urge to crash the droid's head, but then realized that Sheckil and Boba Fett were watching him curiously.
Sheckil said, "Shall our technicians attempt to recover the unit's memory, Lord Vader?"
Relaxing his grip on the droid's head, Vader placed it with the other parts in the open container. "The droid is useless," he said. "Have it destroyed." He didn't give the droid another thought as he turned for the door and said, "Come, bounty hun
ter. I want to discuss our upcoming meeting with the Rebels."
* * *
After the tremor in the Force convinced Darth Vader that Luke Skywalker was on his way to Bespin, the Dark Lord sprang his trap. He arranged for Calrissian to escort Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Solo's Wookiee copilot to a banquet room where he and Boba Fett would be waiting. A moment after the banquet room's door slid open and revealed Darth Vader to the horrified Rebels, Solo reached for his blaster pistol and fired at the Sith Lord. With his gloved hand, Vader deflected the fired energy bolts, then used the Force to snatch Solo's pistol, tearing it from the pilot's grip so that it flew over the central banquet table to land in Vader's outstretched fingers.
"I had no choice," Calrissian told them. "They arrived right before you did. I'm sorry."
Solo glared at Calrissian and said, "I'm sorry too."
* * *
"Lord Vader!" Lieutenant Sheckil said with some excitement after the Sith Lord had exited the banquet room and ordered a stormtrooper squad to escort the prisoners to detention cells. "Our search of Princess Leia's quarters has turned up something... unexpected."
Walking fast with Sheckil in his wake, Vader made his way through the Cloud City corridors until they reached the spacious, brightly lit suite that Princess Leia had occupied before leaving for the banquet room. Two stormtroopers stood in the room beside two Ugnaughts: short, porcine humanoids who worked in the city's gas refineries. On top of a table rested a storage bin that held C-3PO's dismembered parts.
We meet again.
Staring at the parts, which looked no different from when he'd last seen them, Vader said, "I gave an order, Lieutenant."
"Yes, Lord Vader," Sheckil said. Gesturing to the squat workers, he continued, "But according to the Ugnaughts, the Wookiee broke into the junk room and went berserk when he found the parts. He brought them straight here to the Princess. If the Rebellion is interested in preserving this unit, there may be more to this droid than meets the eye."
Reaching into the storage bin, Vader picked up the droid's head. Despite his desire to leave all of Anakin Sky walker's memories buried, another one surfaced... something Shmi Skywalker had told her son after she had allowed him to keep the droid parts he had secretly hauled into their tiny hovel. She had said, Unless you 're prepared to care for something, you don't deserve to have it.
Behind his helmet, Vader winced at the recollection.
Watching Vader, Sheckil said, "Shall I instruct the technicians to search its memory?" When Vader didn't answer, Sheckil added, "Or would you rather have the Ugnaughts smelt the thing?"
Vader seemed to continue contemplating the droid's head, holding it closer to his helmet so he could see his dark, distorted reflection on the weathered gold surface of C-3PO's lifeless face.
"Sir?" Sheckil said expectantly.
Darth Vader slowly placed the droid's head with the other parts. "The droid's parts carry the stench of Captain Solo's copilot," he said. "Deliver this box to the Wookiee's cell."
"I... forgive me, sir," Sheckil said, obviously confused. "I don't understand. You... want the prisoner to have the droid?"
"I am giving the Wookiee what he deserves," Vader said mysteriously.
"Oh," Sheckil said. "Yes... of course, Lord Vader."
"Captain Solo has an appointment in the interrogation chamber," Vader said as he strode for the suite's exit. "Make sure he gets there."
* * *
Vader did not ask a single question of Han Solo in the interrogation chamber that the Imperials had prepared on Cloud City, but he tortured the smuggler just the same. Afterward, he had a team of Ugnaughts prepare a carbon-freezing chamber for Solo, to determine whether Luke Skywalker could survive the freezing process. The test was also witnessed by Boba Fett, Lando Calrissian, Lobot, Princess Leia, and Solo's hulking copilot, who had already managed to partially reassemble C-3PO, carrying the droid's parts in a cargo net that was slung across his furry back. With some amusement, Vader noticed that C-3PO still didn't know when to stop talking.
Solo was lowered into the central pit of the freezing chamber, and there was a great blast of steam as he was instantly transformed into a solid block of carbonite. After the block was removed from the pit and Calrissian verified that Solo had survived in perfect hibernation, Vader turned to Boba Fett and said, "He's all yours, bounty hunter." Then he looked to the Ugnaughts and commanded, "Reset the chamber for Skywalker."
The timing could not have been better, for Skywalker had just landed his X-wing starfighter on Cloud City.
CHAPTER TWENTY
"The Force is strong with you, young Skywalker," Darth Vader said as his prey walked straight into his trap. "But you are not a Jedi yet."
Luke Skywalker had his blaster in hand as he entered the gloomy carbon-freezing chamber, but he holstered it before he climbed a flight of steps to stand before Vader. There, on the elevated platform that encircled the pit, Vader stood still, waiting for Skywalker to make his next move. When Luke reached for his lightsaber and ignited its blue blade, Vader noted that it was indeed the same weapon Obi-Wan had appropriated from Anakin Skywalker on Mustafar. But it wasn't time to share this information with Luke. Not yet.
Vader ignited his own lightsaber. Luke swung first, but Vader blocked the blow with ease. The duel was on.
Luke fought bravely, and even inventively, occasionally impressing Vader with unexpected moves. He even managed to leap out of the carbon-freezing chamber, preventing Vader from rendering him immobile. But Vader stalked him through Cloud City's reactor control room, used the Force to tear heavy machinery from the walls and hurl them at Luke, and ultimately drove him out onto a gantry that extended into the reactor shaft.
As the Bespin winds tore through the shaft, Luke swung his lightsaber to deliver a glancing blow on Vader's right shoulder plate. Vader snarled as Luke leaped farther out onto the gantry. Balanced on a narrow beam, Luke was clinging to a weather sensor with his left hand as Vader swung hard with his lightsaber.
Luke screamed as Vader's red blade swept through his right wrist, and watched with horror as his hand and lightsaber fell away into the deep reactor shaft.
"There is no escape," Vader said as his wounded opponent edged farther away to cling to a sensor array at the end of the gantry. "Don't make me destroy you," he added, increasing the volume of his voice so he could be heard over the high winds. "You do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy."
"I'll never join you!" Luke screamed back.
"If only you knew the power of the dark side," Vader said, and decided that the time had come to reveal all. "Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father."
"He told me enough!" Luke said through clenched teeth as he clung to the sensor array. "He told me you killed him."
"No," Vader said. "I am your father."
Darth Vader did not know how Luke would react. He could not imagine that the young man would be more shocked than Vader had been when the Emperor had informed him that Luke was Anakin Skywalker's son.
"No," Luke whimpered. "No. That's not true! That's impossible!"
Remembering how the Emperor had encouraged his acceptance, Vader said, "Search your feelings. You know it to be true."
"No!" Luke shouted. "NO!"
The wind howled, and Vader's black cape flapped wildly at his back. "Luke. You can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny." He reached out to Luke, beckoning him to leave the gantry and come to his side. "Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son."
Still clinging to the sensor array, Luke glanced down the shaft.
"Come with me," Vader urged. "It is the only way."
Unexpectedly, Luke opened his arms, releasing the array and allowing himself to plummet into the deep shaft. Vader leaned out over the edge of the gantry to see his son's rapidly
receding form tumble into an open exhaust pipe in the shaft's wall.
The Sith Lord was certain Luke was still alive. If he had died, I would have sensed it.
After Vader left the reactor shaft, Imperial officers informed him that the duplicitous Lando Calrissian had directed all residents and visitors to evacuate Cloud City, and that Calrissian, Princess Leia, and the Wookiee had already escaped in the Millennium Falcon. Vader knew they wouldn't get far, for Imperial technicians had already taken the precaution of disabling the Millennium Falcon's hyperdrive.
Star Wars - The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader Page 13