The Mirror within the Mask 1

Lord Vader paced. He hated waiting almost as much as he hated any official function at which he was required to appear. This one was especially bad as it would be simulcast across the galaxy via holonet. The Emperor had spared no expense for this event which would display the military might of his Empire to all, the unveiling of the SSD Executor.

The Emperor had decided that the main ceremony would be held at the Imperial Palace, reinforcing the statement that this was the center of the galaxy and the seat of power, but holo-net cameras would show the ship’s unveiling from the undisclosed space dock where she had been for the past two days for cleaning and last minute repairs.

When it was time for the procession everyone was told to get into their places. I watched with some amusement as the people who were standing behind Lord Vader gave him a fairly wide berth. The only men who did not seem terribly concerned about being near him were Thrawn and Zaarin. Everyone looked amazing in their dress uniforms or finest clothes. The reception, after the speeches and actual unveiling, would be one for the largest and most extravagant in some time.

I, along with the others who had been privileged enough to join the before party but did not need to walk behind the Emperor and stand on the main dais made our way into the great hall and sat in chairs that had our names in very elegant cards on them. Shiv had arranged it so we sat together and I was grateful. Sometimes it really helped to know the person in charge of organising events.

The lights in the hall dimmed as the Emperor walked forward to address the waiting crowd. I could feel the excitement and tension ripple in the air. While for me the Executor was not a new toy, for most of the people attending this function and almost the rest of the galaxy watching the holonet, this would be their first glimpse of the Super Star Destroyer. No wonder they were all excited.

“Loyal citizens of the Empire I welcome you all here today, to this auspicious occasion.” The Emperor began, his eerie voice echoing through the silence that the crowd below gave him. There was a pause and people clapped and cheered. The Emperor made a slight hand gesture and the hall was once again silenced.

“For over twenty years now, the Empire has over seen peace and prosperity in this great galaxy and today we crown this achievement by unveiling the newest addition to our glorious Imperial fleet. With this new ship we shall be more so than ever have the ability to maintain law and order through out this galaxy, protecting its citizens and providing the military might against outside threats that might wish to harm the peace and harmony we have worked so hard to achieve. For the last six months this latest addition to the fleet has been tried and tested, put through the most rigorous of training exercises with the very best of men and women the Empire has to offer, so without further ado I give you the Super Star Destroyer Executor!”

The crowd went mad as they cheered and clapped all the while watching as a giant holonet projection suddenly displayed the space dock where the Executor was cradled. In a slow, languorous movement the dock released its clamps and the Executor began to move forward so that meter by meter the ship was revealed. Flanking the great ship were two standard sized ISD’s and the scale difference produced a collective gasp of stunned amazement from the audience watching.

When the giant ship was free from the space dock film crews on board smaller more agile ships began to show footage of the Executor from every angle possible. Even I was impressed with this show. When they were done showing the ship off from the outside a crew that had stationed inside switched their live feed on and we suddenly were shown the bridge of the ship.

Admiral Ozzel, Captain Piett and the rest of the bridge officers all stood smartly to attention in their dress uniforms while the holo feed panned around to show off the sheer size and scale of the ship’s command deck. The last image that was broadcast was the view from the forward windows and the response from the crowd in the hall said that this had done its job and the populace was suitably impressed enough to forget that not only had taxes been raised significantly in the last year to help pay for this but that shortly they would be raised again.

There were more speeches made by various other members of the High Command and Imperial Council and then we were allowed to make our way from the great hall to the room which housed the Grand ball for a very large, no expense spared reception that would turn into a party.

“Well, she’s impressive.” Shiv whispered in my ear as we meandered out of the hall like a herd of domestic banthas.

I nodded. “Yep. Lord Vader’s baby. I hope they don’t scratch the paint.”

That remark made Shiv laugh.

We were joined by Antygra and Ynyth when we entered the Ball room. Shiv snagged champagne glasses from a passing waiter and we all touched glasses together and toasted to the Empire.

“I have to ask,” Antygra said. “Why do we need such a huge ship? Surely she can’t be agile enough to go chasing down all the threats the Empire faces?”

“She’ll be used more as a space oriented command center.” I said. “But she’s more agile and faster than you might think.”

Antygra gave me a look. “Of course you would come to its defence.”

I looked at Shiv for an explanation to Antygra’s sudden animosity. He shrugged. “Tygs isn’t happy about this because the defence budget was given a huge increase but the budget for his department has been cut by thirty percent for the second year in a row.”

“I had to fire five of my people last month.” Tygs said. “You work for Vader, Merly, tell me is there really a need for all this fire power?”

I sipped my champagne. “Lord Vader doesn’t actually discuss such matters with me, but with the Rebellion doing all the damage that they have been doing, along with groups like JAN, not to mention the rise of pirates and smuggling I don’t know that I have a problem with it. The Executor makes it easier to co ordinate defence from space, the command center can travel to where it is needed most as opposed to being fixed on one planet. This makes it more secure. The Rebels are less likely to be able to find it and blow it up like they would a space station or even a planet.”

Shiv nodded. “That makes sense. I heard that the costs alone from the sabotage done by the Justice Action Network could fuel half the Imperial fleet for a year. If this new ship can help sort that mess out then it’s worth it.”

Ynyth nodded her agreement. “Yeah, I heard what they did to the Corusca Line Yacht and the undersea mono rail in retaliation for Earnst Kamiel’s execution. I think I agree with Merly and Shiv. Increased Imperial defence presence is a good thing.”

Tygs shook his head. “Tell that to my family. They’ve had to sell off half their property on Corellia in order to be able to cope with the tax hikes. It seems to me that if you are really rich you get all the breaks and if you are really poor no one cares but it’s the middle class who ends up paying for everything.” He sighed and then in a whisper added. “Sometimes I wonder if the rebels aren’t right.”

I just looked at him. “You should be very careful about what you say on that topic.” I said quietly.

“Why? Are you going to report me?” he asked a little nastily.

I opened my mouth to reply but Ynyth got there first. “Hey, Tygs, leave her alone she’s in the same boat we are.”

Tygs just gave me a look. “They arrested two people in HR because of you.” He told me. “One of them was a good friend of mine.”

“What!?”

He nodded.

I looked at Shiv and then back at Antygra. “Okay someone needs to explain this because it’s the first I’ve heard of it.”

Shiv sighed. “The word going around is that you complained about the lack of security and blame HR for someone busting into your flat.”

“That’s an outright lie!” I said my loudly enough that the people around us stopped talking and looked our way.

“Keep your voice down, Merly.” Shiv hissed.

I looked at Antygra. “First of all, I did not complain to anyone about a lack of security and secondly why would I blame HR for someone breaking into the flat? That’s a security problem not a human resources issue!”

“Well, rumour is you are still on the outs with Priss.” Shiv said.

I rolled my eyes. “Oh please, I care as much about her and what she thinks as I do about the spice mines of Kessel. The break in had nothing to do with HR and I certainly did not imply otherwise.”

“The HR people are all scared of you; they half expect you to send Vader down on them at a moment’s notice. You get special treatment from the Emperor and they don’t know what to make of that. I heard the Emperor himself commented on the break in.” Tygs said.

“He did, but I didn’t talk to him about it, in fact I was surprised he even knew.” I said. “Who is starting these rumours?”

Antygra shrugged. “I heard it from Bobbyn who said he was told by a guy down in security whose sister works in HR.”

I shook my head at the way the rumour mill worked. “I can’t believe you even listen to this stuff or that you think I would be like that!” he went to say something but I wasn’t finished yet. “I have family out on the Rim, and they suffer because of the tax hikes and the increased patrols as well. My father runs a docking bay and transport service for Sarlacc’s sake; do you think it’s easy for him? He doesn’t get any breaks because I work here, in fact if anything it’s made things worse.”

“So you don’t abuse your position and job to get what you want?” Tygs pressed and I could not believe the weird turn this conversation had taken.

“I don’t know what you mean by that. It’s not like working for Lord Vader is easy you know! Just how would I abuse it?”

“Well… some of us wonder how it is you do stay alive when everyone else who has worked closely with that monster ends up either dead or banished to some garrison in the middle of nowhere!” his argument was losing steam but I was getting annoyed with him.

“So doing my job well in order to stay alive means I am abusing the system?”

“Well, you do seem to get a lot of special attention from some important people.” Tygs said nastily.

“What are you implying?” I was angry now. I had never seen Antygra so hostile before.

“Maybe you want to talk about why a certain Grand Admiral is courting you?” he asked.

“You’re talking about Zaarin right?” I asked. “I don’t ask for his attentions, in fact I go out of my way to avoid them!”

“Why are there more?” he asked. Then added, “Oh that’s right you also like aliens as well… I guess you’d sleep with the damned whole High Command given half a chance!”

I didn’t even think about what I was doing as I shifted into a stance that made me ready to strike out at Antygra, but before I could even think about raising my hand to slap his face Shiv intervened, standing between me and Tygs. “Hey, this is supposed to be a celebration you two.”

Antygra looked at him and then to me and then said. “Well you know what? Suddenly I don’t feel like celebrating.” And with that he left.

I stared at Shiv and Ynyth for a few seconds unable to digest what had just happened.

“I’ll go talk to him. It’s not you, Merly, he’s just not himself lately.” Ynyth said and she hurried off to follow Tygs as he left the room.

Shiv sighed. “One of the HR people arrested was his girlfriend. He’s really pissed and he’s really worried about her. I tried to tell him you had nothing to do with it but somehow the rumour got started it was your fault and he needs someone to blame. I think his family is having a difficult time at the moment and he’s not handling any of it very well.”

I nodded trying to calm down. I had been a hair’s breadth away from hitting Tygs and I wasn’t happy about it. “Well he should be careful with the Rebellion talk. That kind of chatter could not only just get him arrested but shot for treason.” I sipped my drink and glanced around the room. “How long has he been this angry?”

Shiv shrugged. “Hard to say, been building a while I think. Things got really weird after the destruction of Alderaan but then he seemed to calm down and be okay. We all thought it was because he had family on Alderaan. He’s moody sometimes and he tends to go off when he gets stressed. He often complains about things just usually not like this, never in public and not about you. It’s just recently he’s been spouting a lot of negative stuff about the direction the Empire is going in. Don’t take it personally, Merly. He’s just going through a rough patch right now. I think he’s been listening to his uncle too much. Harkov doesn’t seem to have much love for his job right now either, I guess the two feed off one another’s moods. ”

“Admiral Harkov is Antygra’s uncle?” There had been rumblings about Harkov's allegances and Lord Vader was not pleased with him at all.

Shiv nodded. “Yeah, on his mother’s side but not many people know that. He doesn’t let that fact get around, scared people will think he got his job through nepotism.”

I just shook my head. “Well, I did not complain to anyone about HR or security. I would very much like to know who is starting these lies.”

“Maybe your Admiral friend mentioned something about it?”

I shook my head. “That’s not his style, Shiv. He tackles problems straight on and he would have talked to me about this first, I think.”

“I figured as much, but I wanted to be sure.” He said. “Safe to say someone on the inside doesn’t like you all that much.”

“That’s for sure.” I said quietly, thinking about the person who I had sensed with Jyrki when he was destroying my flat.

“Come on, let’s mingle before we get a reputation for being stuck up as well.” Shiv said.

“Too late for that for me I think.” I grumbled.

We walked through the chattering crowd; the excitement over the Executor’s unveiling made the room buzz. There was nothing like a huge party to celebrate a very big and expensive toy to put the Imperial world in the festive mood, but as I mingled and made small talk I could not help but think on Thrawn’s words and Antygra’s outburst. On the outside everything seemed shiny and wonderful but on the inside I began to think that maybe the Empire was starting to rot, just a little.

I came to stand at Lord Vader’s side, Shiv had been pulled into a conversation about palace décor and I escaped before I was asked my opinion about the newest fad which involved Gungans. I sipped at my drink and looked around. It occurred to me that in three years of working here I had not really gotten to know many people all that well but this thought did not make me sad.

“People seem impressed.” I told Lord Vader telepathically.

“As well they should.” He replied.

“How is your arm?” I asked.

Lord Vader looked at me sharply then went back to staring at the crowd. “One mechanical arm is much like the other. It functions as it is supposed to.” He told me.

I had been in the med lab when he had returned to have some of the mechanics fine tuned. Once Vader had left the room, the doctor had told me that Lord Vader’s arm had been severed on Mimban.

“Did it hurt?” I asked, curious to know if the artificial limbs were as real as they were supposed to be.

“Pain is irrelevant.” He told me. “But if you wish to learn more about it I can slice off your arm and have you fitted with a prosthetic one then amputate that one and that would answer your questions.”

“No thank you.”

“The artificial limbs are far stronger than flesh and bone.” He said. He thought he was being funny.

“I’m sure they are, my lord, but I am kind of attached to mine.” I said. He chuckled.

“Miss Gabriel, how lovely to see you again, you look well.” said a voice off to my side.

I turned to see Zaarin standing just behind me. “Thank you Grand Admiral Zaarin, as do you.”

“Come now, how many times must I ask you to call me Demetri?” He chided. “Surely you are not this formal with everyone all the time are you?”

“Miss Gabriel is a fountain of good manners, Zaarin, get used to it, it can be quite tedious and I think she does it just to annoy.” Lord Vader said much to my great surprise. If I didn’t know better I would have thought he was sticking up for me.

“She cannot be that annoying, Lord Vader, after all she still lives.” Zaarin said. I sucked in my breath.

“You could sever his arm and maybe that might shut him up.” I suggested to Lord Vader.

I was certain his response would have been fun but at that moment the Emperor made his way over to us and joined the conversation. I curtsied and Zaarin gave a crisp military bow.

“Merlyn, my dear, how delightful to see you here. You look as lovely as ever.” The Emperor said.

“Thank you, Excellency.”

“Zaarin, if you would be so kind as to convene the Council of Twelve in the small conference room, I believe we have matters to discuss.”

“As you wish, Excellency.” Zaarin said. “Miss Gabriel, Lord Vader always a pleasure.” And with that Zaarin vanished. He had been dismissed and he had not liked it much but he dared not argue with the Emperor. I was certain I was not the only one who had sensed his anger ripple about us.

The Emperor turned his eerie yellow eyed gaze back to me. “And you, my dear young lady, how are you feeling now?”

“I am well, thank you.” I said.

“I see you have recovered nicely from the terrible incident at the Bunduki Trials.” He continued. I felt the force ripple and shift about us as suddenly Lord Vader became more attentive.

“Yes, thank you. The medical staff performed miracles. Had it not been for their expertise I am quite sure I would be dead.”

“And that would have been most unfortunate.” The Emperor nodded. He paused a few seconds then added. “I must admit I was surprised to hear of what had happened and that you had survived. I did not think that such a pretty young thing as yourself had it in you to kill.”

The surge of sudden hatred I felt for this man was uncontrollable. Lord Vader looked at me as though I had kicked him and I was certain that I would be punished but instead the Emperor just gave a slow, low chuckle. “There, Vader, you see? There is hope for her yet.” He said softly. Vader returned his masked gaze back to his master but said nothing.

I just stared at the Emperor; for once my anger outweighed my fear. “Even the smallest wamp rat will tear its enemy apart when it’s cornered.” I hissed. I would have said more but Lord Vader’s sudden and very painful grip on my arm stopped me, reminding me that while maybe I could get away with a smart mouth with him, this was the Emperor and I was being disrespectful.

The Emperor waved a hand, ignoring my remark. Vader released my arm. “And what about your home, is everything back to order now? All the damage repaired and your belongings replaced. The break in must have been a dreadful shock for you?” he bantered lightly but there was something underneath his tone that told me nothing here was as it seemed.

Lord Vader’s head turned sharply to look at me once more. I hadn’t told him about the latest incident with Jyrki, I had just assumed he would learn about it. Obviously that was wrong.

“It was but I am starting to get used to these incidents.” I said, he ignored the barb and I continued. “Things are slowly getting back to normal. I appreciate all you have done for me.”

“And you have moved back or are you still under Admiral Thrawn’s protective custody?” He continued.

There was absolutely no keeping anything from the Emperor. I smiled. “No, I am back on my own now. It was very generous of the Admiral to allow me to use his spare room but I did not want to encroach on his personal space any more than I had to.”

The Emperor nodded. “It has been most gratifying to see him find solace and company at my court. I am certain that he enjoyed his time with you; I know he thinks quite highly of your artistic sensibilities. He has remarked you are quite knowledgeable in this area. ”

I blushed, hated myself for it and nodded. “The Admiral is very kind.” I said.

“Not at all, my dear.” He said, patting my arm. “Admiral Thrawn knows a good thing when he sees it. He has a remarkable eye for the more unique pieces in my collection. His ability to ascertain knowledge from the art he so carefully studies is most unusual. He is a most intriguing individual.”

I wasn’t sure what we were really talking about any more so I just nodded and smiled but a shudder ran down my spine.

“There will be a private exhibition of Ermall Bernau’s works coming up fairly soon, if I am not mistaken. I’ll make certain you receive an invitation; perhaps you might want to ask the Admiral to accompany you, I believe he is quite interested in the art of Bernau.”

I nodded, averting my eyes from his gaze. “You are most generous, Excellency. I shall do as you suggest.” I got the sense that it wasn’t really a suggestion.

“I shall look forward to seeing you both there then.” He smiled and then with a nod to Lord Vader he moved away to speak with some of his advisors who had come over to discuss something with him. The moment they had vanished into the crowd Lord Vader rounded on me but before he could say anything I spoke first telepathically. I didn't want anyone over hearing my conversation.

“Why does he toy with me?” I asked, getting straight to the point.

“Because he can, it amuses him. You amuse him.”

“Amuse him?”

“You are not the only one he tests in these ways. Be grateful that he shows such interest in you, it allows you much freedom.”

I had no idea how to reply to that. I wasn’t sure what it meant.

“Is that what killed your assistant before me, they didn’t interest the Emperor?”

“No, I killed them. They were inept at their job and they did not interest me.” He replied.

I just nodded and sipped at my lukewarm champagne.

“Explain to me what happened to your flat.” Lord Vader said after a moment’s pause.

I told him about the break in.

“Why was I not informed of this?”

“You were away and I don’t like to pester you with my problems.” I said. “You don’t like to be bothered with trivial details, you’ve told me that a dozen times.” Then added. “I thought you would hear about it from intel or something. It isn’t as if it’s a secret.”

“That my personal assistant is being stalked by a rebel sympathiser with force abilities is hardly trivial.” He admonished. “Next time something of this nature happens, I wish to be told immediately.” I wasn’t sure what had him more annoyed, the fact that Jyrki had managed to break in despite palace security or the fact that he had not been told about it.

“Your Bunduki master informs me that your shoulder is healing well, how is it now?” he asked abruptly changing the subject.

“Better.” I nodded.

“Good. I thought that you might be interested in learning how to use a lightsaber as a weapon. I tire of using combat staves to spar with you.”

I shivered. “I would need to find a lightsaber to use?”

“You told me your mother had left hers behind for you. You can use that.” He said.

“Did you tell the Emperor about that?”

“No, I do not bother my master with such trivial details.” he said tersely. “Just because you interest him does not mean you are important to him. Do not over value yourself.”

I just nodded and with that our conversation ended because several people required his presence and they did not want to speak in front of me. He flicked his hand at me and dutifully I moved away to mingle and maybe find Shiv.

As I meandered through the crowd and found my way through to the balcony I realised I was excited at the prospect of learning how to use a lightsaber which surprised me. I leaned against the balcony parapet and stared out at the city. The day had given way to evening; the lights from the buildings twinkled and lit up the Coruscant skyline. I listened to the sounds of the party behind me. The mindless chatter and underlying networking that went on at these functions drove me crazy. After three something years I still hadn’t figured it out.

“Are you as bored as you look?” a warm, familiar voice said in my ear. I smiled.

“I thought there was a big meeting going on.” I said answering Thrawn in his own language.

“The Council of Twelve is meeting, yes.” He said coming to stand at my side.

“Without you?”

He gave me a look. “I am not a Grand Admiral.” He said.

“Yet.” I said.

He nodded with a slight smile. “Yet.” He followed my gaze to look over the city. “You have not answered my question.”

I glanced at him. “Yes. I am absolutely every bit as bored as I look.” I told him. “I hate these functions and you know this.”

He nodded. “Well, you had a sneak preview of the main attraction so this wasn’t exactly a big surprise for you was it?” he said.

I looked up at him. “I suppose it would be very politically incorrect for me to ask you take me home with you?” I asked him.

“I think forward would be a better way of putting it.” He said casually.

I nibbled my pinkie absently.

“Is everything alright?” he asked.

I just shrugged. “This is the Empire. Nothing is ever alright.” I told him.

For a moment he just watched me in silence, debating whether or not to press me on why I was in such a pissy mood, and then said. “I have some things to finalise before I leave, I can come by your flat and pick you up if you wish, unless you want to stay here.” He paused. “Of course, the two of us leaving here together would add fuel to an already smouldering fire, if I heard some of the gossip mongering going on today correctly.”

“Would that bother you?”

He looked at me sharply. “Gossip is a useless waste of time usually it should simply be ignored but occasionally it has some particularly harmful side effects. I am thinking more of you and your friends. Did you not have a rather heated discussion with one of them, Antygra I think, earlier that was a result of some fairly nasty gossip?”

“You don’t miss much.” I snapped.

“Not when your shouting alerts everyone to a problem, no, then I do not miss much at all.” He chided gently. “You must learn to be more circumspect, my dear, in a world where every tiny piece of information can and will be used against you when given half a chance.”

I sighed.

“You could head over to the flat now; you do have your own key.” He reminded me.

I nodded. “Yes I do, I hadn’t forgotten, but…”

“But you do not feel comfortable with that just yet.”

I smiled and shook my head.

He nodded. “Very well, I should not be more than an hour. I’ll come by your place. Do try to stay out of trouble between now and then.” He said and then he left.