What the Eye Doesn’t See…5

Most of the time I relished any opportunity to be on the bridge of the Executor, but not this time. I had come up to deliver Thrawn’s latest datachip and had walked in on the middle of a nasty debriefing. My timing was, as always, impeccable. I stood rock still, as did everyone else and held my breath while Lord Vader absorbed the news that the Arc Hammer had been destroyed. Somehow Katarn had not only managed to stow away on board the Executor but then he had managed to get himself transferred to the Arc hammer by hiding in the cargo shipment. In destroying the Arc hammer he had effectively destroyed the entire Dark Trooper project. General Mohc was dead and Lord Vader was beside himself with fury, it had not been a good couple of weeks. The young officer who had delivered the news was remarkably calm as he waited for what everyone thought was inevitable but much to my and the entire bridge crew’s surprise Vader dismissed the young man with a flick of his hand. I couldn’t recall the last time I ever saw anyone move so quickly and still appear to walk.

Lord Vader stood staring out of the huge view window for a few moments further and I could feel the storm that brewed within him so it wasn’t much of a surprise to me when he swirled around and stalked towards the exit, grabbing me by the arm on the way. The lingering looks of mixed pity and relief from the men in the pits did not escape me.

His grip on my arm hurt but I was used to this and had learned to keep up with him and not squeak in pain. In the turbo lift he let go but his anger had not abated. I stayed still and worked on centering. I was surprised when, instead of heading towards his private training room when the turbo lift stopped, he dragged me to his personal chambers.

“You have something for me?” He growled, sitting at his desk and starting up his personal computer system.

I remembered the datachip gripped my hand and nodded. I handed it to him gingerly. He had not dismissed me so I waited; standing with my arms behind my back while he studied the datachip that had come with Thrawn’s most recent letter.

“Tell me, girl, before the cargo was being offloaded to the Arc hammer, did you notice anything unusual?” he asked.

I had to think about that for a moment because we had done the cargo drop one and a half standard days ago. I closed my eyes and let my memory work backwards and found the reason he was asking me this question.

“There was a ripple.” I said. I remembered that because it had happened in the middle of a conversation we had been having, that is to say he had been ranting and I had been nodding my head a lot when right in the middle of a sentence he had stopped and stood very still, as though he were listening to something no one else could hear. I had reached out as much as I could with my own small talent to see if I could figure out what had stopped him mid rant. It had felt as though something had stroked my spine from the inside out, though just barely. My senses were not nearly as in tune as Lord Vader’s were and I doubt I would have even noticed it had he not been so aware.

“Yes.” He spat. “Katarn is force sensitive.”

“Is that why he was successful?” I asked, tempting fate by bringing up the reason for his anger again., but thought what the hell you only live once and my nosiness got the better of me.

Lord Vader was thoughtful for a moment. “Perhaps.” He said. While his anger had not abated the immediate fury had. “This Rebel Alliance is becoming more than just a thorn in the Emperor’s side.” He snapped. “The Emperor wiped the Jedi out for exactly this reason.”

I didn’t know how to answer that. My birth mother had been one of those Jedi. I sighed. “What happens to your Dark Trooper project now?” I asked.

“Nothing, it is finished. The Emperor will only pour so much money into a single project and even I cannot sway him to do otherwise.” He told me. “The Rebel Alliance costs the Empire more and more each day.”

I nodded. I agreed with him. “Why do they want to topple the government?” I asked him after a lengthy silence.

He looked up at me and shrugged. “Why does anyone want to do anything?” he asked me. “They disagree with how the Emperor rules. They wish to return to an outdated method of government that didn’t work, but they forget the bad things and see only the romantic view of what was.”

I frowned. “Why did the Republic fall?”

“It became mired in corruption and bogged down in bureaucracy. It stopped listening to the needs of its people. The system stopped working.” He told me. “The Republic was full of greedy individuals who only wanted to serve their own interests. I can still remember when Padmé called for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum.” The sting of pain in his voice as he spoke her name made me shiver but he continued despite the sorrow in the memory. “She was unafraid to fight for her people.” He said. “But she was a rare breed of politician and even she did not see what was to come. The Republic was crumbling long before Palpatine began his rise to power, but everyone turned a blind eye to it and looked to the Jedi to solve their problems for them.”

“I thought the Jedi were just keepers of the peace?”

Lord Vader snorted. “You should have seen how peaceful they all were during the Clone wars.” He said.

I had no idea how to respond to that so I just shrugged. He glanced up from the screen he was looking at to stare at me. I wished I could see beyond the mask and look directly into his eyes. It was always so hard to gauge what he was thinking and what sort of mood he was in.

“Did they not teach you any of this in school?” he asked after a lengthy silence.

I gave him a sheepish look. “I grew up on Tatooine, you know how that is. I didn’t think that school was important.”

That caught his attention and he regarded me sharply. “I know how it was to grow up as a slave on Tatooine. I was not afforded the luxury of school.” He said bitterly and I felt the flush of embarrassment creep into my cheeks. I nodded to let him know that in the area of rotten childhoods he won hands down.

“I was bored in school; I wanted to learn how to fix and fly ships not study history and geography.” I told him by way of explanations. “I didn’t think I would need to know that stuff, but then again I didn’t think I’d be working for the galaxy’s second most powerful man living on board a floating city either, so what do I know?”

He just nodded and continued to work at the computer. “The Jedi were arrogant. They believed they were right above all else because they had the Force on their side. They preached the dangers of the dark side but many of them skirted that path as a means to an end. I remember one in particular, a Kiffar named Quinlan Vos. His master sent him deep undercover to play the other side. Voss was never the same afterwards. You could feel the subtle touch of the darkside in his being, but they all ignored the warning signs in favour of getting the job done, telling themselves that the bodies which littered the way were just casualties of war.”

“What happened to him, this Quinlan Voss?” I asked. I was curious because my birth mother had spoken about this Jedi.

“No one knows. It was rumoured that he perished on Kashyyyk but I did not sense his death in the force. If he was smart he took that doxy he was in love with and vanished to the unknown regions.”

“I thought the Jedi were forbidden to love?”

Lord Vader surprised me by laughing. “Love… platonic compassion was encouraged. Passionate, physical love was forbidden. Of course it was far more rampant amongst the Jedi order than most would admit. You cannot stop that nature from rearing its ugly head. To forbid such basic needs, such basic emotions, was to invite trouble. Idiots, self righteous idiots, the lot of them.” He spat. “Preached the moral high ground but did not bat an eye about requesting someone do their dirty work for them when it served their purpose.”

I shivered at the sudden coldness in his voice. “They used you?” I asked.

“Everyone gets used, girl, have you not learned this by now?” he asked coldly.

I just made a face.

Lord Vader laughed nastily. “Still young enough to be naïve!” he shook his head and went back to his work. Tired of standing, I sat on the floor and rested my chin on my knees which I had drawn up to my chest.

“May I ask you something?” I asked after a lengthy silence.

“You may.”

“Why were there so many Jedi and no Sith?” I asked.

“Did my master not explain the nature of the Sith to you? I was under the impression you had been educated in this area of lore.” He asked, leaning back in the chair to stare at me.

“I know a little about the history, the Great Sith Wars. Some of the better known members of the sect like Naga Sadow and Freedon Nadd but I don’t understand why the Jedi were so many and the Sith so few?” I said. “I would have thought a balance between the two sects would have made more sense.”

Lord Vader shook his head. “Where do you get your ideas from?” he muttered. “Sith lore dictates there are only ever two at a given time.”

“Why?” I asked. “That’s just dumb.”

I felt the flare of anger from Lord Vader and flinched but he did nothing. “The rule of two was enforced to ensure that the order survived despite the power hungry nature of those who chose to walk the path of the dark side. Darth Bane saw what happened when too many Sith hungry for power clashed. The New Sith War lasted around a thousand years and ended with a battle on Ruusan that saw the near destruction of all Sith. The lure of power was too great for all involved and they destroyed themselves for it, fighting the forces of light. From that time on there has only ever been two Sith. The law states; two there should be; no more, no less. One to embody power, the other to crave it. It is not so much, as you so eloquently put it, dumb as it is a matter of survival.”

“So what happens if both the master and the apprentice die at the same time?” I asked. I still thought the whole idea of just two was a bit stupid but I held my tongue on that.

For a long moment I wasn’t sure he would answer me but when he did his words were icy. “The Dark side waits. Sith teachings are out there to be learned and there will always be those who can manipulate the force who seek power over anything else. Just because the physical beings who embody the teachings no longer exist does not mean the ideals die with them. There are always willing candidates all too eager to let the dark side of the force supply them with strength and power.”

“Could I be a Sith Lord, like you?” I asked after digesting this information.

“No.” his answer was immediate but without jealousy or anger.

“Why not?”

“Because girl, you do not have enough power lust in your soul to give into the dark side so utterly and you are not nearly strong enough in the force.” Then he added, “And you think too much.”

I sighed. “Is that a good thing?”

He chuckled. “For you yes, otherwise I would have to kill you as you would be competition for my master’s affections and my place at his side. There can be only two!” He said.

“But I could still turn to the dark side?” I just wasn’t getting this whole lights side dark side thing.

“Of course. Surrender to the darker emotions, let your anger rule you but that doesn’t mean you will be more powerful.” He said and then he got up, removing the data chip from the system as he did so. He motioned for me to get up and when I was standing he handed me the chip. “When is the next pick up?”

“Not for two standard days but I can arrange for sooner if expedience is needed.” I said slipping the chip into my pocket.

“No, two days is adequate time. Now I suggest you go and make yourself ready.” He said.

“Ready for what?”

“I wish to find out how your well your skills with the combat staves have improved since your new sparring partner has been working with you.” He replied with a nasty little edge to his voice that said you didn’t think I was going to let you off the hook that easily, I am still angry and someone has to bear the brunt of it.

“Ah.” I said with a small nod. “Yes, my lord.”

“Be ready in the small training room in ten minutes.” He said. “Do not be late.” And with that he turned his back to me signalling he no longer wanted me in his presence.

It had been a while since we had sparred with each other using combat staves but I wasn’t exactly overjoyed at this prospect. While working with lightsabers was a daunting task at least I didn’t come away from the session covered in bruises. I was grateful I wouldn’t be seeing Thrawn any time soon, he never reacted well to the colourful results of Lord Vader’s little combat lessons to me.