The Hunters and the Hunted 2

We shuddered out of hyperspace and I did not even need to be anywhere near Lord Vader to know he was angry. I was already on my way to his chambers when he summoned me on my comm. I nearly crashed into General Veers who was just leaving and the look on his face told me that he was grateful to have gotten out of Lord Vader’s presence in one piece and still able to breathe.

“I would wait a moment before entering, Miss.” He said quietly.

“Oh.” I said. I understood what that meant and it usually wasn’t good.

He nodded at me and then hurried down the corridor. I took his advice and waited a couple of heartbeats, watching him vanish into the turbo lift.

Maximillian Veers was an interesting man, born of a middle class working family he had escaped the mundane life of his parents by joining the Imperial Academy and finishing top of his class. He became even more successful in his military career when he became commander of the Emperor’s personal AT-AT legion as well as becoming an instructor at the academy on Carida. When Thrawn met him, Veers was serving as a commander for the garrison stationed there. Recognising Veers’s brilliance and loyalty, Thrawn had recommended him to Lord Vader and Lord Vader had listened. He had taken Veers on and gave him command of the Death Squadron’s ground forces.

From conversations with Thrawn, I knew that Lord Vader had an unusual amount of respect for Veers and I also knew that they had worked together on the AT-AT project in the past. I had met Veers formally only once at a small reception and our conversation had been minimal and polite. He didn’t seem to be a very out going man and he kept himself to himself. Like most men under Lord Vader’s command he kept his distance from me. I was almost certain that the general rule of thumb was ‘if we don’t talk to her she doesn’t actually exist’. Women, some people thought, were bad luck on board of a ship and anyone who worked as closely with Lord Vader as I did could not be good for anyone’s health.

I drew a deep breath and then I opened the door to Lord Vader’s chambers in time to see him ending his conversation with Captain Piett via the video feed. I was grateful to have missed the actual conversation but I could not take my eyes off the dying Admiral Ozzel clawing at his throat in the background. The force flowed around Vader like a sand storm. He was furious. His anger coloured the air and made it seem thick and difficult to breathe. For a moment the entire galaxy stopped moving and then Lord Vader got up from where he was seated, put on his long cloak and stalked around the room.

“You wished to see me, my lord?” I asked breaking the awful silence.

“Xizor has been pestering me on my private comm channel. You will inform his office that he is to cease and desist this practice. If he wishes to speak with me then he must first do so through you. I do not understand why he cannot follow simple decorum.” He growled. “He will no doubt complain about this but I do not care.”

“Yes, my lord.” I said quietly. While Admiral Ozzel’s death did not surprise me, in fact I was more surprised that it had not happened sooner, it was still an unpleasant thing to witness. I was fighting the urge to either scream or throw up. I wondered if I would ever get used to seeing Lord Vader’s trade mark punishment in action.

Lord Vader looked at me, sensing my emotions. “Ozzel was an arrogant fool, girl. He paid for his lack of vision with his life. Do not mourn his death. The Empire does not have time or space for idiots who only wish to feel self important.” He chided. “I tolerated his stupidity for as long as possible. This time he went too far. I told him not to come out of hyperspace too close to the Hoth system as surprise was tantamount to our strategy for a quick campaign. Now the rebels are alerted to our presence and we have to punch through their defence grid. That idiot will have cost us time and man power which, had we had the element of surprise, would not be the case.” He spat. “He refused to follow my orders and despite the fact that I and my officers had a battle plan worked out Ozzel has insisted that we follow his even though I am ultimately in charge. This has led us to the current situation where the rebels have the upper hand and were warned of our approach. They will no doubt have an escape plan in place and be willing to sacrifice many lives for this plan. Ozzel was an utter moron and had absolutely no finesse. Admiral Thrawn would not have made such a stupid error, yet despite my requests to have him permanently posted under my command the Emperor insists on wasting that man’s talents in the Unknown Regions.”

“No, I am certain Admiral Thrawn would not have made such an error.” I said agreeing on the first part of his statement but not the last.

“Now I must prepare for a ground assault.” He said angrily.

I paused for a moment then blurted out the message I originally had to deliver. “I have word from Boba Fett. He wishes to meet with you at your earliest convenience.

“Fett? I thought you had already arranged my meeting with him.” Vader asked. “What does he want?”

“Yes. My lord but apparently he was already in the area. I received a comm message moments after we came out of hyperspace. He wished to inform you about Solo’s presence here.”

“I see.” He said carefully. “Well, he will have to wait until this current issue is sorted out. Seeing as how he is a friend of yours, you can inform him that he may wait on board and I will meet with him as soon as I am able to.” He told me nastily. “He may wait in your office and you will see to his needs.”

I nodded. I didn’t argue with his use of the word friend, although it wasn’t a description I would have used in conjunction to my relationship with Boba Fett.

“If he wishes to remain onboard his ship he is free to do so, but the fleet may have to shift quickly and I expect a fire fight now that the rebels know we are here. Remind him that he should stay out of the way.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Lord Vader’s comm peeped and he did not bother to look at it. “We have engaged the enemy. You have work to do, see to it.” He said as he swept out of the room. I returned to my office, contacted Fett and then left terse messages with Prince Xizor’s haughty assistant. When the ship around me rocked I knew the battle had begun.

I stood in my quarters with the lights turned off, gazing out of the windows in astonishment at the fiery battle that blasted its way about the Executor. The ship which had become my home shuddered as something blasted against its shields and I had to resist the temptation to get a hold of Jorae on the comm to find out what was going on. I could see rebel transports fleeing while ion canons on the surface of the icy planet blasted the space around them to try and protect them from the Star Destroyers. I was glad I was not down on that planet and after a while got bored watching the fireworks outside and went to make myself a cup of tea. Some time afterwards Jorae popped into the office. He looked tired.

“Hey, I thought you might want an update.” He said flopping down on the nearest comfy chair.

“Rough watch?” I asked as he rubbed his eyes and yawned.

He nodded. “The whole ship is on battle alert but I have been pulling back to back shifts so I have to go off duty now. Six hours of rest. Did you hear about Ozzel?”

“I got to see the play by play.” I told him. “Vader doesn’t like it when his men mess up.”

Jorae shook his head. “Nope, wouldn’t want to be in Piett’s shoes though. You know what they say about working for Vader, quick promotions, quick deaths.”

“How many sayings along those lines are there for this ship?” I asked.

He grinned. “Who knows? I lost count ages ago.”

“Have you been watching the battle?” he asked as a brilliant flash illuminated the window.

“Yeah. Watching how well Imperial Captains can avoid being struck by cannon fire. It’s like some sort of bizarre dance. Was that Captain Needa’s ship that got clobbered?”

“Oh, you should have heard the comm chatter on that one. The rebs shoot like one armed blind men and we were all like will they hit it, will they hit it and then they did. The Avenger was not destroyed but ended up being disabled and drifted off into to deep space. Hell, I could steer better than that I tell you!” he said making steering motions. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that making a ship as large as an ISD turn to avoid anything was about as easy as breathing in space without a suit on. The ISDs had enormous fire power and amazing defensive capabilities but the steered like fat drunken banthas on spice.

He gave me another grin.

I shrugged. “So who’s winning?”

Jorae snorted. “We are of course! Even with one ISD out of commission. Vader and the Fist are on planet as we speak. I wouldn’t want to be a reb right now I can tell you that for nothing. You should have heard the cheers in the comm room when Veers sent the message that this shield generator was down.” He said accepting the cup of tea I handed him.

“Do we know the losses yet?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Too early to tell.” He replied. “But Blizzard Force is on the ground and the walkers do a lot of damage. I sure wish I could see them in action.”

I sighed and sipped my tea. “No thanks, I am perfectly happy to be up here where it’s nice and warm.”

He laughed. “That’s because you are a sand rat.” He said getting up. “I’ll let you know how things go if there are any major developments.”

I nodded and waved to him as he left, just as my comm went off.

“Miss, you wished to be notified when Boba Fett arrived on board.” Said a bored sounding voice. “He is being escorted to your office as requested.”

“Thank you.” I said but I was already speaking to dead air. I finished my tea and made sure I didn’t look too wretched then went to meet Boba Fett.

The two young men who had been assigned to stand guard outside my office during Fett’s visit stiffened to attention when I approached. I was never sure why they did this since I was not military but it always made me smile and I always said the same thing every single time.

“At ease gentlemen.” I said, they ignored me as I keyed in the pass-code and entered the room.

Boba Fett was seated, well actually it was more like he was lounging on the couch with his feet up on the table and his folded across his chest, his head still covered by the helmet. He didn’t move when I entered but I could feel his eyes follow me closely.

“Master Fett. It is good to see you again and gracious of you to be so accommodating.” When in doubt fall back on formality and being polite.

“I was wondering if you would show up.” He replied and took his feet off the table. “Nice place, you have here.”

“Lord Vader apologises for keeping you waiting, he’s a little busy at the moment. He’s asked me to make sure that your needs were taken care of.” I said. “I work here, it’s my office.”

There was a moment’s silence and then to my surprise he laughed. “Look at you, little lady, all grown up. Last time I saw you, you were running around Jabba’s Palace wearing next to nothing trying to be something you’re not.”

“That was a few years ago.” I said embarrassed, hating the blush that crept into my cheeks.

“So it was.” He agreed. “Your father told me you were doing well and now I see that is the case.” He said. “So how long is this little skirmish of Vader’s going to take?”

“In truth I don’t know.” I said. “I suspect at least several more hours. Lord Vader told me to make sure that you were made comfortable so if there is anything that I can do for you, let me know.”

“Well in that case I suppose I might as well make myself at home then.” He said and he removed his helmet.

I looked at his face for a moment and smiled. He looked older than I remembered and a little tired but he had not changed much at all.

“That’s better isn’t it?” He said with a half grin, rubbing his hand through his hair. “Now, you mentioned something about attending to my needs?”

I nodded.

“I’d like a hot meal and a decent cup of spice coffee, as I recall your father knew how to make a good cup, I expect you do as well.” He said nodding to the counter where my coffee carafe sat.

“That can be arranged. Will there be anything else?”

“Yeah, you can keep me company till the Old Man gets back. I’ve heard some stories about you. I’d like to know if they’re true or not.”