Even while inspecting his nearly completed flagship, the Super Star Destroyer Executor, at the Starship Yards of Fondor, Vader could not get Luke Skywalker out of his mind. He silently chewed on the name, and considered the fact that the boy had been born three years after the death of Shmi Skywalker. To the best of his knowledge, Anakin Skywalker had been his mother"s only living blood relative.
Could there have been other Skywalkers from Tatooine? Vader allowed the possibility. After all, it wasn"t an entirely uncommon name in the galaxy.
But Anakin and Padme Amidala had been expecting a baby nineteen years ago.
Nineteen standard years.
It"s not possible, Vader thought. I killed Padme. The baby died with her.
Not for the first time, he wondered if the Emperor had told him the whole truth about Padme"s death. But I remember choking her. . . seeing her collapse on Mustafar. I was so angry with her. And yet. . .
Luke Skywalker exists.
Vader refused to believe that the notorious Rebel"s surname was merely a bizarre coincidence. If he had possessed any other name, Vader would not have hesitated to report what he had learned to the Emperor. But for purely selfish reasons, Vader kept the Rebel"s name to himself. To him, Luke Skywalker was more than a mystery to be solved.
He is. . . an opportunity. As strong with the Force as he may be, he is an opportunity... an opportunity for even greater power.
But who is he? Who were his parents? Could he have been Obi-Wan"s son? But then why was he named Skywalker and raised by the Lars family? Or was he merely trained by Obi-Wan?
Because Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi, Shmi Skywalker, Owen and Beru Lars, and Padme Amidala were dead, there was only one way Vader could discover the truth. He would have to ask Luke Skywalker himself. All he had to do was find him.
After enlisting an actor to impersonate Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi, Vader tailored a new trap specifically for Luke on the desert world of Aridus. Unfortunately, Luke saw through the ruse and escaped. Vader was even more frustrated by the actions of his top officer, the ultimately incompetent Admiral Griff, who allowed the Rebel Alliance to evade the Imperial blockade at Yavin 4 and evacuate to a new secret base.
Vader was not idle as he searched and waited for any information that would lead him to Luke Skywalker and his allies. He brought Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi"s lightsaber back to Bast Castle, where he also studied an ancient Sith Holocron he had acquired. He oversaw various secret projects, including the development of mind-altering Pacifog on Kadril, the construction of robotic Imperial Dark Troopers, and preparation for a new superweapon in the Endor system. He a.s.signed a Force-sensitive Imperial Intelligence agent named Shira Brie to infiltrate the Rebel Alliance, but her mission to discredit Luke Skywalker was a failure and left her horribly injured. Because Vader still considered Brie valuable, he ordered Imperial medics to replace her shattered limbs with cyborg prosthetics, and offered her to Palpatine to serve as an elite secret operative.
Luke Skywalker was not idle either. As word of his actions spread, many Imperials became familiar with the name of the young pilot who was a leading figure in the Rebel Alliance.
Two years after the destruction of the Death Star, an Imperial governor notified Vader that persons matching the descriptions of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa had been captured on Circarpous V, a swamp planet known locally as Mimban. Vader was aware of the Mimban legend about the Kaiburr Crystal, a luminous crimson-colored gem that magnified the Force a thousandfold, and hoped to collect this relic along with the captive Rebels.
By the time Vader arrived on Mimban, Skywalker and the Princess had escaped and fled into the jungle. After a close encounter in a cavern, he finally caught up with them at the vine-encrusted Temple of Pomojema, a pyramidal ziggurat constructed of great blocks of volcanic stone for an ancient Mimban deity, which contained the Kaiburr Crystal. Using the Force, Vader dropped a stone ceiling on Luke Skywalker, pinning him to the temple floor, while Leia Organa watched helplessly.
"You have a great deal to atone for to me," Vader told Skywalker, who, like the Princess, was attired in the dark work uniform worn by local miners. Activating his lightsaber, Vader began swinging its red blade back and forth, chopping playfully at bits of stone from the surrounding walls. "I probably won"t have the patience to let you last as long as you deserve," he continued. "You may consider yourself lucky."
Turning his attention to the Princess, Vader said, "I expect no such difficulty in restraining myself where you are concerned, Leia Organa. In several ways, you are responsible for my setbacks much more than this simple boy."
Simple boy? Vader was surprised by the words that had come from his own mouth. Even though he knew there was more to Skywalker than met the eye, and had only intended on apprehending the Rebels, he was suddenly overcome by the desire to kill them. He realized he was losing his self-control.
The Princess picked up Luke"s lightsaber and activated its blue blade. As she moved toward Vader, he abruptly let his arm fall, letting the beam of his own weapon hang limply at his side.
"Leia, don"t!" Luke yelled. "It"s a feint... he"s daring you. Kill me, then yourself. . . it"s hopeless now."
Gazing at the Princess with contempt, Vader said to her, "Go on, let him fight for you if you want. But I won"t let you kill him." Thinking of how Luke had escaped his clutches before, he added, "I"ve been robbed too often."
The Princess fought bravely, but she was no match for Vader. She used the last of her strength to throw the lightsaber to Sky walker, just as he emerged from under the rabble. Facing the Sith Lord, Skywalker said, "Ben Ken.o.bi is with me, Vader, and the Force is with me too."
The duel was furious, and carried Vader and Skywalker through the temple to a chamber where there was a dark circular opening in the floor, the mouth of a deep pit. As the battle wore on, Vader found himself breathing hard through his respirator. But then, thanks to his proximity to the Force-enhancing Kaiburr Crystal, he felt a sudden surge of the power of the dark side, allowing him to project lightning from his fingertips for the first time in his life. He hurled Force-energized lightning at Skywalker, but his young opponent deflected the blast.
"Not... possible!" Vader muttered, feeling his energy drain. "Such power ... in a child. Not possible!"
As Skywalker threw himself at the towering black figure, Vader raised his lightsaber to defend himself. But he wasn"t fast enough. Sky walker"s blade cut through the Sith Lord"s prosthetic right arm, and it fell to the floor, still clutching the red-bladed lightsaber.
Dazed, Vader bent and used his left hand to pry his weapon from the gloved fingers of his severed arm. He was shifting his weight to make another attack when he suddenly had a clear view of the lightsaber in Skywalker"s grip. The weapon"s design and handgrip looked ... familiar.
Vader"s head suddenly felt heavy, and as he tried to move forward, he stumbled over his severed limb. The robotic arm tumbled after him as he plummeted into the nearby pit.
He howled as he descended into the darkness, and it seemed like his fall would never end. Throughout the fall, he thought of Skywalker"s lightsaber. Vader would have sworn it was the same weapon that Obi-Wan had taken from Anakin Skywalker on Mustafar. He didn"t stop howling with rage until he crashed in a heap upon a pile of hard stones.
It was over an hour before Vader regained consciousness at the bottom of the pit below the Temple of Pomojema. He tasted blood inside his helmet and silently cursed himself.
He realized what had happened in the temple. The Kaiburr Crystal had increased his Force powers, but not to his advantage. It had amplified his hatred and anger, causing him to abandon his desire to capture Skywalker and find out more about his ident.i.ty. Now he sensed that the Kaiburr Crystal was no longer in the temple, that it had left Mimban.
Along with Skywalker and the Princess.
Vader gathered up his arm and lightsaber, and made his way out of the cavern, where he summoned an Imperial shuttle to deliver him to the nearest medical center. Even as his right arm was replaced, he did not consider his battle on Mimban a loss, for now he knew that Skywalker was more than an opportunity for greater power: He was the solution to his greatest obstacle.
He"s the one person who can help me overthrow the Emperor.
Vader had never discussed Luke Skywalker with the Emperor, but he did not rule out the possibility that his Master had learned the name of the Rebel pilot who had destroyed the Death Star. It was only a matter of time before the Emperor broached the subject.
Even though Vader had yet to discover any significant information about Sky walker"s heritage, he did sense there was a strong connection between them, and not only because they had both been trained by Obi-Wan. But Vader didn"t want simply more information. He wanted Skywalker, wanted him immediately, and wanted him alive.
It was therefore inevitable that the Dark Lord would meet with Boba Fett.
CHAPTER 18.
Wearing the helmet and armor he"d inherited from his father, Boba Fett stood before Darth Vader in a s.p.a.ceport reception room on Ord Mantell, a Mid Rim planet that had once been an ordinance depot for the Old Republic. The room had a wide window that overlooked the landing pad where Vader"s Lambda-cla.s.s shuttle was taking on supplies. Vader"s own armor and inner workings had been fully repaired, leaving no evidence of his duel on Mimban.
"You seek certain Rebels, Lord Vader," Fett rasped through his helmet"s vocabulator. "So does my employer, Jabba the Hutt. Possibly in satisfying him, I can satisfy you also."
"And collect two rewards instead of just one, bounty hunter?" said Vader, not missing a trick. "A particular Rebel interests me ... Luke Skywalker."
Boba Fett gave a slight nod, tilting his helmet forward.
"A companion of the man I"m after ... Han Solo. One might lure the other, Lord Vader."
By now, Vader was familiar with the name of the captain of the Millennium Falcon, the ship that had fired upon his TIE fighter at the Death Star battle. He was not interested in why Jabba the Hutt wanted Han Solo, but behind his black mask, he felt a grin twitch across his lips as he considered using Solo as bait for Skywalker. "You are enterprising, Fett," he said as he turned for a lift tube that led down to the landing pad. "Perhaps we will meet again when your enterprise bears fruit."
Leaving Fett on Ord Mantell, Vader returned to the Executor. Although he would be pleased if the bounty hunter"s plan worked, he was unwilling to wait for information leading to the location of the new base for the Rebel Alliance. Finding Luke Skywalker had become more than a goal for Darth Vader. It had become his purpose.
Already, thousands of sensor-laden Imperial probe droids had been dispersed to remote worlds throughout the galaxy, and thousands more would be deployed within the coming weeks. Sooner or later, one of those probe droids would turn up something useful.
Three standard years had pa.s.sed since the Death Star"s destruction when Vader, standing on the bridge of the Executor, learned that a probe droid had transmitted images of a large power generator on an ice planet in the distant Hoth system. "That"s it," Vader said. "The Rebels are there." He refused to listen to his pompous chief officer, Admiral Ozzel, who suggested the probe droid could have turned up anything other than the Rebel base. "That is the system," he insisted. "Set your course for the Hoth system."
Unfortunately, the Rebels had already begun an emergency evacuation of their base, while Darth Vader"s armada raced to their destination via hypers.p.a.ce. Even worse, Admiral Ozzel allowed the Executor to exit hypers.p.a.ce too close to the Hoth system, triggering sensors that alerted the Rebels to the armada"s arrival and allowed them to raise a planetary energy field to deflect any aerial bombardment. After relieving Ozzel of his life and promoting the more capable Captain Piett to the rank of Admiral, Vader gave the command to send Imperial troops down to the ice world"s surface.
He"s down there, Vader thought with absolute certainty. Skywalker is down there.
To their credit, the Rebels did not surrender on the spot. Their laser-firing snowspeeders swarmed the towering Imperial All Terrain Armored Transports that lumbered over the ice and snow, and their planetary ion cannon managed to disable the orbiting Imperial starships long enough for most of their fleet to escape into s.p.a.ce. But in the end, they were unable to prevent the AT-ATs from destroying their power generators, and wave after wave of superior Imperial firepower ensured that the Rebels could never win the day.
It was hardly a victory for Vader, who landed on Hoth while the battle was still raging. The last of the Rebels were still fleeing from their vanquished base when he entered a cavernous, ice-walled hangar with a squad of snowtroopers, just in time to see the Millennium Falcon launching at high speed. Vader did not know whether Luke Sky walker had boarded Han Solo"s freighter, but quickly sensed that Skywalker was still alive.
He had not forgotten Boba Fett"s plan.
Turning to a snowtrooper, Vader said, "Alert Admiral Piett and all Star Destroyers that the Millennium Falcon is attempting to leave Hoth. Our primary objective is the capture of that freighter. The pa.s.sengers are not to be harmed!"
Vader returned to the Executor and was seated in his meditation chamber when Admiral Piett entered his sanctum. As the robotic clamp lowered his helmet over his scarred head, Vader sensed Piett"s discomfort at the sight of the Sith Lord"s wounds. When the helmet was in place, Vader"s seat rotated within the chamber until he faced Piett, who reported, "Our ships have sighted the Millennium Falcon, Lord. But... it has entered an asteroid field, and we cannot risk..."
"Asteroids do not concern me, Admiral," Vader interrupted. "I want that ship, not excuses."
Knowing better than to disagree with Vader, Piett said, "Yes, Lord."
The upper hemisphere of the meditation chamber descended over Vader. Hoping to gain some insight into events to come, he breathed slowly as he cleared his mind of all thoughts, opening himself to the dark side of the Force ...
Skywalker.
He heard the name in his mind, as if the Force itself had whispered it to him. But is it the Force, Vader wondered, or am I too preoccupied with finding - Suddenly, Vader sensed a disturbance in the Force. And not just a subtle fluctuation. Something major was about to happen, something incredibly significant. .. Something that will change everything.
Asteroids were pummeling the Imperial fleet as Vader continued the search for the Millennium Falcon. Vader was on the bridge of the Executor when a very nervous Admiral Piett reported that the Emperor had commanded Vader to contact him.
Proceeding to his personal quarters, Vader stepped down to a circular black panel on the floor below his meditation chamber. The panel was a HoloNet scanner that allowed him to transmit communications across the galaxy. As he dropped to his left knee and bowed hi helmeted head, the panel"s outer ring became illurni nated in a pale blue light. Vader slowly lifted his gaze to the empty air before him, and the emptiness was instantly rilled by a large, flickering hologram of Emperor Palpatine"s cloaked head.
"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, 7 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 a.s.set. 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 Sky walker"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"?, bridge. Mere seconds after Vader addressed the a.s.sembled 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 s.p.a.ce 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 19.
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 s.p.a.ce. "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.