Chapter 54

The galaxy was a tense tinderbox, but that made the quiet stretches of false-peace all the more concerning.

But the galaxy was only quiet when one looked away from the places they knew were rarely if ever peaceful.

Aurra Sing grimaced as she hid behind a rock, holding a deactivated lightsaber as she listened and waited for her foe. She could hardly be surprised by the situation, fighting for her life on some backwater, probably unnamed planet in the outer rim.

She just wished this foe was a little weaker. Because she was certain several of her bones were fractured, and that wasn't from the crash landing.

She quieted her presence in the Force and pressed herself closer to the rock as she heard footsteps coming closer to her location. It was all about patience and timing. A surprise attack in battle was no different from an assassination. It was all a matter of waiting for the right moment and knowing when you were discovered.

The footsteps stopped. Closer, very close. Close enough to see her enemy's shadow. Close enough that, if Sing were careless, one of her limbs might have been spotted.

One mistake could mean death.

The foe turned and started to walk away.

Sing struck like a viper. She leaped out of her hiding spot, towards her foe. Her lightsabers didn't ignite until she was almost upon her prey.

Unphased and unconcerned, the hooded figure casually turned and dodged, grabbing Sing by the wrist. She flung Sing to the side and, as she did, delivered a powerful fist strike to the side of Sing's abdomen.

The Jedi hunter winced, feeling blood creeping out of her mouth now as she managed to land in a crouch.

"Don't get up. I'm running out of non-vital places to attack," her foe instructed coolly.

"Teras Kasi. It's been a long time since I had to kill someone who knew that technique," Sing remarked, smirking despite her internal bleeding.

"If you killed them, they weren't very good," came the dismissive retort, flexing her bare and empty hands. "Lord Vader only has one question. Why try to sell us out to the Black Sun?"

"You have to ask?" Sing asked in amusement. "The Vigos offered a lot of money to know Vader's hiding hole. He's been cutting into operations and investments."

"Simple greed it is," she remarked. "Well, no matter. I'm sure that one of the Vigo is now intimately aware of Lord Vader's location."

Sing scowled. "Just who the hell are you anyway? I've never seen you around."

"You're assuming Lord Vader ever trusted you to begin with," her foe warned with a smirk on her face. "He just thought you'd last long enough for the war to begin."

Sing snarled, leaping to attack once more.

A single blaster bolt rang out, and Sing dropped to the dirt in a heap.

"Perfect shot, Fett," the martial artist remarked into a communicator, looking to the small rock outcropping where Jango Fett could barely be seen.

"She might not survive that stunner, not after the damage you did, Palawa," Jango warned grimly.

"I'll take responsibility if Vader shows his ire," Palawa said as she approached the still body of Aurra Sing. "Any word from them?"

"I imagine they're still busy."

Meanwhile

Blaster fire roared all through the room as Vader effortlessly deflected, blocked, or moved just out of the way of every shot. His saber sliced through one enemy before using the Force to tear the weapons from the hands of several more enemies.

It was tempting to end this all the easy way, just break the windows of the command deck, and let them all go into space. Vader could get back into a pressurized area easily before his suit ran out of oxygen.

But this wasn't about killing everyone here. No, this was about sending a message.

Soon, it was only three left, two guards and the Vigo.

Ertern, a devaronian male and one of the Nine Vigos of the Black Sun, looked desperately between his last two guards. "Don't just stand there, do something!"

"Sure things," the one on his right said, terrified, before turning his gun on the stunned Ertern.

That was, until, the guard was pulled into the air, held by his throat by something unseen. His weapon fell to the floor as he desperately tried to free himself.

With the barest movement of his wrist, Vader snapped the neck and let the body hang limp for a few seconds before dropping it.

"Yeah...no thank you," the female guard said as she calmly, numbly turned her blaster against her own head and proceeded to pull the trigger.

Ertern could only stare in horror and disbelief as he was left all alone with a meager blaster pistol in hand.

"You bartered to know my whereabouts, Vigo Ertern," Vader said, calmly walking forward, his blade humming ominously as it was pointed down. "Here I am."

"It's...it's not too late, Vader! We can still cut a deal here." Ertern tried to negotiate. "After all, I can easily replace these lowlifes! And you wouldn't want the entire Black Sun as your enemy, right!?"

Vader stopped right in front of him and let the silence answer for him.

"Come on, what do you want? Planets? Weapons? Money?" he said before seeming to look at Vader all at once, up and down. "Maybe a few girls that wouldn't care what you look like under that? Beautiful, docile things that'll do anything you want."

Vader tapped the hilt of his saber in consideration. "Anything, you say?"

Ertern smirked a bit. "I knew you had a price, Vader. And I can't blame you. Stars know I have sampled my own product before. In fact, I have some here for you. Assuming your men didn't kill them, of course."

"Show me to them, and I will spare your life," Vader ordered.

Ertern chuckled. "Of course, of course. Follow me. I keep them somewhere special."

Vader remained silent and allowed the Underboss to lead him out of the command deck. Two Stormtroopers were outside, waiting for them. "Lord Vader!" they greeted, only barely acknowledging the horned humanoid.

Ertern decided to just enjoy being alive as Vader addressed the soldiers. "Everyone inside is dead. Is the rest of the ship secured?"

"Yes, Sir! All enemies are killed," one of them answered before moving awkwardly. "There is another matter though, some...cargo we don't know how to deal with, Sir."

Ertern smirked. "Your Lord and I are going to "deal" with that right now."

"The Vigo is correct. Let the others know of our coming," Vader confirmed. "Check the deck for survivors after."

"Yes, Lord Vader!" the troopers both saluted as the Vigo and Sith left. Both troopers silently shared a look, having a vague idea of where this was going.

Ertern grew increasingly uneasy as he walked through the halls of his own ship, now bearing all the markers of a battlefield. Complete with corpses. But even without Vader's breathing in his ear, it was rather concerning how few of the corpses were of Vader's troops.

They reached a section of the ship where a half dozen Stormtroopers had gathered around a door. Or rather, a room that was blocked off by a ray shield being used like a door.

"I'm sure your soldiers would appreciate you giving them a few as well," Ertern said, trying to sweeten the deal.

"Captain, lower the shield," Vader ordered bluntly.

The captain silently obeyed, pressing a button on the console next to the shield door, deactivating it.

With more confidence than he should have, Ertern entered the room and led Vader within.

It was paradise or hell, depending on individual taste. The room was pristine with only tables for massages. But along the sides were items of discipline and torture, along with restraints built into the walls.

At the far end of the room were a series of cages. They were all open, devoid of any type of door or restraint. The occupants were all women, mostly Twi'leks, kneeling in scantily clad outfits that showed off all of their sensual appeal. Their heads were bowed, eyes closed and waiting. On their necks were collars that glowed gently with electric lights.

"Chop-chop, ladies!" Ertern called out in a condescending tone. All at once, their collars stopped glowing, their eyes opened, and they all gracefully stepped out of their cages, walking sensually forward in a line. They were obviously trained to present themselves by the way they moved and held themselves. "Lanula, come here," A blue Twi'lek, darker than most, stepped forward with a practiced smile.

"Yes, Master Ertern?"

"Just Lord Ertern now. This man has made a rather...generous deal with me. His name is Vader and you all belong to him from now on," Ertern explained, almost cheery from relief.

"All of us?" Lanula repeated softly, somewhat surprised by such a large exchange. Regardless, she bowed her head to Vader. "Very well. We are honored to serve you, Master Vader. I hope you will find us without-"

"Do fic gue uru ilkao toe vahs bo dan,"(I have only one order for all of you) Vader said bluntly, his voice raised to reach all of them.

"You speak Twi'lek?" Ertern said in surprise. "I suppose that's a good thing to know sometimes. I'm more worried about my Huttesse really."

No less was the surprise of the slaves…surprise, and worry. Having a master who knew their native language made them all the more unable to hide anything from him.

Vader ignored their worries and Ertern's rambling. "Nie vei avo dan ani bo jeo."(Do whatever you desire with him.)

All of the slaves suddenly looked to Ertern with uncertainty. "What? What did you say to them?" Ertern asked as Vader turned to him. "Vader-?"

Vader ignited his lightsaber and, faster than anyone could even think, he had cut off the hands and feet of Ertern, leaving him on all fours like a dumbfounded beast.

"My...my hands! My feet?! What did...why did you do that!?" Ertern screamed, getting on his knees to scream at Vader who stepped towards the exit. "Vader! We had a deal, you bastard!"

"I said I would spare you," Vader said flatly. "And I will not take your life."

Ertern stopped as several shadows came over him. He slowly looked up in terror as the slaves stood over him with disturbed eyes and smiles.

"But they are free to take it themselves," Vader finished, ignoring Ertern starting to scream and beg as the slaves began to surround and torture him. "Captain Billik."

"Lord Vader," the female Stormtrooper answered with a frosty tone, ignoring the calls of agony from the room.

"There are several of them cowering and not wanting to take part in this," Vader informed. "Take them away from here."

"Yes, Lord Vader," Billik responded, moving in alone and giving the "event" a respectful distance as she circled around to the others.

Vader said nothing, about to leave the room himself when something tugged at his cape.

He turned and saw it was a Twi'lek; A rare, pure white one. Made rarer by the fact she had four lekku. She appeared to be in pain but had no injury Vader could see or detect.

"What is it?" he asked evenly.

"Thank you," she forced out with genuine, tired gratitude. "You're finally here."

Vader considered her silently and carefully.

"I dreamed of a dark warrior that would come and free us for five years now. I was beginning to think you weren't real," she said, smiling through the pain as she gently held the end of his cloak. "Thank you, Master."

Vader stood a bit straighter, the air chilling around him. "You are not my slave, Twi'lek."

She only smiled at him, paying no mind to the cold nipping at her fingers. "I want to be your dihir, not your kn'ic."

Vader remained silent for a moment before looking to the side.

Captain Billik stood there with an air of uncertainty. "I...escorted the others, My Lord. What about her?"

The white Twi'lek winced at something unknown. "I don't want to stay for this. May I go, Master?"

"You may," Vader said, accepting this with some minor reluctance.

Billik watched as she left before turning to Vader. "We only had four casualties, Lord Vader. More, maybe. Last I checked, there were thirty-one injuries, seven critical."

"Good, Captain. I trust that our dead and injured have already been retrieved?" Vader asked expectantly.

"Yes, Sir," Billik answered before looking back to the rest of the slaves who were still either torturing Ertern or, just as likely, mutilating his corpse. "How long should we let them...?"

"If they do not stop within thirty minutes, warn them we will leave without them if they continue," Vader explained before turning to leave the room.

"Vader."

Waiting for him was Boba Fett, one of his armors covered in blood. "Issues?" Vader questioned

"Just a bit too close to someone I blew up," Boba answered casually, glancing in at the horror show going on within the room and then at the gathered women, who were confused but relieved. "I can already guess what's going on. My father sent word. Your "Steel Hand" is taking in Aurra Sing."

There was some bitterness about the situation from Boba, but not enough for Vader to be concerned about. Not yet at any rate. "Good. The Black Sun will be wary of us after this."

"For now. Eventually, they'll try something," Boba said knowingly.

"I expect they will," Vader agreed. Still, he senses some restlessness with Fett. "You may depart if you wish, Fett. There is nothing more for you here."

Boba nodded. "I'll give my father your regards."

With that, he turned to leave. But before he did, Vader looked back into the room one last time and saw the women were losing steam, some of them stopping altogether and just crying to themselves.

"...Sir, may I ask what Dihir means?" Billik asked carefully.

"The Twi'lek word for a willing servant, one dedicating their life to another."

Meanwhile

"It has been some time since we last met, Padawan Kenobi."

He chuckled. "It's Knight now. Padme, was it?" he asked.

Padme, devoid of her regal attire and posing as a handmaiden once more, nodded politely. "I suppose I should be honored you remember me."

"Trust me, there is very little I forget about the first days Darth Vader walked into our lives," Kenobi said as they walked the palace. He stopped, looking at a painting. "Speaking of which..."

The art depicted the day Naboo was taken back from the Trader Federation; more exactly, when Vader escorted the Queen directly up to the palace doors, guarding her from a hail of blaster fire with his lightsaber. The angle made Vader seem even bigger than he really was, with the queen well protected behind him, unafraid of him and undoubting of his ability to protect her.

"I'm sure the Jedi Order wouldn't be too happy with Naboo having Vader as a popular subject of artwork," Padme remarked.

"Depends on who you ask," Obi-Wan remarked. "Doesn't quite capture him though, does it?"

"No, but when he's not physically there? When you can't see him? It's hard not to think of him in a mythical way," Padme agreed fondly.

Obi-Wan nodded absently. "I'm not here on business for the Order, or the Senate."

Padme looked and gave him his silent attention.

"Have you heard of the Liberation Lane?" Obi-Wan asked curiously.

"Officially, it's known as a group that harasses people and businesses in the mid-rim. Sabotaging, stealing," Padme remarked coolly. "I imagine it cost their enemies a decent amount of credits to cover up that it's really a group of people trying to free and ferry slaves to freedom, especially those in Hutt Space."

"I hope it cost them a lot of credits. The alternative of it being cheap would be more depressing," Obi-Wan pointed with a smile. "I, among other nameless souls, am working as...a middleman of sorts."

Padme raised an eyebrow. "You help screen people for the Liberation Lane. You check to see if they can be trusted to help."

Obi-Wan smiled.

"You're rather open about such a secret," Padme mused.

"Just with you. And those particularly weak-minded, I can just make them forget my face and name," Obi-Wan admitted.

"I'm almost insulted," Padme answered evenly.

"Please don't be. I'm only open to this because of your history and your people. Even if you can't help, I don't foresee you as the type who would work against freeing slaves," Obi-Wan assured.

Padme finally smiled as well. "I can't argue with that. Now are you asking if "I" can help, or the queen?"

"The Queen, mainly," he answered curiously. "Why? Forgive me, but I don't know much about your standing beyond being a handmaiden."

Padme almost giggled, almost. "I have resources of my own, be assured. I will pass it along to the Queen. If she declines, I will consider it myself."

"Wonderful. I'll be back in a week for your response. I'd use a communicator, but..."

"Secrecy at all costs, I understand," Padme accepted.

Obi-Wan turned to leave before stopping in consideration. "I won't ask if Darth Vader comes here, at all. But may I ask if anyone has come looking for him here in the past five years?"

"Besides the handful of Jedi after everything was over?" Padme asked thoughtfully. "Some. People looking to make deals with him, hire him. A few wanted to learn from him. More than one came here hoping to do a story on him."

All of which was to be expected. Vader was a galactic name these days. It was only natural for people looking for him to come to Naboo.

"There were a few other Jedi. Some woman with silver hair. She seemed particularly displeased with a small statue some child artists made of Vader," Padme recalled. "That was years ago."

Obi-Wan nodded, knowing the Dark Woman had to have come here at least once. "Just thought I'd ask. Every now and again, someone comes looking for me because of Vader. I'm happy to see that your planet has recovered, by the way."

"Thank you. It's been a long road," Padme said with a slightly tighter smile.

It went unsaid how little help the Republic had actually been.

"May the Force be with you, Padme," Obi-Wan said with a nod of farewell.

"And you as well, Obi-Wan Kenobi," Padme said with a more genuine smile. "Give my regards to Master Jinn and Anakin."

Meanwhile

"Lord Vader, there is something you should see."

Vader knew there would be a complication. He just thought it would come from the slave girls. Yet he was led deeper into the bowels of the ship and began to sense a faint feeling of not only a life form but of one strong in the Force.

"I thought Fett already cleared this area of anything suspicious," Vader said pointedly as they reached a door that appeared to be welded shut.

"Take a look, Sir," one of the troopers said, holding up a clunky device, designed to scan for lifeforms through walls. The soldier carefully scanned the wall next to the door, but nothing showed. "This room is coated with something that obscures most scanning devices."

"And they made it tricky to open the lock, we practically had to break it open," another said, holding the door open. It wasn't designed to open like a primitive door on hinges, but it had been made to function as such.

Vader narrowed his eyes as he went to the door. It wasn't unusual for slavers to have a hidden room like this to hide their "merchandise," but there was something off here. Ertern was not worried about hiding his slaves, that room was practically a display room of depravity. So, if not slaves, what and who would an Underboss of the Black Sun want to hide away here?

He looked in the door and it all made sense. "Of course," he murmured, walking over to the bloody, ragged figure that was chained to the walls; a male Anx, a humanoid reptile with an extremely tall crest upon the head and a short chunky tail. But despite the bruises and dried blood, the filth and grime, there was no mistaking that cloak and attire. "Jedi."

The Anx roused, looking at him with exhausted and barely conscious eyes. "Who's there...?"

"You can't tell?" Vader asked as he stepped inside.

Suddenly, he paused and understood. Amidst all the battle and death he had caused, he hadn't noticed that this room had its own dark echoes of suffering and agony. Cries and screams of the long dead echoed through the Force here, suffering agonies most beings couldn't imagine. In here, drugged and tormented himself, a Jedi wouldn't sense a Sith Lord or any amount of death happening beyond this room.

Vader reached out with the Force and broke the restraints, the Jedi falling to the ground with a coughing fit. Vader approached, looking down at the man in consideration. "Why are you here, Jedi?"

The voice suddenly registered properly, causing the man to look up. "Darth Vader?" he realized in disbelief. "Don't tell me...you took over the Black Sun?"

"Hardly," Vader answered. "Answer me, Jedi, and I might consider not leaving you to a slow death."

The Jedi didn't seem to hear the question still. "Wait, you...did you kill everyone? They're all dead?"

There was worry, almost fear in his voice, and Vader saw it easily. "The slaves. Your Padawan is among them," Vader realized as the Jedi looked relieved.

"She's alive. Good, good," he said with a smile. "We were...trying to help free them. But we got attacked by a Bounty Hunter. Aurra Sing. She gave us to Ertern. He..."

"He used you to control your Padawan," Vader deduced. "He punished you to harm her worse than any pain could."

The Jedi nodded slowly. "I should probably be worried. About you, her. The Dark Side. But by the Force, I can't right now. I'm just glad she's alive. You...won't kill her, right?"

"Nor will anyone under my command. She will live, Jedi," he assured before pausing. "Your name, Jedi?"

"Jedi Knight, J'Mikel," he answered with a chuckle. "I go to the Force content with this if I die."

Vader considered it well. He had avoided personally killing Jedi for these five years, even when he could say the Jedi attacked him first. He left many for dead, but he avoided killing any that could be tied back to him. Because if the war between the Sith and the Jedi began again, it would be on his terms, not theirs.

He had left some Jedi to die horrible deaths, pushed them in the right direction to meet their end, and even sent others in their direction. But he had also saved and helped several Jedi at times when their interests aligned.

And every now and again, he came across a situation where he wasn't sure if he wanted a Jedi to survive or perish in a given situation.