Star Wars_ Rebel Force 05_ Trapped - Alex Wheeler [46]
"You may be right," Luke admitted.
"Always am," Han pointed out. "Don't see why now should be any different."
Han had a point. So when Leia and Ferus joined them in the galley for food and drink, Luke joined into the festivities. When C-3PO and R2-D2 started bickering and Chewbacca threatened to rip their gears out if they didn't quiet down, Luke laughed along with everyone else. But his smile was strained.
Somewhere out there in the dark, something was waiting.
Waiting for me, Luke thought, uneasy.
Coming for me.
When he turned back to the group, Ferus was watching him, as usual. Something about the older man's expression convinced him: Ferus felt it, too.
But Han was right, there was nothing to be done about it…now. Luke tried his best to shake off the dark cloud. Whatever came next, he would face it. They would face it, together. And in the meantime, he had his friends, he had his moment of triumph—and peace.
So maybe he would do exactly as Han said.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
Darth Vader swept down the hallway, his cape flowing behind him. Stormtroopers lined the corridor, shrinking away as he passed. The stench of fear oozed out of them, and Vader breathed it in greedily. Their terror made him stronger, gave power to the dark Force within him. Another day, he might have paused to toy with them. Strike one down and watch the rest scatter like fearful sand skitters. But this was not the time for games.
A man had dared to defy him; that man would be destroyed.
He threw open the doors of Soresh's chamber. But there was no one there but a young lieutenant, rifling through the sheets of flimsiplast strewn across the desk. "Where is he?"
Vader said, anger percolating deep within.
The man trembled. "He…h-he…We don't know, my lord," he stammered. "He was here, but now…"
"You were ordered to hold him for my arrival," Vader said.
"We stationed guards, but…" The man shook his head. His face was drained of color.
He was young, little more than a boy. This was probably his first assignment.
"But he is gone! " Vader roared; and let the anger overtake him. The boy's eyes bulged.
His face flushed red. His hands crept to his neck. His mouth fell open, his tongue hanging out like that of a hungry massiff.
Vader boiled. Defied, by a coward like Rezi Soresh. Because of the sheer incompetence of those who served him. It was an insult, an offense. It could not be allowed. He let the dark side flow through him, let its shadow fill the room with its enormous power. He nurtured the anger, feeding it, feeling it swell within him.
The boy gasped. One last breath.
And then he dropped to the ground, eyes open, chest still.
The rage quieted. Vader was satisfied. For the moment.
But Soresh was still out there, willfully defying him, and perhaps still pursuing the Rebel Luke Skywalker, even though it had been expressly forbidden. Vader would find him, stop him.
But first Vader would punish him.
He spread his consciousness out into the corners of the room, letting it merge with the Force, exploring this pathetic world with its prying tendrils, searching for some hint to where Soresh might have gone. But it wasn't Soresh that he sensed. It was something else—something familiar. He had felt it several times these last few months, but always faintly. He hadn't been sure. But now he was.
The past tickled at the edges of his mind. He had felt this presence before, long ago.
Then he had been weak, still afraid to face what he had become. Still imprisoned by the memories of Anakin Skywalker.
No more. The past held no danger for him,