Author's Note: *cackles manically* This is the chapter I have been wanting to write since the beginning. When I first starting plotting this fic, the final scene was the one of the first ones I planned. ;) I have NO REGRETS!
Also, this fic is essentially done being written. There's 41 chapters and an epilogue, and we'll be posting every other week now. :)
The next chapter will be on September 28th. ^-^
~ Amina Gila
The three days following Vos' report are filled with a flurry of preparations and meetings. Meetings with the Council to prepare for the coming battle, meetings with the clones, meetings with General Grievous, who will be leading an attack force of droids. Vader is the primary one overseeing and arranging everything, and it's a little exhausting, if he's being honest, but it'll be worth it when it's all over. Maybe then, he'll feel comfortable enough to undergo the full body treatments that Anakin talked to him about so long ago. Maybe then he'll feel like he's done enough for the galaxy so he can relax and let down his guard a little.
It's hard to constantly be on alert, expecting attacks from any and all sides – except from his family, of course. They're the only ones he can trust, the only ones he needs to trust, but still, the constant vigilance is draining.
He hardly has time to spend with anyone, just being, in the three rotations before the meeting on Nal Hutta. He talks to Omega, though, explains the situation to her and to Clone Force 99, sending them, Echo, and Fives to Naboo with Padme where they'll hopefully be safe. He talks to Ahsoka, tries to convince her not to come, but she's insistent, and he caves. Better to bring her than to leave her out and have her sneak along. He talks to Rex, to Cody, to Fox, arranging security on Coruscant for while he's gone, planning their attack.
Scouts, both clones and droids, report back from Nal Hutta with more intel, confirming Vos' report of the meeting and getting surveillance of the area so they can plan their attack properly. The one aspect that Vader dislikes most, aside from the inevitable trap that he and Anakin – and Ahsoka – will be walking into, is that Obi-Wan is one of the Jedi who was selected by the Council to go, and that means working with him, planning with him.
Vader has so many mixed feelings about him, and he... doesn't really want to be around him, but for Anakin's sake, for the galaxy's sake, he can endure it. Obi-Wan isn't openly hostile, and nor are the other Jedi who are part of the strike team, but they're not exactly friendly either. There's a sort of unspoken agreement that Maul is a threat and one they need to neutralize together. That means working together. Of course, that would be far easier if Vader wasn't so certain that the Jedi are secretly planning to stab him in the back while they're there.
Oh, they can try.
He wasn't a Jedi killer for nothing in the once future. He fought his way through the Temple and survived. He's killed more Jedi than he even can count. If they cause a problem, or threaten him or his family, they will face the consequences. He has warned them repeatedly, and if they choose not to heed his warnings, well, he cannot make choices for them. They know what the consequences will be.
It is time for him to show the galaxy once and for all that Darth Vader does not play games or take kindly to people who threaten his family or his Empire.
It will be a lesson not quickly forgotten.
***
En route to Nal Hutta, after rendezvousing with General Grievous and the rest of his droid forces, is the first time Anakin meets the former Separatist General. He's on the bridge, and Anakin goes to join him, not because he especially wants to interact with him, but because he's trying to hide from Obi-Wan. All this time, he's mostly evaded interacting with him, which is something he feels a little bad about, because it means Vader's been facing him alone, but he just really, really does not want to talk to Obi-Wan. It's too awkward and painful, especially knowing that Obi-Wan might well be plotting to kill Vader after they arrive.
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Gates of Hell
أدب الهواةAppearing on Mortis from seven years after his Fall, Darth Vader has a chance to change the universe forever. First, he'll enlist the invaluable help of Anakin before setting out on a journey to conquer the galaxy and make it theirs. The Sith will f...
