Accismus⋆౨ৎ˚⟡.• Anakin Skywalker⋆౨ৎ˚⟡.•

90.

Darth Vader entered the room that was engulfed in black. In his dark attire of black leather and wearing his ominous mask, Vader walked along the vinyl flooring that appeared to lead beyond what the eye could see. But like he had done for years, the Sith apprentice knew where to stop and lower to one knee. 

He peered into the darkness where a hologram appeared of a mammoth, shifting figure. With a hood over its face, but the yellow eyes of the Sith beaming through the hologram, the figure looked down at the man who kneeled to almost no one.

'My Master, we have suspicions that the rebel alliance is located in the Hoth system,' Darth Vader informed the hooded figure.

'The Outer-Rim needs to be searched. I sense that the rebel scum are working underground, and that they are growing in numbers,' the Sith Lord said in his rumbling voice. 'Send your troops to all Outer-Rim planets. We must squash this rebellion.'

'Yes, My Lord,' Darth Vader said as he raised his head to look up to his Master. 'And what of the Jedi we still seek? I have not sensed their presence since their first emergence in the Force.'

'If the rebellion is linked to them as we think they are, they will reveal themselves soon enough. Patience, my apprentice. There is still time.'

The Emperor's hologram fizzled until the room was dark once more. Darth Vader stared into where his Master's face had been before he rose from his bent knee. The Outer-Rim would be difficult to search, as its cities were separated across oceans and deserts. But the Empire had recruited over fifty thousand storm troopers in its five-year rule, and the previous Republic's clones were outdated. A new army was at the Empire's disposal, and the planets on the Outer-Rim would be combed to find the growing rebellion.

Apart from the rebellion, Darth Vader had continued to search the galaxy for the light that he only ever dreamed about. It was his own personal mission and the Emperor was none the wiser to his apprentice's private search. He had travelled back to Coruscant in an attempt to find someone who knew of Sol's whereabouts, but the word of Jedi was nearing extinction. No one knew of any alive Jedi and even when Vader searched innocent civilians' minds with the Force, he had learnt nothing about where she could be. He knew Sol was out there, and it angered him to think that she was with Obi-wan; the man who had left him for dead on the riverbank on Mustafar.

As Darth Vader made his way towards his private quarters, he passed workmen in grey uniforms and storm troopers in white armour. Those part of the army saluted their leader, while workmen mustered a bow of their heads before they steered clear of the Sith's path. He terrified all with his tall frame and broad shoulders, and his anonymity made him all the more frightening. There was no indication of what species Vader was underneath his mask, but with his stature and voice, it was suspected that he was a form of humanoid.

Arriving at his quarters, Vader pressed the panel on the wall to ensure that the sliding door locked behind him. As the locks fell into place, the Sith turned to the room that had never been touched by anyone other than himself.

With a large bed in the corner with black, silk sheets, Vader's quarters held no colour lighter than grey. Next to his bed were drawers of medical supplies, which were used frequently to treat his burns that were still painful after years of healing. With bacta gel and medicines for pain relief, Vader spent every night tending to his past wounds that littered his torso and neck. 

On the opposite grey walls, was a desk that stretched into the corner where two of the walls met. Covering its black top were droid and ship parts that were half-assembled. A toolbox sat in front of the black stool that was left a distance away from the table, showing that it had been shoved away when Vader had previously risen from its seat.