Crossroads

Lone Survivor

Vader's POV 

"Sir, we are receiving a tranmission from the Emperor." Admiral Tarken interrupted my thoughts to tell me something I already knew. Though, I knew what most people were about to say or do. My Master and I met every day to discuss updates and plans for the new battle station. The work on it was slow-moving, but progress was slowly being made. The outer shell of the Death Star had just been completed this past week, and that alone had taken a few years. 

While the Republic had been foolishly caught up in the Clone War against General Grievous and Dooku, my Master was secretly building this planet-killing weapon-- all the while, in secret, lurking in the shadows and waiting for the Republic to fall. And indeed, it fell and with it the Jedi Order.

My anger bibbled within me, rage and vengeance seeking to explode to the surface when I thought of the Jedi Order. An Order I was once proud to be a part of, foolishly so, until I discovered the truth. The truth that the Order, along with the Republic, was corrupt by greed and politics. That the Jedi were not as pure and heroic as I once thought they were. 

For the past few years, I had hunted down remaining Jedi across the galaxy. Some of them I had known during my time at the Order-- not well, but I had talked strategy with them a few times. Others were strangers to me-- it made killing them easier. Not that it was hardto begin with, but it made it much, much easier. Some Jedi had fought to the death, refusing to give up the location of any other survivors. Others were silent, accepting their fate with resolve. My Inquisitors found most of the surviving Jedi-- I only left my ship if it was a particuarly difficult Jedi who wouldn't go down without a fight.  

Or a Jedi who I personally wanted to kill. If neither of those situations existed, the Inquisitor would make sure to spend some, well, quality, time with them before the Jedi was taken to the Emperor. Sometimes the Inquisitors themselves silenced the Jedi, but other times the Emperor was keen on doing the task himself.  My Master and I were quite alike in that respect-- we liked to get our hands dirty when it came to Jedi.

There were only two remaining Jedi who I sought to capture and destroy with my bare hands-- Obi-Wan Kenobi, my former master whose name made my vision turn red, and Master Yoda, the most powerful of Jedi other than myself. My sources could not find either, but I knew they were both still alive out there somewhere, slightly beyond my reach. 

Other than those two, I doubted there were many Jedi left. Over nine-thousand perished at the hands of Clones when my Master enacted Order 66.  Those that were left went into hiding, and we had slowly snuffed out the last light of the Jedi over the past few years. They were all but extinct now.

"Thank you, Admiral,"  I drawled, annoyed at the interruption. I stood on the bridge of the StarDestroyer, watching the slow construction of the Death Star amidst the darkness of the galaxy. Around me, commanders and generals and personnal busied at their desks. Some communicated with other ships, coordinating supplies and troops to help build the station, while others dealt with dispatching squadrons to crush small rebellions on differnt worlds. 

I turned away from the windows, walking further into the ship. The Emperor liked to have our meetings in my private office, where we could discuss more freely and privately. 

"My Lord!" I stopped, annoyance flooding through me again. I turned, my anger idling jsut below the surface at yet anothr interruption. My Master did not like to be kept waiting.

"Yes?" I asked the general standing before me. He was young, around my age perhaps, with stark white hair and a face that looked actually petrified. 

"We just received a transmission from a squad on Takodana. They're bringing in a prisoner." 

"And?" I failed to see why informing me of bringing in a prisoner was of importance. We took hundreds, if not thousands, of people and beings across the galaxy prisoner - for insubordination, for incting violence, for fighting back or failing to show loyalty. This wasn't news to me.

"The prisoner is a Jedi, My Lord. They captured her in a small village." 

My body stiffened. Another Jedi? I had thought we had extinguished all but the last two Jedi. Our calculation on the number of surviving Jedi left were incorrect. This one was a lone survivor in a universe where the flame of the Jedi no longer burned. I was honestly intrigued about this Jedi-- I likely had not met her, nor know who she was. But I was curious enough to consider asking my Master to allow me to interrogate her.

"Thank you, General." I nodded before I stalked off. My Mastr would have to hear about this.

***********************************

"This is an interesting turn of events, Lord Vader."

I knelt in front of my Master's full hologram, which was projected in front of me. 

"Master, I would like to question this Jedi." I stated, keeping my voice neutral and my eyes trained on the ground.  "I feel that I could gain some insight on how she hid for so long, and perhaps see if the same applies to Kenobi and Yoda. Her strategies may be helpful to us."

He smiled, his grin spreading across his face to reveal a set of half-broken teeth. His hood was up, covering most of his deformed face, but I could seethe wrinkly, sagging skin of his chin and cheeks.

"See to it, Lord Vader." 

With those final words, he ended the transmisison abruptly. That was how it usually went with him-- never departing words, just cutting off the transmission. I rose and grabbed my comlink.

"General Tarkin, send a transmission to the team who has the Jedi. Bring this Jedi to me."