Lady Obscura: Vader's Shadow [Star Wars | Luke Skywalker]

Chapter 25

As she inched down the hallway of the Imperial Garrison's primary operations level, she mentally chided herself for what seemed like the thousandth time for not paying closer attention to her bad feelings. Going to Naboo was supposed to be about finding out more about her mother.

Instead she was risking everything to spy on the Imperials trying to catch her.

She had barely stepped off the transport ship when she realized that perhaps coming to Naboo was a mistake. There were Imperials everywhere, and as she made her way into the capital city of Theed, she was certain she overheard a couple of troopers absently discussing why there could possibly be an arrest warrant, or a bounty for that matter, out on the Shadow Woman...meaning her. A handful of troopers in the ranks of one of Vader's legions had taken to calling her that instead of Obscura many years ago, and it had evidently spread. That they were talking about her like that meant that they were on the lookout for her. And the fact that they had been marvelling over how young she looked meant they knew what she looked like without her trademark cowl.

It had taken some clever Force tricks and a whole lot of luck to get past the troopers stationed around the Theed spaceport and into the city proper. She knew she probably should have just turned around and gotten on a ship leaving the little green planet.

But she had been entranced before the transport ship even broached Naboo's atmosphere. It gleamed like a vibrant green jewel amid the glimmering darkness of space. It was a beautiful planet, both up close and from afar, and not even the presence of Imperial troops could diminish that. The spaceport sat below the capital city, so Athara's first glimpse of Theed was looking up to the Palace and the waterfalls that limned the cliffs upon which the city peered down from. The city itself was all gold and green, the warm-hued stone welcoming and homey, while still lending the capital a cultured and stately air. And there was water, wide avenues and green space everywhere she looked.

She knew then that she was being foolish, but she could not help herself. Still, she was cautious in her foolishness. She headed immediately for the outskirts on the opposite side of the city from the Imperial Garrison while staying relatively close to the spaceport. It wasn't like she hadn't evaded Imperials or imminent capture before.

It was there that she managed to find a small golden-stoned guesthouse where she took out a room. It was a little building surrounded by lovely flower-filled gardens. It was run by an older woman, Dema, who, after taking Athara's measure with keen eyes, had welcomed Athara with friendly, though deceptively innocent questions. Athara liked her immediately. She had reminded her of Renate; a gentle heart but with a steel in her spine and a sharp mind that missed little. More than that, there was something familiar about her that was reassuring beyond her similarities to Renate. It had concerned Athara a little the way the older woman seemed, almost imperceptibly, lost. Every now and then a look of confusion and forgetfulness followed by recollection would pass over her face as Athara spoke to her, but the Force did not warn her away from the older woman. If anything, it had seemed like it was assuring her that this woman could be trusted. And the former Sith apprentice had learned to trust in the Force.

She was the one who pointed Athara to the best places in Theed to access public records and the best ways to go about finding, or finding out about, someone. It was advice that Athara was immensely grateful for, even if she wasn't sure how she was going to access some of those places without being discovered.

Unfortunately, discovering Dema's little house and finding help in the older woman proved to be the extent of her good luck. As she made her way through the city the next morning to the public records building Dema recommended she try first, someone saw her. More accurately, someone recognized her. She had no idea who, possibly some passerby who had recognized her face from the Holonet—she couldn't quite walk around a city like Theed with her deep-cowled cloak; that would draw more attention that showing her face—and had alerted the Imperials. Next thing she knew there was a shout of 'hey, you there,' and she was running from a patrol of Stormtroopers. It had taken a little effort to lose them, especially as they knew the city and she didn't, but she had finally managed to slip away.