Desert Moon-A Star Wars Story ( discontinued )

I - Vader's Turmoil

The admiral slumped to the ground, dead. Darth Vader stood above him, glaring through his mask. He cast a look around at the shaking guards as if asking silently, 'anyone else?'. Nobody double crossed him and got away alive. It had been a few weeks since the new Empire had been thrown into the Senate and dominated the galaxy. Vader was the king, and the galaxy was his kingdom. The Emperor didn't leave the safety of Coruscant and sent Vader and the Grand Inquisitor to do his dirty work. Not that there was much dirty work to be done. The Empire had made sure that all sparks of rebellion had been squandered before they could grow into a flame, and soon a wildfire, wiping out army after army. Vader had seen this happen with the Separatists Alliance, and he wouldn't let deceitful and rebellious thoughts find their way into his subject's minds. Vader took one more sweeping glance around before strolling off the bridge. Behind him, men dragged the carcass off the floor and into wherever they were keeping those dead bodies anyway. 

Masked, and merciless, Vader was the definition of evil. He had the whole Empire in his gloved fist and when certain parts attempted to squirm out, he would grab them and crush them under his rarely scuffed boot. People feared him all the way to the Outer Rim. They were too terrified to speak of him, as if Imperial forces would show up on their doorstep two days later, asking to see the head of the house. Vader had been through a lot; slavery is hard on people, but he didn't sympathize with weaklings anymore. He wasn't weak. In his attempt to kill Anakin Skywalker, he had let the one person he knew would destroy him escape. Obi-Wan Kenobi had fled Mustafar and left Vader to die. Back in the Clone Wars, it was Skywalker and Kenobi, the iconic duo. Always causing trouble and doing things together until the day they fell. And of course Ahsoka tagged along. She was always there beside her precious master when he went flying into battle with no plan or means of escape. 

Just thinking about who he used to be made him angry. He slammed his fist onto the wall causing a mouse droid to skid on the floor, squealing wildly. Vader's breathing intensified, and he could hear the unhuman, almost alien, way he breathed now. When he had these moments he knew; Anakin Skywalker was fighting. Deep down inside the monster, hurled into the depths of Tartarus, there was the last living memory of Anakin Skywalker. Each day he was beaten and tossed around, mocked and jeered by the rest of the world. But every day he would keep getting back up and facing the leering crowds again. Vader could tell he wasn't giving up, and since Vader couldn't kill him, he just tried to pretend like he wasn't there. However, this proved impossible because of the memoires that plagued him wherever he went. Typical, Vader thought as he walked into his personal chambers. Classic Skywalker. Why does he have to be so persistent? When he arrived at the door, there was an Imperial officer with two stormtroopers standing outside, as if they were waiting for him to get there. When the admiral saw Vader coming, he stood stiffly and looked at the indents for eyes in his helmet. "Ah, Lord Vader. We have--"

"What do you want?" Vader spat, rage billowing inside him for no particular reason. The stormtroopers tensed, but the admiral stood fast. 

"I have received an urgent call from the Emperor himself," said the admiral. Vader was examining him as he spoke. He wore a Grand Admiral's badge and had a long pointy nose. His eyes were sunken in as though he was dead, and his greying hair was almost triangular. "He wishes to speak with you immediately."

"And you came all the way here to tell me this?" Vader asked menacingly. "When you could have called me on my commlink?! Who are you?" The stormtroopers cowered behind the admiral, who looked completely unfazed. 

"Grand Admiral Tarkin," said the admiral with pride in his voice, but dull emotion on his pale face. "I was assigned by the--"

"--Emperor himself yes I know," Vader finished, in full anticipation of what the rest of his day was going to be like with this man hanging around his ship. "I will take the Emperor's call in my chambers, now leave!"