21: In Pursuit
Princess Luna stood on the bridge of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Devastator as it flew through hyperspace. This was her first chance to witness with her own eyes faster than light travel, as the one such trip she’d made before had been spent entirely in a cell. Naturally, she availed herself of the opportunity, staring out through the bridge’s transparisteel viewport. The void of space and white light of distant stars merged to become an endless, streaking blue tunnel. Minutes ticked by and all Luna did was stare outside. The alicorn found the sight strangely soothing, a relief from her duties, her stress, and the anger that she now felt so regularly.
“Captain Orion, sir?” an officer’s voice snapped her out of her semi-trance.
“What is it, Lieutenant Montferrat?” the aristocratic accent of the Devastator’s captain was very thick.
“We’re coming up on Lord Vader’s coordinates, sir.”
Luna had had no idea why the Sith Lord had chosen to board his personal fighter and go into hyperspace almost immediately after his interrogation of the pirates. From the way the ship’s crew acted, however, it wasn’t abnormal for the Dark Lord to take a hands-on approach.
“Very good. Order all gunnery crews to their stations and prepare fighters for launch,” Captain Orion directed. “Prepare to activate our shields as soon as we emerge. If Lord Vader requires assistance, we shall be ready to provide it.”
“Not much chance of that,” Luna thought.
“I would agree,” another voice said in her head.
Luna half-jumped, eyes flicking from side to side. “Dooku?!”
“Lord Tyranus. And who else?”
“Where have you been?!” Luna snapped mentally. “We haven’t heard anything from you since Vader arrived!”
“I left and hid when I felt him draw near,” Dooku’s voice answered. “Even in this state, he might sense me. And we had a rather… strained relationship when I was alive.”
“You said he killed you, did he not?”
“He murdered me,” his tone grew darker. “Cleaved my hands off and then beheaded me when I was helpless. At Sidious’ prompting.”
“I had heard that it was a Jedi who killed you.”
“I found what I saw of your duel with the Inquisitor uncomfortably familiar,” Dooku mused, ignoring Luna’s implied question.
“So are you just going to hide every time Vader is close by?”
“Of course. He might well kill you if he found out. He never did bear a grudge well.”
“Can I ask what grudge?”
“A history lesson for another time, I think, Darth Noctis. I am afraid I will need to depart shortly.”
“Because we’re nearing Vader?”
“Partially. It has also been rather taxing on my limited energies to manifest all that I have over these past few weeks. And the further you go from Korriban the more difficult it becomes. I will soon need to return to my tomb for rejuvenation.”
“So you’re deserting me?”
“I shall aid you as much as I am able,” Dooku corrected, sounding stern. “I wish the Emperor dead as much as you. However, being dead myself makes this extremely difficult – my ability to interfere in the physical world is all but gone. I will manifest to assist and teach you when I can. If you wish to make the process easier, seek out a nexus of dark side energies. I would be less strained there.”
“I suppose this is farewell then, Lord Tyranus?”
“For the time being, Lord Noctis. Remember what I have taught you. Trust your feelings. And may the Force be with you.”
The Devastator emerged from hyperspace in a barren, lifeless system designated only by a number. With sixteen planets and countless asteroids orbiting a red giant star in the far reaches of the Outer Rim, it epitomized the middle of nowhere. And therefore made for a perfect place for any of the galaxy’s many thieves, brigands, and pirates to hide. The mile-long Imperial warship immediately surged forward, swarms of TIE fighters pouring from its bays and turbolasers at the ready. It was therefore somewhat anticlimactic when absolutely nothing seemed to react.
“Get me a fix on Lord Vader’s homing beacon,” Captain Orion ordered.
“Yes sir,” said one of the uniformed bridge crew members, though Luna did not know her name. “Approximately fifteen thousand kilometers distance. Thirty five degrees port.”
“Initiate course correction,” the captain said. “Take us in full speed ahead. And send our fighter squadrons in immediately. Lord Vader doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
“Right away, sir!”
Luna watched with interest as the vast behemoth of a starship came around. With the star to mark the ship’s position, she noted that the Star Destroyer’s own bulk and momentum made it difficult to turn swiftly. The TIE fighters suffered no such limitations, and she watched dozens of them disappear into the black void.
A minute later, another bridge crewmen spoke up. “Sir, we’re receiving transmitions from our lead fighter squadron. They have located Lord Vader’s homing beacon.”
“Where is it?” the captain demanded, somewhat too hastily. “What have they found?’
“Wreckage, sir. All of it fresh. Quite a few ships were scrapped out there. Fighters, freighters, corvettes…”
“And Lord Vader’s ship?”
“It appears to be…” the man frowned.
“Yes, what is it?”
“It’s attached to the only remaining intact ship, sir. A CR90 corvette.”
“Do those have docking tubes for fighters?”
“This one? No.”
“I see. Order our fighters to take up patrol formation and ensure that nothing disturbs-”
“Sir!” yet another bridge officer whose name Luna didn’t know interrupted the captain.
“What is it, Ensign?”
“We’re receiving a transmition from the corvette, sir. Bearing Lord Vader’s communication codes.”
“Well then for gods’ sake put it through!” Captain Orion half-yelled, fidgeting slightly as he did.
Very shortly, a small hologram of Darth Vader sprouted from one of the bridge’s many control panels. The ship’s captain hovered over it, Luna watching carefully from a distance.
“Captain,” Vader said without ceremony, looking none the worse for the wear despite his recent combat. “This ship’s computer contains valuable data. You will bring the ship into our docking bay with your tractor beams and have a scanning crew brought aboard. You will also prepare the brig to receive several additional prisoners.”
“At once, my lord,” replied the captain with a stiff nod.
“Very good,” Vader’s image vanished.
It was some minutes later that Luna found herself in the Star Destroyer’s primary hanger bay, watching the disabled corvette being towed inside by invisible tractor beams. The ship showed obvious signs of combat, from the charred ruins of laser cannons to the way half its engines were melted slag. Darth Vader’s personal fighter had managed a landing directly atop the pirate ship, near its prow. From the emergency sealant covering the shattered transparisteel viewport Luna guessed he had simply smashed his way inside.
When the docking tube connected, the instant the doors opened a handful of beings practically rushed the Stormtrooper boarding party from point blank range. The surprised Imperials only had time to shoot two with stun blasts before the rest were on them. The pirates promptly… cowered behind the Stormtroopers or feel to their knees before them. Looking past them, Luna could see why. Just in the small section of corridor she could see from the other end of the tube, there was a Twi’lek male with his head twisted so far as to be completely backwards and Zygerrian female that had been outright cleaved in two at the waist.
Only a few seconds passed before the enormous black cyborg himself appeared from the ship’s hallway and began making his way down the docking tube. Vader was personally dragging the limp form of a human man in his right hand, showing no difficultly in doing so. He outright threw the unconscious man at the Stormtroopers, who caught him with a practiced ease that suggested this was not the first time it had happened.
“Sergeant Crest,” Vader addressed the Stormtroopers’ leader. “See to it that this ship is thoroughly checked. Download all databanks and secure prisoners in the Devastator’s brig. Prepare the interrogation droids. We will rip out every last piece of information on what they have done with my cargo. Then we will track down all their conspirators and-”
“Lord Vader!” a man dressed in an officer’s uniform was making his hurried way down the docking tube, brushing right past Luna to snap to attention directly in front of Vader.
The black-armored cyborg looked down at the man with the temerity to interrupt him, and though she couldn’t see his face the princess could feel anger and annoyance rolling off of him. Luna wondered if Vader was going to kill the man outright.
“What is so important that you feel the need to interrupt me, Lieutenant?”
“Apologies, m-my lord,” the man bowed at the waist. “But it’s t-the Emperor.”
“The Emperor,” Vader repeated.
“Yes, my lord. He commands you to make immediate contact with him.”
“Then inform the Emperor that I am on my way.”
The man bowed again, looking relieved. “At once, my lord.”
The officer turned and half-walked, half-ran out of the docking tube and back into the Star Destroyer. Vader folded his arms and held his silence for some seconds, looking from one thing to another, as if considering. Luna felt his gaze more than once, as did Sergeant Crest, the Stormtroopers, and the still-cowering pirates. Eventually, his masked face shifted fully to Luna.
“It seems,” Vader said to her. “As if I am to be occupied for some time. The Emperor invariably has an assignment when he chooses to contact me. But I do not wish my prize to slip away. Consider this your first assignment.”
“W-What?” Luna blinked. “But I haven’t had any training or experience in-”
“You have shown great potential considering your circumstances. And I can sense that you are more than just a set of hands attached to a lightsaber. This assignment will be a way to confirm your abilities in my eyes. You will track down my missing artifacts and discover who was behind their theft. Eliminate the perpetrators and bring the treasures to me. Succeed, and you will be well rewarded. Fail, and you will answer to me.”
Captain Oro’s fate left no doubt as to what Vader meant by that.
“With what resources? You haven’t given me anything to work with!” Luna protested, suppressing her urge to cower meekly.
“The pirates’ corvette and all of the prisoners are in your custody,” Vader said. “You are free to use any methods necessary to gain the required information. When you have your heading, Sergeant Crest and his men will accompany you. And Captain’s Oro’s ship is need of a new overseer.” He began walking back towards the Star Destroyer. “Consider it a promotion.”
Princess Twilight Sparkle, still wearing human form, sat in the cockpit of the Harmony as it soared through the black depths of space. Spike was seated in her lap, and her pilot droid continued to handle flying the ship. Kylee’s relatives had been accommodating, if not exactly friendly. Sylkes and his band had managed to reach some of their off-world contacts in the larger rebel network. These had helped arrange for the former prisoners to be smuggled off-world, and even pulled some strings to get them into the CR90 corvette affiliated with them. It was around this particular ship that the Harmony was now orbiting.
“So, Ms. Anya,” Sylkes was saying over the communications, using the name Twilight had given him. “I can’t really offer you much in the way of material reward, but you did say you were interested in joining our cause and fighting the galaxy’s freedom. Does that still apply?”
“Absolutely,” Twilight said. “I’m eager to do my part.”
“Great. You saved our lives, and that’s why I’m going to offer you a spot on our team. That good with you?”
“It is,” she affirmed.
“We got something that might be big from one of our higher-ups. A chance to strike a blow against the highest levels of the Empire. You in?”
“You can count on me.”
“And me,” added Spike.
“Good to hear. Now, what we have is just a thin bit of intelligence, but it’s juicy. Something about stolen Sith artifacts of personal interest to none other than Darth Vader...”
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Oh no. Twilight...prepare yourself for Darth Noctis.
If shit didn't get real already, it has now.
Wait, the Harmony is the ship Twilight's in, and that's orbiting the CR90 corvette which Vader just...
static.fjcdn.com/comments/The+japan+one+oh+god+oh+god+oh+god+oh+_722c3394723f90884d59ee8c28ef58cb.jpg
5908718
It's a different ship in a different system. Just the same model.
5908740 Oh. Crisis averted for now then.
Twilight is about to meet Darth Noctis... Both are tasked with tracking down Darth Vader's stolen artifacts, so them meeting is more likely than possible.
I can't decide between Duel of the Fates or Battle of the Heroes.
Uh oh... I feel like something is going to happen later... that will not be very pleasant...
Oh damn.
Nice job!
I get the feeling Noctis is going to wreck Twilight's new crew, followed by twilight revealing herself. That will be an interesting conversation.
Luna's totally getting the artifacts though. No way she is jepordizing her chance to assassinate the sith power structure for Twilight's poorly thought out scheme.
Very interesting that Luna found the view of hyperspace soothing. Legends lore had most describe it as subtly terrifying, potentially with the ability to drive someone to madness. Some going as far as to consider being trapped in hyperspace a fate worse than death itself. The death star novel has Vader find it relaxing to look at as a means to emphasize how inhuman he is.
It is nice to see the plot threads slowly converging, up to this point they felt like two separate and unrelated events.
Uh oh.
Things are about to get nasty, methinks.
Aaannndddd now Twilight is in for some serious poodoo!
Luna promoted to command a star destroyer twilight finally joining the rebellion sith artifacts
[youtube=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6nSKkwzwdW4]
More Luna! And I guess more Sparkle... Meh... XD
Two words : Oh no!
Collision Course detected!
Conclusion: FULL SPEED AHEAD!
5908902 Assassinate the Sith? The only thing Luna will do is reveal Twilight's allegiance to Vader, Luna is bad at lying and will detect Twilight's magic.
Thirty years later, the Empire last ten more years thanks to Luna slaving away because she is small fry when compared to Jerec and other Dark Side Inquisitors, the Emperor and Vader die. Luna becomes an Imperial Warlord, ruling Equuis with an Iron Fist!
She is in the same position as Ulric Droma... And we know what happened to him.
As if lord Vader gave a ...
Laughs aside, great chapter! I like how the pieces slowly snap into place, generating immense hype power!
Oh dear....
The probable encounter between Twilight and Darth Noctis sure will rock. I wonder what Snake Staff has in store.
The pants have been shat in.
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I must say, the word orbit is being used very lightly in this story. Either that or the author has no idea of how orbits work.
I believe it would actually be "by the force" or something of that nature as "god" is never mentioned in the star wars universe. either religeously or as a swear.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_phrases_and_slang
5910064 I find it hard to believe that in a galaxy with hundreds and hundreds of different species that none have a god
5910392
I vaguely remember an imperial officer deriding "ancient religions" or something when Vader mentions the force. Then he's choked to death.
5910064
5910392
I agree with Commissar197. The idea that no one has any concept of God, especially in a galaxy where the supernatural is a provable reality, is just ridiculous.
5911750
lol dozens of races have their "Gods" there are thousands of races and thousands of cultures, even certain Jedi and Sith have their individual Gods.
Okay, now we know what happens to Luna...
5911750 Will Luna form some sort of new Confederacy Of Independent Systems or something?
Seems like Luna will be meeting Twilight veerrry soon. I can totally see Vader having taken out those pirates all by himself too... man that would have been cool to watch.
Acolyte to Captain in just one day... wow!
6243931 watch that one scene from rebels and you can imagine it more easy
cowered behind the Stormtroopers or feel to their knees before them
1. Fell.
6243931
Watch the end scene of Rouge One and boom there you go