The Rise And Fall Of Darth Vader (12 page)

Vader eventually created his own private retreat, Bast Castle, on the storm-scoured planet Vjun, where Count Dooku had once taken refuge during the Clone Wars. On Vjun, Vader conducted his own studies of the dark side. He had no doubt that the Emperor knew what he wanted more than anything: the power to kill his Master. But because Palpatine was so incredibly powerful, and despite several attempts, Vader learned that he had no reason to believe he could ever defeat the elder Sith Lord.

As the years passed, the Empire expanded by conquering more worlds. While cloned soldiers were still utilized for the Imperial Navy, humans also began serving as enlisted officers or were conscripted into duty as technicians, pilots, and stormtroopers.

Although Anakin Skywalker had never had any personal exchanges with the bounty hunter Jango Fett, Darth Vader did become familiar with Fett’s cloned “son,” Boba Fett, who had inherited his father’s armor, weapons, and starship. As Boba Fett gained a well-deserved reputation as the best bounty hunter in the galaxy, it was inevitable that Vader would occasionally retain him for clandestine assignments.

Vader also supervised secret operations on numerous worlds. To enlist deadly Noghri warriors to his cause, he came to the aid of their planet after he had covertly poisoned it with life-inhibiting toxins. When an Imperial research station accidentally released a lethal bioagent on the planet Falleen, Vader commanded his soldiers to fire turbolasers at the contaminated world, killing over two hundred thousand Falleen natives.

Of all the operations that Darth Vader oversaw, the most important was the construction of the Death Star, a moon-sized battle station that, when finished, would be equipped with a superlaser capable of destroying entire planets. Conceived by one of the Empire’s highest-ranking officers, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, and originally designed on Geonosis, the Death Star promised to be the Empire’s ultimate weapon. As part of Tarkin’s doctrine of Rule by Fear, the battle station would strike such terror throughout the galaxy that no world would dare defy or disobey an Imperial command.

As Palpatine had foreseen, the Empire did have its enemies. One particular underground movement - the Alliance to Restore the Republic, more commonly known as the Rebel Alliance - proved to be the most irritating. Although Imperial officials were certain that the Rebels had established a secret base, the base’s location remained unknown.

Nineteen years after the end of the Clone Wars and the birth of the Empire, the Rebel Alliance attacked an Imperial convoy in the Toprawa system in the Outer Rim. Darth Vader immediately realized that it had been a diversionary tactic, and that the Rebels’ real goal was to infiltrate an Imperial research station on Toprawa.

The Rebels had stolen the plans for the Death Star.

Darth Vader had encountered Bail Organa’s daughter, Princess Leia, at several occasions in recent years. The first time had been on Corascant, before she had become a Senator, when she and her father had been standing in a receiving line to meet the Emperor at the Imperial Palace. Like most people, she had trembled in the Emperor’s presence, and had given Vader no reason to assume she might pose any threat. Most recently, he had seen her and one of her officers, Captain Antilles, on the planet Ralltiir, where the Princess had claimed to be working as a goodwill ambassador, hoping to deliver medical supplies to Ralltiir’s High Council. Because her recent movements had placed her in areas where there had been Rebel activity, Vader had made sure that her old Corellian Corvette - Imperials had given the make its nickname “Blockade Runner” because of its evasive qualities - did not leave Ralltiir without a tiny stowaway homing device.

After learning that the Rebels had attacked an Imperial convoy in the Toprawa system, Vader traveled swiftly there. He was standing beside his aide, the black-uniformed Commander Praji, on the bridge of the Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator in orbit of Toprawa, when a small blip that represented an incoming ship appeared on a sensor screen. Although the ship was not broadcasting an identification number, a homing signal indicated it was Princess Leia’s Blockade Runner.

Vader was not surprised.

Seconds later, an Imperial communications officer looked up from his monitor and said, “Commander, scrambled transmissions are being sent from the planet.”

Vader turned his helmet to face Praji and said, “The starship that just entered the system. Detain it.”

Praji moved to a communications console to open a line to the Blockade Runner and spoke into a comlink, “Unidentified ship. Heave to at once and prepare for security search and interrogation!”

“This is the
Tantive IV
” a man’s voice answered from the comlink, and Vader immediately recognized the speaker as Captain Antilles. “We have an extravehicular malfunction. A maintenance unit is working on it now.” After a moment’s pause, Antilles continued, “We are a consular ship on a diplomatic mission and will clear this system as soon as we have effected repairs.”

Commander Praji looked to Vader, who gave a single approving nod. Returning to the comlink, Praji replied, “We acknowledge your transmissions,
Tantive IV
. The
Devastator
will hold fire. Maintain your present course and prepare to receive Imperial investigators.”

A few seconds later, Antilles responded, “Imperial cruiser
Devastator
, we are on a diplomatic mission and are not to be detained or diverted.”

Praji quickly examined a sensor screen. “
Tantive IV
has raised its energy shields and is accelerating out of orbit.”

“After them,” Vader ordered, confident that the Blockade Runner would not escape.

As the
Devastator’s
 engines roared to life, Praji spoke again into the comlink. “
Tantive IV
, this is the
Devastator
. Our sensors indicate you have intercepted illegal transmissions in this solar system. Heave to or we’ll open fire!”

When Vader saw that the Blockade Runner was maintaining its course, he said calmly, “Shoot for minimum damage.”

The
Devastator’s
cannons launched long streaks of energized bolts that hammered at the small fleeing ship’s shields. A moment later, the
Tantive IV’s
engines flared and the ship vanished into hyperspace.

Every spacer knew that it was impossible to track another ship through hyperspace, the dimension that allowed for travel at faster than lightspeed.

On the
Devastator
, Commander Praji consulted a sensor screen to locate the homing device. “Lord Vader, they’re heading for the Tatooine system.”

Tatooine!
Vader appeared impassive, but behind his mask, he clenched his teeth and seethed. The very thought of Tatooine released a small flood of distasteful memories. Regaining his composure, Vader said, “Plot a course.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

By the time the
Tantive IV
reached the Tatooine system, the
Devastator
was right behind it. The Blockade Runner returned laserfire as it reached Tatooine’s orbit, but was overwhelmingly outgunned by the Imperial Star Destroyer. After the Star Destroyer blasted away the Blockade Runner’s primary sensor array and starboard shield projector, the smaller ship was effectively crippled.

An Imperial tractor beam drew the
Tantive IV
into the Devastator’s, main hangar, and stormtroopers armed with blaster rifles were dispatched into the captured vessel. Several stormtroopers were shot down by the
Tantive IV’s
crew upon entry, but the steady stream of unrelenting white-armored Imperial soldiers managed to secure the ship within minutes.

When the blaster fight was over, Darth Vader boarded the
Tantive IV
. The white-walled corridors were scorched, the air was heavy with the scent of blaster fumes, and the floor was littered with the bodies of fallen stormtroopers as well as Rebel troops. Vader moved forward through the corridor like a malevolent shadow.

Captain Antilles had survived the Imperial assault and was escorted by stormtroopers to the ship’s operations forum, where Vader was waiting for him. Vader wrapped his black-gloved fingers around Antilles’s neck as an Imperial officer rushed up and announced, “The Death Star plans are not in the main computer.”

Vader turned his visor to gaze at Captain Antilles. “Where are those transmissions you intercepted?” Without effort, the Sith Lord slowly raised his arm and lifted Antilles off the floor. “What have you done with those plans?”

Gasping, Antilles answered, “We intercepted no transmissions. Aaah… this is a consular ship. We’re on a diplomatic mission.”

Vader tightened his grip and said, “If this is a consular ship… where is the Ambassador?”

When Antilles did not answer, Vader decided the interrogation was over. The Dark Lord gave a sharp squeeze, instantly breaking Antilles’s neck. Vader threw the corpse against the wall, and then turned to a stormtrooper.

“Commander,” Vader said, “tear this ship apart until you’ve found those plans, and bring me the passengers. I want them alive!”

Minutes after the stormtroopers had begun their search for the passengers, Vader was informed that Princess Leia had been apprehended.

* * *

“Darth Vader,” Leia addressed her captor. Her wrists were secured in binders and she ignored the numerous stormtroopers who also stood in the narrow corridor of the
Tantive IV
. Bravely staring straight into the dark lenses of the Sith Lord’s helmet, she continued, “Only you could be so bold. The Imperial Senate will not sit still for this. When they hear you’ve attacked a diplomatic…”

“Don’t act so surprised, Your Highness,” Vader interrupted. “You weren’t on any mercy mission this time. Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by Rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Leia replied tersely. “I’m a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan….”

“You are a part of the Rebel Alliance… and a traitor,” Vader snarled. “Take her away!”

As the stormtroopers led Leia from her ship to the Star Destroyer, a black-uniformed, hawk-nosed Imperial officer named Daine Jir trailed alongside Vader as the Sith Lord wound through the corridors, searching for some sign that might lead him to the stolen plans.

“Holding her is dangerous,” said the outspoken Jir. “If word of this gets out, it could generate sympathy for the Rebellion in the Senate.”

“I have traced the Rebel spies to here,” Vader said without concern. “Now she is my only link to finding their secret base.”

Jir must have been aware of the Princess’s reputation, for he added, “She’ll die before she’ll tell you anything.”

“Leave that to me,” Vader said. “Send a distress signal and then inform the Senate that all aboard were killed!”

As Vader arrived at a corridor intersection, Commander Praji stopped him and said, “Lord Vader, the battle station plans are not aboard this ship! And no transmissions were made. An escape pod was jettisoned during the fighting, but no life-forms were aboard.”

Feeling his anger rise, Vader said, “She must have hidden the plans in the escape pod. Send a detachment down to retrieve them. See to it personally, Commander. There’ll be no one to stop us this time.”

“Yes, sir,” said Praji.

“And send detachments to secure the planet’s spaceports,” Vader added. “No ship is to leave Tatooine without Imperial authorization.”

Vader stepped to a viewport and gazed down at the sand planet. It looked just as barren as he remembered it.

To think that I lived there once… that it was my home before the Jedi came and took me away. My mother breathed her last on this world, and for years I felt such… agonizing loss.

Now I feel nothing. This world means as much to me as a speck of dust, and all its inhabitants might as well be dust too.

As he returned to the
Devastator
, Vader considered the fact that Tatooine could be reduced to dust by the Death Star. He wondered if watching the sand planet’s obliteration might bring him any pleasure. It was a possibility he wouldn’t rule out.

An orb that was 160 kilometers in diameter, the Death Star was the size of a Class IV moon and was the largest starship ever built. Its quadanium steel outer hull had two prominent features: a concave superlaser focus lens set into the upper hemisphere, and an equatorial trench that contained ion engines, hyperdrives, and hangar bays. Besides its superlaser, which was not yet fully operational, the Death Star’s weaponry included more than 10,000 turbolaser batteries, 2,500 laser cannons, and 2,500 ion cannons. Its hangars contained 7,000 Twin Ion Engine starfighters and more than 20,000 military and transport vessels. The battle station’s crew, troops, and pilots numbered over one million.

The Death Star did not in any way impress Darth Vader.

After returning from the Tatooine system with Princess Leia as his prisoner, Vader and the hollow-cheeked Grand Moff Tarkin entered a Death Star conference room where a meeting was already in progress. Admiral Motti, the senior Imperial commander in charge of operations on the Death Star, General Tagge of the Imperial Army, and five other high-ranking Imperial officials sat around a table and listened as Tarkin announced that the Emperor had dissolved the Imperial Senate, and assured them that fear of the Death Star would keep the local star systems in line.

While General Tagge maintained concern that the Rebel Alliance might use the stolen Death Star plans to their advantage, Admiral Motti snidely asserted that any attack against the Death Star would be a useless gesture. “This station is now the ultimate power in the universe,” Motti said. “I suggest we use it.”

“Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed,” Vader cautioned. “The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.”

Sneering at the Sith Lord, Motti said, “Don’t try to frighten us with your sorcerer’s ways, Lord Vader. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes or given you clairvoyance enough to find the Rebels’ hidden fort -