Star Wars (Legends):The Eternal Conflict. Book:2

Chapter 18 (The Depths of Hell)

Location: Tendrando Arms Secret Base below the surface of the planet Socorro.

He used to feel different things at different times. He had felt joy. He used to feel irritation; mostly when he was riding a loosing streak at the Sabaac table. At times, he had been smug. Oh, Lando had mastered smugness in all it's flavours.

Not anymore. The whole spectrum of feelings, had been replaced by a crimson cloak of anger.

Such rage filled his veins now as he peered through the oneway transparasteel. On the other side of the viewport was a large room; an old weapons testing lab no longer in use. In the middle of the room, shock-cuffed to a reclined med-chair was... Ben Skywalker.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" He shouted, while pointing at the boy.
"THAT ISN'T LUKE!"
As angry as he was at Veradun capturing Ben, it didn't compare with the rage that boiled inside his heart at the sight of Ben. Tendra's and Chance's murderer, was in his grip, and Ben had let her go. Not just that. He actually had come to her aid.

"YOU'VE CROSSED THE LINE VERADUN! I've got representatives from The Hapes Consortium, The GA, and The Empire calling me up and threatening out right war! I gave you those command codes to use if I was incapacitated! I didn't give them to you to use behind my back and attack the Imperial Capital!
I can't believe..."

"Master Calrissian! Please!" Malgus interrupted him with a convincingly pathetic plea.

"Everything I have done was for you... For your goals! When he had gotten all of Lando's attention, he continued

"This was the only way to lure Luke here, and I knew the boy's capture would wound your already scared heart. I wanted to spare you any more pain, by doing what had to been done."

The pleading was successful in that it scrambled Lando's already conflicted emotions, and made it impossible for him to tell up from down; right from wrong.

In the thick silence, Malgus suggested: "Just tell the government representatives, that a disgruntled employee engineered the strike!"

Lando let out a distainful scoff: "You really think that pile of poodoo is going to work? They're not going to just take my word for it."

"Of course not." Malgus soothed. "But it will buy us a little time!"
He paused for a moment and then continued

"In 12 hours, the new YVH series will be fully matured and ready for deployment. Luke Skywalker will be frozen in carbonite, and the Jedi and GA will have lost the upper hand. By that time, it won't matter what they suspect. They won't be calling the shots anymore."

Lando looked away from Ben and walked right up to the mechanized Sith, sticking his finger right up in Malgus's face: "Just remember!" He said unblinking: "I'm the one calling the shots! Don't! Don't ever go behind my back again!

"As you wish, Master Calrissian." Malgus said with a slight bow.

With that, Lando stormed out of the room.

Malgus turned back to the window. Cowering and appeasing a weakling like Lando, was absolutely disgusting. It took all his resolve to go along with the charade. But he had to! For 2 very important reasons.

1. Lando could still be slick-talked into doing the Dark Lord's bidding

2. Any emotional outburst from Malgus could be detected by Ben! And that would be absolutely disastrous!