Losing and failing to protect you had turned Anakin Skywalker, your master/love of your life, into the cruel Lord Vader. With him in power, the galaxy is no longer what it once was- and it is all because of your tragic death and, ultimately, the hea...
“You sound very confident that this report will meet my expectations.
I tried to maintain my composure, though Vader's penetrating gaze made it increasingly difficult.
“I did my best to ensure it is comprehensive and accurate, my Lord. It's contains a detailed analysis of the TIE fighter squadron's performance and I’ve taken the liberty to add another extra three pages about potential improvements.”
Vader slowly shook his head, a faint smirk on his lips.
“Very eager...”
He finally broke the eye contact and set the report down on the table beside him, beginning to flip through it with a gloved hand.
“But if I’m being honest with you”, he looked up from the pages and locked eyes with me once more, “I can’t be bothered to read all this.”
Oh, come on!
“Good thing I have you here, though.”
Vader sat down in the massive, throne-like chair by the round conference table, a glimmer of something in his eyes I couldn’t quite interpret yet. His new position made me a tiny bit taller than him (for once!) so that I wasn’t forced to look up to him anymore. He was. But he didn’t seem to mind that and his confidence definitely didn’t waver.
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“As long as it took you to write that report and as intensively as you dealt with the analysis, I'm sure you won't mind presenting its contents to me. I think we should be through with the 50 pages in just under 2 hours.”, he said, leaning back in his throne and making himself comfortable.
Did I just hear him correctly?
“You want me to read the report to you?”, I asked, struggling to hide the shock in my voice.
This was so stupid.
“No.”, he slowly shook his head, a hint of amusement in his eyes. “I want you to recite the report to me. From your memory.”
Uhm...?
Excuse me!?, I thought but didn’t say out loud.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Reciting a detailed, 50-page-long report from memory was an impossible task, and he knew that- of course he did!
“If you are even remotely concerned about being properly informed about your TIE fighters, then I would advise you not to demand such stupid things- my Lord.”, I said, feeling the anger rise inside of me.
“Oh, I do want to hear all the information. But you don’t ‘advise’ me anything and you definitely don’t talk to me like that.” Vader's voice was ice-cold, and his eyes bore into mine with an intensity that sent shivers down my spine. “Is that understood?”
