Dance of the Sith

Chapter 2 - You Got Nothin' On Me

Author's Note: In which more about the past comes to light. :)

~ Amina Gila

Finishing up the space battle takes longer than Vader might have liked when Leia's on the ground near the rebel base. He knows Clone Force 99 is more than capable of taking care of her, but something could always catch them off-guard, too, if this was intended as a trap.

And it certainly was.

The resistance they encountered here was stronger than any battle Vader's fought in a long time. The Rebels were actually trying to make a stand here, and they caused a remarkable amount of damage to the Star Destroyer, even if it's still operational. They finally fled the system entirely, even if not before Vader destroyed much of their fleet in return, but the battle still took its toll.

But mostly, Vader's fixating on how Ahsoka was there. And he obviously refrained from causing any damage to that one ship after he knew that. He was admittedly hoping they'd be able to capture it, pull it on board with a tractor beam, but the pilot was too good for that, and they barely managed to escape along with the remains of the Rebel fleet.

Vader feels Leia nudging him with the Force, a silent assurance that she's okay before he sees the Marauder approaching.

He waits, watching tensely as the ship lands, and the ramp lowers. Leia is the first down, holding her helmet despite how they're supposed to keep them on in public. Doesn't matter anyway, he realizes a second later, because it's been damaged.

Cut open – from the lightsaber by the looks of it – and fear, sharp and cutting, flares up inside him. There was nothing like the heart-stopping moment he saw her fighter get hit, felt her flare of fear as she started crashing. He was so, so afraid she would die. Probably, he could've held the ship together with the Force itself long enough for someone to rescue her, but the fact that it was so close twice today makes him want to pull her off the fronts altogether.

She's only sixteen.

"Are you okay?" he asks, fear and desperation burning.

"I'm fine," she reassures immediately, squeezing his right hand where he lays it on her shoulder. It's a prosthetic, so he can't feel much in it anyway, but it's still something. He has pressure senses that pick up her touch, which is the most she can offer. Vader aches to pull her into his arms altogether, but they don't have time for that right here, right now. Not when they have an audience watching.

His gaze drifts past her towards the other six where they're approaching, then beyond to... the eighth member on the ship.

From the presence, it's a Jedi.

"Who is that?" Vader demands, eyes narrowing at the masked figure lazily leaning against the side of the doorway, arms crossed, two lightsabers clipped to her belt.

"Oh, you don't remember me?" she snarks back, and the voice, no matter how distorted it is – and the presence – finally registers.

"What is she doing here?" he asks, whirling to the clones.

He knew Asajj Ventress during the Clone Wars. He's fought her, and she's killed so many of the clones. She's killed his boys, too. She may have walked away from the war, from everything mid-war, but that doesn't make him any happier to see her.

"It's alright," Leia interjects, stepping back and turning to let Ventress past if she wants. Or maybe just to let Vader charge her if he wants. Which he does want to, but a lot of people made a lot of mistakes in the war, even himself, and he needs to know why his daughter thought this a good idea, first. "She was sent to the base to kill us, but she's had a... falling out with the Jedi."