STAR WARS: Presage of the Force (A Fan Fic by Michael Holiday)

Chapter 3

Nineteen years later.

An icy chill ran up Princess Leia's back. The door to her detention cell hissed open, revealing a dark silhouette draped in a cape. Vader! Leia restrained herself from flinching when the sickening respirator kicked in, how it made her skin crawl like a newborn Hutt searching for its first meal. The Lord of the Sith entered the cell, cowl flowing behind him. He flicked his fingers at the control panel and the door snapped shut—sealing them inside. Alone.

"Princess. I am finished with you and your defiant attitude toward the Emperor."

"Do what you must, but you'll get no help from me, Vader."

Darth Vader nodded, chest plates blinking green, red, and white. His respirator hissed. "I expect as much, your Highness. That is why I am here to offer you a compromise. One that will end all the senseless killing, rid the galaxy of injustice and evil."

The Sith Lord extended his hand toward Leia, wrapping the Force not around her throat, but instead, her mind.

Princess Leia squirmed on the lone bench seat in the cell, covering her ears with both hands, hoping to blot out that dreadful wheezing of the cyborg's mechanical breathing. "You'll never win, Vader. Those that only take will never be given the hearts of the people. Love and true justice will always prevail."

Vader stepped closer, fingers tensing, probing her mind. "Let's explore that theory, Princess. What I am offering is most unusual, so listen carefully."

Leia closed her eyes and pushed aside the stinging pain that entered her head against her will, searching for the key to her soul. A trickle of blood ran down her cheek, and she brushed it away with the back of her hand.

"If you would only see the power of the dark side, my daughter."

Daughter! No, it can't be.

"Yes. Search your feelings. You know it to be true. You have the power to end all of this. Join me, and together we will defeat the Emperor and restore peace to the galaxy."

Princess Leia sat, stunned into silence. Vader turned up his influence and a thousand images rushed into her mind. Some were of the past and familiar, but most showed people and places she'd never seen. A Death Star—not like the one she remained a captive in, but another, under construction with durasteel I-beams and girders exposed like an open wound—exploded. White and gold sparks blew from the innermost levels, followed by a flaming blast and shockwave that roiled space. Leia clutched her chest, but the sour taste of death and suffering on her lips refused to subside.

Vader pressed closer, and the emotion swarmed to a cacophony of cries.

"You can make this stop." The Sith Lord drew in a deep breath, respirator wheezing. "Please. I fear that I will not be able to hold my end of an old promise. I've become too twisted to control my own heart."

Leia stared into the lifeless eyes of Vader's mask.

"Please. I can see another way to beat the Emperor. Help me to end all of this."

Minutes or hours passed, Leia could not be sure which, but by the splattering of her blood on the deck of the cell, she guessed the latter.

"Never. I will not help you, father. You have lost."

At these words, Darth Vader released her mind from his grasp. She slumped over and collapsed on the floor. The Dark Lord of the Sith knelt beside her and stroked her hair. "If you will not join me, daughter, then I cannot allow you to remember this conversation. Too much is at stake. We can try again tomorrow."

He pointed to the control console on the wall and activated a switch. The cell door whooshed open and an Imperial Interrogator Droid floated inside, an electric buzzing filling the air. A needle protruded from one side of the black sphere and pushed into Leia. With the help of Darth Vader guiding the powerful drug, careful not to inflict any damage, he began erasing the memories of their visit. "Forgive me, Leia. One day you will know that I am good. I am good."