#6 in #DarthVader (6/20/24)
This story will not be a straight forward romance journey, as Vader is a dynamically difficult character. I intend to keep him as in-character as I possibly can, meaning this story will not be all butterflies and rainbow...
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Chapter 24: Frailty
6 hours after the attack
Ciera arrived within the bacta chamber, following behind Martin Karlson. Only moments ago, her datapad had received signs indicating that Lord Vader was no longer in a state of comatose. Nevertheless, his wound still required time to heal, and his body required rest for at least twelve more hours.
But she knew him well enough that just notifying him now would be considered too late to him. She feared his response to the news she had brought with her. Approaching the panel, his brainwaves began to fluctuate almost violently. With his mind now in his control, Vader began to sense that something bad had happened. The Force within the fortress carried with it echoes, and through the tether he felt weakness. Just as he would during the instances he would be off-planet.
Ciera noted his intensifying distress while determining that he was already busy piecing things together while unconscious. She then looked to Karlson before nodding. He returned the motion and remained confident on his feet despite neither of them being capable of knowing how he would respond to the report. Regardless, they both expected the worst from him.
"Lord Vader."
Awakened, his fiery orange eyes shot open. Without any of them moving a muscle, the tank immediately began to drain.
.
In no time, his armor was on and Vader was made aware of the attack that had taken place within his home. On his behalf, Karlson had preemptively deployed two teams to investigate what had occurred, and how such a seemingly impossible task had been made possible. It was reported to Vader that according to what the teams have discovered so far, a particular stormtrooper was found partially, if not fully responsible. Stormtrooper TK-5142, formerly deployed from the Devastator, had been found attempting to gain access to his quarters beyond the sanctum, and was cornered by those who arrived following Reina's announcement.
At this time, the individual named Erilyn Jallu was being held in one of the interrogation rooms, and with Vader's primary concern located within the cafeteria, that is where he currently was.
Vader demanded Karlson join the first investigative team to get each commander below him to identify anyone else who may have been involved. For now, all witnesses had been processed following the hours after the initial attack, and all Vader had to do was wait for the answers to be reported to him.
Team number two was ordered to deal with the traitor, and investigate each scene involved. Each location that an explosive had been deployed.
He stood silently, staring at the large puddle of blood against the wall. Blood was smeared all over, and bloody footprints were everywhere.
It was noticeable to him that Reina put up a fight, each giant smear of blood made it evident to him. Somehow, she had gotten herself to move far enough to have been sat up against the wall. The specifics of her injuries were not clear to him, but from the amount of blood covering the floor, he could tell her condition had been critical when she had been taken.
