There was a Darkness spreading through the galaxy. It leaked in the spaces between the stars, between planets that have long since died and decayed. The Darkness was a tangible thing, spreading like a spider's web as it leeched to everything it touched. Its influence was draining, stealing life and hope from all those it affected. It was a disease manifesting and spreading, unfolding as it festered and grew.
The Darkness was seductive with its power, commanding with its presence, and terrifying with its commanders.
At the epicenter of the Darkness was one of its fiercest commanders, Darth Vader, Darkness personified, black-cladded, and encased with machines that forced breath into his lungs.
He walked with a heavy presence sweeping over his shoulders. He carried it with him along with his black cloak dragging behind him. The hallway filled with his heavy breaths, like wild pants of a living machine.
Darth Vader appeared more machine than man. More Darkness than human. As he walked, the air stilled around him. Everything settled into place as he moved through it.
The Rebel Cruiser before him quieted as the power died. There was a low hum of draining power that sounded like music to Vader's ears.
He walked up the ramp into the Cruiser with a line of Storm Troopers filing in behind him.
The Rebel Cruiser was small with few amenities. Vader seemed large inside its walls, pressuring and looming as he cascaded through the space in search of Princess Leia Organa.
There was a single Rebel Officer on the ground, struggling to find his breath as he crawled away from Vader.
Vader stopped in the hallway as he watched the man pathetically try to escape him. His attempt was futile as he wheezed on his own pained breaths.
Vader lifted a black-gloved hand, driving a powerful wave of invisible, intangible Force. It was like a stream of pure power, manipulated and used by Vader and Vader alone. His Force pushed out and wrapped around the Rebel Officer, pulling him up into the air as though strings attached to his ligaments and dragged him upright. The Force closed in around his neck as though Vader had his own hand gripping it. His neck locked, losing all air that tried to get through the windpipe.
The Rebel Officer struggled as he lifted his hands to the invisible hold around his neck.
"Where are the plans?" Vader asked the struggling Officer. "I know they are here."
The Officer's feet swayed above the ground, kicking at nothing in an attempt to free himself from Vader.
It wasn't the Rebel Officer who answered him, but an Imperial Officer who hesitantly stepped up to Vader's side. He clipped his hands behind his back as he looked up at the angry Sith Lord. "The Death Star plans are not in the main computer."
The news only angered Vader more. The lack of plans on the Rebel Cruiser meant they were somewhere else. Somewhere out of his reach.
He tightened his grip on the traitor as he tried to will the truth out of him. "Where are those transmissions-" he stopped to pull in a long, mechanical breath. "-you intercepted?" His Force held an audible hum, like a low, menacing purr. He lifted his hand, suspending the Rebel Officer a few inches above the ground. "What have you done with those plans?" To aid the Rebel in his answer, Vader widened his grip to allow the man a breath.
The Officer gulped down air that stole some of the red from his face. "We-" he wheezed on the small breath Vader allowed him. "we've intercepted no transmissions-" Vader tightened his grip, cutting the air off once more in retribution. Still, the officer persisted. "This is a- a consular ship. We're on a diplomatic mission."
The hum of Vader's Force heightened with his anger. "If this is a consular ship, where is the Ambassador?"
Though Vader allowed it, the Rebel Officer refused to answer. He pressed his lips tightly together in defiance.
His silence drove Vader's anger to its boiling point. It spilled over, pushing out into his grip until the Rebel Officer's neck snapped.
Vader dropped him and turned to his Imperial Officer, a smaller man who barely held his own under the growing Sith Lord's presence. "Tear this ship apart until you've found those plans-" he stopped to pull in a mechanical breath. It sounded dogged and wet. "-and bring me the Ambassador. I want her alive!"
His command was immediately met as dozens of Storm Troopers fled the ship in search of Alderaan's Ambassador, Princess Leia Organa.
But Leia wasn't alone. She hadn't been alone since she was four years old and was introduced to her decoy.
Josephine Gavana peered around a corner as she held Leia Organa back. She had a blaster in one hand, her finger hovering over the trigger in lying wait to be fired. Leia stuck behind her, watching as she made sure the coast was clear.
The floor rumbled under them, like distant thunder telling of a coming storm.
Josephine turned to peer at her Princess. "Do you hear that?"
Leia nodded. "They know we're not on the consular ship."
"We're looking for us." Her grip tightened on her blaster. "We have to move, Leia. Stick by my side and do what I say."
Leia nodded, making the white cloak covering her buns slip back. "Where are we going? We're on their ship."
Josephine took in shallow breath in pondering thought. "You sent your message out. Obi-Wan Kenobi will hear our pleas. He's saved us once. He can save us again." She looked around the same corner, and upon finding it clear of Storm Troopers, she grabbed Leia's wrist and moved down the white hallway.
Her footsteps were light, guarded, and relied heavily on her toes. Leia's, however, were sloppy, miscalculated, and heavy as she stomped behind Josephine.
"Put your weight on your toes," Josephine instructed as she led the way down the white hallway. The thundering footfall was coming faster. The noise alone was enough to cause pinprickles to attack her skin. "Shallow your breathing."
"I'm not trained for stealth like you, Jo."
She turned around harshly. "No. Don't use my name. Call me Leia. We're the same, remember?"
Leia had to hold back her eye roll. "Yes, of course. We're one and the same. Leia and Leia. Two Ambassadors for one planet."
Josephine pinched her arm. "Keep your mouth shut, Princess, or else they'll hear us." She turned to go down an alleyway that could potentially lead them to an escape pod. She wasn't sure with the many branching hallways and rooms of the Star Destroyer, but it was a futile attempt. It was all she could manage.
They made it a few more hallways when the thundering footsteps sounded like cackling echoing down the corridor.
Josephine stopped so abruptly that Leia ran into her.
"What are you doing?" Leia hissed in her ear.
Josephine tilted her head to listen to the footfalls coming from the left. She heard at least a half dozen sets of feet. Then, she turned her head to listen to the other corridor where a near dozen footfalls came from.
Josephine swallowed and turned back to her princess. "Listen to me very carefully, okay?" Her words were calming while her heart terrorized her chest. "They are going to find us."
Leia's brown eyes widened as fear crept in. "What? But- but Jo-"
Her grip hardened over Leia's arm. "Don't say a word to them. When they ask which of us is Leia, don't give in. Don't show emotion. Don't show fear. They-" The footfall was loud enough to be deafening, so she spoke louder to say, "They will try to pin us against each other. They will use whatever they can to try and figure out who we are. But once they do, the war is over. Do you understand? This is bigger than you. This is bigger than me. We must resist."
That was all she could get out before the first wave of Storm Troopers passed by the opening. They stopped at the sight of the two princesses, both in white dresses that hugged their small frames and swallowed their shoulders. Their long brown hair was twisted into two buns, one covering each ear. They had a white hood pulled up to shadow their faces, but there was no shadowing their eyes.
One had a gorgeous pair of deep brown eyes, like rich dirt promising of new, fresh land.
The other had dual eyes, one as deep as freshly turned dirt, the other as blue as the deep ocean on a summer day.
"Set for stun!" The commander instructed as he lifted his blaster toward the two. "Darth Vader wants them alive."
Fear struck through Jo. It was just as sickening as the Darkness invading the galaxy. It was toxic and intrusive as it latched on to anything it touched.
The stun hit her like a blast, stiffening her muscles and liquefying her bones as she fell into unconsciousness. She was knocked out before she hit the ground.
Her last fleeting thought was of fear and failure.
She had one mission to serve her whole life: save the Princess from the Dark Side. Keep her in the Light so she could be the hope the galaxy needed.
As they lay there, Jo knew she failed, for they were being taken to Darkness personified.
They were being taken to Darth Vader.