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Astrid must've dozed off from where she sat on the bench, leaned against the wall, because she was awoken by the sound of her holding cell's door opening. Her eyes snapped open as she swiftly lowered her feet to the ground and turned her body towards the door. She found Darth Vader standing there in the doorway of her cell. With his tall figure and broad shoulders, he almost entirely filled the door frame.
"Come with me," he ordered.
Astrid didn't bother resisting his order, and instead, she gave him a dirty, disdainful look as she sidled past him and stepped out of her cell. Her limbs ached from holding such an uncomfortable sitting position for so long on the bench inside her cell.
She felt Darth Vader's gloved hand on her upper arm as he led her forward down the hallway. Their footsteps echoed in the hallway as they strode towards where Astrid guessed was the ship's main bridge. Except, Darth Vader directed her towards their ship's lowered ramp instead, and Astrid realized their ship was actually inside the hangar of a much larger ship.
Her breath hitched as she took in the high vaulted ceilings-- nearly a hundred feet above her-- and the vast hangar room that was easily the size of ten Republic Star Destroyers placed side-by-side. Along the edges of the hangar were parked ships, and their own ship looked to have landed in the center of the massive hangar. Stormtroopers and Imperial officers milled around the hangar, and though none of them glanced towards Astrid and Darth Vader, she had the sense that they were very much aware of their presence.
Astrid realized then what ship they were on; the Death Star.
She stumbled in her surprise at the realization. Darth Vader's grip tightened on her arm to keep her from face planting on the ground. How kind, she thought sarcastically with a withering sidelong glance in his direction.
He directed her forward towards the hangar exit, and before long, they entered the Death Star's vast, maze-like hallway system. Several stormtroopers and Imperial officers passed them as the two of them walked through the dimly lit, dark metal-walled hallways, but none of the Imperial soldiers cast a single glance in their direction. Based upon the sheer terror Astrid could sense from the Imperial soldiers through the Force, she knew they were purposefully avoiding eye contact with Vader and her-- as if they didn't want to attract notice from the Sith.
This time Darth Vader did lead her to the main bridge, and when they entered, Astrid found a man in a slate grey Imperial uniform with greying dark hair standing in the center of the main bridge. Astrid recognized him immediately as Grand Admiral Tarkin, and her mouth curled with disgust at the sight of him.
All around the control room were Imperial officers and technicians, busy tapping at their respective control screens, and they paid Darth Vader and Astrid no heed as they entered the room. As the doors closed behind them, Darth Vader released Astrid and moved towards the side viewport. Astrid tracked Vader with her eyes. Her gaze jumped over Vader's broad shoulders to land upon the view of Alderaan outside the viewport. She realized, then, that the Death Star had moved locations from Scarif to Alderaan.
This couldn't be good.
Astrid heard slow footsteps moving towards her, and she shifted her gaze to find Tarkin approaching her with a faintly amused smirk. She gave him a hard look as she demanded, "What do you want from me? It was completely unnecessary to kill all of my men and take me here."
Tarkin stopped a few feet in front of her as he answered, "Your ship was spotted near Scarif... Ayla Rano, isn't it? Senator Bail Organa's advisor?"
Astrid didn't answer.
Tarkin's mouth curled to the side as he continued, "There was rebellious activity on Scarif earlier, but rest assured it was swiftly put to rest." His cold eyes glittered with malice as he continued calmly, "Something of great importance to the Empire was stolen. We are simply here to see if you have what was stolen from the Scarif base."
"I am currently on a diplomatic mission," Astrid told him coolly, remembering the backup story Cleo had told her. "Why would I have something important of the Empire's in my possession? I am not a part of the Resistance. I am loyal to the--"
"Empire," Tarkin finished for her with a cold smile. "Of course you are, but we cannot take any chances, and therefore, cannot take your word for it I'm afraid." His words dripped with insincerity, like sweet venom trying to be disguised as honey.
Tarkin slipped his hands behind his back as his gaze intensified on her face. He strode closer to her and stopped a mere foot away from where Astrid stood rigidly in place. Astrid stared him boldly in the eye, refusing to be intimidated by this man. She couldn't help but remember when he'd advocated for Ahsoka's execution to the old Republic Senate when Ahsoka had been framed for the Jedi Temple bombing.
Tarkin seethed in a slow manner, "Tell us where the Death Star's plans are immediately, Ayla."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Astrid hissed as she leaned towards him in his face. Her nose wrinkled with disgust. "Now, let me go. Senator Organa is expecting me."
Tarkin's face relaxed as he leaned away from her and took a few steps back. Astrid released the breath she'd been holding as the distance increased between her and Tarkin with each step he took away from her.
A smirk slid across Tarkin's face as he remarked casually, "Why yes, Bail Organa, the traitorous senator."
Astrid's stomach dropped at his words, and fear gripped her throat for Bail's safety. How had he discovered Bail's part in the rebellion?
Tarkin turned towards Darth Vader, who still stood facing Alderaan out of the viewport, and said, "Lord Vader, please inform Ayla about our recent revelations regarding Senator Organa."
Darth Vader twisted towards Astrid before he spoke in an unfeeling, baritone voice... as if he was bored, or perhaps because he'd lost all sense of humanity. "Senator Organa was found to be in coercion with the rebels, and Emperor Palpatine has abolished the Imperial Senate in response."
Astrid gasped at his words, startled that Palpatine had abolished the Senate, the last vestige of democracy... or perhaps the last facade of having a democracy. This was an empire, not a republic, after all.
She looked wildly between Tarkin and Darth Vader as she protested earnestly in an attempt to keep the ruse up, "I can't believe this. Bail would never--"
"Oh, save your theatrics," Tarkin interrupted her in an irate tone. "We know you are involved with Senator Organa's correspondence with the rebels. You are his advisor, after all. Now, tell us. Where is the rebel base, and where are the Death Star's plans?"
"I will not tell you," Astrid seethed, dropping all pretense.
Tarkin marched up to her until he was but a foot away as he demanded angrily, spittle flying, "Tell us now, or your little rebel friends will pay!"
"No."
Tarkin's face twisted with fury at her open refusal, and he flung a finger at the viewport window towards the peaceful planet, Alderaan, as he hissed in a low, but firm voice, "Tell us the location of the rebel base and the Death Star's stolen plans, or Alderaan will be completely and utterly destroyed."
Astrid's eyes widened in horror. She was so surprised by his brutality that when she opened her mouth to speak, no words came out. Tarkin's mouth curled with disgust as he shook his head regretfully.
He made to turn away, but she grasped his arm, stopping him, as she protested, "You can't do this! Alderaan is a peaceful planet with no weapons of their own! Please, don't do this!"
Tarkin whirled towards her as he snarled, "I won't have to do this if you just tell me what I need to know! Now!"
Astrid pursed her lips, infuriated at being put in such a terrible position. Allow Alderaan to be destroyed and kill millions of lives, or reveal to the Empire the Resistance's location so that the Empire could continue to kill millions of lives? It was such an awful, insolvable dilemma.
"Fine," Astrid spat, her mind whirling for a random planet to name. "The Resistance base is on Dantooine." It was a random planet in the Outer Rim, so it seemed like a good planet where the rebels would possibly build their base.
Tarkin stilled at her admission, and a slow smile crept upon his wrinkled face. "Dantooine," he mused. "Interesting." He turned away from Astrid towards the Imperial officers surrounding the controls below the bridge before ordering with a flippant wave of his hand, "Fire at Alderaan whenever you are ready."
"NO!" Astrid cried as she lunged towards Tarkin.
She was halted mid-lunge by the invisible bindings of the Force, and kept suspended in the air. Automatically, she knew it was Darth Vader stopping her from attacking Tarkin. She struggled futilely against the invisible Force bindings that wrapped around her arms, tying them to her sides. She gritted her teeth with fury as she stared at Tarkin's retreating backside.
"You can't do this!" Astrid spat at Tarkin as he strode away from her, and she cast Darth Vader a wrathful glance. "I just told you the location! You said you wouldn't hurt anyone if I told you!"
Tarkin gave her an amused look over his shoulder as he remarked casually, "Did I? I thought you were a politician. You ought to stop being so naive, Ayla. That is a lesson that will serve you well in the future."
Suddenly, the Force bindings that had been keeping her suspended in the air disappeared, and Astrid collapsed onto the ground since her balance was off-kilter. She landed on her hands and knees with a painful thud before she scrambled to her feet.
Her gaze found Alderaan outside the viewport right as a large beam of light shot towards the vulnerable, oblivious planet, Alderaan-- beautiful, mountainous Alderaan-- and towards her friends, Cleo and Bail. A moment later, the entire planet was blown apart into fragments in one massive, fiery explosion.
It all happened so fast.
A cry of anguish and despair escaped Astrid as she stared at the empty spot where Alderaan had once stood, and tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks at the loss of her friends and allies. All of the people that had helped her get back to her feet after Order Sixty-Six were gone. All the people who had been striving for a better future by building up the Resistance were dead.
They were dead. All of them were dead.
Her aching chest felt hollow as if a pit had opened up inside her, and she became aware of the fact that her breaths were coming in hyperventilating gasps. Astrid sensed Tarkin walking towards her, and she felt his cold hand grasp her chin and wrench her face up to his.
She stared into his cold eyes with all the hate she could muster as Tarkin spoke in an indifferent voice, "Thank you for your cooperation."
Tarkin's eyes slid to where Darth Vader remained standing silently by the side viewport, and he ordered, "Lord Vader, take her away to her holding cell. I have more immediate matters to attend to than dealing with unruly, unimportant advisors."
He let go of her face, and Astrid took the opportunity to rake her nails as hard as she could across his face. Tarkin wrenched away from her with a shout of outrage before he backhanded her across the face. Astrid collapsed to the ground with the force of his strike, and she remained stooped on the ground as her vision swam, black dots peppering her vision.
She heard Tarkin make a sound of disgust before he strode out of the room, the heels of his boots clipping sharply on the gleaming metal floors. Astrid swiped a hand across her nose, and her hand came away with a smear of blood.
She felt a hand grip her arm, and she wrenched herself away from the person with a shout as she scrambled away from them. Astrid looked up to find Darth Vader standing there, one hand extended from when he'd tried to get her to her feet.
"Get away from me," Astrid snarled. "Don't lay another finger on me, or I will kill you."
He didn't reply, and Astrid had the sudden sense that his attention was fixed somewhere else. Instinctively, she glanced down at herself, only to realize that her japor snippet necklace had slipped out from where it had been tucked underneath her dress. She hastily slipped the necklace underneath her dress.
Astrid felt another flare of shock and disbelief through the Force from Darth Vader, though she couldn't be sure of the reason behind his surprise.
Suddenly, he knelt before her, his black cape pooling at his feet, and Astrid sucked in a breath, holding deathly still, as he lifted a black-gloved hand to her cheek. The tips of his fingers brushed across her cheek with the barest of traces in a startlingly gentle manner. She didn't dare move because she was afraid any unexpected movement on her part would wind up with her being impaled by a lightsaber. Even if she wanted to move, she couldn't because she was too entranced by his unexpected behavior.
Suddenly, he snatched his hand away from her face as if he'd been touching fire and had begun to burn. She sensed his shock and disbelief transformed to anger through the Force. He appeared frustrated at himself as he growled, as if trying to convince himself, "No, it is impossible. It cannot be that--"
He cut himself off abruptly before he grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet. Astrid let out a small yelp of pain at his roughness. She scrambled to get her feet underneath her as he directed her towards the door of the main bridge.
They entered the hallway, and he half-dragged her to-- she supposed-- wherever her holding cell was located. When Darth Vader reached the room he wanted, he stopped before it and aggressively punched in a code into the keypad. The doors slid open a moment later.
Astrid found herself staring into another windowless holding cell.
He pushed her inside, but rather than leaving the cell or remaining by the door, he walked inside with her. Astrid moved as far away from him as she could as her heart hammered in her chest in a mixture of fear and anticipation. Her back hit the metal wall behind her, and she startled.
Maybe he had shoved her into this room so he could kill her in private where nobody would see.
With a hiss, Darth Vader's lightsaber ignited, and his crimson plasmic blade hovered in front of her, just inches from her throat. Astrid swallowed nervously as she eyed the blade. She considered pulling out her own lightsaber, but she knew he would kill her before she could even ignite hers.
"Where did you get that?" he demanded, his mechanical voice filling with an anger that he usually kept hidden and locked away inside himself.
"Get what?" Astrid snapped, matching his anger.
He reached forward with a black gloved hand and, before Astrid could somehow rear away from his touch, yanked her necklace out from where it had been hidden underneath her dress.
"This," he answered heatedly.
Astrid didn't glance down at her necklace for fear she would accidentally touch his lightsaber hovering before her. "I'm not going to tell you anything," she seethed. "Now, go run back to your Emperor or perhaps even Grand Admiral Tarkin." Her voice filled with disgust as she continued, "I should've known Tarkin held your leash. You're nothing but a--"
She was cut short as he threateningly moved his lightsaber closer to her throat. "Tell me where you got that necklace," he demanded in an icy cold voice that promised violence if she didn't answer.
"Why--why do you care?" she managed to stammer out, alarmed by the intensity of his desire to know about the necklace Anakin had given her. He didn't answer. Instead, he waited in silence, practically radiating fury, and Astrid swallowed before she answered, "Someone gave it to me."
"Who?" he demanded. When she didn't immediately answer, he pressed impatiently, "Was it someone by the name Astrid Katarn?"
Astrid sucked in a breath at the mention of her name, especially from Darth Vader's mouth. This was the second time now that she'd heard him mention her. So, Darth Vader did know her from the Jedi Order. There was absolutely no denying it now.
Astrid swallowed nervously before asking, "Why do you want to know? Do you know this Astrid Katarn? What do you want from her?"
"I want to know if she is truly dead," Darth Vader replied evenly, and his anger seemed slightly abated as if he was sensing her weakening stubbornness and growing curiosity. "If she is alive, then everything changes."
"Everything changes?"
His voice turned softer, quieter. "Yes."
Her eyes widened. "How?" Astrid breathed.
Who in the world was Darth Vader? It could only be Maddox, one of her old Padawan friends. He was the only one she could think of who would call her a friend of theirs, and he was the only one who Astrid didn't know for certain was dead.
Vader seemed to shake off whatever strange reverie he'd been entranced in before he threateningly inched his lightsaber closer to her throat, urging her to tell him what he wanted to know as he repeated, "I want to know if Astrid Katarn is truly dead. Who gave this necklace to you? Was it her?"
Astrid swallowed before glancing down at the lightsaber, and she realized she wasn't afraid of his lightsaber, of dying. Everyone was dead, nearly all hope was squashed. It would be a blessed mercy to die right here and right now, to be reunited with her friends and family, with Anakin.
Astrid stared Darth Vader in the eye as she whispered in a hiss, "Go ahead and kill me. It would be a blessing."
"I will not kill you when you have information that I need," he countered shortly.
If the reason he wanted to find her was so he could kill her, then good. He could kill her now. And if the reason he wanted to find her was for some other reason that "changed things", then good to that, as well. She couldn't see how much worse things could get. They had hit rock bottom. So, the least she could do right now was see what he would do next when he knew she was alive.
"Fine," she snapped, angry now. "Astrid Katarn is--"
Suddenly, Darth Vader's comlink beeped, cutting her off, and Astrid glanced at it curiously as he lifted his wrist to look at it. Astrid could sense his annoyance at being interrupted as he accepted the call, and a holographic image of a black hooded figure appeared above his wrist.
When the figure spoke, Astrid recognized the voice as Emperor Palpatine's voice. Emperor Palpatine was saying, "Lord Vader, bring Senator Organa's advisor to Coruscant. I believe she is more than she appears to be. I would like to meet with her."
Astrid's heart stuttered at his words, and she found herself taking back her earlier thoughts on dying. Somehow, she had been okay with dying at Darth Vader's hand, but dying at Palpatine's hand was entirely undesired. It felt like giving up.
"As you wish, Master. I will depart with Organa's advisor to Coruscant in my own ship," Darth Vader replied with a dip of his head before Palpatine's hologram disappeared. His crimson lightsaber deactivated with a soft hiss, but he kept the weapon gripped in his hand as he turned away from Astrid towards the door.
As he stepped towards the door, Astrid reached forward in a bold move and grabbed Vader's right forearm. "Wait!" she said hurriedly as she halted him. Before he could slice her hand off with his lightsaber or do something else along those lines, she quickly yanked her hand away as she continued, "If I tell you about Astrid Katarn, do you promise to defend me against Emperor Palpatine? I have the feeling he wants to kill me after--"
She trailed off as he turned his head to look at her, and she swore she felt a flicker of... familiarity when she gazed into his black mask.
Her face turned thoughtful as she looked at Darth Vader, and she couldn't help but ask softly, "Why do you wear a mask? Are you scarred? Or is the mask just to terrify people?"
There was a moment of silence before he answered coldly, "It provides me anonymity and makes people fear me." He didn't spare her another glance before the cell doors slid open, and he stepped out of the cell.
Yet, right before the doors slid shut behind him, Astrid thought she saw him stop and turn back towards her cell. She blinked as she was left staring at the closed cell doors.
Astrid realized then that Darth Vader had never answered her plea to defend her against Emperor Palpatine, or, should she say, Darth Sidious.
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