Chapter Text
Din Dijarin glared at the Imperial “messenger” in front of him. He has been having to deal with this man and people like him for the past several months. Honestly, if the rebellion was not already doing it, he might try to take down the Empire himself just to get them to leave him and his people alone. As it was, the man was making ridiculous offer after ridiculous offer. The suggestion was that he–as the Mand’alor–sign a treaty that guaranteed the neutrality of Mandalore. In return, Darth Vader would send a representative to be collateral.
“So,” Din said with deadly calm, “you are saying that you will be sending someone to be a prisoner for the rest of their life. Am I understanding this correctly?”
The man, not catching the murderous undertones, responded with something like relief, “Yes! This will be an act of good will toward the people of Mandalore.”
With every fiber of his being, Din held off from pulling out his blaster and shooting the man right in the center of his unprotected head, “I will let you know my response in a week. In the meantime, get off my planet.”
The man scrambled away, his practically white head of hair looking like it wanted to shed itself from him as he practically sprinted from the room. Din looked at Bo-Katan before putting his head in his hands. Fury rolled off of her in waves even as her face remained impassive looking at the door. He stood from the chair and gestured for her to follow him as he trudged toward his office.
“Would it be a bad idea to join with the rebellion in secret just to get rid of this idiotic Empire?” He mused.
She let out a snort and glared at a map of the galaxy. They both held the same views on the Empire. Every mandalorian did. He could not help the feeling of cold dread that filled him at the idea that the Empire would send someone to be a prisoner for the rest of their life. It felt too close to slavery for him to be comfortable. He almost wished that someone else had this job. He had accepted it a long time ago, but it does not change the fact that sometimes it would be nice to make someone else deal with the crap of making friends with other governments.
Bo-Katan let her shoulders slump as she turned to Din, “I believe, Mand’alor, that this is a subject we should bring up to the Counsel of the Clans.”
He gave a nod of begrudging acceptance and sat down in the hard chair of his simple desk. It was time to call the Counsel.
~~~~
Luke forced himself to remain still against the rising nausea he felt at the caress of the Dark Side. He had managed to fool his father and the Emperor into believing that he was on their side, but the mere touch of the Dark Side was like poison in his veins. It controlled and manipulated its user as it transformed them into something alien. He could see that his father was still there, somewhere, under the suffocating weight of the Dark Side’s influence. A man that was enslaved once more. Luke refused to become that. The moment he got the chance, he was getting out of this gilded cage. He was going to escape and disappear from the universe. The rebellion was doing just fine without him. He was not necessary. He just wanted to be free. He wanted to feel the weightless feeling of flight. He wanted, surprisingly, to feel the heat from the suns on his home planet. He wanted to help those back home feel that freedom too. To feel what it was like to be able to make a choice without having someone breathing down their neck. He had never thought of what it was like to be a slave before this experience. Even though he was the son of a slave, it had still seemed so foreign. He did believe that slavery was wrong, but he had never felt the passion to abolish it that he did now.
“Your Highness,” Darth Vader said as he entered the large room on the second Death Star, “the Mand’alor has agreed to our treaty. Who do you want me to send?”
Darth Sidious gave a grotesque smile as he looked at Luke, dressed in black and staring blankly ahead, “We will send your son. He is the perfect person to be a spy.”
Luke, fighting everything in him that rebelled, knelt down and responded in a firm tone, “As you wish, Your Majesty. I will do as you command.”
The Emperor, too blinded by his pride, did not even attempt to search for deceit as he waved for father and son to leave. Luke was leaving immediately, so they wasted no time. As Luke boarded the vessel, he gave into the one thing he wished for.
He hugged his father and whispered, “I will never see you again father. I only wish I could have freed you of the chains that bind you before I left.”
Then, he was gone–vanishing onto the ship before the words could be processed. He had his chance. He was not going to waste it.
~~~~
Din scowled in disbelief at the man in front of him, “So, you lost your loyal and willing prisoner for me.”
The sweating, balding man let out a squeak before replying, “Yes, sir. We must have loaded him onto the wrong transport. I am certain that he will be here as soon as he can. He is the most loyal of all of the soldiers of the Empire. Din scowled at the man before gesturing to his men.
“Well then, I am sure you won’t mind taking his place then until he can be found,” he said calmly and turned away to the sound of the man’s protests. Once he was out of ear shot, he said, “it appears we were right. Perhaps, if we find the man, we could help him get to the Rebellion.”
Bo-Katan nodded and replied, “I will put our best on it.”
“No,” Din replied, a tense feeling entering his shoulders, “I will go myself. It will also make it more believable. As the Mand’alor I would want to embarrass the Empire for the insult by finding the man personally.”