Golden Memories of Yesteryear

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Selinthia Avenchesca

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The swirl of red-orange smoke in the depths of Bespin's Cloud City was likened to a bloody sunset, beautiful, surreal, and doomed. Stormtroopers lurked amidst the scenery, the bounty hunter, Boba Fett kept his unseen eye trained upon the room, the Baron of the city, Lando Calrissian, hovered with nervous guilt, and the Rebels Leia Organa, Han Solo, Chewbacca, with the droid C-3PO on his back, all huddled together in fear and strained defiance.

The dark glory of Darth Vader's presence cast his shadow over them all, opening hidden crevices of their hearts to the speculation and quivering of their every secret fear.

The Dark Lord inspected the carbon freezing facility closely whilst the final preparations were made for Captain Solo's entombment within the carbon.

See-Threepio strained against Chewbacca's back, turning his head in every which direction in an attempt to witness the proceedings, demanding all the while that the Wookiee turn around.

A particularly incessant raising of his robotic voice turned the attention of quite a few in the chamber to the droid. Had he been human, Threepio may have shrugged nervously at the moment, but he was not, and the most he could do in return was to mutter, "Oh, dear."

Vader, eyeing the droid, was suddenly overcome with an overwhelming sense of familiarity. Frowning, he took a step towards the golden droid before catching himself in motion. Never the less, the feeling of familiarity persisted. The droid's design was typical, a remnant of the old Republican protocol model, but that quarrelsome voice was unique, stirring memories buried deep in Vader's mind. Building through the long, hot days in a bright room, the delight and laughter of discovering the wonders of creation, of seeing something his own, of the droid that had served for a friend as a well as a project. He had not seen that droid for decades, and the sheer unlikeliness of the droid that a child of long ago had created for his mother, to eventually end up in the possession of his wife, through circumstances, never to been seen again afterwards. Vader watched as the Rebels stared at him, realizing a moment later than he had spoken without meaning to. "Threepio," a hoarse whisper. He tensed, hoping that he had been mistaken, but the droid seemed to tense and cried out, "Oh, what? Chewbacca, move! I cannot see!"

Solo looked rather confused, but still could not resist the opportunity to make a snide comment.

"Taken to talking to droids now, huh Vader? Well, you certainly resemble them more than you do any human," he sneered.

Vader ignored the man, studying the droid instead. Golden coverings, now. When last he'd seen him, it had not been the platless exterior of his beginnings, but a clear armour-like material, holding his innards inside.

The Wookiee had turned to it's companions, now, Vader noted, leaving the droid facing Vader. Those eyes would not have registered recognition even if Amidala had not erased it's memory, as Vader strongly suspected that she had. No use leaving the galaxy's most dangerous secrets in the mind of a droid not exactly known for it's discretion and ability to stay closed mouthed. Metaphorically speaking.

"Lord Vader?" the droid inquired brightly, if with some distress at the idea of being addressed by the Dark Lord. "You called my name?"

Vader eyed him for a long moment, wondering vaguely if the astomech droid and the protocol were still reluctant companions, or if somewhere over the long years, they had been separated.

If the golden robot had been human, it would have been leaning forward in impatient expectation of an answer. Vader clamped his jaws shut against the inexplicable urge to give one. This had been his creation, annoying at times, yes, even exasperating, but a friend and supporter. He had met the droid once more when he had returned from Coruscant to free the slaves upon Tatooine, as he had dreamt of and promised when he was but 9 standard years old. His mother, the one he had made that promise to, the one he had made this droid for, had died during that return, however, destroyed by the chip contained in all slaves, before Anakin had been able to remove it. Threepio had fussed as Anakin had worked, he remembered, demanding that he "hurry up" before they were discovered. And the droid had been correct, then, Anakin had known, but even he could only work so quickly, and before he had known it, Shmi Skywalker had been dead, and the little slave master, Wotto, had shrieked about taking away what the alien rightfully owned. Anakin had been furious, cutting the slaver down with his brilliant blue lightsabre, whilst Threepio hovered over Shmi's lifeless body. Only when the flying alien had fallen dead to the floor had Anakin sunk to his knees and stared at the body of the woman who had given him birth. The first tear had come without his knowledge, but the second freed a torrent, and he had wept without control over her staring corpse. Even later, when the tears had ceased, he had stayed within that room, beginning to smell the quick decay of the body in Tatooine's heat. The droid had tried to comfort him, distressed itself over the death of the woman who had been it's mistress for some ten years. It had not mattered. When Anakin walked out of that room, his eyes had been desolate, and he ignored the chattering of the transparent mass of wires and metal behind him.

Darth Vader came back to the present when the Wookiee turned, once more blocking the droid from Vader's sight, and the Dark Lord turned irritably towards the Stormtroopers waiting nearby.

"Put Solo in," his voice sounded almost absent-minded.

The breathless atmosphere of waiting and puzzlement in the bowels of Cloud City was broken, and the Stormtroopers moved forward to claim Solo. The Wookiee roared it's protest and stepped forward to toss the 'troopers about like dolls, but Solo prevented it, calming the Wookiee and advising his to wait for a another time. There would be no other time, Vader thought. These Rebel fools would be imprisoned and then executed, and Luke Skywalker would be Vader's to do with as he and his Emperor wished.

The Princess rushed forward to kiss the smuggler, her face full of sorrow and helplessness.

"I love you!" she spoke feverently as the two were separated.

"I know," Solo said, and then he was lowered into the chamber.

The Wookiee roared it's distress, half turning away, once more giving Threepio view of the proceedings.

"Oh, they're incasing him in carbonite! He should be quite well protected. . .if he survived the freezing process, that is."

The Wookiee barked angrily at the droid's technical report, silencing the golden protocol model once. The carbonite slab was removed from the chamber, then, and Calrissian approached to move over it, checking the results.

"He's alive," the man's voice was steady, "And in perfect hibernation."

"He's all yours, bounty hunter," Vader turned to hiss at Boba Fett, who waited long hours for Solo to be put in the man's control, ready to ship the smuggler out to the crime boss, Jabba the Hutt.

"Re-set the chamber for Skywalker," he instructed then, turning away from Fett.

"Skywalker has just landed, my lord," an aide informed.

"See to it that he finds his way here," Vader replied. "Bring the Princess and the Wookiee to my ship."

Calrissian was making some useless protest now, raising his voice in insolence about how 'This was never a part of our deal!'

"I am altering the deal," Vader said darkly, "Pray I do not alter it any further."

He applied slight pressure through the Force around the man's neck, warning him in action as well as words. The man capitulated then, turning away in resignation.

Vader, studying the prisoners once, spoke again at the last moment, "And take the droid to my ship as well. Don't melt him down."

"Oh thank the Maker!" the droid spoke in fervent relief. Vader almost smiled at the irony of the statement then, considering that he was Threepio's maker, and had delivered this boon.

The Princess frowned and demanded, "What do you want with a droid?"

Vader tilted his helmet. Insolent woman. She didn't know when to keep quiet. None the less, he answered.

"I was overcome with sentiment," a faint edge of sarcasm ran along his words, "And memory."

Let them chew upon those statements, fruitlessly, no doubt. Irritably, becoming impatient now, Vader waved the Stormtroopers to take the entire party away. The droid's voice trailed along as it grew further away,

"I'm quite sure I don't know what he meant, Chewbacca. No. . .no, I've never met him before in my life! Why ever would you think that?"

Alone in the carbon freezing chamber, Vader gave a quiet chuckle at the droid's unwitting lie. He did not know what he would do with it, but he was unwilling to let his long ago creation end anonymously in a melting pot. Childhood was far behind Lord Vader, buried in years and blood and fire, but a quarrelsome remnant could be spared it's destruction, though the droid himself was unlikely to ever know why.

The end