Admiral Tarkel took a nervous gulp before walking over to the true head of this mission. "L-Lord Vader?" He spoke up nervously.
The Lord of the Sith was quietly, if he can ever be quiet with the sound of his breathing, staring down at the planet Earth through one of the windows of the ship. "What is it, Admiral?"
“In one hour, the Y-Transport ships will be sent out with squadrons of Storm troopers to search for the Emperor's son," The new Admiral explained. "Do you wish to see them off?"
Darth Vader remained silent for a couple of minutes before finally giving his answer. "See to their departure yourself, Admiral. Also, send a signal to every bounty hunter available."
The Admiral blinked his eyes in awe. "Y-you would wish us to take common mercenaries over here!? But I thought we were not to attack any of the Earthlings."
Darth Vader turned to regard the Admiral for the first time. The man trembled at the sight of the tall black figure towering over him, the lenses covering his eyes making him even more nervous for he couldn't see the man's eyes. "I suggest you stop questioning your orders, Admiral, for your sake."
"Y-y-yes, Lord Vader!" The Admiral Saluted. "I will send a transmission to Star Destroyer 70 guarding the Wormhole on the other end. They'll send out word to the bounty hunters."
The Sith Lord returned to his Earth-gazing.
...What a pathetic little planet.
He did, however, feel a familiar presence. A presence he hadn't felt since...
...
Her.
It had to be her.
He would have the bounty hunters fish her out... and then he'd do the killing. He owed her that much.
And then... he paused in mid-thought. He'd just felt a disturbance in the Force right... behind him!
And while he could not see it, he could feel the presence of a weapon, no, a gathering of Force... coming right down upon him!
"Dead... Scream..." Was the whispered voice.
The resulting explosion resounded through the room, followed by a steady hum. As he recovered from the surprise, and lowered his lightsaber, Vader wondered who would be strong enough in the Force to teleport a couple of feet behind him. Thankfully the walls of his chambers were soundproof, he could deal with the threat himself. "Show yourself," he said in his deep voice.
Setsuna cursed mentally. How dare this bastard survive? He was a true threat to Crystal Tokyo all right.
Stepping into view, Setsuna decided to end this now; her grip on her staff tight.
Once the smoke cleared it was revealed that the Lord of the Sith didn't even have a scratch on him, his lightsaber at the ready. The only sounds heard as he waited for the intruder to make a move were his mechanical respiratory system and the steady hum of his weapon.
Setsuna frowned, wishing she had the control over time to make it freeze. She could just behead the bastard then. But that was a big NO in the rules.
Well, it looked like she'd have to do this the old-fashioned way.
VIOLENTLY!!!
"RAAAGH!!!" She shouted and charged, using her staff like a battle-pole.
Vader would've scoffed at the undisciplined attack, since he expected more out of someone with such control over the Force, but instead he just parried the blow and extended his left arm forward. The Guardian of the Gates of Time was hit with a wave of concussive force that sent her crashing against the metal wall.
Setsuna grit her teeth at the pain coursing through her body. But she couldn't give up. Not yet.
Darth Vader concentrated on expanding his control over the Force around them. He was not letting this attacker escape the same way she arrived.
Using her Key-staff to get her balance and get back into a standing position, Setsuna was going to try the Dead Scream once more.
The armored man extended his hand forward and made a small squeezing gesture.
Sailor Pluto's eyes widened as she felt her larynx start to cave in.
Oh shit, she was screwed!
Vader turned off his lightsaber and walked closer to the struggling Setsuna. He reached forward and ripped her staff from her grip.
Setsuna couldn't hold on. She was losing oxygen and fast!
Vader waited till he felt Setsuna was about to die of asphyxia before relaxing his hold on her. Though he didn't let go completely, just enough not to kill her. "Who are you?"
Setsuna gasped again and again, trying to regain her bearings. "Go to hell..." She snapped defiantly.
Vader continued standing tall as he examined the woman's weapon. "We can keep this on for as long as you want."
Setsuna's eyes widened as she felt her throat tighten.
Once again Vader waited for Setsuna to reach her limit before relaxing his hold on her now very abused larynx.
Setsuna collapsed to the floor this time. On her hands and knees, she tried gasping for air.
"Well?" Vader asked once again as he decided this staff must be some kind of focus for her powers.
"I..." Setsuna gulped. "I am Sailor Pluto... Of the Sailor Senshi."
Vader nodded slowly, though that information didn't serve him it did please him to see this woman speak. "Why did you attack me?"
"Your presence threatens the course that the planet earth should follow." Setsuna said. "You are disrupting the flow of time."
"Once our business here is done with, we'll leave this planet," Vader explained even if it was a blatant lie. The Empire would set a strong foot on this system now that it was discovered. He was intrigued, though. "How do you know this?"
Setsuna frowned. She wasn't going to answer.
Vader threw the time key away and leaned down. He took a grip of Setsuna's throat and lifted her off her feet with one hand. "I grow tired of your stubbornness. You will answer me, now."
"I would rather die than answer you," She growled out defiantly.
Vader tightened his hold on Setsuna's windpipe, the Senshi's feet dangling helplessly a foot off the floor. "You will answer me or you will be destroyed."
Setsuna said, "Destroy me." She would not betray her duty to the Time Gates. Who knows what would happen should this monster get a hold of them!
Vader was about to do just that when he felt it, a huge wave of... fear and hatred?! Interesting, he thought. He started to probe into her feelings, which she was broadcasting openly to his senses. "I sense a great fear in you. Could it be that you're affraid I might... take a hold of the Gates?" He didn't know what they were, but he was mostly bluffing to see if she broke.
Setsuna's eyes widened. Shit! He knew about them!
Vader nodded inwardly to himself. "I will probably keep you alive just so you can see as I destroy everything you hold dear."
“Bastard!" Setsuna growled out and swung a leg forward to try and kick him.
Vader allowed the kick to hit him and continued speaking. As he did more and more of Setsuna's mind opened to him, and he started to become more convinced on his path of action. "I would stop doing that. You don't want me to kill your princess, do you?"
Setsuna hissed like a wounded cat. "I WON'T LET YOU, YOU MONSTER!" She shouted and tried to kick him again and again.
Vader was now certain of what to do. He threw Setsuna away and towards the same direction her staff was on. "Your hate is strong."
Setsuna glared hatefully at the man and grabbed her staff. Already she was up to her feet and going through the motions of the Dead Scream. She had to destroy him! She wouldn't let him bring everything she worked so hard for crashing down.
Vader used the Force to disrupt her own gathering of energy, surprisingly quite a simple matter since her attack was very rudimentary, and made it so the energy back-lashed against her.
Setsuna screamed and was sent flying back against a wall as her own attack disrupted within her, the energy filling every nerve in her body with pure unadulterated pain!
The Dark Lord slowly walked over to Setsuna and stared down at her impassively. "Your hate is making you more powerful, but you are undisciplined. You have failed your princess."
Sailor Pluto growled and struck out at Vader with her staff.
A lightsaber was almost instantly turned on and used to block the strike. As he kept the block the staff started to protest the treatment, since the other weapon was pure energy.
The woman kept pushing forward though, the Garnet Orb of her staff glowing. She had to defeat this demon in black!
"You have failed them all. Now I will destroy them, particularly your princess." Vader knew this was it, he was pushing her and it was surprisingly easy to make her fall deeper and deeper into the Dark Side. It seemed like her repressed negative feelings were all coming out to the fore.
Setsuna roared out in frustration, anger, hatred, and overall rage; wanting nothing more than to mangle this ebony sonnuvabitch beyond recognition!
...And then a wave of pure force literally erupted from Setsuna, actually forcing Darth Vader back.
Not that he was sent flying, but the heels of his boots actually scrapped across the ground as he was pushed back.
Victory! Darth Vader braced for the incoming attack and knew the first step was taken. It would be a long and painful process, for the woman, but in the end he'd have another servant of the Dark Side.
Setsuna breathed heavily as she stood there, a primal light glowing from her red eyes. "I'LL KILL YOU!!!" She shrieked and started charging forth once more.
Vader met her charge dead on, sparks flying as his lightsaber made contact with her staff. "That's it! Release your anger! Use your hate to destroy me!"
"I'LL SMASH YOU TO ATOMS!!!" She roared hatefully as her staff seemed to hum with new power; her Garnet Orb glowing brightly.
The armored man's breathing started to quicken as the fight escalated and started to demand more out of him. He started to take the offensive, wanting to end the fight now that he'd drawn Setsuna to the edge.
Setsuna raised her staff back and overhead, preparing to bash Vader over the head. The orb and her eyes glowing an intense ruby light.
Vader prepared his lightsaber for an upward blow. He was going to force that staff out of her hands even if he had to cut them off.
With a roar, Setsuna brought the staff down, hoping to bash Vader's skull in.
He struck up with all his might, his lightsaber impacting against the staff with such force that one of Setsuna's elbows was dislocated.
Setsuna screamed in pain and was sent flying back, hitting the back of her head hard against a wall, and rendered unconscious.
Vader stood there for a moment and then willed his lightsaber off. As fate would have it, it seemed like he'd just found the first of the new Emperor's servants.
After a moment, the door opened, Tarkel walking in and standing at attention. "Lord Vader! Many bounty hunters have received the signal and ARE going to come here, via another Star Destroyer. They should arrive at 200 hours, tomorrow."
Vader turned to regard the Admiral. "Good. Did you see the troops off?"
"That I did," Admiral Tarkel said. "They should have hit the ground about two minutes ago. And will be standing by to secure the airfields for bases until the search starts at 1800 tonight."
"You have done well, Admiral Tarkel." It was such a rare occurrence that Darth Vader gave praise. He was really in a good mood.
Tarkel smiled. Oh this was great! He might actually survive past 24 hours after all! "That's wonderful, Lord Vader. Anything else I may get for you?" He noticed the girl in the exotic outfit and asked, "Perhaps a few more Harem girls? I'm sure Jabba has a lot of dancers that could amuse you for entertainment."
“Is that so, Admiral?" Vader asked slowly.
Moff Tarkel nodded, missing the threatening tone on Vader's voice. "Yes. Jabba does have ties to the Empire. In fact, he's the one who is sending us the Bounty Hunters. I'm sure he wouldn't mind sending you a few slave-girls as well."
Vader didn't say anything more. He just stood there as he willed the Force to silence this blasted fool... Forever.
Looks like there would be need for a new victim, er, 'Admiral.'
Vader would've snorted if he still could and turned back to the unconscious Senshi. It would take time, but he would break her completely and mold her for the new Emperor.
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(Posted Thu, 30 Dec 2004 02:57)
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