PAYING THE PRICE

Darth Vader was on his way to Coruscant.

Furious he was, at the fact that he had failed to prevent the Death Star from being destroyed. That he had failed to eliminate Luke Skywalker.

Then there was Han Solo, who had blasted Vader off course, the moment he was going to destroy Luke.

Total revenge Vader wanted on Luke and Solo.

However, in spite of his rage, Vader was afraid. Afraid of facing his master. Afraid of being punished for his failure.

When Vader reached Coruscant, he went straight to the throne room of Imperial Palace.

Seated on the throne, was Darth Sidious.

Mas Amedda was standing at his side and the guards were by the entrance.

Sidious did not look at all pleased to see Vader and neither did Amedda.

“You have failed me again, Vader,” Sidious said. “Thanks to you, the Death Star is no more. Thanks to you, Tarkin – my most cherished friend, is no more.”

“One single Rebel fighter destroyed the Death Star and you failed to eliminate him,” said Amedda.

“I was attacked before I had the chance too.”

“We know!” Sidious said.

“But you did not sense the presence of the Millennium Falcon,” said Amedda.

“You did not sense it in the Force,” Sidious said.

“Even more disappointing, is the fact that you allowed another Rebel fighter to be spared.”

“Let him go. Stay on the leader, is what you said.”

The last thing Vader had expected, was for Sidious to bring that incident up.

He then thought about how he had succeeded in defeating Obi-Wan.

“Not good enough, Vader,” Sidious said. “Not good enough. You should have eliminated Obi-Wan on Mustafar.”

“But you were not strong enough,” said Amedda.

“Too weak!”

“Yes! I was too weak, Master.”

“A failure too,” Amedda said.

“And what do we do with failures?”

“We punish them, my lord.”

“Yes! We punish them.”

Sidious got up and approached Vader, accompanied by Amedda.

Using the Force, he lifted his apprentice up off the floor and hurled him very hard against the walls and ceiling of the throne room. He then tossed him into a corner.

That was bad enough, but Vader knew it was far from over.

Sidious approached his apprentice with Amedda, who was loving every second of it.

He then electrocuted him ten times with dark side lightning. Each attack was more powerful than the one before and lasted twice as long.

In other words, slow torture.

When it was over, Vader lay all battered, singed and fried. Like a burnt-out fuse.

“What a pathetic, useless hunk of junk.”

“Why do you not finish him off, my lord?”

“Because death is too good for him.”

“If I were you, my lord, I’d squeeze the life right out of him.”

“I know you would, but I have something far worse in mind.”

“Enlighten me, my lord.”

“You and I will take this worthless piece of trash back to Mustafar and deposit him in the same place we found him. There he will stay, until I have further need of him.”

“Excellent, my lord.”

So Vader was taken to Mustafar, without his lightsabre and deposited on the bank of the lava river, like a ship wreck.