Darth Vader found himself in the cockpit of the Current sooner than he would’ve liked. He had visited the princess to get a better understanding of the connection he felt to her, but left even more unbalanced. Leia Organa was strong in the Force, that was of no debate. If given the proper training, she had the potential to become a powerful Sith, perhaps even strong enough to help him overthrow the Emperor. But it wasn’t the princess’s power that concerned him, it was the ripple in the Force he now felt being in her presence.

It was something Vader had never felt before, only appearing after she used her power to kill the Grand Moff. It was a subtle change, just the slightest alteration in the way he perceived her presence, but something deeper gnawed at the back of his mind. What was this strange connection he felt to the princess?

“You know, most co-pilots at least turn the engines on,” Mara Jade’s insolent voice brought Vader back to the present. He was piloting the Current with the Emperor’s Hand--he was on his way back to his master.

Vader didn’t bother to respond to Jade’s comment. He did, however, flip the switches that allowed the Current to rise and slowly free itself from the hangar. As the white and silver innards of the Death Star gave way to the speckled black of open space, Vader’s mind flashed back to his time on Tatooine--of when he was a slave dreaming of being amongst the billions of stars. Something about the desert world resonated in his mind… a quiet buzzing that brought his focus back to the princess. But as Mara Jade pulled the hyperdrive lever, the feeling vanished into the blue-white tunnel of hyperspace.