So now Mara was counting down the days, wondering if Luke was doing the same. She studied him now as he worked at the table in his drawing room, a number of readers and datachips scattered across it. The table was before the long bank of plexiglass doors which led out onto the balcony, the long spell of muggy weather which Coruscant always endured in the summer making Mara uncomfortable though it never seemed to bother Luke- in fact he seemed to enjoy it, opening all doors and windows to the heat, rendering the air conditioning useless.
Mara was sitting to the rear of the huge room, where it still held some sway, when Reece knocked quietly at the quarter-open door, eyes discreetly down as he entered from the dining room beyond, prompting Mara to wonder if he suspected too - that could be dangerous; he was an agent here reporting to Saté Pestage and therefore the Emperor, just as she was.
"Excuse me, Sir- Lord Vader is in the antechamber to the Stateroom; he... insists an audience."
Luke was already rising as Reece entered, turning off his automemo in preparation, Mara realized, "Did you know he was here?"
He didn't reply, turning instead to Reece, "Thank-you Wez. I'll see him in here."
Reece bowed his head as he retreated, the heavy double-doors sliding silently shut on their smooth mechanism.
"Luke- did you know he was here?" Mara repeated.
"Yes," he said without elucidating.
"Why are you seeing him here?" There were any number of dedicated receiving rooms in his extensive apartments, ranging from the luxurious and welcoming to the cavernous and stately- why would he let Vader of all people into his private rooms?
He turned to her without speaking, the inference clear, but Reece re-entered the room, curtailing further argument on either side, Vader only a step behind him.
"Lord Vader, Sir." Reece announced formally, before bowing and backstepping a neat retreat from the room at a nod from Luke.
Luke remained silent before the hulking form of Darth Vader, as unintimidated as he had always been. When Vader didn't speak, he finally sighed and looked away, as if boring already of an old game, "You have something you wish to say, Lord Vader."
Mara had never in all the time she had been with Luke heard him refer to his father by anything other than his title. Even in private like this, distance was always maintained between them.
Vader remained silent, turning slowly to Mara, who lifted her own chin in defiance; whatever frustrations she felt against Luke were instantly lost beneath her protective instinct for him now, automatically closing ranks before an outside threat.
"Mara?" Luke invited without turning, and she let out a sigh of her own before rising to leave, pausing to turn and bow at the door, holding Luke's eye a moment too long, expression questioning. He nodded imperceptibly and she backstepped, the doors sliding shut before her.
Both men remained silent for long moments, waiting...
Finally, feeling the need to break the silence, Vader spoke, "I came to deliver the final breakdown of the Fleet which will attend the launch of the Invincible."
"Could you not send this by courier?" Luke asked distantly, eyes still on the door.
"No- the information is restricted at the Emperor's command." Vader replied easily, also waiting, filling the gap with mindless words.
"I see. How many Destroyers?"
"Fourteen, excluding the Executor. They will arrive over the next eight days and take up positions about the Polar South Deep Orbit Station..."
Finally Luke turned from the door to look at his father, both men relaxing just slightly. "You've picked them carefully?" His manner changed abruptly as he stepped forward, voice lowering, tone relaxing now that he was sure that Mara had left the adjacent room.
"Yes. Two are already loyal, ten could potentially be persuaded and two are faithful to the Emperor, to belay any suspicion."
Vader had already arranged with his son to begin reassignment of loyal and potentially loyal military supporters, and the pomp and ceremony that accompanied the launch of a new Flagship would enable him to briefly recall many high-ranking officers whom Luke seldom had the opportunity to meet in the Core Systems.
The Invincible's inaugural celebration would be held on the night of the launch in the State Ballroom, a massive venue in which, with a little carefully-laid interference, would enable Luke to make subtle personal petitions and form the foundations of alliances in return for certain guarantees.
It would be difficult to achieve under the noses of Palpatine's spies and the Emperor himself, but the boy had proved surprisingly adept, forming alliances and collaborations in a way which Vader never could, his forthright but not overbearing command style making him popular among the military, seeming approachable and trustworthy even in this.
Now he nodded, taking the small datachip Vader proffered and loading it into a reader on the table, attention centred on memorising names and images as they appeared. He expressed no trepidation at the thought of the task presented to him, simply concentrating, learning names, briefly discussing strategies based on the information provided, throwing out considered snippets as to the individual person's family or background which would have to be taken into account.
He had become so completely naturalised to this environment now, Vader noted, the fact that this would be a reception of hundreds of the galaxy's leading figures in the ostentatious grandeur and outrageous, extravagant excess of the mirror-lined gallery and the cavernous State Ballroom of less relevance than the knowledge that within the mirrors and the crowds, many ears would be listening and few of them innocently.
Luke narrowed his eyes, voicing the opinion that he shouldn't mention Captain Dorrin's potential involvement to Captain Lain, the two Star Destroyer Captains maintaining long-standing enmity due to their respective Family Houses, situated on two planets within the Stenness Node and held from all-out war only by the presence of the Empire within their system, citing a constant undercurrent of bickering and rivalries between the two Houses within Court.
Vader nodded silent agreement in this and other points, aware for the first time how much the Emperor had been quietly grooming the boy for Command- forcing him to deal with constant obstructions and hindrances; to look for other means, other methods and manoeuvres. To learn all these subtle ploys and traps simply so that he could avoid or dismiss them- but to learn them all the same, now equally at home with both the driving ambitions and broad powerplays of the military elite or the elaborate scheming and subtle, petty machinations of Court, where Vader had always been uneasy.
When Luke was satisfied that he had a working knowledge of the information, he flicked slowly through the images one last time, then blanked datachip's memory, returning it to his father.
"We should bring this to a close; you've been here some time."
He chose not to mention the planned attack on the Invincible to his father, seeing no specific benefit in doing so. Firstly because he knew his father would automatically resent allowing the Rebels to make this attempt on Imperial sovereignty and Luke didn't particularly want to be placed in a situation in which he was forced to defend the Rebellion as a consequence of that, knowing that his father would believe Luke's loyalties to be split, and secondly because he didn't need his father's aid or input in this. Vader would have his own view and it would be strongly held and much as he wanted to, Luke didn't believe his father could be trusted not to take this to Palpatine simply to head off Luke's interaction with the Rebels.
Beside, his decision was made even if, as in this case, it was simply that the best course of action was to wait and see; this was a rare occasion when it was more advantageous to be reactive than proactive.
Vader held his son's eye momentarily, aware that there was something more but believing it simply his anticipation of the task in hand, then nodded, taking the blank chip and concealing it in the folds of his clothes, reaching out beyond the room with the Force-