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The commander stopped desperately leaning over his desk and paused, nodding. “Yes, sir. Well, this planet’s terrain is a treacherous one, with a great many cliffs and ravines. The quarries we have set up are highly profitable, but—”

“I am aware.”

“Yes, my lord. Of course, my lord. Well, Skywalker and his squadron were sent to bomb our quarries and sabotage our efforts. They were well-organised and difficult to shoot down before they did significant damage to our main one.”

“That is to be expected. Skywalker is an adept commander and demonstrates high competence in every mission he goes on.” The commander gaped at him. “It is why he is such a threat,” he added, not quite hitting the necessary urgency needed to mask his pride.

“Of course, but thankfully we managed to shoot one of the ships down. It was Skywalker. He landed in the quarry, and his ship exploded.”

Vader’s heart, despite the pacemakers, nearly stopped in his chest.

“Fortunately—or unfortunately for us, of course—he had had the wherewithal to drag himself out of the cockpit before it blew.”

“Fortunately. And intelligently”

The commander cleared his throat. “Of course, my lord. He sustained injuries to his legs and his torso.”

“Life-threatening ones?”

“Not before the avalanche of rock caused by the explosion of his starfighter led to the quarry half-burying him.”

Vader’s gloves creaked with the force of his fist.

“He escaped major injury there, also, but the effort of running from that and stowing away on one of our fleeing carriers was damaging.” Vader smiled. Of course he had managed to do that. “His injuries were reopened and he almost bled to death before someone found and apprehended him.”

He could have died.

He could have—

“We captured him, registered that it was Skywalker, and treated him. Kept him alive. We still have the medical records for your perusal, if you would wish, my lord.”

“I have no doubt the attention was unsatisfactory.”

“I… yes, my lord.” The commander just kept talking. “And once he was in the cell, under armed guard, constant surveillance, and the influence of materials that nullified the Force’s power, he slept long enough to make a full recovery.”

“I see. That is good. I assume he escaped once he had made the recovery?”

“Er. No, sir.” Another swallow. “When he was still injured enough that we couldn’t restrain him for fear of injuring him further, he requested an escort to the refresher. Since we hardly wanted him to die of infection, we couldn’t keep him in unsanitary conditions, and each time he needed it he was escorted to the nearest staff ‘fresher. When he was in there, he intentionally opened one of the wounds on his torso that had required stitches.”

“Intentionally?”

“Knowing your mandate, sir, we kept an eye on his health. The guards were sent running in a panic—he had spread blood over himself to make it seem more severe than it was. Or perhaps it really was that bad. Nonetheless, during the commotion, he escaped through the window.”

“The window?”

“Of the refresher, sir.”

“You took a valuable prisoner to a refresher that had a window in it, commander?”

The commander’s hand twitched on the desk. “With respect, sir, that refresher is on the same floor of the base were are currently on.”

“And?”

The commander gestured to the window behind him. Vader looked out irritably, and clocked snow-capped peaks, sheer grey cliffs, and great, deep valleys swooping below them.

Far, far below them.

“It is a six-kilometre drop from the side of this building to the ravine below.”

Vader sat down. He hoped the force of it conveyed his rage, and not how much he suddenly felt like he was about to faint.

“Stormtroopers in ships investigated the wall, and there is a smear of blood from the window he escaped through all the way to the hangar. One ship is missing from our inventory.”

Vader stared. “He could have died.”

“That missing ship does have a registered medical kit on board. He should have been able to repair his own wound. Furthermore—"

“He could have fallen and died, and then”—he worked his jaw—“the Empire would never have justice.”

“Indeed, my lord. However, I should note—”

“You are fortunate he is likely still alive, and not carrion for crows in one of your precious quarries, or you would join him out of this very window.”

“He still may be!” the poor commander finally got in. “The ship he stole was not capable of hyperspace. He is either still on this planet, or in others in the system.”

Vader stared.

“There are six planets and thirteen moons in this system, correct?” he bit out. The commander nodded. “How many of them have a similar… terrain… to this one?”

“All of them, sir. It was an astronomical oddity, when they were discovered; some gravitational forces, or deposition of sediment that occurred through the system…”

“They are all mountainous death traps?”

The commander shook himself. “Yes, sir. We must find him before he disrupts any other mining operations in this system or manages to get a ship with a working hyperdrive to escape on.”

Vader was already on his feet. “We need to find him,” he snapped, “before his cleverness gets him killed! And I will flatten your starsforsaken mountains if I must in order to do it!”