They had after all, made arrangements that he would remain close to the Bothawuii system, entering lightspeed and drawing even closer the moment the battle was launched in case he should be needed, which apparently he was though he couldn't see why; Mothma was in custody and the Fury was halfway back to the Core Systems. Why Luke had stopped here at all was a mystery.
"You require assistance?" he asked, straight to the point as always.
"I need you to take Mothma aboard the Executor. The Fury failed to secure its second goal, and I'm hoping to correct that now."
"That is?"
Luke paused, fighting the urge to tell Vader, his enemy for so long, that his intentions were none of Vader's business. Instead he took a short breath- and told Vader everything. "I want Madine as well - this may be the only chance I get, since he's not about to come into the Core Systems any time soon and Palpatine has made it clear that this is a one-off permission for me to go beyond them. The Fury was charged with picking his ship up at Bothawuii when I had already left with Mothma, but it failed to do so which means I'm going to have to try to reel him in now."
"Using Mothma as bait." Vader finished; he too had picked up the transmission sent to Coruscant by the Fury, and wondered what games his son was playing.
"Yes. Only I'm not willing to risk her to gain a lesser prize and I have no intention of being accused of such by the Emperor- so I need her safely removed."
Vader considered; "To hand her to me is contentious; she should be transferred to the Peerless."
Luke shook his head, "I need the Peerless as back-up. I have no idea what the Rebels will do to try to regain Mothma; Intel says they don't have the firepower close enough to this region to threaten a Star Destroyer, which is why I've chosen this location and given them a small window of opportunity timewise, to limit their responses. But they're used to uneven firepower, so they'll try something unexpected- they always do, which is why I need the Peerless to hand. Admiral Joss and Captain Kavanagh have three years experience working together in the field; if it comes to a fight, I want them both here."
Vader looked away, tone dismissive, "The Rebels are undermanned and under-equipped - they are hardly a threat to a Star Destroyer."
"And yet we lost eight to them already this year in the Rim Systems." Luke said without looking up, tone neutral. Newfound amity or not, he wasn't prepared to acquiesce to his father's domineering attitude.
Vader clenched his jaw but didn't argue; what could be said? "Then you should have leaked that Mothma was aboard the Peerless not the Fury, and had a Super Star Destroyer waiting for them."
Again his son shook his head, "They wouldn't have risked the attack. It had to be the Fury; on its own it'll draw them out. Any more and they would have hesitated, waited for backup."
They stopped, having reached the far side of the bay, and Luke turned to his father, no time for extended discussions. "Will you take Mothma?"
"Yes." Vader said at last, still uneasy that this would seem too much of an accord to their Master; they couldn't be seen to be allies, even for the Empire's advantage. Even that would be too much for the paranoid Emperor.
Luke nodded and they began a slow return to the shuttle, "You need to leave as quickly as possible; the Rebels can't be that far behind us and I don't want them to pick up traces of the Executor's drive waste if they scan. The Peerless is in orbit around Nubia in case I need to summon her- if you could wait there too?"
"Very well."
"Whatever happens, don't bring Mon Mothma back into the battle."
Vader turned, the slightest shade of dry amusement in his bass voice, "I have no intention of returning to the battle. If you cannot stop the Rebels with the Fury and the Peerless combined, then you do not deserve the Executor's aid."
Luke glanced to his father, allowing no trace of a smile to show on his face, knowing that Jade would be watching them now as they neared the shuttle again. "A comforting thought." he murmured in sardonic reply, "Motivational."
Vader offered nothing more and Luke glanced away uneasily, suddenly aware with whom he was conversing so casually.
As they reached the ramp of the shuttle, Vader glanced to the stormtroopers at the far side of the bay and his son nodded, gesturing for them to come forward.
A thought occurred to Luke and he turned to his father, "I trust you'll keep her in a safe place."
Vader glanced at his son, the implication clear; 'safe room' was the code they had always used to refer to any untapped place- a room without surveillance.
He nodded once, "She will be kept safe." He stated simply, and his son nodded, knowing his father had understood.
Luke needed to talk with Mothma yet- there was nowhere in his own Destroyer's detention centre where he could reasonably deactivate surveillance all of a sudden and he didn't wish to cause suspicion by suddenly having her transferred to a standard room onboard the Peerless in which there was- 'coincidentally'- no surveillance. This would be better; harder to monitor, particularly if he could make the trip to the Executor unnoticed. Palpatine knew Vader would have nothing to do with any tryst with the Alliance, and would allow no such transgression in his son either.
But Vader would allow Luke to speak with Mothma if he believed it would further his own ambitions - and to that end, he would take all precautions necessary to ensure that Palpatine did not find out, including covering up a visit to the Executor by Luke.
He turned away as Mon Mothma was escorted to his father's shuttle, not wishing to meet her eye. He would have to speak to her sooner or later of course, but that could be dealt with later; he didn't yet have the time to unravel the knot of convoluted feelings which tied tighter every time he saw her. But he would have to, sooner or later, because a lot rode on the conversation's outcome - not least of all Mon's life.
Too many games in play, he thought sourly; too many balls in the air. He briefly remembered Master Yoda teaching him to float and juggle stones in the air whilst standing upside down in a handstand. Now he was doing it with lives; with destinies.
Was he forcing his will upon the future and the Force - or simply finishing what he had begun, as he'd promised the old Jedi Master he would?
.
.
"So what was the thing in the shuttle bay all about?" Mara finally asked into the silence, deciding to try the direct approach; chances were Luke knew exactly what was on her mind anyway, and he didn't generally appreciate prevarication.
The Executor was long gone, the Peerless was already waiting at Nubia until summoned, and now they were finally alone, returning to the turbolift from the final rundown in Ops, on their way to the bridge.
"What?" Skywalker asked without looking round.
"That whole Vader thing. You've never asked him for anything in your life- now suddenly you're handing Mon Mothma over to him."
"I'm not handing anybody over, least of all Mothma. She'll be returning to the Peerless at the first opportunity, I assure you. I simply don't wish to risk her just to get Madine. Mothma is for the Emperor- Madine is just because I want him."
"I'm sure Palpatine would like to see him again too."
Madine was a traitor of the worst kind; an Imperial General-turned-Rebel, taking classified intelligence and countless codes over with him when he defected, still using his knowledge of Imperial infrastructure and methods against the Empire to this day. Their master would be more than happy to see him again.
"Unfortunately if I catch him, he won't get the opportunity; Madine orgaized andimplemented the assassination attempt; he won't make it as far as Coruscantif I get him."
From the tone in Skywalker's voice, Mara doubted the Rebel General would even make it down to the Detention cells. She risked a quick glance as they walked, but he was still looking dead ahead, expression as unreadable as ever. He'd been in a foul mood since... she wanted to say since he'd found out that Madine had escaped at Bothawuii but in truth, it had been since he'd taken Mothma captive.