Number 17 in the Vader's Cat series. (Formerly called Vader and Cat but we decided we liked Vader's Cat better.)

In order they are:

Cracking the Armor
Another Disturbing Crack
Completely Cracked...and the Cat Came Back
Cracking the Death Star
Cracking Imperial Center, or: Cat Goes to Coruscant
Pruneface Cracks, or: Cat vs. Palpatine
Cracking the Dark Lord
Crack to Nature
Cracking His Confidence
A Fleet Full of Crack(pots)
Carbonite Cracks, or: Cat vs. Fett
Farmboy Cracks, or: Cat vs. Skywalker
Cloud City Cracks, or: Cat vs...Cat?
Conspiracy Cracks
Absolutely Cracked, or: Jedi vs. Sith vs. Cat
A Crack In The Family
Reactor Cracks, or: Skywalker Earns His Name

Reactor Cracks, or: Skywalker Earns His Name

Luke's eyes widened. Vader expected vehement denials and exclamations about it being impossible that the Sith Lord could have ever been Anakin Skywalker. He could almost hear them already. What Luke actually said, though was something entirely different.

"What?" he scoffed. "Oh, you really have lost your mind."

"No," insisted Vader. "Search your feelings. You know it to be true."

"Yeah. Maybe when I'm done rescuing the cat who's supposed to be able to destroy the emperor," Luke rolled his eyes.

He started to crawl across the pit again, and Vader watched him go, broodishly leaning against the guard rail. This was not how things were supposed to be going. Once again, the cat was making his life difficult.

"Mew…" said a small voice.

He looked down in annoyance. "What?"

The white cat began to rub its head against his arm. Vader noticed that the hair was even more noticeable against his black armor than the insufferable orange cat's was. He grumbled irritably and considered simply dropping the animal into the reactor pit. A moment later, he discarded the notion. The creature was—well—not helpless, but certainly she would have no defense if Vader wanted to kill her. It would be unworthy of him.

"I am leaving you here," he informed the cat.

Her eyes slid closed and she began to purr.

"I am," insisted Vader.

The cat ignored him.

Sighing again, he looked up to check on Luke's progress. He had made it back across the reactor pit, but whenever he tried to grab the cat, it swiped at him, and his already precarious balance started to slip. The Emperor had foreseen that Luke could destroy him, and Vader felt sure that if he could subdue the cat long enough to effect a rescue, Palpatine would pose much less of a challenge. Unfortunately, at the moment the cat was decidedly in control of the battle. It appeared that the cat was going to dispatch the young Jedi before he ever had the chance to face the Emperor. Vader hoped that would not be the case. Luke was strong in the Force, and the cat was so insufferably spiteful that Vader didn't want to let his entire plan rest on its furry shoulders.

After several failed attempts at grabbing the cat, Luke tried to levitate it with the Force again. Vader could have told him that trick wouldn't work. He was beginning to suspect that the animals claws were, in fact, made of durasteel. He couldn't see well enough to discern what exactly it was holding on to, but Luke quickly realized that he wasn't going to be able to float the cat without forcing it to let go, and naturally, and his Jedi training wouldn't let him do that.

Suddenly, he went very still. Vader watched, puzzled at first, but eventually realized that the young fool was trying to touch the cat's mind with the Force. He intended to calm the beast and convince it to cooperate with him. Vader nearly laughed aloud. All Luke accomplished was to make the cat more determined to fight him off.

The battle went on. Luke suffered several nasty looking attacks from the durasteel claws. Vader couldn't tell how badly the cat was scratching him, but he imagined that the boy's skin was a lot less durable than his own armor. Every time the cat lashed out, Luke would totter a little more. His hand started to slip.

"Cat!" Vader boomed. "Stop that!"

The white cat in his arms began to his with displeasure. Unconsciously, the fingers of Vader's other hand began to stroke her fur. She stopped hissing, but her tail flicked back and forth against his arm, and he gave her a hard look.

"If you don't like it, we could revisit the notion of dropping you in the—"

He looked up just in time to see Luke tumble into the reactor pit.

"Well done!" he shouted across to the cat. "Now what do you expect me to do?"