Star Wars: Dark Emperor

by Brendon Wahlberg

Part Two: A New Enemy

Sate Pestage responded to the biomonitor alarms immediately, crossing the Citadel in minutes. He pounded the door release of the meditation chamber, expecting to find his Master overcome by disaster, and was completely taken aback to find himself staring into the face of an erect and apparently healthy Palpatine. The Emperor's face was dominated by a savage smile, and he seemed full of vitality.

"Don't be concerned about me," the Emperor rasped, reaching out a reassuring hand to Pestage. "I am in no danger. Something has happened to me that I have not foreseen! It changes everything - I must understand it."

"Master," Pestage stammered, "it is well that you are safe...When I heard the alarms, I was in conference with Lord Vader...He wishes to speak with you. Should I transfer his signal?"

"No, Sate Pestage." Palpatine seemed highly agitated. "Delay him while I consult my Holocron." He was already heading for his bed chamber, moving with a new strength that amazed the Grand Vizier. Pestage bowed and the door hissed shut.

Once he was alone, the Emperor reached towards an ornate stand on which rested a smooth cube that softly glowed blue. He took the Jedi recording device in his gnarled hands, caressing the ancient writings on its elegantly tooled surface. The Holocron felt warm and alive. Deep within the object, organic crystals awakened. He felt a light touch on his mind as the Holocron sensed his surface thoughts and summoned the knowledge he required. There was a shimmer in the air, and a hologram of a somewhat grotesque alien with claw like hands and an exoskeleton appeared above the cube.

"Dark One," the hologram spoke. "Listen to the words of Bodo Baas, the gatekeeper, and learn the story of the Sith sorcerer, Gant Feer. In the bleak days when Exar Kun was made the Dark Lord of the Sith, Feer was one of the fallen Jedi under his command. Feer was both depraved and ambitious. It is thought that he alone had access to certain terrible secrets of Sith magic, and he used them without Kun's knowledge. Feer captured Jedi and ritually murdered them. Each terror-filled death weakened the light side and strengthened the dark side. But one Master escaped to tell the tale, and so we know that Feer boasted of being able to feed on their dying energies, absorbing strength through his link to the dark side." Bodo Baas paused. It was hard to tell from such a face, but the monster seemed reluctant to speak to him. When it resumed, it seemed to look right at him.

"Gant Feer did not live to enjoy his gains. Exar Kun noticed how powerful his underling had become, and destroyed him. Feer's secrets died with him. Take heed, Dark One. To take life from the death of others is possible, but it may bring ruin in unforeseen ways." With a steamy green glow, Bodo Baas dissolved.

Palpatine sat silently in thought. As Alderaan was shattered, he had felt a huge surge of power flowing into him through his connection to the dark side. At that moment, he had been unprepared for it, too surprised and stunned to move or think. But while it was happening, he had felt like he could have done anything, anything at all. An entire world, teeming with life, had died in terror! If the story of Gant Feer was any indication, such an event would have strengthened the dark side. At one with the Force, Palpatine had been filled with that power, though it had passed through his grasp like a gale force wind. He thought he knew how to prepare himself for the next time, how to keep himself from being overwhelmed, and how to turn the power to his own ends. He might even use the power to find a way to overcome the problem of his vulnerable clone bodies. With that much power, he could even make a new body for himself...a perfect one...an invulnerable one. He laughed suddenly as he realized that this gave the Death Star a wonderful new purpose.

Gently, he replaced the Holocron. He sometimes felt that, though it was just a recording device, it was subtly against him. There was the way it called him "Dark One," for example. That it had warned him against pursuing this course did not surprise him. It did not matter. There was always a danger. The chance of a victory over his affliction was worth any risk.

Palpatine crossed to his personal HoloNet terminal and activated it. The screen showed the stark black mask of Darth Vader. Vader was alone in his meditation chamber on the Death Star. Palpatine acknowledged him with a slight nod. With head bowed, Vader spoke in his deep, machine-enhanced voice. "My Master, the destruction of Alderaan..." Vader was shaken. "There was a great disturbance in the force. I fear for the consequences of using the Death Star in this way. Destruction on this scale could bring chaos to --"

The Emperor silenced him with a gesture, frowning. As usual, Vader's perception of matters was lacking in insight. The Sith Lord thought of the dark side as the means to bring his kind of order to the galaxy, but, here he balked at the means to achieve that end. "You will understand in time, my servant. The destruction of Alderaan has made me stronger. When you find the Rebel base, it must be destroyed with the Death Star as I make my transition. Nothing will be beyond my new abilities. I shall rule the entire galaxy, and you shall ever be at my side."

Vader said nothing, but Palpatine knew he would always obey. This fallen Jedi circled the Emperor's evil majesty like a moth around a candle flame. He needed the Emperor's darkness to fill a void inside him, but he could never come too close, lest he be consumed.

"I sense that something else troubles you, my servant," Palpatine urged him.

With his characteristic bluntness, Vader said, "My old Master, Kenobi, is here on the Death Star. He has come to face me. When last we met, the advantage was his. I fear he must be the victor again."

Now it was Palpatine's turn to be surprised. Kenobi! That cursed Jedi, still alive! So he had escaped the Purge and stayed in hiding for twenty years. Now he dared to show his face. Such audacity must be punished. The killer of Palpatine's old servant, Darth Maul, would finally be punished. "Kenobi will meet his long overdue destiny today. Whatever foolish errand has brought him out of his hole will be his last. Together we will crush him, my servant."

Vader radiated trust. "And what of the Rebels who came with him? They have the Death Star plans and they may escape the station."

"Let them go," the Emperor said with a smirk. "They shall lead the Death Star directly to the Rebel base. Now go and meet Kenobi. His time has come."

Vader bowed deeply as the Emperor terminated the signal.