For My Emperor

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: George Lucas and LucasFilm Ltd. own the Star Wars universe and Emperor Palpatine. Hats off, and my most sincere appreciation to Timothy Zahn for creating Mara Jade, one of the coolest fictional women around. I'm not sure if it is he or Lucas that "claims" her, but if you ask me, she belongs to herself! (and maybe Luke too. J ). All I know is that I have no claim to her. General Neot-so, however, is a figment of my very own caffeine-crazed imagination, even if he isn't much of a character at all. So no, you can't have him. I'm not making any money off of this, real or imagined. The only pay-off I receive is the feedback from those out there in cyber-land that read this little slice of my imagination.

Summary: Before she was a Jedi, before she was a fiancée, before she was even The Emperor's Hand, Mara Jade was a child.

Author's notes: Thank you to my betas; Crysta and Gill (who are almost as weird as I am), Andorus, Angela Jade, Sulis, and Arica. You guys are great. I've never had betas before, and these chicks are awesome, people! (They're also probably gonna e-mail me with corrections to this section. J .)

This is my first plunge into the Star Wars galaxy, but if you like it, I'll continue it as a series. I may actually try extending it into a story, rather than leaving it as a vignette if I get enough people who request it. Fan fiction is addicting. This is only my third story, but I want to write more. More! More! More! As far as I am aware, Mara's childhood and upbringing have never been explored. This is my humble attempt at a portion of what it might have been.

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For My Emperor

by Pseudo Psyche

"Unh!" Sweat flicked into the child's eyes when she ducked just as a laser blast exploded against the wall above her head. Red-gold wisps of hair were plastered against her cheeks as she tucked and rolled into a corner. The move served to place her just out of the destroyer droid's sensors long enough for her to aim her blaster and fire. Not surprisingly, the droid's shields deflected the blast sending it uselessly into a nearby plasteel pylon. The child's futile shot did serve however, to aid the destroyer droid as it locked onto the girl's location and rolled itself a half meter to the right in preparation to come in for the kill.

Perfect.

The girl stood quickly and fired at the chain holding the stereokineticscope above the droid's position. The equipment fell squarely onto its intended victim, and not even its advanced shields could protect it from the heavy load as the driod exploded, sending shrapnel and sparks helter-skelter across the room in all directions. The child had wisely flung herself behind a control panel moments after she fired the fatal shot and she now hunkered in safety with her arm pressed against her eyes for protection.

As the final hiss of released coolant and stinging sparks died down, she heard what she had hoped and almost prayed to the gods for, though she knew that there were no gods in the galaxy save for the one that was clapping for her now. Slowly she removed her arm from her eyes and then stood humbly but proudly with her youthful chin held high and her eyes boring into those of her master's guest, for whom this little demonstration had been performed.

"Very good, child," the prune faced man cackled. With his black cowl framing his face, he looked frightening indeed, but fear was power as the girl had learned well, and any praise from such a powerful man was all she could possibly hope for or want. "Your delay during the first few minutes of the exercise will be overlooked this time-- considering your creativity and successful dispatchment of your target."

"Thank you, my lord. You are most truly kind." The girl lowered her eyes to the ground in respect and gratitude.

"You destroyed valuable research equipment." Her lord's voice hardened suddenly and sent the hairs on the back of her neck standing straight at attention. Still, she had expected this and was well prepared in her answer.

Rather than keeping her eyes focused on the tips of her boots like most children (and even war-hardened military officers facing this man) would, the girl looked up and focused on an undetermined point in space somewhere above her master's right shoulder. "You have taught me that the end justifies the means, my lord, and that your wish is to be obeyed as well as any command. You wished me to destroy the target, and I have done so—with the means available."

The man nodded in satisfaction and looked to his guest, a rather dull general in the Imperial army, and smirked at his astonished face.

It was a simple and direct answer, and indicated either an exceptionally keen mind, or the mind of one with no more free will than the droid that the child had just "killed". General Neot-so was not certain which, and he made bold with a question, temporarily forgetting his company.

"How old are you, girl?"

She did not respond immediately, but waited for permission. Her master, however, was not one to let such an insult pass unnoticed.

"You are here as my subject General Neot-so; you will not interrupt unbidden again."

"I'm sorry, Emperor. It will not happen again." Unlike the girl, Neot-so found sudden fascination with his own boots.

"No. You will not." The Emperor smiled cruelly, and then motioned to the girl. "Answer him." He commanded.

"I am eight standard solar years old. I will reach my ninth solar year in three standard months." Came the prim reply.

Neot-so was visibly taken aback by the news that one so young could fight with such tenacity, fire with such accuracy, and complete such a difficult task as the one undertaken by this little girl with such skill. His surprise was an obvious weakness, the girl noted. One that could easily be taken advantage of if need be.

If the Emperor noticed this obvious fault on the part of his own officer, he made no comment other than to widen his smile.

"She is trained well, no?" He asked.

"She is trained very well," came the reply. The girl took no pride in his remark. There was no use in accepting praise from anyone as obviously as weak as he. "Is she to be your apprentice?"

The girl supposed what he meant was, was she supposed to follow her Emperor around the way the black-masked man did. At least, that's what she thought the noisy brute with the deep, hypnotic voice did. She had only got a glimpse of him twice in her time training here, and to be honest, the sound of his breathing apparatus frightened her a little. It was something she would never let her master know if she could help it.

"No. I have other plans for her."

She was glad that someone knew what she was supposed to do, because she had no clue herself, and in that one ominous statement, she felt in a small sense that someone was looking out for her. She bit back a smirk.

"You are excused, General Neot-so. I will speak with the girl now."

The general was obviously surprised at the sudden dismissal. He had been brushed off in favor of a child, but he bowed humbly and made a quick exit.

The Emperor spoke again only after the officer left.

"You have done well, Mara. But you must continue to improve. In life, there is no allowance for delay. No room for mistakes! "

"Yes, my lord."

Mara paused, and then ventured out with a question. The only question she had ever asked since she learned that questions were unacceptable all those years before.

"My most Honored Lord and Master?" she began.

"Yes? Speak." Came the stern reply.

"Wha. . . What are your plans for me?"

Once again, Emperor Palpatine smiled. A smile worse than the one before, Mara noted.

"To begin with, my child, one day when you are ready and I see fit, you will kill him." A bony, yellowed finger pointed in the direction that General Neot-so had left minutes before. The Emperor gazed with interest at his future assassin's face, gauging her reaction.

Mara swallowed hard and tried to think through the sudden hazy buzz that filled her head. A droid was a droid. They were built, and they were destroyed just as easily, but a living being. . .? Mara shoved her heart back down into her chest and forced the incessant buzzing noise into a disquieted corner of her mind. She must answer her lord and master, the only one who had seen fit to care for her and provide her with not only food and shelter, but also with this excellent education. It was only right that he expected her to use it for his benefit, in whatever way he saw fit. Mara knew she should be grateful and serve him to the best of her ability.

Mechanically, Mara found her voice.

"I will not fail you, my Master."

Palpatine showed his good humor by his tight upturned lips.

"Perhaps you will be ready sooner than I expected."

Mara locked down on the buzzing in her head that was beginning to make her nauseous and forced out the answer that was spoken from her heart.

"Anything for my Emperor."

The End