THE CONFRONTATION

12 months after the events on Mustafar, the Empire has amassed near total control. With the combined might of the Empire and the Emperor's mysterious apprentice, Darth Vader, the Jedi Order has almost been completely eradicated from the galaxy.

Yet after all this time, Vader's misgivings for his cruel master grow by each passing day, his rage barely contained, barely concealed.

It was only a matter of time before he would confront him, and confront him, he did…

The metal doors slid open.
The chamber revealed itself to Vader's eyes.
Within the shell he'd become trapped in, he felt a brief wave of anxiety, like a trickle of icy water flowing through his irreparably damaged veins. Like the coldest flame licking at his already scorched heart. This coldness was not unfamiliar – when he had been Anakin Skywalker, these feelings would be a constant reminder to him that it was okay to be terrified sometimes, to surrender to your base impulses for even a second. In war, or any other dire situation that threatened your life or anyone else's close to you, being terrified was normal.
It was what made you human.
But whatever remained of humanity had long since been extinguished.
Anakin Skywalker was weak. I destroyed him.
It was these thoughts alone that allowed Vader to keep going, to continue stepping along the walkway. His was his rage, his contempt, his superiority. Anakin had been none of those things, so to move forward, to continue his dark path, he'd had to kill him.
He'd gladly butcher him a thousand times over if it meant completely erasing him from his haunted memory.
Every Jedi he'd killed had brought him closer to that eventuality.
The throne drew nearer, and on it a dark figure sat.
His master.
Vader had never known a deeper, more primal rage, than that which he directed at Emperor Palpatine.
Pure anger, like the waves of lava that crashed against the molten rock of Mustafar in an unrelenting surge of heat.
He could raise a hand right now.
He could end his master's life.
Now was the chance.
"You summoned me, my lord?"
The snakelike eyes rolled back into its head from underneath the hood, a pale, sickly yellow. "I sense turmoil deep within you… something troubles you, Lord Vader?"
In an instant, Vader went on one knee.
His chance had gone.
"I…" his metallic voice spoke. "I am fine, my master."
The emperor rose off his throne, drew nearer to him as he knelt there.
"Come now, my friend," he said, adopting a more passionate tone. Like he was the senator of old. Not the monster that stood before him.
"What ails you so?"
His hand went on Vader's shoulder. The force shifted.
No. His chance had not gone. A new one had presented itself.
He could grab his exposed throat and crush the life from it underneath his vice grip. He would be dead before he hit the ground.
The emperor rolled his head back as a slow smile spread across his lips, "Your rage. I feel it like a beacon, yet it is… unfocused… no… not unfocused…"
The tension within Vader could be felt from the farthest planet in the galaxy.
"Hidden."
His master stepped back, hand removed from his shoulder. "You're trying to hide your rage from me, are you not?"
"No, my master," Vader tried. "You are mistake-"
"Do NOT attempt to fool me," he cut through Vader's words like the sharpest knife. "I know what lurks in your heart, my young apprentice. I know what ails you. I know all that fuels your weakness."
He turned his back on Vader.
"Strike me down," he spoke simply.
Vader's body froze.
"Strike me down," his master repeated, "and you will achieve a power greater than I. I can feel your anger, how it radiates from you like a beacon. Kill me now and your every wish will be fulfilled."
This was his opportunity.
This was his moment.
He rose to his feet.
Ignited his lightsabre, the blood red blade reflecting on the darkness of the floor like his anger reflecting towards his master.
He could strike him down, have all he had ever lost avenged right in front of him. His loss, suffering, hatred, all avenged.
One swing was all it would take. One swing to end his mental torture.
He would be the definition of power…
The lightsabre switched off, as if done so by another's hand.
"I…cannot, my master," he finally replied, looking down, the words tasting bitter, sounding like they came from someone else.
Palpatine sighed, turned round slowly. Vader could see the disappointment etched on every inch of his face. He felt it with the heaviest wave of sorrow.
"You are a shell of your true potential, Lord Vader. Use your anger. Use the power of the Dark Side, the gifts it bestows upon you. You have power, you have anger, yet you do not use it."
He stepped forward, once again placing a hand upon his metallic shoulder.
"Come," he ushered.
They descended the steps and began along the walkway.
"I have a task for you, my apprentice," his master said to him. "My operatives have located another rogue Jedi. You must find him and eliminate him."
"It will be done, my master."
The Emperor cackled, "Will it now? This Jedi, you are familiar with. Reports say he wields an amethyst blade."
Mace Windu.
"It cannot be," Vader said. "We destroyed him long ago."
"Yet he lives on, my apprentice. Through great power he still lives and continues to defy the Empire. He must not be allowed to continue."
Vader felt the deepness of his sorrow amplify his anger, "I will finish what we started, my lord. He will not escape us again."
Palpatine stopped, turned around, his snake eyes almost hypnotic underneath the darkness of his hood. "I hope not my apprentice, for your sake. He hides on the planet of Naboo. That of the late queen, Padme Amidala."
Vader's heart surged, the heat of his blood beginning to boil.
"He hopes to draw you out, because he knows the truth about who you are. This is your final test, my young apprentice. Destroy your remaining ties to Anakin Skywalker. Destroy him and all who would keep his name alive with the power of the Dark Side. Revel in your growing power, embrace it with all your power and unleash it on those who would defy you, or face the consequence of your continued weakness."
Vader's conscience became clear. It was not Palpatine who was at fault. It was him.
For, after all, he was the one holding himself back. Only he could erase the past, erase all that was his former life.
He would do so until there was nothing left.
"Go now, Lord Vader. Do what must be done. This is your last opportunity to prove that you are worthy to wield the power of the Dark Side."