Beep
Where am I?
Beep
What is that noise?
"Lord Vader, can you open your eyes?"
That voice. I know that voice. It's the voice of the man who will save my wife. The voice that sent me to my doom on that fiery excuse for a planet. I know that voice. I struggle to open my eyes, there's a slight whirring sound as I do. But something's wrong. The world is red, readouts scroll past my vision, spewing details that are unimportant beyond one thing. 'Suit is nominal.' I remember now. No anesthetic, no humane practices. A droid welded this, this abomination directly to my skeleton. None of this is important though, only she is.
This bloody suit breaths for me. In. Out. I have to time my words right, I have no doubt this suit will halt my words if I'm still speaking at the next breathing interval. "Where is Padme?" In. Out. "Is she safe?" In. Out. "Is she alright?" In. Out.
"It seems in your anger, you killed her." He said.
WHAT?! That's impossible. Why is He saying this? Hasn't He hurt me enough? Without being ordered to do so, my suit runs a scan on his pulse. "Error." It pulses with sickening green letters. "Subject is lying, proceed with caution." Well that's handy. Dizzyingly, the suit zooms in on His face. No one else would see it, but I could. Anyone who worked with the Senate could see a politician's smirk from a mile away. He had to be lying. I could feel the anger boiling within me. Everyone lied to me. Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan. The Jedi Council. Yoda. Now He is lying to me. I didn't have to fear the doddering old fools of the Council anymore, now I control the Force as a man should. But I need to tread carefully, He is dangerous, I need a gameplan.
Wait, He doesn't have what I have, He can't see my face, detect my pulse. He can't even detect my deceit in the Force. Anger over lies is the same as Anger over death, the Force can't tell them apart.
"I?!" I shouted. "I couldn't have! She was alive, I FELT it!"
Now to let off a bit of anger, the rooms shaking, good. Crush some objects, damage the walls, check. Out of these restraints, what a satisfying sound, metal popping off. NO! Stay mad! Stay angry! HE did this to you! I step off the table, walk past Him, and bend over slightly. I would need every bit of my ability to take him out. But I need another distraction, he can't realize what is about to happen till it's too late.
Arching my back, I pray that those acting classes I took for Her pay off. Here goes nothing. "NOOOOOOOOooooooooo!"
That smile. That scummy smile. It's working, I have Him completely off-guard. Swiveling around, I grab His pasty white neck with my hand. Impressive, considering I woke up only a minute ago. The look of surprise in His face is so satisfying, but I don't have time for looks. Before the pile of scum in my hand can try to defend himself, I crush his neck. The power in these new hands is satisfying, I miss my real hand, but I won't look a gift Peyk in the mouth.
There's an explosion, He isn't there anymore, just a pile of ragged cloth. My armor holds up fine against the blast of the Force, it probably can handle down-to-earth munitions as well. Reaching down, I feel the comforting solidity of a lightsaber on my waist. The guards I sense on the other side of the exit shouldn't post a problem, but I doubt I can handle a platoon right now. This would require stealth,
That was the short term. But where would I go after I escape? The Temple will be guarded, and useless to me anyway. Killing the Emperor doesn't exactly grant you protection amongst the army either. Maybe stealth wasn't the right approach, maybe I should claim the Empire for myself. It's worth a shot.
"Troopers!" I order.
The door opens, and two fine clones from the 501st walk through. Good men, I would hate for this to not work. "Palpatine was weak and incapable of leading the Empire. I have no such weaknesses. Will you follow your General once again?"
Time seemed to slow. These men were competent, I'm not sure they won't call my bluff.
"Yes sir, the 501st is behind you. Cody asked me to tell you he is 'damn glad you're back on your feet,' sir."
I'm surprised, but I shouldn't be. Of course a clone is going to check with his superior before believing a possible enemy. "Very good, take me to a ship, I have business to attend to."
I fell into step behind my new allies. The rest of the Clone Army should follow me as quickly as my own battalion. But I will still need to get the newly formed Empire under control, and find my wife. Two nearly impossible tasks, but I will complete them. The Chosen One is either a platitude or means something, and I believe it means something.