*Disclaimer* and welcome notice, all at once!
Hello dear all, and welcome to this fanfic. I am, as you shall soon notice, a great Darth Vadar fan, and I think the poor guy should not be left without some romance during his long, lonely years as Dark Lord. Of course, I am not George Lucas, and none of this is mine, except for the innusitated characters of my own creation, and the strange situations I like to put them in. it's ment for fun, so please enjoy it. I appreciate any comments, too!
Love and cookies, Matita Pere.
Chapter 1
Darth Vader walked briskly into the large hall of the Emperor's Palace in Imperial City, not caring about the rows of guards placed along each of the walls. The hall widened as he approached it's far end, a huge two-sided metal door ornamented with ancient symbols.
"The Sith had a complex culture" he caught himself thinking as he stood for a moment before the large door. A small chill descended down his spine and a sensation of sickening grew in his stomach. The doors swung open by themselves, and he stepped in, consciously making his strides appear sure and fast.
He regretted the fact that even after all this time he could not control his anxiety. The room he had walked into was surprisingly small if compared to the large hall that led toward it, and the massive doors that were its entrance. It was oval shaped and unfurnished, except for a single chair that stood on a podium at its end. The chair was now turned around, not facing the glum room, illuminated by a single holofon light on the center of its ceiling, but looking outside, through a murky window that far above the imperial city.
A flight of large stairs, reaching from wall to wall led toward the podium, and Vader knelt in front of them, reproaching himself for his own weakness, trying to store his insecurity and fear into the back of his mind, where perhaps the occupant of the chair would not perceive them.
The thought that his master could be reading this thoughts suddenly made him feel ashamed, and for an instant a speck of anger filtered through his emotions, a gnawing feeling turned toward his master, for making him feel this way, and at himself, mostly, for allowing that to have happened. But in the next instant another thought appeared, warning him that if this was detected in his thoughts, his many privileges as the emperor's right hand could vanish, and he could be put to some serious "interrogation" for his mental disobedience.
"Master, thou has asked for my presence" Vader said, not daring to look up at the back of the chair.
"Yes" The emperor answered, not bothering to turn around. Vader waited for a few moments, expecting his master to say anything else, but that did not occur. Suddenly he thought that this could be because of the agitated mental state he was in when he walked into the room, and felt guilty for it. He did not want to upset his master. The silence became unbearable, and Vader spoke again
"How may I be of service, master?"
"Lord Vader, I have a small task for you" the emperor suddenly said, turning around quickly. If suddenness of the motion surprised Vader, the tone of voice his master used shocked him. It was an almost cheerful tone, if the melodious, sticky-sweet, inevitably aged voice of the emperor could produce it.
Vader looked up and saw the usually gentle-orange light of his masters eyes acquire a stronger hue, and flash in what appeared to him as humor.
"I am here to serve" Vader retorted cautiously, observing if the fires would die down in his masters eyes. They did not.
"Of course you are." The emperor answered unexpectedly. The sound of his voice was almost joking, Vader thought, and did not know what to make of it. The fact that his master was apparently amusing himself on Vader's behalf pained him, so he decided to continue in the same polite and subservient line.
"I am but my master's tool." He repeated one of the phrases he used when referring to the emperor "I shall obey whatever desire thou hast." The emperor smiled faintly at that.
"I would assume so, Lord Vader." He said, now in a softer voice. "I have a small task." He then added, falling back into the amused tone "Nothing exceptional, but nonetheless interesting, I am sure." He paused, and looked at Vader. Than he continued "Hear me well now, Lord Vader, for I am not going to repeat myself."
The emperor leaned slightly forward toward his greatest servant, as if confessing something to him "You must have certainly heard of the Mecktoss planetary system, and of the Patal, the second largest planet in it. They are, of course, members of our New Order, and obedient as that goes. There is nothing much to tell of them. Mostly human populated, divided into several territories ruled by governing regal houses, and presided by the lord of the largest one, one Tun Tospot. He is not the brightest statesman, may I add. Now, what really interests me with this pitiful little world and its mediocre rulers is the existence of Holja gas mines directly beneath it's surface. The readings are quite clear, I can assure you, our best technicians have verified so. I have every intention of turning that little planet into a mining facility. This would not be any problem, the cooperation of Tun would be immediate, matching his fear and incompetence, but there is the small problem of Mecktoss, the largest planet, well equipped and ready to interfere in our business if necessary. Also despicably, although covertly pro-rebellion, if I heard correctly."
The emperor stopped to check if his student had accompanied the his story so far. Vader did nothing but nodded, so the emperor satisfiedly continued on.
"They have sent us message that they will not allow the wasting of precious natural resources for greedy needs, and the destruction of the biosphere of a planet near-by, besides the humanitarian tragedy that that would inevitably turn out to be. They have based their claim on our nice imperial laws that forbid any undue degrading of such precious things."
The emperor said all this in a voice of mocking pity. He then smiled wickedly "I have no doubt that the well-being of Patal is not their true concern. The stability of the planetary system politics depends on their prevailing as masters and administrators, and our open interference would completely undermine their authority. Also, Holja gas mining priorities to them would mean a lot, a whole lot, of money. And if that is not enough, there is the future possibility that their planet would have to take in a huge amount of immigrants in the case of a massive disruption of Patal's atmosphere and biosphere. Not a nice possibility, I may say. And the truth is that after a few decades of our exploration most of the gas would have been taken already or leaked out by itself, and the planet would be useless, a sick remnant of what it was, a festering, decaying, potentially dangerous mass of polluted material in the shoe of that planetary system. The Mecktoss are ready to fight us on this, Lord Vader. And I have no intention of doing so. Small wars with worthless opponents do not concern me. Therefor, this is your task: you are to travel to the planetary system, as my emissary, which you are, supposedly, to converse. Then, you are to kidnap the daughter of the Mecktoss king, Aljam Nopte Kass, Evertia. Do you understand? Do not look at me so surprised Lord Vader, you heard correctly. I have been thinking about this a lot, and I have decided that I could amuse myself with this story a bit. I want you to kidnap her. She is considered his most prized possession, because it is through her that the line will be continued. I do not understand much about parent love, but I do about lineage. The king will not concede to loose his throne and future for a matter of a simple, second grade planet in his system, whatever the lines of friendship between them. Domestic policy will speak louder, and I am certain all our demands will be met promptly. There will be no need for any long diplomatic discussions that way, or any unnecessary military conflict, and our domain will be kept. This entire operation is to remain confidential. You are to instruct the king that if word of this gets beyond the palace, we will retaliate as only we can. After the planet surrenders to our will, and the king proclaims that he is an obedient servant of me as his master, you will kill the girl, and assassinate the king, of course, and place one of our own people, moff Harshing, I think, to be it's ruler, in the event of the tragic and untimely deaths of the king and his daughter. Do you see? There should be no complains about this course of events once the king had already proclaimed his undying loyalty to us. It should all be so neat and amusing, don't you think, my friend? And the rebellion will loose a potential martyr example and a wealthy bastion."
Hello dear all, and welcome to this fanfic. I am, as you shall soon notice, a great Darth Vadar fan, and I think the poor guy should not be left without some romance during his long, lonely years as Dark Lord. Of course, I am not George Lucas, and none of this is mine, except for the innusitated characters of my own creation, and the strange situations I like to put them in. it's ment for fun, so please enjoy it. I appreciate any comments, too!
Love and cookies, Matita Pere.
Chapter 1
Darth Vader walked briskly into the large hall of the Emperor's Palace in Imperial City, not caring about the rows of guards placed along each of the walls. The hall widened as he approached it's far end, a huge two-sided metal door ornamented with ancient symbols.
"The Sith had a complex culture" he caught himself thinking as he stood for a moment before the large door. A small chill descended down his spine and a sensation of sickening grew in his stomach. The doors swung open by themselves, and he stepped in, consciously making his strides appear sure and fast.
He regretted the fact that even after all this time he could not control his anxiety. The room he had walked into was surprisingly small if compared to the large hall that led toward it, and the massive doors that were its entrance. It was oval shaped and unfurnished, except for a single chair that stood on a podium at its end. The chair was now turned around, not facing the glum room, illuminated by a single holofon light on the center of its ceiling, but looking outside, through a murky window that far above the imperial city.
A flight of large stairs, reaching from wall to wall led toward the podium, and Vader knelt in front of them, reproaching himself for his own weakness, trying to store his insecurity and fear into the back of his mind, where perhaps the occupant of the chair would not perceive them.
The thought that his master could be reading this thoughts suddenly made him feel ashamed, and for an instant a speck of anger filtered through his emotions, a gnawing feeling turned toward his master, for making him feel this way, and at himself, mostly, for allowing that to have happened. But in the next instant another thought appeared, warning him that if this was detected in his thoughts, his many privileges as the emperor's right hand could vanish, and he could be put to some serious "interrogation" for his mental disobedience.
"Master, thou has asked for my presence" Vader said, not daring to look up at the back of the chair.
"Yes" The emperor answered, not bothering to turn around. Vader waited for a few moments, expecting his master to say anything else, but that did not occur. Suddenly he thought that this could be because of the agitated mental state he was in when he walked into the room, and felt guilty for it. He did not want to upset his master. The silence became unbearable, and Vader spoke again
"How may I be of service, master?"
"Lord Vader, I have a small task for you" the emperor suddenly said, turning around quickly. If suddenness of the motion surprised Vader, the tone of voice his master used shocked him. It was an almost cheerful tone, if the melodious, sticky-sweet, inevitably aged voice of the emperor could produce it.
Vader looked up and saw the usually gentle-orange light of his masters eyes acquire a stronger hue, and flash in what appeared to him as humor.
"I am here to serve" Vader retorted cautiously, observing if the fires would die down in his masters eyes. They did not.
"Of course you are." The emperor answered unexpectedly. The sound of his voice was almost joking, Vader thought, and did not know what to make of it. The fact that his master was apparently amusing himself on Vader's behalf pained him, so he decided to continue in the same polite and subservient line.
"I am but my master's tool." He repeated one of the phrases he used when referring to the emperor "I shall obey whatever desire thou hast." The emperor smiled faintly at that.
"I would assume so, Lord Vader." He said, now in a softer voice. "I have a small task." He then added, falling back into the amused tone "Nothing exceptional, but nonetheless interesting, I am sure." He paused, and looked at Vader. Than he continued "Hear me well now, Lord Vader, for I am not going to repeat myself."
The emperor leaned slightly forward toward his greatest servant, as if confessing something to him "You must have certainly heard of the Mecktoss planetary system, and of the Patal, the second largest planet in it. They are, of course, members of our New Order, and obedient as that goes. There is nothing much to tell of them. Mostly human populated, divided into several territories ruled by governing regal houses, and presided by the lord of the largest one, one Tun Tospot. He is not the brightest statesman, may I add. Now, what really interests me with this pitiful little world and its mediocre rulers is the existence of Holja gas mines directly beneath it's surface. The readings are quite clear, I can assure you, our best technicians have verified so. I have every intention of turning that little planet into a mining facility. This would not be any problem, the cooperation of Tun would be immediate, matching his fear and incompetence, but there is the small problem of Mecktoss, the largest planet, well equipped and ready to interfere in our business if necessary. Also despicably, although covertly pro-rebellion, if I heard correctly."
The emperor stopped to check if his student had accompanied the his story so far. Vader did nothing but nodded, so the emperor satisfiedly continued on.
"They have sent us message that they will not allow the wasting of precious natural resources for greedy needs, and the destruction of the biosphere of a planet near-by, besides the humanitarian tragedy that that would inevitably turn out to be. They have based their claim on our nice imperial laws that forbid any undue degrading of such precious things."
The emperor said all this in a voice of mocking pity. He then smiled wickedly "I have no doubt that the well-being of Patal is not their true concern. The stability of the planetary system politics depends on their prevailing as masters and administrators, and our open interference would completely undermine their authority. Also, Holja gas mining priorities to them would mean a lot, a whole lot, of money. And if that is not enough, there is the future possibility that their planet would have to take in a huge amount of immigrants in the case of a massive disruption of Patal's atmosphere and biosphere. Not a nice possibility, I may say. And the truth is that after a few decades of our exploration most of the gas would have been taken already or leaked out by itself, and the planet would be useless, a sick remnant of what it was, a festering, decaying, potentially dangerous mass of polluted material in the shoe of that planetary system. The Mecktoss are ready to fight us on this, Lord Vader. And I have no intention of doing so. Small wars with worthless opponents do not concern me. Therefor, this is your task: you are to travel to the planetary system, as my emissary, which you are, supposedly, to converse. Then, you are to kidnap the daughter of the Mecktoss king, Aljam Nopte Kass, Evertia. Do you understand? Do not look at me so surprised Lord Vader, you heard correctly. I have been thinking about this a lot, and I have decided that I could amuse myself with this story a bit. I want you to kidnap her. She is considered his most prized possession, because it is through her that the line will be continued. I do not understand much about parent love, but I do about lineage. The king will not concede to loose his throne and future for a matter of a simple, second grade planet in his system, whatever the lines of friendship between them. Domestic policy will speak louder, and I am certain all our demands will be met promptly. There will be no need for any long diplomatic discussions that way, or any unnecessary military conflict, and our domain will be kept. This entire operation is to remain confidential. You are to instruct the king that if word of this gets beyond the palace, we will retaliate as only we can. After the planet surrenders to our will, and the king proclaims that he is an obedient servant of me as his master, you will kill the girl, and assassinate the king, of course, and place one of our own people, moff Harshing, I think, to be it's ruler, in the event of the tragic and untimely deaths of the king and his daughter. Do you see? There should be no complains about this course of events once the king had already proclaimed his undying loyalty to us. It should all be so neat and amusing, don't you think, my friend? And the rebellion will loose a potential martyr example and a wealthy bastion."