This story is an Alternate Universe saga set during the events of the original trilogy as seen in the three films, their novelizations, and the radio shows. Having never read the expanded universe novels, any similarities to characters seen there are purely coincidental. I have disregarded anything that Lucas has contradicted himself on in the making of the new trilogy.
Disclaimer: George ownes everything you recognise. Anything you don't is mine, Mine, I tell you, MINE! BWAA-HA-HA-HAAAA!
Prologue
Emperor Palpatine's Hunters
Emperor Palpatine stood on his balcony high above the heart of the Imperial city. It was late, still the huge city was alive with lights and sounds.
Sharp yellow eyes scanned the vast metropolis below. Somewhere, perhaps not far, someone was plotting intrigues against him. He felt it growing ever closer as he stood with his back confidently turned away from the small group of people waiting to give their reports.
His Red Guard, silent sentinels of evil, stood as ever, statue-like not far from his position. A thin smile crept across his pallid face as he tempted fate and moved closer to the edge of the balcony, making himself an easy target for a calculated shove. One aged hand held his black, gnarled cane, the other rested comfortably on the balcony's railing while he casually glanced out over it.
The Dark side warned him that it would happen soon. An assassin amid the ranks of the loyal was close in. But which of the group behind him was the disloyalist, the Dark side did not reveal to the old Emperor.
At the moment Palpatine was listening to one of his loyal officers giving a dissertation on the success of recent events, set in motion by his clever manipulations. Palpatine, if anything, was a brilliant strategist. He was always able to find the hole in the wall of any defense. Like now, as he left himself vulnerable to attack, he was in complete control. The danger crept closer. He tempted it further and casually walked away from his guards while the officer droned on and followed along with the others at two meters distance.
Palpatine sensed the danger follow him. With slow patient purpose the Emperor moved away from the balcony high atop the elegant old Jedi temple, turned palace.
". . . And they're waiting for the final count on the dead now your Highness," finished the officer.
"Did the Bothan give your men anything on the whereabouts of the rebels before he died?" questioned the Emperor.
"No my Lord, he was killed during the struggle to contain him," answered the officer, with a nervous swallow.
Palpatine paused when he heard this and the officers behind him paused as well. Some even moved a step away from the man who'd just spoke.
"I wonder, Admiral Keagon," Palpatine sighed, in a calm silky tone that, nevertheless, held a cold chill of danger in it. He turned to face his officers and saw them all shrink back from the Admiral, leaving the nervous man to stand almost completely alone. His loyal aide had remained with him only a step away in respect. Palpatine noted that he alone looked composed and unaffected by him as he stalked towards them.
Here at last was the traitor revealed.
The Emperor let his oppressive mood press down on the two men as he slowly neared. The aide did not blink, nor did he take a step back as his commanding officer had in a moment of panic. This was a calculating man waiting for the right moment to strike. Palpatine saw purpose in the dark brown eyes that met his burning gaze. He nodded ever so slightly to himself, for now he was amused, he would allow this foolish man to play out his game of deception.
"Did I not make myself clear, when I said that I wanted all Bothan traitors brought in alive?" Palpatine finished his question.
"Your orders were quite emphatic, your Eminence," returned the Admiral, his mouth now very dry. Still he stood straight and vouched for the men under his command. "None of my men killed the spy. . ." He paused as his aide leaned in and whispered of new information received moments before this meeting. "I'm told that the rebel was shot by one of his own people."
This was a turn of events that Palpatine had not foreseen. Shooting their own was not something that the rebels usually did. He had full knowledge that the Bothan spy network had been trying for years to get their hands on the second Deathstar's plans and its hidden location, even before Luke Skywalker had help to destroy the first one.
"Did your men let him deliver the coded plans to his people before he was taken?"
"Yes my Lord," the Admiral answered quickly. "The whole thing went off just as you said it would, except for that minor glitch Sir. And the foolish rebels didn't suspect a thing."
"Very good Admiral Keagon. I'll forget that little glitch," the Emperor said, his thin smile back in place.
"Thank you," began the man, bowing deeply, "Your Majesty is too magnanimous."
"Yes. Leave your report on my desk," replied the Emperor, turning his back on them.
"Your Highness," he said, handing his report to his aide, before bowing again and turning sharply on his heel to take his leave.
It happened in flash of movement as the Admiral was walking away. Keagon saw the horrified looks spring onto the faces of his colleagues, only seconds before he heard the shot ring out. He jumped and spun around to see his aide held frozen, a smoking blaster in one hand and the report in the other. The report fell to the polished marble floor with a loud clatter. Keagon looked at the Emperor, when Palpatine started laughing in what sounded like mocked amusement. The admiral backed away, terrified that he would be blamed for his aide's assassination attempt.
The Red Guard converged on the scene, surrounding all the officers, holding their Force pikes at the ready. No one moved, nor dared to breathe as they watched the Emperor in fear of their lives. The aide's aim had been true and almost point blank, yet his shot merely ricocheted off an invisible Force shield that sprang up around the old Emperor a split second before impact. The blast had in return, struck the assassin while the Dark Side held him prisoner.
Palpatine chuckled. It was a cold-hearted hollow sound, which made the hair on the backs of his officer's necks collectively stand on end.
"I think this little game has played itself out," he chuckled while turning to face his attacker. "Which of my enemies sent you?"
The aide did not answer. He stood frozen in the stance he'd taken when he made his move. Anger was ablaze in his eyes, mixed with pain and a hint of fear. He spit on the marble floor at the edge of the Emperor's long dark robes.
The smile slid from Palpatine's pale face and cold fury emerged in his yellow eyes. He held the aide's life in the balance and he had the audacity to spit at him. This man was indeed no fool, his act of defiance was as calculated as his other moves. He knew he was going to die and by inciting the Emperor's temper it would happen quickly and keep Palpatine from breaking his will. If only Palpatine's loyal followers were as brave and calculating, he would not be bothered with such trivial attempts on his life and the rebellion would have been quashed years ago.
The man strained against the Emperor's invisible hold and moved his trigger finger.
Palpatine did not miss it. The blaster was ripped from the aide's grip to the hushed gasps of surprise from some of the attending officers. They cringed as the weapon went flying past them to smash on a nearby wall.
"You are a strong-willed individual I see. It will not save you," the Emperor complimented coolly, encreasing his hold over the aide.
"You are a feeble old man," he openly challenged. He took a ragged breath and threw more stabbing words at Palpatine. "Like the Jedi that lived in this temple before you, your time is over, you're just too blind to see it."
The Emperor frowned openly at his defiance this time. Anger flourished inside his aged body. "You take me for feeble, simply because I look the part? That I surround myself with guards because I am too weak to defend myself, is that it?" He raised his hand and lifted the would-be assassin a foot into the air. "As you can see I have no fear of insignificant fools like yourself."
He slowly curled his fingers inward as if squeezing and the sound of bones cracking accompanied the motion. The aide gasped in pain and spit up blood while his body convulsed under the crushing pressure of the Dark side.
"Now tell me who sent you," ordered the Emperor, lifting the man's punishment so he could answer.
"No one," gasped the aide in a strained voice.
"No one indeed?" Palpatine questioned, his tone lofty. He increased the pressure again and indentations of an invisible hand showed where the aide's body was being crushed. This time the sound of bones breaking was over shadowed by the man's wails of pure agony. His body relaxed and he hung in the air, desperately gasping for each breath. Palpatine eased his hold and asked again. "Who sent you?"
"N-no o-one," wheezed the man.
Palpatine was impressed. This man had more courage than he'd first given him credit for. He could tell that no matter how much the aide was tortured he wasn't going to talk. The Emperor was going to have to extract the information he sought from the man's mind.
A thin smile spread across Palpatine's face once more at the thought. It was very easy for him to break into a weak-willed individual's mind. But this man was strong and the Emperor anticipated the challenge it would bring.
The aide strained for every breath, his lids drooping heavily. Shock had taken away all awareness of pain. Still he could feel his heart slowing down, each beat drawing him closer to death. He was ready to go. He welcomed it. Then, just as his heart was about to stop, it's beat grew steadily stronger. He felt his painful reality coming back into sharper focus and knew that Palpatine had somehow stopped his death. The reason was understood when he felt the pressure in his mind of someone trying to infiltrate his thoughts. He naturally fought to resist the old Emperor, but his dying body weakened his will. His brain felt as though it were on fire as Palpatine's voice echoed louder than any sound he'd ever heard. Over and over the same question, 'Who sent you? ' until the words all ran together.
It wasn't until the man desperately screamed, 'GET OUT OF MY HEAD! ' that the officers who were witnessing this fully understood what Palpatine was doing. The aide's body involuntarily straightened and his eyes sprang open, a look of anguish frozen on his face. Blood streamed from his nose and ears. Even his eyes bled tears, light at first and then heavier, until his cheeks were covered in scarlet. Again he screamed and the sound of his pain affected the watching officers. Some grew more horrified, while others looked on with savage pleasure. Still others appeared as though they were fighting off the urge to be sick all over the shining marble floor.
Palpatine saw none of this. He was too involved in what he was doing to take notice. He was very close to finding his answer. Just one more hurdle and he would know who sent his assassin and destroy them as well. The answer more than surprised him. The aide had not lied. There was no organized faction behind his attempt. In fact the aide was a loyal Imperialist, perhaps one of the most dedicated. It was just simply that he saw the Emperor as a crazy old man who needed to be removed from power before his feeble mind brought them all to ruin.
If anything, Palpatine had not foreseen that. Sudden suspicion drew his focus to the watching officers. At last he saw their expressions and easily read them all. There was fear and illness, which was to be expected. There was awe and intense pleasure at witnessing another suffering by his hand. And there was revulsion mixed with a hint of pity for the dying man. None of these men demonstrated any seditious emotion at that very moment. Still Palpatine could not help but wonder which of these men would seek to dethrone him next.
Who was he to trust, if his most loyal of followers could not be trusted?
In a wave of total fury, which did well to hide his concerns, the Emperor released his hold on the aide. His broken body went sailing over the edge of the protective railing and fell several thousand feet down to one of the balconies below. It made more of an impact on the watching officers than on the man, for his fractured psyche had died before Palpatine had even left his mind.
The Emperor stood for a moment reorganizing his thoughts and then looked at his remaining officers when one spoke.
"Your Highness," it was one who had been watching with rapt interest, "Who was he working for?"
"The Rebels, of course," Palpatine lied. His lofty air convinced them all and he continued casually, "It is of no consequence how many feeble attempts they make on my life. As soon as the codes reach them, all of my plans will be firmly in place. They will no longer be a problem for me."
The Red Guards took his cue and pulled up their Force pikes and then returned to their former positions. All the officers breathed easier after that. Palpatine motioned to them to resume their reports as though nothing significant had just happened. The next officer stepped up and started his dissertation. Palpatine vaguely heard it; his mind was no longer interested in trivial matters. It was preoccupied with the possibility that there may be more out there like the aide, waiting to make their move.
And what if they conspired togather? He gave a resulte sigh at this thought. He could deal with them as easily as he had dealt with the aide.
Still, he hadn't had to in so many years of power.
Had he become weak, like the aide had implied?
No, he was more powerful than he had been when he'd first proclaimed himself Emperor.
But the doubt had been seeded and not even the death of the man who had accused him of being feeble had rid him of that. His mind had been on so many things lately; The rebels, the new Death Star and most importantly of all, young Skywalker.
Yes that was it. Luke Skywalker had caused a disturbance in his mind, though the boy didn't know it. In the back of his mind the Emperor wondered how the untrained youth had managed to escape his faithful servant.
Darth Vader too seemed to be wholly occupied with thoughts of his son. Palpatine did not discourage this; in fact he had given the Dark Lord full license to continue in his search for his elusive offspring.
The Emperor had felt the boy grow ever stronger in the Force after his narrow escape from Cloud City. So strong in fact that Palpatine was beginning to feel the need to get his hands on the new Jedi before he had a chance to come into his own very real power. With each passing day his presence in the Force grew stronger and caused a greater disturbance in the Dark side.
Skywalker of course, was not the only one capable of using the Force. The Emperor knew this well. Unlike the Jedi before him, he was not so utterly complacent in his position to forget that fact. Luke Skywalker was the most dangerous at present because of his growing control in the ways of the Force. And if the power his youthful existence generated was any measure of his future potential, he could become far more powerful than perhaps even his own sire.
Skywalker had to be stopped. He needed to be captured and brought to him, before he found others like himself and passed on to them what he had somehow learned.
If capture was not possible than Palpatine was more than willing to settle for the new Jedi's eradication.
Vader had not been able to stop the rebel. And now that Palpatine needed the Dark Lord's services elsewhere, he would not be able to continue his search. Already his servant had abandoned his quest and was winging his way back to Coruscant to meet with his master.
A gentle clearing of a throat had interrupted Palpatine's thoughts and gained his attention. He looked to the source of the sound and saw one of his many dignitaries standing at his right.
"Yes, what is it?" he asked, highly annoyed by the interruption.
"The Mandalorian Hunters have arrived your Majesty," said the pale dignitary, bowing low.
The Emperor's face brightened considerably. This had been his best news of the day so far.
"Show them in. I will meet with them shortly," Palpatine ordered with obvious delight. In his good mood he turned to his officers. He savored their mixed fear and awe of him for a brief moment and then dismissed them.
Large alabaster figures of former Jedi Masters lined the great hall that was now the Emperor's formal throne room. They stood as a reminder to all of their failure to protect the universe. All wore looks of wisdom and courage. Their various styles of Jedi robes flowing to the floor, looked as though the fabrics were real. Words of wisdom were cut into the base holding each beautiful figure. One could see, on closer inspection, saber strikes cut deep into some of the statues, the only evidence of the final stand by the last remaining Jedi and their Padawan learners. Everything remained as it was found when Palpatine usurped power shortly after the Jedi of the temple were massacred, right down to the double-ended lightsaber hilt that was embedded in the base of the most prominent Jedi figure: a small whimsical, pointed eared creature.
The Imperial throne room on Coruscant, for all its splendor and elegance, was indeed a cold place to be standing in. Even the soft lights that gently illuminated the great hall lent a chilled, almost oppressive feel to the entire room. When devoid of people, even the softest footstep would echo off the polished ornately patterned marble floor as though made by a heavy footed person. A Force user of any kind, would be hard pressed to find a way in without making a sound. Short of flying in, there simple was no way in without the Emperor knowing that someone was there.
At present there were over thirty men, all dressed in similar fashion, standing in the center of the oversized room. Only minor changes in their gear distinguished any of them as individuals. However they all carried the same exact brand mark on their armor and their jumpsuits underneath. It was the Mandalorian Hunter's mark of pride. An elongated skull with down turned horns.
They stood silently waiting for the Emperor to enter and explain why he had so many of them assembled. Palpatine's cane announced his presence long before he was seen. The hollow echoes bounced off the walls and Jedi figures, which made the men cast their focus in several different directions to find the true source. The sound was soon accompanied by a soft, highly amused laughter.
The men all turned in the same direction at once and drew their weapons. The throne had been facing them before the echoing had started and now it was turned away from them. The soft cold laughter continued as the throne slowly rotated around to reveal the Emperor sitting in it. How he had made it there without being seen, was a mystery to the men, who lowered their weapons.
"I see everyone is here that I called for but one," said the Emperor after scanning the group. "Where is Onix?"
"He felt the emergence of another child in the force and died trying to bring her in," answered one man, who stood at the very front of the group. His name was Solaren and his talent for the hunt was reputable. He rarely ever failed in his appointed task. When he knelt and lowered his head in respect, the others followed his lead.
"Yes," said the Emperor as an afterthought, as though he knew this all along. He motioned for them to rise, "I felt his death. What of the child?"
"She managed to escape from our knowledge, your Majesty," Solaren explained. "She had an unexpected protector."
"Yes, the one I sensed before Skywalker," Palpatine frowned. "What of him?"
"He's dead, your Majesty."
"Good," Palpatine replied approvingly. One less annoying Force user to worry about, he thought. He smiled to himself and then leaned towards them in his high backed throne. "Gentlemen I have need of your services."
"We are at your disposal, your Majesty. What is it you command of us?"
"As you know there has been a disturbance in the Force that needs your immediate attention," said Palpatine.
"We know of Skywalker, your Majesty," said Solaren with a nod.
"You have felt him?" The Emperor was very pleased that they had not lost their ability to sense a Force user.
"Yes," the man confirmed. "I'm guessing that you want us to find and eliminate him."
Palpatine's thin smile was firmly in place; stretching his lips and making him look even more menacing.
"Yes Solaren. But I don't want you terminating him, unless you have no other recourse," he said. "You may do whatever it takes to capture him. But I would prefer that he be brought back to me as whole as possible. Alive or dead."
"And what of the Dark Lord?" Solaren wondered. "He warned us to leave Skywalker to him."
"Lord Vader's search for Skywalker has been suspended for now. I have need of his services elsewhere," the Emperor informed them. "So it falls to you to bring me Skywalker."
"Where might we find him?"
Palpatine leaned back into his throne and sat very still, his pale yellow eyes closing in concentration. Young Skywalkerhe sensed him, felt him moving, felt his presence growing strong within the Force. He felt the upsurge in power as it answered the new Jedi's call.
Luke Skywalker was using the Force at that moment.
As Palpatine felt the power of the Force converge to answer the boy's conscious call somewhere across the universe, so too did he feel his own fear rise to the surface of his mind. This boy was far more dangerous than any other he had yet encountered. Skywalker's son had power still not fully known to him; power equal to that of his father and if truth were known, far greater than his own.
He had no influence over the Dark Lord's rebellious offspring.
Obi-Wan Kenobi was the boy's only influence. Even though dead, Palpatine felt Kenobi's motivated fighting style in the youth. That old Jedi, Anakin Skywalker's former Master, had played his own game of intrigue. Now his pawn was gaining in strength and skill. It was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened. A grave chill ran through the Emperor's bones. It angered him that even from so great a distance, the son of Skywalker could inspire in him the fear of his own undoing.
Palpatine mastered the shiver that ran through him.
He was not going to fall at the hands of a misguided youth, no matter how many times he saw it in his dreaming hours. The future was not set in stone. It moved, always in motion, changing in the blink of an eye with every decision made and every event that passed. But this too could be manipulated, twisted to work the way that Palpatine needed it to, to gain what he desired. He would let nothing go to chance, Luke Skywalker would be his to command or he would meet his end. This he knew to be the only future for the young Jedi.
Skywalker would have to willingly join him and that would take the greatest care in manipulation yet. The challenge was something that Palpatine was actually looking forward to.
Luke Skywalker's image came into focus in the old Emperor's mind at last. He saw him clearly, but had no idea where the boy was. He would change this. He would send Skywalker a vision that he could not resist. In effect send him where he could be trapped and captured. This would take time in deep meditation, time he did not have the luxury of at the moment.
The door to the throne room opened and gained everyone's attention but the Emperor's. A beautiful, petite woman dressed in a gray officers uniform, was escorted in. She stood off to the side, waiting patiently to be noticed by the Emperor.
The small group of Mandalorian Hunters returned their attention back on the Emperor. Most of them looked on in mild confusion. The old Emperor seemed to have gone into himself and forgotten them.
A man standing next to Solaren leaned in close and whispered in his ear, "Hey, what's he doing?"
"Be silent! " Solaren whispered back sharply.
At last Palpatine opened his eyes and looked malevolently down at them.
"You will find Skywalker in three days time on Zirus Five."
"Zirus Five?" The curious tone in the man standing next to Solaren gained the Emperor's full attention.
"Is there something wrong with your hearing?"
"No your Majesty, it's just" The man looked to Solaren, who then stepped forward and finished what he had started to say.
"We've been notified by those of our members in residence on Zirus Five of a strange disruption in the Force that has settled on the moon in the last week. It's not like anything that we've felt before."
Palpatine's brow raised ever so slightly, impressed that they had felt the distorted ripples in the Force of late. Something, some new presence had only recently made itself known to him. What it was he could not tell, having been unable to see anything clearly, even with the Dark side's influence. In any case it did not affect his immediate future as much as Skywalker did. "That is of no consequence to you. I'm only interested in Skywalker. Zirus Five is where the rebel band has escaped to and that is where I will send him."
"Do you want us to capture the rebels as well?"
"They carry the key to the Rebellion's downfall, so you may use them as a lure for Skywalker. Once you have the Jedi let them escape."
"Your Majesty, Skywalker will be yours," Solaren vowed, once again bowing his head, "We will not fail you."
The Emperor watched the men depart on their mission with satisfaction poised on his pale, lined face.
The woman who stood waiting for her audience with the Emperor did not look at the men when they walked towards her. She did not acknowledge them, but waited silently, patiently, even as she felt their eyes on her as they passed to leave.
"Melea Tempest," Palpatine bid her forward with a wave.
Melea moved gracefully, almost soundlessly, to stand in front of the throne and bowed. "Your Majesty, you sent for me, my lord?"
"Yes, Lord Vader is presently on his way here. The Executor will be in orbit in two days, have his quarters prepared for him and be ready when he arrives."
The woman remained calm in the presence of the old Emperor. She kept her head held down and stared at the marble floor. "I am always available to my Lord Vader, your Majesty," she returned submissively.
Palpatine rose from his throne. Descending from the dais, he approached the lovely aide and lifted her chin.
She shivered at his cold touch, her soft brown eyes rising to meet his keen inspection.
"And yet you have failed to completely gain his confidence. Why is that, I wonder?"
Her eyes fell submissively. "I do not know, your Majesty."
Palpatine stared at her, studying her resemblance to Anakin Skywalker's dead wife. "Perhaps you look too much like her," he said to himself. "Yes, that could be it."
He paused for a long moment thinking on a plan that he had only considered in passing. Now as he studied her, his mind seized onto the idea with more certainty.
He sighed. "Oh well that will make no difference to young Skywalker. You will make yourself available to him when he arrives here."
She knew better than to question the Emperor, still she couldn't stop herself, " You wish me to bear his child, your Majesty?"
Palpatine smiled. She understood him perfectly.
"Only if he agrees to stand at my side."
"But. . . Lord Vader"
"Lord Vader will be in no position to contest my resolve concerning young Skywalker."
"And if this Skywalker should refuse?"
"One way or another you will carry something of him. I will have the son of Skywalker at my bidding."
Melea's heart sank. She did not want to be mother to his sick schemes. Still, knowing that to refuse meant death, she bowed meekly.
"I live only to serve your Majesty."
"Yes. . . You do."
He turned away with a dismissive wave and Melea understood that this audience was over.
She bowed once more and left.
Palpatine resumed his throne and spoke to his unseen guards.
"I wish to remain undisturbed."
The Emperor waited briefly and then took a cleansing breath. The Dark side answered his call and it's seductive quality sent a rush of tantalizing power through his old body. It obeyed his slightest whim, gave his will the dominance over others. The Dark side and he were one, as his consciousness drifted with the flow. He concentrated all his thought on Luke Skywalker and, like a moth to the flame, he was drawn to the new Jedi's presence within the Force.
The youth was no longer actively using the Force but still Palpatine felt him. He was moving again. A vague image of a desert planet flashed in the Emperor's mind, and he knew then that Skywalker was on his home planet. He concentrated harder, thinking of Zirus Five and the desperate need to go there. The Dark Side obeyed his command and propelled his thoughts out into the vastness of space and time.
Time passed and still Palpatine remained in his meditative state, his brow glistening with perspiration. It had been many years since he had manipulated a vision on a Jedi. A mild strain showed on the old Emperor's determined face. He would not fail in his self-appointed task. His thoughts traveled faster than light and sound to where the Jedi was now. The Dark side would ensure that young Skywalker would go where the Emperor needed him to be.