A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! Sorry for the long wait, but i was really busy. This chapter is a little longer for you all, so enjoy! And don't forget to review! Thxs!

Chapter 8

Terror is only justice that is prompt, severe, and inflexible. Terror without virtue is disastrous; virtue without terror is powerless. - Maximilien Robespierre

When he came in, the whole room fell silent, every body becoming rigid. Slowly he stepped forwards, taking each step thoughtfully. The people in the room dared not move, for fear that he would strike them down. That was what he was known for: killing. Word of the massacre on Naboo had spread like wildfire. Every planet was afraid that they would be next to face Vader's wrath. He was a shear terror to the citizens, his armies, his advisers, and even to his wife. He was unmerciful and cruel, a true force to be reckoned with. If one person looked at him in the wrong way, they were dead the next second. Even the sound of his name made people look over their shoulders, their paranoia becoming apparent.

Sometimes the people wondered if he knew just how terrified they all were of him. But of course he knew. Every time he entered a room, a smirk spread across his face as people cowered to the corners. Truthfully, he loved the way people reacted to him; it was just proof of how wrong everyone had been, how wrong they were to hold him back, and think lowly of him. Yes, he was showing them true power, and true might now.

Vader looked around at the faces in the room, noting all the Representatives from the different planets. There was Bail Organa from Alderann, Mon Mothma from Coruscant, Padme Amidala from Naboo….

Wait a minute… Vader thought.

Padme was not in her seat where she was required to be. Anger boiled in Vader's veins. He had just told her last night that she had to come to the meeting in the conference room. How dare she not be here! Vader scowled at her lack of punctuality. He would just have to drag her down here himself.

He turned from the room unexpectedly and strode up to his bedroom chambers.

When he at last got to the door, he flung it open with a swoosh of his hand and entered with the swirl of his cloak.

"PADME!" he roared, looked expectantly around the room. Not seeing her, he went to the west wing of the suite and looked there; still no luck.

Vader was extremely angry. His wife could not go MIA now, not at the time when he was announcing the new tax laws, curfew policy, and the Law 22 Prairial. These new laws would ensure his supreme, unending rule; she needed to be there to witness his power.

In a last attempt to find her, Vader went into his private corners across the hall. Vader knew that Padme was not supposed to go in there, for he had told her multiple times not to, but he did not know where else to look. And if she was in there… oh, she would have some explaining to do.

Padme sifted through the drawers as quickly as she could. She knew that she was late already, but this was the only time she had in order to look for anything. Hastily she closed the current drawer she was in and went to the next.

Where is it… she thought desperately. Where is it…

She knew that Vader was hiding something from her, something that she bet everyone else in the whole galaxy knew, except for her. He would not let her watch the HoloNet, nor read the paper that he ordered to have everyday. At first she just thought that he thought the news would corrupt her or some other idiotic idea, and she just laughed it off. But as he became more and more persistent about hiding everything from her, she became suspicious.

Since there were no TV's anywhere on this ship, Padme knew that she had to find the paper that Vader kept out of her grasp all the time. As she completed the drawer and moved on to the next, she heard the door opening up behind her. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized it was Vader and she slammed the drawer shut as quickly as she could.

When she saw Vader enter and approach her, Padme became even more frightened as she saw the yellow glow in his eyes and his brow furrowed in deep anger. Now she was truly terrified.

Within only a couple steps, Vader was face to face with his wife, and took her arms roughly into his hands, his grasp tight.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" he whispered harshly.

"I…I was just… uh… looking for…"

"LOOKING FOR WHAT?" Vader roared at her.

Padme shuddered at his violent behavior.

"For... for the twins!" she said suddenly. But she immediately regretted it as she realized her mistake.

"You know very well that the children are with your parents," hissed Vader.

"I... I forgot," Padme lied sheepishly.

"You're lying."

"No," Padme continued as she shook her head earnestly, "No, I swear I forgot."

Suddenly Vader slammed her back against the counter behind her, and clenched her arms even tighter, causing Padme to wince in pain.

"I'll ask you one more time, Padme," Vader yelled hoarsely. "What. Were. You. Doing. In. MY. Quarters."

"I told you!" screamed Padme as tears of pain began to flow from her eyes. "Looking for the twins."

At last Vader let go of her, and Padme immediately grabbed her arms where bruises were already forming. She glared up at Vader, who was staring her down as well.

"Come," Vader said, "You are already late as it is. And you don't want to miss this meeting."

The walk down to the conference room was silent. Padme was walking as fast as she could in order to keep up with Vader's large strides. She was slightly afraid of going to this meeting, not just because she was seeing all her old friends for the first time, but also because of what Vader would propose. His laws were already strict as they were, and for him to call a meeting meant that he had something big planned. Of course she did consider that he would take off some of his extreme laws instead, but that thought was foolish. She no longer believed that Vader would ever become less overwhelming, but now she had accepted the fact that her Anakin was truly lost forever.

At last they arrived at the conference room, where Padme saw all her friends for the first time. She went to her seat, greeting everyone with a warm hello. As she looked at each of her friends, she noticed that they all held a sort of sadness in their eyes when they looked at her, perhaps out of pity; she didn't know.

Vader stood at the head of the table, his stance commanding attention. The whole room was quiet, and so Vader began his meeting.

"You are probably all wondering why I have called you here," he began. "I usually do not have these sort of meetings, since I just send you all your laws by Holo Projectors. But," he continued as a smirk placed his face, "these new laws have specific ideas to them that can be somewhat hard to understand for the likes of you." He paused to look at each of the faces. "Now, before I begin. I would just like you all to know that these laws are not up for negotiation. They are as they are and will not be changed under any circumstances. Understood? Good."

"The first, minor, law is increased taxes. With the new construction going on for my ships, and weaponry, I need more. The citizens taxes will be increased 5 folds." The crowd began to whisper their opposition. "Silence!" Vader roared. "As I said, these laws are not up for discussion. The people will pay 5 times what they used to. It is final."

"Now, the second law is a curfew policy. The people are to be inside their houses by eight every night. No excuses. The reason for this is for my purposes. When I need to go to a planet, I don't like citizens being out around me. Therefore, they are to be out of my sight, and if I see one, they will be killed on the spot." Many people in the room shook their heads and sighed, but did not say anything. Vader smiled and then continued onwards to his largest, best new law.

"Lastly, I will be inducing the Law 22 Prairial. Some of you may have heard of this law, but I doubt any of you know what it is. Basically, if anyone shows any kind of justice, is accused of conspiring, or accused of anything, their penalty will be death. I will allow no conspirators, or justifiers. They will be killed."

"This is preposterous!" Bail yelled as he stood to his feet. "You cannot place such a law on the people! You are taking away the judicial process!"

"Take a seat, Organa," replied Vader harshly. "This is not up for negotiation either. It will be placed and it will be followed. End of discussion." He paused to make sure that nobody else had any objections, and when they all were silent, he continued onwards.

"I thank you all for coming, and I hope that you all follow these laws precisely. If any of you have any questions, you know where to reach me." Then Vader turned to go, but before he left, he added one more thing. "It would be in your all's best interest to induce these laws as soon as you can, for I will be coming to each of your planets on a surprise visit. If any of you are failing to follow my orders, I believe a public execution will be in order."

With that fear set in place, Vader left the room, leaving the representatives to ponder what they were going to do, and how they must put a stop to this terror.

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