Star Wars

Star Wars

Chapter 10

Rise of the Empire

Confederate Outpost-Cloning Facility-Mustafar System

Palpatine was very pleased he had the foresight to build this facility. The building was a clone facility utilizing the Kaminoan's technology. Of course, he had stole the blueprints to most of their formulas and scientific equations and such. The large cloning facility had multiple rooms, each of which had a serial number, indicating the subject being cloned. His goal was to put his force essence into a specific body. He had already unlocked the mystery of immortality. Of course, not an eternal material body, but to become one with the dark side of the force. As Palpatine's force ghost walked along the halls of the great facility, he was looking for one room in particular.

Room 25

Subject # 1-14-1-11-9-14

Clone status: Large quantity of Midi-Chlorians. Approx. 20,000 per cell

Active

If Palpatine didn't have the discipline, he'd be jumpy with excitement. This plan was brilliant. The Skywalker family would be either turned...or destroyed by one of its own. Also, having the body of the chosen one would make him all the more powerful, rivaled only by Anakin Skywalker himself. The clone body he was looking at was none other than...Anakin Skywalker. He had aqcuired the necessary DNA when he met Anakin when he was 9 yrs. old. He would thank Darth Maul for that, if he were still alive. This would make the him about 2 yrs. younger than the original Anakin Skywalker. To make the process of transferring his essence into the Skywalker clone all the more easier, the clone was made to be brain dead, while it's core functions were still active. A vegetable. Once his Soul entered the body, he would have control of the body as if it were his own. He needed the clone to be so accurate that he replicated the scar on the temple, and replaced the Anakin clone's right hand with an exact replica of Anakin's mechanical hand. His plan would not fail. Anakin Skywalker would pay. And he would turn Luke and Leia Skywalker to the dark side at any cost...or they would die.

Palpatine walked, or floated, to the clone chamber, using the force, he deactivated the suspension fluid. Now was the time. Immersing himself with the full power of the dark side, he entered the clone's body. As the suspension liquid receded, the figure's face was hidden, save for one eye. Then, it quickly opened.

0o0o

The confederate guards were standing at attention, guns held in position. They had no idea why they were guarding this facility. It was a cloning facility, that's what they knew, but they couldn't know any more than that.

"Hey ager, wanna play a few rounds of Sabaac after this shift? I'm getting restless.", said the first guard. The second guard, the very tall man with a mostly dark tan-orange military suit, Ager, nodded listlessly.

"Yeah, I'm feeling restless too, we should bring some girls too.", replied Ager restlessly. What happened next caught theem completely by surprise. A man dressed in a black tunic walked through the door.

Ager whipped around, and pointed his blaster at the strange man. "Halt, show us your identification!"

"Wait a minute, Ager, t-that's the guy from the holovids! It's Anakin Sk-Skywalker!", exclaimed the first guard nervously. Ager didn't believe that. What would a legendary warrior from a decade ago be doing here.

"Ok, mister hero with no fear, let's see some identification.", stated Ager sarcastically.

Palpatine looked at him through his hood. the pupils in his eyes changed to a sickly yellow. It's been a while since i've had some fun.

"Sure.", said Palpatine. He sounded just like Anakin Skywalker. He pulled his hand out as though he were taking a card out, but rather streched his hand out in a gesture, as though he were squeezing something.

"Hey, what're you-", Ager's statement was cut off, as he floated slightly in the air, and pressure started to build in his neck. He instinctively place his hands on his neck as though willing himself to dull the pain. It then became unbearable as a audible snap could be heard. Palpatine had force choked him to death.

The other guard could only watch in horror as he saw his best friend get killed in the most bizzare fashion. He finally got his wits and ran as fast he could in the other direction. However, before he made his sixth step, Palpatine raised his left hand, and lightning burst from his fingertips. The unlucky guard was forced out of the window and into a speeder.

Palpatine couldn't help but laugh. He had unlimited power at his disposal. And with this body, he hadn't put much effort into using the force. Palpatine laughed harder. So this is what it feels like to be the chosen one. If anyone could see Palpatine now, he looked like Anakin Skywalker had gone mad. He made his way outdoors to find a speeder. He needed to go to Naboo so he could find out what to do next. Everything was going according to his design. His revenge would almost be complete.

Lake Varykino-Skywalker Residence-Naboo

Everything was dark and misty looking. Luke walked around the dark emptiness. He continued walking until he saw Mara Jade. She was on the ground, and there was a blood stain on her arm. She was struggling to get up.

"Luke!", she yelled, her voice full of didn't seem to notice him. "I'm here!", Luke yelled, running to her. She still didn't seem to notice him. "Someone help!", she yelled. Just then, a snap-hiss could be heard off in the distance. Luke blinked, and Mara's image had dissappeared. Where did Mara go, and what was that noise?", he thought, getting nervous. Before he made any movements, he could hear rythmic mechanical breathing-right behind him. Luke quickly turned around. "Who are you?", asked Luke. He had a feeling he didn't want to know.

The figure in front of him was wearing an all black full body suit. From the looks of it, it seemed like some sort of life support. He had a glowing red lightsaber in his hand-that's where the snap-hiss came from, and he's the cause of the ominous sounding breathing.

"Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.", stated the dark and tall figure cryptically. His voice was very deep, due to a synthesizer in the mask.

Luke found the words coming out of his mouth automatically. "He told me enough! He told me you killed him!" Why had he said that.

What the dark figure said next blew Luke's mind. "No." The figure removed his mask. It was Anakin Skywalker's face. "I am your father."

This was all insane! Father would never be evil! And Mara was in trouble!

"Luke, wake up!", yelled Leia. Luke finally got up, his breath shaky. After a few breaths, he finally calmed down.

"Luke, you were yelling and moving around alot, what happened?"

Luke didn't want to bother Leia about it. And the dream had his father...maybe he shouldn't tell him. It would probably go away in a few days.

"...It's nothing, don't stress yourself out about it, you worry-wart, go back to sleep.", said Luke cherfully, though a little forced. Leia knew something was wrong. Through their twin bond, one's emotion affected the other. She decided he would tell her if whatever it was bothered him enough. She went back to sleep.