Chapter 11-Painful Truth
Mara Jade easily infiltrated Naboo's airspace. It wasn't that hard. For being an "official" supporter of the Empire, they clearly had supporters of the Rebels here. In key places no less if how she got in was any indication. She could easily find well over twenty different ways to sneak onto the planet's surface without breaking a sweat. In fact, Mara believed the Empire's newer recruits in the field of infiltration could have gotten in just as easily.
'This is practically child's play. The Emperor should put harsher restrictions on this place to ensure the Rebels attempts fail in the future,' thought Mara while making her way into Theed in the dead of night.
Mara Jade had learned through her own means of contacts and the Force itself that one Luke Skywalker was hiding out here. On Naboo. On the Emperor's home planet of all places! Vader had reported a Rebel cell had been found and killed, but nothing else in connection to the Empire's most wanted man. But Mara knew better. Her instincts on hunting criminals of her Master were sharp. Sharper then the deadliest blade. Skywalker was here. She was sure of it. She could feel it! The Force practically told her it was true and her Master had been a firm teacher when it came to listening to the Force. To what it told her.
And more importantly...that Mara tell him what it told her.
She was his eyes and ears throughout the Galaxy after all. The Emperor's Hand. A title that was not only a great honor, but also granted the red haired woman many perks. The ability to see the world. A nice residential apartment suite on Coruscant. Fine luxuries that many would find impossible to get, even among the extremely rich, and influential among the Empire's Elite. Advanced technology not even on the market or rumored to be out in the Galaxy. All necessary to enforce the Emperor's Will.
Reaching her destination, Mara frowned at the building she was planning to enter, and saw it was more of a palace. Not a tall palace like the many on Coruscant, but one of a shorter height, wider, and circular design so people could look up at the sky from ground level without straining their necks. It still had a sense of regal like quality attached to it, but that was about all the building had in Mara's mind. Still, the issue wasn't the structure itself, but rather what she sensed inside of the building.
Only one Force signature. Her target. He was here. But no one else. The Emperor had gotten the same reports she did about how Luke Skywalker and the remaining Jedi with the Alliance had fled the organization. And for what? All because they assumed the Jedi Knight in training was a spy for the Empire? Or some secret agent of Vader? Or even the Emperor himself? Ha! The paranoid fools! Mara knew Skywalker was no more an agent of the Empire or the Emperor then she was the daughter of Jabba the Hutt.
Smirking to herself, Mara infiltrated the building with ease. She moved with the stealth and grace of a Master Assassin. As was her training for years under the guidance of the Emperor and to a lesser extent...Vader. As loathe as she was to admit it, Vader had been an effective teacher when the Emperor sent her to his second in command. There were just certain aspects of her training that could not be handled by the older Sith, who sat on the galactic throne, and needed to be managed by Vader himself.
And as loathe as she was to admit it, even to herself...the training was paying off.
She quickly entered what was easily determined was the living area of the building. One of many she imagined. It was spacious. Designed for large social gatherings and parties if she were to make an educated guess. The people of Naboo did love their parties to be big and grand in every sense of the word without making it seem over the top. A way for them to keep their humility and prevent themselves from being overly arrogant. Not that it mattered here since the room was vacant of any furniture that might have once filled this room.
Tensing slightly at the sight of such vacancy, Mara moved through the shadows, hiding herself like she had been trained to do for years since she was a child, and staring at the single form standing in the middle of the room. The figure was male, wearing all black, both of his hands were behind his back, and his presence screamed a calm yet intense form of power.
For a moment, Mara blinked in confusion, and thought the image of Vader was standing there with his back to her. If only for a moment. The only reason she knew it wasn't the Sith Lord was due to the height of the man in the dark room and there wasn't the sound of a respirator echoing throughout the room.
Still, she couldn't deny there was something about her target that reminded Mara of Darth Vader. She was actually finding it to be quite unsettling.
"Hello Mara. You can come out of the shadows," whispered Luke in a calm voice, which echoed throughout the room.
'What? He knows I'm here? But...how?' thought Mara while sticking to the shadows and not giving him the satisfaction of him believing he was right.
"To answer the questions currently lingering in your mind Mara, I can easily sense your Force signature," commented Luke since he knew her Force signature since he met her on Bespin during the fighting.
'That's not possible! I was taught how to mask my signature by the Emperor himself. He shouldn't be able to sense it!' thought Mara while moving through the shadows and trying even harder to keep Skywalker from sensing her.
"I can sense you because we met before on Bespin when you attacked me Mara. You can try and hide your Force signature from me, but it won't help you," remarked Luke while Mara narrowed her eyes at him.
'We'll see about that!' thought Mara while taking out her blaster slowly without making a sound and prepared to take aim from what she deemed to be a safe distance.
"Don't do it Mara. If you do, I will be forced to retaliate," warned Luke while his voice had a commanding tone and almost made the red haired woman hesitate for a moment.
Almost.
'We'll see about that,' thought Mara before she pulled the trigger of her long range blaster rifle and shot at Luke with the intent of putting a hole through his head.
Originally, the plan was to seduce Skywalker to the Dark Side of the Force using her body, and tempting him with more should he agree. But deep down Mara knew better. She knew this young man would not be tempted by her looks, her appearance, or her body if it meant joining the Empire in service to the Emperor. No. Skywalker was a man of principle. Integrity. He wasn't going to embrace the Dark Side for a taste of her body for one night or many nights if offered. Normally, Mara would shrug off what she would consider to be a knowing rejection. It happened on rare occasions. But for some reason this one hurt. Maybe because the red haired woman actually found Skywalker on some level to be attractive. Granted she had seduced a few attractive men when a mission had called for her charms to entrance the men the Emperor assigned for her to kill. But this was different. It was as if Skywalker was something special and to be rejected by him, even before she could put on the charm, was a wound on a...personal level.
She hated an injury like that to her person. She hated Skywalker for causing it!
The blaster shot she fired was easily deflected by the sudden appearance of Skywalker's very own Lightsaber he made while on Naboo. The green blade glowed in the dark room and illuminated the area to cast him in a very intimidating light. Angry at her kill shot not hitting its mark, Mara fired again...and again...and again. Each shot meant to kill. Each shot meant to snuff the life out of this man, who for some reason was infuriating her with each passing second, and wanted him to die!
And each shot easily being deflected with ease.
"There is no point in staying in the shadows Mara. I can see you easily," said Luke before using the Force and yanked the blaster out of Mara's hands before crushing it in midair.
"How do you know my name?" asked Mara while brining out her Lightsaber, yet kept her thumb from triggering its activation.
"I have my sources. I know you are Force sensitive. Which is why you have a Lightsaber currently in hand to use against me in our coming fight. I know you were trained to use your power by the Emperor and thus gained the title of Emperor's Hand. I know you do a great deal of his dirty work as an assassin and spy when required by him to stir trouble in various places throughout the known Galaxy. I also know that you believe that the title of Emperor's Hand is yours and yours alone. You would be wrong to believe that last part," replied Luke while sensing Mara's anger spiking through the Force at the last remark.
"I am the only one," stated Mara with conviction.
"According to who? The Emperor? You really believe he has only one Hand? To do so much for him and to ensure his Empire is protected? One person cannot do such a thing alone. Lord Vader has served the Emperor for years, but doesn't put everything on him to do in securing the military of the Empire. There are Moffs, Grand Admirals, Admirals, Generals, and other high ranking military officials within the Empire. They may not be the second in command of the Empire, but they still share the responsibility of running it. Why would a Hand be so different? Why can't there be more then one Emperor's Hand?" questioned Luke while Mara snarled slightly even if the man couldn't see it.
"Because no one can do what I can do. No one can move as I can move. No one can kill as I can kill. No one can get close to an enemy and kill them like I can. Not even Vader. Not his Noghri. No one!" replied Mara easily enough.
"Are you sure about that Mara? Surely you've sensed others in the Imperial Palace when there? Sensed they were not what they appeared to be? Or were off in some manner if you looked into their eyes? Surely you sensed such things from what the Emperor himself taught you about seeking the truth about others from a mere glance?" questioned Luke, as he sensed Mara's anger spike again, and her resolve shake slightly from his insight.
In truth, Mara had sensed something off about a few people within the Imperial Palace. Just as she had been taught by the Emperor when sensing potential traitors or spies who somehow wormed their way into the structure to learn top secret things about the man on the throne. When she went to see the Emperor for training or was in the Imperial Palace in general for a mission of what he said was of the utmost importance for her to complete, Mara sensed others not being who many thought they were. The maintenance techs. Desk secretaries. Even the occasional chef or other members of the staff assigned on certain days had a...feel to them. Like they were what they were suppose to be in terms of their jobs, but at the same time...they weren't. You wouldn't know it from first glance or the way they talked to you. No. It was in their Force signature. It was like there was a hidden part of them lying in wait. Like a predator acting dormant. Almost sleeping even. Waiting to be awakened and unleashed on the word or command of the Emperor. She had told the man as such during her training and questioned if they were not in fact Rebel spies, who were Force sensitive, and received some measure of training from the enemy. Of course the Emperor assured her it was nothing and to ease her worry for his safety, he would have this matter looked into by the Inquisitors.
Mara of course offered to investigate the matter personally since she felt it would be easy to do since she clearly remembered some of the faces and where they were stationed. But the Emperor had firmly expressed in his command that the matter be handled by others from the Inquisitorial Department. More specifically those trained by Lord Vader to find such threats and bring them to justice. They had far more experience then her after all in these matters according to the man.
Still, he clearly appreciated her concern for his well being, it would be wasted effort on Mara's part, and the Emperor assured her that he was grateful for such devotion.
So why did he lie? Did he have other Hands watching over him? Wasn't she suppose to be the only one the Emperor could rely on? Her skills were top notch. Who could be better then her? Replace her? No! Never! She was the only Hand the Emperor would ever need! Those people she sensed back then were obviously Vader's agents. A test to see if she could find out who among them were not what they appeared to be in life.
"Liar!" exclaimed Mara before she leaped from the shadows, Lightsaber ignited with the purple blade's shining light covering her face, and tried to take Luke's head off.
Only for him to block with ease.
"I don't believe in lying to people. Not about this. You've been lied to all your life Mara. I can prove it. The Emperor doesn't care about you. He pretends to for the sake gaining and keeping your loyalty. When he has no further use for you, he will ensure the next mission you go on will most likely be your last," replied Luke while using his own superior skills with a Lightsaber against Mara's own.
The time training with Kota, Galen, and Ahsoka since leaving the Alliance had paid off a lot!
"And what proof do you have that he will betray me? Me?! His most loyal agent. Even Lord Vader isn't as loyal to the Emperor as he would like people to believe. Why throw me away Vader of all people is the one most likely to be cast aside?!" challenged Mara while finding this situation in clashing her Lightsaber with his to be familiar, yet different somehow.
Though why that was the case, she didn't know.
"Because the man does not allow people who fail him to live. Did you know Lord Vader is his third attempt at having an apprentice? That it was Lord Vader himself who killed the second one and the Emperor was the one to encourage it?" asked Luke while knowing it was true, yet wasn't about to tell Mara it was Anakin Skywalker who did the deed.
Since both were one and the same, it was true...mostly.
"Your lying!" exclaimed Mara while the two were now deadlocked with their blades.
"You have so much potential Mara. If you were truly special in his eyes, he would have been training you to be Vader's replacement. Instead, you are a Hand. Someone to call upon to aid him from the shadows. Never known. Never acknowledged for your loyalty. Someone to be cast aside from his presence when the situation warrants and called to him when needed. Like a pet," said Luke while Mara became angrier with each new word that was coming out of his mouth.
"Shut up!" exclaimed Mara angrily before she got more aggressive with her fighting and trying to push Luke back.
"You know I'm right Mara. Even now, you are being used by him. Do you think he will allow you to raise the child? The one he wants you to have after successfully seducing me?" questioned Luke while Mara's eyes widened in shock.
"How do you know about that?" demanded Mara since she was sure only the Emperor and herself knew the truth about the plan.
"I just do. I know what he'll do the moment our baby was born. He would rip the child away, hide it in the deepest levels of the Imperial Palace, and lie to you. He would lie and say the child died and you failed him. He would pin the baby's 'death' on you. He would kill you Mara. He would kill you and 'raise' the baby himself to become a Sith," replied Luke while using his skills in Lightsaber defense to deflect Mara's ever increasing angry strikes.
"You lie! Jedi lie! The Emperor would never do that to me!" said Mara while she was nearly yelling at this point.
"He would and could do it in a heart beat," replied Luke before he was able to knock Mara's Lightsaber out of her hand and used the Force to send the woman into a nearby wall.
"Go ahead. Finish it. Finish me," remarked Mara bitterly knowing the man held her at his mercy and fully expected him to end a loyal agent of the Emperor.
"If you mean kill you, I'm sorry to disappoint," replied Luke before letting go of her with the Force and Mara fell to the ground.
"What is this? Pity from the enemy? I don't need your pity. Nor do I want any. If you let me go now, I will kill you, and all your friends!" threatened Mara while Luke shook his head.
"You won't," countered Luke calmly while Mara just looked at him with both confusion and anger.
"And why is that?" demanded Mara before she him turn off his Lightsaber.
Her answer came to the sound of others appearing in the room and Mara could sense their Force signatures easily now. They were strong in the Force. Very strong. Stronger then her by far. Skilled too from the way they walked as those with experience was any kind of indication.
"Because we are going to do a big favor to your consciousness and end that connection the Emperor placed inside your head," replied Kota calmly while Mara's eyes widened.
"No! I won't let you! I'd rather die!" exclaimed Mara, but before she could move, her body was forced down by Galen, and it was clear he wasn't going to leave it to chance.
"Careful. If we do this incorrectly, it may turn Mara here into a drooling idiot," warned Ahsoka while she and Kota put a hand on either side of a struggling Mara's head.
"I know. The Emperor probably put in a fail safe system inside her head in order to kill the woman should it ever be removed," remarked Kota while using his ability to "see" with the Force to know exactly what to look for when digging around Mara's mind.
"You'll regret this! He'll make you regret doing this to me!" exclaimed Mara while trying to push him out with her power.
And losing.
"Do you know what you're looking for General?" asked Galen while seeing the man nod.
"Yeah. I can sense it. Clear as day. A nasty little thing," commented Kota while using the Force to slowly and carefully remove the connection the Emperor had on Mara's mind.
"NO! STOP IT! STOP IT!" yelled Mara, as she tried harder to stop Kota, and free herself from them.
"Anytime now General? We don't need the Emperor using his power to give her a boost!" commented Galen while sensing the woman's Force strength slowly growing the more the blind Jedi Master was undoing the connection to the Emperor.
"Patience boy. One doesn't remove a landmine without doing it with precision. At best, one false move from me and she has a mentality of vegetable. At worse...well...I have the mentality of a vegetable," replied Kota while struggling a little to remove the link Mara had with the Emperor and his fail safe to turn her mind into Hutt fat.
"And here I thought all those years you spent drinking in cantinas before I found you did that already Kota," remarked Galen with a smirk.
"Keep this up and I just might go back to some of them in order to get away from your all so infamous wit!" replied Kota while he ignored the red haired woman angrily screaming profanities in a couple different languages.
"Why is her Force signature getting stronger?" asked Luke while adding his own power to reinforce Galen's hold on Mara for good measure.
"Because the Emperor doesn't think too highly of women any more then he does those of nonhumans. It showed itself during the end of the Clone Wars. Humans were becoming high ranked within the Republic and replacing all the nonhumans serving. Either through death or demotion for one reason or another. Eventually, when the Empire was formed from the ashes of the Republic, the Emperor instituted a policy in the Empire where only humans could advance in rank. Everyone not human within the Empire was considered a second class citizen to him and the same could be said for women. Apparently, there were quite a few outspoken women in the Senate that dared to challenge him. I think this was his way of sticking it to them by making any woman under his command like Mara here weaker then they should be when serving him. While not a threat, he was ensuring she couldn't be one regardless," explained Kota while Ahsoka nodded in agreement.
"You're not kidding her power is growing. While not at the level of say Vader, its nothing to sneeze at from our perspective," remarked Galen while Mara continued to scream and fight Kota despite his actions helping her grow stronger.
"How much longer is this going to take?" asked Luke while seeing Kota sweating heavily now.
"Not much longer. A few more minutes. There is this nasty little spot around the memory center of her brain connected to the Emperor and the Dark Side. It's dug in deep. There is something here he doesn't want Mara to know. Something he's hidden from her since she was no doubt a child. Its got quite a few fail safes around it so this must be something he wouldn't want her to know," remarked Kota while feeling the Dark Side connection this had with the Emperor struggling against him more then the others.
"Maybe she is the daughter of a Jedi. Or her parents were killed by the Emperor himself in order to claim her as his personal assassin," offered Luke while Kota nodded.
"That's a distinct possibility. There was an incident with a Bounty Hunter who stole a Jedi Holocron holding the location of Force sensitive children that would one day be taken to the Jedi Temple. They were captured by the Bounty Hunter and while they were rescued, the Holocron's information was released. One of her parents could be on that list regarding expecting Mothers about to give birth," remarked Ahsoka while seeing Mara's eyes widen in horror as the repressed memories the Emperor had blocked were now being undone within her mind.
"Almost got the last Dark Side tendril. Word of warning to everyone here, this is going to hurt her, and she is going to be screaming. A lot and out loud! Three...two...one...brace yourselves!" exclaimed Kota before using the Force and plucking the last tendril from Mara's brain and felt it dissolve once free from her.
And sure enough...Mara did scream. A lot and out loud!
She was bombarded with images from her childhood. Moments in time she didn't even know until this moment even existed. As far she could remember when growing up, the only person Mara had known to care about her well being was the Emperor. He had taught her. Educated her. Arranged for all those luxuries the Empire could afford and more because of his command alone.
Only now, the images were replaced by pain.
Memories of time with actual parents. A man with brown hair and green eyes with a sense of honest in them. He was wearing Jedi robes, laughing with a woman with red hair with a pair of green eyes herself. Though these eyes clearly held a certain sense of what could only be called wild mischief about them. They were clearly happy together and they were happy with her from what their smiles had been like when they looked in her direction.
Then the memories changed.
The sound of fighting was heard from her bedroom. Blaster shots. The sound of bodies falling. Stormtroopers from the noises of their armor after hitting the ground once they were shot. The unmistakable sound of a Lightsaber having been ignited. The objects being thrown around the room outside of hers. All followed by screams of pain from a woman as if she were being hit by something truly painful. The man that was Mara's Father soon falling to the same fate while a menacing cackle echoed following each parent meeting their end.
When her bedroom door opened, Mara found herself staring wide eyes at the man she would one day call Emperor standing there. His eyes yellow, evil looking, and she could instantly feel the darkness around him like a massive black hole that could and would not be stopped from consuming everything it wanted. His hands were sparking with electrical energy from the Dark Side and Mara knew right away this man had hurt her parents. That he had killed her parents.
You are now mine child. Your parents tried to keep you from me. I won't allow anything I want being kept from me.
Those had been his words. Filled with such cruelty and hate. Someone who would cause suffering to an unknown number of people just to get his way and do it with a smile on his face. Someone who would sleep easily at night without a care in the world.
And he had come to claim Mara.
You have potential my dear. Indeed you are a child strong in the Force. I can't have that. I don't mind my servants having the skills needed to serve me, but I won't have one be a possible threat to my rule. A problem that can easily be rectified. You won't be the first one I have acquired to be my future Hand and you most certainly won't be the last.
The phantom pain of him grabbing her head and using his power to warp his Will into her mind echoed. How she struggled with what little strength her tiny body had in it and he laughed his cruel laugh at the futile attempt. Mocking her for a moment, all before cruelly slamming her down, and once more asserting his power over her mind. Everything she had done was for this man's benefit. Every life she took. Every person she killed. Life she destroyed. It wasn't against the Empire's enemies. It wasn't for bringing justice to those who were a threat to the Galaxy. No. It was all for one person who sat on a throne and had taken from her something she could never get back.
When it was over, Mara found herself crying since...forever. She had forgotten what it was like to cry...until now.
'My whole life. Everything I have done. Everything I ever did. It was all...a lie! I have served a monster. A monster, who has taken everything I should have had in life,' thought Mara with her tears running down her face quickly forming tiny puddles around the side of her face.
"We'll she be okay after this?" asked Luke with Kota sighing.
"If she's as tough as the Emperor made her? Yeah. But it won't be easy. The look now in her eyes...what I did may have been the right thing to do, but it still hurt the woman on an emotional, and mental level," said Kota while sensing the woman's Force connection was rippling at an unstable level and had to use his own influence to calm it down.
"We need to get her out of here. Somewhere safe. She needs time to recover," said Luke while Ahsoka picked Mara up.
"Agreed. She maybe out of it now, but with enough time, and effort on our part we can add a new addition to this growing team of Jedi," replied Ahsoka while Luke smiled at the idea.
"Obi-wan will love that idea," remarked Luke while knowing the old Jedi would rub his temples and remarked how he was getting too old for things like this.
"Yes. Especially when we assign him to be her babysitter until she has recovered," added Ahsoka with a smirk on her face.
She could just picture Obi-wan's face now.
(Coruscant-Imperial Palace)
The Emperor was not pleased. Far from it. He felt through the Force that his connection to one of his most competent agents, a Hand no less was disconnected from him. Mara Jade had been a loyal agent under his command. He had taken her from the life of being loved by her parents, one a Jedi no less, who had secretly wed, and had a child not unlike Anakin Skywalker did just prior to the Jedi Purges. The woman the Jedi in question fell in love with was a soldier of the Republic. One, who volunteered for service a few years before the Clone Wars had started, and she had met her future Jedi lover during one of the campaigns prior to the Outer Rim Sieges. Like Anakin, they got married in secret due to the Jedi Order forbidding love, marriage, and the idea of anyone of its members being loyal to anything beyond the Jedi Order.
Sidious felt a sense of sadistic joy knowing the Jedi Order had essentially been destroying itself long before the Master Plan of the Sith Order was even carried out. How the Jedi Order had done most of the work for the Sith Order simply by isolating themselves from the rest of the Galaxy that needed them. All of the Jedi who initially survived Order 66 were no doubt wondering just how their precious Order had been brought down to near extinction? Sidious of course knew what few truly did regarding this and that the Jedi Order had placed themselves in that situation long before the Sith provided the killing stroke.
The Jedi Order made the instrument of their own destruction. The Sith Order just took it out of their ill equipped hands and shoved the blade right into their heart.
But that joyous memory and philosophical thinking had ended when the Emperor felt Jade's connection snapping. All his time training her to be the obedient pet and servant he had molded from the time she was just a naive scared child. The time spent molding her mind to forget her Jedi for a Father and battle hardened soldier for a Mother to being his loyal Hand. All of it was gone! Taken away! The connection severed by someone who knew what they were doing in terms of removing such bonds and could see what he had done to her. The Emperor knew it wasn't Vader. The man was currently overseeing the Second Death Star currently being constructed in the Outer Rim above the planet Endor. His many spies made sure the Sith Lord's presence was accounted for at all times either on the moon sized battle station or on the Executor.
Leaving only one possibility for the loss of his most capable of Hands. Skywalker's little band of Jedi, who broke away from the Rebel Alliance had lured her into a trap. Though how they knew of her or to watch out for her was still a mystery to him. Skywalker never saw Jade's face, even during the fighting on Bespin. Yet the woman was clearly spotted and marked as an enemy when trying to confront Skywalker. Mara's plan to seduce him the boy to the Dark Side with her body or at least get Skywalker to impregnate her with a child had been ruined.
Most unfortunate. Any child sired by those two would be strong in the Force. In fact, any child of Skywalker blood were practically giant beacons in the Force. Mara's own Force potential, which he had deliberately dampened for his own personal, and selfish reasons in order to use her as a submissive servant would no doubt add to the mix. The child they created would be strong in the Force and would make for the ultimate Sith to truly rule the Empire into a glorious dark future.
But now that possibility was lost.
'Such a shame. She had such potential. Mara might have even been worthy of being an apprentice if Skywalker had failed to turn and Vader died. At least until her child had was finally ready to take his rightful place as my Heir to the Empire. It would have been a grand moment for the Sith. The look on Mara's face as the son I eventually hid from her made his appearance and ran her through with his Lightsaber. Such a wonderful moment in time,' thought the Emperor, as he imagined Mara kneeling in front of him while he sat on the throne.
How she served him to the point of getting close enough to strike. The years following her inability to have the child because of him shaking her faith and loyalty. How she moved with deadly grace and speed in her one moment where she thought it was finally possible to claim revenge.
Only for a young boy to leap out of the shadows and defend his Emperor from harm. A boy Mara would know and recognize without question as her own. The Emperor letting out a mad cackle of amusement as Mara was so stunned by the appearance of her long lost son that she failed to fight him off in the next moment. How she fell to her knees, looking her son right in the eyes, seeing his cold Sith like eyes before dying, and as the last moment of life leave her...all Mara Jade would see was her only son kneeling at the Emperor's feet in total submission.
Sadly, such a vision was lost to him. At least for now. A pity really. No doubt Mara knew the truth behind her family being killed by him and turning her into his prized pawn. He could probably use that in the future if and when she ever confronted him over it. If so, the Emperor knew he could easily overpower her, and properly remold the woman into his subservient Hand once more.
After unleashing a great deal of pain and suffering on the woman for her past failures first.
Unfortunately, the issue with Mara was not something he could give his full attention to at the moment due to the Rebels now having the new plans for the Second Death Star. Something he deliberately did, but made them earn it all the same to make thing all the more believable the information they acquired was indeed authentic. Once they properly confirmed what his Empire was constructing, the Rebels would amass their fleet to try challenging his own, and waiting for the right moment to strike.
Which the Emperor would give them...if only to make them die a horrible death when they realize their attempt to attack his Death Star was a trap designed to crush them in a single decisive battle. A battle where there would be a level of death, destruction, pain, and suffering on an epic scale not seen in years.
And it would be one where only the Emperor was the winner in the end.
(A/N: YAY! Another update. Sorry this took so long to do. Been busy with stuff. Hope this chapter was worth the wait. Until next time...PEACE!)