I want to thank mokulule and Azalea Scroggs for your invaluable input and ideas on how to improve the chapter! Thanks to mokulule's input I also made a few changes to the previous chapter.
It's been such a treat to be with you all on this journey through my first long-fic. I can now say that in all likelihood I will finish this story at 32 chapters, so we still have a little bit more to go together.
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The Emperor
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Hours must have passed. Hours of anxious waiting and pacing for Bail Organa, while around him Darth Vader was consolidating his power, directing his ground forces to snuff out the pockets of resistance rallied from the Imperial Military Headquarter and sending orders to his fleet in orbit and across the galaxy. Hours in which Luke's unchanged condition was being monitored and tended to by the stoic field medic and each demand from Bail to remove Luke to a medbay was ignored. From time to time the medic quietly conversed with Vader, always out of earshot from Bail. The Stormtrooper still stood immovable above Luke, squeezing the bag with fluids to push them into Luke's system a little faster.
Finally reinforcements and a medical capsule had arrived and Vader had changed his mind. Luke was placed cautiously inside the capsule, hooked up to sensors and medical machinery to ease his breathing and wrapped in thermal blankets. Throughout all the hours, Luke hadn't stirred again, quieted by pain killers and sedatives, blissfully oblivious of the ruckus around him. Bail was dismayed but barely surprised to learn that Luke was to be transported to a military facility for treatment. At this point, he'd take anything if only it meant that Luke finally received the medical attention he so urgently needed, even if it were to be Palpatine's own room.
Vader stuck close to the capsule as it was pushed through the darkened and deserted corridors of the palace, occasionally marred with scorch marks, evidence of the fighting that had broken out. Bail didn't let himself be deterred by it. He would not let his son out of his sight for even a minute and if it was the last thing that he'd do.
He was surprised when their journey led them to the large courtyard in front of the palace now occupied with the massive shape of a Star Destroyer, looking even more ridiculously oversized wedged in between the high-rises around, some of which appeared to be damaged by the forceful descend of the enormous vessel. Bail imagined the ten-meter-high marble statue of Palpatine, erected to commemorate Palpatine's rise to power, that had previous stood in the middle of this square had been plain flattened by the bulk crushing down on it.
From boarding ramps, legions of stormtroopers seeped from the destroyer. The capsule with Luke pushed up one ramp, cleared for their little procession, and into the vessel. Bail stoically followed it through the sterile, grey corridors of the warship. If they wouldn't keep him from his son by force, he wouldn't leave no matter where they were heading.
To Bail's relief, their journey ended in the medical bay. Now he was in the observation room, his ability to help his son reduced to pacing the length of the large transparisteel windows that gave him a good view on the measured frenzy of the medics on the other side where Luke was undergoing treatment.
Luke looked incredibly small and frail on the large operation table, surrounded by medics and medical droids and hooked up to drips and sensors. Every inch of the exposed skin on his chest and arms was etched with darkening bruises and marks, bearing witness to the torment he must have had to endure in the past few hours since Bail had last seen him. A breathing mask covered most of his face, and Bail struggled to remember the smile on it when they had seen each other at the party and earlier in the senate. It seemed like a lifetime ago, no just mere hours.
The observation room was dead silent except for his footsteps, no sound of the commotion next door was coming through the transparisteel viewpane. It made Bail feel almost as removed and far away from Luke as he had in the past months when Luke had been half across the galaxy.
The door hissed open, breaking the silence harshly. Vader strode in, a medic following at his heels, hastily finishing up a report.
"…once the preparations are complete, he will be immersed in bacta to promote his healing," the medic finished his report.
"Very well, proceed."
The door closed behind the medic. Vader ignored Bail, turning to the viewport where Luke was still being treated. The room felt downright claustrophobic just by the presence of the Dark Lord. But Bail wouldn't let himself be intimidated by Vader. Vader would answer for what he had done to Luke and if it was just for Bail to learn the truth. He squared his shoulders.
"What have you done to my son?" Bail demanded.
That got Vader's attention. He rounded on Bail.
"He is not your son, Organa," Vader growled, heavy contempt in his voice. He stabbed his finger at him threateningly. "I know of your deception how you stole him from me."
Bail felt the color drain from his face. "Y-you know?" How and when could have Vader found out about the true nature of his relationship with Luke? Bail was aghast. "How could you do this to him?"
"I have done nothing to him."
"Then how is he in this shape, he was fine earlier on. I saw him myself."
"It was not my doing, but Palpatine's."
"What difference does it make if you torment your son yourself or if you stand by and watch while he is tortured by your master?" Bail spat.
Vader advanced on Bail with almost inhuman speed, his hand flying out to grab Bail's collar. "You do not get to lecture me," Vader snarled, his mask way too close to Bail's face. "You are a kidnapper and a criminal. You have kept my son from me, from his heritage and his birth right. I will see your crimes exposed and you, your family and anyone who aided you in your deeds will face ample punishment for them."
"I kidnapped him? I tried to keep him safe from you and Palpatine. You were the one who forcibly took him from his home and-"
Vader shoved Bail away. His hand twitched suspiciously to his belt, where the lightsaber hilt dangled. The very air around them seemed to be sizzling with energy. The transparisteel viewpane split with a loud cracking noise across its full length and made the medics on the other side jump in fright.
"Don't you dare," Vader hissed, his hands balled to tight fists. "He was taken because of your insistence to back whatever fledging rebellion you fantasize about with Mothma and the likes. Your fault he had to endure this."
"And what if you'd known of your son? You would have handed the boy over to your Master in a heartbeat. Palpatine would have destroyed him. Youwould have destroyed him"
"I would never hurt him. You however are an entirely different matter."
"You certainly hurt him before. You tortured him, solely to make me watch."
"Palpatine ordered it in response to your inability to keep the child that you robbed safe," Vader seethed. "I offered Luke to avoid it, but he insisted on going through with it."
"Do you expect me to believe that?"
"You raised him, so you should know!"
Bail's angry retort stuck in his throat.The moment seemed to drag, his right arm made an aborted motion, then he huffed, the ghost of a smile around his lips. "He… does have his own head. Like someone else I used to know-" He broke off.
In many sleepless nights, he had pondered and tried to understand what had happened in the short span of time that Palpatine had needed to set his long-laid plans into motion and install himself as his Emperor. And how he had managed to convert Anakin Skywalker, that bright eyed young Jedi Knight who Bail had met on many occasions, to turn on the order that had raised him since childhood and on his own wife. Often enough, Bail had worried the same for Luke, who wasn't just the spitting image of his father, but shared his enthusiasm and thirst for action to a frightening degree.
"What happened to you that you refused the identity of Anakin Skywalker," he asked.
"Do not utter that name again. It no longer has any meaning to me."
"Then how can you claim Luke as your son?"
"Luke was born to me. All I did was for her, for the child."
"Of course," Bail huffed disparagingly. "Just as this is all for Luke. You have used him to gain what to seize power."
"I have not seized it for myself. It is Luke's prerogative to assume the throne."
"What?" Bail's train of thought derailed in a heartbeat. He was certain that he had misheard. The idea of Vader to altruistically share his power and influence, now that he had managed to place himself in this top position was ludicrous.
"Luke will be emperor," Vader repeated with the sharp edge of impatience to his voice.
"And just how did you coerce Luke to agree to that?" Bail couldn't imagine Luke, this young, bright-eyed boy who had struggled long enough to accept his role on Alderaan for a very long time, to willingly approve of such a scheme.
"He will come to accept it."
"He- what?"For a second time, Bail choked on his angry reply. "He doesn't know? You didn't think you should discuss this with him first?"
"It is unnecessary to discuss this with him prematurely. The news are being announced throughout the galaxy. I have corrected Luke's foolish misconceptions you taught him about the galaxy. He will understand the necessity of my actions and accept the responsibility."
"You can't be serious-"
Vader's finger was stabbing at him again.
"I do not need nor do I seek your counsel. I have tolerated your insolence so far, but if you do not keep silent, I will have you removed, permanently. The only reason you are still alive is because Luke wouldn't be pleased about your death, but if you do not watch your tongue, I will reconsider if Luke's unhappiness isn't a price I am ready to pay to rid you from the galaxy."
Bail opened his mouth for his just as angry retort, but the sound of the door swishing open stopped him short. A pale and timid looking medic stood in the door. "My Lord, Senator. I must ask you to… this is a medical ward and th… the E-emperor needs rest…"
"You have news," Vader demanded harshly. Herounded on the man who defied possibility by blanching even further.
"Um… y-yes, my Lord," the medic stumbled over his own words. "The… the emperor is stable for now. But he needs to be immersed in bacta for twelve hours at the very least, before it is advisable to wake him again."
Upon entering the medbay of the Avenger, General Veers found Lord Vader and the supposedly pacifist and meek Senator of Alderaan locked in the loudest shouting match that he had to date to see in such a peaceful environment.
At his entrance Vader rounded sharply to him. Veers straightened up, trying his best to keep his distance to avoid being caught in the crossfire without taking an actual step back. "My Lord, your presence is required in the command center."
"Very well. Ensure the Senator goes nowhere near the boy."
"Yes, Sir."
The cold tones did little to impress the senator. "You have no right to keep me from my son."
"I have every right, Luke is mine," Vader snapped. He rounded back to Veers. "You best remove this nuisance from my sight until I return or I refuse to take responsibility for his death."
With that, Vader strode from the room, cape billowing out behind him.
ooo
"Senator?"
Bail warily faced the steely eyed general. It was the same one that had practically arrested him outside the throne room. "What is it?" He said irritably. If they'd try to separate him from Luke then they'd be mistaken if the thought he'd go quietly.
"Thought you might want to fetch the rest of your people from the ballroom."
Bail frowned. He glanced at his chrono. It was almost morning, already much later than that party should have gone. "What is happening, why are they still there?"
"Lord Vader's orders. Everyone present in the Great Ballroom has been detained for the time being."
Bail raised his eyebrows. Such ruthless tactics suited Vader alright, but even Bail had to admit that it made sense. Nearly everyone of rank and high position in the core and the wider galaxy had been present tonight. Despite Vader's insistence to share his power with his son, he seemed determined to rule the galaxy with an iron fist.
Bail cast another look at Luke. He was being lowered into the bacta tank, breathing mask sealed on his face and evidently heavily sedated. From what the medic had said, Luke would stay in the tank for many hours if not days. There was little he could do now here. Bail was reluctant to leave his son out of his eyes for even a minute of that time, but he also needed to use this chance to free the others. He would need these allies if he wanted to help Luke.
He nodded and followed the general through the maze of ever similar looking corridors of the Star Destroyer.
"That was some impressive shouting for an Alderaanian," the General remarked offhandedly. "Can't say I am surprised though."
Bail couldn't remember meeting the man before. He eyed him suspiciously. "Did we meet before?"
"No, but I met your son, Senator" the general grinned. "He isn't overly sedate either."
The Great Ballroom looked like a refugee camp with some of the most lavishly dressed refugees Bail had seen to date, waiting in huddled groups on the floor. The atmosphere couldn't be more different than the party Bail had left hours ago. Music and chatter had been replaced with a stifling quiet, interrupted only by occasional hushed whisper.
Bail followed the general through the main entrance. Some unrest spread through the room at the opening of the main door, but no one dared to challenge the armed stormtroopers patrolling throughout the room.
A trooper with a colored pauldron came up to them.
"Anything to report?"
"Not much, Sir. Some more attempts to bribe their way out and one tried to sneak out dressed as their servant…"
Bail zoomed out of the trooper's report. He scanned the room, searching for the delegation from Alderaan in all this chaos. It took him a while to spot them. He crossed the room as swiftly as he could, considering the many dignitaries, sitting in his way on the floor.
Raymus Antilles looked up at him with a mixture of surprise and worry and even in the dim lighting in this corner of the ballroom he could see how worn the captain looked.
"Senator." Despite the situation he still managed to sound relieved. "I feared you…" he broke off. "What is happening?"
Bail threw a glance around. Several many pairs of eyes were on them and he was sure even more people were listening intently. Antilles seemed to understand as well. He swallowed whatever he had been about to say next.
"Come with me," Bail said as quietlyas he could. He nodded at the others that were regarding him with wary eyes. "All of you, I'll explain later," he added.
Antilles looked at him even more worried than before and then at the general, flanked by two troopers that had followed them in, hovering just a few steps away. Bail tried a reassuring, confident smile, but he wasn't sure how well he managed.
Antilles and the others got up and followed to the door. When they reached it there was commotion from the other side of the room. The portly governor was blazing his way through the room to the door, stumbling over arms or legs of those on the floor in his way and causing quite the stir and enraged shouts.
The guards at the door trained their blaster on him to stop him if necessary.
"Let me through. I am part of the Alderaanian delegation." He tried to push on. "Senator, I am relievedto see you well."
The general looked at Bail questioningly.
"I don't think we will be needing your servicetonight, Governor." Bail tuened his back on him.
Once they are outside the door is being locked again behind them, shutting out the governor's spluttering protest. Bail turned to Antilles. The captain still eyed the general with great suspicion, as if he was expecting something bad to happen, but he let Bail steer him to a more private nook.
"I need you to call the Queen," Bail said, pressing a datachip into the Captain's hand. "She needs to come to Coruscant as soon as she possibly can arrange it."
ooo
Escorted through the eerily quiet, locked down city, patrolled by heavy vehicles and masses of soldiers, Raymus Antilles reached the Alderaanian embassy. Establishing communication with Alderaan proved to be difficult. The captain tried each and every one of their own secure lines. But he found all of them jammed and unusable. For better or worse he had to resort to the imperial encryption that Senator Organa had provided him with. There was no telling who might be listening in on this frequency, but he had no other choice but to use it and trust that the senator knew what he was doing.
"My Queen, I-"
"What is going on?" Breha Organa was looking anxious. There are no more news coming through from Coruscant and troops have deployed in Aldera locking down the spaceports and all major squares."
"I… I spoke to the senator just now, he seems well, Ma'am. Coruscant has been locked down as well and-"
"What about Luke?"
Raymus Antilles hesitated briefly. "He attended the Emperor's reception in the evening, accompanied by Lord Vader. The senator told me that he was injured, but he couldn't tell me any details."
Breha touched her heart, looking shaken.
Antilles took heart. The senator's behavior had been unsettling and the captain felt more and more worried whether or not the senator would betray them if Luke's life was held ransom. "My Queen, I don't think it is wise for you to travel to-"
But in this moment the connection was lost, replacing the imagine of Queen Breha with white static. Antilles punched the control key to reestablish connections, but it failed again and again. Instead a new image lit up of a solemn looking anchor. On the bottom, a text looped announcing the strict curfew imposed and military law established throughout the Empire. The captain tried to switch to another frequency, but the image remained the same. He tried another one and another. But on every single frequency, even those who had been jammed before, the same transmission played.
The anchor lifted a datapad, focusing on the holocam in front of him.
I am filled with great sadness at my duty to announce the death of our beloved Emperor who succumbed to a very brief but serious illness. In these troubled times, I urge all citizens of the Empire to remain calm and to stay at their homes and await further instructions of local law enforcements. A curfew has been imposed to maintain security and-
Raymus Antilles was floored and almost missed the next bit, when an image of Prince Luke replaced the Imperial cog behind the anchor.
In this moment of grief, we all need to rally behind our new Emperor Luke Organa of Alderaan who has ascended to the throne with immediate effect.
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