Meeting Room #1
Imperial Palace
Imperial City
Imperial Center
3 weeks later
Sate Pestage bit his lip hard. The jolt of pain surged through his lip and into his brain, waking him up for about 5.8 seconds.
Captain Ispa of the Imperial Security Bureau glanced at the large overhead screen, then looked back up at the men sitting around the table to continue in a near monotone, "The NPA therefore porgtails automatically into the ISB, causing the second tier of the Judicial Armory Division, known as JAD, to deal with the ..."
Pestage would have to stick his finger down his throat soon if he was to stay awake for this horror of a meeting. Ars Dangor had openly nodded off at this point, but he had grown fat under Palpatine – literally and figuratively. He didn't have the stamina to stay alert through day long security meetings like this one.
As for Ysanne Isard, the lazy shaak, well, she had sat in for 10 minutes and then slipped away with a quick holotext that "an emergency had come up."
As if she had fooled anyone with that.
Isard just didn't have staying power. But that was fine with Pestage. He would nod and grimace at the appropriate moments of this briefing, and he would collect information, and in the end he would kill Ysanne Isard and do something to Ars Dangor – maybe get him hooked on spice? Something. And then he, Sate Pestage, would ascend the throne.
Emperor Pestage. It had a nice ring.
"The ARDS will require a BRINA transmission which will ARC the WINT CRAT," Ispa continued.
So many acronyms. So. Many. Blasted. Acronyms.
The door abruptly blew open and Sate Pestage turned in stunned disbelief as smoke bombs went off and the dim forms of armored figures charged toward him. He reacted slowly, dulled by the agonizing boredom of the meeting and this morning's large breakfast of Bantha-butter pancakes. By the time he had risen to his feet, four guards were downed by blaster fire. By the time he had dropped to the floor and begun to crawl under the table for protection, the room was filled with minor explosions and the bizarre sound of ... was that a lightsaber?
By the time he had crept to the head of the table, near the emergency exit to the room, large feet had installed themselves directly in front of his escape route. Pestage let out a squeak of dismay as a bizarre armored head poked under the table and a strong arm yanked him out and he found himself being shoved into a nearby wall with a blaster in his face.
The room was full of corpses, including Dangor, who had died as he lived – corpulent and barely awake. Pestage found himself gazing like a frightened ash rabbit at a helmeted face in the form of a ...
"The Sand Panther!" he choked out, terror filling every corpuscle of his body. He knew, of course, of the Corellian Super Beings. He had, indeed, recently bought a Ransome Quiltratz Sand Panther cloak (truly one of Quiltratz's best fashion efforts.) But Pestage had never imagined in a thousand years that this gang would dare to infiltrate the Imperial Palace. This was ... this was ...
"We should kill him," the Dalyrake stated coldly.
"Indeed," murmured a slight form whose helmet was in the shape of an opee sea killer.
"Ziwi," Pestage murmured with wide open eyes.
"What about retinal scans?" a nerf helmeted form demanded.
Kiwi!
"I do not see Ysanne Isard among the dead," the Sand Panther pointed out.
The foursome glared at Pestage, who worked enough moisture into his dry mouth to squeak, "She, uh, left the meeting early."
"Why?" the Dalyrake demanded, pushing a gloved hand against the old man's throat.
"I, uh, think she was bored," he managed to force out.
There was a pause and then Ziwi gestured at the holoscreen, "That makes sense, anyway. What in all the star systems is a WINT CRAT?"
"Bureaucratic types just love acronyms," commented the Dalyrake in a galaxy weary way.
"Let's keep him alive," the Kiwi figure suggested casually. "As I said, we might need his retinal scan to get into some of the top secret areas around the palace."
"We can get into most of the top secret spots," the Sand Panther intoned coldly. "We have the hard wired codes."
"Some of the top secret spots, some of them," Ziwi argued. "You know Palpatine didn't trust us that much. There are no doubt places we can't get into but Pestage can."
"I want to kill him," Kiwi snapped. "He's directly responsible for the operation on Carida which took our parents and resulted in our abduction."
"I ... I ...," Pestage gasped, his brain whirling. He was going to die, right here, right now.
"Crista just commed me," the Dalyrake said, lifting its head. "She's located Ysanne Isard. She's holed up in the Command Center of the Security Office here in the palace. I'm afraid it's pretty well protected."
There were various mutterings and imprecations from the Super Beings while Pestage held his breath, wondering from second to second when a blaster bolt would finish him off.
"Fine, let's take him," Kiwi grumbled. "Like you said, Sis, retinal scan."
Sis?
/
Security Office Command Center
Imperial Palace
10 minutes later
The last stormtrooper collapsed as his top half was bisected from his lower half. The Sand Panther straightened and glanced around carefully. Some three dozen stormtroopers lay in white, dead heaps around the corridor, leaving only the Corellian Super Beings standing.
"Can we cut through the door?" Kiwi asked practically, striding toward the door into the Command Center.
"No," the Sand Panther replied irritably. "It is magnetically shielded and the entire wall and door are impregnated with cortosis ore, which will cause our lightsabers to short out on contact."
"That's inconvenient," Ziwi muttered. "It's too bad they apparently were alerted that we were coming. Can we blow the command center up?"
Again, the Sand Panther shook his head, "It would be difficult to do so without damaging ourselves. Solo, perhaps you and Chewbacca would guard the exit and alert us if additional troops arrive from the outside? The rest of us need to confer on the best approach."
"We're on it," Han replied even as he jerked a head at his bleached furry companion, "Come on, Chewie."
Vader waited until they had left before turning to his twins, "It is possible the ceiling of the Command Center is vulnerable. I plan to cut through the ceiling here and ..."
"No, I should do it," Leia interrupted. "I'm smaller and can move through ventilation shafts more readily."
"I will not allow you to take such a risk," the Sand Panther replied with a firm shake of the head, "it is unlikely that any of the Imperial leadership is within the Command Center, but it will be well guarded and the defensive fire will be heavy ..."
"Isard is in there."
The Dalyrake spun around in surprise, her two white lightsabers lifted high. The young Twi'lek female, who had been hiding behind a large and ugly statue of the Emperor, flinched and lurched backwards in distress.
"Please don't kill me!" she cried out. "I'm Crista!"
"You're who?" Ziwi demanded.
"Crista," the young female replied, her blue face and lekku paling in terror. "We just spoke on the com!"
The Super Beings gaped or frowned or puckered their lips in bewilderment behind their masks, just as a section of the corridor slid aside to reveal a hidden door; a moment later, an armored figure stepped into the passage.
The Sand Panther leaped forward to protect his children and then halted in amazement.
"Who are you?" he demanded of the shorter Sand Panther in front of him.
"Who are you?" a female voice snapped back even as another figure slipped into position besides new Sand Panther. This one was dressed as the Dalyrake and moved with grim determination towards the tall form.
The situation was, Ahsoka Tano decided, a mixture of bewildering and hilarious, but she was afraid Vader would start killing people so she quickly moved forward next to her former master's side.
"We're the Corellian Super Beings," she explained patiently. "Who are you?"
The two intruders exchanged startled glances.
"The real Super Beings?" two female voices asked in chorus.
Luke and Leia sighed and shook their heads as Kiwi and Ziwi stepped into the open space. Between them was elderly bald man, his hands bound behind him, dressed in fancy black synthsilk robes.
This. Was. Crazy!
Vader seemed to agree, because he extended one hand. A moment later, all four individuals squawked or yelped in dismay even as they reached up and tried to keep their masks on their heads.
And failed. The masks lifted off and were hurled to one side, revealing four startled faces.
"Vess Kogo. Mara Jade. And the Silk twins," the Sand Panther rumbled. "What is this?"
"You know them?" Kiwi demanded.
"Indeed," Darth Vader stated coldly. "They are Emperor's Hands."
All four Hands flinched in surprise and then Mara took a step forward even as she tossed her head angrily, "We are former Emperor's Hands. Former. Palpatine was a slaver and a murderer and we're glad he is dead. Now it is time to take out the last of the three who currently rule."
"I find that unlikely," Vader intoned coldly. "The Hands were always slavishly devoted to their Master."
Jade took a step forward, her eyes narrowed, her face tight with fury, "Each Hand was slavishly devoted to his or her Master. We didn't know there were many of us. Each one of us thought we were unique and special, when in fact we were minor cogs in the Imperial wheel. Aralina and Brilana were both told that their twin had died at the hands of assassins. My parents were murdered by Imperial troops. Kogo's mother was injured during an uprising on Hanofar which was directly caused by the Empire's crippling taxation on the population. We hate Palpatine, and his Empire, and all those who seek to continue its rancid rule over the oppressed masses of the galaxy."
"For that matter," Vess Kogo continued suspiciously, "who are you? If you know who we are, you must be pretty high up in the Empire. Maybe this whole Corellian Super Being nonsense is just a way for some other high Imperial official to take control. If so, we will not stand by and allow it. The Empire must fall."
"You have no say in what we do," the Sand Panther snarled, taking a step forward to loom over his shorter counterpart.
"Stop," Ziwi said, putting a small hand up to halt her tall biological father. Leia hesitated briefly, then reached up to remove her helmet.
"I am Princess Leia Organa," she said gravely. "I promise you that the Super Beings have no intention of taking over the Empire in its present form."
Mara Jade gasped in astonishment, "Organa? Of Alderaan? A Rebel?"
"Yes," Luke agreed, taking off his own mask. "I'm Luke Skywalker. I destroyed the Death Star."
The Silk twins exchanged shocked looks and Brilana took a step forward, "I'm Bri. Very nice to meet you, Skywalker. Are you, by any chance, available in the romantic sense?"
There was a horrified squawk from Leia and a sudden intake of breath from the Sand Panther. Luke looked flummoxed and then laughed as sly smiles broke out on the faces of both Silk twins.
"I gather you are something of a character, Brilana Silk?" he asked with a grin.
"More or less," Aralina replied, elbowing her sister in the ribs. "Cut it out Bri. You're going to get us all killed."
"So you are all Rebels?" Mara Jade demanded suspiciously.
Leia shrugged and gave Vader the side eye.
"Most of us are," she qualified. "The Sand Panther is more of ... an independent agent. Anyway, I see you have Pestage in custody ..."
"And Ars Dangor is dead, killed in our initial attack in the conference room," Brilana said, still smiling at Luke.
"Where is Isard?" the Sand Panther demanded. He had sidled closer to his son and was glaring at Brilana Silk. She was an attractive woman, as was her sister. As was, for that matter, Mara Jade. But he would not allow his son to take up with a former Emperor's Hand for a new set of lungs.
"Ysanne Isard is holed up in the Security Center," the Twi'lek female murmured softly.
"Are you Crista?" Mara demanded.
"Yes," Crista replied, her gaze skittering from the red haired woman to the still masked Super Beings. "I don't understand what is going on."
"We are not the real Corellian Super Beings," Vess Kogo explained wryly. "We dressed up as the Super Beings for the shock and awe response so we could take out the triumvirate running the Empire, but apparently the real group decided to take on Isard and her minions at the same time we did."
"Isard does not rule!" Sate Pestage suddenly blurted out. This was, he decided a moment later, a mistake. No one had been paying attention to him until this moment. The Sand Panther strode forward and lifted a cyborg hand to grasp the old man's chin, which he forced upwards.
"It is well that you have captured Pestage," the Panther hissed. "You have much to answer for, Pestage, for placing astronomic Dead or Alive bounties on the heads of my children."
"Uh, uh," Pestage sputtered in terror.
"Children?" Kogo asked in a bewildered tone.
"Luke and I are twins," Leia explained quickly, "which is complicated. Listen, let's deal with Isard and then straighten the situation out later."
"How are we going to get into the Command Center?" Ahsoka demanded. "It's very well defended. The ceiling idea makes me itch, Skyguy."
"We brought Pestage along because we can get into the Command Center using his retinal scan," Jade stated.
The Sand Panther smiled grimly behind his mask, "Excellent thinking, Hands. Most excellent."
"We aren't Hands anymore," Mara snapped angrily.
/-
Command Center
Ysanne Isard strode frantically back and forth in the narrow space between countless terminals. She was lucky, she knew that. She had left the Command Meeting more out of boredom than a genuine emergency, though it was true that she had to discipline her cook, who had botched her lunch of deep fried gorg. She knew he had because her stomach was upset and it had to be the cook's fault.
She had been only halfway to the Imperial Palace Kitchen when the internal security alarms had sounded. Isard had promptly scuttled to nearest safe place, the Command Center, and watched in horror on the security holos as the Corellian Super Beings had destroyed sentients and random chairs in Meeting Room #1 of the palace before destroying the holos.
Regrettably, the Super Beings had attacked the Command Center itself a few minutes later, again destroying the holos, so she was pinned down here. For now. Ranking officer Captain Lapta had called for reinforcements 15 minutes ago, and troops would soon make their way to rescue her. She was, at least, perfectly safe here in the Command Center, which was built like a fortress.
And with Dangor and Pestage dead, well ...
Ysanne Isard smiled. This was actually perfect. She had been plotting to kill both of her co-rulers, but these Super Beings had taken care of the job for her. Soon she would rule the Empire.
Empress Isard. It had a nice ring.
The door to the Command Center slid open. Isard spun around with a yelp of surprise even as she fumbled for her blaster. A moment later, bolts were flying toward the door from both her weapon and those of the 10 guards on duty.
The blaster bolts were met by, and blocked with, an array of lightsabers. Isard backed up in shock as the helmeted forms of the Corellian Super Beings stormed into the room, lightsabers flashing. Eight guards charged forward and were promptly cut down, while the remaining two dropped their blasters and backed away with hands in the air, obviously not willing to die. Isard's own blaster suddenly pulled hard against her hand and then flew into the waiting grasp of Ziwi, who had the helmet of a starbird today.
"Stand down, Isard," Kiwi ordered, stepping forward and lifting his blue lightsaber against the woman's throat. She took a deep breath and dropped her hands, willing herself to stay calm.
"How did you get in here?" she demanded.
"Retinal scan," a red headed woman said with a grim smile, "courtesy of Sate Pestage."
Isard narrowed her eyes in rage. So this was all a trick on Pestage's part? He was behind the Corellian Super Beings? A moment later, a pale faced Sate Pestage was hauled into the room by a white furred Wookiee and Isard realized that whatever else was going on, it wasn't some kind of coup of the Grand Vizier of the Empire. Pestage was bound with cuffs and was sporting a black eye.
"How dare you come in here?" Isard demanded, deciding on anger as opposed to conciliation. "My troops are on their way and you have no authority here. You'll never get out of here alive."
"Actually," Ziwi said cheerfully, pointing toward the nearby refresher, "we do have some authority here. Or he does."
Ysanne Isard turned toward the refresher in bewilderment. Fifteen seconds ticked by and then the door slid open to reveal the tall and menacing form of ...
"Darth Vader," she whispered.
Author Note: Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate. And thanks to my wonderful husband and editor! And thank you to those of you taking time to review this fic. I appreciate it!