Author Note: My apologies for the long delay in updating this fic. Other writing got in my way. I hope and pray you all are surviving Ok during this coronavirus craziness.

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Dusk

Palace Garden

Imperial Palace

Imperial City

Imperial Center

2 weeks later

"So how did a quadrillion beings manage any kind of a democracy during the days of the Republic?" Trey Palpatine inquired in some confusion.

"They did not," Vader said coldly. "The Republic was a morass of inept bureaucrats, labyrinthine rules, and layers and layers of subcommittees. It was rare that anything useful or pertinent was done."

"On the other hand," Sheev Palpatine commented thoughtfully, "I would not say we have done much better. Regrettably, the Empire is also filled with bureaucrats, many of them corrupt and cruel. Furthermore, there is as much, if not more, corruption in the Empire than there was in the very worst days of the Old Republic."

Trey Palpatine frowned at these words before returning his attention to the datapad in his hands.

"What about … er … your wife, Lord Vader," he continued nervously. "I've been reading her speeches and position statements and she seems like a very competent individual."

Luke, who had been slouching near the fire browning his marshmallows, sat up suddenly in surprise, "You have access to my mother's speeches?"

Trey grinned and poked his new friend in the leg, "I told you that my father had given me a bunch of political files from the Old Republic. You didn't want to look at them."

Luke groaned dramatically even as he carefully took a bite of luscious marshmallow.

"Politics," he muttered thickly with a wave of his clean hand, "are usually very boring. I didn't know my mom's speeches were in the mix."

"Well, I didn't either," Trey admitted, "not until this morning. She seems like she was an absolutely brilliant person and very committed."

"She was," Vader said, his voice strange through the vocoder.

Luke looked up, craning his head to gaze at the mask of his father. Vader was, as usual when his son was not safely tucked in his room, looming carefully and ominously. Apparently even in the middle of the palace garden, with the two most powerful Force Sensitives in the galaxy on guard, the cyborg Sith was fearful that someone or something would kidnap, accost, murder, interview, or otherwise annoy his precious son.

"She sounds amazing," Luke said with a gentle smile at his father.

"Padme combined political acumen with charm and beauty. She was also genuinely compassionate," Palpatine said softly, his blue eyes sad. "You, your sister and your father are of course the greatest victims in her loss, but the whole galaxy is poorer without her."

There was a sudden Force propelled gust of wind, causing the bonfire to shimmer and shake, and Luke rolled to his feet to put a gentle hand on his father's now rigid arm, "Come on, Father. I want to play in the water."

The giant cyborg chuckled softly at these words, but allowed himself to be shepherded toward a large fountain in the middle of the garden which boasted a three meter tall statue of Palpatine with water spurting from his hands. The symbolism seemed very odd to Luke, but he loved to splash in the pool at the base of the fountain regardless of the hour.

"So Father," Trey asked hesitantly.

"Yes, my son?"

"In reading about the political issues in the last decades of the Old Republic, it seems that a substantial problem was the treatment of the Outer Rim territories. Luke tells me the Hutts are largely a violent race, involved in slavery and the spice trade among other dubious operations, but even the Jedi apparently did not protest their behavior. That seems odd."

"That is an excellent point, Trey," Palpatine replied, leaning back in his comfortable chair even as he hovered a marshmallow in the fire. He liked them lightly browned, not singed. "The truth is that the Old Republic always focused more attention on the Core Worlds, which played into my hands in my evil days because the Separatists …"

Luke Skywalker, who had removed his boots and socks and was now wading in the fountain, glanced up at his hovering father with a thoughtful frown, "Father?"

"Yes, my son?"

"Is it just me, or does Trey Palpatine have remarkable political ability? I mean, he's been stranded on the back end of nowhere and yet he obviously is eating up all these complex treatises and historical documents."

Darth Vader turned to look at the young man, who was leaning forward listening to the Emperor, his face intense.

"He is absolutely brilliant, Luke."

/

Medical Bay

Imperial Palace

The next morning

"Looking good, Skyguy," Ahsoka said with her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"I would not call it good, precisely," Vader said self consciously. "I am much improved, however."

Ahsoka smiled a little sadly. Anakin Skywalker had been a remarkably handsome man, with waving dark blond hair and a cleft in his chin that made fangirls go weak at the knees. He was now bald and scarred, but she knew his skin and various organs had improved significantly even in the last couple of weeks

"So what are we doing today?" Luke asked curiously, wandering into the room.

"Lungs!" Ahsoka chortled happily. "I want to work on Skyguy's lungs."

"Lungs it is.

/

Emperor Palpatine's office

"Outer moving towards inner, inner moving towards outer," Trey Palpatine stated obscurely.

"My apologies, Trey," the Emperor murmured, staring at his son curiously. The boy had gained substantial weight since his rescue from Jakku, though he looked tired this morning. "I don't understand what you mean. I am also concerned at how fatigued you appear to be. Are you well?"

Trey waved a casual hand, "I didn't sleep last night because I was reading political treatises."

"Son, you shouldn't do that," Palpatine stated worriedly. "I appreciate your commitment to analyzing the political situation, but you need to sleep. If you don't have your health, you don't have anything."

"I promise I'll take a nap," Trey assured his aged sire, "but I just wanted to get my arms around the Outer Rim situation. Here's what I'm thinking, though of course I could be wrong. The Alliance doesn't trust the Empire and the Empire doesn't trust the Alliance. The Outer Rim needs intervention because the Hutts and their sundry, unpleasant cohorts are enslaving some people and persecuting other people. I'm thinking maybe the Empire should send in a few teams, kill off the higher level Hutts and maybe the leaders of Black Sun operating in the area …?"

"Yes?" Palpatine encouraged him, leaning forward.

"Then leave and let the Alliance move into the resulting political and economic vacuum. I mean, you trust the Alliance to mostly have good intentions, correct?"

Palpatine nodded, "Indeed. I'm the one who has been the wicked, overbearing, maniacal despot. Of course, the leadership of the Alliance isn't perfect, but they have, by and large, good intentions."

"So you and Lord Vader could work on the Core Worlds to improve freedom and the like, and the Alliance could work in the Outer Rim worlds. That way there will be less friction between the Alliance and Empire, and both can be doing good work."

Palpatine stared at the youth long enough that Trey blushed in confusion.

"Maybe it's not," he began, only to stop when the Emperor leaned forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"No, Trey," he said firmly. "It's brilliant."

/

Imperial Holonet Studio #3

2 days later

"Welcome, Prince Luke."

Luke cringed in open horror and shook his head, "Um, I'm so not a prince, Host Spetzv. I mean, just ... no."

"But Lord Vader is the heir to the Emperor, is he not?" Relinka demanded with dewy eyed enthusiasm, her glossy purple hair bouncing excitedly. "You are Lord Vader's heir so if you are not a prince, perhaps ... Lord Skywalker?"

Luke winced, "No, that's even worse. Look, just, um, call me Skywalker, please. I don't exactly have a formal position right now."

"Very well, Skywalker," Spetzv said in a clearly disappointed tone.

"I am here because I want to talk to a friend of mine, Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan."

Relinka's disappointed pout morphed into open delight, "Princess Leia! She's your ... friend? That is truly exciting, Luke. Can I call you Luke?"

"Yes," Luke replied in genuine horror, "but don't get any ideas about Leia and me ..."

"Oh, it's Leia, is it?" Relinka replied with a knowing smirk. "Well, that is truly exciting. The son of Darth Vader carrying a plasma torch for the princess of lost Alderaan ..."

"No, no, no!" Luke cried out, his eyes bugging with dismay. "No, it's not like that at all. She's, er, well, anyway, Leia, if you see this, call me at 1-755-247-9333. I have to talk to you!"

/

Millennium Falcon

In space 2 parsecs out from Sullust

12 hours later

"Are we set up?" Leia asked nervously.

"You bet, Leia," Han replied. "Don't worry, we're far enough out from the gravity well of Sullust that we can get out immediately if the Empire comes calling."

"Ok," Leia sighed, and carefully dialed the appropriate number to connect to Luke on the Holonet.

There were whirrs and clicks and then a background picture of the Manarai Mountains appeared on the screen.

"Hello," a mellifluous voice announced. "Due to the high volume of callers wishing to speak to Luke Skywalker, son of Darth Vader, you must answer the following four questions in order to be connected. Please do not type too quickly. Please answer in Galactic Basic. Press the ^ key when you are ready to answer the questions. Thank you."

"What?!" Leia demanded incredulously.

"Makes sense," Han pointed out gloomily. "The Kid's hot stuff on the marriage market among the Imperial elite, and he just handed out his Holonet number."

Leia groaned aloud and pressed the ^ key.

"Question #1," the voice said cheerfully, even as a text box appeared with the same words. "What cell block were you imprisoned in on the Death Star?"

Leia's eyes widened in disbelief, "What? I don't know!"

"Cell block AA23," Han said authoritatively, leaning forward to enter the required answer.

There was a beep and the voice stated, "Correct!"

"How did you know that?" Leia demanded

"Listen, even in my wide and varied and fascinating life, I'd never broken a high ranking prisoner out of a Death Star before, especially a prisoner who promptly and gratuitously insulted me. Of course I remember."

"It wasn't gratuitous," Leia hissed, then turned back to the holoterminal, which was speaking again.

"Question #2, What is last name of the couple who raised Luke Skywalker from infancy."

Leia sighed and entered, "Lars."

"Correct!"

"Question #3, what is your favorite color?"

Leia smiled and typed in, "Green."

"Green, really?" Han demanded. "Since when have you worn green?"

"I was the heir of Alderaan so I had to wear white. It was tradition!"

"Last question, of all the men in your life, which handsome and cocky individual is most likely to win your heart and hand? Last name only."

Leia stared at the screen, then at a smirking Solo, then back at the screen, "I'm going to kill him."

"Solo," she typed in.

There were more whirrs and beeps and the voice stated, "Correct. Please hold for connection."

/

Luke's quarters

Imperial Palace

Imperial Center

Luke heard the welcome ping of the holotransmitter and promptly dropped several floating cups, one of which landed on the bare toes of his left foot.

"Ouch!" he yelped, even as he dove for the transmitter and punched the acceptance button.

The image on the holoterminal shifted briefly and then formed to reveal the beautiful face of his twin sister, Leia Organa.

"Leia!"

"Luke!"

The twins gazed at one another adoringly across the lightyears, and both were pleased at what they saw. Luke looked healthy and well, and Leia, though she looked tired, was as lovely as ever.

"Are you all right?" they both asked simultaneously, then laughed in sync.

"Ok, I don't want to take a long time," Luke said, "and I know you don't want to hang out anywhere in particular for more than ..."

"Ten minutes," Leia agreed. "That's our limit. Do you think this transmission is being tracked?"

Luke shrugged a little, "The Emperor says not, and as weird as it sounds, I trust him. But reality is there is a lot going on here, lots of upheaval. I am not positive that even Palpatine is entirely in control of his security forces at this point. I am confident of the encryption so no one is watching this, but I wouldn't be positive some nefarious underling isn't trying to locate you."

"Did they hurt you, Luke?" Leia demanded.

Luke shook his head firmly, "No, I'm good. Fortunately the Emperor found me just as he figured out his evil twin brother was manipulating him. So I'm fine, more than fine. Ahsoka is training me and Father and I are getting to know one another so it's been really good."

Leia winced at the casual use of 'Father', but she forged on with determination, "Tano is training you? Not Vader?"

"Ahsoka is in charge of my training. Vader observes and occasionally makes suggestion but I run everything through her first. Also, as weird as it sounds, a couple of Force ghosts show up periodically to give insight so that's reassuring."

"How, in any way, is it reassuring that you are seeing ghosts?" Leia demanded with asperity. Were they drugging her precious brother?

Luke chuckled, his blue eyes alight with amusement, "That does sound odd, doesn't it? They are the ghosts of Ben Kenobi and a Jedi named Qui-Gon Jinn. It's a Force thing, obviously. Anyway, they are working with Ahsoka to guide me and her. It just ... helps me trust the process."

Leia blinked and decided to shelve the ghost issue for now, "Ok, what about me?"

"Vader wants you here," Luke said flatly.

"Only if I'm dead," Leia replied, just as flatly.

"I understand that," her brother replied softly, "and as much as I miss you, I think you are better off with the Alliance. The only thing is ..."

He trailed off and Leia leaned forward, "What?'

"Vader will be ... upset, if something happens to you and you live a dangerous life. He's worried."

"Worried about me?" Leia demanded in outrage. "He nearly killed me."

"Yes, which makes it worse. He feels guilty and he wants to protect you, but he can't. I mean, he really is a screwed up person with trust issues and fears for people he cares about. He lost his mother on Tatooine to the sand people, and he lost our mother, and he's, uh, obsessive about the two of us. So be careful, Leia. Don't die or anything inconvenient like that."

Leia smiled a little at this, though she heard the underlying concern in her brother's voice under the banter. It was ironic that Luke, a prisoner of the Empire, was worried about her safety.

"I'm always careful," she teased back.

"Right. Anyway, we don't have much time and I wanted to tell you the plan that Trey Palpatine has about the Outer Rim."

Leia's eyes popped wide, "Trey Palpatine? Who is that?"

"Oh, I thought Alliance spies might have heard about him already. Palpatine has a son, a little younger than we are. Politically brilliant. Just rescued from Jakku, which is as lousy as Tatooine. He's a great guy and his insight blows me away."

Leia's brain was whirling but time was running out, "He's a Force sensitive?"

"Nope, but like our mother, he's brilliant in other areas. So Leia, what do you know about the Hutts?"

/

Re Trey Palpatine - I know in Rise of Skywalker that Palpatine's "son" is a clone, I guess? I'm AU'ing it here, obviously!