Coruscant: 3 weeks later:
Moff Jade watched as two royal guards entered the room. He had been told by the physicians that he had been in a coma for over twenty-one days. In that time, he learned that
his friend Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin had been killed and that the Death Star had been destroyed. The doctor informed him that he appeared to have suffered enough brain
damage to severe the connection between his left eye and his brain. He was likely to be permanently blind in that left eye. He was lucky that his cognitive abilities had not been
overall impacted. His left arm was broken in three places and he had broken his left leg and his left heel had been shattered. His rehab was going to take time. He was lucky to be alive. His Emperor entered the room as he attempted to sit up, "At ease my friend. Rest, I want you to recover and you need rest to do so."
"Thank you, your Majesty," Jade replied as he sat back.
"How are you feeling?" his Emperor asked.
Jade smiled at him, "The nurse is pretty cute that is taking care of me. The Doctor says I am lucky to be alive and so does she. I feel horrible but I can manage."
Palpatine nodded as he spoke, "I am relieved you lived and Jade I need you because I know that I can trust you. Your work in our Empire is far from finished."
"Thank you, my Emperor, I am honored to serve you in whatever way possible." Jade noticed his friend Moff Quarsh Panaka, regional Governor of Naboo entering the room behind his Emperor.
"Quarsh how are you my friend?"
"Much better now that I am seeing you awake and well," Panaka replied with a warm smile.
Palpatine gave Jade a kind smile as he spoke, "Quarsh came personally to check on you with me when he heard that you were awake. He was rather relieved to hear the news."
"I just hope that my daughter is doing ok. I haven't been around her in weeks all that she has besides security at my home are droids to keep her company."
Palpatine shrugged, "At least you have good friends and your daughter."
"I am glad that she was admitted to the academy. She starts in two years. It will keep her out of trouble but it was foolish of her to decline your offer," Jade said in anger.
"She may not serve me as faithfully as you do Jade but it does not matter. If she ever changes her mind, my offer with her still stands. I have no doubt that she will faithfully serve our Empire as an officer of our great Navy. You can serve me from the medical bed Jade by telling me about your attackers. You are the only survivor who got a good look at them. One of them destroyed the Death Star. It is likely that Jedi Apprentice who maliciously attacked you also destroyed the Death Star."
"That is impossible, he is just a boy. He is maybe fourteen at the most. There is no way a boy can pull that off."
"Do not forget that Anakin Skywalker won the Battle of Naboo at age nine by destroying a droid control ship. Never underestimate them Xander," Panaka said.
Jade looked at his friend and sighed, "You're right Quarsh my mistake was underestimating him and that is why I am in this predicament."
"My friend no need to blame yourself just tell me what you can when you are ready to," Palpatine said as he placed his hand on Jade's shoulder. Jade looked at his Emperor and friend and then looked back at Panaka. He was grateful that the two men had graced him with a visit to determine his current condition. "I guess that given the Lothal debacle we definitely cannot take chances. That Jedi child has been a nuisance."
"Is it Ezra Bridger that attacked you?" Panaka asked. Jade shook his head, "None of these people that attacked were from the Lothal cell. They are rebels that we have never dealt with before. I think this goes hand in hand with what Tarkin was concerned about, that a larger rebellion is brewing that is beyond our control."
"They had a Mon Calamari cruiser at Tatooine," Palpatine said.
"We are definitely in serious trouble if they are as well armed and supplied as the group that hit Scarif. It is clear to me that Organa's treachery knows no limits," said Panaka.
Palpatine looked back at his friend and sighed, "Especially with the reemergence of the Jedi. We thought we had them all but destroyed. It looks like we have a serious problem on our hands."
Jade closed his eyes as he spoke, "There were two kid Jedi. I would guess that they were maybe a year or two older than my daughter. They had blue lightsabers and there was a young man of around twenty-two with a Wookiee in their company."
Palpatine's yellow eyes widened. Two Jedi? He had known of one but two? Perhaps Vader had only seen one of them and had not seen the other. Or maybe Vader had hidden the important information from him because he saw his own self advantage in hiding such pertinent information.
"Tell me about these kids," Palpatine said.
"The boy who used the Force to shove me off the balcony had blonde hair and blue eyes. He was short, small in stature and his hair was medium length and wavy."
"And the girl?" Palpatine asked.
"About the same size as the boy she had dark hair and dark eyes. Her hair was braided up and it was likely long. They probably are not fully grown but I suspect that the boy will not be much taller than me if that tall at all once he is fully grown."
Palpatine looked at Jade as he spoke, "Tomorrow or this afternoon would you be willing to work with a sketching artist to draw up our four suspects?"
A nurse entered the room with a tray of food and medicine as she bowed to the Emperor.
"I am not interrupting am I your Majesty?"
Palpatine shook his head, "Please tend to the needs of my friend. His health comes before our business."
"Have the artist come now. I will talk after I eat. Anything for our Empire."
Palpatine looked at the nurse as he spoke, "Should he be up to the task of working with an artist on a description of the criminals who attacked him?"
"I would recommend him being awake for an hour or two before resting. He needs rest and the pain medications will put him out in about two hours so he should work now before they kick in."
"Thank you for your hard work," Palpatine kindly said to the nurse.
As Palpatine slept, he saw himself falling a large distance with lightening aimlessly falling out of his hands. He heard himself screaming as he fell down a seemingly bottomless durasteel pit to his death.
He saw the white robed Jedi woman looking at him. He trembled as he spoke, "You are back."
"I am," she said. "You are doomed," she said. He looked at her in horror. The vision ended with only the Jedi standing before him in his vision. He looked at her as she spoke, "We will meet in due time." Sidious looked at her in the face finding himself frustrated that she resembled no Jedi that he had known. He glared at her as he spoke, "Are the Jedi children your apprentices?" The Jedi shook her head as he looked at her, "Do you know who they are?"
The woman smirked, "I know more than you could imagine Sidious." Sidious was frustrated that the woman gave little information to him. She seemed as though she was all knowing but she seemed to be satisfied to terrorize him in his visions.
"They destroyed the Death Star. They are after me and I need to find them." The woman looked at Sidious and waved her hand dismissively as she stepped closer to him.
"Your efforts will be in vain Sidious. You cannot win this war you have already lost it."
"Who are you?" Sidious demanded.
"I am the Jedi," she vaguely replied.
"Which Jedi?" Sidious demanded
"All of the Jedi. I am the end the beginning. I am your destruction and I am your nightmare."
Devastator:
An image of Padme materialized before Darth Vader. It was a holographic recording that had been smuggled to him just one day earlier by Obi-Wan Kenobi. Padme looked at
him calmly as she spoke, "Anakin, I really want you to come back to the light so that you can become the father and husband that you could have been. Your children want you
to give up your way of life. I know that it is not so simple right now but if you could consider at least helping me repair the damage you have done to make the galaxy better, it
would be appreciated. You could act as a spy and the intel that you would provide would make you a greater threat to the Empire if you are on the inside than you might be if
you simply walked away. But you need to know something, I am pregnant. I couldn't believe that our time together would lead to conception. As you know I am not as young as
I once was. In fact, I am shocked that I am able to bear children at age forty-one. It is remarkable but unnerving given my responsibilities as a commander. I am just hoping
that you will at least consider changing your ways and coming back so that you can be more present in our third child's life. Maybe you can actually help me raise this one. I
would love that more than anything." Vader contemplated Padme's comments as he looked at her image. He missed her and he knew that he would love to raise their youngest
child along with her. If only he had chosen to run away with her on Mustafar. She had never wanted power. His offer of ruling the galaxy alongside her only had disgusted her.
She wanted liberty, democracy and equality for all beings and she wasn't going to get it with the Empire's authoritarianism or the Sith in power. Vader sighed as he considered
what that meant. Was the Sith way more important than his beloved Padme and his children? Was power more important than them?
Naboo:
Ruwee and Jobal Naberrie had been married for just over fifty years. They were in their late seventies, their long marriage had not been without tragedy. They had been
blessed with two wonderful daughters, Sola and Padme. Padme had made history, had served as Queen and she had liberated their planet from the Trade Federation occupation
decades earlier. Their precious daughter had a great future ahead of her. She was a young and rising senator who was noted as a defender of democracy and of the people in
the Old Republic. She had also recognized Palpatine for who he was and had spent her final years in office challenging him as he further eroded precious liberties and
consolidated additional executive powers in the Senate. Their beloved daughter had tragically died pregnant at age twenty-seven. Ruwee and Jobal had never fully recovered
from the loss and none of their family had fully recovered. However, they had managed to carry each other through the tragedy as they continued to age and enjoy their years
with their surviving daughter and her family. They still sat down for their lunch on their back patio overlooking their garden as their silver protocol droid approached them,
"Master, Mistress, you have a visitor."
"See him in and offer him some tea and food," Ruwee said as he adhered to typical Naboolian customs."
"At once," the droid replied. Within moments, Ruwee and Jobal saw a horrifying sight. It was as though death himself had walked onto the patio. He had yellow eyes. He was in
black robes with a sinister grin as he approached them. "Greetings Mr. and Mrs. Naberrie, I am here on behalf of Emperor Palpatine. He told me that he considers you very
honest and that you will not waste my time."
Ruwee and Jobal exchanged glances as Ruwee spoke, "What can I do for you as a citizen of the Galactic Empire?"
The man looked at them as he spoke, "Sir, his Majesty is exceptionally wise and not easily fooled. He knows that the death of your late daughter's baby was clearly staged. It is
evident that her corpse was not pregnant when she was buried. I am asking you to honestly confirm that the baby survived birth."
Ruwee and Jobal exchanged glances as Ruwee spoke, "If her baby survived who would have been so cruel as to keep a grandchild from us? We have never been told such a
child exists and we never have met that child."
"It would be preposterous to think that we would publicly live a lie or not acknowledge that grandchild if they existed. Why would the existence of that child be kept from us?"
"Because of who the father is."
"Who is the father?" Jobal demanded.
The man shrugged, "I don't know for certain but your daughter lived a double life and I do know from first hand witnesses that she had affairs with multiple corrupt Jedi. It is
likely that the child she carried was Force sensitive. Such children are assets to the Empire. The Jedi killed her and they likely took her baby."
Ruwee clenched his teeth as he spoke, "Do not speak of what you do not know. Our daughter was morally straight far more so than nearly every senator that served in her time.
She would never have had multiple affairs. She had no relationships that we knew of."
"You are naïve," the man replied. He glared at the aged couple as he spoke, "Is anyone alive that helped bathe her body? I know it is customary for the grandmothers to do the
deed if the deceased is younger otherwise the duty falls to the mother."
"His mother was dead. My mother bathed her and dressed her for burial," Jobal replied.
"Did she tell you that she was still pregnant?"
"Yes and my mother would never conspire in such a way. I will believe her until my dying day," Jobal replied.
"I see. Thank you for your time both of you," The man replied although Ruwee and Jobal recognized that he was clearly agitated.
The couple looked at one another as Jobal uneasily spoke, "Ruwee that man was like death himself."
Ruwee looked past her as he spoke, "What the hell? The Emperor is so obsessed with hunting Jedi that he is afraid that our dead grandbaby is still alive and is in their hands?
Has he gone mad?"
Jobal slammed her hand down on the table as he spoke, "Do they think we are fools? Do they think that our people are fools? We know that the Jedi were not criminals they
saved our planet more than once in our lifetime. We know that it was the Empire not the Jedi that killed her."
"Maybe Skywalker was the father," said a voice. Ruwee saw his granddaughter, Pooja walking onto the patio as he spoke, "How long have you been here?"
"I got here when he pulled up. I hid until he went in. Then I listened from the kitchen window," Pooja said. Jobal smiled, "You look just like your aunt did when she was your age
Pooja."
"You sound like mom. I appreciate the compliments but I am not her nor am I worthy of being compared to her."
"Is something on your mind sweetie?"
Pooja looked at them as she spoke, "I don't think this will be easy for you to hear this granddad."
"Tell us," Jobal replied.
"Remember when Skywalker was here with Padme protecting her during the Clone Wars? I am not talking about the assassin visit."
"Which one?" Jobal asked.
"The time right after the battle of Geonosis when he had his mechanical hand from that battle," Pooja said.
Ruwee looked at her as he spoke, "You were so little at the time but you have a good memory."
Pooja pointed to the garden as she spoke, "I caught them kissing. They saw me, the sun was down it was after dinner and they were talking about the battle. When they saw
me, they made me promise to never tell because of the trouble that they would be in. I was telling mom all of this yesterday. She said she had suspected it since the first time
that we met Skywalker."
"So you are telling me that you think that he is the father of your cousin that died with her?" Ruwee demanded.
"Without a doubt," Pooja said.
"Why are they suddenly suspecting that the baby is alive?" Jobal asked.
"Hard to know," Pooja replied.
Pooja took in a deep breath as she looked at her grandparents. She knew that she had to tell them the truth of what she was doing. She looked at them and spoke, "I have
joined the Rebellion as an intelligence agent. I cannot tell you who I am working with but if something happens to me, I wanted you to know why."
Jobal looked at her husband in terror as she spoke, "Pooja that terrifies me to no end but all I can say is that Aunt Padme would be proud."
"And we are proud," Ruwee said.
That is it for now. Thank, you for reading and reviewing. As you can recognize, I have blended in rebels characters with the mention of Ezra Bridger in this chapter. I personally have highly enjoyed the series. Given that this timeline is alternate consider that the events of Season 1 and 2 of Rebels are cannon with the exception of some minor twists. Instead of the events of the Rebels series starting in 4 BBY in this timeline they started in 5 BBY. Since Ezra Bridger is the same age as Luke and Leia he is currently 14 as of this chapter. No the Inquisitor that visited the Naberrie family for information is not the Grand Inquisitor as he is dead as of now. That is it for now thank you again.
-Fallen Jedi 79