His eye's blurry as he struggled to regain conscious from his scheduled surgery, the boy turned his attention towards the direction from which his benefactor's voice originated.

"Welcome back to the waking world my boy. You'll be pleased to know that thanks to the remarkable efforts of Doctor Cylo, the operation was a complete success. Though I admit that I'm rather curious why you decided to go with the surgery you selected when their are so many other options available"?

Steadying himself as he lifted himself off the surgery table, and seeing that his vision had returned enough to make out the questioning expression that was currently being worn by the Emperor, the boy explained his reasons.

"Well, to be honest with your majesty, while a cybernetic arm sounds great, the fact remains that it's sense of touch is still woefully inadequate when compared to a real arm.

And since I've always made a point of learning from the mistakes of less successful warlords, I thought it would be smart to ensure that I can't be taken out the same way Kenobi took out General Grievous".

Considering the boy's logic, Palpatine had to concede that his reasoning skills made sense.

"You have a point their my boy. Ensuring that your organs, not to mention your windpipe, are encased with a durable, yet light weight armor will grant you a measure of protection from more conventional weaponry, so I can not fault you for decision".

Nodding his head in thanks to the silently observing doctor, something that was made easier due to the fact that he still possessed both of his human eyes, the boy followed the departing Emperor out of the room. Waiting for the Sith Lord to decide what else he wished to discuss.

He didn't have to wait long.

"You'll be happy to know that I've begun the process of procuring those individuals who possess skills worthy of Imperial attention. While I am still working on how to make sure that they will be accepted members of Lord Vader's entourage, I am confident that they will thrive in their new surroundings while demonstrating their usefulness to the Empire".

Allowing more than a hint of curiosity to enter his tone, the boy inquired his powerful benefactor just who it was that had been procured.

"Forgive me for asking this your majesty, but which individuals are you referring to? Because depending on which person you've managed to collect, I might have a couple ideas of how to ensure that their life expectancy is not cut short by Lord Vader's…unique management style".

Cackling as he thought of how easy it was for his apprentice to inspire feelings of terror in both friend and foe alike, the Emperor willingly revealed the identity of his latest acquisition.

"I'm referring to the rather delightful girl known as Chelli Lona Aphra. 7 years old, and she already possess such a wonderful ability to go to any lengths to achieve her goals. Though I must admit that I am unsure if her high spiritedness will allow her to thrive under Lord Vader's tutelage".

Recognizing the unspoken command to provide his theories on how to ensure the continued loyalty, not to mention longevity of the maverick female version of Indiana Jones, the boy provide the answer that he had been pondering for some time.

"Well obviously, you can't just order Lord Vader to take her in since I highly doubt that the relationship between you two is devoid of any suspicion or concealment of information, which would mean any servant you personally assigned to him would only be allowed to operate in a very regulated structure. And since her talents are best utilized when she's allowed to full express her creativeness, having your apprentice heavily restrict what she can and cannot do would be a waste of her talents".

Nodding his head in agreement with the boy's observation, since he too had come to the same conclusion, the Emperor remained silent as his unorthodox adviser presented an alternative method to implant the young Aphra in Vader's service.

"One method that could work would be to engineer an event that allows Aphra to not only showcase her skills, but causes her to use them in defense of something that Vader would go to any lengths to protect. Obviously Aphra can't be told about this plan, but if you were to place her in a position where she is forced to use her abilities to keep both herself and a certain reclaimed infant safe from harm, then Lord Vader will jump at the opportunity to have a servant with both the ability and the competence to keep his daughter alive and well".

Smirking at the deviousness of the boy's plan, for the Sith master knew that the best way to manipulate his apprentice was to place his family in harms way, the Emperor voiced his approval with this plan before moving onto another topic".

"A most ingenious plan my boy. Lord Vader's attachment to his family has always been his greatest strength as well as his greatest weakness, and I'm sure that he won't hesitate to conscript the young Aphra to his service if it means guaranteeing his daughter's safety. We will have to ensure that the girl's technical and mechanical skills are allowed to flourish under his guardianship, but that can be sorted out later. Now let us move on to another topic that I want to discuss with you. Thanks to your suggestion of using the reactivated forces of the CIS to gain greater public support for the continued expansion of the Imperial Military, both the Imperial Army and the Imperial Navy have reached strengths that I hadn't expected them to reach for at least another year. And while they will continue to consolidate my grip across the galaxy, enough forces are in place to begin the process of bringing the more….independent entities of the galaxy to heel".

Accurately guessing what the Emperor was talking about, the boy remained silent as Palpatine described his plans to set in motion.

"By sacrificing a portion of the reactivated droid armada, I intent to weaken the out defences of that partition of the galaxy known as Hutt Space. And once that has been accomplished, Lord Vader will begin the process of…liberating those enslaved systems, bringing them under the benevolent protection the Empire".

Smiling at the fact that he had set in motion the events that would bring an end to those overweight slugs, the boy wasn't sure if he should be crying with joy or whimpering in fear as the Emperor promised to make one of his childhood fantasy's come true.

"Since its largely thanks to your efforts that have allowed the Empire to achieve its current strength, not to mention the fact that its thanks to you that my apprentice has been reunited with one of his offspring, I think that Lord Vader will appreciate your input when it comes to planning the initial stages of our developing offensive".

Thrilled though he was by this knowledge, the boy couldn't help but feel a bit of unease over take him as he remembered the cybernetic Sith Lord's tendency to force choke all those who displeased.

Sensing the direction of this thoughts, the Emperor patted the boy's shoulder in what was intended to be a comforting manner".

"Not to worry my boy. Lord Vader would not dare to lay a finger on those who are under my protection. Though I sense that my words are doing nothing to assuage your fears".

Knowing that it was pointless to hide this from the Emperor, the boy nodded.

"Forgive me your majesty, but Lord Vader's temper has always seemed to be…uncertain. And there had been more than one occurrence during the course of his service to you that he hasn't hesitated to deal with an adversary despite your wishes".

Humming in thought as he processed this information, and curious to know just who it was that had managed to get on the wrong end of his apprentice's temper.

"Did he now"?

Nodding his head the boy continue.

"Mhmm. For instance, the doctor who performed my surgery, Vader killed him, or one version of him, when he was trying to learn about your association with him. Which I hasten to tell you ends badly for him since Doctor Clyo has no desire to remain forever a servant of yours. Then of course theirs a couple of hands, assassins, and other servants in your employ that caused Vader to feel threatened about his position".

Waving aside the boy's concern, though he appreciated the fact that he had just been given the identity of a potential traitor, the Emperor sought to placate the boy.

"Not to worry my boy. I will take great pains to ensure your safety where Vader is concerned. But for now, I have an appointment to keep. So if there is nothing else you can go".

Nodding his head in gratitude, the boy turned to leave, only to be halted by the sudden voice of the Emperor.

"Oh I forgot to mention, tomorrow the courts are presiding over a particularly interesting trial for treason, so I would very much like it if you would accompany me to it. IF your not busy".

Recognizing the order for what it was, the boy bowed his head in acceptance as he gave voice to his curiosity.

"Would be delighted to attend your majesty. But forgive me for asking this, but who is it exactly that's been placed on trial"?

Smirking at the question, the Emperor told him.

"The former senator of the system of Chandrilla. Mon Mothma".

...

And I think thats it for now :P

Hopefully I managed to surprise you all with the tech enhancements the boy received. Armor over vital organs to protect them from blaster fire. And a strengthened larynx to make force chokes less effective (pretty sure that force chokes involve muscles to close up instead of causing an invisible block on the air ways :P)

Got some ideas on how to integrate a 7 year old (wookipedia says she was born sometimes before 24 BYA, so guessing that this would be more or less accurate) with everyone's favorite Asthmatic Sith Lord :P

AND will have a Rebel/Terrorist Leader tried for her crimes. Originally was gonna have Organa take the stand in the show trial, BUT decided that giving him a Rouge One esque death would be more fun. And for those who don't know, IT WILL be a show trial like they did In Stalin's Russia and Hitler's Germany.

I MASSIVELY dislike the holier than thou rebel leaders who inspire terrorism. Say what you will about Saw Gerrera, but at least he is HONEST about what he is.

Anyways, till next time :)