Mark the Trails of Moths Chapter Eleven
The Imperial Center is built upon the ashes of the Old Republic. The skyscrapers and duracrete is the same as it ever was, but they hold none of Armitage's attention. Instead, he marvels at the skyhooks as he descends into the Imperial Palace; they don't exist in his time, not after the New Republic reinstated the ban on them. He knows that the Emperor's skyhook houses some of the rarest flora in the galaxy and he wants access. He hopes that the Emperor is in a magnanimous mood, but the scarred face bears a ponderous frown. It's been an hour since they enter the system, and the Emperor used the comm system to get a hold of his staff. When the Sith Lord came back into the cockpit, he looked ready for a Hutt-sized goblet of blossom wine.
Sheeva's mood isn't any better. They tried to eavesdrop on the Emperor, but they were quickly found out. Currently, they're pouting on top of his head.
You're very lucky that he didn't zap you with his lightning. He decides to comfort his Familiar with a back rub using his pointer finger. They let out a pleased sigh. It's then that the ship pulls into the Imperial hangar and finds a full audience.
There's a sea of Red Guards and a lineup of his assistants. Mas Amedda isn't there, probably running the Imperial Senate and prevent them from realizing the Emperor's absence. But Vader is here and so is his fleet in orbit. Something big must've happened like someone trying to take the throne! I don't want to get involve in anymore headache-inducing politics, so maybe I can stay in the ship and wait for this to blow over.
"Armitage," Sidious says his name like he's conveying a threat, "would you like to see my skyhook?"
"I-I would love to, Your Majesty."
"Then, you better get dressed. I laid out a decent outfit for you to wear and then I'll dress your hair."
I know he hates my clothes and probably my tattoos, but I thought my hair wasn't that offensive to his Naboo tastes. Well, it's not like I can refuse him.
"I'll be quick then."
"Good lad."
He's certain that Sheeva stuck their tongue at the Sith Lord Emperor right before they exit the cockpit. He then whispers to them to check on their fellow Familiar, which they reluctantly do.
He heads for his bedroom and finds the outfit that Sidious demands of him: black button-down tunic and dark blue dress slacks. He even sees a pair of short black boots that he completely forgot he owned and reflect this with their shiny veneer. He dresses and pulls the boots on just as Sidious walks into his room unannounced.
"Your 'fresher has a mirror and that will do." In the 'fresher, he finds his comb, brush, and hair ties already laid out.
He planned this all along. I really shouldn't be surprised because this is Darth Sidious; he doesn't half-ass anything, even in the last bleak years of his reign. But I don't understand why he's wasting his time with me when he has an empire to run. Maybe he just feels like making everyone wait for him. Maybe he views me as an excuse to go all Naboo since he's supposed to be the austere ruler. Or maybe the Force is involved?
"Face the mirror and keep still," Sidious commands. In the mirror, he sees himself with his Yuuzhan Vong tattoos and green eyes. It's an image he's seen thousands of times before, so he focuses on the other person: Sheev Palpatine. His ruined face matches the gorges found in bone-dry canyons, while his eyes hold the only drops of water that can be found. His spindly fingers work nimbly through his hair, entwining the red locks into a princely braid.
"Once upon a time, in the early years of the Naboo monarchy, the kings and queens kept their long hair in braids. It was said that the longer the braid, the longer the reign. Some would never cut their hair because of that and made sure that their braids were long enough to drag on the ground. It wasn't until the first corrupt king was strangled to death with his own braid by a disgruntled courtier that the tradition ended for the first royal family, but the other Houses continued it." He remembers his father telling him about such tales during their braiding lessons. The Royal Houses of Naboo have their own braids that they taught from parent to child; Palpatine is demonstrating his. He feels his wild hair being tamed and tucked into a chain that curves into a jagged separation between the natural and constructed.
Father preferred the Palpatine braid. Yet, he left it at the one slanted braid. My hair wasn't that longed, but I think it was because my father didn't want to finish it. I don't know why.
"Did…" He hesitates, feeling like he's about to invite the Sith Lord's wrath. "Did your father teach you this?"
He catches a flash of naked pain in those golden eyes before they return to their practiced serenity.
"My mother did." The words come out papery like a soft wind can tear it apart.
The Emperor's son was white as a ghost with the only pricks of color in his emerald eyes. He had his father's nose. Sate believed the Emperor sent his child away to be raised in a happy, stable environment, far from the intrigues of the court. It was comforting for him to believe that the Emperor would give his child everything that was denied to him when he was just Sheev Palpatine. Instead, he was given to the Prophets of the Dark Side as he found out through the first comm from the Emperor. He also learned the child's name: Rama.
Now, Rama is on Vaklin with Minister Veris Hydan. He believes Hydan can best utilizes the child's retrocognition and enrich the child's otherwise bleak world. From Hydan's updates, Rama has gotten him into the temple by charming Jedi-turned Sith hounds.
I want to see him. This selfish desire has haunted since learning the child's name. Luckily, he's been busy cleaning up messes that Vader made. Starting with informing the Circle of Twelve what nearly transpired and then dealing with Grand Admiral Ishin-Il-Raz's demands to see the Emperor. Vader also had his demands in the form that Eos needed new clothes, which he easily remedied with the help of Kinman. Now, they wait for their Master to come out of the rust heap of a ship. It is dreadfully silent, even with all the Royal Guards around.
Kinman would've been driven mad by the silence. He's probably driving Eos made with all his talking and shopping. Poor child. Vader didn't volunteer to go with him, but the Emperor will always take precedence. Even over the child that could give him all the love he craves without any cost. But it's not like I'm in a better position.
Finally, the ramp descends, and Emperor Palpatine emerges with a surprise in the form of a young man. He's tall and lithe with long, fiery hair and bright blue eyes. His tattoos stretch across every patch of naked skin like green thorns. He bears a striking resemblance to one of Vader's guests: Brendol Hux.
Brothers? Cousins? They must be related considering how similar their faces are, but it's not to the point of them being clones. How strange for Palpatine to have met a Hux as Vader had. Vader just stands there stoically, clearly not affected by this coincidence.
"Sate, this is Armitage. He will be the new assistant to the gardener of my skyhook." The young man's eyes widen in shock, caught completely unaware of his new job. Wisely, the young man keeps his mouth shut.
"I see. Will that be all, Your Majesty?"
"He will need a tour. I'm sure you can show him the way."
Of course, Sate obeys without hesitation and gestures for the young man to follow him. When the young man turns, he sees the braid. It's a slanted braid that becomes almost an S in its shape. He's seen this braid many times at those parties the royal families threw when the Emperor was Senator Palpatine visiting his homeworld. It's the royal braid of House Palpatine.
Palpatine would never allow anyone but someone of his family to wear that braid. It means that Armitage is a Palpatine.
The ancient mosaics that used to line these walls have been whitewashed and spackled over. The tapestries spun millennia ago were replaced by the Imperial cog. Empty, crystal vases sat on wooden pedestals with nothing inside them. Brendol Hux was disappointed by the palace's interior and the erasure of the Jedi's colorful history; he wanted to see the Room of a Thousand Fountains as Desolous once described to him, but he knew that it couldn't have survived the Imperial redesign. Best not to dwell on the dreams of yesteryear.
He wears his exercise clothes: a form-fitting shirt and pants with airy shoes. He plans on using the floor's training room to practice his swordsmanship. He also wants to get away from the guestroom since it feels like a grand tomb with the barest of furnishings and its musty odor. He plans on asking Tohm if he'd like to accompany him since he wants someone familiar in this stark place.
Then, Hux receives his own guest. The door slides open, and the little boy beelines for the king-sized bed and lands face-first into the marshmallow softness. He walks to the bed and prods the boy's back. The boy refuses to stir.
"Eos?"
"I have spent six hours shopping for clothes," the boy mumbles into the black comforter.
"No comic spree then?"
"Tomorrow."
"Well, you can rest here; I'm going to train." Brendol goes to unlock his guitar case, pulls out the blue guitar, and lifts the hidden bottom of the case. There, he retrieves his sheathed sword.
"With your sword?" He looks up to see Eos sitting up in the bed, watching him with his green eyes like a curious elf.
"Yeah, I wouldn't have smuggled it in otherwise." My guitar case was specially designed to hide my Sith sword and for it not to be detected by most scanners. I only did so because I thought the Royal Guards were going to search us, but I guess being with Vader means we won't kill the Emperor.
"May I watch?"
"Of course, I'm sure Tohm could use the company too."
"…Will you train me in the butterfly knives again?" He is not begging just requesting like the strange Wistie child that he is.
"Go get them."
Eos smiles.
Armitage knows that Emissary Pestage is staring at him during their turbolift ride. He knows of Pestage from the history texts he read as a cadet. Pestage joined Senator Palpatine's team shortly after the assassination of his predecessor. He was Palpatine's most devoted aide and became his Emissary upon the Chancellor's ascension as Emperor. A year after the Empire's fall, his entire family, over 200 members, were slaughtered by Admiral Delak Krennel who then declared himself Prince-Admiral of the Ciutric Hegemony. Eventually, Pestage got his revenge and took back the Hegemony, but he would die a few years later. The history texts never explained who got the Hegemony after his death, but it did state that the Hegemony refused the New Republic and First Order, preferring profitable neutrality.
In a little more than decade, Pestage will be the last of his family. I want to warn him because I bet those last few years of his life were absolutely miserable without his Emperor and family. No, I can't alter history like that, at least not until I'm certain that it won't affect my future.
He thinks about using some small talk, but a light ding lets him know that they've arrived. The doors slide open, and he finally sees the Emperor's skyhook. He's sees fluorescent flowers of every hue lining up the cobblestone paths. He rushes down the path, leaving the Emissary behind and follows it to a multi-tier fountain with crystal-blue waters falling from its curved spigots. There are two statues each holding a world far above their cowled heads. Waxy, nearly black vines wrap around the world with few sporting jade roses.
"This is the center." He turns at hearing Pestage's sharp voice. "Every path leads you to a different part of the garden."
"It's divided up into sectors, isn't it? The center actually represents Coruscant because jade roses are native to it which means Naboo is southeast from here."
"Correct."
"And Ciutric would be around here." Armitage heads northeast, much to the Emissary's surprise.
"You won't find much from my sector; it's not as verdant as Naboo," Pestage warns.
"It doesn't mean it's without any mystery!" He grins, and Pestage looks taken back by it. Like he's seen a ghost from his past.
Rama inhales and exhales for thirty seconds before activating the comm panel. The tuk'atas, once sleeping in the middle of his small room, go to him and brush against his legs. He pets them and enjoys the calmness they impart into the Force. He's ready now.
It takes a few minutes, but he finally connects to Coruscant.
"Rama," his father recites his name like a sacred word, "what do you have to report?"
"Your Majesty, I've encountered the tuk'ata nobilis with Minister Hydan and his troopers. I had a vision on how the Jedi Beastmaster tamed them and tamed them too. Now, Minister Hydan has complete access to the temple."
"He has reported all of this. What do you think of these Jedi-Sith Hounds?"
"They are huge! I could ride them like a pony!" This earns a chuckle, but then he adds somberly, "They've only had each other for centuries. They must've been so lonely."
"The tuk'ata were made to serve their Sith masters, or in their case, the Jedi. The Jedi gave them the order to protect the temple, but they didn't give them a new master. They must be happy to have you."
"Yes, sir. What will you do with them after this mission?"
"They are only useful for this mission since they were tied to the temple. You've already gained their trust. I have no need of them."
Rama's heart races.
"May I keep them? They are bonded to me, and I'm sure they will obey my orders! They can serve as additional security for the Minister!"
"No need to panic. I wasn't going to dispose of them. I was going to have them studied by my scientists, but I believe they would serve you better in the field."
"Thank you, father!" He inwardly curses at himself for the slip of his tongue. He's not supposed to reveal their familial connection over comms in case they're being intercepted, or at least that's what he was told before leaving Dromund Kaas.
"You're welcome, son."
Author's Comments- Here are the links:
Here is an image of Sate Pestage. He was Palpatine's Grand Vizier in Legends/EU, but he became his Emissary in New Canon. I have chosen the latter because I think Mas Amedda is more suited for Grand Vizier given his public political persona versus Sate's behind-the-scenes role that is more suited for the assassin/saboteur. Also, if you've read any of my stories with Sate in them, then you should know by now that he'd do anything for Palpatine and his bizarre family: a href=" . "Link/a
Here is an image of the Emperor's skyhook. It survived the Empire, only to be grounded and used as shelter and stripped of its value by the New Republic: a href=" . "Link/a
On April 16th of 2022, it will be five years since I wrote the first one-shot in the "Imperialistic House of Prayer" series, which I took the name of the series from a lyric of Joy Division's "Dead Souls," and I hardly recognize what I first wrote. Makes sense since I'm not the same person as I was five years ago, same can be said of SW's New Canon, and my feelings and ideas on the Sequel trilogy certainly have changed. Force, my concept of the Knights of Ren then doesn't exist in my current work now! I have strayed far from what I initially planned for this series all those years ago. I do intend on finishing the series, though not anytime soon. I just want to thank everyone who have stuck with this series through all its time/universe-diverging craziness!
I came up with the royal families having their own braids. I chose the lace braid for House Palpatine because there's a hint of structure to it with the single zigzagging braid, but it allows the rest of the hair to be free. I thought about using a ladder braid, but I didn't think it would look good on Armitage. Technically, there are elves in Legends/EU, but they're known as elfish humanoids and only appear in Dark Horse's Star Wars (1998) 27 comic.
Next chapter: Brendol fulfills his promise to Eos, while Armitage endures his first day on the job.
