Sorry about the wait. Hopefully this chapter is worth it...this might get a little trippy. If you think Padme' has already lost everything, we've still got a way to go yet on that front. Hope you enjoy this one...

STAR WARS: THE EMPEROR'S SHADOW

WILL OF THE EMPEROR

CHAPTER FOUR: LOSING YOURSELF

My master awaited me in his Throne Room.

I bowed before him, as was my role. However, before I could speak, he gestured for me to follow. With my obedience very well drilled into me by now, I silently followed him. He led me, wordlessly, to a balcony that overlooked the Imperial city. Gesturing for his red-robed Imperial Royal Guard to leave, we were left alone with a view that others would kill for.

"What do you see from this position, my servant? You may speak honestly." His tone was calm, though it implied a train of thought that had occupied his mind if I was reading him correctly.

After some thought, I replied.

"The seat of your Empire, billions of souls whose lives depend on your design, Master. However, I also see a billion places where seeds of rebellion can be sown on a daily basis."

The Emperor nodded. "Quite true. Every one of those beings down there is subject to my whims, I can decide life or death over them. But on a wider scale, I also see the stars in the night sky. Each one tells of a system that is equally mine. It is true power, my servant…it is my desire to maintain control over even the furthest stars, for that is my right as Emperor. This view serves to remind me of my position, and also that there is much more to be done before we can have lasting peace."

He then turned to me, looking me over.

"I sense a change in you, my shadow…tell me, what does Padme' Amidala feel?"

I knew how to answer this within seconds, such was my conditioning.

"Padme' Amidala is dead, my Master. She succumbed to her pain and loss and disappeared, just as the Jedi Anakin Skywalker died and emerged as Darth Vader. Padme' and I share memories, but that is all that we share. She feels nothing…and I have abandoned that name, as it holds no further meaning for me." Every word I spoke felt real, and revealed how I truly felt deep down. "Her memories are growing less useful, as any skills of hers are now pure instinct and recalling them how and where she learned them is less essential than it used to."

The Emperor looked me over again, curious.

"How do you view Padme' Amidala now?"

"Padme' Amidala was a woman who sought to find diplomatic means to solve problems-the war with the Separatists taught her how wrong that view was. She was a woman who lacked the stomach to do what needed to be done, and paid the price for it. She had neither the strength nor resilience to survive the ordeal that she was put through, and ultimately drowned in her own pain and loss. She was at the end of it all a weak pacifist, utterly broken and destroyed. She even tried fighting you, my Master-and my victory over her should tell you all that you need to know about who the stronger one of us is. She is dead, my Master, consumed by her ordeal-and she is never coming back. I rose from her ashes, your loyal servant, my Master." Again, I believed every word that I said.

However, the Emperor noted a key fact in my statement.

"So you consider yourself a separate person to Padme' Amidala?"

"I do, my Master. I am your Shadow, Daughter of the Empire, Will of the Emperor. That is my role, my function, my purpose in life…and I need no other name, as I am the embodiment of your will. I have become so much more than that woman could ever be…Yes, Master, she is now another person to me. Any connection to her is now meaningless to me."

I didn't even feel odd talking about myself this way. I felt no emotion whatsoever.

My Master smiled under his hood.

"I assume that's why you showed a little emotion when you had your helmet removed?"

I nodded. "Yes, Master. The woman beneath is no longer me-that is no longer my face. My armour is my true skin, my mask my true face, this mechanically treated voice my real voice. That is who I am now-I desire no reminder of the woman that used to live. I am the Emperor's Shadow now…"

The Emperor chose his next question carefully.

"When would you say that Padme' Amidala died and gave way to you?"

This question took longer to answer.

"It was a slow process, Master. As she grew weaker, worn down by her agony and suffering, I grew stronger and stepped in to replace her. She submitted to your will, and from that point on I've slowly been taking over and burying her mentally-she's all but dead every other way. Now I refer to her as a separate persona because that's what she is-I'm so changed that I no longer even vaguely resemble her. That's why I view her as completely dead, Master."

The Emperor nodded, though he didn't smile.

"We shall see, my Shadow…In the meantime, I have a mission for you."

"It shall be done, Master" I replied.

The Emperor stood up, and strode over to a screen. Pressing a few buttons silently, he brought up a file. The image was of a young girl, with a long mane of flaming red hair. She only looked about ten years old at this point.

"This is my latest servant, my Shadow. Her name is Mara Jade, and her purpose is to be like you-an agent of my will. She is a long-term project, and you shall get to know her in due time. Do not concern yourself with your position, my servant, as her role will be rather different to yours-it will allow me to exert influence on more events at the same time." His tone was calming, but forceful.

"As you will, my Master…" I replied. "What do you require of me?"

The Emperor changed image; the holoscreen now showed a pair of adults, clearly her parents. I could tell by the red hair that they both shared. He explained this image, gesturing with a hand.

"These two gave up their daughter when she was offered up for Imperial Special training, they sensed that there was something about her that made her special. She was assessed, and was found to be force sensitive. That is why she is to become my agent-not that you are likely to work together. No, my servant, you are far more effective on your own. Rather than mold her into an Inquisitor, however, her skills would be better used in this capacity. The first step is for you to eliminate any ties to her past life-so as to bind her loyalty to me and only me. Her family are important on Coruscant, but not important enough for anyone to care too much about their deaths. Indeed, this may provide an opportunity-there are several that I would like purged on the planet, and this murder would allow me to send in the ISB in the name of safety and security."

He then changed the image again; this time it was of a lavish apartment.

"The family are holding a gathering tonight, their entire clan. You are to eliminate them all, and frame it to look like a mercenary hit-that should be all that the Imperial Security Bureau need to proceed as I wish them to. Do you understand the orders, my Shadow?"

"I understand, Master…they will be carried out." I replied without any hint of mercy.

"You can't…please…" came a voice. It was female, pleading…within my head.

I pushed it out of my mind. After all, I was in the presence of my Master.

I bowed to my Master in reverence.

"The relevant information is on the Holoscreen in your Quarters, should you wish to peruse it. Dismissed…" he replied, and I stood up and went to my quarters to prepare.

As I passed the mirror in my quarters, however, I stopped.

My reflection morphed from my armour to that of Padme' Amidala…

Her facial expression was desperate, pleading…

"You're still me…please don't abandon all that we are. Please don't do this…"

The voice was in my head, instead of in the air. This was a hallucination…

"You may be clad in that terrifying armour, you may have lost all emotions barring those that he condescends to let you have, and you may have lost everything that you hold dear, but you are still me, underneath the armour. You may be cybernetically augmented, may have shaved your hair off, and may be hooked to that serum, but the Emperor hasn't banished me fully. Your attempts to consign me as a separate personality and leave me to die have led me to this. Please, you can still regain the woman that you-we-were. Don't give up hope…"

However, I wasn't going to let this hallucination sway me…

"I am no longer a Senator. I have no life and no longer deserve any will of my own. I have only my Master, and I serve him loyally as the Emperor's Shadow, Will of the Emperor. I am no longer you, Padme' Amidala…You are dead." My mechanically augmented voice echoed through the room, though it would not carry beyond it.

The reflection let a tear slide down her cheek.

The Emperor is evil…His will is to subjugate the galaxy! How can you stand beside him!?"

"Because you were too weak to endure what happened to you…you submitted to him. I am the result, Padme' Amidala…I am what you have become. All you are is all that remains of my past self, self-confident to the point of delusional, vain and weak. I am better off without you…"

"It's not too late…You still remember…"

However, I remained firm and would waste no more time arguing inside my own head.

"I serve my Master. You are no longer me. I renounce you, Padme' Amidala…" I told the image.

However, the facial expression of the reflection suddenly turned firm.

"As long as you remember me, you'll never be rid of me…" she replied.

With that, her reflection morphed back into that of me as I actually was…

My emotions were all but dead within me, but at this I felt shock and fear. What was happening!?

Where had this manifestation come from?

I pushed it to the back of my mind and focused on my next mission.

I would not let my Master down…