In this chapter, Palpatine confronts Lord Vader and Padme begins her negotiations…

Chapter IV

The Imperial Palace, Emperor Palpatine's Private Office

"Lord Vader has arrived, Your Majesty."

"Excellent," said Palpatine, "Send him in."

As his servant left the chamber, Palpatine bristled with anticipation. He'd been thinking about this moment for months and, now that it had arrived, he wasn't quite sure how to go about it.

The hatch opened and Vader strolled into the room. His footsteps echoed loudly throughout the chamber. He came to a stop in front of Palpatine's desk and got down on one knee, "What is thy bidding, my master?"

"Congratulations on the success of your mission, my apprentice. The method you used to subdue this Jedi…most impressive."

"Thank you, master."

Palpatine stood from his desk. "Rise, Lord Vader."

Vader rose to his feet and watched as his master walked around the desk towards him. "Do you have another mission for me, Master? Perhaps you've located another Jedi?"

Sidious laughed, "HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH…your eagerness is most appreciated, Lord Vader. My spies are tracking down a lead as we speak, but that is not why I summoned you."

Vader sensed something was off. He reached out with the force and tried to probe his master's thoughts.

"If you have a question, my apprentice, you just have to ask."

His Master had sensed him. Vader didn't care. He was tired and his patience was running short. This approach would save them both time. "If you didn't summon me here to assign me another mission, Master, then why did you?"

Palpatine placed a hand on his apprentice's shoulder. "Lord Vader, there is something I need to tell you."

Vader eyed him curiously. "What is it, Master?"

. . .

Aboard the Venator-class Star Destroyer Trident, Padme Amidala's Quarters

Padme woke up to the sound of alarms blaring throughout the ship. A few seconds later, a male voice came over the ship's PA system saying, "General quarters, general quarters, all hands, man your battle stations. Move forward and up to the starboard side; down and aft to the port side. Damage Control State: One. Condition: Orange." Padme jerked herself out of bed and ran to the door. She opened it and stepped out into the hallway. Clone troopers and uniformed officers were running in every direction. She could hear somebody shouting in the distance. She caught a glimpse of a door opening across the hall and turned her head just in time to see Commander Thire emerge and put on his helmet.

He made his way across the hall, dodging a couple people in the process and gently eased her back into her room. "Ma'am, it's best if you stay in your room for the moment."

"What's going on, Commander?" she demanded.

"Not sure, ma'am. I know as much as you do."

At that moment, a young-looking Ensign poked his head in the door. "Permission to enter?"

Commander Thire looked at her for approval.

Padme looked at the young officer and said, "It's alright. Come in."

The Ensign stepped inside and snapped to attention. His eyes darted between the two. "Senator. Commander," he greeted, "The Admiral requests your presence on the bridge at once."

"Thank you," said Padme, "Please tell the Admiral that we'll be up shortly."

"Yes, ma'am." The Ensign bowed respectfully towards her, saluted the Commander, and then disappeared back into the hallway.

Padme turned to Commander Thire. "Commander if you wouldn't mind stepping outside for a minute. I need to splash some water on my face."

"As you wish, ma'am. I'll be right outside whenever you're ready."

When the door closed, Padme used the refresher, washed her hands, and did her best to tidy up. She tucked in her shirt, redid her ponytail, rubbed the crust out of her eyes, and splashed some warm water on her face. There was a tiny mirror above the sink. Padme stared at the tired, skinny woman in the mirror. Her cheeks had slimmed and her features appeared to be more pointed and distinctive, she had big, black bags under her eyes and her lips were paler than she remembered. She couldn't believe how much she had changed.

There was a knock at the door.

Commander Thire's voice came from the other side of the door, "Ma'am?! Are you ready?! We shouldn't keep the Admiral waiting!"

Padme dried her face and walked over to the door, slipping on her sandals in the process. She opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. She was surprised to see it deserted except for her and Commander Thire.

"Ready, ma'am?" asked Thire.

She sighed. "Ready as I'll ever be…"

. . .

"WHAT?! SHE'S ALIVE?!" Vader screamed. He turned his back to his master. His hands were clenched so tight that he could feel the metal in his hand starting to bend. A million thoughts were running through his head. Every one of them was making him angrier and angrier. He couldn't take it anymore! He whipped around and used the force to grab one of the chairs in front of his master's desk and flung it across the room as hard as he could. "HHHHHNNNNNNTTTTTT!" It hit the wall so hard that it caused the marble to crack. He lifted the second chair and glass shattered everywhere as he promptly threw it out the window. He looked at over at his master and wasn't surprised to see that he was smiling. He was obviously enjoying this, which only enraged Vader further. "You…" he pointed a finger at Palpatine, "…you told me that she was dead. YOU TOLD ME THAT I KILLED HER! WHY?!"

His master scoffed, "I don't need to explain myself to you, Lord Vader." He turned and began to walk back behind his desk.

Vader could feel something inside of him snap. He drew his lightsaber and ignited it. In a single motion, he lunged at his master and, with his right hand, raised the saber high above his head to deliver a devastating blow. As he began to swing down, something stopped him. He couldn't move. He tried to reach out with the force to break whatever was holding him, but it wouldn't budge. His master slowly turned around and Vader could see that it was him that was holding him in place.

Palpatine laughed, "THERE!" he screamed, "That is precisely why I didn't tell you, Lord Vader." He reached out with his other hand.

Vader felt his lightsaber deactivate and fly from his grip. His master caught it with relative ease and flung him across the room. Vader bounced off the wall and landed in a heap on the floor. He tried to stand up, but, before he could, his master struck him with a powerful burst of force lighting. Vader's muscles started spasming uncontrollably and the most intense searing pain shot throughout his body. He wasn't sure how long his master electrocuted him, but it felt like an eternity before it finally stopped. Vader just laid there and tried to gulp in as much air as he could, but his respirator short circuited. Its board was fried and it was running on emergency power. He was only getting just enough air to keep him from suffocating. Despite that, he found the strength to roll over onto his side and prop himself up using his elbow. He watched as his master walked over and knelt down beside him.

"Don't be so naïve, Lord Vader. Do you honestly think Padme would have forgiven you after your transgressions?"

Vader thought about it for a second before the reality dawned on him. As much as he didn't want to admit it, his master was right. Padme was the purest, most stubborn soul in the galaxy and he knew that she would never forgive him no matter what he did. He was irredeemable. He dropped his head, "No."

His master smiled. "That's what I thought. A mighty Sith Lord you have become…but only through my teachings can you achieve your full potential."

Vader watched as his master stood up, reignited his lightsaber, and held the tip of the blade about an inch away from his throat.

"I hope you have learned a lesson here today, Lord Vader, because if you ever question me again…you…and Padme…will die."

. . .

Padme and Commander Thire exited the lift into the aft bridge and found Admiral Yural standing next to the command terminal talking to one of his lieutenants.

He noticed them immediately. "Ah, Senator. Commander. Perfect timing. We're approaching the Naboo System. We should be dropping out of hyperspace any moment now."

"Why are alarms going off?" asked Padme.

The Admiral tensed. "We've received intelligence that our mission may have been compromised."

"So you ready the entire fleet for battle?! I thought we were supposed to use diplomacy first."

"It's merely a precaution, Senator. Your mission is still the priority, but if the Naboo Security Forces launch a preemptive strike, I want to be ready."

Padme scoffed. "Preemptive strikes might be the Empire's way of doing things, but not Naboo's."

The Admiral nodded in understanding. "Regardless, Senator. I wouldn't be doing my due diligence if I didn't prepare for all possible scenarios. You have my word that the first shot will not come from any of my men."

Coming from Palpatine, she wouldn't have believed a word out of his mouth, but Admiral Yural seemed like an honorable man and nothing that he had done so far pointed to the contrary. "Very well, Admiral."

The Admiral turned to look at Commander Thire, "Commander, are your men ready?"

"Yes, sir!" responded the Commander, "My company's geared up and standing by in the hangar."

"Excellent."

Just then, a clone who was sitting at a nearby console shouted, "Admiral! Breakout in sixty seconds!"

Immediately the Admiral turned to the officer he'd been talking to when they stepped out of the lift, "Is the fleet ready, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, sir. The other ships are prepped and ready to come up to full combat status as soon as we exit hyperspace."

"Very good. I want sensors active and shields up the second we exit hyperspace." The Admiral turned his attention back to them. "Senator, if you'll follow me please."

Padme followed him as he strolled down the walkway towards the viewports in the front of the bridge. Neither of them said a word as they stared out of the viewports at the blue swirl of hyperspace. Padme could hear her heart beating loudly in her chest as the seconds ticked by at a snail's pace.

Finally, the swirl of hyperspace was replaced with the view of Naboo and its three moons. Immediately, Admiral Yural jumped into action. "Launch starfighters! Lieutenant Cross, status report!"

The lieutenant responded from down in the pit to the right of the walkway, "The fleet is at full combat status. Shields are up and at full power. Sensors are active and scanning. Nothing on the scope as of yet, sir."

Padme watched as the hangar doors opened and a full squadron of ARC-170 starfighters flew out.

From somewhere else in the bridge, another clone called out, "Sir, fighter squadron deployed."

"Good. Have them set up a defensive perimeter around the fleet."

"Yes, sir!"

Just then Lieutenant Cross yelled across the bridge, "Admiral! We're tracking two squadrons of starfighters launching from the planet! Should I send Razor Squadron to intercept?"

He looked over at her and Padme could see that he was mulling it over in his head. She hoped that what she said earlier was enough to convince him not to do anything rash.

"No. Have them maintain their positions. Let's let them get a little closer so we can see what their intentions are."

Padme suddenly heard something beeping towards the rear of the bridge.

As soon as she turned to see what it was, the clone sitting at the communications terminal in the command center stood up and said, "Admiral, we're receiving a transmission from the planet."

Padme followed the Admiral to the command center. He motioned for her to stand to the side, to which she obliged. She guessed he would motion for her when he was ready for her to begin the negotiations.

The Admiral stood next to the holo table and took a deep breath before saying to the communications officer, "Put it through." A few seconds passed before a hologram appeared in front of the Admiral. The hologram was of an older, balding man with shoulder length hair dressed in elegant robes.

Padme immediately recognized him, but remained silent.

"This is Admiral Yural of the Imperial Navy. To whom am I speaking?"

The man in the hologram cleared his throat before he spoke. "My name is Sio Bibble. I'm the Governor of Naboo. We've been expecting you, Admiral."

"The Admiral was right…" Padme said to herself. They knew that we were coming.

Yural bowed his head respectfully. "Nice to meet you, Governor. It's an honor to make your acquaintance."

Bibble didn't seem amused. "Why have you come here, Admiral?"

"The Emperor has sent me to deliver his personal ambassador for an audience with the Queen. He hopes they'll be able to resolve some of the tension that has arisen between your planet and the Empire."

"That will not be necessary," said the Governor, "If the Emperor wishes to speak with the Queen, he can do so next week when the Queen addresses the Senate."

"Be reasonable, Governor. The Emperor is merely trying to resolve this conflict without dragging the Senate into the middle of it."

Bibble scoffed. "Do you take me for a fool? The fact that the Emperor sent a fleet to deliver his ambassador when a simple shuttle would do proves that he doesn't want that to happen. This is nothing short of the Emperor trying to intimidate the Queen into not speaking before the Senate. I can guarantee you, Admiral, that it will happen…one way or another. So if you would kindly take your ships and leave, we would be grateful."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Governor. I must insist that the Queen meets with the ambassador."

"The Queen does not wish to speak with the Emperor or any of his ambassadors. As I said before, if Emperor Palpatine wishes to speak with the Queen he may do so next week when she publicly addresses the Senate."

"I think the Queen will want to hear what this particular ambassador has to say."

Padme took that as her cue. She stepped forward and stood next to the Admiral. "Hello, Governor. It's good to see you again."

Governor Bibble was taken completely by surprise. "Senator Amidala! You're the Emperor's Ambassador?"

Padme nodded her head. "I am and it's very important that I speak with the Queen immediately."

"Of course…one moment." The Governor muted his comlink and began speaking with somebody off to the side, presumably the Queen. After a minute or two, he unmuted his comlink, "Senator Amidala, her Majesty agrees to speak to you and ONLY you."

. . .

I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I will be writing more often in the future, so make sure that you follow the story if you haven't already. As always, if you like the story, make sure to favorite it and leave me a comment letting me know how I'm doing. Until next time..