Star Wars Infinities: The Warrior
By Christopher W. Blaine (darth_yoshi@yahoo.com)
DISCLAIMER: The characters and situations contained in this story are ©2002 by George Lucas and are used herein without permission for fan-related, non-profit entertainment purposes only. This original work of fiction is ©2002 by Christopher W. Blaine and may not be reproduced in part or as a whole without the express permission of the author.
CHAPTER 6
"My daughter is spirited, my lord, but by no means does she intend disrespect by her words," Bail Organna said from a low bow before the holographic representation of the Emperor. "Leia is single-minded in her devotion to the people of the Empire."
Palpatine's blue-green visage nodded slowly. The Sith master was licking his lips as he thought of the Alderaanian princess. She reminded Palpatine very much of another fiery young woman from many years before. "Youthful exuberance is to be commended among the Empire's elite, Viceroy, but slander against her rightful ruler cannot go ignored."
Bail took a second to glance over at his daughter, who was standing a respectful distance away with her head lowered and her hands behind her back. Next to her stood two security men armed with stun batons. "As I said, my daughter meant no disrespect to you, my lord, only that she is displeased by recent events. The Empire has vast resources that she would like to perhaps see more evenly distributed to the poorer worlds."
"Perhaps she would prefer that we reduce the security on these worlds, let their individual governments collapse?" Palpatine waited for a response; he half expected the princess to march forward and shake her finger in his image's face. She didn't, but through the Force, he could feel her rage. He detected something else as well when he prodded her life essence, something familiar. He supposed it was simply her legacy, being the product of the union of Bail Organna and Mon Mothma.
Both former Old Republic senators had been political peers of then Senator Palpatine and he had even developed something of a friendship with Bail. All of that changed, however, after the deaths of Darth Vader and Darth Maul. Bail had become withdrawn, removing himself from politics except for the Viceroyship of Alderaan. The master of the Empire knew exactly what the reason was.
Darth Deceptra.
"Nobody wishes to see chaos, my lord; Leia was just expressing her views. You do wish your legislators to speak their minds, do you not?" Bail hoped he had not overstepped his limits.
Palpatine paused, considering whether or not to let his old friend know that the senate was no more, that Leia Organna's title was nothing more than a prefix of no worth. She was soon to be nothing more than a damsel trapped in a castle, waiting for some knight to rescue her. Secretly, Palpatine had always hoped that young Skywalker would have formed some sort of union with the daughter of Bail Organna. It was not to be, for Bail had kept Leia as far away from Luke Skywalker as possible.
Too many painful memories he supposed. Maybe it would be easier just to kill them all, but then he had no real reason to do so. Alderaan was far too rich; certainly the Empire would survive without it's aid, but it would be a heavy drain to maintain garrisons there. "What I wish, Viceroy, is proper respect for my station! If your daughter wants to feed the poor, then let her pull the money from her own dowry! However, I do not ever wish to hear her make another disparaging remark about me again!"
"Then tell me I'm a liar, my lord!" Leia finally called out and Palpatine nearly smiled at her fury. She was far outmatched in this battle of wills, but he admired her tenacity. "I merely said that you didn't care about the plight of Gammoreans! They are a sentient race that is being exploited by the Empire in what can only be called as slave labor!"
"Are they not paid, young princess? Do they complain? Are you the voice of their conscience? Who is violating them now?"
Leia stepped forward to stand next to her paling father. "They are rounded up and coerced and tricked into indentured servitude that there is no possible way for them to get out of! They sign contracts drawn up by Imperial lawyers!"
"And if there were a problem, wouldn't the distinguished senator from their home world petition the senate for justice?" the Emperor retorted with a cackle. "With your words you speak the true nature within your heart, young Leia. You believe the Gammoreans to be too…intellectually challenged to be able to decide their own destiny."
Leia took a deep breath, summoning control to her and Palpatine sensed her tap into the Force. It was light, merely brushing against it, not enough to be any threat to him. Strange that he had never detected her ability, as slight as it was, previously. Perhaps she was one of those individuals whose potential was intertwined with their character. Such people were very useful, as Darth Deceptra proved.
When she had been simply Padme Amidala, Deceptra had been a political force to be reckoned with. Despite her young age, she had been able to hold her own against some of the most hardened senators of the Old Republic. The use of the Kaiburr Crystal shard that Palpatine had obtained decades before was the only reason Deceptra could even begin to function as a Dark Lord. Without it, her abilities were far too puny to even be worth considering.
Luckily, Luke Skywalker, Deceptra's son by Darth Vader, proved to be very powerful in the Force. Unlike his father, however, Palpatine had ensured that young Luke wasn't too emotionally attached to his mother. It was the death of Anakin Skywalker's mother that had finally made Darth Vader challenge Darth Maul to a duel. Though such combat was expected in a Sith society, Vader had picked a very inopportune time to have his revenge. It was only through sheer luck, and Bail Organna's timely intervention, that Palpatine even had an apprentice. Without Deceptra, the years of purging the Jedi from the galaxy would have been much harder.
"My lord, dear Emperor Palpatine," Leia said with clenched teeth. Palpatine nodded at her contrition, but realized it was an all an act. She hated the Empire such was her pacifistic upbringing. Maybe he should have stepped in from the beginning, when her identity had been revealed to Palpatine by then Commander Thrawn. Maybe he should have removed her from Bail's hands and placed into one of his many training programs for Force-talented young ladies. Even as Palpatine considered that, he managed to listen to Leia's pleas. "I realize I may seem abrasive at times, but it is only because I want to see the Empire flourish and to do that it needs all of its citizens operating at peak efficiency," she lied.
"Have you considered that perhaps the reason that the universe is so inefficient, as you put it, is because there are too many species not pulling their weight?" Palpatine retorted. He was reminded of conversations many years ago when he had simply been chancellor. Young senator Amidala had come to him to protest his desire to build up the military of the Old Republic.
The nostalgia was wearing thin on him and he was beginning to tire of this conversation. Political intrigue had been fine before he was master of the galaxy, but now all he required was obedience. Were the young princess on Imperial Center where the rest of the doomed senate was at this moment, and then he could take care of her personally. That brought a wicked smile to his face.
"Because of your father's devotion to the Empire, I will forgive you this time. Furthermore, I am informing you that the Imperial senate will be dissolved later today. I am appointing military governors to most systems." Leia was speechless and Bail put a firm hand on her shoulder. It was not completely unexpected, as the Emperor never followed any legislation he did not want to anyway. The senate was only to placate the more liberal minds of the universe, to prevent outright revolt. Obviously, the Emperor felt very confident in his hold over the universe now. "Viceroy, I trust that I will not need to appoint a moff to Alderaan?"
When he saw how his former comrade paled and nodded, Palpatine knew that telling them was the right decision. Their destiny was in their own hands now and surely this would be enough to quiet even the serpent's tongue of Leia Organna.
"How can you do this? By what right?" Leia practically screamed. "Have you no notion of the responsibilities of the ruler over the ruled?"
Palpatine practically fell over as Leia suddenly surged in the Force. Her strength was far more than what he had believed at first and for a moment he was stunned. How was she able to hide her abilities so? The only way was if she was well versed in deception, but how could she be? What was she hiding?
He cut the transmission and turned to Sate Pestage, his chief advisor. The gaunt man, dressed in pink and yellow robe, bowed his head. "I think that the time has come to make a demonstration of the Organna family, my lord."
"Indeed," Darth Deceptra announced as she entered the Emperor's throne room. Several Dark Side adepts stepped away as she strode through them like a fish in the water. Her cape flowed behind her until she stopped and then almost magically draped itself over her shoulders.
"There is a great disturbance in the Force," the Emperor said as he moved over to his throne. Deceptra watched as his failing body caused him to move much too slowly. The Dark Side was rotting him away, his body unable to handle the forces at his command. It was not so unusual for human Sith Lords to finally succumb to their own abilities.
She remembered not so many years ago when Palpatine had first taken her as a lover. Compared to the strength of Anakin Skywalker, her former husband, he had been lacking, but engaging in relations with Palpatine was something more than physical. He ravaged his companions through the Force, making the experience permanent.
You could never forget an evening with the Emperor.
As such, Deceptra's own tastes became close to his and soon she found herself drawn to him like a spice addict. Only through the Force, and the Kaiburr Crystal embedded in her chest, was she able to finally break herself of his hold. That was fine with him, since she was unable to provide the heir her needed for genetic materials.
Palpatine planned to clone himself a new body and transfer his essence into it; a strong, young body that could withstand the Dark Side. Deceptra momentarily looked down at her mechanical right hand and then her left, both victims of the power burning its way free from her mortal shell.
That was the reason Palpatine had originally taken on a non-human as an apprentice. Darth Maul possessed a body perfectly suited for the rigors of being a true Sith Lord. It had been Palpatine's hope that Maul would have children…
"Have you sensed it, my apprentice?" Palpatine asked her.
Deceptra moved forward to a small platform and bent down on one knee. The Crystal, nested between her breasts, glowed slightly. "I have felt something, my master, but I cannot identify it. It was both familiar and strange at once."
"The young princess Leia Organna is Force-talented, though I do not think she realizes it."
Sate Pestage stifled a cough and Deceptra brought her head up, her dark eye burning with an intensity that matched her artificial one. "The whore child of Bail Organna? She is a Jedi?"
"No, but she has a hidden strength that we must possess or eliminate," the Emperor said as he pondered. He sighed, realizing that whatever friendship, if one could use that term, that he had felt for Bail Organna, would not stop him from obtaining absolute mastery over every living thing. He would be a dark god, he swore.
"Let me go, master," she begged. The thought of finally being able to let loose her fury against the man she blamed, partially, for the death of her husband, threatened to consume her. "I will determine this princess' worth to the New Order."
"Begging your pardons, my lords," Pestage began, his hands shaking. He had never seen such controlled rage coming from Deceptra. "If Organna is a possible Jedi…"
"There are no more Jedi," he Emperor snapped. "If she has ability, it is undeveloped."
"My mistake, of course, my lord; I only meant to state that she does have a sister," he replied, looking down at the floor. There was a pause and he looked up to see the Emperor nodding. "Mara Organna Mothma has the same bloodline as she does. I have been led to believe that Force-talent is more likely to be hereditary than accidental."
The Emperor closed his eyes. "Yesssssss. I see it now; they knew…they knew all along."
"Who knew what, my master?" Deceptra asked.
"Mothma and Organna; they knew their children were special; that is why they removed themselves from politics, away from me." The Emperor clapped his hands. "Think of it! Two more soldiers for our dark order not tainted with the Jedi core values."
"Leia Organna is a pacifist! She will not be turned," Deceptra said. Her hope was to kill both of them, avenging her long-dead love.
"Then kill her," Palpatine ordered, tired of having to choose. If he couldn't have her, then he would settle for Mara. New, debased thoughts entered his chaotic mind as he brought up a mental image of the fiery young redhead from Chandrilla. If he let Deceptra kill off the Organna's, then she would be more willing to help out in the training. With Mara properly schooled, she could be paired with Luke Skywalker! "Yes! Go to Alderaan and kill them. Be quick about it, Lady Deceptra."
He then turned his attention to Pestage. "I need Mara Mothma brought to me. You will take of it."
Pestage held his hands up. "She is powerful, my lord; Chandrilla is not Alderaan, they know how to fight there."
"I have a way of contacting an old friend of ours, Pestage, who is not so concerned with such petty details," the Emperor responded before breaking into a fit of mocking, evil laughter.
The dark-haired man pulled out the decrypt key from the terminal and then inserted a small data collector. He waited several moments as the data was dumped, his eyes scanning the area. Nobody seemed to be watching him, but he hadn't expected there to be anyway. To all appearances, he was nothing more than a tourist, enjoying the beauty of the Imperial world of Kuat.
A small tone told him that the download was complete and he made his way away from the terminal before the small explosive device he had set destroyed it. There wasn't enough to cause harm to anyone, but it would successfully eliminate any trace DNA he had left behind.
Fifteen minutes later, he entered the room he was sharing with the older, silver-haired man who was busy cleaning a dart launcher. The resemblance between the two men was uncanny, leaving no doubt that they were related. "Is it what I said it was?" the man asked.
The younger man watched as his father methodically moved his hands over the weapon. Despite his age, well-honed muscles bulged as he did so, indicating a high level of mastery in what he was doing. "It is, father."
"We are back in business, then, are we not Boba?"
Boba Fett shrugged. "We have had a good life, father, but I understand your desire to get back in the game. We are hunters, not to relegated to the duties we had in the Corporate Sector."
"The life of a bounty hunter is the life for me," Jango Fett mused, thinking of a song he had once heard. "Prepare the ship, I'll get our armor and weapons. Where are we headed?"
"The bounty is on Mon Mothma's daughter, Mara," Boba replied flatly.
"A task worthy of us, I think."
Boba hesitated. "Father, can we trust Palpatine? We left for the Corporate Sector because of the war that was brewing. We know too much."
Jango seemed unconcerned. "The Emperor is not concerned. We cannot hurt him, or at least he doesn't think we can." He winked. "What he doesn't know will mean profits for us."
