Chapter 8 – Another Chance

"You have done well, Lord Vader," the Emperor commended. "Others can see to the retrieval of the stolen plans now. Proceed to the Death Star and use the Princess to learn what you can of the Rebel bases. Tarkin will make good use of the information." With that the Emperor cut the holovid connection Vader had used to give his report.

Mara Jade remained obediently quiet in her corner of the throne room. It was not often she was allowed a direct viewing of such secure transmissions, and she felt honored to have been allowed to stay for this one.

The Emperor now turned his attention to her. "You see what mundane distractions clutter my day."

Mara was shocked in spite of herself. The tracking down of Rebel spies and stolen data hardly seemed mundane to her. 'But no,' she corrected herself. 'It was not the content of the report that the Emperor found mundane. It was the fact that a report had to be filed at all.'

"Very good, My Dear. You understand," the Emperor complimented her on her insight as he gleaned her thoughts from their Force connection. "In time you will perform these errands for me with more style and finesse than Lord Vader can manage, and there will be no need for you to resort to such primitive means to keep me apprised of events."

Mara felt a surge of pride at her master's reference to her unique ability to mentally communicate with him from even the greatest of distances. However, she was confused somewhat by his slight of Darth Vader's skills, for that Sith lord was the Emperor's chosen second and had served him well in establishing the Empire. Perhaps Vader's usefulness had been outlived, or, more likely, he was growing too ambitious and needed his wings clipped.

Mara was well aware she was no where near as powerful in the Force as Vader was, but she would consider herself equal to him in many other areas, maybe even superior in a few. Could the Emperor intend for him to be among her targets? Maybe even intend for her to eventually take Vader's place?

The first question posed a fascinating possibility, but the second held no appeal for her. She much preferred the anonymity of her promised position as an advanced intelligence operative and assassin. That second duty, while unpleasant in description, did not bother Mara in the least, particularly when she considered the targets would all be traitors seeking to usurp her master's leadership. Gathering intelligence and eliminating problems – this was where her talents lay. Better to leave bureaucratic hassles to those with more patience and tact and the military commanding to those more inclined to delegate responsibility. She was content to serve in her critical, if unglorified, position.

"You may go now. I have nothing further to teach you today." The Emperor dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

"Yes, Master," Mara replied respectfully. She quickly gathered the two remotes she had been sparring with under his instructive supervision and departed through the secret door behind the throne.

**

The Emperor watched Mara's movements and exit with interest. Mara Jade, his second experiment, was in many ways more dangerous than either Skywalker was. Though not as powerful as they, her strength in the Force was considerable, certainly enough to cause problems should she realize her full potential and turn it against him. And she was not so easily manipulated. Her independence and strong sense of self-reliance would have made her unacceptable if it were not for her fierce loyalty.

He had found her shortly after concluding he would never be able take over the younger Skywalker. Looking into the little girl's fearful but defiant eyes, Palpatine had realized she might be the solution to his problem with mortality. His scientists were having no success in generating an acceptable host for him through cloning – for some reason the midichlorians did not survive the process – so he would need a natural body to occupy. This girl and the young Skywalker could give him a powerful host indeed.

So the Emperor had called to her, and Mara had come. Drawn by the natural lure of a student to a Force master and by the curiosity about one that could speak directly to her thoughts, she had been enticed away from her terrified parents. He had slowly worked to erase the memories of her past and had begun teaching her in neutral uses of the Force, neither light nor dark. The lack of commitment to either side continued to significantly stunt her potential but made her far less a risk. The disadvantage in power was more than compensated for by her masterful skill in using all classes of weapons in all modes of combat.

So now his second experiment was all but ready for her true role. Beautiful but lethal, powerful yet graceful, loyal without fault, Mara promised to serve as an exceptional source and defender for the child that would be him. She would also serve as insurance to keep Arkus in line for the few years that boy would control the Empire.

'Ah yes, Arkus,' the Emperor mused. It was time to check on the boy again. Reaching out through the Force, he sought after his other student. It wasn't difficult to find him. Arkus never tried to hide, and for the past several days he couldn't have any way, so powerful was his anger and frustration.

'Good,' the Emperor thought as he sensed the boy's aggressive rage. 'He is still furious over the Princess. Time to throw him a bone, and let him turn that aggression on Vader.'

But the Emperor delayed a moment more before summoning Arkus to ensure Mara was well clear of the hidden passageway behind the throne room. It was too early yet for them to discover each other's true existence. That introduction would be saved for a later date.

The moment passed and Mara was well gone.

~Come to me, My Young Apprentice,~ he commanded.

**

Arkus focused his rage and drew deep into the Force to add power and speed to his movements. His efforts were rewarded with the satisfying impact of his spinning kick to his opponent's chest. The blow sent the battle droid flying into the wall across the room where it then settled into heap on the floor. That left only two for him deal with. The exercise was as good as over.

He had started with five of the droids programmed to maximum skill and endurance levels to ensure a challenging workout. Five sentients twice his size would have been nothing, but these droids felt no pain, knew no fear. And of course there was the fact that droid's intentions could not be read through the Force. Arkus was limited to his finely honed danger sense to give him warnings of their movements.

That sense flared again as the droid behind him tried to take advantage of his somewhat off-balance position. But Arkus simply continued his spin, drawing his leg back underneath himself and ducking to avoid the hit the droid had aimed at him. Planting his feet firmly, Arkus then drove his shoulder hard into the droid's abdomen and neatly flipped it over his back. The droid landed with a resounding thud, but quickly rolled out of Arkus' reach.

Arkus had chosen to use no weapons and no protective body armor for this exercise. He wanted the primitive pleasure of pure hand-to-hand combat – the release of hate-driven, aggressive energies that could only be obtained by manually abusing the opponent. Facing five of the droids under these conditions guaranteed that they would score at least some hits on him and promised to leave him exhausted at the end of their contest.

The other remaining droid moved in now to give its companion time to get setup for another assault. Arkus was prepared, though, and skillfully dodged the attack. He grabbed the droid's overextended arm and forcefully twisted it behind its back. Quickly reaching a hand around the droid's head, he gave it a cruel yank and snapped its simulated neck, rendering this droid incapacitated.

The last droid charged then. Arkus tossed the droid carcass in his hands free of his fighting zone and vaulted over the other. The rushing droid halted its progress to watch Arkus' graceful mid-air, twisting somersault with calculating assessment, but was still unprepared for the brutal assault that ensued the second Arkus landed. A bare ten seconds later it was over.

Arkus rubbed the back of his hand across his nose to wipe away the trickle of blood that had started from one of the hits he'd received. He was indeed physically exhausted, but the fight had done little to relieve his pent-up frustration. He roared in a burst of fury and gave the crumpled droid at his feet one last solid kick.

It was of no use. Only by addressing the source of his frustration would he find relief, and that source was likely halfway across the galaxy by now. He pulled at his short hair, as if that action would succeed in the getting the Princess out of his mind, and then settled to floor to try to clear his thoughts.

~Come to me, My Young Apprentice.~

The chilling sense of his master's commanding presence did more to still Arkus's emotions than all his efforts combined. His anger and frustration quickly dissipated against the respectful obedience his master demanded of him. Such as it had always been.

He wondered briefly if this summons was at last the response to his actions against Isard. He didn't doubt the Emperor had been aware of at least most of the events of that evening, and he had taken the silence up to this point as an approval of his intervention. If the conniving little wench had taken this long to spin a story that would call his actions into question, Arkus had no doubt that he could twist it back on her, though the thought of having to devote his energies to this deeply annoyed him.

Still, a promised audience with the Emperor did much to improve his overall outlook. Perhaps he could plead his case on the Princess one last time. But he could not approach his master in this condition. He would grab a quick shower and fresh clothes first.

~I must prepare, My Master,~ he replied.

**

The Emperor watched his young apprentice approach the throne. He hadn't granted him an audience since dismissing him from his duties tracking the Princess. Perhaps he should have reprimanded the boy for disobeying his orders to leave the Rebels to others, but Arkus' actions had prevented Isard from making a potentially serious error and taught her a well deserved lesson about affecting unsanctioned operations in the process. He wanted the boy to intervene in such cases, especially now while it was so crucial for Arkus to build respect in the Empire's command structure. Arkus had handled it well and done nothing further on the matter of the Princess, so the Emperor had decided to once again be the lenient and understanding master the boy had come to worship.

Now Arkus was guarding his thoughts. On the surface, the boy was trying to hide his dread over dealing with Isard's complaints, but on a deeper level, trying harder to disguise his desire to reopen the subject of his princess. The Emperor assessed Arkus' efforts at containing his emotions as the boy settled into his respectful kneeling position before him. Clearly Arkus wanted another opportunity at handling the Rebel princess, but was unsure of how to broach the subject. The Emperor let him mentally squirm a few moments more before opening a dialog.

"It seems your wayward princess has been found," he stated bluntly.

Arkus was simultaneously relieved and disturbed. Relieved that this discussion would not revolve around Isard and that the Emperor had introduced the subject of the Princess, thereby saving him the awkward initiative. More relieved that his tracking beacon had worked, and that his actions had not resulted in the Princess escaping. But he was anxious about the circumstances under which events had unfolded. Perhaps the Rebel base had been located and was currently under attack. Then again, perhaps nothing had been gained, and he was here now to receive his punishment for delaying Tarkin's investigation and disrupting Isard's operation. Neither possibility boded well for the Princess, he reflected.

"Was Lord Vader able to retrieve the Death Star plans and locate the Rebel base?" Arkus asked carefully when it became apparent that the Emperor was not going to continue.

"No to both, as a matter of fact," the Emperor answered simply. He offered nothing more, but waited to see where Arkus would take this.

"I would not have failed you," Arkus replied tersely, working to control his contempt. Vader had apparently succeeded in ruining everything he had setup, and now both he and the Princess would suffer for it.

"Perhaps, perhaps not," the Emperor taunted him. "But Lord Vader has not truly failed. He did succeed in breaking the Rebel's spy chain at Toprawa and delivering a message to those residents that will dissuade others from harboring this scum. Now that the Death Star is nearly operational, retrieving the stolen plans is secondary to locating the Rebel base, and for that he now has your princess."

Arkus mentally twitched at the open provocation, but offered no protest. It was clear to the Emperor now that Arkus was not going to ask directly after his pet, but was resigned to whatever fate was assigned her. Satisfied with the boy's acceptance of the situation, the Emperor now offered the possibility of an alternative.

"You still feel she will be able to resist interrogation?" the Emperor pretended to surmise from Arkus' discomfort.

Arkus brightened at that opening. If he handled this right, there might still be a chance for this matter to be turned back over to him.

"Very likely," Arkus began cautiously. "It certainly would have been better had she simply been allowed to lead us to the Rebels."

The Emperor appeared to consider his words. "Hmm. Perhaps you could offer some insight on the character of this princess that would assist in the process…"

Arkus held his hopeful reaction in check. He would not ruin this chance by appearing too eager.

The Emperor feigned reaching a conclusion. "Darth Vader is transferring the Princess to the Death Star. If nothing else, observing the operations of the battle station under Tarkin's command will be a valuable experience for you. Go. I will see that a rendezvous point is arranged for you."

"Yes, Master. I will not disappoint you," Arkus promised firmly and quickly left the throne room to prepare for his journey.

The Emperor held his stoic expression until Arkus was gone, releasing it finally with a gratified cackle.