Obligatory disclaimer: Everything belongs to George Lucas and I'm not making any profit from this story.
Obligatory request: Please read and review! This chapter is short but the story is drawing to a close and I'd like to know what you think!
Chapter 12
After what seemed like interminable discussion the rescue party finally got underway. Cliaé, appropriately reprimanded, stayed with the Falcon and the droids as originally planned. Sabé led the band deep into the mountainous region of Naboo.
Luke took advantage of the uncharacteristic silences to meditate and rest. He often glanced about, hoping to see one of his ethereal guardians but they remained silent and unseen and he had to focus into the Force on his own. As night fell they made camp and settled onto the ground, covered by a deciduous forest and eerie quiet, abandoned by even the Naboo avian life.
"We are behind schedule," Sabé announced, laying her head on her pack.
"Behind schedule?" Han echoed.
"Must you repeat every statement?" Pooja broke in just as Sabé prepared to answer.
"I wasn't aware we were on a schedule," Han mimicked Sabé's and Pooja's delicate accents.
"Regardless of your awareness," Sabé interrupted them, "We are most certainly on a schedule. The Imperials have all they need to implement their plan."
"What pieces?" Lando asked, settling next to Luke on the ground.
"The Queen and Princess Leia, of course," Sabé spoke with some annoyance. "I can only assume they mean to substitute Leia for Ryoo, as a puppet queen." This announcement seemed to shock all the listeners.
"Leia would never follow their demands," Han pointed out, well aware of how poorly Leia took to orders she did not wish to follow.
"Perhaps not, although I'm sure they think they have some way of persuading her," Sabé countered in turn. Han openly scoffed at that.
"Leia didn't give in to Vader," he pointed out.
"Maybe they would just persuade Ryoo to meet their demands," Pooja nearly whispered, anxious to believe the best of her sister but unsure.
"Whatever the specifics of the plan, it is certain they intend to use the goodwill most Naboo feel for our former queen against us," Sabé continued forcefully. "The niece and the daughter of our most beloved queen are powerful pawns against our democracy."
"Why not Luke?" Lando asked thoughtfully. "He's a Jedi."
"I believe you've answered your own question," Luke answered, staring absently up at the few stars glittering through the foliage. "Besides, Naboo society is matriarchal. The daughter of Padmé Amidala is a finer prize than the son." Sabé nodded in agreement.
"Whether they intend to pressure Ryoo and Leia to give commands or whether they intend to hold them captive, forcing the people to obey their own Imperial commands is not important. They will accomplish their goal."
"Which is?" Han interrupted again.
"The control of Naboo, her resources and people, naturally," Sabé answered. "And a possible bargaining chip with the New Republic."
"Who is leading them?" Luke wondered. "I sense an active but...unstable mind." Sabé grimaced.
"One of the Grand Moffs who commanded this world?" Pooja conjectured.
"No," Sabé said with a sigh. "The underground saw to them."
"Then," Luke spoke again but the former handmaiden interrupted, obviously impatient with questions.
"No, no Grand Moff, no admiral, no captain: Palpatine."
"The Emperor?" Han, Lando, and Luke spoke in incredulous unison.
"Not the Emperor: the young Palpatine," Sabé clarified. "A clone created only months ago."
No one could speak and she continued restlessly, "We heard reports of this, of course. We didn't want to believe it, there haven't been any new clones since Endor. He must have been created before the Emperor's death. And although the whole idea is ludicrous I believe something must have gone wrong during the cloning process. He is not a true clone of the Emperor and there is something else," she hesitated. "Whatever or whomever he is, he is...unbalanced."
"Insane?" Luke murmured, feeling the lightning course through his blood once again. The Emperor had been bad, terrifyingly evil incarnate, but an insane clone was simply unthinkable.
"He has not the abilities of the Emperor, "Sabé answered, trying not to overstate the situation. "He must have been accelerated much beyond the usual protocols. I haven't seen him, but a friend reported these things to me only a few days before you came to me. He may be a composite of several different host sources, not simply the Emperor."
"So Leia and her cousin are being held by an insane clone of the Emperor," Lando muttered.
"Insane homicidal dictator...so what else is new?" Han broke in, absently fingering his vest. Then he looked up and asked, "What do we have to do to get back on schedule?"