The Epic:

PART 2- THE FALL

They'll never catch Luke again, Eva told herself. She had led them to Skywalker and he slipped right by. He eluded Vader again on Bespin. And what were they thinking? Luke was of an altogether different mindset than Vader and Palpatine, and certainly wouldn't join forces. Though she hardly knew him, it was clear every fiber of Luke's being was resiliance.

She thought back to her time at Echo Base. She had been given two directives before the Imperial invasion. One was to find out where rebels would regroup in the event of an attack- a near impossible task considering that kind of information wasn't bounced around before an actual attack was underway. It wasn't on Captain Leahmour's datapad and he wouldn't give it up in his dying breath. The other directive was easy- 'get close to Luke, but not too close.' Whatever that meant. Had Vader delayed the invasion for personal motives? The Emperor steaming over Hoth might not be entirely her fault after all.

Then of course, there was that far-fetched, impossible to fathom revelation. Given enough time at Echo Base she could have pieced together the relationship. Surely she would have learned that a mother named Shmi who was abducted by Tusken Raiders, was buried in Luke's Tatooine yard. The name Anakin Skywalker had not been revealed to her. But at last she looked upon an old image of the handsome face belonging to the 'deceased' Jedi- the ghost no research on Padmė would bear revelation. And where Anakin disappeared from record, Vader rose…

The youthful face was betrothed to someone else. And now it was lost in a way mere age could not compare. Did Vader care, or did the mask present an impression even more suited to his taste?

He had been silent since the incident in the Throne Room, and her own feelings were tempered. She reminded herself, she mustn't read too much into the sharing of it all. She was merely a privileged onlooker.

There was always Aloo to answer to. That evening, he and Eva stood on the Palace's elevated landing platform awaiting the Emperor's shuttle. It was raining and they both held umbrellas.

Aloo sucked the air through his teeth and went on, "…You won't be on duty, so you won't be wearing your Courtier robes that night. Our Emperor has also invited Marius. He referenced him as 'your friend' and mentioned his appreciation of opera as well."

"Honestly, I don't know where he got all that." Eva spilled off defensively.

"Marius will be on duty, so don't fuss over our Emperor in public. I'll be at the theater, but in another box. There has been considerable squabbling over the seats near our Emperor."

Eva stood at the precipitous edge of the platform, watching the drops descend to the goings on far below. "Why aren't we in the covered hanger?"

Aloo, still stiff at attention and focused on the sky, did not respond.

The hanger was less private she decided. Eva lowered her head, trying to think of anything to show Aloo deference and acknowledge the complications she'd unwittingly caused. Aloo knew of the 'house present.' Did he know of the incident in the Throne Room? It was up to the Emperor to tell.

Earlier, Aloo had asked of Palpatine; "To be equitable, what will you grant the other Courtiers?"

"Nothing!"

Aloo disliked having to state the obvious. "Such a gift will inspire resentment. Poison in those closest to you."

"The other Greater Courtiers are already fat. Eva doesn't come from a wealthy family."

"Might I propose a remedy?" Aloo slowly continued, "…that would surly mitigate envy?"

And then Palpatine had listened with great interest, as hesitance in Aloo was rare…

Aloo motioned Eva to his side when he spotted the shuttle in the distance. "My obligations to our Emperor still allow concern for you," he told her solemnly.

Here it comes.

"Whatever you think you have suffered, he has been tortured. However clever you believe yourself, he is five steps ahead of you. You've embraced chaos, and he has worked through every conceivable contingency. If you believe yourself entitled, he owes us nothing. Our existence is at his patience, as we are never worthy nor adequate. You are not playing with fire here, Eva. You're playing with hell."

"Rise, Eva," Palpatine quietly spoke as he passed by.

The front of her courtier's robes were now sopping wet from the knees down.

"Back from Naboo- Was the house suitable?" He asked as a matter of formality, with no real interest. Eva hurried along behind between the Emperor and his troops, trying to provide cover with her umbrella. Aloo shook his head at her attempts and lowered his eyes to the containers she had been given to carry, as if they were more important.

"Perfect, your Eminence. And also your lake house. Thank you for allowing my use." Be appreciative without trying him with gushing.

"Consider it yours as well. No notable resident of Theed is without one, and I have no intention of ever returning. My childhood there was less than blissful."

At the three open turbolifts stood Palpatine's closest assistant, Grand Vizier Sate Pestage. The Emperor motioned the Royal Guards aside in favor of Pestage and herself. When the doors closed the Emperor's unnaturally deep voice toned, "The new Death Star is near complete. In a standard month, we will relocate to the battle station while I oversee the end construction of this historic accomplishment." Palpatine looked to her. She held the gaze of his surreal golden eyes in the small space. "There is a rebel sympathizer I would like to have made aware of this. In two week's time, would be ideal. It is Marius' Bothan politician acquaintance. Have you chance to meet him?"

"Yes, your Highness. Briefly. Does Marius know?"

"Marius has not fallen out of line. Regarding the politician, you won't even have to lie so the asset will still be viable."

When the turbolift doors opened she exited first, distracted without thinking. Marius' days were numbered. Few attachments here, and they were taking him from her. What was she thinking? It would be much worse for Marius.

It wasn't that she was young or alluring that he favored Cescily (and much of the latter was hidden by the Courtier robes). What a simplistic supposition! Palpatine sensed her attentiveness was more genuine than the rest of the Courtiers. As the others, Cescily wanted something. But he concluded that it was insight and not for ulterior motives.

Aloo had taken his wet robe and left. Alone, the conversation turned. "Your affection for Vader eroded, did it not? Would someone possess a rotten soul or character strength to put the cause above their own partiality? Though you justify it as following a command. Like leading us to your cherished Luke."

Eva silently considered his words, not following his train of thought. And then it occurred to her- Vader had behaved no differently than herself; she had put Luke, someone she cared about, in peril on an order.

He added, "I can't manipulate Vader's state of mind, but with your acquiescence I could force him to his knee before you. A fitting rebuke for his behavior."

Again she couldn't guess to what he was alluding, but Palpatine had not cast off the statement casually.

"What was Padmė like?" she hesitantly asked.

Cescily's overfamiliarity both prickled and titillated him. Palpatine answered after a moment, his voice considerably softened. "You would not have liked her. Naïve. So hell bent insistent on the rights of others, while irritatingly self-righteous. All business. No charm. Honestly, beyond the surface- a slave's obsession with a beautiful queen, a senator's infatuation with her handsome and able protector- I can't understand the attraction between them. But evidently it was profound...And now…what remnants of feeling Vader has for her- where does passion end and his consuming guilt begin? But what am I to know, of matters of the heart?" Palpatine offered her a smile. He sensed that Cescily was quite capable of reconciling the intimate statement with the scathed face of the aged.

"What did he do to Padmė?" Eva held her breath.

"He loved her so much, he condemned himself to protect her. Ironically, she despised him for the price extracted and he killed her, simple as that. In a climax of self-fulfilling prophecy. Oh, I'm sure he didn't mean it." Palpatine's voice twisted into a sinister tease. "Clairvoyance ill-handled by the inexperienced. And distrust. A great love couldn't overcome their innate differences. The child slave, in a wasteland skirting the law, experienced the ruthlessness of all creatures…and his beloved mother tortured to death by savages. Then Amidala, her idyllic life in the most beautiful of settings, granted extreme honors and a strong voice at so early an age. She could not understand how citizens would give up some self-determination for protection from cruelty. Lord Vader knows the importance of control and strength. And he knows what to do with a savage." The last seethed on the verge of a hiss.

Eva wondered if the Emperor knew the answer to his own question: How broken was Vader over Padmė still? If Palpatine could dig into Vader's mind he wasn't telling. But he sensed cracks in Vader's armor. A bit of softness manifesting itself- by his definition 'weakness.' Or possibly there was some of Anakin always buried there.

Perhaps Palpatine had been reading her thoughts even then, as he added, "Lord Vader is beyond redemption to care for another. But you will have to find that out for yourself." Sith don't have loved ones, foolish child.