A Twist of Fate 10: Eternal Queen
Anakira picked up Obi-Wan's light saber and fled from the site of her victory. Her grief for her former master and love had to wait. Her worries and fears for her babies had to wait. She had a report to give to Palpatine. She stepped over Padme's prone form without giving it a second gland so it was not surprising that she didn't notice a small craft approaching Mustafar as she fled from that fateful planet.
It did not seem long before she was again rushing through secret corridors in Cruscant toward Palpatine's chambers. She was able to take some satisfaction in the genuflections of the guards as they allowed her to enter.
Palpatine observed the regal young woman before him and was satisfied with her dark gold hair, imposing height, and the red glow of lust for power all about her. Yes, she was strong, too strong, but she was, after all, only a female. There were ways to control females. The babies were an excellent method, of course, but one had to be careful and it behooved him to use a carrot as well as a stick when dealing with such a useful tool. A new order was here and new ways of thinking were necessary and, after all, there might be pleasure for himself in it. She was female, she was still unsure of her power relative to him, and she was very young. Yes, he would gamble. First, the important business…
"Milady Moeder," he purred with satisfaction, "I know you bring me good news. I shall tell you mine. The Jedi Order is no longer. You know better than anyone the fate of the temple." He watched her face carefully for any flinching. She betrayed none. Good. It had been gratuitous to have her slaughter the children, who could have been reared in the Dark Side, but it had been a excellent method of ascertaining she had, indeed, been turned.
He continued, "You have proved your loyalty. The other surprise attacks were successful. Only Master Yoda escaped but we can deal with him later. Dagobah is not a planet friendly to our methods. Now, tell me, you dispatched Master Obi-Wan?"
Anakira nodded and calmly gave her report of the battle. Her account pleased Palpatine very much.
Palpatine cackled and gloated, "Very good, very good, young apprentice. And that troublesome Amidala female, too. Very good. Now, you know this is the dawn of a new Empire, my dear. I am Emperor but I would have you as my Empress. With our powers joined that closely, no force in the Universe would be able to stop us."
"Yes, my Lord," she replied, "I accept. I would be Empress."
Anakira's face was inscrutable when she gave her assent, then the moment she had been waiting for happened. Her would-be lord and master beckoned her forward. More than willingly, she advanced and presented her cheek for him to kiss. The look of astonishment on his face when she ran him through with the light saber she had concealed in her sleeve was delicious.
"Old man," she said with a voice like an ice dagger, "no one threatens my babies."
He really had thought he controlled her. What a fool.
She knew army would be loyal to her and she had the power to take Palpatine's place. There would be much to do to but, first, she would fly to her twins.
Upon landing on the resort planet, she found Palpatine's vacation home in great disorder and the guards dead. She quickly found the nurse and, with some difficulty, was able to get a coherent story out of her hysterics.
"Oh, my Lady," the nurse squawked, "a little green man took them!"
The nurse thought she had never seen anything more terrible than Anakira's face at that moment. Then she felt her throat being squeezed.
Anakira stepped over the nurse's body and, frantically, searched with all her senses but there was no sign of Yoda or the babies. Her keening wail chilled the soul of every living creature that heard it and, when it died, so did the last of her heart.
She would make many attempts to find Lucina and Leia but Dagobah was a strange planet and the machines and sensors did not work correctly and Yoda had power enough to hide them and himself from her in that hostile territory.
Her power grew and her beauty turned sharp, brilliant, and cold. Many called her Empress Moeder. Her inner council called her Lady Moeder or Darth Moeder. Most just called her the Dark Lady and her cruelty was a great as her beauty, though she seemed to take no pleasure even in causing pain. There was a rumor that she had a cyborg heart, so cold was she, and she never seemed to age. There was a rumor, ruthlessly squelched of Princesses being reared in exile but, after a few purges, no one spoke of it as the years passed under the reign of the Eternal Queen.