A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
STAR WARS
THE RISE OF A DYNASTY
Treason! The clone wars have ended in a bewildering turn. THE JEDI KNIGHTS thought to be the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy have attempted a coup to take control of the GALACTIC REPUBLIC. ANAKIN SKYWALKER, war hero and former Jedi Knight has defected from his order and thwarted their attempt to assassinate the Supreme Chancellor, revealed to be the elusive Sith Lord DARTH SIDIOUS. Taking the turncoat Jedi as his new apprentice and rechristening him DARTH VADER, Sidious sends the young warrior forth to dispose of the SEPARATISTS as he executes ORDER 66 and forms a NEW GALACTIC EMPIRE.
Now, fully baptised in the Dark Side of the Force, Vader races back to CORUSCANT with his pregnant wife, who is in critical condition...
THE PROMISE
The sleek, reflective form of a ship dropped out of hyperspace and cut through the cold emptiness of space. The star-skiff picked up speed coming out of the jump with incredible alacrity and smooth handling, the pilot was a master with any spacecraft and he knew this one quite well.
The ship swiftly glided towards the looming planet of Coruscant which was aglow with geometric patterns of light. Many warships sat in orbit of the planet; it had of course only recently been the capital of a galaxy at war and the transition of one state of affairs to the next would require military support if order was to be instilled and the fragile peace maintained.
A shuttle of a new triangular structure emerged from the fleet of ships, it was flanked by fighter-models, the kind that had only recently been put into military circulation and stood out from the clone-driven x-wings that the republic had favoured until now.
The pilot pulled up short, he was in a great hurry to reach the planet but had been caught off-guard by this reception. He had not expected the Supreme Chancellor's personal shuttle to greet him. No, the Emperor's shuttle. He had not accessed the comms on the ship he operated, thinking only of punching in coordinates and navigating the ship off of the fiery hell he had boarded it on. He now opened communications and accepted the incoming transmission from the shuttle.
The familiar clipped tones of a clone-trooper emitted from the comm system. "This is Captain Kagi aboard the Theta-Class T-2c. Please identify yourself and prepare to transmit the appropriate clearance codes".
The pilot's lip curled in silent anger and his grip tightened on the flight controls, the leatheris glove that covered one of his hands audibly creaking. He spoke then with a cold authority that had already become second nature to him. "This is Lord Vader, commander of the 501st and the right hand of the Emporer. I insist on unhindered passage to my master. Refusing my command would be... unwise".
There was a moment of silence before a new voice sounded from the vocaliser, a cracked and croaking voice that held unknown depths of wisdom and power. "It is good that you have returned, my friend. It is strange, I had thought..." the voice trailed off as if the speaker had become lost in thought.
"Master?" Vader prompted after a moment "do you still read me?"
"Yes, my boy" the Emperor said in a more relaxed voice "it is of no matter. Why did you not inform me of your departure from Mustafar? And why have you done so in a Naboo cruiser?"
"My Lord, I have brought Pad-" Vader stopped, remembering that others were listening "Senator Amidala with me from the planet. She found me there and" his thoughts raced before he continued "suffered a misfortune, she requires medical attention immediately".
"I see" the Emperor replied "I will have an escort brought about this instant".
Emperor Palpatine bade Vader follow his shuttle and they quickly entered the atmosphere, plunging into thick cloud cover to emerge amidst thick grey curtains of rain that spattered the transparisteel of the ship's viewports.
Vader ran the fingers of his ungloved hand, the one that was still flesh and blood, through his long curls. He turned his dark-rimmed eyes towards a gold-plated droid that stood dithering behind him. "Is she alright, Threepio?"
"She is stable Master Ani" the droid replied in his quavering voice, giving a deferential nod of the head. "But she will not respond to either tactile or audible stimuli. I would venture to suggest that the quicker she is brought to a medical facility, the better".
Vader did not reply to this, he simply told Threepio to take over the controls. The fussy droid did so, commenting that he had never piloted in such obscure conditions, and the young man swept past him into the small medbay at the back of the ship.
There she lay, on the white surface of the capsule, breathing softly but not moving. She still looked as she had always looked to him; as an angel. He stepped up to the gurney and reached out a hand, brushing a strand of dark brown hair from her face. "Padmé" he whispered, calling to her, pleading with her. She could not die, not now, after everything he had done so that she could live. He would save her, and he would never let anyone hurt her again.
Within the walls of Emperor Palpatine's medical facility, Padmé's groans and cries of anguish echoed about the chamber. Vader would not leave her side, batting away medical droids who sought to come between him and his love. He held her hand and kept a stream of encouragement and affection running from his lips to her ear. He knew she could hear him for her hand clenched his back and now and then would squeeze his briefly at a particular word he had said. He also felt her hand tighten with every contraction that came, every time more frequently; the time had almost come.
From behind a transparisteel screen the Emperor watched, his face hidden in the shadows of his cowl. He dined on the pain that washed off of the young woman, both physical and emotional. He gorged on her despair and grief, on the strain her body was under to produce the life inside her. His lip curled in pleasure, revealing yellowed teeth, as a new contraction came and her back arched with the force of it.
Here in this place, he could cast aside the trappings of the politician, the man he had displayed to the public for so many years. Here he could be Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith. The kindly, fatherly facade of Palpatine would still have its uses in the coming years, his reign would not go unchallenged and he would need such deceptions to maintain support. He knew also that his new apprentice would need to be managed in a similar way. It was not as if it was a complete lie, in any case; the boy desired a father figure and it was a part that Sidious had enjoyed playing for many years. He saw no reason why this should not continue if there was use for it.
But for now, Sidious cast aside this role, reveling in the suffering before him, knowing that Vader had attention only for his wife.
In the midst of his fevered focus on Padmé, Vader heard a droid at the foot of the birthing bed call a ready signal for delivery to begin.
For what felt like a lifetime, Padmé cried out and squeezed harder and Vader watched in abject terror. This was it, he thought, this was the moment when his foresight would be proved or disproven. The medical droids urged her on, she pushed and screamed, tears pouring from her eyes until...
"It is a boy" the droid announced in its metallic monotone.
Padme held a hand out weekly, her fingers shaking as she stretched them out towards the newborn child, already swaddled. Vader called impatiently for the babe to be brought to her and so he was.
As her slender fingers caressed the forehead of the child, its shrill cries ceased and it seemed to calm and become content. Vader heard her whisper the baby, naming him for the first time. "Luke... oh, Luke".
"You were right, Padmé" Anakin said gleefully, his eyes beginning to swim with tears, "It was just a dream, it was all just a horrible dream! You're safe, my love". He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it joyfully "and you were right about the baby, a son! Our own baby boy..."
His last words were drown out by the robotic drone of the medical droid.
"Prepare for the second delivery".
"Second?" Vader looked up from his wife to fix the machine with an imperious stare "explain yourself, droid".
"We told you when your wife was brought in" the droid replied matter-of-factly "she has been carrying twins".
Vader went cold, he could no longer hear anything about him nor feel the fingers that Padmé still held tightly. Another child, the vision could still come true.
A second later renewed cries echoed about him and Padmé was once more in the throes of childbirth.
The second birth took less time, though it still felt like an age to Vader until suddenly, Padmé's wails and sobs were replaced by those made by tinier lungs, a new baby was born.
"It is a girl" came the emotionless statement from the droid's vocoder.
This time it was dutifully brought to Padmé's side and once again the new mother seemed to becalm the child with a single touch. "Leia" she breathed, gazing at the baby girl with a drowsy wonder.
Anakin gazed at her anxiously, not daring to speak as she continued to study their second child. Eventually, her eyes drifted and their lids drooped heavily. She turned away and faced upwards, her breathing becoming faint.
"Padmé?" The name rasped from his throat as he felt her fingers lose what strength they had, her hand would have fallen to the bed had his not been holding it. "Padmé?!"
"She is alive, Lord Vader" came the voice of his master, Vader turned quickly about to see him standing close behind. He had not realised that the Sith had entered, so silent had his movements been. The man's ruined features, a souvenir from the assassination attempt that Vader had saved him from, were set in a neutral, sombre expression.
"I feel her fading" he hissed "she's weak, I don't understand what's happening to her".
"If I may, your majesty" a droid approached Sidious with a bent head "now that the patient is no longer carrying babies, we may now begin to tend to her and gain a diagnosis. Although..." the droid glanced at Vader in what seemed a cautious manner "we will require the surgery to be clear of other life-forms".
"I will not leave her side" Vader snarled like a hound protecting his meal from the rest of the pack "I cannot leave her!"
"If you value her life..." Sidious said, his voice swelling with power "then you will allow my droids to do their duty".
Reluctantly, Vader rose and gently placed his wife's hand down. He spared a moment to lay his fingers on her soft cheek before sweeping haughtily from the room.
Sidious cast Padmé a brief glance before following his apprentice, leaving his droids to do their work.
Later, in the adjoining room, the two Sith Lords turned as a droid entered.
When prompted, the droid rose from its bow and stated "we have detected no signs of physical infirmity, the patient is in perfect health. It is unclear why she is weakening as she is. All that can be observed is that she is not fighting as a life-form typically would".
"What are you saying?" Vader demanded, his dark brows knitting together as he glared at the droid.
"She does not appear to have the desire to continue living, my Lord. She choosing to let go".
"You are suggesting that... she has lost the will to live?" The Emperor's words were soft and delicate.
"Indeed, my Lord, it is taking a great deal of medical attention to-"
The droid's mechanically rendered voice became distorted and the metal casing of its head and torse began to warp violently. Its limbs twisted and bent at odd angles and sparks flew from the joints of its neck and shoulders. Vader raised a black-gloved hand, his face contorted with fury, and made a fist. The droid seemed to fall in on itself as if it were being crushed by invisible bands wrapped around it. Vader brought his fist down and the pitiful remains of the droid were thrown to the floor where they sparked and smoked.
As Vader stepped over the wreckage, he said "if she dies, I will bring this tower down to its very foundations". And he walked back into Padmé's room without another word.
Sidious followed and found Vader sat at her side in the dimly lit room, a hand on her forehead.
Vader gazed down at her, love and fear mingling horribly within him. What would he do without her? the only happiness in his life, the only person left who he truly loved...
Her eyelashes fluttered and his heart skipped as her eyes opened, it seemed as if it were a monumental effort for her to do so.
"Ani..." she said faintly.
The sound of his name, the name of the man he would always be for her, brought warmth back into his bones, feeling back to his heart.
"It's alright Padmé" Anakin Skywalker whispered gently "it's all going to be alright, I'm going to save you, you're going to live".
"Ani" she said, smiling at him sadly, raising a hand to rest on his chest. "You're still my Ani, in there... somewhere". She took a few breaths, Anakin watched her attentively, nothing else in the world existed in this moment but her. "Anakin, my heart is broken. I'm reaching... reaching for everything I have to live for; Luke, Leia, you. But it's slipping away from me. Ani, it's slipping and I can't get it back" her voice had become more frantic, a note of panic entering it. Her eyes filled with tears "I just want to let go" she said, her voice shaking as she tried to hold back her sobs.
"Don't let go" Anakin said, taking her hand and pressing it to his chest, letting her feel the heart that beats for her alone. "Don't".
He cast his mind back to Tatooine, to that terrible night when he had held his mother in his arms, as he now held onto his wife, and she had slipped away from him. Not again.
"Stay with me, Padme".
"Ani, I love..."
Anakin was caught, caught between this moment and the other, he was the Jedi Padawan and the Sith Lord. One second the battle-scarred war vet, Vader, was in the Tusken Camp holding his mother, and the next, the young Padawan Anakin Skywalker was clinging to his wife's hand begging her not to let go.
Sidious watched on with hungry anticipation simmering beneath the surface. Let us see if he is truly ready to save her, he mused.
The room began to tremble, surgical instruments began to warp and twist as the droid had before. Canisters of kolto and bacta shattered and durasteel shrieked in protest. The walls about the young man and his wife buckled and creased. One of the red-robed members of the Emperor's personal guard, who now followed him everywhere, brought his force-pike down from his shoulder but at a wave of his master's hand, he stood down.
The tremors that wracked the room increased with Vader's cries of anguish, sounding above the clamour. The only peaceful sight in the room was Padmé; her eyes closed and her breathing slow, very slow.
Sidious felt the storm build in his new apprentice, such dark power, rising like the molten innards of a volcano. This boy had bathed himself in the Dark Side of the Force, Sidious marveled to himself. What depths he must have allowed his heart to descend to. Such deeds this boy must have done!
But he was not yet ready. Stepping forward, his cracked voice called over the din. "Lord Vader".
Vader did not acknowledge him, the slightest stirring of alarm occurred in Sidious' mind.
"Lord Vader!" He called louder. This time he was heard.
With a low woosh of Dark Side energy, Sidious was taken off his feet and slammed back into the wall behind and held there with a vice-like grip.
"You made a promise". The room was silent now and Vader's voice could be heard clearly. He remained crouched over the prone form of Padmé so that Sidious could see only the back of his head. "You told me I would be able to save her".
"I said that we could discover how" Sidious answered grimly "if we work together". He reached out with the Force and relieved himself of the invisible bonds that held him, softly alighting back onto the floor. Now both of his Royal Guard held their force-pikes at the ready, Sidious did not wave them down as he had before.
It concerned him that he had had to bring so much power to bear to counter his student's hold. He compartmentalised the thought, for now, intending to return to it later.
"Allow me to examine her myself" he said quietly. When Vader did not respond or move, Sidious spat "I do not have to ask, Lord Vader!"
Vader gave a small nod.
Sidious approached and examined her. "There are echoes of the force on her" he commented, holding a white hand out to commune with the force. "She appears to have been touched by it recently, touched by a very dark power..."
Vader bowed his head, clutching her hand. Sidious continued the examination, considering Vader's reaction and weighing the assets in his mind.
Vader's feelings for her would be dangerous if not properly controlled. Sidious could allow her to die... the Naboo senator would not be an ally in the days to come and this would be the cleanest, safest way. But perhaps not.
If she perished, Sidious could not clearly see what Vader would do. Since his apprentice's return from Mustafar his sight had been clouded, and that troubled Sidious. It troubled him greatly. He did not take the young Sith's threat lightly; it was quite possible that, with her demise, a widowed Vader could cut a swathe of destruction through this new empire, and the Emporer was not certain that he could contain him in time.
He searched through the girl's mind. The pain was so overwhelming, Sidious had to quickly close his heart to it, lest it consumed him. He had become most practiced at this.
There was a glimmering strand of the Force within her, a measure more strength and she could have made a capable force adept. If she could have turned her pain to power as Vader had, as he had...
But what is this? Sidious had found something in the make-up of her being. Something in her spirit that he had not yet seen, that bore further notice. Interesting, he thought to himself.
Outwardly, he sighed and pulled the hand he held over her away. "She will at least sleep now. But she fades, my friend".
"What must I do?" Vader asked, keeping his head bowed, his features hidden beneath his mop of hair.
"You must do what you pledged to do and put your faith in me, your new master". Sidious walked away from the bed and barked orders to a medical droid who had survived Vader's onslaught. It scurried from the room without a word.
"The Sith have accrued many assets through our centuries in hiding" Sidious said softly "in a forgotten corner of space there is a facility hidden away. A clinic, safe from anyone that might mean her harm where she may be given constant intensive care. It is there that I and my predecessors have conducted many experiments, many great works. If there is a place that might be the key to her survival, it is there".
Vader raised his head to face his master, there were tracks along his cheeks where tears had fallen. "Where is this place?"
"That is a secret that I am not yet ready to divulge, my young apprentice" Sidious said firmly, at the mutinous look Vader made he added "you will know all in due time, my boy, but you have not yet been Sith more than a day. There is more you must do, more you must give to the Dark Side before all of its secrets will be laid open to you. The same applies to our relationship, Lord Vader".
"I can't be parted from her" Vader turned to look down at the young woman sleeping peacefully.
"Then you will watch her die" Sidious said, an unpleasant bite to his voice.
It took no more words to convince Vader of Sidious' point, he had given him up to the Dark Side and so his master was his only hope of saving her.
Vader watched as Padme was taken from the room on a stretcher, emotions battling across his handsome face. "I should see her off, at least".
"You will remain where you are" Sidious croaked sharply. "Guards, leave us".
The red-robed guards obediently vacated the room, leaving the pair alone for the first time since Vader had been given his name.
Sidious turned back to Vader. "Your... distress is understandable" he began quietly, his yellow eyes burning bright in the shadows of his hood "but your concern for your wife, touching as it may be, has caused you to forget your place!"
Lightning leaped from his fingertips, engulfing Vader. The young man cried out and before he could regain and reach for his lightsaber, Sidious summoned it from Vader's belt with the Force.
"No!" Sidious roared over the sound of his thunderous attack, raising the weapon up to head-height. "This is the weapon of a Jedi and you are no longer a Jedi!"
He ceased the channel of lightning coming from his other hand and held the saber hilt to the light to inspect it. "A fine blade and well-crafted, it carried its wielder through many battlefields. Nevertheless, its wielder was Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight".
Vader had dropped to one knee, his clothes smoking and his breathing laboured. His mechanical hand twitched and jerked beneath the black leatheris of its glove. Hate coursed through him and he knew that his master could feel it.
Lord Sidious smiled, his stained teeth bared, "good, let it flow, my boy. It is what will fuel your rise. And you will rise, my friend". He held the lightsaber up "but not with this, it is unworthy of a Lord of the Sith".
Without warning, Sidious flung his free hand back out and a new barrage of blue lightning erupted from his fingertips. But this time it did not meet its mark.
Instead, the lightning met the humming blade of a blue lightsaber, a different one. After a few seconds, Sidious abated once more, allowing genuine surprise to appear on his pale, weathered face.
"Is this blade also unworthy of me, my master?" Vader asked coldly, a yellow gleam crossing his eyes for an instant. He rose from his kneeling position and gave the blade a casual flourish.
Inside Sidious' sharp mind, the pieces clicked together and he gave a harsh, guttural cackle. "Kenobi" he said in a satisfied voice. At a nod of confirmation from Vader, Sidious said "you slew many Jedi at the Temple but none could be as great a victory as your old master".
Sidious held up the lightsaber of Anakin Skywalker in front of him and it rose from his hand by the power of the force. "I propose a trade" the Emperor said with a sly smile.
Vader extinguished the blade of Kenobi and held it out in a similar manner, using the force to let it leave his hand and drift across the room to Sidious. The two hilts crossed in mid-air and both men took the new lightsaber they were offered.
Sidious now studied Kenobi's lightsaber. "Tell me" he said in a low voice "tell me how it was done. Recall for me every single detail".
Anakin cast his mind back to a few hours before. The fight was still burned so vividly into his mind, he knew with certainty that no detail would ever fade.
They had fought across the entire complex, fire and ash all about them, he and his old master had battled across firepits and lava flows until they had come to the steep black banks of a molten river. Always he had attacked relentlessly and always Obi-Wan had defended. Never had he elected to go on the offence. It had infuriated the young Sith, incensed him.
Vader recalled the dry hair that had choked his throat and burned his skin, remembered the intense blue eyes of Obi-Wan boring into him, their sadness and regret. He remembered his own anger, his hate. the way it had taken control of him, making him faster and stronger than he had ever thought possible. He was no longer Anakin Skywalker, he was the Dark Side made flesh, he was a god.
"I have failed you Anakin... I have failed you"
As Vader spoke, he recounted each moment as if he were reliving it. How their skiff had alighted on the ashen shore of the fiery river and Obi-Wan had leaped back to the crest of the bank.
"It's over Anakin! I have the high ground!"
Vader remembered then the hatred intensifying, burning hotter than anything else on the planet. He felt his inner being flaring with the might of the Dark Side, he knew he could not be denied. He repeated to Sidious what he had said in reply; "you underestimate my power".
Sidious laughed with glee. "And then? What did you do then?"
Vader took a breath. "Then..."
He stood at the foot of the bank, his eyes glaring up at Obi-Wan, knowing nothing else in that moment than his complete and utter hatred for the man he had once called a father.
Obi-Wan looked back at him, the debonair smile fading from his face as he saw his opponent's intent. He shook his head frantically "don't try it!"
And Anakin moved faster than he had ever moved in his life.
Obi-Wan had seen the young man leap into the air. In the darkness above he saw only the spinning blue blade of the man's lightsaber, saw it spinning towards him to land behind him. As Vader came to land, Obi-Wan swept his blade in an arc, finally forced to attack and not simply defend.
But Vader had not been there, he had never landed. Obi-Wan's blade cut through empty air, and his opponent's lightsaber fell to the ground before him and deactivated. The older man had picked up the hilt of the blade and cast his eyes about in confusion.
Then, from the darkness, Vader had struck with all his hate, all his anger, all his strength. The two lightsabers in Obi-Wan's hands suddenly blazed into life and moved of their own accord, twisting as Obi-Wan attempted to control them, and removed his hands from halfway up his forearms.
The Jedi had not cried out, simply gasped as if he had been plunged into icy water. He looked up then and Vader knew he could see him, two yellow eyes in the darkness. He knew that, even through his tears, the older man could see his old padawan emerge from that darkness, both lightsabers leaping obediently into his waiting hands. Vader knew that the last things Kenobi ever saw were those bright yellow eyes as they stared into his blue ones. Vader had made sure that this was the last thing his old master saw as he had run him through with both blades.
As Vader finished recounting his victory on Mustafar, Sidious had stopped cackling. The smile had faded from his face and he had looked at his apprentice in wonder.
"Lord Vader" he said in a reverent voice "you are the Sith Lord that our order has waited a thousand years for. I knew it as I watched you grow imprisoned by the lies of the Jedi. I know it now as I see you before me in all your glory. Together, we shall do great things".
Vader bent his head in deference "you honour me, my Lord".
Pleased, Sidious stepped closer to him "now you are truly ready to begin your training, and with this..." he held up the lightsaber of Kenobi "you have the means to create a new weapon. A Sith weapon".
Vader gave his master a questioning look but Sidious simply handed the lightsaber back to him and said "that is for another time. Come". He gestured for Vader to follow him and together, they left the empty ward. They traveled down a dark corridor to a sterile room where two cradles hovered a few feet off the ground, illuminated by small lights from above.
Vader looked at his master who held his hand out toward the cradles, urging him to go on without him. Vader turned and walked into the room to truly behold his children for the first time.
They slept soundly. The girl, Leia, stirred a little in her slumber whereas the boy, Luke, did not move at all apart from the slightest movement of his tiny mouth as he expelled air from it.
As Vader took his first-born into his arms and looked down at his little girl, a small smile bloomed on his face. It was no longer the hard and ruthless face of Vader but the loving, joyful face of Anakin. He knew from the moment he had laid eyes on them that he had the most sacred and unbreakable devotion to them. A love as precious as that which he had for their mother, two pieces of her. He would keep them safe. None would harm them or take them from him. As Kenobi had tried to take her...
Sidious hung back in the shadows and observed this. "they are the first to be born in our new Empire" he finally said.
"Then they will be its first servants, over and above all" Vader replied, betraying none of the tender feelings he held.
"Indeed, that is how they shall be known" Sidious agreed "the Empire's First. When they are grown they shall strike fear into the hearts of any who dare oppose us"
Vader nodded and spoke softly to his children "you shall be my right and my left hands. Just as I enforce the will of my master, you shall enforce mine".
Until you are grown, and Sidious has taught me everything he knows, Vader thought in the darkest depths of his mind. Then we shall take his throne together and rule the galaxy as the gods that we are. The Sith Order will be bonded by blood. Father, Son, Daughter, and Mother. Undying and eternal. Immortal.
"You must rest, my friend" said Sidious in an ingratiating voice "the children will be safe here tonight, they will require constant care for the next day or so, I shall have chambers prepared".
"The children will come with me" Vader's tone was not fierce but it was like durasteel and brooked no argument. You may have any facilities and carers sent to the apartment complex in the Senate District, I believe you know the room I will be using".
He would not leave his children here, so far from his presence. Not when he had been forced to surrender their mother to the hopes of Sith science.
He placed Luke back in his cradle and turned to Sidious, bowing deeply. "My master" he said before standing upright once more and sweeping from the room. He swiped his hand through the air to command the two pod-like cradles holding the twins to follow behind him.
As Sidious was left in the room alone he gave a small snarl. Ever had the boy chafed under authority as Anakin Skywalker so it was natural for him to do so now in his dark and fully realised glory. He would learn his place, there would be no question of that. After all, Sidious thought, was he any different when Plagueis had taught him?
Only... Vader was powerful, far more powerful than Sidious had been when he was a learner. The Sith Lord had not lied to Yoda when he had boasted that the young man's power would exceed either of them. He knew that was inevitable. That was why the Sith dynamic would have to alter in the years and decades to come.
And those children, those remarkable children. Sidious had felt the power within them as soon as they had taken their first breaths. What a great asset they would both be, he mused with a smile as he walked to the window and looked out at the rainy Coruscant skyline. And such a bloodline that Plagueis had bequeathed to him for his long-overdue reign.
They would both be his, just as his father was his. Just as all would be his.