PART 2: WOULD-BE SENATOR

CHAPTER 7: Truth

"You really don't like politicians, do you?" —Padmé Amidala to Anakin Skywalker, Attack of the Clones

****

Arica kept Luke blindfolded when they reached Coruscant. Several Stormtroopers came to escort them from what he suspected was—due to the lack of activity—a private hangar. His hands were kept in binders behind his back, and his female captor pulled on and pushed the binders to indicate what direction he needed to be walking in. He stumbled into a Stormtrooper a few times, much to his mild amusement and Arica's great annoyance, but for the most part the system worked well enough.

They finally reached their destination after going on a few lifts, and Arica pulled him to a stop.

"Leave us," said a voice Luke thought he recognized as belonging to the Emperor.

There was the sound of some movement, and then the Stormtroopers were gone. Luke knew Arica was still present due to the continuing pressure on his cuffs, and he took strange comfort in that.

"I see you have met my loyal servant Mara Jade," the probably-Emperor said darkly.

Ah, so that's her name, he thought. A strong name for a strong woman. He snorted to himself.

"Remove his blindfold."

"Yes, my master," Arica—no, Mara Jade—said, undoing the fabric obstructing Luke's vision.

The first thing Luke noticed was Emperor Palpatine's face. He really is as ugly as his holos, Luke reflected. He'd seen the dictator from afar before, but it had only been holos that let him have a close-up look. The emperor was clad in a black robe and standing in front of an elevated sable throne. They were in the tyrant's throne room, then—somehow, it seemed a bit smaller than Luke had imagined it would be.

At Palpatine's gesture, Mara walked toward him, and Luke was able to see her for the first time. She had a lithe body, as was to be expected, but what was shocking was her mane of red-gold hair. It reminded him a little of the red-haired Delana, though she'd lacked the streaks of gold, and he felt a pang of sadness.

She's breath-taking, Luke thought before giving himself a mental kick. This was the enemy he was calling beautiful. Blast. There he went again.

"It is rare that I reveal my Hand to anyone," Palpatine commented. "But I must say you have me intrigued, Luke Antilles." He took a few steps forward, his piercing eyes looking into Luke's soul. "You were courageous enough to speak against me and my loyal servant Darth Vader, all the while knowing that it was foolish to do so. I know that you are an intelligent boy. I have even seen recordings of some of your speeches—you are very skilled at manipulating people." He was moving closer, and Luke found himself wanting to step backward, though he held his ground with gritted teeth, not wanting to show any sign of fear. "But I wonder why you would go so far as to hold Darth Vader hostage." Now standing right in front of Luke, he took the boy's chin in his hand with forceful and spindly fingers and made the reluctant youth meet his eyes. "My Hand tells me she suspects that you did it despite your protests to the contrary, though she does not know why. And I intend to find out the truth." He gave a sickly smile. "And I am willing to use the Force to do it, Force-Hater. And if you do not crack, then I am sure that your mother will."

Luke's anger flared, and he wrenched his chin free of the dictator's cold grip. "You will leave my mother alone," he said coldly, trying desperately to keep his composure. Even as he spoke the words, he knew they were foolish—he was simply letting Palpatine know the power behind threats to Arelis Antilles—but he was furious, and he wanted to wipe that smirk off the tyrant's face.

The Emperor gave him a strange look, as if he were considering something for the first time. After a few seconds, he spoke again in a goading tone. "Oh, I will do with your mother as I wish, young Antilles. If I so desire, I will place her in a pit of piranha beetles and make you watch as they eat her alive."

"Monster!" Luke couldn't help but yell, lines of fury etched into his face. Were it not for his binders, he would be trying to strangle the Emperor; as it was, he was trying to keep himself from body-slamming the man, knowing that Jade would just knock him to the floor before he even got close.

Oddly, Palpatine backed up—no, it looked like he slid—several feet, as if somehow made to do so by the mere force of Luke's yell. Mara Jade was suddenly at the young man's side, grabbing his hair and forcing him to his knees while digging a blaster into his temple so hard he let out an involuntary grunt.

Strangely, the Emperor began cackling. "He does not know...He does...not...know." Dark amusement was pouring off him.

"Know what?" Luke gritted, fighting the urge to attempt to get out of Mara Jade's iron-grip. He was a good fighter, but he knew she was better than him, especially when he was bound as he was. Mara must have sensed his body tense, for she wriggled the blaster against his temple in warning.

"Why, you are that which you hate, Antilles," the Sith Lord answered mirthfully.

"What do you mean?" the young man queried, tired of playing this game.

"Why...you...are a Force user," Palpatine explained with dark glee.

Luke thought he felt his heart stop. He shook his head once, twice, glaring up at the tyrant. "No...No! You're a liar!" He struggled against Mara Jade's hold, only to have the blaster barrel dig painfully deeper into his skull.

"I'm afraid not. Mara Jade is also a Force user, and if she reaches out, she can also confirm what I now know to be true, if you will not trust me. You...are a Force sensitive, and you just pushed me backward with the Dark Side." The sinister being smiled, his yellow-orange eyes almost glowing beneath his hood. "If I break you, then perhaps I won't need Lord Vader back."

Luke tried to stand up, wanting to wipe that smug look off the Sith Lord's face, but Mara Jade forced him to remain on his knees.

"I'll never join you, you monster," the young man spat. "You're a murderer, a despotic tyrant, and a liar."

"I am not lying," Emperor Palpatine said calmly. "Search your feelings, boy. You'll find what I'm saying is true."

And then, somehow, the Sith was in his mind. He didn't know how he knew it or what exactly it meant, but somehow he did know, and in fury he pushed.

The Emperor physically moved backward a few more steps. "Your hatred makes you powerful, boy," he said approvingly. "You have not even been trained to use the Force, and already you are able to touch it. You are strong in the Force and will make a great Sith Lord."

"I will not be a Force user," Luke gritted. "I am not a Force sensitive." But the words were weak ones; he knew in his heart that Palpatine was right. Somehow, Luke could touch the Force. It was a cruel trick of Fate.

"It is too late to claim yourself Force-free, child. The Dark Side is already starting to fill you. You are meant to serve me."

"I would rather die," Luke proclaimed, spitting at the Emperor.

Palpatine's face filled with fury as he slowly wiped the spittle off. "We shall see. But first, perhaps, we should find out where Darth Vader is." He turned his eyes to his female servant. "Take him to the private interrogation room."

Mara roughly pulled Luke to his feet, and he moved forward in a zombie-like fashion. He felt as if his entire galaxy were being turned upside down.

****

He was taken to a room filled with all manner of gruesome instruments and droids. It looked like something out of a horror flick, but he knew it was real.

A quiet balding man in a gray outfit was waiting for them and bowed slightly when they entered.

"Setsner can't talk," Mara explained quietly to Luke. "To prove his loyalty to the Emperor, he cut off his own tongue."

Swallowing, Luke made a nod indicating that he'd heard her words. He wanted to ask why an interrogator who couldn't talk would be useful to the Emperor, but he decided he probably didn't want to know.

As Mara stood behind Luke and held him still, the older man came over with a vibroblade and cut off Luke's shirt. Luke winced as he watched the expensive Alderaanian material fall to the ground, now worthless. Even more depressing was the fact that he was losing the handkerchief he'd made from Delana's dancer outfit. He had kept the rest of the material at home, so it wasn't a complete loss, but he'd grown really attached to the small piece of fabric he always kept with him.

Mara whistled in surprise as she looked at him. "Kreth, Antilles, for an Alderaanian noble, you've got a lot of scars." She doubted it was from his time on Alderaan. From his dossier, she knew there was a period of several years before he'd been adopted by the dowager; perhaps he hadn't had as gentle of an upbringing as Mara had thought.

Luke stiffened but did not comment.

And then his pants, too, were cut off, and his shoes removed, so that all he was wearing was his underwear. Demeaning, yes. But there were worst fates.

The two Imperials moved him forward and put metal restraints around him. He knew there was no sense in trying to escape, so he did not even try. Instead, he concentrated on keeping his face blank. He didn't want to reveal anything.

"While we're waiting for the Emperor," Mara said, "I'm going to ask you a few control questions. Setsner is skilled at reading lies in humans. What's your name?"

"Luke Antilles," the young man said in monotone. He didn't have to try to make this easy.

"How old are you?"

"18 Standard Years of age."

"What color are your eyes?"

"Blue."

"Where were you born?"

There was a brief pause before Luke said, "Alderaan."

Mara looked at Setsner, who made a signal. "You're lying," she said.

"I—" he hesitated. "I don't know."

The interrogator made a different signal.

"Not a lie, but perhaps not the full truth," Mara interpreted with a frown. "Where did you spend the first part of your childhood?"

"It's none of your business," the young man said stiffly.

"If you stowed Vader there, then sure as kriff it's my business," the Emperor's Hand growled. "Where did you spend the first part of your childhood?"

Palpatine entered as she finished her sentence. Sensing the tension in the room, he queried, "What is the problem, Jade?"

"He won't say where he lived before Alderaan, Master," Mara answered quietly.

"Child, you're going to be asked questions much more difficult than that one," the Emperor said to Luke. "Now, where did you live before Alderaan?"

"Haodis," the young man said.

Knowing Luke was giving in too easily, Palpatine further questioned, "And before that?"

The boy didn't answer, but the Sith Lord caught an image from him of a desert with two hot suns. "Ah, Tatooine," he said, his voice a strange mixture of triumph and surprise.

Luke clenched his eyes shut, cursing himself. The Force—Palpatine could use the Force. He had to keep his mind blank. He should think of space—black and starry. Light and dark...Full of nothing, yet full of everything...

"So, it seems you were not always a resident of Alderaan...I wonder—what was your name before Arelis Antilles took you in?"

Luke tried to keep thinking of space, not wanting to give this monster any more of his self.

"Could it have been..." the Emperor said in the voice of one who was contemplating the mysteries of the universe, "Skywalker?"

The young man was unable to conceal his surprise—he hadn't heard that name in years, and he certainly hadn't expected to hear it here. A shutter came down over his face, but of course by then it was too late. He felt as if now by knowing his true name the Emperor had taken away a part of him. And perhaps he had. Certainly, the inhuman monster seemed to think he had, for he began cackling.

"How delightful," pronounced the Sith Lord. "The son of Skywalker has fallen right into my lap. Now, if I could just find the father," he mused.

"My father's dead," Luke snarled.

The Emperor smiled at him mysteriously. "Oh, no, I can assure you, he's not." He looked at Setsner. "Let me know when he is finally willing to tell us the location of Darth Vader."

And with that, Emperor Palpatine and his Hand left the room.