AN: I don't own SW. Thanks to all you who read.
Chapter 3
Vader stood on the deck of the Executor scanning the blackness of
space. He used to find joy looking into the vastness of space, but
now it is just space. Another planet to bring into the Empire,
another star shining out there - nothing was special anymore. He
had once dreamed of "giving" all this to his son or daughter. Such
dreams are gone now. Padme had once given him all the hope and joy
he had ever needed. She was gone now too. When the Emperor had
shown him the holo of her funeral, everything had died. Nothing is
important now. Now he was Vader; a force to be reckoned with and a
power beyond anything he had ever dreamed. Everyone feared him,
and not so much for what he could do but for the way he looked.
His arms were no longer flesh and blood they were steel and wires.
They were hard enough and powerful enough to knock you senseless
with one swift blow. His eyes held a cold steel stare on you.
There was no ounce of care in them anymore. Why should there be?
Everything he had worked for was gone. Now all that was left was
cold hard and unforgiving power. Power kept him from caring.
Caring was an emotion wasted on all. Caring only brought heartache
in the end.
He wielded his power like he wielded his light saber. You knew if
it came down on you. No one was ever spared. You went to bed very
happy if you never crossed paths with Vader. You breathed a sigh
of relief if you left his presence unharmed. Whole planets would
sign whatever treaty was required of them just to avoid contact
with Vader. Those who were stupid enough not to be afraid of him
were soon taught to have respect for the man in the black cape.
Many never lived through their lessons, but a few were spared so
they could become his henchmen.
Vader watched the star systems from his window now thinking about
how much he loved being in charge of all these systems. Nothing in
his life had ever come as easily as this power had come to him. If
only he had found this power earlier, his life would have so much
better. He had been powerless as a slave on Tatooine. Then he had
small amounts of power as a Jedi; but he was always forced to hold
back the power. Palpatine had encouraged the power to come out and
now it possessed him so perfectly. He was the most powerful being
in the universe. He was satisfied now in life.
Can't You? You are the one who killed her.
No I only killed you. Get out of my mind.
But you are empty.
I am not I am full of power.
This power is nothing compared to what you had with Padme.
She is gone. I can't help that.
I am not so easily killed as you think.
AUG! Why must you torment me? I loved her. She is gone now! What
more do you want from me! This gives me meaning and
satisfaction. She can never be there for me again. Go away!
Vader stalked off the bridge and went to the prison cells. He
picked one man who had dared to defy the orders of his captain and
he decided to kill him, only not right away. He needed to make the
voice go away. The screams could be heard through out the
cellblock.
There you see I am who I am and I like it, so don't come back out.
Palpatine was really pleased at how the proof of Padme's death had
brought out the darker, more violent Vader. Vader had not
disappointed him. He was the best apprentice he ever had up this
point. He allowed the powers of the dark side to rule him, add to
that his young body and he was the storm that Palpatine had wanted
in his other apprentices. Vader was not one who was diplomatic
like Dooku. He was smarter than Maul had ever been. Palpatine was
proud to have the man at his side. Palpatine was even more proud
though of the prize he hid from Vader.
Padme sat in her cell, allowing tears to slide down her cheek
unbidden. It seemed she did nothing but cry. Sometimes she cried
from pain, sometimes because she was locked away. But mostly she
cried because she lost the love of her life. Everything had been
stripped from her. Her power had easily been stripped when she had
"died", but that hardly bothered her. When she had woken up, she
had no children. She remembered vaguely giving birth to a boy and
girl, but they were nowhere to be found when she woke up. She
guessed because she had woken up in the morgue that the children
were sent somewhere to live. She could only hope it is somewhere
kind. She longed for them but knew that would never happen. The
hardest and most heartbreaking though was losing her husband. He
had been her heartbeat for three years. Her love. Her life, her
breath, even her completeness. Now she was half a person. She even
wondered if you could call it half a person. She really felt like
pieces scattered in the wind. Palpatine was determined to destroy
every single piece that was left of her.
He first destroyed her trust in him when she had woken up. She had
opened her eyes to a very harsh bright and unforgiving light
shining straight in her eyes. She could not see anything. She
tested the movement of her hand to find they were tied to the
table. She remembered nothing at that moment of what had happened
to her in the hanger on Naboo. The bright light and the fact that
she could not move her hands scared her so she had called out,
"Anakin! Anybody! Can you help me!"
A harsh yet very familiar voice answered, "My dear Senator what is
troubling you?"
"Chancellor, where are you?"
"Over here my dear. Now why are you hollering so loudly?"
"Chancellor why am I tied here? Where am I?"
"You are in my private med center. I had your hands tied down. You
were out cold for two days. I could not risk you hurting yourself.
Please call me Emperor. I am no longer the Chancellor."
No longer the chancellor? Emperor? Why and when did this happen?
She puzzled.
"I can see you don't remember allow me to refresh your memory," he
said as he played a holo of the last day of the Republic and the
first day of the Empire. All things came back to her in an
instant. Panic seized her and she tried scrambling away from the
figure that seemed way too close. She saw his leering face and saw
the evil cold eyes that smiled so eerily at her. Palpatine licked
his lips and she could not tell if it was to actually provide them
with moisture or to emphasize the fact that he was very happy with
her in this position. She shuttered visibly and Palpatine laughed.
"Yes, my dear, you are in a very precarious situation here, but
what makes it worse for you is that no one knows you are here.
Your beloved believes you are dead. In fact the whole galaxy
thinks you are dead." With that, he showed her another holo of her
funeral.
"W-what do you want with me?" She stuttered. Obviously nothing good
to go to this length to see to that everyone thinks I am dead.
Palpatine enjoyed hearing the fear in her voice. For the first time
in her life she was afraid he had waited so long to see her like
this. All he had gotten from her during the blockade was a hidden
strength he did not know existed. She had defied him to the very
last and ended up getting her throne back. Oh that had stung but
not as bad seeing her in the Senate every day, defying any ruling
that would have given him what he wanted. He had tried getting rid
of her again when she stood in his way of making a clone Army. He
thought using Nute Gunray to set a bounty on her head would
finally get rid of her, but NO she had survived. He had burned
inside when he saw her pod floating onto the Senate floor that
afternoon. He had played her ever-present friend and he hated it.
He protected her when he had wanted her destroyed although the
fact that she lived had helped him achieve his new apprentice and
for that he supposed he should thank her, but he wouldn't. She had
continued being a thorn in his side opposing the new powers he had
"needed", and then her audacity at bringing the proposal about him
relinquishing his powers. She thought she was so clever but she
would find out now he was way more powerful than she had ever
imagined. Just for a short demonstration, he sent a bolt of
lightning coursing through her body. She screamed and he just
laughed.
"You see my dear girl, I have you at my mercy. You have been a
thorn in my side for 13 years now you will pay."
"I thought you were my friend!" She whispered in agony.
"Friend ! Hahahah my dear who do you think brought on all your
trouble. I was never your friend." he spat those words out like
they were poison. His voice took on that silkily sweet sound
again, "But I played the part well don't you think? I got what I
wanted in the end."
"So now tell me, Padme, where are your children? No lying either."
"I don't know," she said.
Lightning coursed through her body. " I said no lying!" he shouted
"I really don't know!" she screamed through her pain.
The lightning stopped for a second and she gasped out, "I gave
birth to them and then passed out."
Lightning slammed into her again causing her to stiffen and scream
in pain. "I am telling the truth!"
Palpatine stopped and thought for a moment about this. Maybe she
was telling the truth. Well for now he would stop because he did
not want her dead. He had better plans than that for her. So he
leaned in close and said, "Know this Padme, I will keep you for my
own use. You will hate your life and you will even beg for death
before we are through but you won't get it. I won't let you die.
You are my pet now understand."
She did not move and so he yelled, "Understand!"
She nodded her head but would not look at him. He left her in the
care of the med droids. They nursed her back to health and she was
sent to a cell. This is where she had stayed so far. She had
neither seen nor heard from Palpatine for a whole month. She had
no human contact since then either. Her food was shoved in her
cell once a day. The silence and her thoughts were killing her.