Galaxies Apart
Two
The Imperial Palace on Coruscant. Centre of the civilised galaxy. Administrative and spiritual headquarters of the Galactic Empire. One of the few buildings above respectable above-surface height on the ecumenopolis that no-one could remember being built. It was, by any definition, old.
As was its most famous occupant.
Mara Jade stepped forward, on cue. "Master," she said, inclining her head.
The Emperor's eyes, yellow ancient orbs bloodshot through with malice, fixed on her. "Mara."
It was time for her to give her latest briefing on the state of affairs inside Imperial space. Mara Jade, the woman raised from early childhood by those close to the Emperor, the one groomed to be his personal assistant and 'utility'. His tool across the galaxy. The Emperor's Hand.
She was devoted to him totally, knowing he knew her every move, thought and deed. This was only life she had ever known, and the only life she could ever imagine wanting.
Unaware that her life was about to unravel, Mara Jade revelled in her position of power.
"Barkhesh is a miserable little world, my Lord."
The Emperor cackled. He enjoyed her sense of humour, which was as lethally sharp as her personality. "What of my concerns?"
"The local governor had been auctioning off AT-STs to local smuggler cells."
"I presume he is no longer an issue?"
"I saw fit to rid the Empire of such scum. His second in command shall assume his responsibilities."
"His reward for coming to us," the Emperor said. "Excellent work, Mara." She fairly glowed with pride.
A moment passed without comment from either party. She knew better than to question such indulgences. Her eyes wandered to the exotic carcasses adorning the walls. The Rancor suspended from the ceiling seemed especially astonished at this turn of events.
"Master…" she began.
"You want to know why it was that I summoned you here, when I could simply have briefed you through the Force at any time. I admire your directness, Mara. A few of my generals would have engaged in idle conversation for hours about the size of my Rancor. Never mind. They are fewer now," and he smiled terribly, his eyes gleaming.
She was subjected to his most intent scrutiny for another moment before he proceeded.
"Do you recall…the Rebellion, Mara?"
"Of course, my Lord. An uninspired revolution, led by no-hopers and miscreants, nicely did away with."
That produced no smile. "Yes," the Emperor said neutrally. "Died stillborn, perished in the glorious victory that was the Battle of Yavin."
He actually shifted in his chair. She was slightly taken aback. The Emperor never fidgeted. Whatever was worrying him obviously did not fit in with the visions of the future he experienced so frequently.
"What if I were to tell you…that was not the way things originally happened?"
She creased her brow, trying to wrap her considerable intellect around that strange statement. "I…I don't fully understand what you mean by that, my Lord," she confessed. "It sounds-"
"Ridiculous?"
"Yes, my Lord."
The Emperor turned up the intensity of his stare a little. "You're right, of course. Nonetheless, however…" he sighed, "…it happens to be true. And it complicates matters, Mara. It complicates them immeasurably."
She struggled to fit this logic inside her preconceptions of Jedi lore. "Master?" she said, lost.
He leaned forward, and the weight of this knowledge seemed to stoop him. This truth was, of course, to be diluted for her benefit, but it was still much more information than he was comfortable revealing.
"A device was discovered, hidden deep in the bowels of the Death Star. We managed to reactivate it."
"A weapon?"
"On the contrary. When fitted to the Star Destroyer Jurisdiction the device had no effect on several target vessels. Only by accident was the true nature of the artefact discovered. When the dummy ships had to be destroyed, the Jurisdiction fired several proton shots. All trace of the experiment had to be erased; I did not want my Navy's commanders to know about it."
He sat back again. She had never seen him this agitated. "Nothing happened. Neither torpedo detonated. Assuming some sort of fault in the firing mechanism or the torpedoes themselves, two further salvoes were launched. No detonations. In all the Jurisdiction fired twelve defective torpedoes."
"Perhaps the computer systems-"
"No, no," he dismissed the possibility offhand. "A further two Star Destroyers arrived at the scene an hour later. All of their torpedoes failed also. Afterward the targets were towed to another sector of space and the experiment repeated. Same result. Finally the Jurisdiction, device onboard, jumped to lightspeed andretreated to a distance of two light-years. The torpedoes detonated first time, every time."
"A proton inhibitor?" she said, doubtfully.
"Just as an Interdictor Cruiser prevents hyperspace travel within a certain area of space so this device prevented proton detonation. Quite a useful device to have had onboard the Death Star…"
Jade felt she was missing something. "I don't understand..."
"Mara," the Emperor hissed, "the entire attack plan of the Rebel Alliance that day at Yavin was based around the premise of a few Rebel snubfighters – X-Wings – getting close enough to release a torpedo into a vital thermal exhaust port."
He was building himself into a rage now. She could feel it in the air, like a static charge, an almost greasy feel to her surroundings. "One of the X-Wings got off two torpedoes before we could stop it.It would have worked, Mara! Without this device present the chain reaction would have destroyed the entire station."
She began to comprehend. Proton detonation was one of the most stable reactions in the scientific spectrum, exactly why it had been chosen as the explosive for torpedoes.
"The technology for such an inhibitor must be advanced beyond the Empire's capabilities. Surely it's not impossible though, my Lord, that such technology existed three years ago, perhaps in a remote area of the galaxy?"
"Further examination of the artefact revealed more of its origins. Buried within its subroutines were build codes from something called the New Republic. The codes were dated as twenty-nine years from now."
"Time travel?" Mara repeated, the words leaving a sour taste in her pragmatic outlook. "I have read the theories on wormholes…no more than idle Old Republic speculation."
"Nonetheless," Palpatine swept away her protests, "who can say what wondrous scientific advances our descendants will make before thirty years have passed in the galaxy? What wonders these discoveries will unlock? This device has changed the face of history. Consider a scenario where the Rebel Alliance emerged victorious at Yavin IV. A history of our glorious Death Star as no more than a grim memory of humiliation."
"The entire galaxy would have changed."
"Much as it may suit the Empire," Palpatine went on, "this act has interfered greatly with the Force."
She felt it from him then; for just a second, a fleeting glimpse of vulnerability that shocked her and destabilised her.
"I have lost all ability to see into the future," he confessed. "I can no longer sense danger for myself."
"Have you discussed this with Vader?"
"The lord Vader is a powerful Jedi. He too feels the disturbance in the Force. I have told him nothing of the device and what it means as yet, for the advantage it gives me over him."
"My Lord," Mara inclined her head again, honoured at the confidence placed in her by her Master.
He ignored her. "You wonder what this specifically has to do with you," he said. It wasn't a question.
"Do you have a task for me?"
"This has repercussions for the entire galaxy. Someone must have brought this device back through the years from the future. I want to know if that person, or persons, is alive."
"You wish me to seek him out?" Mara frowned; it wasn't exactly her usual mission.
"No. Vader's pet Noghri can assist me in that direction," he assured her. "For you I have a grander assignment. These days the Jedi are so few and far between that in times like this, with the Force in crisis, I find myself rather at a loss for advisement and experience. Mara Jade, your task is to seek out a Jedi Master named Yoda and bring him to me, alive. Be warned-he is a powerful Jedi and you would be wise not to engage him in combat. You are authorised to tell him everything I have told you. I suspect it will only confirm his own feelings."
He reached to the sides of the Throne and grasped a small cylinder. She pulled it easily from his outstretched palm and guided it to herself using the Force. "Data on Yoda, and the co-ordinates of his homeworld."
"What if he refuses to co-operate?"
"The fact that I did not send fifty legions of stormtroopers to lay waste to his stinking swamp of a hideaway should buy me a little credit. Perhaps, however," Palpatine mused with a slight smile, "if he does indeed insist on staying put, I will be forced to pay him a small visit, in person."
Mara had been to worlds where rival Jedi Masters had paid each other 'small visits' thousands of years beforehand. The memory sent a chill down her spine as she left to disembark for Dagobah, and for Yoda.