Palpatine Needs a Break from His Family

Ah, yes Dead-Man's Way, it should have been a smooth ride, but it would be a ride, nonetheless. Zipping from planet to planet with relative ease. Sadly, for Palpatine's team, they didn't make it past two parsecs before they began careening into some alien planet's atmosphere.

Pieces of Jim's "masterful" model broke apart as the hull heated up. The metal groaned as it turned red hot. The innards began to creak and split as they melted and fell apart.

"Not to worry, we're still flying half a ship!" Jim shouted as half of the ship peeled off in the atmosphere. Palpatine stared as the other half of the ship disappeared into the bleak air below.

"JIM! SHUT UP! WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" Mairda screamed as she twisted the steering wheel in every which way possible. Palpatine hung on for dear life as the ship jerked this way and that. A knot twisted twisted his innards. He could barely breathe.

It was only when he was thrown forward against his sister's backseat that all of the chaos ceased. Well, at least for Palpatine. Everything turned to a calming black. All in all, he had knocked himself out quite so. Things were going great so far for Palpatine's second thrill ride of his life.

"Wait a minute, how did this happen? We're smarter than this!" Jim's voice snapped Palpatine out of his unconscious state.

Palpatine stared down at the smoking controls and turned to his sister. His hands moved clumsily over the buttons as he felt its red-hot surface. "Faulty engine perhaps?" he said a bit groggily.

"Fark..." Mairda muttered under her breath. She turned to Jim, "You said you changed out the engine for a fresh one!"

Jim stared at her for a moment, "Um...I was getting to that." He fiddled with his hands. "With the wedding and everything...I got a bit distracted."

Palpatine scrunched up his pants in his hands and his gaze drifted up to Jim, "You got...distracted?" he asked in a deadly quiet voice.

Mairda gave Palpatine a look, "Don't you start, Sheev."

"Start what? We're stranded on an unknown drifting planet who knows where?!" He stood up and pointed at his sister, "Dead Man's Way is one of the most uncharted systems in the galaxy! WE MAY NEVER BE FOUND, MAIRDA!"

Mairda stood up and took a stance in front of her fiancée, "First of all, Sheev, we don't know exactly what happened. It might not even be the engine. It might..." she trailed off and looked around the cockpit, "It could be the computer, the tank. We know nothing."

Palpatine crossed his arms, "Well, we know we may die."

Mairda gave her brother a look, "Hush. Being cynical won't help much. Now, come along you two." She motioned to Jim and Palpatine as she exited the cockpit.

Palpatine threw Jim a scathing glance before strutting out after his sister.

Jim scoffed behind him, "I'm sure it's not the engine, Sheev."

"Then what? Your incompetence?"

Jim sighed deeply and muttered, "In-laws."

Palpatine spun around, "Not yet."

"Soon then."

"That's for her to decide," Palpatine said in a biting tone, "She's not your wife yet but she will always be my sister."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jim asked pointedly.

"Sheev. Jim." Mairda called from down the metal hallway. They both rushed towards her, and she pressed a mask into their palms. "Wear this. This planet is not exactly..." She glanced out the viewport to the dusty landscape, "...habitable."

Palpatine felt his chest tighten as he put on the mask. He didn't much care for the feeling of it or its implications. He never liked relying on machines, such as this ship. They weren't always dependable.

Mairda also handed them two thermal jackets due to the planets freezing temperatures. This place was certainly nothing like Naboo. Palpatine threw a cloak over himself and wrapped it around his shivering body. The ramp hissed as it came down and the trio marched down the ramp.

The planet was nothing like Palpatine had ever seen before. It was so unbelievably bleak. The ship had landed on a small patch of grey land in the midst of a raging sea that connecting to the coast. Grey fog curled around their boots and coiled around their bodies. In the far distance a mist hung over the horizon. Large dark shapes, supposedly mountains loomed over the gloomy landscape. The seas roiled, appearing to be black ink rather than water. Whatever swam underneath its raging waves was unknown and that made his skin crawl. The Force began to ebb and flow within him, fear spreading through every crevice of his veins. He could feel it twinge in his fingertips.

Mairda peered at a compartment on the side of the ship. She turned to her fiancée, "Jim, why don't you take a look?"

Jim nodded, placing his toolbox besides himself and he started to undo the screws in the compartment. Slowly it edged open and black repulsive smoke billowed out. Jim leaned back and scrunched his nose as he tried to wave the smoke away.

"What on Naboo is that?" Mairda sputtered as she watched the black smoke dissipate into the grey air.

"Nothing good." Palpatine muttered.

As soon as the majority of the smoke was gone, Jim started to poke around. "Huh, nothing's wrong with the engine but its smoking?" He paused and looked it over. "Something else has gone bad."

"What?"

Jim peered at it for another few seconds before spinning around and running to the other side of the ship.

"What's gone bad?" Mairda demanded as Jim frantically puttered around the side of the ship looking for a compartment.

"Fark. Fark. Fark." Jim whispered under his breath as he moved with clumsy hands over the compartments.

"Jim. What has happened?" Palpatine asked.

After a few moments Jim pried open another compartment. Again, there was more ugly smoke and then it evaporated into the planet's putrid atmosphere. Jim stuck his head into the ship and opened a seal which hissed with more steam and smoke. "Kriff," he uttered.

"Kark it, Jim. Just tell me!" Mairda crossed her arms firmly over her chest.

"Hey, Mairda, we put hypermatter in the Fuel Tank, right? The usual?" Jim said.

"Yes, why?" she said.

"What's all this red stuff then?" Jim took a step back so that Mairda and Palpatine could see.

Mairda and Palpatine both squeezed in to peer down at the fuel tank. It was its usual dull brown, but it was mixed with crimson oddly enough.

"What is that?" Mairda awed.

"I don't believe it." Palpatine uttered.

"What?" Jim and Mairda both asked.

"That's Raging Rancor in there." Palpatine said, in a dumbfounded voice.

"Raging Rancor? Why in the blazes would it be there?" Mairda threw up her hands. She took a moment to mull over the odd scene, "Wait, a minute." She spun on her heel towards Palpatine, "Isn't Raging Rancor your favorite drink?"

Palpatine let out a short unamused laugh, "Why, yes it is." He paused and glanced over at the fuel tank. "But I for no means would waste such a divine drink on something as foolish as sabotaging a ship. If that's what your implying sister." He arched an eyebrow at her, a small smile played on his lips. Despite his somewhat joking mannerism, something malicious was swirling around within him.

"Woah, Sheev. I wasn't implying anything. Just making an observation." Mairda said in a defensive tone.

"A very accusatory observation at best." Palpatine huffed.

Mairda put her fists on her hips and spun around to her fiancée, "Well, Jim, did you bring any extra fuel?"

Jim hesitated, his eyes were dodgy, "I did," Yet a weary look remained on his face, "But I don't believe enough." Mairda huffed. "Mairda, I was expecting us to be in this race for a short time. We were only going to visit three planets. And..." He looked around, "We're stranded who knows where."

"And someone sabotaged us to make us stranded." Mairda lifted her hand to her chin, deep in thought. "Who would want to sabotage us?"

"My, oh, my. I cannot think of anyone. Absolutely no one who would like to wreck our ship and is a known cheater." Palpatine stared up at the bleak sky and pretended to be lost in puzzlement, even stroking his chin to add to the act.

Mairda whipped around to her brother, "Hush, you. She probably sabotaged it, but I wouldn't have to take her payment if it weren't for you." Is she seriously bringing this up again?!

"For me?" Palpatine put a hand over his chest. "Did you say if it weren't for me?"

"Yes, I did." She said quietly and then she threw up her hands. "Damn it, Sheev! Why do you always have to soak up our credits. The GR. All of this nonsense! For what?"

"Mairda! It wasn't entirely my fault. I mean, people get angry, it's typical. Even I am no exception." Palpatine said, taking a step towards his sister.

"Well, your family doesn't have a bottomless pit of credits!" Mairda said, crossing her arms firmly over her chest.

"Do you seriously think I'm foolish, Mairda? Of course I know that." Palpatine spat and threw up his arms.

"You don't seem to know that, Sheev." Mairda seethed.

"Of course I do!"

"Palpatine, it wasn't just the GR. It was your prestigious little academy. Your Youth Senatorship. All of your little trips." She jabbed a finger at him. "It all adds up." Mairda shook her head, "I'm starting to think you're worse than Bratte." Mairda slammed the compartment door shut before turning on her brother.

Palpatine stared at her dumbfounded for a few moments before he spat back, "You, hush! My apologies that I wanted to be something more than some beat down vineyard boy."

"You and this vineyard boy stupidity. You know, it isn't so bad to live a humble life, Sheev." Her boots were soft on the cracked ground as she advanced towards him. "You pretend to not know what you came from."

Palpatine scoffed. He paused for a moment to consider. "A vineyard boy isn't humble. It's humiliating. Back in Coruscant, their parents are bankers, CEOs, leaders, senators. It is difficult to be taken seriously when I come from simple farmers."

Mairda stayed silent for a moment and her eyes flickered up to meet Palpatine's steely gaze. "You truly are embarrassed by us that much?"

Palpatine didn't say another word.

"You embarrass me. You go about parading as if you own the place. Oh, look, I'm a youth senator. Lapdog of Coruscant." Mairda spat.

Palpatine said nonchalantly, "At least I'm not whatever the blazes you turned into. A Spacer? You've got to be kidding me, Mairda. You call that a job? A life?" Palpatine paused to let that sink in, "What a disappointment you are to the House of Palpatine." He let out a short cruel laugh that echoed in his sister's bones. Mairda clenched her fists by her sides, gritted teeth kept her silent.

Jim glared at Palpatine and said, "Don't say that about my wife."

"She's not your wife yet I remind you...FOR THE SECOND TIME!" Palpatine shouted. His shoulders hunched and his face was red. Everything within his body seemed to seize with anger. Something dark yet not unfamiliar to him brewed within his very soul.

Mairda tore her gaze away from her feet and said quietly, "Get out."

"What?"

"I SAID GET OUT!"

Palpatine huffed, "We're outside, sister."

"LEAVE! JUST LEAVE, SHEEV!" Mairda screamed. Palpatine took a few paces back. Jim joined Mairda at her side and gave Palpatine a stare that would make many die on the spot. Palpatine, however, did not flinch.

He turned and strode away without looking back. His cloak flapped in the chilly wind. Perhaps he should have stopped inside the ship, filled his pockets with supplies and then headed off but he didn't.

Palpatine wasn't in the slightest worried. He knew exactly where he was, he knew exactly his destination and he knew exactly how everything was to be orchestrated.

Perhaps it would be a surprise to his family that he did indeed sabotage the ship on purpose. Perhaps in not the best way, by using his signature drink but Raging Rancor was effective in that way. And he was still young and had much to learn.

He knew that in exactly two hours at least another ship would crash nearby and that he didn't damage them enough to the point that is would be unrepairable. And most importantly, he knew exactly what lie ahead of him.

Palpatine walked along a thin strip of crisp white sand. Inky water washed over his boots as he trudged along. Every few minutes he glanced at his HoloBand to ensure he was heading in the right direction.

Dark shadows fell over his small figure as he neared the monstrous mountains. He pulled his cloak more tightly around his body as a chilly gale swept over him. Overhead the mountain appeared to grow taller as he neared the base of it. Spindly bare trees grew nearby, sprouting from the dying soil.

Palpatine stopped only when the HoloBand began to ding, and he looked up. Lo and behold, a great beast was sculpted into the wall before him. Hollow eyes glared upon him, and large fangs protruded from its jaws hungering for flesh. Long jagged lines ran across its face. Palpatine almost swore that it was smiling down at him, sharpened teeth and all.

Palpatine moved a hand parallel to the sculpture and muttered under his breath, "S'dies tu'saen." The words of Sith were sharp on his tongue.

Something within the sculpture clicked and shuddered. The stone groaned as it began to move from right to left. Palpatine's eyes darted around as the passageway behind it was revealed and all that he met was darkness.

Palpatine took a deep breath before withdrawing his lightsaber slowly from his sleeve and thumbing the button. Brilliant red splashed the bleak soil, monstrous sculpture, the darkness beyond, and his icy stare. He inhaled before pulling up his cowl over his head and taking a step into the mysteries of what lay ahead.

A/N:

Chapter name inspired by this year's thanskgivings. Yay, more Sith stuff is gonna be happening. And don't you worry, Buddy and Plagueis will make an appearance soon! Buddy is just the best killer cyborg spider pet ever.

Spoliers for Ahsoka series below: Also I know this was a while ago BUT I'M STILL MAD THEY KILLED OFF MORGAN ELSBETH AND THAT RANDOM MASKED DUDE WITH THE M NAME! I mean I hope Elsbeth pulls a Palpatine cuz I've been dying for more female Sithy/evil people in this world. Look, Ventress and Talzin are great BUT MORE THE BETTER! Also Shin Hati I just love her so much. Even if she's evil.