Precipice by shadowsong26
Original Author's Notes: A note on the warnings tags:
For the most part, this fic will be about on par with Precipice in terms of warnings, etc. That being said, because of the way I work, certain future plot points are in flux, some of which could potentially require additional warning tags. More specifically, as we enter the more active phase of the Galactic Civil War, some of these potential plot points could involve Major Character Death. But I'm going back and forth about whether or not I actually want to go there-I've explained this on my writing tumblr, but the way I write is definitely more in the gardener line of thought than an architect. Basically, I have a general idea of where things go, and a few key plot points I want to hit along the way, but a lot of things are not planned in advance.
Because of all of that, I didn't want to use the warning tag if it ended up being unnecessary, but I also didn't want to not use it only to end up needing it later. In both cases, I feel like that's misleading/unfair to readers, which I wanted to avoid.
So, I've decided to use the 'Creator Chose Not To Use Warnings' tag, which seemed like the best compromise until I finalize what some of those details might include. I'll update those tags when it becomes relevant (or if I finally decide against that possibility).
Hopefully this makes sense to everyone! I'm really looking forward to finally getting into these next several arcs (and, for those of you who might be wondering, Preludes will continue alongside the first arc or two of this story, so there will be more of that, too).
In any case, thank you for coming back, I hope you enjoy the next part of this AU as much as I'm enjoying working on it. 3 ~shadowsong
Part 8: Escalation
Escalation: Chapter 1
There were moments when it felt as if the Force itself was holding its breath, waiting for the change that was bound to come.
Sidious had experienced several such moments before, learned to sense when they were building-and, of course, learned to exploit them. But he didn't think it would take his skill to do so now, simply access to the right knowledge.
Project Stardust was all but complete.
He was prepared, at long last, to formally dissolve the Senate, which had remained in place as a polite fiction of limits to his power for nineteen years.
A fool in possession of those two facts would be aware that this was a turning point in history.
True, as with all such steps he had taken, there was an element of risk, and of sacrifice-for one thing, the Moffs and accompanying administrative bureaucracy he had built over the years to replace the Senate had fewer windows into Rebel activity; the plotting and backstabbing there was largely internal, clawing for position, and rarely, if ever, aimed at him.
But Sidious was nonetheless confident that he had control over the final outcome. As with the establishment of his Empire, while a few details might slip through his fingers, might make his triumph something less than complete, his overall victory was assured.
Besides, as always, he had backup plans in case he had miscalculated, the way he had with Skywalker and a few other, more trivial, details all those years ago. Sidious wouldn't have gotten as far as he had without learning from his mistakes.
As for the loss of easily-monitored enemies in the Senate-well. Sending them away would be forcing them out into the open. Make their communications and plotting more visible. A different kind of challenge, until he was ready to destroy them all entirely.
But such contingencies were as yet unnecessary. The moment of change-this turning point he had sensed coming for a year and more-had not yet arrived. Time enough yet to put the last few pieces into place before he triggered it.
To that end, he had summoned his child and his latest apprentice, a young Twi'lek he had named Darth Havac.
Much like his predecessors, Havac was a fraction of a shadow of what Sidious had lost when Skywalker had moved unexpectedly, but he had an acceptable level of potential. Steady and clever enough, in his way. He would do, for the time being, but Sidious would suffer no serious loss if he needed to be replaced.
Or if someone better came along-the girl Ahsoka Tano had found, perhaps. The new Jedi apprentice. Sidious had sensed fascinating currents swirling around her and there was likely something he could work with there; but at a distance, and with less-than-reliable reports as to her abilities, he had no active plans to attempt to suborn her.
Yet.
As for his daughter, thus far, she had performed to his expectations in the time since he had given her a suitable companion and active operations to complete. Which meant, of course, that he had to always keep one eye on her-few knew better than Sidious himself how easily it was to lull one's enemies into complacency by being what they expect one to be. He had, of course, not taught her all he knew, but he had taught her well enough. And she was his child. A certain level of duplicity was only to be expected.
But his own observations and reports from her guards and Mara Jade had given him no cause to escalate beyond the observation and testing-of her skills and her loyalty-that he already had in place. A balance, always, between keeping her in check and allowing him to use her effectively.
As with Havac, or Mara, or Tarkin, or any other asset with the skills and access to provide a challenge.
The role he had planned for her for this moment was, in a way, another kind of test. Of her abilities, yes-but primarily of her loyalty.
"You will go to Eriadu," he informed her. If she was surprised at the assignment-he had rarely let her leave Imperial Center, and never before on an actual mission-she didn't let it show; except, perhaps, for a flicker in her eyes.
Interesting to see what she might do with a little more room to maneuver.
"Yes, Father."
"Mara Jade will meet you there." His Hand had been on Mustafar, for a few weeks of combat practice with the Inquisitors; a slight miscalculation on his part had left him recalling her with not enough time to allow the girls to travel together. An inconvenience, but a minor one. His child would hardly be entirely unsupervised until Mara joined her, after all.
"If Grand Moff Tarkin's current mission is successful," he continued, "he will need to be more closely watched. If he fails, you will take control of the capital city and await further instructions."
She inclined her head in acknowledgement.
"Go."
She rose and bowed in one fluid motion, and slipped out of the room, leaving him and Havac alone with a handful of Royal Guards.
"Master?" Havac said, after a silent moment Sidious allowed to stretch between them. Impertinent, for the boy to nudge like that-but he would handle that another time.
"There are security leaks in Project Stardust," he said. "Speak with Tarkin and Krennic. Find them. Eliminate them."
Havac bowed. "Yes, Master." And, taking that for dismissal, he strode silently off in the girl's footsteps, intent on his own errand.
It was done. The last few pieces were in position, or nearly so.
And if things weren't quite settled yet-and if the Force would continue to hold its breath until the moment was over-Sidious could nonetheless foresee where everything would land.
In his favor, of course. As it always did.
The Force was with him. He had long since bent to his will.
Sidious sank back in his throne to watch, and wait, for this new victory to fall into his hands.
There hadn't been an official announcement yet, but Padme knew what was happening.
After nineteen years, the Emperor was formally disbanding the Senate.
Which wasn't-fine, it could never be fine, to see the last vestige of democracy in the galaxy, even if it was only an illusion, wiped away.
But she and her other allies in the Senate had known this was coming for a while. She and Bail and Mon had discussed the possibility right from the beginning, knowing that, while it would take Palpatine a while to build up the infrastructure to replace it and keep his government functioning, it was only a matter of time.
So it wasn't the utter disaster it might have been.
She had, after all, had plenty of time to plan for this. It wasn't easy, having to trigger this contingency-if only because some part of her, even after all these years, had still hoped that it wouldn't come to this; that Anakin and the others in the Outer Rim, along with the political pressure she and the others were bringing to bear in the Senate, would bring Palpatine down sooner. Before it was necessary.
But that hadn't happened, and she could mourn that loss later. Right now, she had to move, and quickly.
"You're sure about this?" Sabe asked, after a beat of silence, when Padme called her handmaidens, and Luke, together to advise them and initiate the next few steps.
She nodded. "Sure as I can be, before it's official. Everything we've learned, the past few months, about funds being shifted around to the Moffs and other bureaucrats, the fact that Tarkin is off finalizing some major classified project…"
That nugget of intelligence had been hard-won. Padme wasn't Force-sensitive, but she had decades of experience as a politician and a...well, not a spy, exactly, but she'd been one of the prime movers in a covert network for nineteen years. She knew how to put together bits of seemingly unrelated information to uncover the truth, and Tarkin's new assignment was the last piece in this particular puzzle.
Sometime in the next week, what was left of her above-board political career would officially be over.
Another thing she would have to mourn. When she had time, after the moment of crisis had passed.
Luke, for his part, just nodded. "We knew this was coming," he said, echoing Padme's thoughts. "And Lani…"
"Has she said something to you?" Motee asked.
"Not exactly," he said. "You know how she is. But when I was there last week, she was asking me about any upcoming travel plans. In hindsight..." He shrugged. "It's not much, especially not on its own, but it fits with everything you've found, Mom."
Which was, like Luke said, about par for the course. The princess wasn't anyone Padme could call an ally, for all she'd dropped occasional hints, like that one, to Luke over the years. Giving them just a touch of advance warning when a new apprentice was about to go public, for example.
Those visits had become fewer and less frequent in the years since Mara Jade had joined the princess's inner circle-not like when they were children-but Luke said nothing much had changed when he did actually go, other than some initial awkwardness when Mara was, probably, trying to decide how much of a threat he was.
Padme wasn't sure how much they could count on what Lavinia had been willing to share over the years. It was possible that the fact that she'd had Luke in her life, a counter to her father's teachings, had paid off. Just like they'd hoped, back in the beginning, when the two of them had met.
On the other hand, that was the best case scenario. Worst case scenario, she was playing them, and her little bits of genuine information were laying groundwork to lead them into a trap later.
Along with half a dozen other explanations Padme could come up with off the top of her head.
"All right," she said. "Luke, I want you to go see Winter. If Uncle Bail hasn't given her other instructions, I want you two to leave together, now."
He nodded. "She won't need to stay?"
Padme shook her head. "No, it won't really matter if she's absent when the Emperor inevitably calls a full session to make things official, and I'd rather not have either of you in position to become hostages."
"Good point," he said.
And the two of them sneaking off together would just get the tabloids excited again. Winter had found the constant rumors that the two of them were dating hilarious. Luke had been mortified-as he had put it, dating Winter would have been almost as weird as dating Leia.
Embarrassing or not, though, it was a good cover for situations like this.
"Where are we headed?" he asked. "I mean, if Winter doesn't already have a plan."
"Base," she said. "To coordinate with the others. Unless Winter's parents want her home."
Her own Naboo would be too much of a risk-she and the Queens had always walked a fine line, because the Emperor's home planet had a presence that couldn't be ignored. For good or ill. In this case, as a refuge for two potentially extremely valuable hostages...
On the other hand, Alderaan should be safe. Even with Bail going public at last, Alderaan was a Core world with too much history and too many connections to come under fire. And it couldn't be an example in the same way Palpatine's homeworld could. Winter herself might be taken hostage, of course, even with the diplomatic shield being a Senator and her mother's heir should have provided, but her home should still be a safe haven.
"Understood," he said. "I'm going to go make sure my ship is prepped and then head over to her apartment, unless you need me for the rest of this?"
She shook her head. "No, better for you to get moving. I'll meet you there as soon as I can, all right?"
"All right," he said, then stood up and gave her a quick, tight hug. "Be careful, Mom, okay?"
"I will," she promised, hugging him back just as tight, then leaning up to kiss his cheek. "I just need to wrap up a few things here. Don't let your father go too crazy when he finds out I stayed behind."
He laughed a little, and nodded, then let go. "I'll see you soon, then," he said. "May the Force be with you."
"You, too," she said, but she caught his arm briefly for one last, long, searching look-because they'd both make it out, of course they would; Luke was an adult and a brilliant pilot and her and Anakin's son. If anyone could get him and Winter to the relative safety of the base, it was Luke, and she knew that.
But he was still her son.
He took her hand and squeezed it a little, then smiled and headed out the door.
It slid shut behind him with a very faint click, just barely audible, that still sounded so-final.
One chapter of their lives, a very dangerous chapter, living and working right under the Emperor's nose, had ended.
A new one, with new dangers, new ways her family could be hurt, was just beginning.
And if anything went wrong, it might be days or more before she saw her son again. Which was nothing next to the years she'd go between seeing or hearing Ani or Leia, but…
"What's next?" Dorme asked, after waiting a moment to let that moment settle.
"Contact Captain Typho," she said, immediately switching gears back to the problem at hand. Feel it later. Mourn it later. Move now. "He has a contingency plan for my family back home."
He had left her service a few years ago, in part to keep a closer eye on her family and be in position at a moment's notice to fulfill that promise he'd made to her in the wake of Palpatine's accession; in part because of new upheaval in his personal life, and complicated family dynamics of his own after his uncle's assassination.
Prior to his death, she and Captain- Moff -Panaka had usually had a very tense dinner once a year, when she was back on Naboo. Sometimes whichever Queen was in office would also attend, which made it easier to keep things safe and civil.
Breha had thought that having a relatively moderate ranking Imperial official to reach out to, once Palpatine was brought down, would help. And Padme had to admit that there was some logic to that thought.
But there was too much...personal history with this particular relatively moderate official on Padme's end. His allegiance to the new order had felt, on some level, however irrational, like a personal betrayal. And some part of Padme couldn't quite get past that hurt.
So her former bodyguard had become one more thing, one more relationship, one more person, lost in Palpatine's wake.
But one, at least, that she had mourned and moved on from long ago.
"I will," Dorme said.
"The rest of you," Padme said, "you know who our allies in the Senate are. Get the word out." Most of them-who weren't directly attached to the council Mon had set up to make major decisions for the Alliance-would have their own exit strategies, of course. But they'd need time to put them in motion. Before Padme made her own escape, she had to be sure her allies were at least in the process of making theirs.
It would be easier if Threepio was on hand-no one really questioned her handmaidens, they were too much a fixture of her office, but a protocol droid moving between Senate offices drew even less attention. Especially since he might not be immediately recognized as hers.
But Bail had borrowed him to help with a minor diplomatic snarl with one of the Alliance's newest members on Yavin, so she would have to manage without.
At least she didn't have an intern to worry about right now. Silver lining.
"I'll clean things up here," she added. Which mostly meant destroying any potentially incriminating evidence they couldn't carry with them, and getting a head start on packing once that was done. "Elle, if you want to take the closer offices and come back to give me a hand with some of the tech?"
She nodded. "Of course."
"Good," she said. "Let's move, I want to be in the air as soon as Palpatine's announcement is done."
And with that, her handmaidens set to their tasks; Dorme pulling out a comm and retreating to a quiet place to exchange the relevant signals with Captain Typho; the others putting their heads together and dividing up their allies among themselves.
Padme allowed herself one more moment, just one, to watch the door that Luke had left through.
We'll be together again soon, she told herself. Really, truly together. Even if we're bouncing between military bases-at least we'll be together. Let's just...get through this week. Please, if there are any deities out there in the universe, just let us get through this week.
From there, once we're together again, we can make it.
Then she took a breath and set those worries aside as best she could, before she stood up and headed to her office to begin securing and destroying her files.
Repost Note: This concludes the Precipiceverse as it currently stands. The story was last updated on 10/1/2021 though the author did leave a comment as recently as November 2023 indicating their intent to continue the story at some point, so it has not yet been abandoned. Just on an extended HIATUS. Should shadowsong26 continue the story, I will also update it here as well, though on a one-month delay. Hopefully we will get to see how this story plays out as I feel we are truly entering some interesting territory with the beginning of the Escalation Arc. Hope you have enjoyed this story as much as I have.
