First, a brief Author's Note:
(The Author clears throat nervously.) I have an announcement about the next update.
(Collective groans from the Readers.) Yeah, yeah, yeah. We know. You're taking a hiatus.
Author: No! Definitely not a hiatus. That sounds so…wishy-washy. Like I'm trying to abandon the story without admitting it.
Reader: So what is this announcement?
Author: Weellll…I'm not taking a hiatus, but it will be awhile before I post again. (hurrying on to the chorus whispered protests) I promise I'll be back. I just need to make some…adjustments…to the rest of the story.
Reader (eyebrows raised): Adjustments?
Author: You do remember that I added an entire arc about Jabba's assassination that changed the whole tenor of the story?
Reader: Yeah, but you said you'd ironed out all the wrinkles that resulted.
Author (with an apologetic shrug): I thought I had. It turns out, though, that I need to do a major rewrite to the rest of the book. And I decided, rather than release chapters in a trickle and maybe leave you on an unresolved cliffhanger for months on end—
Reader (scoffs like 10-year-old Leia in the Kenobi show): Excuse me, but you've done that twice just with the past three chapters!
Author: Exactly. I hated doing it as much as you hated reading it. So I decided to do the whole rewrite and then post the chapters closer together.
Reader (eyes me suspiciously): Do you promise? Pinky swear?
Author (laughing): If you insist. Pinky swear. I can't predict how long the rewrite will take, but I am actively working on it and I am very eager to post the rest.
Reader: Can you at least give us a timeframe?
Author: No promises, but I hope I can start posting again sometime before the winter holidays. In the meantime, if you want to chat or have thoughts you want to share about Krayt's Oath specifically or Star Wars in general, you can find me on tumblr as kraytwriter. I run a nearly negativity-free blog (with the occasional exception when the Sequel Trilogy comes up), and I'm very positive about both Anakin and Obi-Wan, as well as the Jedi. I also tag extensively, if you want to avoid certain topics. I'd love to see you over there if you're so inclined. In the meantime, leave me a review, favorite, or follow if you haven't already. And thank you for the amazing support you've already given me and this story! You guys are awesome.
Interlude II
The Fool Doth Think He Is Wise
"...based upon these numbers and our analysis of the chatter on the holonet boards, that an appearance in person by Your Majesty this Empire Day would be advisable. It would—"
Palpatine's comm chimed, interrupting the PR minister's presentation. "Your Majesty, Colonel Yularen is requesting an immediate audience to report a new development in the LVD investigation."
The Emperor stiffened. "Send him in at once, Sornhaw." He dismissed the PR minister with an impatient gesture. "You have news of Lord Vader, Colonel?"
Yularen stopped before the imposing desk to bow before saying, "Your Imperial Majesty, I made an unscheduled stop at Scarif two days ago. While I was there, someone breached the data vault and one of Lord Vader's flagged codes tripped the wire as a shuttle escaped the shield gate."
"The gate should have been closed to prevent just such an occurrence!" Palpatine scowled.
"It was. The Citadel followed the lockdown protocols, including closing the gate. The shuttle transmitted a code that overrode the lockdown."
Palpatine whirled on Yularen. "I ordered all of Vader's codes deactivated!"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Yularen bowed his head. "In fact, this particular code has been deactivated here on Imperial Center, but since it is hardwired into every military system, the effort was time-consuming. The systems at Scarif had not yet been updated. It appears Lord Vader has been planning his rebellion for quite some time."
"No…" Palpatine's voice trailed off. "That's not it. That is, yes, he has….But no, this code predates the Empire. I simply forgot…" How foolish to have forgotten those old orders meant to teach his apprentice humility and abhorrence for his old life. That decision at the dawn of the Empire, born equally of convenience and malice, appeared to have backfired badly. Yularen waited quietly as the Emperor paced the circumference of the office. Palpatine returned to his starting point. "What did Lord Vader access? What was his purpose?"
"I regret that I was unable to ascertain what he sought, Majesty. I did, of course, conduct an investigation, but Lord Vader obscured his trail quite effectively. It appears that he succeeded in his objective, whatever it was, because the breach was not discovered until after he had left the area. A pair of individuals wielding lightsabers, one of whom I believe to be Lord Vader, fought their way out with a squad of stormtroopers. I brought a copy of the security recording, if you wish to view it."
At the Emperor's sharp nod, the colonel inserted a small disk into the holo projector. A chaotic scene filled the open space before the Emperor's desk. Massed stormtroopers fired on two men wearing Imperial gray who defended themselves with lightsabers. While the identity of the older man was not certain, the other—tall, bald, and scarred—was definitely Lord Vader. The camera angle revealed his face only in profile, but the combat form was unmistakable, allowing for the reduced weight and increased mobility. So—Vader was working with a Jedi….And he had received medical care adequate to free him from the mask and armor.
Palpatine squashed his displeasure.
The Jedi stumbled and nearly fell. Palpatine narrowed his eyes as Vader half-carried his comrade, all the while defending them both. Fascinating. It seemed the ghost of Anakin Skywalker had returned. Which gave him a pretty fair guess at the identity of the Jedi. His apprentice had always gone to extraordinary lengths to protect those he cared for. It was one of the reasons it had been so essential to cut off all his relationships. Unfortunately, it seemed even the lava of Mustafar had been insufficient to burn away his attachment to his old master. Palpatine's lip curled.
It was most disappointing that after all the years of training and discipline, Anakin Skywalker's essential weakness had survived in Vader's heart. Though it could be worse, he supposed. At least Amidala and her brat were dead. He did not want to contemplate what Vader might have done if his wife and child had lived.
"Is there no clue what Lord Vader accessed at Scarif?"
"No, Majesty. The record of his vault access was scrambled beyond recognition and the data fragmented. Perhaps Intelligence slicers can piece something together, but it will take time."
"Do it."
Yularen inclined his head. "I have already given the order."
"Very good. Notify me the moment you have any information—however insignificant." The Emperor paused again, considering the ramifications of this news. "Do you have anything further to report?"
"I do not know if it is important, but it appears the squad of stormtroopers may have been clones."
"Clones?"
"A piece of malware was uploaded to the ISD Intimidator from the shuttle as it came through the shield gate. The code had been slipped in through a backdoor in the destroyer's operating system. The origin and scope of the security breach is uncertain. In any case, the malware caused the lights on the port side of the destroyer to display this." Yularen pressed a button on the holoprojector and an image of a clone trooper's helmet peeking over a wall appeared. "The history of the image is obscure, but the best analysis indicates that it emerged some twenty years ago during the Clone Wars. The text reads Fett was here and it seems to have been a folk symbol among the GAR. It has since become a common piece of graffiti throughout the galaxy. I must caution Your Majesty that it now appears in common usage by many beings who have never had any contact with the GAR. However, in that case, the lettering is generally in Aurebesh, rather than in the Mandalorian script as seen in this image."
"A clone. A clone defaced the fleet flagship." Palpatine's voice grated on the words.
"Er, yes, Your Majesty. It seems the most logical interpretation of the events."
Palpatine clenched his fingers around his staff. When he got his hands on Vader, he would draw out the chastisement a little longer than he had planned. Consorting with Jedi. And clones. Truly the dog had returned to his vomit. "I should have known more was involved in his coddling of the clones…." he murmured to himself. He paused to consider the options. "Investigate this. If the perpetrator truly is a clone, pull their pensions. Discover how far Lord Vader's conspiracy runs among the clones. If this is more than a few rogue individuals, wipe them out."
"All of them, Your Majesty?" Yularen's tone was appalled.
Palpatine rounded on him. "Are you questioning my orders, Colonel?"
Yularen bowed. "No, Your Majesty. Of course not. As you wish."
"Very well. You may go, unless there is more to this pathetic report."
"I am afraid there is. There has been a new development in the Skywalker investigation. However, it is not as urgent as the situation on Scarif; I could submit a written report if you prefer."
"Tell me now." Palpatine gripped his cane until his tendons popped from the withered skin of his hand.
"A broadcast originated on Tatooine where six days ago a race of some local importance—the Boonta Eve Classic, I believe—was run. Oddly enough, this is the same race that turned up in rumors about the name Skywalker last year. Just prior to the race, three humans spoke to the crowd, announcing the death of Jabba the Hutt and declaring both the planet's independence and the emancipation of their slaves."
Palpatine interrupted the summary. "You have a copy of the broadcast? I will watch it in full."
"Of course." Yularen coughed lightly. "I apologize that it is in Huttese. My staff added subtitles to the original."
The image of the clone trooper was replaced by that of a vast grandstand. The camera zoomed in on a large viewing box with a colorful awning where a party of humans stood. Two of them wore long robes of an indeterminate color, while a third wore an Imperial officer's uniform. Text marched above the image, translating the guttural, uncouth Huttese into the more palatable Standard. Irritated, Palpatine waved off the sound.
One of the cloaked figures lowered his hood, revealing a face that was definitely not Darth Vader's, and said, "People of Tatooine, for centuries we have cowered under the heavy hand of the Hutts, longing for freedom, but lacking the power and resources to free ourselves." He blathered on at length about the Hutt's death in an accident and the establishment of a provisional council. He promised elections in a year's time—the fool!—and announced the emancipation and enfranchisement of the slaves. The so-called president glanced to the other cloaked figure for encouragement several times. Perhaps he was a mere puppet?
He concluded by saying, "Finally, the Provisional Council vows to maintain its obligations to the Imperial government, including paying all rightful taxes and hosting the Imperial garrisons in Mos Espa and Mos Eisley. According to Imperial law, the Empire will not interfere in our internal administration, so long as we do not threaten the stability and peace of the Empire. We are loyal citizens of the Empire, and I say to you, Long live the Emperor!" Even with the sound off, Palpatine could tell that the cheer that followed was half-hearted.
What gall! He was the Emperor of the galaxy and could interfere in a system's internal affairs if he so chose. Nevertheless, the open claim of the Constitution's protection would present certain public relations difficulties, particularly in the Outer Rim where both Empire and Republic had always held power tenuously. Not that the PR issues were insurmountable if he chose to intervene. But they would be inconvenient.
Now the mysterious cloaked figure waved to the Imperial governor. "I speak to you as the representative of the Emperor and the Galactic Empire. So long as this transition in government is peaceful and threatens no other worlds, the Empire will not interfere. The Imperial garrisons will maintain order and serve as a peacekeeping force." To Palpatine's annoyance, he had had to wave the sound back on, since the Intelligence analysts had not bothered to add subtitles.
What in the name of the Dark Side was the military governor doing there? His mere presence lent the appearance of legitimacy to this revolution. And that was before he began his pandering speech. How had such an idiot ever reached the rank of governor? It went without saying that he must be incompetent to have been stationed on Tatooine in the first place, but this really was beyond belief.
The mysterious robed being lowered his hood to reveal a pale face and scalp marked by heavy scars. The Emperor's breath hissed between his teeth. Except for a brief glimpse from the side on the security recordings from Scarif, he had not seen Vader's face in nearly two decades, but he had no doubt this was his wayward apprentice. The stance, the confidence, the piercing blue eyes. He was unmistakable.
Vader stepped to the parapet, lifted a comlink to his colorless lips, and began to speak in Huttese in a raspy voice. "Citizens, thirty-one years ago I flew in this race as a slave and won my freedom in the process. That day I promised to return to free the slaves. Today, I have kept that promise with the aid of many others who have also escaped bondage. Under the blessing of the Three Sisters, who met this morning in the Great Krayt, this day—the traditional day when the chains of servitude tighten—has become a day of freedom."
Palpatine seethed as he watched. What a nauseating appeal to their nostalgia and their romanticism. Keeping a promise to free the slaves. Bah! When had Vader ever cared for slaves? He had been the most merciless slaver of them all. Palpatine had known that the only thing necessary to keep Vader content was to give him power to enslave others. It was the way of the galaxy.
The fool was still spouting drivel. "If you respect our laws, you will have opportunity to prosper, but if you would prey upon us in our new freedom, I give you this warning: We have been made strong by our years of sorrow. We have survived what those born to freedom could never dream of."
As though slaves and serfs could ever possess the power to wrest control from him. Either Vader had finally grown enough backbone to become a proper Sith and was speaking duplicitously for some deep purpose of his own, or he had gone completely to the Kath hounds.
"If you come in friendship, we will welcome you, but if you come in force, to dominate or destroy, we will overcome you. I, Anakin Skywalker the Kraytrider, send this warning to all who may desire our destruction. Take heed. You will not survive." The holoprojector went dark.
The Emperor resumed his perambulations, deep in thought. It needed no great perception to understand the message was aimed at him. A direct and personal defiance. Yet his apprentice had not even had the sense to stage his revolution in a strategic location. He had chosen a dustbowl. A wilderness. A wasteland. What was on Tatooine but criminals, slaves, and serfs? And if Vader thought controlling the Imperial governor would confer any sort of advantage, then Palpatine almost pitied his deluded apprentice. If this was the best strategy he could devise, even after a year of planning, Palpatine had nothing to fear.
He eased himself into the chair behind his desk. "Tell me, Colonel Yularen, why did Skywalker refer to himself as a crate rider?"
"The translators could not establish conclusively what that phrase meant. The word for rider was clear, but there was some debate as to what the other word means. The most likely candidate is a predator on Tatooine known as a 'krayt,' a sort of large lizard or some such thing. Truth to tell, reports are conflicting, as sightings are reportedly quite rare. As for why they would be paired as a phrase: that also is a mystery."
"Hmm. Well, no matter, I suppose. Is that all you have for me?"
"Err—it seems an odd coincidence, but clones escorted Skywalker and the governor prior to the race."
Palpatine hissed an indrawn breath.
Yularen clicked a button on the holoprojector and a new image appeared: five men wearing black and carrying military-issue blaster rifles. The men looked far less similar than they had during the war, but Jango Fett's template was still clear.
The image was replaced by a grainy close up of the squad's faces.
"I do not know who most of them are, but I do recognize this one." Yularen pointed to a face with a heavy scar near one eye. "CC-2224, who served as Marshal Commander of the 7th Sky Corps during the war and then as the commander of the 501st Legion of the Stormtrooper Corps." Yularen hesitated. "I admit to some puzzlement as to what Vader's commander would be doing working with a Jedi….However, if somehow Vader and Skywalker are working together—unlikely as that seems—perhaps there is a connection between the clones here on Tatooine and the ones on Scarif."
Palpatine glared at the image for well over a minute. "There most certainly is a connection," he bit out. "Pull the clones' pensions."
"But—Majesty—we haven't established how many of them might be involved in this conspiracy—"
"If the highest-ranking surviving clone is participating in this plot, then this goes all the way through the ranks."
"But—we have no proof at this time…"
"I don't need proof. That's all the proof necessary. Do I make myself clear, Colonel?"
Yularen nodded reluctantly.
The Emperor dismissed him with orders to report any developments regarding Skywalker or Vader at once. Rather than summoning his PR minister to return, however, he commed Sornhaw. "Any communication from Colonel Yularen is to be given priority Aurek until further notice. And place a holocomm to Grand Moff Tarkin."
While he waited for the transmission to connect, he rose to stand before the viewports. He surveyed the cityscape before him with satisfaction. His. All his. And his bumbling apprentice certainly would not rob him of it.
He considered his next course of action from all angles. Yes, he decided. That will do. That will do quite nicely.
Tarkin's image bowed punctiliously before the Emperor. "What may I do for you, Your Majesty?"
"My friend, I wish a report on your efforts."
"All progresses quite well, Your Majesty. I believe it will be operational by Empire Day." His cadaverous face glowed with zeal.
Palpatine condescended to nod in acknowledgement. "Since that is the case, I have a slight adjustment to make to the schedule. It will require some haste on your part, but the rewards will be more than worthwhile. You must complete the final stages within the next three days. You may delay some of the—mmm, less essential finishing touches if you must. Once the final system checks are complete, proceed to Tatooine and demand that the so-called president hand over Anakin Skywalker. If he refuses, you may destroy the planet."
Tarkin's eyes widened slightly.
"If he complies, you will restrain Skywalker in any way you see fit and deliver him to Imperial Center. I need not caution you, I am certain, that holding him will present its challenges. Nonetheless, I repose full confidence in you."
Tarkin inclined his head, acknowledging the rare compliment.
"I must confess," Palpatine continued, "that I believe it unlikely the president will hand him over. He seems to be in Skywalker's pocket. I fully expect that the Death Star will be called upon to prove itself over Tatooine. I realize the system is rather more out of the way than would be ideal as a demonstration, but it will suffice, particularly with Empire Day so close. I shall unveil the Death Star and announce either the destruction of Tatooine or Skywalker's execution in my Empire Day speech."
"It shall be done, Your Majesty. I confess I am surprised at—Skywalker's resurfacing. I believed him quite in thrall to you, if you will forgive the observation." Tarkin's nostrils pinched tightly with disdain, but his eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
"I believed the same. It was most disappointing to discover otherwise. Nevertheless, he shall be dealt with shortly. One way or the other.