Chapter 15: It's your twin brother
Note: Thanks for the reviews, they inspire me a lot to continue bringing chapters for you, don't forget to comment what you thought of the chapter, enjoy! P.S I am going to change the title of the story according to the theme it is adopting
Palpatine was in his secret facility on Exegol, reviewing the progress of the cloning project.
"Reports, what progress is there?" Palpatine asked firmly.
"The results are the same Emperor. The bodies are not resistant enough… their genetic template is very damaged."
Palpatine didn't need to be told twice, his genes... his entire body inside him was withered from extensive use of the dark side.
"This is a contingency plan… nothing should fail."
A few weeks ago Palpatine had a vision that showed him the dark side of the force, Vader was going to betray him... sooner or later.
"Your majesty, as I understand it, you have a twin brother, he may be the solution to the problem. Engel's latest blood tests determined that his blood type and midichlorides are identical to yours. If we could get more samples of Engel's blood and combine them with his genetic DNA."
"We will have strong bodies to withstand my intense power." Palpatine said, breaking into a wicked smile at the idea. After all, you will be very useful to me Engel, and when you lose all value before me, I will murder you myself with my own hands. Palpatine thought as he looked at the cloning capsules filled with his clones... his future bodies.
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"What are your orders, master…" Vader said kneeling before the throne.
"There has been a slight change of plans Lord Vader, I want you to find and bring my brother to me... It is time for Engel to learn the truth." Palpatine said with a neutral face.
Vader was stunned for a moment. Tell the truth to Engel? How was he going to tell him that he had a twin brother who is identical to him... how would he react to knowing that his brother is Emperor Palpatine?
"We found one of his secret bases in the outer rim sector…" Vader reported.
"My brother is there… find that base and take care of the rebels, corner them and make sure they have no way out."
"Yes, Master… as you order."
Palpatine takes out the same wooden chest that was for Engel. "When you reveal the truth to him, you must give him this."
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These are difficult times for the rebellion, the empire has brutally attacked them left and right by the dark lord of the Sith, Darth Vader.
Right now the rebellion fleet was cornered by the empire in space. There were not many alternatives to escape, forced to listen to Lord Vader's demands.
"I will surrender…" Engel said in a soft voice.
"Who assures us that the Empire will not attack us after you surrender." Han said suspiciously.
"Anakin, wouldn't do that... I know that with my help Anakin Skywalker will return." Engel said hiding his lightsaber in his clothes.
"Engel, don't do it." Leia said worriedly.
"It is our last hope…" Engel said wistfully.
Chewie lets out a few roars expressing her doubt and concern.
"I know Chewie, but I have no choice. I will miss you all". Engel said before being escorted away by stormtroopers.
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Luke watched as Engel was taken away, he felt guilty for not being able to do anything about it. But one wrong move and they could all die.
A few moments later he heard a voice calling him... he was a force ghost.
"You are Luke, son of Anakin," the Twi'lek Pythoness said with a soft smile.
"You are Engel's best friend…"
"Engel's brother went to our town and pretended to be him." The Twi'lek Fortune Teller said with a serious look.
"Darth Sidious?!" Luke said with exaltation and terror.
"I realized it right away, but the others believed it."
"Good God, but how is that possible, how could the Emperor impersonate Engel?" Luke said in dismay.
"I played dumb, believing he was actually Engel. He came into our world with a very simple but elegant style."
"Then that means the Emperor already knows everything." Luke was worried about Engel.
"If I hadn't paid more attention to the details, it would have made me believe that he really was Engel. Before all this happened, next to Engel I saw two exactly the same faces… there were always two."
"But what you are telling me cannot be possible, the Emperor has a face full of scars and deformations, how could he have passed himself off as Engel?" Luke asked in confusion. "The Emperor... he murdered you, didn't he?"
"Yeah…". He nodded the Twi'lek Pythoness with a serious tone.
What did my father see in this man? Why was he so willing to turn against his comrades to support this beast? There is still something good in him, I can feel that. I know he's struggling with his old one me, trying to see through the fog of the Dark Side that has clouded his mind and twisted his soul. But he will never be free as long as he is close to the Emperor. I need to convince him to leave his service or he will never be saved.
Emperor Palpatine transformed a good man into an evil creature.
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Engel was being escorted to the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Upon being in front of Vader, Engel asked him to clear his troops and let his friends leave.
"You don't have to do this… you got me, now let my friends go." Engel said with a serious look.
"You won't need that anymore." Vader said grabbing Engel's lightsaber.
Vader ordered that the Imperial cruisers cornering the rebel fleet will withdraw. Allowing the rebellion fleet to depart into hyperspace.
Vader motioned for Engel to follow him across the cruise ship to a place where they could talk in peace.
"I feel conflict inside you, it's tearing you apart." Engel said in a compassionate manner.
"There is no conflict." Vader said trying to remain firm in Engel's presence.
"No… it still hurts, I can feel it. On the one hand you have your loyalty to your teacher and on the other hand your love for your son." Engel said softly.
Vader remained silent at that moment until they reached his private quarters on the imperial cruiser.
"I need to talk to you Engel, about something very important." Vader said seriously.
"I need to talk to you too Anakin…" Engel said with a serious look.
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"From now on things between the two of us are going to change." Anakin said in a soft voice.
"I'm aware of it Anakin, I feel your concern and anguish... you know you can talk to me about anything." Engel said with a soft and understanding smile.
"What I am going to tell you is not easy at all. There is something you should know about your life. It has something to do with Chancellor Palpatine." Anakin said in front of Engel.
"Your teacher… The Emperor?" Engel asked in a soft voice.
"Palpatine is more than my master Engel." Anakin said taking a breath to continue, what he was going to say was going to be very shocking. "He's your brother…Chancellor Palpatine, he's your brother."
Engel's soft smile slowly fades… which was what he had just heard, he was confused.
"He's my brother?" Engel asked confused.
"Yeah…". Anakin said softly.
"Your master… now I understand, the first time I met the Emperor… seeing his eyes, I felt like I knew him from somewhere." Engel said, feeling dazed. "Then he is also the son of my real parents, the same ones who mercilessly abandoned me in a slave market when I was a baby."
"Engel, I know you are desperate to understand, but don't draw your own conclusions. First you need to finish listening to me." Anakin said trying to calm Engel down.
"How can this be happening? I'm very confused!" Engel said confused.
"Yes I know, that is why I am determined to tell you the truth. That truth that you have been looking for, that you need so much and that was hidden from you." Anakin said with a firm tone.
"What could be more serious than what you just told me?" Engel asked sadly.
"I am going to clarify all your doubts, but you have to be very strong Engel." Anakin said grabbing Engel's hands.
"I am scared…". Engel said uneasily.
"I don't know if I'm doing the right thing, but now I can't keep silent anymore."
"Please don't do it…not anymore." Engel pleaded with his eyes misted with tears.
"Before I tell you everything, I want you to know that I love you and that my intention was never to hurt you… I would have liked things to be different." Anakin said wistfully.
"If I am sure of one thing, it is that there is nothing in this galaxy for me to stop loving you like my son Anakin..." Engel said with understanding.
"You're going to hate me…" Anakin whispered sadly.
"Never… it wasn't your fault, you met me when you couldn't remember anything." Engel said with a soft smile putting a hand on Anakin's shoulder.
"But I deceived you from the first day I met you, and when I began to remember my past I continued deceiving you... but no longer, I can't continue lying to you." Unfortunately I am destined to hurt everyone I love.
Anakin gently grabbed Engel's hands before speaking. "I wish I had the right words to not hurt you so much, but there aren't any." Anakin turned away from Engel and kept the distance between the two of them. "I don't even know where to start."
"From the beginning, to make it easier… for both of us." Engel said with a bit of calm in the tone of his voice.
At that moment behind the black helmet Anakin's eyes turned yellow again. "Alright, let's start from the beginning... for that I have to tell you things that happened before the accident, things that sensitive Skywalker can't tell you." Vader said with a stern tone.
"Vader…" Engel whispered as he realized that he was no longer speaking to Anakin but to Vader.
"Anakin Skywalker was a Jedi from the old republic, before that he was just a simple slave on Tatooine... but that boy freed the planet of Naboo from the blockade of the trade federation." Vader said with a serious tone.
"Does that have to do with me?" Engel asked, wanting to know the answer.
"Everything, it was the first time I met your brother... Senator Palpatine of Naboo, recently promoted to Chancellor of the republic." Vader said remembering that day all those years ago on Naboo.
Years ago in the days of the old republic, when Naboo celebrated his victory against the trade federation.
The newly appointed Chancellor Palpatine approached the newly appointed Jedi Knight Obi-wan Kenobi and his newly initiated Padawan Anakin Skywalker. To "thank" them for saving the queen from him and the planet from him.
"We will watch your career with great interest," Palpatine said with a friendly smile, placing his hand for a few moments on the shoulder of the child Anakin Skywalker.
Vader still remembered those words, to this day. "From that day Palpatine set his eyes on me. He saw value in me, he set out to make me his apprentice… and he achieved it."
"I know you love him Anakin... he's the only thing you have now, how much you must love him." Engel said with a trace of agony in her voice.
"He became like a father to me. I felt mistreated and despised by the Jedi Order. And then along came the kindly old Chancellor Palpatine with a pleasant smile, a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear, and a voice full of praise and pride. Everyone around me betrayed and deceived me, the only thing I have left now is Sidious… he became my family…" Vader said with a serious tone.
"But until now I don't understand why you confused me with my brother, when you met me…" Engel said in a soft voice.
"Engel, there is something you should know about your family… starting with Bremé Palpatine." Vader said remembering the information that his master Sidious gave him when he had investigated Engel.
"Who is that woman?" Engel asked intrigued.
"Your mother…". Vader confessed with a neutral tone. "Seventy-seven years ago she was desperately searching for you, asking to locate her lost child, the baby that had supposedly been stolen from her when she was born."
"But…why would she look for me? Yes, she had the nerve to abandon me!" Engel said annoyed.
"No, your mother did not abandon you…in fact, the day you were born was a day of shattered dreams."
Engel didn't know what Vader meant by that, so he decided to continue listening.
"Your father Cosinga Palpatine despised you, just like your brother… he was afraid of you, terrified of seeing in your eyes the same monster that he saw in the eyes of your brother Palpatine… that is why your father deceived your mother by telling her that you had died during childbirth and he secretly left you with some child traffickers... all because you are the same, you are identical to my master Darth Sidious."
Engel was shocked by Vader's words. "We're twins?" Engel asked brokenly, he felt dazed.
"That's right, you are twins…" Vader said with a serious tone.
Engel was shocked and stunned "I have dreamed about him… since I was a child I always had those nightmares. That's why I've always been in communication with Palpatine, when bad things happen to him I feel everything." Engel said, releasing a few tears and his voice became brittle.
"Now you know why and what those nightmares meant…"
"It can't be possible, Palpatine my twin brother... it's hard for me to understand, I always dreamed of two mirrors, twice my face... two faces like me"? Engel said through tears.
"Chancellor Palpatine and Engel… are identical twins." Vader said directly and neutrally.
Engel let out his tears that suddenly turned into a heartbreaking cry...
After a while Anakin approaches him, touching his hands gently while seeing that Engel was still sobbing.
"Okay, it's me Anakin." He said with a soft and kind tone.
"I never had the opportunity to meet my mother, or my brothers and sisters." Engel said sobbing. "What people have I lived with all my life? To whoever professes so much love!" He said with irony and pain in his words.
"Engel, I know your parents were wrong for not telling you the truth… but you have to understand that they did it to protect you." Anakin said trying to calm Engel down.
"They're not my parents! How is it possible that they deceived me like that!?" Engel said angrily.
"As soon as they saw you in that slave market, they saved you and gave you all their love…"
"So as not to be left alone! To replace the son who died! "They did it out of selfishness, they didn't do it out of love!" Engel said expressing his pain, sadness and anger.
"I can't speak for your adoptive parents because I never even met them, but they left this for you." Anakin gave Engel the same wooden chest that his teacher gave him.
Engel grabbed the chest and hugged it to his chest while he continued sobbing…
"Let me show you something." Anakin said showing Engel an old hologram of the Emperor when he was just Chancellor Palpatine.
Engel let his tears fall softly, he felt pain, sadness and frustration "We are equal... and you are committed to the dark side with him, with my brother."
Engel said sobbing, at that moment all the love and affection he felt for Anakin turned into resentment and pain.
"Now I have everything very clear! You confused me for that! that's why!". Engel said with his teary eyes facing Anakin expressing his anger and pain. "That's why you dreamed about my face... that's why when we saw each other you told me that you loved me, that I was like a father to you. But it wasn't me, it was never me! It's always been him!
"You're right, but after meeting you you have become someone very special in my life…" Anakin said expressing his pain.
"Be quiet! Don't tell me I'm someone special to you! Why am I not, I am not yours at all! You want the person in that hologram to be Chancellor Palpatine! My own brother!" Engel said, taking out all the pain in him when he found out that Anakin never really loved him like his father.
"But it's for Vader, how Anakin learned to really love you..." Anakin said trying to reason with Engel.
"Shut up already! Stop lying to me, stop lying to yourself! That's what you've been doing all this time, ever since we met, you've been cheating on me! And all this that you say you feel for me doesn't exist! Never existed! All was a lie!". Engel said annoyed as he continued to cry.
"No, Engel… he swore to you!" Anakin said, hugging Engel and refusing to let go of his arms, listening to the sobs that he let loose on his shoulder. "I learned to love you more than Palpatine. You once again illuminated my path in the darkness that eats me up inside... When you came into my life, I felt happy again, I smiled again!
Engel couldn't believe him, no longer… he didn't believe anything, regaining his composure and with an annoyed voice he said the following. "Let go of me… Let go of me." Engel said with a serious tone moving away from Anakin's arms.
Engel turned his back on Anakin, clutching the hologram of Chancellor Palpatine in his hands. "How stupid I have been." Saying this he destroyed the hologram using the force. "You're right Anakin, you are the worst thing that has ever happened to me." As he said this he faced Anakin, revealing all his resentment: "Don't ever talk to me again!"
Anakin left Engel alone in the room, behind the metal doors he could continue to hear his sobbing, he could feel his pain and sadness… "Engel… forgive me. Chancellor Palpatine covered himself in a mantle of humility and good works, pretending to be kind and gentle... you are only the shadow of a man who never existed."
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Two hours passed and there was half an hour left to reach Coruscant. Engel saw the wooden chest that his parents left him.
He decided to open it, inside was a very old computer memory and also a letter.
Upon opening the letter, he could recognize the handwriting, it was his adoptive mother... the woman who raised him since he was a baby. Silently, Engel began to read the letter.
Engel, my smiling and loving child, I write this letter to you with my heart in pieces, my soul destroyed.
If you are reading this letter, it means that you have already learned the truth. Of that truth that you demanded so much of me and that I refused to reveal to you.
I know I was wrong not to tell you the truth, but strength brought our paths together when we both needed each other the most. You were very little when you were separated from your mother, I was a woman who needed to give all the love I had accumulated for a child... and in that I made you my son. In my greatest motivation to continue living.
And now I am paying the consequences of my silence, for having remained silent for so many years. But I was very afraid of losing you, of being left without you... without your love, without your joy.
I did everything for love, I swear. Forgive me son, I ask you from the bottom of my heart. Stay with the most beautiful moments that the three of us lived together. Because I will always carry you in my soul, goodbye forever Engel, son of my heart.
Atte: Your mom who loves you.
After finishing reading the letter, Engel continued crying with pain and sadness, hugging the letter to his chest.
Seeing his memory, she inserted it into a transmitter... and he began to read the information it contained from several years ago.
"Terrible accident ends the life of a noble family from Naboo in Chandrila. The parents and four children perished, the only survivor of the family was the eldest son, 17 years old, only known as Palpatine." Engel continued reading the information and came across a wanted ad for missing persons. "A mother desperately searches for one of her twins, possibly dead…" Engel hugged the photo of his mother, silencing her tears, when suddenly an imperial officer entered the cabin reporting that they had already arrived at Coruscant.