Chapter 11
A Vodran Commander, Amara Dusk, stood at the deck of an air speeder as the suns of Tatooine beat down upon her.
She'd been contacting a buddy of hers inside Jabba's palace when commotion rose and known areas of gangsters were bombed entirely. Worst, on the other side of the comm, the once banter was reduced to screams as the familiar sounds of bombs went off, permitting any transmissions.
She'd started rounding up as many people as possible to join her into finding out what the kriff was going on.
Over twenty air speeders drove, accelerating to the direction of the palace.
From afar, everything appeared regular, and she breathed a sigh of relief as it probably some smuggler getting on Jabba's bad side again.
From up close, she knew their worst fears had been confirmed.
Klatooinians, Niktos, Vodrans, Weequays, and all other species was on the other speeders, and she could see the way their eyes widened, their bodies stiffening.
Dusk could even see the smoke from here, its black cloud in the air threatening her lungs.
As the pilots took them in for a landing in the nearby hole which used to be the dome of the Hutt, they dashed inside and raced to find survivors. Bloodied limbs, charred and butchered bodies, laid everywhere. People she'd recognized. Friends...
She continued moving, almost admiring the handiwork of the one responsible. The kills were clean, even the detailed ones. Furniture was charred, but mainly undamaged.
Still, there was no sign of their fearsome leader.
The sight of a Hutt wouldn't go missing!
"Ma'am!" Chatter cut into her ears-by a patrol that went downstairs. "We found Jabba! What's left of him that is! He ain't coming back from this one!"
That was a terrifying thought. The Hutt who led Tatooine for decades, long before any of them were even thought of, now laid dead broken messes in the bottom of the palace, ashamed and lost. His death was anticlimactic if anything else.
More chatter... "Ma'am, we went down to the hangers. All of the vehicles are destroyed! There was no possibility of evacuation!"
So, no one was able to escape from the palace.
Whoever the kriff this was, had been watching them for some time, knew the ins and outs, and knew exactly where to target, had been trusted by Jabba. But the question was, who would be that bloody stupid to attack the Hutt Empire?
"The slave dungeons have been shredded open!" Another, squeaky voice, shouted. "None of the slaves could be found!"
Was it possible that a bunch of slaves got the idea that freedom was the better out than serving to Jabba's whim?
Nobody there wanted to consider.
As the various patrols surveyed the palace, knocking over shredded remnants of what used to be things of use, one of them found something.
"Oh, kriff, this changes everything..."
She walked over and bowed down, picking up the material from under the desk.
No, no, it couldn't be true.
The Empire knew better than to intrude onto Hutt's territory and start a needless conflict, not after they'd given them the supplies they needed to boost their economy, the slaves, everything! Why the kriff would they do this?!
She cursed in a million different swears, only brought back to the cold glare of the white helmet designated under the Imperial Military, staring back at her direction. It was a miracle it'd survived the flames, and all of the destroyed remnants, but lo and behold the truth laid before her.
"It's a Stormtrooper helmet, alright. The Empire..." she spoke darkly, her eyes flashing with promises of revenge. "They shall pay for this in blood." She turned to the nearest bastards standing behind her. "Contact the Hutts on Nar Shaddaa, and inform them of the Empire's treachery. The Empire will rule the day they've decided to cross us! This is war..."
Emperor Sheev Palpatine scowled in displeasure. For all of his years of planning, of adapting to any situation given to him, the Sith Lord didn't see this coming. The Death Star being confirmed destroyed by his trackers were something that threw the Emperor's plans back.
Then an hour ago, he was informed by surviving troopers of an Imperial Outpost stationed on Nal Hutta that the Hutts would be declaring war against the Galactic Empire.
Sidious was no fool.
The fact that Vader hadn't been picking up his calls meant one thing.
Betrayal.
The moment he'd reached out to him, Vader felt him and snapped the bond without hesitation, leaving Sidious with cold, emptiness. There was no way to control him now that the Sith Lord had decided to operate without Sidious's directions.
Indeed, he'd believed that he broken down Darth Vader enough to ensure that any thoughts of betrayal would be supplemented by servitude.
According to some people on board of the Death Star, his planet killer weapon had been taken by a slip of a girl. It required not frying his entire office and grounding himself in check after his recent victories such as dissolving the last of the Senate permanently to maintain his calm, collected look in front of those fools.
Killing useful assets, namely members of the Core, wasn't in the cards... yet. Besides, people like Yularen were competent enough to keep.
Tarkin overstepping his bounds and destroying Alderaan would have been disastrous in the long term. It was good Vader had enough of a brain cell to kill him to prevent the Empire having to deal with potential defectors along with this Rebellion getting even bigger. While allowing them to form into a challenge long enough, sabotagers within the Empire wouldn't serve his purpose well.
Tarkin was incredibly effective and efficient, and an excellent asset to the Empire; he ruled the Outer Rim as Grand Moff, and it was his Fear Doctrine that led to the creation of the Death Star.
But in the end, he was ultimately expendable. His position could be filled by others or broken into subsections by lesser ranked officers. Vader, however, was a one-of-a-kind enforcer and military leader, who could do the Emperor's dirty work better than anyone else. Palpatine could always get another political head, but not a super powerful apprentice to do his bidding.
Now that he'd lost both, the Emperor would admit having been surprised. Even if he'd accounted for Vader going rogue, it would have been during the first few years when the defeat to Kenobi on Mustafar still haunted him. While drawing his apprentice out wouldn't be too difficult, the fact that Vader snapped the bond before he could have done so left Sidious as blank as the Jedi were before his ascendancy to Emperor.
Still, Sidious was infuriated.
The Rebel's base remained a secret for now, but the Emperor wasn't concerned about that. Allow that pitiful band to rally up support, the Hutts were the bigger problem. It would require a loss of troops and resources, hammering down the Empire's laws in the Outer Rim. However, through careful planning, Sidious could guarantee that the Rebellion wouldn't acquire new allies that could actually be troublesome.
Setting up a task force, along with elite Dark Side users, would quickly resolve that problem. No, Sidious had to discover the root of Vader's betrayal. Was the impossible made done? Did Skywalker returned at the worst moment?
A quick survey through the Force put that thought at ease.
Skywalker hadn't resurfaced.
No, Darth Vader was still alive. While that slave trash that represented Skywalker still was in Vader's dark heart, there was no point in presuming that the boy would ever rise to the surface again. That fool of a girl, Amidala, died at Skywalker's hand on Mustafar for all Vader knew, and thus him returning from the Dark Side was not a possibility Sidious needed to fear.
Still, Darth Vader working against him actively was almost as much of a detriment as Skywalker's ascendancy. Vader was intelligent and powerful, but that was hindered by him being a broken pawn who answered only to his Master, kneeling at his feet.
Now, the Dark Lord of the Sith realized he may have miscalculated. That super weapon took decades of construction, of resources, and for Vader to dare go against his Master, meant that he should have destroyed that wreck of a prophesized Chosen One, the moment he failed him on Mustafar, a burn husk and shell of his former self. Doing so would have allowed him to find another Sith Apprentice who didn't have Skywalker's foolish tendencies, and Vader's possibility of betrayal.
Vader, for a time at least, considered using Marek as a Force adept to rise against him. However, that was quelled when Sidious reminded him that he was his servant, that such treacherous thoughts led to one outcome. Vader fell into line, obeying his Sith Master as always, going along with the plan as if nothing ever happened, whittling away any rebellious thoughts.
Now, this was something he would have to adapt to as he did back in the days of the Old Republic.
At least, without the Senate being a nuisance, he wouldn't have to worry about fools wishing to do something as idiotic as negotiations.
Sidious reconsidered his position. Aside from dealing with the Moffs and Admirals and manipulating them into believing he was their pawn, Sidious wasn't matching comments with Jedi in secret any more-he had Vader and the Inquisitors to send out. He wasn't struggling to secretly orchestrate the Senate any more-he was the Senate. He was at that stage in strategy games where one hadn't won yet, but the road to victory, however long it is, had no major risk to it and is easy and predictable. And for an adrenaline junky like the Dark Lord of the Sith, he despised the lack of challenge.
He had to give it to Vader. The move was calculated, more to the liking that Sidious once would have expected from Dooku. There were contingencies in place before that was disregarded when Skywalker killed him at the end of the Clone Wars. However, Sidious admittedly saw no reason to do the same with Vader.
The man who once was Anakin Skywalker practically volunteered in lowering any political influence he had left. He was no better than a broken pawn, mourning the loss of the life he once had.
He still had to pondered, what sparked this change?
Amidala was buried for the galaxy to see. If she truly survived, Vader would have sensed her with their deep connection, because the bond that was severed when she died, sent a ripple through the Force. An autopsy report revealed that Amidala's death was indeed legit, and that her ashes belonged to the once beautiful girl.
So that left Sidious with a question:
Who was this girl who took ahold of the Death Star?
Someone of Skywalker's past perhaps.
Amidala's handmaiden, or a relative.
Pooja Naberrie was an active figure in the Senate, someone who even interested Sidious if he was to be frank. But the last he'd heard, Naberrie was off on Naboo, dealing with a politician affair that Sidious needn't care about.
As Amidala died, so did Skywalker's chi...
He stopped there, his eyes widening in thought as he pondered this. The Emperor thought that he didn't have anything to worry about after Padmé died, because his spies attended her Royal funeral procession. What they witnessed was an embalmed Padmé Amidala who still appeared to be quite pregnant. In his mind, that meant Skywalker had no child, heir or successor. No one to challenge his rule or come back in the distant future. He had nothing to suspect in this regard, and after witnessing Padmé's body his mind had been alleviated upon believing Skywalkers heir had died with its mother. It was possible that them - the Jedi - knew that if anyone, like Palpatine, suspected that the former Queen of Naboo had secretly given birth then the child would be hunted relentlessly by Palpatine and his Empire.
It was possible that what he'd concluded was the truth wasn't. There was more in the abdomen than just the infants. Officially, her birthing was not normal. She died right after. Her body could not have time to expel or reabsorb all the blood from the birth, and fluid retention of the fluid her body had carried to cushion the babies. There was a reason women work to regain their pre-pregnancy bodies. Out of pure common sense, the body most certainly did not involve popping out the baby back to skinny and toned in a few hours.
He closed his eyes, delving into the Dark Side. It led him to Organa's daughter. Princess Leia of Alderaan bore a striking resemblance to Padmé Amidala. He'd met her a few times in the Senate, the first time sensing something distinct about the girl, but he'd dismissed it. She was also recently captured and arrested by Vader and his fleet, and that was before everything changed. Oh, oh, if Sidious asked more questions, he could have had the perfect successor.
His admitted lack of foresight led to his tool going off the rails.
If what he'd suspected was true, that meant...
And it all made sense.
The pieces clicked slowly.
"Skywalker..."
Arthur's note: I usually frown at many treatments of Sidious in fanfics. In the Prequel movies, shows, books, etc, Sidious is shown to adapt easily to situations, and can find things out when he has a single moment of concentration. I feel like he wouldn't be an easy threat to defeat politically, let alone in actual combat. Killing Sidious wouldn't solve all of the problems in my opinion, not with the amount of the problems the galaxy generally has even without the Sith, and decades of leverage that the Sith implemented. It took the New Republic decades in the EU to truly be a nation. In actual combat with Vader, it would be close, very close.
Additionally, I always saw Sidious as being able to clap every Sith before him. The Sith adapted. The Banites were smarter, stronger, and more powerful than their ancient counterparts because they adapted. The way I write Sidious is he's more align with the EU version of him. He would literally kill Anakin (unless full potential), Obi-Wan, and everyone else if they don't play a vital role. I prefer him being able to defeat someone like Nihilus because it shows how badly the Jedi failed. Having Sidious being a weak duelist, someone who's not powerful in the Force, it literally defeats the purpose of the stagnation of the Jedi and the adaptation of the Sith. I'm not saying Sidious is invincible or perfect. I'm saying (as of this time) he's better than every Sith that came before because every Sith that came before he LEARNED under if not succeeded their skill.
May the Force be with you all always.