Chapter 11: My whole world collapsed in front of me
Emperor Palpatine was back in the imperial palace, in his throne room Palpatine rose from his throne to pour himself a glass of wine.
"His majesty called me," Mas Amedda asked, grabbing an DNA datapad along with a syringe and another sample of Engel's blood. "He puts a sample of his blood and that of the rebel prisoner, in this datapad, it will analyze both blood tests and see if there is a family relationship or not."
Palpatine raised the syringe in his hand, with the needle piercing his arm letting the vital liquid fill. Then he put his blood into one of the four datapad outputs just as he put Engel's blood aside.
When the datapad observed both blood samples, Palpatine entered the data from both and asked to compare the two blood samples.
But Amedda grabbed the datapad to wait for the result while Palpatine sat back on his throne.
"The result that the DNA datapad showed was that Mr. Engel is 99•/• compatible with Emperor Palpatine... you are brothers." Mas Amedda said.
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"I was surprised when I saw him, Master Yoda... he looks identical to Chancellor Palpatine." Obi-wan said with a funny smile.
"What a fright you had, Obi-wan, seeing Sidious's equal…" Yoda said with a soft laugh.
"Seeing him was shocking… he is so similar to Palpatine, but without those airs of darkness." Obi-wan said.
"We must be very careful Obi-wan... remember that this is how we started with Palpatine and look what happened." Yoda said with an uneasy voice.
"Master… Engel is force sensitive, I felt it." Obi-wan said thoughtfully.
"There is a more important matter to take care of, it is time for Luke to know the truth about his father" said Yoda, feeling Luke's presence approaching the world of Dagobah.
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"Your majesty, how come you have a brother? "You never told me you had a twin," Sly Moore said respectfully as he bowed slightly.
"I didn't know it either… I'm just like you in shock, my parents never told me that I had a twin brother. Vader also hid the truth from me…" Palpatine said with an angry tone in his voice.
"Your majesty, are you feeling well?" Sly Moore asked worried "You and I know each other since when I was Senator of Naboo, I was one of the people who knew your Sith identity in the times of the old republic. You can trust me to tell me anything."
Palpatine, deep inside him, despite feeling bad emotionally, laughed with dark joy. But anyway he needed to vent all this he felt...
"Yes, I just found out… how do you want me to tell you and Sly tell it to you?" Palpatine said trying to calm down. "You don't understand how terrible this has been for me, I feel dazed and unable to think." Saying this he grabbed his head with his hands trying to contain this pain. "Now I understand why Vader's strange attitude, since he returned to my side, I have seen him suffer without being able to explain the reasons... until now."
"Your majesty, in order to help him, I need him to tell me everything he knows, since he was little and what happened to his parents," said Sly Moore with a sympathetic voice.
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"I was waiting for you, Luke, sit down, it's difficult what I have to tell you," said Yoda, feeling Luke's presence behind him. "I have told you little about your father Anakin, although you have asked me a lot about him, a powerful Jedi I told you he was. True that is. "Obi-Wan told you that Darth Vader killed your father, true that wasn't... Vader your father is."
"Engel was telling the truth…" Luke said with tears in his eyes.
"By the dark side your father was corrupted and consumed…"
"How come Obi-wan didn't tell me? With what law…!?". Luke asked indignantly.
"Your anger would have increased, your father was taken to the dark side by fear... the same would have happened to you if you do not control your emotions... even though you have passed the Jedi tests, I still feel anger within you" Yoda warned with concern. "Our hope It falls to you Luke, you are the last of the Jedi knights."
After a few moments of silence Yoda spoke again.
"You have brought your friend here to Dagobah… meet him, I must." Yoda said referring to Engel.
"Of course teacher…" Luke said calming his shock.
When Yoda arrived at Engel's side in the Millennium Falcon, he saw that what Obi-wan said was true.
That face was identical to Emperor Palpatine, pushing the discomfort deep into his being and bringing light to his side. He could see visions...very strange, but they made sense.
"There is something you should know, Luke, about your friend Engel…" Yoda said taking a seat. "The truth is that you did not know the Emperor before the empire… that is why you did not confuse Engel with him"
"I don't understand, master?" Luke said with confusion.
"Engel is identical to Emperor Palpatine… twin brothers they are… between Engel and the Emperor there is a very special connection."
"As…?". Luke asked doubtfully.
"They say that twin brothers can perceive what the other feels, thanks to a connection that unites them in an inexplicable way... forming an indestructible bond..." Yoda said softly.
"I don't want Engel to find out about all this in one fell swoop, he wouldn't know how to assimilate it…" Luke said worriedly.
"The truth will be known, young Skywalker… but not now. Palpatine already knows, he saw Engel when he was captured by the empire."
"We must protect him, master, if the Emperor already knows that Engel may be his brother... there is no telling what could happen."
"Engel is too old to be trained in the ways of the force… but it is necessary…"
Luke again saw Engel whispering a few words to him "Engel… I only ask that you take care of your brother Palpatine."
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"And in that moment my whole world collapsed in front of me…" Palpatine said in a nervous and hurt voice. "I found out about the existence of a brother that not even I suspected existed."
Sly Moore only nodded to continue listening to the events.
"Of course Engel had no idea who I really was." Palpatine said with a stuttering voice.
Sly was not surprised why Engel could not recognize Palpatine... because of the deformities of his face in the Jedi attempt on his life.
"But for me… that revelation has changed my life. And the worst of all is that I still don't have the courage to face Vader."
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Luke was meditating, this was bigger than him... but at that moment he feels a presence behind him...
"Obi-wan why didn't you tell me... why didn't you tell me that Vader was my father."
"What I told you was true from a certain point of view, the good man who was once your father was destroyed…"
"Engel, he has not lost hope... he feels that there is conflict in Vader, I feel goodness within him." Luke said.
"Now he is more machine than man…"
"I wouldn't kill my father…" Luke said determinedly.
"So the Emperor has already beaten us, you were our only hope... there is something else you should know, you have a twin sister, we separated them when they were born to protect them from the Emperor... your sister remains safe in anonymity."
"Leia… Leia is my sister."
"Your feelings do not fail you, hide those feelings within yourself. They are yours, protect them from the Emperor." Obi-wan admitted.
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I always had that vision, but I didn't know what it meant and then from time to time I felt these strange sensations and sometimes even physical pain." Palpatine said as he took a glass of wine to relax. "I asked my father what it meant. But he told me that it was nothing, that it was just my stuff, and over time I stopped paying attention to it. But when I saw Engel and discovered his face was the same as mine… everything began to make sense."
"Of course... they say that between twin brothers, even though they are separated, a very special communication is maintained... at the level of sensations, it is like a cord of union between them." Sly Moore said, reflecting on the situation.
"Leave me alone Sly, I need to think this through." Palpatine ordered and Sly Moore left his chambers.
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"Leia, I have to talk to you about something very important…" Luke said with a decisive look.
"What's wrong Luke?" Leia asked worriedly.
"What Engel said was true. Vader is my father." Luke said with sadness in her words.
"What are you going to do?" Leia asked worriedly.
"I have to face him one day. Strength is strong in my family… my father has it, I have it and so does my sister."
"Somehow… I always knew." Leia said muttering.
"And there's more… Engel is identical to…" But Leia interrupted Luke.
"Identical to Emperor Palpatine… I know." Leia said softly.
"The Emperor perhaps already knows… it is possible that they are twin brothers. "Engel feels the same as me… in some way I felt your presence Leia, the presence of my sister."
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At night in the imperial palace and in the millennium falcon, Palpatine and Engel were having the same dream... but it was not a vision, but of what their lives would have been like if they had not been separated...
Bremé was next to her 5-year-old twins, taking care of her little ones while she sang them a lullaby.
"Mommy, mommy… Sheev hurt my arm," Engel said with tears in his eyes.
"Sheev…! "Engel…!" Breme shouted, desperate to find her children.
"Mommy, here I am! Do not leave Me!" Engel shouted scared.
Engel was the first to wake up scared and sad. "Mother!" He cried out sadly.
"Engel, what happened?" Leia asked, waking up from Engel's scream.
"I don't know, Leia… I dreamed about my mother, my real mother… she looked very sad." Engel said sadly.
In the imperial palace Palpatine was the second to wake up, he was sweating and cold. No, it can not be. Palpatine thought, normalizing his labored breathing. Getting up from his bed, he went to a mirror in front of him... it cracked a few days ago.
He could see his face deformed and full of scars, but now he saw his face twice in the mirror... "Engel and Palpatine... the two identical brothers, the twins united by love...". Palpatine said, laughing evilly.
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The next day the Emperor was in his throne room, his iron will had taken over again... These unexpected events would not interfere with his plans.
Luke Skywalker will become his new apprentice, and Vader would end up being killed by his own son. Letting out an evil laugh at that dark thought. And as for his twin brother… he had other plans for him, determining that he would be useful to him later.
He had now composed himself, from all the experience he had yesterday. And he had called Lord Vader to his throne room.
"Now my apprentice will come with me to report another failure… he will excuse himself and he will offer me another piece of his meat. Hiding from me what I already know, but I will let him play this game, because I have fun doing it." Palpatine said to himself with an evil smile on his face.
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Engel said goodbye to his friends... Luke told him that this was to keep him safe from the Empire and that he would receive training and teaching in the ways of the Jedi.
"We will meet again, my friends," said Engel with a sad smile on his face.
Before saying goodbye, Luke, Han, Leia and Chewie gave him a hug... they would meet again.
"Take care of him, Master Yoda," Luke asked with concern.
"The insurance will be with me, you don't have to worry…"
Once the Millennium Falcon left Dagobah, Engel's training began.
"We must do a lot, you must train hard. It will be difficult". Yoda said as he reached for a lightsaber in his hand. "You will face darkness and challenges. But strong you must be… for now everything depends on your destiny."
Yoda handed the lightsaber to Engel, and he turned it on, seeing the blue blade.
"The next time you see your friends… you will be a Jedi."
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Darth Sidious was not the master to be challenged. No one would take kindly to disobedience, no one would allow weakness, no one would let failure go unpunished. Once you fail him, you will face… consequences. You can't hide from it, as he will always know. You can't run away, he will always find you. Once his presence touches yours, nothing will ever be the same. Once you commit With him, there is no turning back. You belong to him, for the rest of your life, or his. When you fail him, you have no choice but to accept and endure whatever punishment he deems right. That was a lesson his apprentice learned over many years, countless times.
"Do you need anything else master?" Vader asked as he continued to kneel in front of the throne.
"When we met again after three years. I was hoping for a more complete report, Lord Vader…" Palpatine smiled mischievously.
Vader knew why his master was smiling that way… he already knew of Engel's existence and his relationship with him.
"Your dear little friend has been very kind in filling in the spaces…". Palpatine's tone of voice changed to annoyance.
His teacher had every right to feel disappointed and to show it in the way he considered appropriate, right?
However, today, even as he was bowing, in front of the person who shaped his life and destiny for years, who took what was left of the abandoned, betrayed, and burned-in life and remade it into what he was now... he had all the reasons to believe in Sidious, forgotten by everyone but him, until she found her way back into his life.
His teacher, the person he had once considered his mentor and friend and a part of him still considered him, was all he had. However, even his teacher lied to him and... used him. But not anymore.
"How could you do this to me, and to my own brother… I am very disappointed Vader. Why precisely with him, he is my brother... How could you deceive me and replace me with him! Palpatine pretended to be hurt and injured.
There's an irrational part of Vader that suddenly feels bad for betraying Sidious even though it was Sidious who betrayed him years ago. Either way, he feels bad about himself.
A part of him hated Sidious for tricking him and using him, taking everything he loved from him, manipulating him into betraying and killing his friends. But another part of him... After having lost everything and being left alone, it was Sidious who saved him from dying on Mustafar after Obi-wan had left him for dead. The only thing he had left in life was Palpatine... who had become his family, he had always been like a father to him.
I hate you from the depths of my being, with the same intensity with which I continue to love you as my father. Vader thought in a delirium of bipolarity. "When I had the accident of my amnesia… I couldn't remember much about my past. But in my dreams I kept seeing your face... your blue eyes, the loving smile you gave me every day when I came to visit you in your office years ago. "I loved you like my father... this affection and admiration that I felt for you continues to beat... and I hate myself for continuing to feel this way for you, master."
Palpatine, with a grimace of annoyance and a frown, thought the following inside of him: Make no mistake, Lord Vader, if I saved your life, it was not out of compassion, but solely because of your potential as a Sith apprentice. He thought with a malicious smile... he no longer needed him as an apprentice, he had found great potential in his son Luke Skywalker. But he still had the utility of it. "Still your thoughts are focused on Engel." Palpatine hisses with anger in his voice.
Vader knew it was true... but now Sidious is furious and that's not good.
Palpatine rises from his throne and places a fallen hand on Vader's shoulder, the hand was human... but his face was not. His touch is possessive. You are mine... you always have been and always will be. Palpatine thought of his thoughts as an echo that reached Vader.
Vader felt the thoughts of his master, he was telling him that he was his alone and no one else's... Sometimes Vader thought there was some affection there, it reminded him of Chancellor Palpatine in the time they were friends... Maybe that paternal friendship we had didn't mean anything to you, but it mattered a lot to me "Forgive me my master... Three years lost in the shadows,... at a village festival, I met Engel... with your brother, and I mistook you for him. Why your face, your blue eyes and your kind smile were never erased from my memory… Engel had that same look of yours, which you gave me every day when he sought your advice and support."
"I want nothing more to do with Engel, my apprentice," Sidious hisses warningly.
"Yes, my master… I serve only you," says Vader, bowing to Sidious.
"Good." Friendly laughter, the sound dark and chilling, but at least he doesn't seem angry anymore, even if Vader knows the disappointment hasn't gone away. "Then destroy your past, Lord Vader. Destroy Anakin Skywalker. He is weak. He prevents you from being a true Sith Lord... destroy him."
"Yes, Master," is all he can say.
"I am well aware of your propensity to cling to your past. That has always been true," Sidious continues. His hand goes from his forehead to his cheek, until it reaches right near where Obi-Wan had opened his face. "The betrayals of those in your past have given you a gift: embrace your hatred, let it give you power. And remember that Anakin was destroyed by those who betrayed him."
"Yes, Master," Vader intones. His voice comes out weak, as always.
A certain note of satisfaction crosses Sidious's face; He seems happy again, and that, at least, is a good sign. "I trust you will not let this deter you any longer, my friend."
"No, Master," Vader responds, without thinking. He can't think right now.
"Well," Sidious purrs, "Through victory, your chains will be broken. And then you will be truly mine. I created you for this, Lord Vader. I hope we never find ourselves in this position again."
He destroys Anakin Skywalker.
It's what he has to do, if he ever wants to be sure of his position under Sidious. Sidious has told him time and time again that the apprentice is always loyal to his master, unless he shows weakness. Sidious has not shown any weakness, so he deserves Vader's loyalty.
And the master can replace the apprentice, if he shows weakness.
Vader is showing weakness.
And he needs to stop.
Sidious is... He's giving him a second chance and he can't afford to lose it. He may be cruel, but he's also...unusually patient, given what Vader deserves.
He's all Vader has.
He is Darth Vader, Darth Sidious's apprentice (slave), and that's all that matters now.