Chapter 19 - Machinations
In the depths of the Imperial Palace, Vader stood in his personal workshop, alone with his thoughts. He now owned what was, quite possibly, the most advanced private collection of tools, machines, and equipment on the planet. And the last week had done nothing to change that. After his victory over the rebels, Blas-Tech and a dozen other companies made overtures and prostrations by sending him endless thanks in the form of supplies, gear, and everything else a talented engineer might want. It included more than a few beta designs they'd hoped the Dark Lord would put to the test.
However, Emperor Vader was far from thrilled that they even thought to use him for their early adoption. Still, the sort of man who would build his own pod racer and droid before the onset of adolescence couldn't help but enjoy himself. That would come later, though. Other thoughts occupied the Sith Lord's mind at the moment.
In front of him, holographic blueprints hovered in the air. Contained in a Sith Holocron he kept on his person at all times, the designs of his new suit begged to be built, modified, tested, and improved. The many ideas should allow the Sith to reclaim much of his physical abilities from his time before that fateful duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi. In particular, access to the more acrobatic techniques of the various Forms.
Longing for the day he would be able to build his new suit, Vader used the Force to lock the Holocron and the images flickered, vanishing. Placing the data device back into a pouch on his belt, Vader examined his lightsaber. Another flawed tool that he could not yet improve.
If he was going to acquire a Krayt Dragon pearl to use as the new heart of a rebuilt saber, he couldn't face the creature in untested gear. Limited and compromised though they may be, Darth Vader had come to understand his current body and the blade he now wielded. If he hoped to defeat Tatooine's greatest predator, he'd do so as he was.
Or he would die.
One more test. Another in a long line provided by the Dark Side to fuel the growth of the Chosen One. Vader accepted it for what it was. Looking back, he'd experienced many successes and failures. The battle with his former Masters on and above Mustafar were, in their own way, loss and victory all rolled into one. Surely Vader was now weaker than the limitless potential Anakin Skywalker once possessed.
But.
But, his growth in the Force could not be denied. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker would perish if faced with the Death Star's weapon, but Darth Vader prevailed. And he would prevail once more when the time came to claim the heart of his new lightsaber.
Lord Vader raised his right hand and stared at the mechanical prosthetic. During the Clone Wars, Skywalker refused a more realistic appendage. Choosing instead something durable, designed to survive the rigors of war, and now Vader approved. Perhaps once, the man he used to be dreamed of peace and a synthetic right hand to match his biological left.
Kshhhhhh
"Peace is a lie."
Vader strode out of his workshop, cape flowing behind him like the oncoming night. And he prepared to deal with the issues of the day as he did any problem.
The Sith way.
###
The political landscape of the Galactic Empire was an ever changing storm over surging waters. Alliances made and broken, practically on the hour at times, would come together and split again before the sun could reach its height in the sky. However, even within the roiling maelstrom of the political sector, patterns could be discerned.
Amongst the military, there were the usual factions. Ground forces, the naval administration, pilots, and so on. But the distinct factions beyond that? First, the loyalists, firmly under Vader and Tarkin's control. They'd managed a careful, but efficient expansion of this most valuable ally over the months, slowly absorbing or removing obstacles to Imperial dominance.
Next, a faction in support of the Empire, but not necessarily Vader himself. During any change of administration, there would be those who looked at the throne and thought, 'why not me?'
Lastly, the men and women who held some sympathy or fondness for the Republic. Sentimentalists, as far as Tarkin was concerned, too absorbed with the idea of a government long since rotted. It was these most easily cajoled into joining Tarkin's faction. All it took was a plain look at the gross corruption rampant in the body politic, or on occasion the direct actions of Emperor Vader, to show them the strengths of centralized power. In this case, the remnants of the Republic, or the after effects of its malfeasance, did most of the work. Taking members of all three factions along to witness the battle against the Death Star didn't hurt either. More than one plot against the Emperor ended when officers aboard every ship witnessed a beam of green light curve through space.
It was, however, the body politic, where the real work was done. Its factions, more distinct and disparate than elsewhere, needed a different kind of shepherding. First, those bureaucrats convinced by Palpatine and then cowed by Vader into obedience, proved able and valuable allies. With their fingers in so many pies, they managed a great degree of influence on Coruscant.
Then came the Old Republic loyalists. True believers in the Senate and the Jedi order. Those like Bail Organa and Mon Mothma. However, their care for the people did temper the more drastic impulses of that group. Impulses the extremists gave into. Here though, Vader showed his expertise. Giving into those very impulses was a sure path towards the Dark Side. And the Lord of the Sith could use that. Rather than outright stopping the hard line faction, far better to push them into actions which could be used to further cement Imperial preference amongst the populace.
And therein lay Vader's tactical acumen. By giving the extremists enough rope to hang themselves, they tarred the moderates by degree, forcing any politician focused on peace to stray ever closer to towing the Imperial line.
In an effort to preserve the Republic, of course, but it shifted the political winds, all the same.
Not that they were unaware of these facts, but the moderates had little choice in the matter. Sidious would approve and Padme would begrudgingly admit it was effective, if not entirely her preferred method.
Vader, more than once, privately admitted his own methods were becoming an amalgam of his Sith Master and late wife.
The Emperor's fists clenched at the memory of a smile long since lost to time.
Across the great desk, Tarkin, several officers of the Imperial military, two moderate senators, and the Grand Inquisitor shuddered. As his power grew, even those without a sense of the Force became able to feel something. The lizard hind-brain was nothing if not efficient in recognizing a danger, and Vader was the apex predator on Coruscant. The memory of his wife, kept locked away, bubbled forth in the form of an unfocused rage.
"Lord Vader?" Mon Mothma said.
Vader's helmet tilted towards the only woman in the room and, a sign of her firm will, she didn't flinch.
Kshhhhhh
"You've read the reports, Senators?" he said, putting a lid on those thoughts.
"Of course, Lord Vader. Naturally, we disavow the actions of these people, but surely you can understand why we would want to speak to the only confirmed survivor of Palpatine's Jedi purge?"
Tarkin, the Inquisitor, and Vader all caught Mon Mothma's words. Palpatine's Purge. Not Vader's. An obvious play at distancing the current ruler from the actions of the previous administration. Nonetheless, a ploy not entirely without merit. If the time came to make overtures of peace, it may prove useful to place the blame for Order 66 squarely on the grave of Darth Sidious.
Kshhhhhh
"I can guarantee you, other Jedi exist. But I take your meaning, Senator. Grand Moff Tarkin will arrange an official visit."
"Just like that?" Organa asked.
"If I opposed it, do you think Jocasta Nu would still draw breath? I command the might of the Dark Side of the Force. Obviously, the Senate would seek to acquire a Jedi. A counter to myself and the Inquisitorius."
Mon Mothma and Bail Organa shared a look of surprise, tainted by suspicion.
"If you cannot trust Master Nu, then seek out a Force-sensitive on your own, it matters little to me where you find an advocate to speak on behalf of Senatorial interests but," Vader said and raised a finger, pointing at the de facto leaders of the moderate faction. "Do so quickly. I will not hold back my goals because of your own recalcitrance."
"Your goals? Total control of the galaxy, you mean?" Organa accused, eyes narrowing at the Emperor.
"Mind yourself, Senator," Vader warned. "I have given you both far more leeway than any other member of the Imperial Senate enjoys, but it is not without limits. Lest you forget Mas Amedda's fate." Those gathered in the Dark Lord's office felt the chill, and the pair of Senators took notice of the two military officers, Tarkin's underlings, who surreptitiously shifted, putting a few extra inches of distance between themselves and the politicians.
Darth Vader interlaced his fingers and laid both hands on the desk in front of him. Even seated, he could still look several of the individual's opposite him in the eye. And he wasn't above using that height to his advantage on other occasions, but he had plans for the moment.
Kshhhhhh
"You wish to speak on another matter," Vader said. A statement, not a question. It was the Senators who requested this meeting, and speaking with a prisoner wouldn't require a personal meeting in the Imperial Palace.
Organa and Mothma glanced at each other and shared a fleeting expression of pain. Whatever they wanted, it wasn't a comfortable topic. After a moment of hesitation, Bail went first. "We've been," he started, vaguely waving a hand in the air as he searched for the word, "blackmailed, I suppose, or threatened."
"Few on Coruscant would have the steel to take a stab at Imperial Senators," the Grand Inquisitor commented.
"Not on Coruscant," Mothma said. "Our home worlds."
Vader moved, rising in that slow, yet smooth manner of a trained fighter. Not fast, and yet suddenly he was at his full height, looming over everyone else. "Then the ones being threatened are not you, but your friends and families."
"Correct, Lord Vader," Mothma answered with a sigh. "Radicals. They've sent proof. Pictures, videos, information that should be classified. If we don't offer our support for more extreme actions, like the attack on the Blas-Tech building…"
"Both Chandrila and Alderaan," Bail continued. "Somehow they've managed to get their hands on enough military gear to ensure our private security won't stand in their way."
"More than a few supply ships were lost in shuffle between the Old Republic and the current Empire," Tarkin said. "As Lord Vader can attest, the criminal elements of the Core are not lacking in funds. Even with his actions here on the Capital, we still haven't fully extended control to other planets."
"Is their anything you can do, Lord Vader. Extra protection, an investigation, some sort of precautions to keep our families safe?"
"No."
"No!?" Organa shouted, the indignation already bubbling up from the pit of his stomach.
Kshhhhhh
"I will deal with them myself."
Bail's outrage fell flat and he sputtered to a halt. "Y-you'll what?"
"It is past time I make a tour of the Core worlds. You will leak the information of my upcoming visits to these rebels."
"Lord Vader," Mothma said, genuine concern edging into her voice. "You'd be walking right into a trap."
Kshhhhhh
"And when they've sprung their trap, there will be no escape."
###
After the others left, Tarkin and the Grand Inquisitor remained behind to speak with Darth Vader.
"It would seem using the bounty hunter to deliver weapons and supplies to the rebels has worked, Lord Vader," the Grand Moff said.
"All is as you foresaw," the Pau'un added.
Kshhhhhh
"Cad Bane has proven useful, yes, but there is much to do if I am to prepare the galaxy for what comes. While I am gone, the vermin will no doubt rise out of their holes. A good field test of your new Inquisitors. See to it," Vader ordered.
"As you will, Lord Vader," he said and placed one hand on his chest, bowing deeply.
"Using this trip as cover, I will make my way to the Outer Rim."
Arching an eyebrow, Tarkin asked, "Why there? I understand we sent the Inquisitor and Tenth to retrieve the boy you learned of through the Holocron, but why go so far yourself?"
Vader's lightsaber lifted off its stand on the desk and floated into the Emperor's waiting hand. "Have you forgotten? The Krayt Dragon makes its home on Tatooine. Prepare a ship with enough room for Black Squadron. We leave within one rotation."