Chapter Sixteen:
Protesting in The Palace
Peace and security, the promise made by Palpatine at the dawn of the Empire.
In the years since that day, everyone had seen that promise was nothing more than a lie. And that was how dictatorships began, with promises that were lies. The Empire never represented peace and order, and a good many people on Coruscant saw that now.
All of those executions, all of those military campaigns against the worlds beyond the core, the Imperial government had been persecuting those who saw the truth while waging war against what remained of the Old Republic's ideals of freedom. Corruption brought forth the Empire, corruption that had grown within the Republic senate for years.
For a time, even prior to the death of Emperor Palpatine, many citizens on the upper and lower levels of Coruscant were starting to awaken to the truth. It initially started as a small minority, and now, it was a larger number of people.
Despite the efforts of the Stormtroopers, despite all of the regulations that had been enforced since Endor, the anti-Imperial demonstrators had increased their numbers with each protest they'd conducted.
As their numbers increased, the protestors made plans to march upon the Imperial palace, and speak with whomever was in charge, no matter what happened.
The light of dawn hung over the towers of the building that had once been the Jedi Temple, and the large red Imperial banners of power shuddered in the early morning breeze as they rested over the sides of the palace they'd been established upon. Stormtroopers patrolled the palace grounds, bearing blue markings on their armor, with a few wearing orange shoulder pauldrons.
TIE Fighters soared in circles around the perimeter near the Imperial Palace, and a pair of Imperial cruisers flew in with shipments of cargo from other worlds still held by the Empire. A few probe droids hovered around, beeping and whirring in an ominous manner.
"Hey. What's that?" A Stormtrooper inquired.
Heavy footsteps and clamoring carried it's way into the main area near the gates of the palace, and an on-duty high-ranking officer peered through his viewing scanner, surveying the outside perimeter as well as the other sectors of the heavily-guarded Imperial Palace grounds.
The voices and footsteps got louder, with a few shouts of "NO MORE IMPERIAL LAW" being heard clearly, and a large crowd of people, consisting of humans, Rodians, Twi'leks, and Durons, came into the full view of the guards as they stormed towards the palace with protest signs held high as a pair of protestors brandished military-grade blasters.
"Restore democracy!" A protestor cried, "Bring back the Senate!"
"Down with The Empire!" Someone shouted.
"Long live the spirit of the Old Republic!"
"Give us freedom!"
"The Empire doesn't bring peace! It brings death and tyranny!"
Half-terrified, the officer shot a look at the Stormtrooper commander, pointed to the protestors, and backed away towards the palace. The troopers held their blasters steady, and the commander stepped in front of his men.
"Arms at the ready!" The commander ordered, and the Stormtroopers raised their weapons, "We will handle this accordingly!"
The protestors marched closer with a man in a militaristic uniform with pieces of Stormtrooper armor leading the display. The protest leader stepped forward, holding a sign that read; "No more lies! Restore freedom!"
"You are near a restricted area." The Stormtrooper commander intoned, "All anti-Imperial demonstrations are, as decreed by Imperial law, seen as an act of insolence. Protests near the Imperial Palace are prohibited, and anyone who speaks out against the Empire will be severely condemned..."
"Free the Galaxy!" A Rodian yelled.
"TRAITOROUS WORMS!" A female Twi'lek screamed.
"Lying Bantha Poodoo!"
"DEATH TO THE EMPIRE! DEATH TO THE EMPIRE! DEATH TO THE EMPIRE!" A handful of people in the crowd chanted.
The commander raised his arm, and blaster fire rang out. A Rodian dropped dead as smoke rose from the hole in his chest, and his protest sign fell from his palm in moments. The man leading the protests lunged at the commander, and punched him, knocking the Stormtrooper to the ground as every protestor brought up their weapons upon the nearby troopers.
The palace grounds erupted into a full-blown war zone, and a pair of Rodians threw a couple custom-made grenades at a couple Stormtroopers, blowing them to ground zero. Blaster fire streaked everywhere, and a droid whacked an officer on the head with a protest sign.
Explosions shook the palace gates as the protestors surged in, tackling the red-robed guards and white-armored soldiers with brute force. One man ripped off the helmet of a guard and punched him in the face before declaring, "KILL THE IMPERIAL ANIMALS!"
A burly Twi'lek raised a railgun with a shout, and let loose with a volley of blaster fire that tore into the body of a Red Guard, shredding the life out of him in seconds. The wild mob broke viciously through the row of Stormtroopers, and began swarming the halls, declaring "PALPATINE WAS WRONG" and "THE EMPIRE IS KILLING THE GALAXY" in a brutal fashion.
"END THE EMPIRE! END THE EMPIRE!" The crowd roared.
"THE REBELS ARE RIGHT!"
"WE WANT FREEDOM! DOWN WITH TYRANNY! BRING BACK DEMOCRACY!"
"OUT WITH THE EMPIRE! OUT WITH THE EMPIRE! OUT WITH THE EMPIRE!"
Legions of troopers, officers, and red guards were racing into action, trying to contain the protests, and chaotic firefighting filled the halls. Grenades flew, blaster bolts streaked about, and bodies fell. A protestor drove a knife into the face of a Stormtrooper, killing him in a matter of several moments, before a couple demonstrators stomped on a guard furiously.
"THE ONLY GOOD EMPIRE IS A DEAD EMPIRE!" A man barked at a fallen Stormtrooper.
"LET DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM REIGN AGAIN!"
Emboldened by their advances and their attack against the Imperials, the mob pressed on with their ruthless raid, taking out guards in every direction. Panic set in among the troopers and officers in that moment. Power never panicked, but this was a moment where the Empire's best men found themselves facing the most dire of situations.
While the Rebel Alliance hadn't launched a daring attack on the city planet, the fact that a horde of protestors had seamlessly raided the palace with few casualties was enough to leave a regular Imperial on edge.
The fighting intensified, more blasters went off, and more grenades went everywhere, resulting in more damage to the halls that had once been walked by the most legendary of beings in the time before the rise of the Empire. The protests increased, with more declarations for the return of democracy, the revival of the Republic, and...
Ominous mechanical breathing echoed through the halls, and the fire-fighting subsided. The Stormtroopers backed away, going into somewhat of a retreat mode, and a few officers gulped before they hid themselves. The protestors looked around, wondering where the noise was coming from.
"Defiance... Rebellion... Disorder..." A deep voice boomed, "Ideals that serve no purpose other than to bring instability and destruction to the galaxy. You cry for the Empire to fall, begging for the Republic to be restored, and neither of you consider why that government was cast aside for the New Order to take it's place..."
Cold chills crawled up the back of many sentient beings, and mechanical footsteps resonated upon the floor and the palace walls.
"When one refuses to accept order, it ignites a spark, one that will eventually become a fire, the flame of rebellion." The voice went on, "Rebel against the system, and everything will degrade into chaos. This destructive conflict ravaging the galaxy shows how far many people will go to bring down the symbol of order."
"Neither of you know the true will of the Empire, and the true nature of order. It is through the Empire where stability can be achieved, which the Republic failed to inspire, which the treasonous leaders of the Rebellion know little of. Soon, this war will end, and the galaxy will answer to the order it was destined to follow. My order..."
Unease settled in among the protestors. And, within moments, as the breathing got louder, all eyes settled upon a figure clad in black with a cape and a skull-like helmet. A black human in broken Stormtrooper armor stepped forward, observing the mysterious Imperial.
"Who the hell are you?!" The protestor demanded.
Darth Vader drew a cold raspy breath. "The Emperor of a thousand worlds..." He intoned, "The true leader of the Empire, and the embodiment of the Dark Side of The Force. I am Darth Vader, the Sith in the shadows, and the executioner of those who defy the Empire's will."
Vader drew his lightsaber from beneath his cape, and the crimson red blade ignited with the tap of a button and an ominous hiss. He held his weapon firmly, with his orange eyes blazing beneath the shadow of his mask.
"Kneel before the Empire, bow before your true leader..." Vader demanded, "...and submit to my will."
"TO HELL WITH YOU!"
A midweight Twi'lek fired a railgun at the Dark Lord, unleashing every ounce of plasma that he had. Vader raised a hand, and the bolts stopped in midair. The dark Force user brimmed with fury, and dispelled the blaster bolts in every direction. And then, he reached out with the Force, and dragged a Rodian protestor towards him.
Vader swung his lightsaber, and the red blade cut through the demonstrator's body at the chest area. The Rodian said nothing, and his cleaved remains crashed into the wall as a couple people screamed in horror.
He glared at the protestors, and marched forward with murderous intent. Vader lifted a fist in the air, choking and levitating a Duros before cutting him down. Blaster fire from the demonstrators whizzed around him, and Vader brought down his weapon, bisecting, and beheading and slicing up protestors with the Dark Side coursing through him.
No one had a chance against Darth Vader.
One-by-one, within moments, they were dead on the floor, even before some of them could fire a shot.
Vader marched on, lifting a pair of Twi'Leks in the air, and slashed their legs off, then he pulled down a shapely Twi'lek female before impaling her through the heart. The blade came up, and slashed through the neck of a Rodian, beheading him in mere seconds. Vader raised his lightsaber against an old man, and bisected him from head-to-toe.
Stormtroopers flooded the halls, firing at the confused protestors, and signs littered the floor along with dismembered bodies. The protest leader fired a shot at the Sith Lord, which had little effect, and Vader spun around, aiming the lightsaber at his face. Another body added to the pile...