Star Wars - Emperor

Power.

Darth Vader felt the strenght surging through his veins with every taken breath. He knew, that with a single gesture he could have destroyed the planetary city spanning before his eyes. Extinguishing the pulsating lights on the skyscrapers and the colourful advertising neons, crushing tiny flickers of life hidden inside the durasteel buildings... He was the ruler of Coruscant. And the whole Galaxy.

He closed his eyes, allowing fresh memories to surface. What he saw twisted his face into an expression of pure sadism.

He saw the face of Obi-Wan, frozen in an almost hillarious mixture of pain and disbelief. He recalled the whole scene with the tiniest of details; a pale-blue saber thrusted into his former master's chest. The heat, emanating from the magma flowing mere metre behind his back. The disturbance in the Force, echoing like a scream of despair...

Slaying this proud, overconfident Jedi gave Vader an unimaginable pleasure. He wanted to wait just a while longer, to see with his own eyes as the river of lava consumes Obi-Wan's dead body. But seeing his former master turn to ash was a luxury Vader could not have afforded. Time and duty called.

Sidious. A powermongering, treacherous, vile snake. But at the same time ambitious and powerful enough to be an unpredictable and dangerous foe. The decision was made as soon as Vader had felt the Emperor's presence in the Force far above Mustafar.

Events unfolded quickly – he was already waiting on the landing platform when the shuttle begun its approach. The scorching wind blew from above the lava streams. He felt the dry heat when he took his hood off and started his slow walk towards the disembarking group. Surrounded by armour-clad clones, Palpatine seemed to be completely inconspicuous.

Activated saber's hiss ripped the air before the Emperor could have finished his first sentence. With one swift move, Vader turned the tip of the blade towards Sidious' chest and stabbed with all his might. The odour of burnt flesh made it though the smell of molten sulfur.

But Palpatine was not surprised. A grimace of pain was quick – almost invisible – and was instantly replaced with a mysteroius, inscrutable face. Apart from his own reflection, Vader saw something strange in those reptilian eyes. Did the old man forsee the treason? Was there any hidden purpose in his death? How far did his visions, intrigues and plots reach?

Vader opened his eyes. He preferred not to know. He feared the doubts that might have come along with such answers.

Led by an impulse, he turned his back on the panoramic window and rushed into the depths of the „inherited" apartment. He quickly crossed the audience chamber, passing by the previous owner's round desk in the centre, and entered the ornamented hall, with numerous bronzium statues standing under each wall. He stopped in front of one of the figures and used the Force to flick the hidden switch inside. The statute slowly moved aside, revealing a hidden door behind. Another gesture – and the durasteel plate hid in the floor, opening the passage to a small chamber, filled with electronics and medical equipment. Walking as quietly as he could, Vader stepped inside.

In the middle of the air-conditioned chamber, safe in their incubators, slept the twins. Vader checked the screen of a stationary medical droid – according to the report, they were developing normally and it would be possible to relocate then into normal beds soon. He sighed with relief. Two weeks of constant fear and uncertinity were finally coming to an end.

The girl jerked and opened her eyes with effort. Under her sight, the shell of hate and anger surrounding Vader's heart started to melt. For a short while, carried by an impulse of fatherhood feelings, the old Anakin Skywalker surfaced. The Emperor turned into a father.

Choosing a name for the girl was not a problem. She resembled her grandmother so much... On the other hand, the boy posed some troubles – it was no sooner than on the third day of his life when the loyal (and unaware of the recent events) C-3PO suggested naming the child after a hero of one of Anakin's childhood stories. Luke. A short and nice name. A fitting one for the only son and heir.

It took some effort to turn away from the incubators. Skywalker took a glance on a bacta-filled cylinder, standing in the corner. Padme, deep in coma, was floating inside. Vader shivered with disgust. Every remnant of the feeling he once felt towards her was swept away on Mustafar, once he learnt about her betrayal. Still, he simply couldn't force himself to kill her once she gave birth to his children. Even though she was useless. And dangerous. All in all, she was the one to bring Obi-Wan to Mustafar. He wasn't even sure what would she be up to once she regains consciousness...

Still, a part of his heart – quite possibly the very same one that was responsible for his non-Sith feelings towards the children – resisted the urge to punish Padme. The conflict was present, no matter how strong Vader tried to deny the it.

Suddenly, the Sith detected a presence in the elevator leading to the apartment's floor. Without hurry he left and sealed the room, at the same time probing the guests' mind with the Force. He seemed to be one of Palpatine's lackeys. A greedy careerist , whose only purpose in life was to grovel before the ones who currently possess power. Vader met dozens of such people – on Naboo, Coruscant, Tatooine... They were ubiquitous and identical – if you played the right tune, they soon started dancing like some low-class cantina droids.

Vader checked his lightsaber, took a deep breath and opened the entrace door with the Force once he felt the guests' presence behind. He grinned, seeing the courtsman's hand, frozen halfway towards the opening panel and the blink of surprise in his mindless eyes. Let the fool know the power of the Force.

„Welcome, Pestage" He greeted the clerk with his exercised, powerful voice „What news do you bring regarding the clone rebellion on Murkhana?"