BRENDON WAHLBERG: STAR WARS ~ DARK EMPEROR

The two of them made their way through the rough hills in tense mutual silence for a long stretch. Anakin seemed healthy and strong for his age, and the terrain offered him little challenge. Palpatine had a far more difficult time, but Anakin offered an unquestioning helping hand each time it was necessary to cross a gap or climb a steep slope. Anakin seemed to be enjoying the silence. He must have known his former Master's thoughts and emotions would be seething. Anakin had obviously had time to prepare mentally for their encounter, but for Palpatine, it was all quite a shock. He imagined that each time Anakin helped him cross a dangerous crevasse, the former Sith Lord must be glorying in the reversal of roles. Now Anakin was the one in charge. Now Anakin held the power of life or death for Palpatine. The record of the past did not argue favorably for Anakin using that power in a way that would be beneficial to Palpatine.

When they clambered up onto a small plateau and paused to check for pursuit, the tension simply became too great. Anakin suddenly turned on the former Emperor.

"All right," he said. "Go ahead and say it. I can feel your anger. Go ahead and say what you're thinking."

Palpatine scowled and pointed one twisted, shriveled finger at Anakin. "You killed me," he grated, infusing the accusation with the vitriol of the dark side he knew so well.

"Yes," said Anakin, "I did. But you survived, didn't you."

"You betrayed me at Endor! You chose your son over me!"

It was as if Palpatine's anger drew out Anakin's. An unmistakable echo of Lord Darth Vader could be heard in his reply. "You betrayed me long before that, my old Master! Your Empire was never what you promised it would be. You lured me in with a vision of an ordered galaxy, but your real plans concerned only chaos. In the end, there would have been nothing left for either of us to rule over but shattered planets!"

"These are all lies, Lord Vader -"

"No!" Anakin interrupted, pointing one finger directly at Palpatine. "That is no longer my name, old man. If you use it again, I will give you to the Jedi Legion myself. I am not proud of what I was."

"You mean, what I made you," sneered Palpatine.

"No. That is only another lie. The responsibility for what I did with my life was my own, and belonged to no one else. Not even you. You may have thought I was your slave. Indeed, you held my life in your hands. I had to obey you, or else die. What you tried to do to my son, that was so I would be left with no one of my own. No one but my Master, the Emperor Palpatine. But a part of me was always free. It was that part of me that killed you at Endor. And I would do it again, the same as before."

"I should have seen it coming," said Palpatine bitterly.

"Yes, maybe you should have. My son was right about you. Your overconfidence was your weakness."

Palpatine's lips tightened as he glared at Anakin. Then he cocked his head and smiled ironically. "Ah...but in spite of everything, we had such a long time together, did we not? So many years as Master and servant. We accomplished great things, you and I. The destruction of the Jedi, the creation of an Empire. You served me well, Lord...Anakin. I had good reason to be confident in you. Did you understand, my servant, that knowing you were mine to do with as I wished was one of my true enjoyments in life? An Emperor has so few real pleasures. And so little time to enjoy them."

Anakin frowned, but restrained his own anger. "Mock me all you wish. It changes nothing. Look at the end result of things in the galaxy. You are dead. Your Empire is replaced with a New Republic. My daughter is one of its leaders. My son has recreated the Jedi order, and he will be a Master teaching new students. What did you leave behind you that was permanent? Nothing but death and destroyed lives, mine among them."

Palpatine's face darkened as he withdrew deeper into the shadows of his oversized black hooded robe. "Don't be a fool, Anakin Skywalker. I leave behind the dark side of the Force, and that is eternal. It is a great injustice that neither a man nor his accomplishments can live forever...although I made a very good attempt. But I was the greatest Master of the dark side who ever lived. So long as the Force exists, the memory of what I was will live!"

Anakin was silent as they stared at each other. Finally, he said quietly, "It's not the legacy I would choose."

Of course not, thought Palpatine. One does not choose such a legacy. One is chosen for it, as I was chosen by the dark side. He had only scorn for the things Anakin was proud of. And why was Anakin speaking as if history was over? There was still a chance...there was always still a chance. To return and destroy the New Republic and the new Jedi. To continue his own story, which was not yet ended, but merely interrupted.

"We should join the others in the cave," said Anakin. "I do not see any pursuers, but they cannot be far behind." He seemed to be dismissing the argument.

"How far away is the cave," asked Palpatine sullenly.

"Not far. In fact, we're already there," said Anakin. He crossed to the other side of the plateau and pointed to a half-hidden man-sized hole in the ground.

"That's a cave?" said Palpatine doubtfully.

"There's a huge sinkhole below. This is just the way in. I'm afraid you'll have to jump a little ways, but there is a slope to slide down to the bottom." Anakin gathered his robes, sat down with his legs in the hole, and pushed off to drop in feet first.

Palpatine heard a clatter of pebbles as Anakin landed somewhere within. He walked to the hole and peered into the darkness, but could see nothing. Briefly, he considered simply taking his chances and walking away on his own. But he found that he desired the safety of numbers more than he mistrusted his old servant. Also, Palpatine resented the reversal that left him weaker than Anakin. He decided to stay by Anakin's side and wait for a chance to hurt him and reassert his rightful dominance.

He sat down at the edge of the hole, and with a final look at the silver sky, pushed off and dropped in. He fell for a short distance and landed heavily on a steep slope covered with round stones. Helplessly, he slid down into the darkness, battered by tumbling rocks all the way. Painfully, he landed on a level stone floor, sprawled without dignity at the feet of Anakin Skywalker. As he gathered his robes into a semblance of order, he dimly saw Anakin hold up his hand. A brightly glowing ball of light appeared above his open palm, illuminating the cave to its farthest corners.

Belatedly, Palpatine realized he had not asked who Anakin's companions were. In the new light, he had his first look at them. At Anakin's left side was another old man who wore similar Jedi robes, brown where Anakin's were gray. Next to this white-bearded Jedi was a tiny green-skinned alien with long pointed ears protruding from his wrinkled, bald head. Palpatine knew them both at once.

"So, you have brought him," said Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"As much as I hate to admit it," said Anakin, "this old despot is our last hope."

"A great pity it is," said Yoda, frowning, "that there is not another."

Empatojayos Brand floated in front of the ranks of his Jedi Legion. Behind him were the hills into which the Emperor Palpatine had fled. Brand was a cyborg, and the only remaining human parts of him that were visible were his eyes and nose. Below his nose there was only a round droid body with mechanical arms. This survival suit was a reminder of his years as King of the Ganathan people, as well as of the day when Vader had hunted him and destroyed his ship and his body. Now that he had departed the physical world, the suit was purely a mental construct, entirely his choice to wear. He could represent himself in his young, undamaged body if he wanted to, but the droid body suited him after so long. It contained most of the history of his life, and he did not want to give it up.

Levitating just as he had before his death, Brand addressed the hundreds of Jedi before him. He was proud to be their leader. They revered him for his great deed in removing the Emperor from the galaxy forever. But Brand knew that in the crowd were Jedi much greater than himself. It was to his great honor that they had chosen to follow him.

He looked over the ranks, pausing to make eye contact with those he knew well, or those he had come to know here, after his death. He saw Jem and Rayf from Ossus, two young warriors who had perished in the final struggles against Palpatine. There, too, were the twins, Denin and Vila, who had done their work so well in their role as scouts. Brand saw the aged, insect-faced creature known as Jedidiah, who had won Brand's admiration with his tale of sacrificing his own life for Luke Skywalker's. It reminded Brand of his own sacrifice in the Fortress of Modon Kira on Onderon. Then there was Dev Sibwarra, the young man who had helped save Luke during the Battle of Bakura. Brand knew some of these beings had, like him, encountered Luke Skywalker during their lives. They had played a small role in the rise of the only remaining Jedi Master, whose light would lead a new generation of students to serve the Force.

But these were just a minority of the Jedi gathered here. Most of the Jedi had died before Luke Skywalker had ever learned about his destiny. But Brand had something in common with them, too. They were victims of the Emperor's Purge, slain by Palpatine's heavily armed assassins, by his puppet Sith Lord, or by the dark Emperor himself. They had remained here in this realm to watch the fate of the galaxy after their murders, hoping against hope to see the disaster somehow redeemed. And now, they had a chance to do something none of them had ever expected. They had the opportunity to decide the final fate of the Emperor, their destroyer.

"Fellow Jedi!" cried Brand. "The Emperor Palpatine is indeed in this realm, as I told you he would be. When I died, I imprisoned his very essence and carried it with me as I crossed over. I was separated from him, but I knew in my heart that he would still come here. Now we have found him! Denin and Vila have seen him with their own eyes, as he emerged from the Bowl of the Mists. Now he is finally ours to deal with. We have our plan, and all the players are in position. Are all of you ready to play your roles in bringing about the Emperor's end?"

Hundreds of voices, human and a multitude of other species, cried out in affirmation.

"Are all of you ready to do what we have agreed to do?" cried Brand. "It will be difficult for some of you. I know how you feel. But we are Jedi! This is, and forever will be, our way! Are all of you with me?"

Again, every voice shouted agreement. Although Brand's mouth was gone, he smiled in his heart. Then he turned and began to lead his army into the hills, in search of the Emperor.

"What are you two doing here?!" Palpatine snarled at Obi-Wan and Yoda. "Didn't the Jedi Legion want you?"

Kenobi let out a troubled sigh. "Yoda and I are here," he said tiredly, "because of our loyalty to Anakin. We cannot stand by and let the other Jedi destroy him for his crimes as Darth Vader. Such a punishment is too extreme. He was my student and my friend before he was Vader. I can do nothing less than stand by him now."

"So...you are all fugitives from the Jedi," said Palpatine slowly, a leering smile forming on his wasted face, "because you are protecting Darth Vader from the hungry mob, which cries out for his blood."

Anakin scowled and took a step towards Palpatine. "I warned you not to call me by that name again," he nearly shouted.

Palpatine faced Anakin squarely, not backing down from the taller man. "And what will you do to me, a defenseless old man? I am in a nest of my old enemies, with another army of foes at the doorstep. Will you kill me again, my old servant? Are you strong enough to finish the job? And what does it matter to me? I can die here, or I can die out there! But perhaps it matters to you! I have been brought here for a reason. You need me for something, though you are loath to tell me what it is." Palpatine grinned with all of his rotted teeth, gazing into the furious face of Anakin. "Well then...as you can see, I am your faithful servant." His grin turned swiftly into a frown. "You should enjoy it while you can."

"Emperor," rasped Yoda in a serious, commanding voice, "have you not taken enough satisfaction from his pain in your lifetime? More serious matters there are to concern us. Fugitives are we...and so are you. If your own life matters to you, then do not mock Anakin for helping you."

Palpatine glared at Yoda. "In my Empire," he stated, "you would not have been allowed on the streets of Imperial City without a human master. I do not take orders from tiny little alien creatures."

Yoda only stared at him with a hint of pity in his ancient eyes.

Frustrated, Palpatine pointed at Anakin, who was standing rigidly nearby. "Explain to me then, little Jedi Master," he demanded, "why you are here with this Dark Jedi, and your fellow Masters are out there hunting him? Do you know better than they about Jedi justice? Why are you willing to die to protect the Dark Lord of the Sith?"

Kenobi stepped in at that moment. "Anakin redeemed himself at the end of his life. Before he died, he threw off the influence of the dark side in order to save his son. In saving Luke Skywalker's life, he accomplished a great deed for the light side of the Force. The other Jedi cannot see beyond the darkness of his deeds as Darth Vader. They treat Anakin's redemption as merely a technical conversion to the light. It is not enough to earn their forgiveness. But for us -"

"I want to hear the Jedi Master's own answer," interrupted Palpatine firmly.

Yoda looked at Kenobi. Their eyes met for a few seconds, then Yoda faced Palpatine again. "When Luke went to face his father," Yoda said with great dignity, "Obi-Wan feared that lost was our last hope. Told him I did, that there was another...Luke's sister. But...wrong was I. There was yet another hope...Luke's father. Never did you fully destroy Anakin Skywalker. Kept him by your side, you did. And so you kept your death by your side, Emperor. Among us, Anakin is welcome, for though we looked for it not, to our aid did he come."

"So," said Palpatine with disgust. "Everyone is happy. Do you expect me to believe that? Is there no anger between you? Are you really the peaceful Jedi you claim to be? I don't think so." Palpatine allowed his voice to drip with sarcasm and mockery. "Obi-Wan Kenobi...have you truly forgiven your beloved student for killing you in cold blood aboard the Death Star? I watched the entire duel myself through the Force. When you were weak and surrounded, your student cut you down. Your friend did not hesitate for a moment." Palpatine laughed harshly. "But didn't he hurt you even more by deserting your teachings for mine?" Palpatine paused to enjoy the troubled look on Kenobi's face. "Oh...but I am sure these are old wounds, long since healed."

Palpatine watched his companions' faces carefully. Anakin was looking pained, and he hesitantly searched Kenobi's face for reassurance. Kenobi seemed to have none to offer. With evident discomfort, he looked away and did not meet Anakin's eyes. The growing pain and guilt soothed Palpatine. He had always enjoyed the pain of others. With the power of the dark side, he had been able to feed on it. But even blind to the Force, he was clearly able to see the obvious conflicts in this volatile little group. Swiftly, he pressed his advantage.

"Anakin," he said with sour softness. "You cannot tell me that you have forgiven your first Master. When I was your Master, you confided in me how much you hated him. Yes...your hate was deep, so deep. You told me of how he fought you on Horuz, how he wounded you so terribly with his lightsaber. Is that what a friend and a teacher does? He left you a seared ruin, crippled and dying...he left you for me to save. And then..." Palpatine lowered his voice to a whisper. "Then he stole your children from you. He gave them to other men to raise. You never had a chance with them. They were hidden from you and turned against you."

Palpatine could see that he had struck a nerve with that last comment. Anakin's face sagged, and he seemed to age ten years in a moment. Unable to face Palpatine, he spoke to the stone walls of the cave. His voice was uneven, and the ball of light he held seemed to dim slightly. "My son...found the good in me. And my daughter forgave me."

"But was that enough to make up for what was stolen from you?" Palpatine pressed. There was no answer.

Then Yoda spoke up again, very quietly. "Anger is of the dark side. And serve it we do not."

The former Emperor suddenly spat out his disdain. "Bah! You are all so pathetic! Too weak even to face your own anger. You never understood the value of anger, Kenobi, Yoda. It lives in you, but you are afraid to face it! You act as if Vader does not deserve your anger, after everything he did to the galaxy, to the Jedi order! You...are...fools! You deserve to be destroyed by those Jedi out there. At least, they know what to do with their anger! At least, when they destroy me, I will die at the hands of people who I can understand. People who hate me the way I hate them. Yes...the way I hate you!" Palpatine turned on Yoda. "If I still had the power of the dark side within me, I would destroy you for training Luke Skywalker!"

Yoda remained impassive. Pointing one clawed finger at Palpatine, he calmly answered, "You had the power, but destroy me you could not. You are no longer the Emperor. Your boasts," he shook his head, "are empty."

"You survived by hiding like a coward," Palpatine shot back. "Just like Kenobi." Facing the tense Obi-Wan, he continued his verbal assault. "When my Purge swept the galaxy clean of the Jedi scum, you cowered on Tatooine, nursing Skywalker. I only wish you had stayed hidden. You interference cost me greatly. You helped Skywalker to destroy my Death Star. And the other child you secreted away, Leia, stole my Holocron and tricked me into releasing her brother! But you do not dwell on your successes, do you, my old enemy? You only think about your failures. You blamed yourself for Anakin's so-called fall, and you spent years trying to make up for your so-called mistake. I have nothing but disdain for your guilt and angst. Anakin's awakening to the true power was not your failure! It was my achievement!"

Kenobi refused to be drawn into an argument. He looked at Palpatine's fierce expression with a vague loathing evident on his own face.

"You think you are so very different from me," said Palpatine sharply. "But you are not. Tell me you never hated me for taking him away from you. Tell me you did not enjoy your part in the destruction of my battle station. Tell me you took no satisfaction in that revenge. That you had no shred of anger in your heart as you prepared Luke Skywalker as a weapon against me. That you did not feel a cold satisfaction when your plan succeeded, and I was annihilated with the second Death Star, hurled into the core shaft for the sake of your student. Tell me that you have never felt as I do...and I will tell you that you lie."

Kenobi's gaze was very hard as he answered coldly, "Don't you think we know what you are trying to do? We understand you all too well. Even here, when we are all in danger, you strike out at those who would help you, for the sole purpose of doing harm. We expected this from you, and we will not let you divide us. You only have power over us here if we let you. And that is not going to happen. Once, we underestimated your cunning. It will never happen again."

Palpatine fell silent. He realized suddenly that he had erred. When he had tried to turn Anakin and Kenobi against each other, he had almost succeeded. But when he had attacked them himself, he had only reminded them that he was their mutual enemy. For now, he had failed to hurt them. But there was still time to try again. Perhaps Obi-Wan and Anakin were too strong. Yoda seemed to be the weakest of the three. Not only was he a nonhuman, he was small and extremely old as well. Maybe, if he waited for the right moment...

Palpatine turned and walked into the shadows of the cave, signaling his temporary surrender. There he found a large flat stone to stretch out on. Gathering his robes together, he lay down with his back to the Jedi. Yes, he needed to bide his time. He had a priceless opportunity here. He might soon die at the hands of the Jedi Legion, but before the end, he would repay his greatest enemies for what they had done to him. A pity young Skywalker was not here as well. But Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Anakin were fine substitutes. Perhaps he could betray them when they counted on him to give whatever help of his they coveted. It would almost be worth it to be executed by the Jedi, knowing that three of his most hated opponents were dying with him. He needed only to wait. An opportunity would present itself. They think I am helpless, he thought. They will find that it is they who are mistaken...about everything.

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