Damn him!
Damn him to the lowest levels of the lowest hells!
Betrayed! Betrayed again!

He will pay…
 

An icy chill settled over Emperor Palpatine’s arms and brow, as the thought of his final, fitting revenge against the man that had betrayed him took shape. Palpatine was a being few could challenge, a being armed with devastating amounts of cunning, vast amounts of intelligence, and a power matched by none, save One.

And that One betrayed him.

Palpatine focused his rage, let it flow into all of his being. Familiar energies surged within him, and the world became tinged with a red glow that matched his anger. Reaching out to those dark energies, he bent them to his Will, focusing them into an action that soon became his reality.

His world slowed, and time stilled to a crawl.  His heart beat became a methodical drumming to his ears, and the air around him cracked and whistled. He could just make out the last of the blue and white arcs of Force lighting that had moments ago shot forth from his hands, a futile gesture of rage and revenge.

He had succeeded in slowing the decent of his scarred and Force ravaged body. But he was still falling. Still plummeting to his finality. The Dark Side of the Force gave him access to so many abilities, but not the power to overcome the merciless, unyielding, gravity that hurled him closer to the end of this life.

Emperor Palpatine was falling down the reactor core of the second Death Star.

Despite the peril of his fall, Palpatine reflected on the irony of his current situation. He had demanded that a new and improved weapon be constructed to serve his Will. A weapon that would obliterate any that opposed him. A weapon of unlimited power - a power that mirrored the man who it was being constructed for.
And now it was gone. All gone. And all because of one man. A man who was supposed to be his one true ally. A man who had been by his side through decades of conflict, decades spent in the taming of a galaxy, and the extinction of those who would dare to oppose him.
And with this life drawing to a close, Palpatine could not help but berate himself. Now of course, it was clear - crystal clear - he made but one single error. And that error in judgment, that lack of vision, had now sealed his fate.
Yes, he reflected, he had been betrayed, not only by his apprentice, but by his one flaw, the one error that had cost him all.
He had trusted Darth Vader.

Palpatine’s trust, his unwavering certainty that Darth Vader would never, ever, betray him. This was the one flaw in the otherwise perfectly attuned Dark Side wielding Sith Lord. He should have seen it coming, yes, now it was all too painfully clear, a bright light, sent to cast a glare on the man that reveled in darkness.
He should have known that the love of his son, the temptation, and the conflict within Vader would be too great. Too many memories would stir, and awaken a life that Palpatine thought Lord Vader had left behind when claiming the mantle of Sith Lord, so many years ago.

And as the truth crystallized in his mind, other memories came rushing back. Memories of a time when the Dark had beaten back the Light, a time when even in defeat, the One had survived, his body ruined, but his mind still very much alive, now clear, focused, and with a power that no Jedi could match.
Closing his eyes, wind hollowing in his ears, he remembered…
 

“Lord Vader.”

The shuttle of the newly crowned Emperor had just lifted off from the volcanic wasteland of Mustafar. Inside, surrounded by faceless clone troopers and medical droids sat Darth Sidious, staring down at his new pupil, or rather what was left of him.

Despite the searing pain, and through a fog of drug induced perception, Darth Vader opened his eyes, and looked upon the face of his savior, upon the face of the only person in the galaxy that had ever really cared for him.

“Master,” his voice waved, then for a moment faltered, as charred vocal chords strained to create sound. “I have failed you.”

“No, Lord Vader, you have done nothing of the sort.” Palpatine favored him with a grim smile of rebuke. “Your only failure was to not wholly trust in the Dark powers that give you unmatched strength. Strength that would have been more than enough to have easily bested Obi-Wan Kenobi. But now, you know this. I sense that this strength now courses through you, sustaining you, giving you a focus.”

“Revenge.” Vader said simply.

“Yes, my apprentice, you will. All you have to do, all you’ve ever needed to do, was give into your anger, completely, letting it fill and sustain you for all time. Letting it give you the strength to conquer all who stand in our way”.

Darth Vader’s eyes flared, their yellow glow a mirror of Palpatine’s own connection to the Dark Side. “Never again will I fail. Never again will I trust in the Light. Power, unlimited power, my power, will be drawn from the Dark Side. And with this power I shall channel my Will into the domination of the galaxy.”

“Our galaxy, Lord Vader”.

Vader forced a weak smile, and paid for the gesture as lances of pain ripped through his face, scarred skin stretching and tearing anew.  His smile was quickly replaced with a realization.

“But what can I do now? Look at me, I’m grotesque, hideous, a horrible monster.”

Gazing down intensely at his friend, Palpatine’s voice elevated slightly, with conviction. “No Lord Vader, my son, you are beautiful. More beautiful than ever before. The fire has burned away the excess, the distractions of crude flesh. What is left is all that matters, is all that you are. Power, limitless power.
“You are near perfection my young apprentice, and I shall bestow upon you a frame that will be beautiful and terrible to behold. You shall evoke fear in the hearts of even the most determined warrior who would stand against us. Your appearance shall be a mirror of the power you wield. Oh yes, Lord Vader, you are beautiful and terrible, and together we shall rule the galaxy.”
 

Palpatine opened his eyes and blinked away the memory. Visions of the past shattered in front of him, allowing his horrible reality to again take hold. Part of him knew that it was fast approaching the crucial time. The time to leap, and in the leaping to access one of the rarest and most precious gifts from the Dark Side. A gift that not even Lord Vader had known existed.
The Jedi Masters of old were smug in their knowledge of life everlasting, when their departure of this plane of existence became a reality. To their small minds it offered a proof that they were right, and that what they believed in and fought for was not only correct, but just, and all that mattered.
But as usual they failed to comprehend the full scope of the Force. They were so afraid of falling to the Dark Side, that they ignored a more complete knowledge, a knowledge that could only be accessed by those who were unafraid to test themselves against the Will of the Force.
Palpatine had come to understand many things in this life, and understanding the full scope of the Force was a knowledge that he had prided himself in. It was his understanding, his fearless conquering of the secrets of the Force, that would allow him to be reborn. He would start anew in this universe, free to again conquer, to again set right the wrongs of galactic society that had become too arrogant, too sure of itself. Again Darth Sidous would arise, and this time his domination would be total, unyielding, and devastating to those who would dare oppose him.

And yet, despite the time of the transfer drawing near, despite his slow fall of the damned, he couldn’t prevent more memories from taking hold…
 

“It is done my Master”.

“Well done Lord Vader. Were there any difficulties?”

“No difficulties my Master. There was one unforeseen complication, however”.

Mildly surprised at those last words, the Emperor swiveled his oversized chair to meet the gaze of the gleaming ebony and silver armored warrior that stood before him. Lord Vader was flanked by two ARC Commando‘s, one he recognized by his unique armor as Commander Cody, but the other was unknown to him. With the conscription of men serving from his subjugated worlds, and with the mixing of clones from a generation ago, it was pointless to guess as to whom the other solider was. And ultimately it didn’t matter - all must serve his Will, or die.
What did surprise the Emperor however, was the small child that cowered in fear behind Commander Cody. Certainly no older than 6 standard years, the child had a small frame, and a crop of fiery red and gold hair, trapped behind a plain black barrette. She met Palpatine’s gaze, and he saw in her startlingly green eyes a glint of hope. Surmising that she was terrified of the armored men who formed a triangle around her, he motioned for the child to come forth.

“Do you know who I am?” Asked the man with glowing yellow eyes, peering at her between the shadows in his hood.

“No.” The young child stammered, eyes bright, alert, and searching for possible threats.

“I am the ruler of the galaxy my child, and I have brought you here to learn from me. You see, your parents did not want you any longer, and asked for me to watch over you, and to raise you. You will have excellent schooling, and will learn a great many skills. All I ask in return is that you use those skills to help me”.

“My parents didn’t want me?” The girl’s eyes brimmed with tears.

“Yes, unfortunately they would no longer care for you, and I sent Lord Vader to bring you before me.”

“But…but, my parents were scared of the black man, they told me to hide.”

The Emperor smiled sweetly down at her gentle, questioning face. “Your parents were bad people, and Lord Vader was sent to make sure they didn’t hurt you.”

The girl stared down at the floor, mind whirling, trying to sort what she had just been told, from all she had been since birth.

The Emperor didn’t give her an opportunity to digest her news, but instead told her, “You have to go now with the man in the white armor. He is Commander Cody, and he will show you to your new room. Later, I will come visit you, and show you wonderful trinkets, that I know will delight you. In time, you will come to view me as a father. In time, I will teach you magical things, and in time you will repay all that I will do for you, with service in my name.”

Dumbfounded, the girl could only gaze at Commander Cody as she was ushered out of the audience chamber, flanked by the other ARC Commando.

When the room was reduced to Master and apprentice, Palpatine turned to Lord Vader, but it was Vader who spoke first.

“You felt it, my Master.” A statement. Vader knew that the Emperor, with all of his knowledge and connection to the Force could not have missed what was so obvious to any Force wielder.

“Yes, Lord Vader, you have done well, indeed. Sparing her, gives us a future Force agent of the Empire. We will instruct her in the ways of the Force, but only methods that will serve my end. She will not be tainted by the Light, and will remain ignorant to aspects of the Force we do not deem to teach her. Are you certain her parents are dead?”

“Yes my Master, they put up a fight, but it was of a brief duration. Even when the Jedi Temple still stood, they were among the weakest of the Jedi. Together they could not even hope to match my power.”

“I’m sure that is quite true my apprentice. Did you manage to gather the artifacts I instructed you to obtain?”

“Yes my Master, although finding them proved a longer contest than the defeat of the JedI.”

Palpatine smiled under his cowl, and although Vader could not see the gesture, he knew his Master was pleased.
Mygeeto, dubbed “The Crystal World,” was home to many fine and rare gem stones. Capturing and subjugating the planet had gone a long way towards funding the creation of Palpatine’s Empire.  However, buried deep within Mygeeto were crystals that surpassed value beyond counting - at least to a Sith Lord.

Darth Vader extended his hand revealing the green crystals nestled within his black glove. The Emperor snatched them from Vader’s hand, almost greedily, examining the stones with the knowledge of a master craftsmen. At length he spoke.

“Excellent Lord Vader. These are perfect. Here, take yours. When added to your light saber these stones will augment your formidable skill with the blade. You will be unstoppable, even when facing many adversaries.”

“And what of your stone?” Vader asked.

The Emperor momentarily reflected on the question. Coming from any one other than his friend and pupil, the question would have seemed petty, jealous, and would have warranted a punishment for the person’s arrogance. But only the Sith Lords knew the true value of these crystals.

“I will use my crystal to focus my Will, and channel my strength into all who serve my cause.”

Vader bowed, clearly having his speculations confirmed by his Master. Vader’s mind stretched out briefly, to read the currents in the Force. No matter how many times he read this aspect of the Force, it never ceased to amaze him. The vast amounts of Dark Side power the Emperor harnessed and used in keeping his military might at peak efficiency, was something that impressed even one so powerful as Lord Vader himself. Truly his Master was in connection with the Dark Side of the Force so completely that the body he occupied was merely a vessel for which the Dark Side could use to work it’s Will.
The Emperor broke into Vader’s musings.

“We shall name the girl, to hide her origins, and suppress any rumors”.

He paused, and Vader guessed that his Master was reaching into the Dark Side for answers. Absently Palpatine began fingering the stone in his bleached and bony hands. After a moment he smiled up at Lord Vader, the crystal’s green light being devoured by Palpatine’s darkness

“We shall call her Jade, Mara Jade”.

Despite the pain the gesture caused, Vader could not help but smile beneath his mask at the malevolent irony.
 

Again, the cruel slap of reality stung the Emperor, forcing his mind back to the here and now. And as his final fate with a gravity induced betrayal drew swiftly to a climax, Palpatine plunged deep into the Dark Side of the Force, deeper than any Sith had for many millennium. Deeper than any man, including the traitorous Anakin Skywalker.
Dark energies coursed through his body. The simple husk that now carried the Emperor to his death was not created to sustain the raw power of the Dark Side that now was flowing through him. His skin, already scarred and mutated from years of connection to the dark power, now sizzled and boiled, foul odors rose as skin and muscle were burned off in layers. Blue arcs engulfed his failing body, physical manifestations of the raw power that was pouring into him. The torture in his mind went beyond simple pain, as if thousands of Death Star beams had been shot, all at once, into him. In seconds he would lose consciousness due to the pain, but Palpatine planned to leave his body well before the final gasp of life.
Pushing past the pain and with a supreme effort of will, Palpatine channeled a good portion of the energy that now coursed through him. In all his many long lives, and through the many long centuries he had existed, Palpatine had never felt so much relief at being able to call to him the energies needed to pull off the complex series of events that needed to take place.

With a twinge of sadness, Palpatine set to his first task, and with a thought, severed his Will from the clone warriors and conscripted military personnel of  his armada. He knew this act would immediately kill the clones, preprogrammed as they were before leaving the tubes from which they emerged to serve him. Created of a single mind, and too accustomed to his Will, their minds would shatter in moments, leaving most as non thinking vegetables, and killing others instantly. The conscripted men would not suffer the same fate, he knew. Perhaps, in time, they would again be turned to serve the Emperor’s Will. But for now, Palpatine knew many would die in the raging battles held throughout the galaxy, as they would be lost and near helpless without his cohesive usage of the Force to bind them all in his intricate web.
The breaking, however, did have some beneficial aspects. The action had been as though he had just released the weight of countless star systems beneath his tired arms. And the inflowing of strength that he received gave him more than enough energy to complete his final actions - and maybe, just maybe, enough strength to seek the ultimate revenge. Not only on the father but also on the son…

But as delicious as that thought was, he still needed to complete another task. He again reached, turned his Will into a fire rod of pure power, and channeled that power deep into his mind until he found the line, the line that had betrayed him…The line that had been his blind spot. And he remembered…
 

So many years ago it seemed - Darth Vader had been lying helplessly at the bottom of a lava crater, burned alive, and just barely clinging to all that was left of his npw pathetic life. Utterly defeated, his secret love and wife just moments from death herself, he longed to leave this realm of existence, to escape the pain and suffering of not only cauterized limbs, but his fragile mind as well.
Palapatine had rushed to Vader’s side, and through a supreme effort of will resisted showing a display of the pure horror he felt. The other emotion he had felt, the one he allowed to play across his face was genuine enough - shock at the fact that Lord Vader was still alive.
He knelt before Lord Vader then, and in that instant felt something so alien to his psyche that it took him a few moments to understand. He felt compassion, genuine, honest compassion for this shattered man who lay before him. Memories, the good times he had spent coaching Anakin, talking with him, consoling him, praising him. Not all of it had been an act he realized.
Astonished, even more by these new feelings, than by the appearance of the man that lay next to him, he reached out his hand in a moment of real feeling and comfort, an alien emotion sent from the powerful Sith Lord to a man who to Palpatine was a real friend - something he had never had before in the numerous years of his existence.
But shared in that instant, a familiar cunning creeped into the mind of the newly knighted Emperor of the galaxy. Certainly Darth Vader had far too much raw talent, and was far too gifted in the Force to perish in such a manner. Especially so early on in his new life as a Sith Lord. Not only was he a friend, but he was a valuable ally as well.
Although their was part of him that did not approve of what he was going to do, he justified the action by demanding his mind to focus on the profitable ulterior motives.
Emperor Palpatine reached into the Force as the churning lava vapors burned his nose and eyes. His sight altered, and he could see Lord Vader in a manner no other being could conceive of.
He saw Darth Vader through the dark side of the Force.
And in seeing his friend in the Force, he began the intricate and complicated task of sifting through the many complex lines, rhythms, and shatter points that Darth Vader sent into the Force. Palpatine was amazed at the sheer number and size of lines and energy that tied Lord Vader to the Force. Surely, if anyone could see and comprehend what was apparent to Palpatine‘s sight, there would be no question at all as to whether he was the “Chosen One“ or not. No Jedi or Sith, not even one so powerful as he, was this connected in the Force. What would take Masters centuries to learn would come to Lord Vader as natural as breathing. The aura of his new apprentice in the Force was so bright, so present, that Palpatine had to dampen down his senses, as not to get lost in all that was Darth Vader.
He searched patiently, sorting through the many layers that tied Darth Vader together, until finally, he found the line he was searching for.
Darth Vader’s life line.
So the man who had seldom cared for the fate of entire worlds, let alone a single person, sent his strength, his power, into Darth Vader’s failing body.
Immediately Lord Vader breathed easier. What was left of his body was no longer seizing, and the pulsing aura that Vader’s dying body had cast into the Force, ceased it’s fluctuation.
Vader opened his eyes despite the pain he was in, and looked at Palpatine, and sent him a soundless word of gratitude before the clone trooper medical dispatch unit arrived, and Lord Vader fell into unconsciousness.
 

The memory now played through to it’s conclusion, the Emperor held that line in his mental grip. The line that he had extended to Darth Vader. The line that kept him alive all these long years. The line that held his life together, even now, despite the damage his body had taken during the final duel with his son. The line that had betrayed him. The line that would see his revenge through.
And with a glow of pure poison, he severed the line.

He felt Darth Vader reel as though he had once again lost all limbs. Felt his pain, and his suffering anew. He cherished them. Relished them, but only briefly.
For although he had just sealed Darth Vader’s fate obtaining a final revenge, he also felt in his connection with Vader something that enraged him, even though he was moments from the end of this life.
 
Darth Vader was no longer Darth Vader. Darth Vader was once again Anakin Skywalker.
And he was happy.

He cursed a loud, although he doubted either Skywalker could hear him. The “Chosen One” was indeed a fool. In turning, Anakin had forsaken his power, his wealth, and his very life. But what drove Palpatine’s white hot rage was not so much the betrayal, but in turning, the man now felt peace. The contentment, the happiness disgusted him. The man who had turned on him, the man he thought was his friend, the man who had fought and killed others in his name did not only betray him, but relished his return to the Light. Palpatine bit back the bile of disgust, and shoved Anakin’s presense out of his mind.
His anger had galvanized within him a plan however, a plan of ultimate revenge. Not only would he kill the traitor Anakin Skywalker, but he would have his Hand, a loyal member of his inner circle, murder Anakin’s son. And in the death of Luke Skywalker the Emperor would exact his complete vengeance.

He reached, and again used the dark power to call another mental line to the forefront. In this mental line he crystallized a sequence of events. With his hatred and malice, Palpatine manufactured a vision of father and son turning, as one, on the helpless Emperor. As one, they cut him down with their combined light saber attacks, murdering Palpatine in cold blood, their only intention to replace him, and rule the galaxy as father and son.
He laced this mental image with subtle underlying emotions. He delicately spun his feelings of betrayal, helplessness, malice, and unjustified cruelty into his manufactured vision. He took great care as to not make it obvious to the recipient that these were his feelings, but would convince his Hand that these were her own feelings of righteous anger at the men who had betrayed him.
He sewed together all of the seeds, and as one powerful command sent this image to his most loyal Hand, Mara Jade. The woman he raised from a small child, the woman who had come to love him as a father figure. The woman he had made sure to indulge in the spoils of war, in the process cementing her blind faith to his Will.
He sent the image to Mara Jade with a simple message. They have betrayed and murdered me for no reason other than to rule the galaxy. They are evil and through you I will have justice done upon them. I have handled Darth Vader, but…
You will kill Luke Skywalker.

Mixing as much dark power as he could spare, he sent a questing tendril of thought throughout the infinite number of stars until it touched the familiar presence of his loyal Hand. Briefly, but with as much mind control as he could subtly lace in the message, he sent Mara a vision of his carefully contrived “final moments,“ safe in the knowledge that she would not fail him.

And with this final act of revenge now complete, he gathered what power was left to him, and in an instant before his body was claimed by the Dark Side of the Force he leapt….