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The Imperial Palace had undergone many renovations and changes since the end of the Clone Wars. After the failed assassination attempt on the Emperor by the Jedi, the whole mood on Coruscant had shifted. There were increased patrols in the Palace. The senate was finding it more and more difficult to veto the Emperor's harsher and militaristic policies. Some said the assassination attempt and the preceding kidnapping had all but scarred the kind, steadfast man Coruscant had loved, and not just physically.
But what they did not know was how the Emperor had instrumented it all from the beginning to seize absolute political power over the galaxy. The Sith Lord In the Shadows that the now defeated Jedi had been searching for was now the official Emperor of the Galactic Empire. Even now, in the secret chambers beneath the Palace, the man had assembled his latest creation to be sent on its first mission.
"Vader. It is time to test the fruits of your labours. To test the withered and broken body underneath that suit of armour. You will go to the planet of Darnarr. Alone. There you shall find clones that have overrided their complacimplants. They have control of an important outpost, housing some.. Questionable creations. You will go there, and destroy everything." The Emperor's voice was soft, but the chamber had an eerie stillness that magnified the sound. It felt as if the room itself held its breath as the hooded man spoke.
"Your wish is my command, Master." Vader went down to one knee. It was something he learned to do quite quickly in the suit that was unfamiliar to him. He was a bumbling abomination the first few weeks in the suit. Prone to anger and tantrums. But now he filled the harrowing black shell with a certain elegance and great malice. If the Emperor was capable of such a thing, he would have been proud.
"Off, then. Take your shuttle and return here at once after you have taken care of the outpost." The Emperor ordered, turning away, his robes swishing soundlessly and almost dismissively by him.
The masked subordinate rose, and left to fulfill his master's duty.
The planet was filled with lush greenery. Rolling hills and grassy plateaus untouched by any civilization. Mostly. The outpost stood in stark contrast to the landscape. It was carved into the side of the mountain in an attempt to be hidden from basic planetary scanners. But upon entering the atmosphere it was clearly visible.
The Imperial Shuttle landed on one of the three landing pads the complex had, and Vader exited the ship. No one came to him. Neither to greet nor attack. Anakin Skywalker would have devised a strategy beforehand, but this imposing dark figure of malevolence did not bother with a planned approach. He did not deign to give thought to such.. trivialities.
With wave of a cybernetic hand, the main hangar door hissed open, sending a layer of dust cascading down. It might have been odd, considering how the mission briefing he received mid flight indicated the facility was in use. Instead this place looked decrepit and abandoned.
It did not matter. The dust, the implications. Vader reached out with the Force, and felt them. Clones. And something else. He marched on forward into the hanger, his cloak trailing behind him. He sensed the most activity on the lower levels. Of course. Vermin. In hiding.
These vermin have not seen the light of day in a long time, judging by the sudden flurry of activity he sensed upon taking a step inside. They now knew he was here. They were preparing.
Let them.
Plasma bolts seared through the air towards the cloaked shadow as the elevator door hissed open. The force guided Vader's hand up reactively to catch the first bolt, and the rest of the bolts seemed to follow, against their original intended vectors, the trajectory of the first bolt. All of the shots seemed to get absorbed by this gloved hand.
The other hand reached for the lightsaber clipped at his waist, unclipping and activating the bloodshine blade in a slow, methodical motion. Now the blade caught the plasma bolts as well, producing short, high pitched whines every time the blasts got deflected. Sounds Vader knew too well. Was this just how everything would be now?
A tireless march forward. Encounters after encounters against dissidents. A mutt sent to rid a place of pests to please it's master. He thought after the war, he would leave the Jedi order behind. Be one of the Lost. The Lost Twenty-Second. He would have moved to Naboo with his wife.
At the the thought of his wife his hand faltered. A bolt pierced through the plate on his shoulder. The mechanical pain receptors sent vibrations of agony up his biological nerve endings. The Emperor had made sure the receptors were overturned. Made sure if Vader let his guard down even a little, the consequences would be unbearable.
The pain fed into his rage. He did not have a wife. He did not have a past. The memories were unwelcome, belonging to the one they call Anakin Skywalker. And Anakin Skywalker was dead.
The shadow strode forward, his vision tainted red both from the visor built into his mask, and the bloodlust he suddenly felt for letting himself get hurt. To lower his guard. He knew where they were. He felt their fear. And suddenly their blasters stopped firing, their instruments failing them out of nowhere. The gloved hand that had caught the bolts was curled into a fist, smoking. There were panicked gasps and shouts as the vermin realised their weapons were now useless.
Much like their attempts to destroy what was already broken.
Next to the power of the force, no weapon could be considered equal. The crates the vermin were hiding behind suddenly, violently flew through the air and crashed all around the room. The now exposed clones and abominations cowered, desperately pulling their triggers, their weapons trained of the mechanical ghost.
Vader raised his hand, and the one closest to him rose and shot through the room into his awaiting blade. The lightsaber penetrated the plating of the clone armour, and the body inside, without any resistance. The clone looked at the masked figure with shock and fear, before slumping to the ground, the blade tearing through his body.
Now the other vermin were running again.
It took a long while. But it was a blur to Vader. And at last he was in a room barren of all life except his half one.
He reached out some more to the rest of the complex, and sensed something he might have considered interesting, but such things held no meaning. A being attuned to the force resided deeper in the complex. With a snap-hiss, the red blade retreated back into the hilt of the saber and he clipped it back to his belt. With a swish of his cape, Vader turned and left to find what was probably a Jedi in hiding.
Except it was not. What he found deeper in the complex was far stranger. He felt the Emperor in this being. And when he approached it, it turned to look at him, it's eyes light and it's pupils pale. It was small. Barely taller than a human child. But it did not look human.
It wore a cloth band to cover it's modesty, but otherwise was naked. It's figure was emancipated, it's limbs were disproportionate in length. It was a greyish blue colour, and sat hunched on the floor as it turned its head towards Vader. He could see the spines stretching the back of its skin.
The creature smiled at the shadow, as if relieved.
The shadow turned its lightsaber on, the red glow of the blade danced on the wrinkled skin of the creature.
The creature shrunk back, it's legs slipping on the smooth stone flooras it's smile vanished, replaced by horror. "Not me! Him! The Emperor! Can't you see? He's slaved you as he had me. Alone you can't beat him, but together! I can sense the hate in you. The rage! It draws and seduces! We can direct it! Get back at–" the creature's words cut off as he clutched at his throat.
"You'll throw down this opportunity? You'd rather be shackled? What more can you hate than the man who refused to let you die?" The creature grasped once more at the tightening on its neck, desperately trying to get the air that eluded it. There was a sickening crunch as it's windpipe shattered. With a heavy, final sigh, the creature exhaled it's last breath and fell limp to the floor.
Darth Vader stood a few moments more over the collapsed corpse. Raspy, mechanical breathing echoed the room as the halfman contemplated the creature's words. Hate. He remembered the last words he had said to his old master. He remembered when he found out what had happened to his wife. He remembered the rage, the hate.
"Myself." the shadow's voice came muffled and low, and Darth Vader turned his back on the corpse and made his way out of the complex.