Vader knelt in front of the long backed throne of the Emperor, his helmet turned down, his left knee pressed against the ground, his right knee pointing up to allow his right hand to rest on it.. The normally shined black helm was scuffed and dusted, the flaring back of the dome top was shattered at it’s edge, giving it a very worn look. Vader’s cape was missing, exposing the sand worn black suit that was normally hidden underneath. But besides the asthetic side Sidious’ apprentice was unharmed in any way. Vader had come directly from the Sith Temple hidden beneath the sands of Tiv Nu to Palpatine’s private building, choosing to speak with his Master rather than fix his suit aboard the Executor.
“I sense a strong connection to the Dark Side in you. Stronger than last time you were here.” Palpatine sat with his hands stretched out over the arms of his throne.
“I have learned much since the last time I was here.” Vader’s response was quick, yet his mind was still cloudy to Palpatine, a teaching he had learned inside the temple walls.
“You still have much to learn, my son.” The Emperor knew this would have to strick a cord in Vader to address him as his son, the way he had before they were Master and student, the way he had when Vader was whole. And still the Emperor felt nothing from his apprentice, the anger that he felt comming from Vader like a warm embrace in their previous meetings was absent now. Rising from his throne Palpatine stalked towards the kneeling Sith Lord until he was standing in front of Vader, at this angle he knew Vader could only see his lower half. Vader made no move to look up, simply kneeling as he had so many times with his right hand on his single upturned knee and his left hand on his left thigh. Every second of silence between them was adding to the rift between Master and apprentice, Palpatine could no longer see inside of Vader. He saw only the dark exterior of the armor, heard only the rhythm breathing, felt only the vast open of space where his thoughts would normally flow.
“Perhaps you believe you have learned enough?” Palpatine’s voice took on a soft wilting tone, and Vader could see his Master’s pale hands rise above his blindspot but he knew they took on the threat of sith lightning, a tool his Master had used many times to threaten him. Palpatine felt nothing still from the opposite Sith Lord, he could only guess at what his apprentice was thinking, and he was guessing betrayal. Just as he was about to throw sith lightning from his fingertips to kill his treacherous apprentice Vader stood abruptly throwing his arms up to grab Palpatine’s wrists. In a moment he crushed the soft flesh under his durasteel grip, and before even a spark was brought forth from Palpatine’s body Vader’s lightsaber moved from his belt on it’s own and sliced diagonally up the torso of The Emperor comming out just below the neck on his right side. Vader’s arms flew open tossing Palpatine’s remains to both sides of the room, his hand moving over to grab the lightsaber and hold out the crimson blade to face The Emperor.
Palpatine’s throat gasped for breath, unable to process oxygen to his brain he now felt as Vader would without his suit. His extended a sickly hand threw a short bolt of lightning that crackled in between his fingertips and Vader’s blade but it was no use. He could feel his powers fading, along with his chance for immortality. His eyes grew brighter and brighter until the yellow pupils were replaced with white, his hand finally dropping to the ground. As the last breath passed through his lips The Emperor suddenly snapped back to reality, sitting in his throne staring out the window of his office at the skyline of Corusant. He had visisted the end to Vader’s mission many times and each time it was different. The com at the door chirped and his Imperial Secretary strode in bowing before him.
“Lord Vader has just arrived, sir.” The alien said before bowing and backing out of the door.
The Emperor nodded to himself, musing over the future he had just seen. The trials Vader would face in the Sith Temple of Tiv Nu would bring his apprentice’s revolt, or place him further under Palpatine’s control.
-
As he stared at the reflection of the grotesque mask in the transiparisteel port of the Imperial Class Star Destroyer he marveled at it’s design. The black helmet and mask favored symmetry, with a raised line that covered the dome part of the helmet. The mask itself was made with perfect symmetry as well, each side of the mask mirrored the other perfectly. The large oval eyes, the raised mock cheekbones, the white dot for a nose, and of course the triangular steel grated mouthpiece. It was all designed to instill fear in anyone who saw it, and it did so on a regular basis. It wasn’t just the mask though, the black suit, and loud breathing mechanism all contributed to the constant fear he felt everywhere he went. He was the embodiment of the Empire’s power, the galaxy’s enforcer. No one knew that the dark figure they feared was once the Jedi Knight they loved. He reflected on the irony of the situation he had been placed in nearly five years ago to this month. When he was a Jedi Knight he was strong, agile, a perfect human specimen, and yet his powers were chained down by the erred teachings of a dilapidated order. Now as Darth Vader, Sith Lord, he was forever trapped in this suit of armorweave and metal, yet he was free to exercise his power as he saw fit. And now he could not explain the feelings that were overcomming him, it was as if he were drifting further from the world around him as he grew stronger in the force. He could see himself in the Force, an unending well of hatred and power, and yet he was detached from the flow of the Force. The more he bent it to his will the more he felt like a rock in a river, letting the world rush past him. He hoped these things would be answered by the Emperor, but lately it seemed he only received riddles from his Master. His thoughts were suddenly cut short with the chirp of the comlink on his belt.
“Lord Vader,” the man said before pausing so that his superior could address him, he had seen too many men die by Vader’s hand to ever extend any disrespect to the Sith Lord.
“Yes, Captain,” was the cue that Vader gave to tell the many to continue speaking.
“We have arrived at Coruscant and a shuttle is ready to take you to the surface,”
“Tell the pilot to start the engines, I’m on my way.”
“Yes, my Lord,” Captain Band turned off his comlink letting out a slow breath. Then turning to his subordinate he commanded him to inform the pilot of Vader’s arrival.
-
Vader knelt in front of the long backed throne of the Emperor, his helmet turned down, his left knee pressed against the ground, his right knee pointing up to allow his right hand to rest on it.
“Rise, Lord Vader. I have a very important mission for you,” He said, activating the holoprojector in the arm of the throne. A ghostly blue image of the planet sprung to life in between the two Sith Lords. Vader slowly stood placing his hands on his belt. He could recognize the holoimage as the planet Tiv Nu, a desert planet near the outer rim that had just been settled during the Clone Wars.
“Imperial intelligence has found a connection between a crime lord on Tiv Nu and a large group of Rebels,” the glowing yellow eyes of the Emperor moved from the holoimage to the dark oval eyes of Vader’s mask.
“I want you to personally oversee this operation, find the source of this civil unrest and stamp it out for the good of the Empire,” for a moment the Emperor’s raspy voice broke into that of a soft wilting melody, of pure poison. It was the same he used to aquire Vader as his apprentice, the tone was a sharp contrast to the coarse tone he now used and made Vader cringe slighty. It was always disturbing for Vader to hear him speak like this not just because of the memories it stirred, but because it usually signaled that he was testing Vader.
“Yes, my Master,” was his only reply, yet his feelings of uncertainty shown true to the Emperor.
“What is troubling you, Lord Vader,” the Emperor asked.
“I no longer feel the Force as I once did, the more power I have the further I feel from everything. I did not feel this before.....,” this was punctuated by a loud intake of his breathing machine that seemed almost deliberate. He searched the Emperor’s face for any sign of an answer only to meet the same heavily wrinkled image as he had for the past five years.
“Then you are feeling the true power of the dark side,” it seemed more like a dismissal than an outright answer.
“I sense there is more you are keeping from me, Master,” the accusation flung from student to master, but it drew a surprising smile from the Emperor’s lips.
“I am. Perhaps if you were to focus more on these missions and less on your own self pity you would not feel the Force as you do,” the Emperor raised a hand of pointing accusation, fingers oustretched, at his apprentice. This was the same way Palpatine drew on sith lightning, an overt threat and an insult at the same time.
Vader remained silent as he tried to quiet the anger he felt rise up in him, the urge to draw his lightsaber and slice through both man and throne. To destroy the Emperor and everything he had made would be the most pleasing thing in the galaxy to him right now. Palpatine could feel the rage in Vader leaned forward in his chair, allowing a bit of the light from the room to splash across the bottom half of his face showing his smile.
“Do you wish to strike me down, Lord Vader?” his bottom jaw stayed loose after the words poured from his lips giving sight to the rotten teeth and wormlike tongue inside his mouth. There was a long pause while Vader considered the answer he would give as well as the action he might take.
“Yes, my Master.” his words came quick and loud, it was clear that he had said this as loud as his scortched vocal cords would allow. This was followed by a laugh from Palpatine, a sickening laugh that echoed in the high vaulted ceilings of his ‘office’.
“Good, good. Now you are ready for what awaits you at Tiv Nu, go there and find what I am keeping from you, Lord Vader,” the Emperor said leaning back in his chair again, his voice returning to the harsh raspy tone he took when drawing upon the dark side.
“Yes, my Master.” he lowered his head in submission before turning around to walk through the door of the throne room, his cape swaying behind him as he walked. Palpatine turned in his chair to stare out at the cityscape of Coruscant that streched on for miles, allowing his mind to drift along the currents of the future.
*Editor's Note: Let me know if you like this. I'm writing more.
It's okay. I noticed spelling mistakes. Comming is spelt coming and overcomming is spelt overcoming. One question, when is this set? Is is after ROTS, before ANH, etc.
Please check out any of my Fanfics. My latest one you can click on in my signature.
Sorry I forgot all of that didn't I? It's five years after ROTS. That would make him about 26 or 27, still a young man.
Not bad... could use spaces between paragraphs, but I like the storyline.
Tiv Nu was a planet of scoundrels and thieves, gamblers and hustlers, smugglers and spicers, and it was the home of Acentile Vite. He was still a padawan when Clone Wars sparked, but after two years of the war he was washed out. He couldn’t stand the constant war it beat at his conscience like a war axe, he could feel something was terribly wrong with the war. Yet his Master refused to listen to him just like everyone else and then he found himself thrown out of the order when he refused librarian duty. He wandered the galaxy living off his luck and sticking to his ideals those first few years. Then when it turned south for the Jedi’s he soon learned what hard times were, and abandoned his morals along with his past. The more time passed the harder his heart became until he found himself in a place of prominance as a lethal crime lord on the backwater planet of Tiv Nu. Now he was sitting in his chair in the office of his spaceport staring at the lightsaber that lay on his table. Acentile looked at the man who stood in front of his desk shaking, he was a gambler and was unable to pay his debts.
“These are illegal,” Acnetile said, rolling the smooth weapon across the table.
“It’s...it’s gotta be worth somethin. I heard there is a group of Hutts that collect them, I mean it’s not like they’re making anymore of em’,” the man pleaded like he were pleading for his life. And he was.
“I’ll knock 300 credits off your debt, now get out of my office before I kill you,” Acentile’s voice was calm and smooth.
The man only nodded and left, leaving Acentile alone with the lightsaber. He quickly jumped up and ran to the door pressing the lock. He turned and pulled the lightsaber to his hand just as he had done those many years ago and instantly ignited it’s green blade. He swung the weapon around his body even tossing it in the air admiring the circles of light it made before grabbing it again and unigniting it clipping it on his belt. It was similar to the one he had used in the Clone Wars, except for the blade color. He couldn’t explain the emotions it brought up in him, ever since the fall of the Jedi he had used his powers only for personal gain. He knew he was on the edge of the dark side and the only thing that kept him from falling was his fear of being discovered and killed. He had done this without guilt or shame, and now wearing this ancient weapon on his side he felt both. It reminded him of his own looming redemption, it whispered to him that he only hurt evil men. He unsnapped the weapon and moved to his desk, opening a drawer and placing it inside.
“Stupid trinket,” he mumbled.
-
Vader glanced at the holoimage of the planet Tiv Nu before looking back down at the datapad that sat in his hand. It read out all the information of the planet, it’s weekly day and night cycles, with the temperatures reaching freezing during the week long night and soaring during the week long day were the main reasons it took so long to settle. It had a little mining rocks, but the wildlife made it hard to aquire. It was mainly a home for people trying to hide from the Empire. He would arrive at the spaceport of Acentile Vite, the local crime lord the Emperor had told him about. He was a run of the mill smuggler turned cutthroat in the aftermath of the Clone Wars. When the Regional Governer was assigned to the small planet that during the war was used mainly for hidden military storage by the Separatists he found Acentile Vite already there, and so the cutthroat had played a big part in the structure of the local government.
Vader set the datapad down unsure of what he was supposed to find in this stain of a planet in the corner of the Empire. He was growing more and more tired of the simple errands the Emperor was sending him on. The Emperor doled out fewer and fewer lessons, and more and more ‘missions’ to stunt Vader’s growth in the dark side and keep Vader on the holonet, effectively instilling fear in any would be revolters.
He enjoyed the governmental replacements, fighting alongside squads of stormtroopers he felt alive again, but these small missions made him feel as if he were being used by the Emperor just like he had been used by the Jedi Council, a pawn to their wills. The depression permeted him soaking into his core, he was a man in on an island in this suit. Leaning against the holoprojector Vader tried to silence his thoughts of grief over his situation unable to take anymore self abuse. Storming from his quarters he pushed past several officers who immediately flattened against the walls of the hallway and saluted, addressing him as Lord Vader. He had to get out of here, away from the spineless officers, the same walls of his ship, away from the Empire he helped build. He needed to leave the ship, to raze the planet he was approaching, to cause death and destruction to mend his own broken psyche. Soon enough he would find this and more.
-
Acentile stood behind the chair of his docking bay manager, Karrison Yin, listening closely to the headset that was plugged into the active line.
“Could you repeat that?” Yin asked, glancing nervously at his boss.
“Yes. Lord Vader will be landing in your spaceport he will be meeting with Acentile Vite.” the Imperial Officer replied with an annoyed tone.
“Roger, we’ll be waiting.” he said tossing another glance over his shoulder where Acentile was no longer standing.
-
Acentile rushed out of the docking bay command center and into his private office pressing the lock on the door he leaned back against the metal opening. Vader was here for him, he had used the Force too much, or perhaps the Sith Lord knew when a saber was struck anywhere in the galaxy. His men would be slaughtered by Stormtroopers, his self made empire would crumble underneath the grip of Darth Vader. He ran to his desk and pulled out the lightsaber tucking it into the folds of his overcoat. Dawn would rise soon, and for a full day there would be the rising sun in the west. Acentile ran from his office down to the docking bay where the Sith Lord would soon be arriving, there he would lead him away from his newfound home and into the wastes of Tiv Nu. Hopefully with his death he could spare his men.
-
Darth Vader guided his black personally designed fighter into the spaceport, which was no more than a hole in the wall meant to hide smuggling ships. The only greeting party was a man standing in the front of the room letting the air kick around him blowing his coat up. Vader immediately jumped out, taking a moment to look around for any would-be ambushers before walking towards the man.
“I’m looking for Acentile Vite.” Vader spoke, stopping a few feet in front of the man.
“I am him. What’s your business here?” Acentile regretted the words as soon as he spoke them, he did not mean to come off so arrogant but it had become habit over the years.
Vader tilted his head down some, the man was strong in the Force but no more so than any Force adept. He had met many powerful criminals who had used the Force unconciously in the name of luck, but something deep within him told the Sith Lord that this was no regular Force adept.
‘Jedi traitor.’ Something whispered to Vader, something deep and unexplained.
“Jedi traitor,” the words seemed natural, although Acentile’s eyes widened in shock.
Without another word Acentile pulled the lightsaber from his pocket and unleashed the bar of sizzling green energy, immediately taking the stance of Djem So. The silent, unknowing insult made by Acentile was made glaringly obvious by Acentile’s looks. He was a tall man in his early 20's with light brown hair and hazel eyes. Acentile had what Vader could never have, a body of flesh and blood, and the anger bubbled within the black suit of the Sith Lord until he personified it in the form of red fire extending from his lightsaber. He raised the blade directly in front of him as per his modified style.
The fear inside this would-be Jedi brought a sense of satisfaction to Darth Vader, who approached slowly as the man sidestepped to circle around him. Vader moved forward and thrust his lightsaber letting it connect with Acentile’s block. Vader continued to advance while his opponent seemed content to back way or avoid him all together.
“I’ve killed hundreds of Jedi all across the galaxy, you are no match for the power of the Dark Side,” his voice boomed.
Just then a small rebuilt engine for a speeder flew across the spaceport at Acentile who spun just in time to slice it in two. When he turned around he found Vader barreling down on him with full force, each of his strikes took on a different style as he switched between Ataru and Djem So, then came in with sweeping attacks similar to Shien. Each was narrowly blocked by Acentile who lost ground with every slice and stab, unable to believe the strength this monster had. Vader continued his offense, blocking the few parries Acentile threw and returning with harsh direct strikes that beat the smaller man back. With every strike Acentile felt weaker, he could feel the rage that burned within Vader and it seemed to grow stronger with every attack he blocked. Vader could feel the end to this game comming soon through the Force he could feel the weakness in Acentile’s strikes and he knew he was growing tired. Vader suddenly disengaged his lightsaber and leaned back as the younger man slashed, then ignited it again and thrust forward stabbing his blade straight through Acentile’s chest. With a loud roar he brought the weapon down slicing completely through Acentile’s body, slicing through his forearm in the process as well. Acentile’s eyes shot wide open, but a quick force throw sent him sprawling out into the desert just outside the spaceport.
‘This was no Jedi, simply another imposter.’ Vader thought to himself, bringing the weapon into his hand igniting it’s green blade. He then sheathed the energy weapon and placed it on his belt, he would put it with his collection non-the-less. He turned to face the door of the port where Karrison Yin stood with fear in his eyes.
“Please...please NOOOOO!!” Karrison’s screams were cut short by the lightsaber that spun through the air and lopped his head off clean before returning to the gloved hands of it’s master. Vader walked through the door intent on killing everything that moved in the offices of Acentile Vite.
-
Acentile gasped for breath, his teeth stained with his own blood, his one hand clawing at the sand as he tried to escape the fear of his own impending death. His fears grew stronger and stronger as he felt himself slipping from his life, coughing more and more blood onto the sands he lay on. He felt himself slipping more now, but not from life, he was falling into the many sinkholes that littered the planet’s surface, caused by the giant worms that burrowed beneath the sands. Soon there was nothing left of him, only the stain of crimson where his body once lay, everything else had been sucked beneath the sands. There was an eerie quiet in the air, something ominous whispering on the back of the wind. The sands hungered for more, the hungered for death.
Chapter 3 - Secrets Beneath the Sands
A good Chapter. I liked the fight between Vader and the Jedi. What were the other Chapters called?
Please check out my Fanfics (Rogue Jedi as that is my new one)! You can find them in my Signature.
Nothing, they had no names. I just started writing the other day and decided to post them.
Vader activated the holoprojector in the desk of Acentile Vite that he had pushed against the wall, he slowly knelt in front of it drawing his now blood stained cape around his form. His call was soon accepted by the Emperor, who had been awaiting his apprentice’s report.
“Lord Vader,” Palpatine croaked, the image of him standing loomed above Vader.
“My Master,” was Vader’s only reply.
“Tell me of your progress,” the ghostly image of Palpatine commanded him.
“I have discovered the location of a underground base, although there are no records here of any contact with the base,” Vader replied.
“Then perhaps you should make contact,” Palpatine smiled at this, he knew outright there was no rebel base beneath the sands. He knew that the crime lord he sent Vader to slaughter was not rebel assistor, nor a threat in any way. It was simply a tool to sharpen his favorite weapon, Darth Vader.
“There is something else. Acentile Vite was a Jedi,” Vader said.
“A Jedi? This is no surprise, they will continue to try and undermine our Empire until we stamp them all out,” although this was a surprise to the Emperor.
“I will return after I have destroyed the Rebel Base, my Master,” Vader bowed his head again in submission, the signal that he was ready to be dismissed.
“Yes, my apprentice,” he said in a sharp raspy tone before the blue holoimage flickered out.
Vader could sense that Palpatine was keeping something from him still, was this all a trap to do away with him? Or maybe there was no Rebel base, merely another wild goose chase to keep him occupied and distracted from what any Sith apprentice should be focused on, toppling his Master. Vader decided the answers to his doubts would not be found against the cold permacrete wall he was staring at, nor would they flow from Master to student, he would look to the force to find out the truth.
Vader activated the locking procedure for the spaceport, the metal shutters over the docking bay slowly closed, and the other entrances all locked themselves in unison allowing him protection from any survivors that may stumble over him in meditation. This threw the spaceport into darkness and just as the lights were about to auto-activate he turned them off. He also deactivated the blinking chorus of lights that adorned his chestbox and belt leaving him in complete darkness.
‘A true Sith embraces the darkness, he is the master of the darkness, and so in turn he is the master of light’ These were the words that Palpatine once told him as they sat together in his darkened office staring out the window at the Coruscant skyline. He now felt these words to be more true than he had understood when he first heard them. He knelt down slowly, placing both knees on the permacrete floor and both hands on his thighs until he sat on his heels. The steady tone of his artifical breathing allowed him to focus his mind sprawling out on the currents of the Force. This was one of the few times a Sith did not bend the world to suit his needs, choosing to watch the flow of the Force for any secrets it might hold. His eyes closed taking him away from this world and slowly he was no longer trapped in his suit, he was no longer Anakin Skywalker or Darth Vader, he was merely a current in the Force.
-
Darth Vader awoke startled, he jumped from the bed he was laying in and threw out his left hand drawing his lightsaber to it instantly. The weapon felt cold in his grasp, the feeling that metal takes when it has laid dormat for a few hours. He ignited the red blade, his breath comming in quick short spurts as he moved through the door and into the hallway where he was stopped dead in his tracks by what he saw in the transparisteel port of the Star Destroyer. There was a man holding a Sith light saber, his eyes a cool yellow, his face scarred above his right eye. He wore black robes similar to the Emperor’s, and a single black glove. The image almost brought tears to the Sith Lord’s eyes and dropping his saber to the ground he touched his chest where for so long the control panel for his breathing mechanism lay.
It was him, he was whole again and he felt the Dark Side as he truly should, as Darth Vader was meant to. He turned his head to the officer to knelt submissively at the end of the hallway, and moving towards him he could smell the fear emitted by the Admiral.
“Where am I?” he said, and at first the sound shocked him. For five years he had only heard his true voice in the haunting screams of his nightmares and now he was once again in control of it’s sound, the pitch and bass. It brought a smile to his lips.
“Y-y-your Death Star, Emperor Vader,” the man said, still unwilling to look up at his superior.
“Dismissed,” was the only reply Vader could summon. The man instantly got up and ran down the opposite direction of the hallway while Vader reached out with his hand of flesh and blood to touch the smooth surface of the transparisteel porthole looking out at the construction of his Death Star.
‘Emperor Vader.’ the words seemed as natural to him as the air he was breathing, and as he sat there the memories came flooding back to him. He had struck down Obi-Wan on the black glass shores of the Mustafar and tossed his body into the raging river of fire. He remembered destroying the Emperor after only two years under his chafting grip, and he remembered destroying Yoda shortly afterwards in the swamps of a distant planet. There was something else, something so hidden he could only feel it’s outline in the Force. He had not taken an apprentice of stature like the Emperor did to him Vader’s apprentice was young, so young. He pulled the Force to his chest enveloping his mind in it’s currents to pull the information from the folds of the galaxy itself until the identity of his Sith successor told itself to him.
My son.
-
Vader’s eyes opened and a hand flew up without thought to touch his chest. He could feel only the outline of the box the sensations of his flesh and blood hand were gone. And this time he could not stop the tears from flowing if he had tear ducts to produce them, but he didn’t. He let out a gasp as he leaned forward placing his hands on the floor. The dream was a beautiful flower that was wilting before his eyes, and now he recognized it as the cruelist of nightmares. His metal fingers scratched at the floor and his burnt lips mouthed the word that he could not speak. Again and again he silently asked why, why would he be tormented like this, why would he be punished? The question roared inside his head again and again until the only way to appease it was to ask it aloud.
Leaning back he threw his arms out to either side of him and finally spoke, but the question did not come out through his lips, or through his voice augmenter, the question screamed out through the Force.
“WHY?!!!” the anguish within Vader touched the world around him, shaking the foundations of this tiny spaceport, rattling the permacrete walls. He could do nothing to quiet the scream and it continued until the ceiling began to crack and the wall to his left folded in like a house of cards. The scream reached the core of the planet, and even managed to touch the ears of the Emperor a galaxy away. He wanted to destroy this world and he wanted the world to destroy him as well, perhaps this is why he did not try harder to quiet the scream even as the floor fell out from under him and the roof caved in sending shards of rock down into the building. And Vader fell, he fell in the darkness into the slipping sands of the hole he was sure he created to swallow him up. He fell into the pit of his own self-pity and anguish. He fell down and down until he no longer knew where he was or how to get out, and there he stayed unwilling to pull himself out of his own grief for lost choices.
Another good Chapter. Slightly shorter than your previous Chapters, but I don't mind.
very enjoyable tale so far. The jedi died kinda quick but I sense there is more to be discovered on this desert world hehe. Please do continue the story :)