How could a Jedi be turned? It didn’t seem possible, not to any Jedi he had personally known.
His door hissed open. Emperor Palpatine himself stood in the doorway, flanked by Red Guards.
Ferus rose to his feet.
Palpatine swept in, his hands hidden in the folds of his robes. The guards stayed outside as the door hissed closed.
“I am considering your fate,” he said.
Ferus didn’t react. He waited for the trap.
“It was a regrettable incident. Apparently you noted the security breach although you lied about my asking you to monitor security. Perhaps we can accept that you were zealous in your desire to impress me and unfortunately those who broke in were known to you.
Naturally, Lord Vader believes that you were part of the mission, and I must say, in a contest between his word and yours he will win.”
Ferus wondered what Palpatine was getting to.
“And the fact that you took arms against Lord Vader is, of course, grounds for execution in itself. Yet.”
Palpatine walked a few steps closer. Ferus wished he wouldn’t. The air around him was so foul.
“I will confide in you that lately I feel that Lord Vader has been overreaching his authority. The killing of Roan Lands, for example. Very bad. We are in the midst of a delicate operation here on Bellassa. We want the support of the people. Support for the resistance was weakening, and now it will be inflamed again. Very unfortunate. It is my task to achieve stability in the galaxy. This means I am allowed to break the rules. The rules, for example, about punishment for attacking an Imperial high officer.”
Ferus still didn’t speak. He would let this play out. He had no interest in what Palpatine would say. He was done playing this game.
“If only I had someone I could really trust,” Palpatine said. “Someone who understood my goals. If I found that someone, the gifts I could give him would be … immense.”
Ferus looked away. He wished Palpatine would stop talking.
‘The power over life and death,” Palpatine said.
Ferus didn’t turn, but he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise.
“Ah, I see I have your full attention at last. I can teach you things that will make you more powerful than Vader. It will take time. But only time.”
More powerful than Vader. Was it possible?
“Yes, it is possible,” Palpatine said. “For I created him, did I not?” He took another small step toward Ferus. This time Ferus didn’t shrink back.
“You have the potential to be the greatest Jedi ever known,” Palpatine hissed. “You have all the raw materials. You only lack training. You will be able to use the Force in ways you never dreamed of.”
Palpatine paused, letting his words hang in the air.
“Too much to grasp, is it? Let us take it step-by-step, then. First, I will put the Inquisitors at your disposal. Senator Sano Sauro has a plan to gather Force-adepts. Lord Vader isn’t interested in this, but it has possibilities. But you could take over the search for the Force-adepts. With the help of Inquisitors. Sauro is getting nowhere because he doesn’t understand the Force. It takes a Force-adept to find one.”
He could do this. He could gather the Force-adepts, and instead of turning them over, he could bring them to the asteroid.
And all the while he would be growing more powerful. Until he could challenge Lord Vader himself.
This time he would not find himself hanging in the air like a useless, boneless thing, at Vader’s mercy.
This time he would be the one to surprise Vader. Vader would be the helpless one. And Roan would be avenged.
Vader had made him a broken man, but he could be put back together.
He met Palpatine’s gaze for the first time. He looked into the dark pits of his eyes.
“I’m ready to learn,” he said.