[Short Stories] - Dark Emperor 1(30)

Vantos had ducked out of sight among the benches above, but his voice could still be heard over the muffled booming. “It’s the end!” he cried triumphantly. “The end at last, for both of us ‘old fools’!” The fallen Jedi laughed coldly, and in that moment, the Emperor realized Vantos Boda was insane.

In one area of the gardens of the Palace summit, directly under the beam of concentrated sunlight, the overheated Phelarion moss exploded with sufficient force to crack the polished stone. The explosion raced around the entire garden, as more and more moss ignited. Those looking at the structure from a distance saw a fireball swell up and engulf the entire peak. Great sections of marble, crystal, and gray-green rock shuddered and fell away from the eruption, cascading like an avalanche into the tapered spires and stylized towers below. As the flames penetrated inwards, more of the organic explosive reached the critical temperature and blew up before it could burn. A deep, rumbling concussion flowed over Imperial Center, as the peak of the Palace was weakened enough to collapse. The Emperor’s observation deck rocked back and forth, then plummeted with the rest of the top few levels into a billowing cloud of fragments and flames.

Imperial citizens died by the thousands in the space of a minute. Entire residential towers were smashed at their bases, and tipped ponderously over to fall down the Palace slope. Advisors and military personnel alike were crushed as ceilings came down, one upon the other, like a collapsing house of cards. Flaming debris dropped into the next several rows of gardens open to the sky, and touched off more explosions. The destruction of the upper levels of the Palace proceeded vigorously, but so far, the great bulk of the complex was untouched. The effects, however, were felt all through the Palace. Walls and floors shook, banners fell, statues tipped over, glass shattered, and all types of administrators and staff scurried bewildered, looking for cover.

Multiple levels below the center of the destruction, The Emperor listened in shock as his world was assaulted. Fine dust fell all around him, as the shaking throne room’s roof began to feel the strain. He looked up for Vantos Boda, and saw that the man had vanished or hidden. He hesitated, then decided to be cautious, and started for the turbolift across the floor.

And there was Boda, blocking the way, hands raised aggressively, his face stretched by his bared, clenched teeth.

Palpatine readied himself for a battle, ignoring the explosions and tremors filtering down from above. He opened himself completely to the Force, and it leaped at his call. Relentless and hateful, the power of the dark side was with him. Pulling destructive energy into himself like a black hole, the Emperor advanced on his new enemy.



Ensign Handli had everything under control. He confidently prepared to shift the mirror’s coordinates once again, as ordered. That was when he noticed the TIE fighter. The small Imperial ball-shaped ship with its large flanking solar panels was aimed straight at him, and coming in fast. His scanner readouts showed that its weapons were powered up as well. A sudden fear stabbed at him. What was going on? Was he under attack? What had he done this time, and who had found out about it? In the face of his fear, the lingering traces of Vantos Boda’s influence evaporated. It was as if a fog had suddenly lifted from Handli’s thoughts. He was suddenly able to think clearly. His eyes fell on the mirror’s settings and he was immediately aghast. What had he done, indeed! The focusing apparatus was dialed to an absurdly tight setting. He didn’t remember doing it, but he must have. And the coordinates! At that moment, his mirror was sending a baking shaft of energy down to the Palace itself! People could be getting burned down there, or worse. The Emperor would order his execution! Handli panicked. He had to turn it off immediately. Desperately, he began to press buttons and turn dials, almost at random. He stared wildly out at the approaching TIE fighter. Could it be the Emperor’s punishment, so soon?

Handli screamed as the TIE fighter’s twin laser guns shot a sudden stream of green bolts at his viewport. The mirror control station exploded around him, and the terrified Ensign’s final sight was the beautiful scintillant planet below him, with nothing but open space between them.

Mara Jade watched through the polarized lenses of her black helmet as the mirror control station was vaporized. Now, the mirror could not be turned to do further damage to the Palace. The pilot’s death was unfortunate, but Mara had decided that he was either Boda’s partner or a tool of Boda’s. Either way, he had to die. And she was the Emperor’s Hand. A killing in the service of the Emperor was merely her job. Now, Mara had to eliminate the enormous mirror itself. This particular reflector was twelve kilometers in diameter, yet it was made of a silvery fabric only a fraction of a millimeter thick. It dwarfed her tiny fighter as she sped towards it.