[Short Stories] - Dark Emperor 6(15)

Palpatine couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I am! With what?!” he laughed hysterically as an incredulous fear rose up inside him. “My bare hands? Stones don’t work very well! Oh,” he said loudly, his old sarcasm suddenly emerging, “now where did I leave my lightsaber? Oh no…back in the cave! You don’t still have yours, do you?”

Kenobi ignored him. “This realm intersects with an opposite realm of the dark side. Down there near the portal, a servant of evil can use the dark side’s power. But only there. Here is your chance to show us how strong you really are, great Emperor. Can you handle a few hundred Jedi? Will you do it to save your old enemies?”

9A9A9A”> Palpatine was stunned. He had never expected this! Here was the ultimate chance he had been waiting for! The power of the dark side…his again. His fear and hatred, feeding into a vast destructive source, and unleashing the might to summon a Force Storm. His sudden dark joy was too much to contain, and he laughed out loud again, but this time with triumph. “And what is to stop me from destroying you, and Anakin, and Yoda, as soon as I am finished with Brand and his army?” As he asked the painfully obvious question, he anticipated the foolish answer he would get.

“We will continue on, away from the portal,” Kenobi said. “You will stay behind and attack the Legion as they catch up to you. We will be out of range by that time. Once you have defeated our enemies, we will go our separate ways.”

Yes! It was as he suspected. His ignorant ally knew nothing of the power of Force Storms. Palpatine had discovered them after Kenobi and the rest had died! The true range and destructive scope of Palpatine’s power would come as a rude surprise indeed! There would be no place for anyone to hide. Briefly, he wondered if the whole plan might be a trick to leave him behind to be killed while the others escaped. Perhaps there was no portal, and no dark side power. But that made no sense. Palpatine would merely be the first to die in that case. Once they had captured Palpatine, the Jedi Legion would not just stop their pursuit of Darth Vader! And if Kenobi had wanted to turn Palpatine over to the Legion, they could have simply not helped him earlier. No, it could not be a simple betrayal of him.

All at once, Palpatine felt something deep inside which told him Kenobi’s words were true! It was as if he contained a cold furnace, chill and dusty from neglect. Suddenly, a familiar energy began to burn in his vital center. His eyes were drawn to the silvery sky. High above, there was a small black hole marring the shining expanse. Around this void there was a slowly revolving whirlpool in the fabric of the heavens. As the sea of silver turned and twisted around the hole, the ebony opening seemed to grow larger. Struck with vertigo, Palpatine felt as if he was standing upside down on the sky himself, looking down at a great smooth ocean which was draining slowly into a bottomless pit.

It was a portal to a realm of the dark side. Instinctively, he knew that beyond it was the nether world of endless madness which he had always feared. It was close…so close to him! And he could feel its hunger. It wanted him, wanted to claim him, to take what belonged to it. All those years, he had used its power for his own needs and purposes. This realm had always waited to be paid back. First, it had taken his youth and vitality, ensuring that he would eventually die and lose his very essence to its hunger. Palpatine had cheated it, again and again, living on in his clones and avoiding his fate. Now, he could feel it pulling at him. It had never been enough that he had fed it with the fear and anger of a tormented galaxy. That was just part of his servitude. No, the price it demanded was personal. The dark side consumed its greatest servants in the end.

Palpatine came to a point directly under the vortex, slowed, and stopped. He didn’t notice Anakin, Yoda, and Kenobi race past him and continue running away down the plain. He wasn’t aware of the sounds of the Jedi Legion as it drew closer. He only had eyes for the hypnotic portal. The sky spun on and on, circling it. The pitch black void continued to expand, and now lightning danced high in the sky around it.

He felt the call of his Master, but he also realized he did not have to go. He could stay here if he wanted to. He had the power again. He could remain and destroy the Jedi Legion, serving the dark side as he had done before. He could kill Anakin and the others. And then what? Did he have to go to his death and enter the portal? No! Surely there was another way! Perhaps he could punch a hole through space and time, and return to the galaxy he had been torn from. The dark side could wait for its payment. It could wait forever as far as he was concerned. And then, could the dark side truly be called his Master? Or would it be his servant at last? What mattered was that the power was his now! And it was time to put this pack of yapping Jedi dogs in its place.