[Short Stories] - Dark Emperor 6(5)

His presence here had to be related to the manner of his death. There was no other explanation. He had crossed over while imprisoned by a Jedi, a light side adept. He could have been pulled along to wherever it was that Jedi spirits go. It followed that this was some sort of light side realm. It also explained why he was powerless to call on the dark side. Nevertheless, he did not have to admit to a final defeat. In a way, it was a victory to have avoided being claimed by the endless chaos of the dark side. He was still himself, and until it was proven otherwise, there was still hope.

Palpatine straightened from his despairing slouch, forced his frail limbs to pick himself up, and dusted himself off. Then he began to walk across the sands into the red and gray mists. As it had so many times in the past, his indomitable will held his head high and drove him on into the unknown.



Palpatine wandered for what seemed to him like a day, an endless day without any change in his surroundings. The powdery sands provided poor traction to his booted feet, and made his progress laborious. His thick black hooded robes weighed down his every movement. The mists swirled all around, denying him any sense of progress. He had no way to know if he was not, in fact, going in circles and getting nowhere. But he did not physically weaken, tire, or hunger. Only his spirit was in danger of exhausting its determination. Despite his earlier stubborn pride, after a day in this dusty limbo, he had to acknowledge some doubt. What if he never escaped this place? What if the Sith lore had been wrong about the nature of his fate after death, and this was what the dark side had in store for him all along? What if he was still insane, but only thought that he was not? He might even be still alive, but totally mad somewhere. Just as these horrible thoughts began to slither into his mind, the fallen Emperor’s feet discerned a change in the terrain. Instead of continuing as a flat plain, the ground had begun to slope upwards. Palpatine’s yellow eyes regained a spark of life, and he thrust the thoughts of despair away. His pace quickened, and as he walked, he felt the slope increase even more. His progress was hampered by the sliding sand, but step by step, Palpatine proceeded with his ascent.

Once again, any measurement of the passage of time eluded him. Finally, with a bleak smile of satisfaction, Palpatine reached the top. He stepped up and out of the red-gray mists and onto hard, pebbly ground dotted with large stones lying randomly about. Turning back, he saw the region he had come from. It was an immense bowl-shaped depression, he realized, extending farther than he could see in the hazy air. Like a city sized soup bowl, it was full of the heavy mist. The foggy substance swirled lazily into the distance, and clung to his feet as well, as if reluctant to let him go.

His new environment was free of the mist. He could see for a fair distance where the ground was flat. In another direction, hills rose out of the plain. These were craggy and uninviting, but it would probably be necessary to determine what secrets they might hide.

After so long a period with only the shuffling of his soft boots in soft sand to listen to, the sound of a shifting boulder made him leap with startlement. He spun in the direction of the sound, and was shocked to see two figures standing nearby next to a heap of stones. They were youthful humans, with pale skin and long black hair. They appeared to be twins, but one was shorter than the other. Both of them wore blue outfits padded with gray, white belts, and red scarves. As soon as Palpatine faced them, they assumed a defensive posture which marked them as trained Jedi Knights.

“Denin!” said the shorter Jedi in a female voice. “It’s him! It’s the Emperor, just like Lord Brand said!”

“Be careful Vila,” said the taller male Jedi. “We’re not sure if he’s powerless.”

“Nonsense,” said Vila. “He can’t have any power here. Lord Brand said so. He’s just an old man now. Watch.”

The one called Vila held out her arms and gathered something invisible. All at once, a dozen large stones swiftly rose by themselves and hurtled through the air to plow into the ground in a rough semicircle around Palpatine. A shower of dirt and smaller stones pelted the former Emperor, sending him lurching backwards in dismay.

“Who are you?” screamed Palpatine. “How dare you do that to me?” His fists balled tightly, he began to advance on the two Jedi. They glanced at each other as he stumbled during his approach. They did not seem afraid.

“We could destroy him right here, right now,” insisted Vila. “I can’t sense any of the Force in him. Brand was right.”

“No, Vila,” said Denin. “It’s not our right. I know the Emperor’s troops destroyed our home after his death, but we’re not the only ones who suffered. The Jedi Legion is full of those who were victims of this old man. He killed some of them personally. They all want revenge.”