Anakin's Empire: A Star Wars Alternative

5: Strengths And Weaknesses

On a distant planet of the Outer Rim called Akrit'tar, Vader was undergoing facial surgery on a secret Imperial medical base. Medical droids were walking around, repairing the damage a clone had done to the Sith.
An imperial transport entered the hangar of the base, from which the Emperor and his special forces descended. He walked into the room where his apprentice was, who had almost had his face completely reconstructed. Many indelible scars covered his face, and the medical droids placed and fitted an oxygen mask over his face, which the Emperor had secretly requested.

"Vader, can you hear me?"

"Yes. And I must admit that I am very... disappointed with the current situation."

Vader had a new voice, deep and threatening, because of the oxygen mask.

"Explain yourself."

"There is a traitor in the Empire, I know it. Someone's trying to overthrow me from my position, and I'm going to investigate it."

The Emperor swallowed slowly, glancing back at the medical droids.

"I'm sure what happened was just a coincidence. As soon as you're done with your recovery, you're going to get on with your duties."

"I'm sorry, but I can't accept that. Someone has attacked me, a Sith, so I don't think it's an Outer Rim mercenary. Someone with power wants to eliminate me, and I will discover the truth."

Palpatine wanted to ask why his apprentice made such assumptions, but he did not want to end up in a problematic situation. Therefore, he left the room and waved his hand to command the special troops to accompany him. When he was walking around the hangar, he felt a disturbance in the Force. Someone or something was calling him, and there was a deep ringing in his ears. That voice would scare even Tarkin himself.

"Kashyyyk, Kashyyyk..."

The Dark Lord of the Sith quickly made a decision. He instructed the pilot to change course, without even asking questions about the reason.

An Imperial transport landed in the jungles of the wookies' home planet. It was a very confidential operation, so no wookie saw the Imperial presence. Among the immense trees was an ancient temple made of stone, with semi-destroyed statues at the wide entrance. These statues looked like Sith Masters, with hoods and armor from the Old Republic period.

"Stay here", the Emperor said.

He walked through the temple, crossing dark and closed rooms. He finally arrived at what looked like a meeting room, with chairs arranged in a circular way, one standing out from the others for its height and majesty. The Emperor was surprised, for on that "throne" was the fugitive who had made his escape the day before. His face looked more... rejuvenated, with his wounds more closed than before. In front of the throne, there was a platform that was slightly higher than the ground level, and it communicated with the base of the throne with the same height and material as the platform. Above it, there were hundreds of ancient Sith inscriptions, and Palpatine felt that an evil power came from it. It was even darker than his own power.

"Take a seat, Palpatine."

The Emperor was shocked to hear that the fugitive knew his name, for he already knew what it implied.

"You thought you could eliminate your Master and obey the Rule of Two, didn't you?"

Palpatine was already lifting his sleeve, looking for his lightsaber.

"You want to do what you did that day. Don't you realize you have a new opportunity to obey your Master?"

Darth Plagueis realized what Palpatine was doing, so he raised his thin hand and easily drew the lightsaber of his apprentice to his hand, crushing it in the process.

"You've made a lot of mistakes, Palpatine.  You never had the wisdom to realize that I had powers never seen before. But I am wise enough to deceive death, and I am wise enough to continue in this life."

"No, you're wrong. I brought you to life, I gave you a new body. Now I should be the Master."

"I realize you haven't really changed a bit since that time. You were always a disgrace to the Sith, and you forced me to execute my magnificent plan."

"No. After all I've accomplished, the way I manipulated the war... it deserves great recognition. Which proves that I have now become the Master. I made a big mistake in bringing you back."

"I was the cause of everything. I managed to manipulate you from the afterlife, and now there's a new apprentice I must reclaim. If you didn't choose to kneel before me, then maybe he will."

Palpatine, before continuing to listen to his Master's speech, decided to electrocute him, but it had no effect. Plagueis quickly reversed the electricity to Palpatine, which fell weakly just above the platform in front of the throne.

"I have finally forced you to kneel, but your fate is already sealed. Your presence will never return to this life, for you will be part of my power. You will be a slave in the afterlife, obeying my orders for the rest of my days. And while you're serving your punishment, I'm going to reclaim Vader."

Plagueis held the armrests of the throne tightly, and they lit up like flames. The platform began suctioning Palpatine's dark powers, leading them to the throne and Plagueis. His wounds closed even more, and his face began to take on a more human form.

When Palpatine was about to drop dead on the floor, a short figure entered the meeting room.

"I've been looking for you, Plagueis. You really know how to hide, I must admit. But you'll go back where you belong."

Plagueis stopped sucking Palpatine's powers, only to look into the eyes of a familiar figure. The Emperor remained on the floor as Plagueis prepared to speak:

"Maz Kanata. You've caused a lot of trouble lately. What is it that inspires you to oppose me?"

"The future of the galaxy and the Force. You are the nemesis of life, and of light. Your very existence is breaking that balance."

"It seems that your harmonious life in Takodana has given you time to think of meaningless things. However, your inner essence would do me much good to return to my... full potential."

"You really do have a power I don't quite understand, but fortunately I don't. Look what you've become. I knew your former self when you were a tyrant, but you did not interrupt the balance of the Force. Now you are an abomination that must be eliminated."

Maz tightened her belt while holding a purple lightsaber with the other hand. She quickly leapt with the Force towards Plagueis, who turned on a black lightsaber. The fast duel gave the Emperor time to crawl out of the temple. Special forces lifted him up and took him to his Imperial transport.

A scream rumbled within the temple, and it was heartbreaking. Palpatine was unable to identify from whom the pain came, as he was only interested in leaving the planet alive.

He knew he had to change his strategy, as the powers of his former master were clearly superior. So, his first plan was to talk to Vader again. On the journey, he constantly wondered whether or not he should tell the truth that his apprentice sought day and night. To speak or not would surely change the fate of the Empire forever.