Palpatine's Vision

Vision

Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me! It all goes to George Lucas, who wrote and created Star Wars and this amazing galaxy that we all love.

This short fanfic all goes out to all the people who read my other Star Wars fanfic, The Chosen One. They are all amazing and I dedicate this to them! Enjoy :)

The darkness was alluring. There was a sense of thrill to it, and yet also a sense of tranquility. Most would assume it was contradictory, but Lord Sidious knew differently. The dark side, much like the light, had many different sides. One could not truly understand it, until one knew all its aspects. Like pieces of a puzzle all the aspects of it formed together until it was all complete. 

Lord Sidious delighted in the power it gave him. 

His eyes swept over his creation—the very being he himself had created—and smiled. "Lord Vader... can you hear me?" His voice carried with it just a hint of excitement. 

"Yes."

He looked at the man—no the being, for his apprentice was no longer a man—and his thoughts drifted to all that had happened to lead them to this moment. This one single moment... of pure victory. 

Back when he had been only a mere senator, his plans had a similar direction, all except for one thing. He had convinced the Trade Federation to send a blockade of starships around the planet of Naboo. He knew the blockade, and the action that the Queen would demand of the senate, would show Chancellor Valorum's true weakness. It gave him the perfect opportunity, and he took it. It was not long before he himself was Chancellor—right where he needed to be. 

It was unfortunate that the Jedi managed to kill his apprentice at the time; however it was only a minor setback. He had looked at the boy, Anakin Skywalker, as he had stepped out of the starship onto Naboo and smiled at him. "We will watch your career with great interest." The boy had single handedly destroyed the Trade Federation droid command ship all his own, and at a young age. Lord Sidious had felt his potential, and sensed the boy's strong connection with the Force. It was unlike anything he had ever felt. 

In a perfect twist of fate, the Jedi Council decided to train the boy in the ways of the Force. At that moment, Sidious' plans shifted, though they basically remained the same. It was not difficult to befriend the boy and plant small seeds that one day grew to be much, much bigger. As the years continued, it was as if the boy made all the right choices, or wrong ones if one looked at it from a Jedi perspective. It was as if fate was leading the boy down a dark path... 

One that Lord Sidious took complete advantage over. 

The fact that the boy had love in his life, one that the Council had tried to extinguish, made Sidious' task that much easier. Fear took its root inside Anakin, which began his downward slide down the path of darkness. Sidious whispered in the boy's mind, planting more seeds and eventually that fear of his wife's death led to anger toward the Council...

Anger that, in but a short moment, turned to hatred toward all Jedi. 

Sidious turned to glance at his apprentice, Darth Vader, as Vader turned his head slightly in Sidious' direction. "Where is Padme? Is she safe? Is she alright?"

Sidious mentally searched for her life force. He could feel the midi-chlorians inside of her, however few that there were, and within seconds twisted them. Instead of bringing life, he made sure they brought death. "We don't know why... She's lost the will to live...." Sidious sensed the sorrow from the other companions as they learned that Padme would die. He fought back a smile as he felt their heartache and pain.

Sidious turned to Vader. "It seems, in your anger, you... killed her." This, he knew, would be the final blow... the last strike that would ensure Vader's unshaking loyalty... forever. The loss of his wife had been the very thing he had turned to the dark side to try and prevent. If he thought he had killed her himself... 

It would break him. 

That was exactly what Sidious wanted. 

He felt Padme's life force leaving her at the same time that he sensed a disturbance in the Force. Vader's agony rippled through the air. It was so deep that it shook the Force itself in a hurricane of pain and sorrow. The dark tendrils that had almost ensnared him once before clawed their way inside him until the creature that was no longer a man, but half-machine, became nothing more than a tool for the darkness to play with. The last trace of the man he had once been disappeared, leaving nothing but darkness and hate in its wake. 

At the same moment, the Force trembled with a sliver of hope in the form of a young child, one that held the presence of a man Sidious once knew. He decided to let that child grow, until the day he would break him, as he had done to the child's father. He, like Vader, would become his. 

"Lord Vader, we must set our eyes for what is ahead. We have a lot that we must do."

After only a second's hesitation, Vader slightly nodded. "Yes, Master." 

He gestured for Vader to follow him as he led them both out of the medical bay. He told a commander to ready his star-ship, which would take them to the star-destroyer just outside the planet's atmosphere. 

Once they were on Sidious' star-destroyer, he strode through multiple bays and corridors until they came to the control room. It was already full of people; pilots and commanders, engineers and personnel, all working together to fly the star-destroyer. Many of the fools he had recruited years before; his position as Chancellor had served him well. With his growing executive power he also used his position to promote those he needed in higher positions, ones whose loyalties to him were unwavering. He simply snuffed out any whose loyalties wavered for even a second. 

All the light chatter stopped when Lord Sidious entered the room. They all gazed at him and the half-man, half-machine at his side in awe, and most importantly, in fear. Sidious could feel their terror coming off of them in waves. They stank of sweat and distress; he snarled at their pathetic ignorance. He gestured for Vader to follow him, and he did. 

Sidious stopped, gazing out a window at his latest work-in-progress. Vader stepped up beside him, crossing his arms. "I had construction on this begin years ago, almost at the beginning of the Clone Wars. I suspected the betrayal of the Jedi years ago, and I started it specifically for that purpose: should the need ever arise that I would need it to protect the galaxy from the atrocities of the Jedi. It is a space station that will change everything—one that will bring along a new era—that will ensure the peace we have fought so hard for."

"Very good, Master."

Lord Sidious sensed Vader's slight unease, and he suspected it was due to grief at his wife's passing. He frowned. "Let your hatred flow through you, apprentice. You will need it for your tasks ahead."

"What do you require of me, Master?" Vader glanced at him though the dark helmet that covered his broken and battered body.

Lord Sidious smiled. "You will be my hands, ensuring the loyalty of the people, and snuffing out traitors who would seek to destroy all we have fought for. We have restored order and peace to the galaxy—now we must ensure that we keep it."

Vader nodded and bowed to him. "It will be done, Master."

Sidious' smile grew. "Good.... Good..."

"Is there anything else you require, Master?"

"You must also oversee the construction of war machines, for the defense of the Empire. Should any traitors arise, we will need these to protect what we have created."

Once again, Vader nodded. "Yes, Master."

As Sidious walked out of the room, overlooking the skeleton of the Death Star, he envisioned everything that would come to pass. He sensed the last traces of hope leaving, as they dispersed across the galaxy in hopes of eluding him. He felt the surge of anger and hatred rising up in his new apprentice, and felt Vader channeling that anger and focusing on his hatred. It was deep and would serve him well.

Yes. It would serve him quite well.

Lord Sidious had finally won. All his hard work had finally paid off; he was now in control, and had formed the Empire. After so many long years, he had done it. 

His powers within the Force were unmatched, and now his powers within the galaxy and political standings were supreme. He was Emperor now, and once again the galaxy was plunged into sweet, resplendent darkness.