How to Take an Empire

Chapter Forty-Five: Jakku

Good intentions and a good heart did not necessarily make a good leader. Vader only had to look as far as the Senate leaders who hadn't been corrupt during the Clone Wars before the fall of the Republic to know that. So keen on following the rules, on maintaining the illusion of democracy, they hadn't been willing to take the drastic measures necessary to end the war and save their precious Republic and the galaxy until it was too late. Until Sidious had cemented his hold on the galaxy and forced them to have to work in the shadows. Even now, the Republic loyalists who remained in the Senate were under the delusion that they could still solve their dispute with Palpatine through peaceful, non-violent measures.

So just because he knew Ahsoka was more concerned with and had given more thought to the state of the galaxy and the future galactic government than he had didn't mean she would be perfect for the role of its next ruler. Just like when she'd first approached him with the idea to depose Sidious and he'd made sure she was back in optimum shape for the dangers she would encounter, Vader had to ensure she had the skill to rule, especially during the volatile initial years of their new galactic order.

The problem was that he knew how to train fighters and create deadly warriors, but he didn't know how to groom a future empress. Perhaps, though, he didn't have to. She seemed to be doing an admirable job of running the rebellion despite all her baseless insecurities. Maybe all he had to do was continue urging her in the right direction, and she'd flourish like she always did in most situations.

His meditations gave him little in the way of dissuading or encouraging his idea. What used to be vague impressions that one day he'd claim the Imperial throne from Sidious were now more concrete. He saw himself in dark robes in the Senate without the suit, saw himself leaving Imperial Center to handle some military matter, saw Luke and Leia sneaking into the barracks, but Ahsoka was nowhere to be seen. Why wasn't she there? Why couldn't he see her?

He knew the Force was capable of showing him something about her. He'd received a vision of her before. Well. Not quite a vision. An image after her exoneration, after he'd convinced her to stay a Jedi, and after she'd finally fallen asleep from pure exhaustion on the couch and he'd put her to bed. He had been contemplating exactly what he was going to say to the Council the next day in a state between sleeping and waking and saw an image of her as an adult, looking exactly as she looked presently. Exuding power, standing in a room with maybe a dozen Jedi. Yoda had been there. And so had Obi-wan. The rest he wasn't familiar with. What he did know was that she had that grim, determined look on her face with her hip cocked and arms crossed, and everyone in the room was apprehensive about something. Except her. She'd been in total control of the room. As though their fate lay in her hands.

If there was one moment in his former life that he hadn't been a coward, it was the next morning and over the next few days (and weeks) when he argued for her knighting, threatened the entire Council, and then threatened Tarkin and his entire prosecuting team because they'd still had questions that unfairly implicated Ahsoka. He'd been ready to threaten the Senate and land himself with a charge of sedition and treason if they hadn't backed off. It was a wonder he hadn't been thrown out the Order for his blatant insolence then.

Getting nothing more from his searching, Vader pulled himself out of his meditation and prepared to get ready to leave his quarters and head to the bridge. He'd just gotten his mask and helmet secure when his comm beeped. He sighed, went over to the larger projector, and hooked his comm to it.

"We've got a problem," Sabé said no sooner than her image appeared on the projector.

"I'm listening."

"Mind if I three-way another agent?"

Vader nodded his permission, and then Diya's hologram appeared. He wasn't surprised, given both worked in intelligence. When Diya only nodded in his direction, Vader knew whatever Sabé was reporting was grave. Diya never missed the opportunity to express her hatred for him.