Dark Emperor I: Ebony and Jade by Brendon Wahlberg

[Illuminatus Primus]

This is NOT MY FANFICTION.

It has been posted here with direct permission from Mr. Wahlberg. (Available at bwahlbrg@imap.pitt.edu).

Copied verbatim from TheForce.net's Fanfic Archive.

It will be released in segments to keep you riveted and just to be more easily read.

Without further ado....



Dark Emperor I: Ebony and Jade

By: Brendon Wahlberg



A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

It is a dark time for the galaxy. The ruthless Emperor Palpatine has established a galactic empire upon the ashes of the Old Republic, and destroyed the Jedi Knights.

But the ruling Master of the dark side is dying. If an infant Rebellion has no chance to end his crushing reign, death itself waits for a final victory.

The Dark Emperor also faces threats from his past. The Sith Lord who serves him covets his throne, and a Jedi once thought to be dead has resurfaced to claim a brutal vengeance...

It was in the hanging gardens of the Imperial Palace that Lord Darth Vader first spotted the face of the Jedi Knight he had once killed. His sighting of Ashka Boda happened purely by accident. As a rule, the Dark Lord never came to the oppressively green and humid area, where every step he took meant brushing clinging fronds away from his black durasteel mask. He was there against his will, at the Emperor's command, leading three Ho'Din master botanists on a tour of all the Palace gardens.

In contrast to Vader, the aliens were in their element; the Ho'Din loved to be surrounded by plants. On their homeworld, they created huge and beautiful gardens containing plants found nowhere else in the galaxy. They had come to Imperial Center to negotiate a trade for new rare plants to take home, in exchange for plant-derived medicines only they could supply. The plant species they wanted were rare because of the Emperor Palpatine's admittedly aggressive colonization policies. The only surviving examples of many important organisms now grew in the Emperor's gardens, after the destruction of their original ecosystems. Vader knew that his Master would take the Ho'Din's stock in trade from them by force, if he could. However, only the green reptilian Ho'Din themselves knew how to extract the wonder drugs from their environment.

As a result of his unwanted duty, Vader was in a foul mood. He glared up at the slender, rubbery aliens, trying to put some fear into their dark, bulging eyes and their wide, lipless mouths. But the botanists remained as expressionless as Vader's mask. Their violet-scaled, snake like tresses squirmed incessantly as they stared over Vader at the bountiful flora around them. Vader seethed inside, finding it intolerable that the visiting aliens towered a full meter over his head. It was frustrating to lose the advantage of height that he usually enjoyed. No doubt that was part of the reason for the Emperor's assignment that Vader guide the Ho'Din. The Emperor, a short man, usually made Vader kneel; now Vader understood how he felt. Another reason for the assignment was probably a simple reminder of who was in authority, that even the Dark Lord of the Sith was subject to Palpatine's whims.

Vader looked around for an experienced garden supervisor, upon whom he could pass off the pointing, chattering botanists with their unceasing flow of comments and questions. He simply did not know the answers to most of their inquiries, and he reasoned that if he could find someone who did, he could entice them into letting him go without word of it getting back to the Emperor. If he had to respond to another question about this genetically altered herb, or that unusual sweet-smelling moss, he thought he might indulge in a little display of the power of the Force.
It was at that moment that he saw the Jedi. In the middle distance, coming around a vine covered wall, was an older, mostly bald man, wearing a loose brown sleeveless robe. He froze for a long moment as he made sudden eye contact with the Dark Lord. Vader's visual enhancement system zoomed in on the man's face. The Jedi had squinting slate gray eyes, surrounded by wrinkles and shadowed by his sun baked brow. His mouth was open in surprise below his sharp, straight nose. Only a few wisps of white hair remained at the sides of his head. His large, rough hands clutched at his soil stained clothes as he stared back at Vader with equal intensity.

Then the Jedi bolted and ran, disappearing into the foliage in an instant. Vader did not react immediately; he was too surprised. He knew the man he had just seen, thus he was certain that the man should have been dead. Dead at Vader's own hands. The man's name had been Ashka Boda, and he had been one of the Jedi that Vader had personally slain during the great Purge well over a decade ago.

It was a truth he kept only to himself: Vader recognized Ashka Boda because he remembered the face of every Jedi he had killed. He had memorized each face so he would never forget the price that was paid to win Palpatine's vision of a New Order for the future...the price of his former Jedi brothers' lives. In fact, he could even dimly recall the pain he had felt at the time, as he killed each Jedi Knight. But it was a distant memory, viewed through a hardened soul, and the sight of Ashka Boda caused him no fresh pain. Of all the emotions he might have felt at seeing one of the Jedi returned from the dead, his one cold feeling was that he had unfinished business to resolve. Even during the Purge, he had been able to bury his feelings under the conviction that Palpatine's promised order was needed, that the Jedi were fools to oppose it and to support the corrupt Old Republic. The killings were necessary combat. He had given each opponent a chance to join the Master and live. He had dueled each Knight fairly when they invariably refused. None had been his match. All of them had died. And Ashka Boda had been among the dead, Vader was sure.

The Ho'Din were oblivious to what had happened. One of them was bending down to the Dark Lord to rasp in Basic, "Lord Vader, would you happen to know the location of the D'ian Orchid Vines from Sen III? We have heard of their famed sweet aroma, a scent potent enough to-"
Vader's moment of surprise was broken. The Ho'Din gasped and backpedaled as Vader's red lightsaber blade snapped into existence right in front of his small green nose. "I regret that this tour must be canceled," Vader boomed sarcastically. "I have the Emperor's business to attend to." With that, he moved swiftly into the maze of vine-covered walls and pillars where Ashka Boda had vanished.

"Cod ee say oo pay a loto!" one of the astonished Ho'Din said, reverting back to his native language.

"Sate Pestage ray indee pako a gammon!" His companions shook their head tresses in indignation, staring after the Dark Lord.

Vader quickly discovered that his moment of hesitation had cost him his quarry. Boda was gone. Reaching out with the Force, Vader confirmed it. The Jedi was no longer in the garden at all. Vader made his decision quickly. It was enough that a Jedi was loose on Coruscant, but this one seemed to hold the secret of immortality itself. If that was true, then a dangerous game was beginning, and another important player now had to enter it. He knew he had to inform the Emperor immediately.



Sequestered within the jagged dark towers and walls of his Castle near the Palace, Darth Vader dismissed his Noghri guard and activated the holographic communication platform he used to speak to his Master. There was a blank period of waiting, as usual, during which Vader composed himself in the proper kneeling position, down on one knee, with his face lowered.

The first image to appear was not that of the Emperor, but instead that of his Grand Vizier, the wizened Sate Pestage. "Greetings, Lord Vader," Pestage said politely. "It is my unfortunate duty to inform you that the Emperor cannot be disturbed at this time. He is in a deep meditative state, and he expressly asked me to deal with matters on his behalf, as they arise. How may I be of service to you?"

Vader rose out of his kneeling position, and leaned towards the hologram. He hated dealing with an intermediary when he had such urgent news to convey. He resolved to cut through the bureaucracy as only he could. Lowering his voice to its most sinister level, Vader addressed the Grand Vizier. "Your instructions do not apply to me. I will speak with the Emperor immediately. It is a matter of great importance. If you should decide to be an obstruction to me in this, then we shall find out how much the Emperor will miss your services...when he awakens."

Pestage's normally serene face betrayed the smallest twitch, a relative victory for Vader. The Grand Vizier's next words were merely a face-saving gesture, Vader knew. "I am certain, Lord Vader, that our Master requires both of us to serve him. Very well, I shall inform the Master of your request presently. But before I leave you, there is the small matter of a complaint I received from a group of Ho'Din dignitaries this morning. Perhaps you would care to shed some light on this-"

Vader abruptly cut off the transmission, wishing he could see Pestage's face as he did so. The elderly Grand Vizier annoyed Vader with the way he pampered and protected the Emperor. It was satisfying to face down the shifty old courtier for once. The true measure of Vader's victory was in the gratifyingly short time it took for the face of Palpatine to waver into the space in front of him. The Emperor's hooded face was much larger than Pestage's had been - it towered over the Dark Lord who once again knelt before it. Vader was used to this display of his Master's towering ego, and paid it no notice.

Palpatine spoke first, glaring down at the Sith Lord. "What is so important, Lord Vader, that you need to defy my orders to tell it to me?"

Vader raised his head to meet the Emperor's bright yellow eyes. "I have seen a Jedi, my Master, in the Palace itself. What is more, he was one of the Jedi I personally killed during your Purge. His name was Ashka Boda. Somehow, he has survived his own death, and come here for reasons unknown."

The Emperor's annoyance was replaced by a look of grave interest. He said nothing for a long moment, during which Vader studied his Master's looming face. Palpatine's reaction was all the proof Vader needed that he had done the right thing by bringing the matter swiftly to his attention. Of course, any Jedi sighting was a matter for great concern. The current belief was that all of the Jedi had been killed, some by Vader, some by Palpatine, and the rest by Imperial forces. Still, it was always possible that some were in hiding, waiting for the right time to emerge. The presence of a Jedi in the Palace itself was disturbing proof of that. There was no telling how much harm he could do while free; the Emperor would certainly want him dead or captured.

There was also the more subtle issue of Ashka Boda's mysterious survival of death. Vader was well aware that the secret of immortality was of great interest to his Master. The reason was as plain as the Emperor's withered face. Palpatine's flesh was twisted and sagging around his devious eyes and his hateful mouth full of blackened teeth. The dark side of the Force gave great power, it was true, but as time went on, and the Emperor needed more and more of that power, the price he physically paid for it became higher and higher. Vader, too, had paid a price for his use of the dark side, but as his power was less, so was the cost. He never looked at his face anymore, but he was sure it was nowhere near as ravaged as his Master's. Vader's true price had been the loss of his body and his humanity - his imprisonment in a black durasteel shell. In the last year, Palpatine's deterioration had become extreme. Looking at the Emperor, Vader could tell that the ruler of the galaxy was dying. If there was any secret of defying death to be found, Palpatine would surely want it.
Vader had had to weigh this fact when he decided to contact the Emperor. He knew that not informing his Master might bring costly punishments. On the other hand, it was not in Vader's best interests to serve an immortal Emperor. Palpatine had promised an order for the galaxy that Vader had believed in, and fought for. That promised future was now, and Vader's frank assessment was that the promise had been broken. The Empire that had arisen to replace the Old Republic brought more chaos than it did order. There was too much destructive conflict, by far, to suit Vader. The Dark Lord never let any of these thoughts leak out to his Master...they were far too dangerous. Palpatine must never know that Vader held closely guarded desires to take over the Empire and correct its course. If he knew, Vader would die.

The Emperor's physical decline had given Vader hope that the throne would be vacant before long. It would be an easy solution...and there could be a smooth transition to Vader as Emperor. However, the potential knowledge of Ashka Boda threatened that hope. Vader had already decided that Boda had to die. How and when would depend on how the Emperor played things. Vader forced himself to be patient and to wait for his chance to destroy Boda and his secrets.

For now, Palpatine was giving his reply. "You've done well, Lord Vader, to bring this to my attention. Come to the private audience chamber tonight, and we will speak of our plans to deal with this Jedi. Until then, my friend," said the Emperor with a sudden fatherly smile. The hologram faded away, leaving Vader alone.

Vader stood in satisfaction. So, the contest began. The Sith Lord vowed that he, personally, would decide where it ended.



In his meditation chamber, Darth Vader prepared himself, body and soul, for the trial to come. Advanced biomonitors fine-tuned his vital functions and adjusted his body chemistry for maximum endurance and energy. His bionic systems enjoyed a recharge, while the direct neural patching that controlled them was checked by medical sensors. The life systems control computer on his chest underwent a full self-diagnostic. Meanwhile, his helmet was suspended by a robot arm above his pasty, deeply scarred head. His eyes, however, were closed and his mind was with the Force, remembering...

More then a decade ago, during the campaign to destroy the Jedi, Vader had come to the home of a Jedi named Ashka Boda, in a slum district of the only spaceport on backwater Utapau. It was late in the campaign; most of the Jedi were defeated already. The grand battles were over. Now, all that remained was to finish off the impotent remnants of the Order. Boda was one such remnant. His name and location had been taken from the main Census Computer on Coruscant. All indications were that he had not fled, and was simply staying where he was.

Vader left his squad of Stormtroopers behind as he entered the wretched dwelling of Ashka Boda. Word of Vader's arrival had apparently not affected the old Jedi; Vader found him just finishing a simple meal in the one-room second floor apartment.

Boda didn't get up as Vader's huge form filled the apartment's doorway. "I've been expecting you," he said, his voice weak, as he wiped a corner of his mouth. "And I'm ready. Go ahead. Do what you came to do. Do what you must do."

Vader paused in the doorway, studying the seated man. Boda seemed to offer no threat. Just the opposite - he seemed to be a broken man, devoid of resistance. "Are you so eager to die, old man?" Vader asked.

"I am ready to die," Boda said. He held up his large, empty hands. "I have no lightsaber, so I cannot duel you. I gave it up long ago. It brought me the ultimate grief, and I will never hold it again. You, however, could cut me down where I sit..."

Vader stared at him, considering. It went against his nature to kill an unresisting man. Still, this was a Jedi, and he had his orders. Eradicate the Jedi. "If you have nothing to live for," Vader offered, "why not give yourself to the dark side? Turn and serve my Master, and claim a new life for yourself."

"No," Boda said wearily. "It wouldn't bring back what I've lost - what I destroyed myself. Besides, I would be betraying the memory of my brother if I served your Emperor. It would make a mockery of what he died for. No...just take my life, as you have been ordered to. It might even be a mercy for me, to reach the end."

Vader nodded, looking closely at the old man's face, recording it in his memory. Not the first, and not the last one to die. Simply the next. He reached out one black gloved hand and made a clasping gesture. The Force flowed at his command and surrounded the old man's heart. Ashka Boda doubled over as his heart was grasped hard inside his chest. He fell from his chair as the heart stopped, collapsing onto the stained floor. Then his last breath left him.

After a minute, Vader walked over to the sprawled body and examined it. He took out a small scanner and held it over the corpse. There were no life signs. Suspicious of a deception, Vader probed with the Force to detect any hidden life within Boda, but he found none. This was not a hibernation trance. The old man was dead.

Vader noticed that the body did not fade away as sometimes happened with the Jedi. This did not disturb him. Fading was a function of being particularly close to the Force on the light side. It didn't always happen, particularly if the spirit was tainted. Boda's evident despair suggested that he had done something terrible in his lifetime. Finally, Vader left the body where it was and went down the narrow stairs to the front of the dilapidated building. He strode past the cluster of Stormtroopers surrounding the decayed facade, gesturing to the building as he gave a single command. "Burn it." The white armored soldiers hurried to comply...
Vader awoke from his memory trance as his mask and helmet clamped firmly into place once more. He felt physically refreshed, and clear in his purpose. He was certain that Ashka Boda had died that day on Utapau, yet there was obviously more to the man than he had seen in that dingy room in the spaceport. Nevertheless, it didn't matter what powers or secrets the old man had. When Boda had seen Vader in the garden, he had run, proving he was still no warrior. Vader had no doubts. He had killed Ashka Boda once...he could do so again.


The man who had caused such consternation for Vader had indeed fled at the sight of the Sith Lord. Boda had no desire to confront Lord Vader, not with so much at stake. It would be a pointless battle, because Boda's real target was the Emperor Palpatine. He had learned a lot about Vader over the years, while he worked at the Palace as a gardener. He knew the Dark Lord was just a servant, in thrall to his Master, who was the true evil. Vader was not an opponent to be destroyed, just an obstacle to be removed. Boda would spare Vader if he could, and he did not want to risk Vader killing him before his plans could come to fruition.

Boda knew it was endgame for Palpatine and himself. The moment Vader had seen him, Boda had known his time of planning and plotting was over. And was that so bad? He had been preparing for years upon years. Perhaps he had needed a small push to finally act.

Vader's sighting him had been a mistake, a chance encounter. The Sith Lord never visited the gardens, so Boda had always managed to avoid Vader by keeping to the gardens of the Palace and of his rooftop home. Avoiding Vader had been important - Boda was grateful to Vader for his second chance at life, but he knew Vader wouldn't feel the same way. But it was now over and done - he had been discovered and now he had to be ready. The Emperor would send Vader after him, Boda reasoned. The Dark Lord was Palpatine's Jedi-slaying machine from the Purge. Boda had decided to deal with the Sith Lord here, in his own greenhouse home, where his plants would give him an advantage. Once Vader was out of the game, it would be time to go to Palpatine and deliver the Emperor's long overdue death. It was going to be glorious. Years and tears of patient work had filled the Palace with explosive material. It was a colossal bomb waiting to go off. And it would, once Boda was sure that he and Palpatine were inside it. So they could die together...

Boda walked along between the rows of Bafforr trees under a wide glass sky, working out the details of his defense in his mind. His home was a vast greenhouse atop one of Imperial City's skyscrapers. The glassed-in food producing facility had been built around the original penthouse apartments to help feed the huge metropolis, but years ago, Boda made the place his own. Using the Force, he had convinced the original owners to sell it to him cheaply, and now it was his own garden, where he grew the exotic plants that he enjoyed more than the company of people. Here, he grew giant carnivorous plants, moving vines, and exploding fungi. They protected him well. Here too, were his beloved Bafforr trees, sentient creatures that spoke to him in their unusual way, warning him of danger and removing his loneliness. And best of all was his sweet-smelling Phelarion moss, a soft, gray-green species that filled every nook and cranny, soothing Boda's anxieties away. He was truly at home, and he knew his home would fight with him.

Boda looked to be about sixty-five years old. His hands were large and rough with calluses from many years of gardening. The many wrinkles near his eyes were shadowed by his thick brow. Boda perpetually squinted from long years of looking at the sun. He had a patient, calm demeanor, gleaned from contact with the peace of slow growing things. Boda's simple, sleeveless brown robe was worn loose in the style of the Jedi. It concealed a lightsaber that was never taken out when someone might see it. His clothes and shoes were dirt-stained, old, and worn. He had a gruff voice, but he rarely used it, preferring the silence of the gardens and his private thoughts of Palpatine's defeat. It was best that he stayed solitary. People tended to feel uneasy around him, they sensed that there was something strange about him despite his ordinary appearance. Boda did not want to be noticed, so he stayed alone.

But he hadn't always been alone. Once, he had lived with his brother...a brother with whom he had disagreed deeply and passionately. It had, in fact, been a disagreement to the death. Just thinking about it made the whole memory start to replay itself in Boda's mind. It was a powerful memory, with strong emotions attached to it. Boda couldn't resist it, and it took him back, back to Naboo, where this had all started...

"No, Vantos, I...won't allow you to go through with this," said Ashka Boda. He gasped with exhaustion as he clambered onto the broad ledge next to his also tired brother. Vantos Boda looked at him, panting and incredulous. The brothers were standing on a rock cliff face, full of protruding ledges and natural stone stairways. The base of the cliff was a considerable distance below them, and even further up above them was the lonely house where the child of Vantos' vision lived alone with his father. Vantos had insisted on approaching the house this way in order to avoid being spotted on the wide mountain road. His plan was to scout out the house unobserved, wait for a chance to catch the child alone, and then kill him quickly with a lightsaber.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Vantos spat, "You can't be serious! Ashka, you disgust me. How can you do this to me now, when we're both so deep into it? I thought I had you convinced. Why did you come all this way with me if you were going to back out at the last second?"

"I never said I agreed with you, Vantos," Ashka said with weary anger. "I could never condone the murder of a child. I came with you so I could be at your side, in case you abandoned your evil goals -" Vantos growled, but Ashka ignored him. "Yes, evil, Vantos. Don't try to fool yourself. You're on the path that leads to the dark side. I don't want to lose you...but if you do this...you're already lost. I want you to understand me very clearly. I'm not 'backing out' and letting you finish this alone. I'm...I'm going to stop you right here. Whatever that takes."

Vantos looked steadily at his brother. "Oh, I understand you, Ashka. You're threatening me, your own brother. Would you kill me if you had to? Is it worth that much to you? Listen to me. It doesn't all have to happen this way."

Ashka didn't reply. He held Vantos' gaze with his own, his eyes full of dread.

"You'd kill me," Vantos continued, "and let that child live. He'll grow up, and murder trillions! Do you want to live with that? All those deaths will be on your head. You talk about the dark side...that child is going to be the greatest Master of the dark side that ever lived! He's going to destroy our order - wipe out the Jedi. He's going to build a machine that can shatter an entire world! He's going to bring down the Republic and become the Emperor of a galaxy in chains. But I have a chance to prevent all that. I was given the vision for a purpose. The Force itself wants me to be the savior. Just like it says in the Journal of the Whills! 'And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as the son of the suns.'" Vantos choked out the words. "Ashka, what is the life of one child, set against so many billions? What is my life, even? If I had to die for this, I would. Even if...even if you have to..." Vantos looked away from his brother's eyes.

Ashka adopted a pleading tone. "These arguments didn't persuade me before, and they won't now. Listen to reason, Vantos. This child, this Espaa Pestage, he is only a child. He hasn't done any of the things you're talking about. The Republic and the Jedi Order are fine! What you say doesn't make any sense. No one child or adult is going to be able to do all those things. Remember what our Master taught us when we were training? She said you could try to see the future, but it wasn't set. Anything could change it. This vision of yours could be the stuff of fantasy."

"No, Ashka," Vantos said, his voice hollow. "This was no hazy glimpse of the future. This was a full, clear vision, in such detail that...that...Ashka, there is enough horror stored up in what's coming to drive you insane if you could see it. The Force itself doesn't want it to happen. The light side let me see what's ahead because it needs me to stop it."

"What if your vision wasn't from the light side?" asked Ashka. "What if the dark side wants you, and the way to claim you is to have you murder this child? Master Dina taught us there is no turning back from the dark path. And in the end, it will destroy you!"

Vantos folded his arms across his chest. "I know what I saw, and what I felt. I have to do this now, for the sake of the Republic. I am it's sworn protector, and this is my duty. Don't stand in my way. Go home Ashka, before one of us gets killed."

Ashka's only response was to draw out and ignite his lightsaber. He held it firmly in the ready position.

Vantos shook his head angrily. "That was a mistake, brother. Of the two of us, I've always been the better swordsman by far. I usually beat you, and I know all your weaknesses." Vantos ignited his own weapon and slowly set the silvery blade against the twin beam in Ashka's hand. The blades flashed and jumped slightly as they made contact. A crackling hum filled the air.

Ashka and Vantos squared off on the ledge. The stone platform was only six paces wide; beyond that was a nasty drop. Ashka began to sweat from his anxiety. Vantos seemed tense but collected, his expression cold. Ashka made the first move, swinging swiftly at Vantos' head. The blow was neatly blocked, and Vantos forcefully pushed the blade down and away from him. Ashka took a few careful steps backward, the drop-off to his right side. Vantos held his position, his stance defensive. They traded several more blows, but each time Ashka attacked, Vantos seemed to know how his brother would strike. Vantos' blade was there to block Ashka's, even as Ashka decided where to aim. A low side swing was blocked low, a high thrust was dodged. Ashka spun and struck high again, but Vantos swiftly ducked. Even a series of wild swings was avoided, as Vantos jumped away. Ashka quickly grew frustrated. Vantos was fighting a purely defensive battle, but it seemed effortless. Ashka was, in contrast, quickly running out of energy. It had already been a long climb, and once he tired too much, Vantos would move in to disable him, and continue up the cliff. A sense of rapidly dwindling time overcame him. With dismay twisting in his gut, Ashka put reckless force into his next blow. Vantos seemed to anticipate it yet again; he stepped backwards and completely dodged the attack.

"Bad move," Vantos grated, "you always did overextend."

The exhausted Ashka had leaned too far into his stroke. Vantos' downward return stroke hammered Ashka's weapon out of his hand. At the same time, Vantos took full advantage of his brother's momentum to trip him and shove him at the edge of the ledge. Ashka fell hard, his legs slipping over the side as he struggled to get a handhold. His desperate fingers found a purchase, but it was all he could do to avoid plummeting down the cliff face. His legs swung in the air below the ledge.

Vantos watched him impassively. He shut down his lightsaber and hooked it to his belt. "I'm sorry Ashka," he said, "but a fight was what you wanted. You were being a fool. Don't you understand? I saw the future! I even saw our fight! I tried to stop you, but you wouldn't listen. Hang on as best you can. I'll be back for you, as soon as I'm finished. If you fall...just remember the healing techniques Master Dina taught us."

"But Vantos -" Ashka protested.

"This is my victory," Vantos cut him off. "I wasn't expecting to win like this, but I did. You may never thank me for it, but what I'm going to do...I'm doing it for you, too. I'll see you when it's done."

As Ashka Boda held doggedly to the ledge, Vantos Boda turned and began climbing higher, his back to his struggling brother. Ashka knew Vantos was lost to him. Drawing on the Force, he used precious seconds to bleed away his fatigue. His questing feet found a protruding rock below the ledge on which to gain a foothold, and he held still, breathing evenly. Though it made him slip a bit more, he lifted one hand from the rock and opened his palm towards his fallen saber. The weapon clinked and rolled into it, impelled by the Force. A glance towards Vantos verified that his single-minded brother was still ignoring him, but that Vantos had almost climbed out of range. Ashka took a few slow, deep breaths, then gritted his teeth and acted. Pushing up with his other hand and his legs, he raised himself enough to activate and throw his saber, guiding it with the Force. Immediately, he lost his purchase on the ledge, and fell back into open space. For a moment, he glimpsed the silvery saber spinning towards the unprotected back of his brother. He didn't see it hit, but as he fell, he heard an agonized cry that he would remember for the rest of his life. His brother's death cry.

Then Ashka struck the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. His body rolled a good distance down the slope, but Ashka's awareness had been smashed out of him, and he didn't know it.

Ashka awakened the next morning to the feel of another's probing hands on his head. He blinked in the bright sunlight, focusing on the long, thin face of a young man bending over his own in concern. Ashka could feel the caked dried blood on his skin shift as he made a pained face. He didn't try to move his limbs yet, not until he could check them with his Force sense. He tried to speak, grunted airily, and cleared his parched throat to try again.

"I'm...Ashka Boda...My...my brother," he rasped, "is he...dead?"

"Your brother," repeated the lanky stranger. "Yes, I see. That explains the body up on the cliff. I'm sorry, but yes, your brother is dead."

Ashka moaned quietly. So. It was true. His brother, his training partner...his only family...was dead. Swift fragments of memory came to Ashka - the two of them burying their parents, learning the Force with Master Dina...he and Vantos roaring drunk and laughing. All of it...all of it gone, now.

"I found him when I was out looking for my son," the stranger said. "He's disappeared, and I'm very worried about him. I was combing the cliff side - Espaa likes to go there alone - when I found the body. He had been killed by a lightsaber. Was he a Jedi? Are you?"

"Yes," said Ashka slowly. "Both Jedi. I...killed him myself. He was going to kill your son. Had to stop him." Ashka began to cough painfully.

The stranger grimaced, and took a small flask from the pocket of his vest. Carefully, he tipped the contents into Ashka's mouth. It was water. Ashka drank gratefully.

"My son?" the man was saying. "What would your brother want to do that for? Do you know where Espaa is? Is he all right?"

"We...didn't see your son. I'm sorry." Ashka closed his eyes. "Vantos had a vision...that your son was going...going to turn to the dark side and kill many people. He thought it was up to him...to stop it before -" A jolt of pain shot up Ashka's leg, and he winced.

"Did your brother have anything to do with that woman from two days ago?"

"Woman?" said Ashka, confused. "What woman? We didn't see anyone else."

"Listen," the man said, "my name is Sate Pestage, and I live here alone with my son. My wife Gemsaa died just before the new year...she was a Jedi healer, but she couldn't save herself. Espaa is all I have left of her. A woman, robed in black, came to our house...she wanted to take Espaa away, to 'fulfill an important destiny'. Of course I wasn't going to let him go away with any total stranger. I told her to leave us alone. Are you sure you don't know anything about that? I think she came to my house last night in secret, and kidnapped my son. I have no idea who she was. I'm terrified I won't see my son again. I thought Naboo was such a safe planet to live on."

As Pestage spoke, Ashka felt a cold feeling of failure settle over him. He felt like he was physically plunged into a chilling shadow he knew would never lift until he died. Some sort of dark side adept had come to this world of Naboo, to this place, to find the same child that Vantos foresaw becoming a dark side Master, a dark Emperor who would rule the galaxy. Had Vantos been right? Had Ashka killed his brother, only to allow the dark side to claim its prize? Ashka's confusion and remorse overwhelmed him. He slipped once more into unconsciousness as Vantos' words echoed in his head..."Do you want to live with that? All those deaths will be on your head..."

The memory faded out as Boda leaned against his Bafforr tree, letting the peace of the entire grove flood over him. His fight with his brother would always be a difficult memory, but that was in the past. The only important thing to learn from it was whether that long ago vision had been the truth. Boda sighed. How very, very true it had been...

Boda was certain that the boy of the vision, Espaa Pestage, was the same person as Emperor Palpatine. Yes, the name was different, but it was probable that he had changed it to avoid anyone learning about his past. The proof, to Boda, was the devoted service of Sate Pestage to the Emperor. It was almost...fatherly.

Many years after that day on Naboo, it was revealed that the Sith order, long thought to have vanished, had returned. Boda knew then that the dark side adept who had taken Espaa was a Sith. If Espaa had in fact trained with the Sith, it would explain his dark side powers. But somewhere along the line, Espaa must have surpassed his teacher, for now he reigned supreme and the only publicly known Sith Lord was his servant. He had also fulfilled most of the prophecy of the vision. He had assisted in the destruction of the Republic, he had engineered the fall of the Jedi Order, and he had become a tyrannical Emperor. True, he had not built a machine that could destroy a world, but considering his build-up of Star Destroyers, could such a device be far behind?

It didn't matter how many years had gone by, or how much evil Palpatine had accomplished or not accomplished. What mattered, finally, was that justice had to be served. Only Palpatine's death could make up for the injustice of that long-ago day when brother had killed brother. And justice would come, soon, bringing a cleansing fire with it. Boda was ready for it to burn away his pain as well.















So what do you say? Do you want more?

[Kuja]

Why the fuck are you posting fanfiction that isn't yours?

[Illuminatus Primus]

Because some I know asked me if I'd post this series, and I asked Wahlberg personally and supplied all credit to him and made him within contact of others.

And because I think he's probably one of the very very best SW fanfic writers there are.

I'm no mod, so I couldn't create a sticky thread or anything similar so more could enjoy this excellent fic here at SD.net, and Brendon seemed completely cool with the idea of making it available to others, so I did.

If you'd perfer I'd have no problem letting Stravo official-ize it and make it into a thread himself.