My 2nd fan fiction short

Prelude to Empire

By Matt Wilkins

 

Palpatine stood by his office window, hands clasped behind his back, silently watching ships fly along the Coruscant skyline. It wouldn’t be long now. Soon all of his meticulous planning was about to pay off. All those years of maneuvering himself into a position of power, right under the nose pf the Jedi was reaching an endgame.

Revealing himself to Skywalker had set things in motion and he expected the Jedi Council to confront him soon. Indeed, this would be a day long remembered. A day that would spell the end of the Republic and the obliteration of the despicable Jedi.

Patience and timing was all it took and he had plenty of that to give for this day to arrive. He allowed the slightest trace of a smile on his lips, to show satisfaction of a job well done when his communicator chimed. Or to be more specific, Darth Sidious’ communicator.

With a snarl of irritation, he quickly slipped on his cloak and threw the hood over his head. He had to make this quick. The Jedi would be here soon, he could feel it.

Flipping the communicator on brought up the image of Sage Postage, one of his most loyal subjects since his days on Naboo. Thought Pestage knew pf his alter-ego Sidious kept the hood on due to the encrypted communication that it was sent. Obviously this was not a regular call for Chancellor Palpatine to handle. “Make this quick,” Sidious hissed through clenched teeth, “The Jedi will be here soon.”

Pestage, wearing his red garb and headdress, looked nervous. Never a good song before the most irritant day in Sidious’ life. Before he spoke, Sideous knew it was not good news. “M-my Lord,” he stammered. “There has been an incident at the clone facility.”

Sidious grimaced but let Pestage continue. “One of the clones managed to escape.”

For the past few months Sidious had allowed Pestage to run a small cloning facility hidden well within the under-levels of the city. Pestage’s obsession for cloning started well before the Clone Wars themselves began. Sidious suspected Pestage had even made a few clones of himself while worling in the faculty. Although he’d allow Sate this indulgence for a time, Sidious now knew that day was coming to an end.

“Who.” He demanded coldly.

His chief advisor flinched, knowing that his master would not be pleased with his response. “Even Piell.”

Piell. One of the Jedi Masters who had died during the Clone Wars, although he hadn’t been there to witness the account, Tarkin had given him a full report along with a sample of the deceased Master’s DNA in case the Chancellor had need of it on the future… and Sidious did.

Pestage mistook the silence for anger and continued. “I have units looking for him now. We will apprehend him shortly. In the event he makes it to the temple his memory should give him no idea where he’s been the past-“

“Enough!” Sidious glared at the image of Pestage and watched him to flinch once again. The a long time loyal subject of Palpatine’s dating back to his days on Naboo, being a coward was one of Sate’s strong points. It not for his quick cunning, Sidious would have delta with him a long time ago. “It’s too late to make a difference now. The Jedi will soon be finished. Leave it be for now.”

Pestage opened his mouth to object “But my Lord, I’m sure we can-“

Sidious pulled back his robe to reveal the cold glare in his eyes until Pestage went silent.

“This experiment of yours is over. I want all cloning tanks shipped to Mount Tantiss. There I will have skilled hands take control and what you could ineptly not.

”He watched with smug satisfaction as Pestage slowly acknowledged his defeat. “Yes, my master.”

“And after you are done cleaning up there I will need you back at the Senate. There will be much to do shortly.”

Pestage bowed as Sidipus ended the transmission.

Heaving a sigh as he shrugged off his coat. Sate would get over his disappointment and as for the cloned Even Piell, Palpatine would just use another clone to replace him. Jorus C’boath perhaps? Either way it wouldn’t matter. Once Order 66 was given even the cloned Jedi Master wouldn’t last long. The Jedi were finished, all of them. Nothing could stop that now.

A feint flicker in the Force alerted him to Mace Windu’s presence. He was arriving with three other Jedi Master’s in tow. Good. Killing four Master’s would mark a fitting beginning to his new reign. Besides, he looked forward to showing his skills against the deluded Council. He looked forward to exposing the Jedi’s ignorance.

Palpatine sat back in his chair, waiting for them to arrive. His other projects could wait. He had an Empire ahead of him to rule.