Comments | capeandcowllogs: Static in my head;

emperorshand in capeandcowllogs

Static in my head;

Oct 17, 2009 01:23

WHO: emperorshand and im_not_the_pope
WHERE: idk wherever Uncle Palps is at
WHEN: LAAAATE in the night
WARNINGS: Mental maniplation, force style!
SUMMARY: After nearly a week on little sleep, Mara goes to confront the one thing she didn't think she'd have to.
FORMAT: Paragraph!

( Lines blur red )

† mara jade | n/a, † palpatine | darth sidious

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im_not_the_pope October 17 2009, 05:31:09 UTC

It amused Palpatine to no end, the way that despite her resistance to him, despite her shields and her barriers, he could still force his way into her mind. And to great effect - she was coming out in search of him, saving him the trouble of having Vader find her himself. It was almost too amusing.

He allowed his mind to be a beacon; calling to her, directing her on the right path to find him. After all, if she was going to pay him a visit, who was he to refuse? She would find him as anyone ever found him - seated in his chair, his arms resting on the arms of the chair, leaning comfortably back, the black robes he always wore wrapped around his figure, obscuring all but his mouth and chin.

A slight grin came to his face. "I have been expecting you, Mara Jade," he said to her as she approached him.

emperorshand October 17 2009, 05:43:03 UTC

Mara wanted to vomit. She couldn't breathe in the cloying presence of her former master. The trip hadn't been nearly long enough for her to do a thing, and as she started walking towards him, her fingers brushing against the familiar metal of her guns, something comforting.

Her mouth curled down into a frown, and she bored holes into his head. It wasn't hate. It was annoyance, defiance, resilience.

"I don't give a kriff who you were expecting. I came for one reason, sleemo, and that's to tell you to get out of my karking head."

im_not_the_pope October 17 2009, 05:46:35 UTC

"But you were the one who let me in, all those years ago," he replied, a slight smile coming to his twisted face, as he looked up at her from his chair. "I must say, your head has been quite a veritable font of information, my dear...useful information, at that." He laughed slightly, watching her glaring at him, his yellowed eyes meeting her own.

"You wanted me in your head before. You reveled in my presence, in my praise. Where did you go so wrong, Mara Jade?" He could sense her resistance to him, her defiance; he would soon break it down. "Perhaps... No, that would be foolish, even for you."

emperorshand October 17 2009, 05:52:41 UTC

"No," she sneered, her eyes hardening as his met hers. "It was manipulation. Lies," she said through clenched teeth as she stared at him. "I went wrong when I figured out just how much control you had over my every move. How much you lied to me, just to get revenge, which you obviously could have done yourself anyway" she mumbled the last part, an offhand, derisive slap in his face. Obviously it hadn't worked.

"I never went 'wrong', I just got a little too smart for you to handle."

im_not_the_pope October 17 2009, 06:01:27 UTC

"Perhaps, but they were lies you wanted to believe." His face hardened as he stood up from his chair, his cane flying to his hand as he began to walk towards her, closing most of the distance between them until he stood immediately in front of her. "You performed admirably, my Hand. I should know - I've searched your mind. I know everything you ever did for me. And where you hid the truth from me as well."

"Thanks to you, I have also seen my own death foretold. At least...the first one." He smiled again. "Perhaps, in that instance, I was overconfident. But now I know to not waste my time with Skywalker's father as an influence on the boy. I have to go for something...more significant." He chuckled as he turned away from her.

"You never were too smart for me to handle, and you never will be. Remember this well, my Hand. My will is too strong for you; too strong for anyone. Should I wish it, you will serve me once more."

emperorshand October 17 2009, 06:15:06 UTC

"Not on your life," she sneered. Her shields were back into place, tighter than they had been in days. Exhaustion was nothing when the adrenaline kicked in, and this was just the motivation she needed to wake herself up enough to get a handle on things.

The kriff was she even doing here?

That was the big question. What stupid part of her had thought this would ever be a good idea? She couldn't handle Palpatine. She wasn't even fully trained, skipping out and leaving the academy. She said it was because it wasn't for her, and that was true, to a point. It was also because Skywalker begged her to come, and then spent the entire time ignoring her. Here in the city, that definitely wasn't the case. She could feel him subconsciously reaching out for her at any time, just to feel her, as if he was confirming that she was even still there.

"Too bad, I don't think Skywalker got your datacard," she snorted.

im_not_the_pope October 17 2009, 06:23:09 UTC

He laughed again. "Tell me, Mara Jade...do you hate me for what I did to you?" he asked her, as he turned around to face her again. "You come to me, filled with such defiance, such anger...I can only assume that it is directed at me."

"More imporantly," he asked, "why did you come here tonight? Are you here to kill me?" His eyes flickered over to her various weapons, landing on her lightsaber for a few moments before moving back to her face. "I'm sure you could, after all. I am an old man...I stand here before you tired, using a cane to walk. I'm sure someone as young and powerful as yourself could have no difficulties in murdering an old man. Who knows? It might even bring you some satisfaction."

Another small smile. "Do it, then. Take your weapon. Kill me. I can feel the desire within you; the hatred you have directed at me. Use it. Kill me. That is, if you're strong enough."

emperorshand October 17 2009, 06:51:09 UTC

Mara rolled her eyes at him. The vision of defiance down to her mannerisms. "Oh please. You and I both know how far that farce goes," she sneered, her lip curling up in disgust. His signature in the force alone was enough to say that he wasn't just an old man with a cane. It was everywhere, weighing over everything like a wet blanket. It was everywhere. In her mind, over her, taking over everything.

"I've murdered enough old men. You aren't going to be one of them," she stated simply, staring down at him. She wasn't tall, but his hunched over frame definitely gave her the edge on him for once. At least in that department.

"I'm not going to even bother trying killing you."

im_not_the_pope October 17 2009, 07:02:36 UTC

"Then why the armory?" he asked her. "Unless you weren't sure whether you were going to or not?" He scoffed, turning away from her, his hand waving dismissively off to one side. "You are weak and useless. Useless to me, useless to this 'Osborne', useless to...Skywalker." He chuckled slightly.

"Perhaps you're not completely useless after all. Despite everything, you seem to have Skywalker wrapped around your little finger..." He looked back over his shoulder. "Perhaps then, you've developing feelings for this Jedi? I can see him everywhere in your mind."

emperorshand October 17 2009, 07:35:55 UTC

The first two were ignorable. Logically, she knew how useful she was to her boss, despite his demeanor most of the time. Skywalker hit a nerve.

She was useless to him. She was light-years younger, and he was hurting from her death. How did she help him? She pushed him away, afraid to even say that it was possible at all.

"I don't care what you see in there. There's nothing between Skywalker and I. I spent ten years wanting to kill him because of you. Not exactly good for any type of relationship."

She didn't answer the armory question. She wrapped herself with her guns and weapons because she could. It was like her own armor, personal, and used to make sure that she had every contingency she could think of planned.

im_not_the_pope October 17 2009, 07:55:43 UTC

"And yet, his feelings for you are strong," the Emperor goaded, his voice striking that tone of smug superiority. "I can even sense it when he speaks to you. When he presses at your mind with the Force...Perhaps you should have killed him when you had the chance."

He stepped closer to her again, almost too close, within a few feet. His eyes glinted in the faint light as they met her face. "You can already feel it. To protect you, Skywalker will come to me. Just like his father before him." A menacing grin filled Palpatine's face as he let the words sink in.

"I am proud of you, my Hand. You will have done what Lord Vader could not - you will deliver Luke Skywalker to me."

emperorshand October 17 2009, 08:14:50 UTC

No. Mara's mind started a mantra that she couldn't stop. Wouldn't stop. Skywalker wouldn't do that for her. He wouldn't just give up the years and years of purity, would he? She could still feel it on him, see it around him, and sometimes it was just off, imperceptible and on the edge of her sight, she could see it trying to creep on him, constantly.

Her fingers itched to wrench the saber from the clip on her belt, or to pull her blaster from the holster and level it between his eyes. She didn't have to use the force. She could just be what she had been for ages. Mara Jade, smuggler. Not Mara Skywalker, Jedi. Not Mara Jade, Emperors Hand.

No. She could just be Mara Jade. She could shoot the kriffing sleemo between the eyes and be done with it.

Except that wouldn't be the end. She knew it wouldn't. It would feel damn good, but it wouldn't do a world of help for her. She needed to be smart. She needed to be what he had trained her to be. This had been in contrast to the entire plan that she had made coming here. ( ... )

im_not_the_pope October 17 2009, 08:23:42 UTC

His eyes caught everything - the almost imperceptible twitch of her fingers as they moved ever closer to her weapons, then her fists tightening as she tried to regain control over herself. However, he would not allow that. "Such a silly thing, love," he continued, musing. "It defies all logic and explanation. It makes people do silly things." As much as she chanted her mantra, her thoughts were clear to him, especially in the vulnerable state that he had put her in ( ... )

emperorshand October 17 2009, 08:36:33 UTC

Mara had never been more glad that she knew she was going to die. Never in her life had she wanted this knowledge, and she had spent the past few weeks antagonizing over it. She had requested more patrols from her boss, had used every trick in the book to keep her from thinking about it.

That resolve, that was a dead end for him. Luke was still on the light side, and she had been killed by someone who was supposed to be a family member. She knew Jacen, the kid wasn't bad.

"Skywalker is better than that," she said simply in return. He was. She was dead already to him.

im_not_the_pope October 17 2009, 19:08:25 UTC

"So was his father," Palpatine replied coldly, glaring at her for a few moments, before he started to laugh once more. "And you can see where that got him." Palpatine knew he would be lying to himself if he didn't enjoy this sort of thing - toying with other people, subtly bending them to his will. The fact that she knew the full power of his will already was no hindrance.

"Of course, you may have died to him already, but...now he has you back. Do you think he will so readily let you go a second time? Perhaps a third?" He smiled at her. "I wonder how many times he can sit back and let you die before he just has to do something."

emperorshand October 18 2009, 01:25:31 UTC

Mara sneered. "You're assuming I mean a thing to him," she snorted. "There's a reason I've known him for 10 years, and why we're only friends and I'm not a Jedi."

She was proud of that. She could stand there and tell him the complete truth. She buffed the innards of her shields, blocking off what she could from his probes, from that corridor in the back of her mind. She couldn't block him out entirely, but she could keep him from her deepest, darkest desires.

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