A Prince in the Shadows

EMPIRE AT WAR!

Ultimate victory lies within the grasp of the dreaded Galactic Emperor Palpatine as the tattered remnants of the Rebel Fleet, still reeling from the Battle of Hoth and the loss of their base, desperately seeks sanctuary and time to muster new allies. Meanwhile, the search ensures for the smuggler-turned-rebel, Han Solo, captive of the notorious bounty hunter, Boba Fett.

To deal a final blow to the Rebellion, Palpatine has hatched a new plan of which even Lord Vader is unaware. To aid him, the Emperor has enlisted the help of Dark Prince John Doe, the wealthiest man in the galaxy and the Overlord of the powerful crime syndicate, the Black Sun.

He looks like a walking corpse, you thought. Like a mummified body dead a thousand years. You stood a few metres away from the Emperor, watching as the most powerful man in the galaxy moved to stand in the holocam field. You didn't truly understand the **** that sustained the Emperor and made him and Vader so powerful, save to know that it certainly worked somehow. You didn’t not become the third most powerful man in the galaxy by being ignorant. Knowledge was more valuable than wealth and you wonder if it was possible to learn such power.

However, there seemed to be a terrible price to pay for such knowledge. The Emperor looked like something was eating him from the inside and oftimes you can smell the rot of his decrepit body. Yet, he wasn't even that old. You were older than Palpatine, born over a hundred years ago yet still looked as youthful as man in his mid-twenties.

Such was the perk of being a Sex God.

The air before the Emperor swirled, coalesced and blossomed into a holographic image of a familiar caped humanoid dressed in jet black, face hidden under a full helmet and breathing mask.

"What is thy bidding, my master?" came the undisputed voice of Darth Vader on the other end of the transmission. It was a measure of the Emperor's trust in you, that you were allowed to be here whilst the conversation took place. But if you could have hurled a power bolt through time and space to strike Vader dead, you would have done it without blinking. Wishful thinking: Vader was too powerful to attack directly.

"There is a great disturbance in the ****," the old Emperor said.

"I have felt it," Vader replied.

"We have a new enemy. Luke Skywalker."

Skywalker? That had been Vader's name, a long time ago. Wasn't it? Anakin Skywalker. The Jedi Knight was one of Chancellor Palpatine's regulars during the days of the Republic and nothing changed during the reign of the Empire save for a name and costume change. However, it was a closely guarded secret as to who was the man behind Vader's mask. Grand Moff Tarkin certainly knew. Perhaps Mas Amedda and a few others as well. Most who knew Anakin Skywalker or Vader's ties to the Jedi Order were swiftly killed or disappeared in the early days of the Empire. But not you. You were far too powerful and too valuable an ally to the Emperor.

"Yes, my master," Vader continued.

"He could destroy us," the Emperor said.

Your attention was riveted upon the Emperor and the holographic image of Vader kneeling on the deck of a ship far away. Here was interesting news indeed. Someone the Emperor perceived as a danger to himself? Something the Emperor feared?

"He's just a boy," Vader said, "Obi-Wan can no longer help him."

Obi-Wan. You could never forget a name nor a face. He was among one of the Jedi Knights that you studied, Skywalker's master and a talented general whose victory over Grievous on Utapau ended the Clone Wars. But he'd been dead for decades, hadn't he?

The Emperor continued. "The **** is strong with him. The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi."

Son of Skywalker? Vader's son!

"If he could be turned he would become a powerful ally," Vader said. There was something in Vader's voice when he said this, something you could not quite put your finger on. Longing? Worry?

Hope?

"Yes... yes. He would be a great asset," the Emperor said. "Can it be done?"

There was the briefest of pauses. "He will join us or die, Master."

You felt the smile, though you did not allow it to show. You had been patiently waiting for such an opportunity. Bidding your time in search of Vader's weakness. Vader and the entire galaxy believed that your rivalry was no more than a competition to garner the Emperor's favour and indeed the Emperor seemed to encourage such feud between the two of you, like two brothers trying to earn the admiration of an uncaring parent.

But unbeknownst to them all, you considered the man a mortal enemy and you yearned to be rid of him. To see him suffer as you did.

Ten years ago, Vader had a pet project and began developing a deadly biological weapon. He had set up a hazard lab on your homeworld despite the protests of your people and ultimately, an accident inevitably occured. In order to save the entire planet from the flesh-eating bacterium he had carelessly unleashed, Vader ordered the entire city around the lab to be 'sterilised.'

Burnt. Scorched. Incinerated.

Half-a-million innocent men, women and children were killed by the orbital bombardment from Vader's own Star Destroyer. Among the dead had been your parents, brother, two sisters and three uncles. You had been offworld at the time, using your powers to sate your lusts by building a harem of the galaxy's most beautiful women but even they could not quell your grief or anger. Afterwards, it was **** that had fuelled your passions not lust, as you used your powers to influence the most powerful women of the galaxy.

Queens, senators, moffs and criminals were all added to your ever-growing harem, increasing your own power, wealth and influence until you found yourself standing at the lefthand of the Emperor. The Emperor finished his communication and turned back to face you with an unattractive smile. "Now, where were we, Prince John?"

You smiled as you turned to face the talking corpse. You would attend to the business at hand, bow lowly, acquiesce to all his demands but behind your ingratiating smile you would plot the demise of this Emperor's most loyal servant. Killing Vader would be a difficult but not an impossible task. You had the schematics of his life-sustaining armour and knew it's weaknesses. You had already built an electromagnetic gun powerful enough to damage his suit's cybernetics though using it would likely earn you the ire of the Emperor and despite your power, you were not ready for a war with the Empire.... yet.

And this Luke Skywalker was your only hope.

"Has it occured to you that this is a trap?"

"Excuse me?" You looked up from the numbers of the holocam and eyed your righthand woman on the other side of the table. Qi'ra looked at you with one of her disapproving glare, blue-green eyes narrowed as she studied your form as if you were an encrypted code she was trying to crack.

Despite being in your office, she looked much more at home than you ever did. Which made sense. She managed much of the day to day running of the galaxy-wide syndicate and many assumed that she was the leader of the Black Sun, an assumption that you both encouraged. She had once been your greatest rival, the leader of the Crimson Dawn syndicate until you took over her operations and turned her into your loyal majordomo. Her trust and devotion to you were absolute but that didn't stop the headstrong woman from speaking her mind when no other would dare.

"A trap." Qi'ra repeated, eying you as if that was obvious. "The Emperor may be tempting you to move against Vader so he could then have an excuse to turn against you."

"Sometimes walking into a trap is the best strategy." You gave your lieutenant a mischievous smile and she rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"That's ridiculous." Qi'ra frowned. "I hope your little Chiss admiral is teaching you better tactics than that!"

"Little? She's well over a foot taller than you." You gave another teasing smile as you remembered how incredible the sex was with the blue-skinned Chiss. You had encountered Ar'alani while smuggling stolen Chiss technology in the Unknown Regions and the ruthless admiral would have swiftly executed you, had you not 'charmed' her.

Admiral Ar'alani quickly became one of your favourites, not just because of her exotic beauty but also due to her exceptional intellect. She was a brilliant tactician and helped reorganise your small pirate fleet into a formidable **** capable of threatening the might of the Empire. At her urging, you had spent a fortune on several Mon Calamari Luxury cruisers which she insisted would be an equal to the Empire's Imperial Star Destroyers once retrofitted for military use. Furthermore, her knowledge of the planets of the Unknown Regions and several hidden hyperspace routes proved to be invaluable as you began to build your own empire, not just taking over businesses but entire worlds.

"Is that how it's going to be?" Qi'ra feigned disgust and made to leave, swaying her ass provocatively. Before you called her back and fuck the jealousy out of her, your intercom buzzed. Groaning you moved to turn it off until you saw the beautiful young woman waiting for you outside your office. One who had not yet fallen under your spell.

A fine addition to your collection.