Chapter 95

  This is the second time I've been held as a prisoner by the Jedi. The first time was when I killed prisoners of the Brotherhood of Darkness over a thousand years ago. At least they haven't put me in their ultra-super max space prison. Instead, I'm under house arrest and guarded by the Jedi on a planet with the bare necessities.

  There are no droids, machines, or technology for me to tinker with, all because the Jedi are afraid. Not without good reason. The battle between me and Palpatine was confusing as hell. They witnessed spirits and ghosts, as well as fighting doppelgangers, square off each other, and Palpatine possessing and controlling my powers. They don't know if I'm me or a new, more powerful Palpatine.

  What questions could they ask me to verify that I am me and not just Palpatine reading my memories? What test could they do that a powerful master of lies and illusions wouldn't be able to fool? They don't know; they can't know for sure. I could swear on the force and plead with them, but ultimately, that would mean nothing.

  Even Yoda isn't sure. On the rare times he has visited me, I feel he is unsure. He wants to believe that I was able to win against Palpatine but he fears the slim chance of my skills in Palpatine. He can't risk it.

  That is why I'm on an insect-infested planet. I'm unsure where I'm at, but I know I'm alone. The Jedi can't risk getting mind-controlled and freeing me. Instead, they are guarding the sol system that this planet is revolving around in. The only company I have is my doppelgangers and rarely a tired Yoda.

  I treat this like a holiday, after many years of combat I feel like this might do me some good. It would be better if I had some technology that I could listen to music and watch some news but it is what it is. This is the price I'm willing to pay to have a small piece of peace. Could I escape? Very likely. I now have the wraiths that can follow simple commands and travel through the cold expanse of space but the distance between planets is vast and time-consuming.

  No, I think it is better to find myself once again and live a quieter life for a few years.

  Over the years, many ships have dropped off cargo for me but never landed. However, a sleek ship built for speed and luxury breaks the atmosphere and lands on the soft mud. The weight causes the ship to sink a couple of inches as the constant rain persuades the soil to loosen up.

  A guard captain is alone surveying his surroundings, blaster at his hip, hand at the ready for sudden surprises. He probs around with his pocket machines looking for life signs.

  I watch him call back to the ship's entrance. With the captain's hand signal, he is waiting for an older or richer individual to take his hand in comfort or stability.

  My guess is going to be a rich refined lady and I'm not wrong. An older lady, prim and proper, elegantly walks outside with her hand gently being held by the captain. The bulk of the ship protects her spectacular expensive dress from the rain and her headpiece wobbles just a hint from the wind. She is refined in her mannerisms, elegant in her pose and walking, and while old, she has a beauty to her that is still eye catching.

  She points to the slightly rotten cargo that the Jedi drop off every month that was meant to help me survive, each one never opened and left there. Over the years the unused cargo has turned into a sizeable pyramid.

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  The guard shrugs to indicate he has no idea and salutes her as she walks back inside. This woman is part of the military and a high-ranking one. You can't be at that age without being at the top of the pecking order and staying in the military. Not a general, she is not a fighter like the Jedi generals. Possibly an Admiral or I could be completely wrong. She could just be rich and have a private army.

  A burst flare shoots from the sleek ship and explodes in the air pinpointing their positions. They are trying to get my attention.

  My curiosity is peaked. My only visitor has been from Yoda and even he has stopped visiting in the last couple of months. I jump off the tree branch I've used to spy on the newcomers and float to the ground like a make-believe princess.

  As I walk towards the starship I almost forget to turn off my abilities. My force powers have become refined and gentle in the past couple of years. Ten-plus years of army experience fighting made me a powerhouse to be feared but now I've had the time to just incorporate everything I've learned without being attacked. It's made all the difference, my powers are on automatic. They are used to incorporate the best outcome for me for what I'm doing at the time.

  The force is part of me in a way like wanting a drink and raising an arm. My brain controls the arm to reach out and tilt the cup of water to quench my thirst but I'm not conscious of all the things that go into using my body. The force has become reactive, proactive, instinctive and automatic. If I'm hungry, instead of searching for food and actively looking for resources, grapes will be plucked from a vine and pushed up to my lips with only the thought of "I could do with a snack".

  The force warps around me and fall to the side revealing myself to the scanning abilities of the starship. It doesn't take long for them to find me as they never stop their scans.

  The captain greets me with smiles and pleasant words but his mind is unsure that he has the right person. It's not his fault, for some reason, he is looking for the dread pirate captain that caused the Empire to fear going into certain areas and not me now who is covered in dirt and plant materials that barely cover my parts. Instead of the feared captain who robbed the galaxy's most powerful governments of whole battle star ships, he is looking at a bum in tattered cloth. To his great credit, he doesn't show it on his face.

  He invites me onto the ship but I decline, which leaves him at a loss for what to do. A protocol droid offers me food and drink. The new model of the droid interests me briefly but I'm becoming increasingly tired by the way it fubbly talks to me. The rain is still pouring down as I wait for the interaction to finish, mud slushes off me and reveals my ever-naked body. The captain offers me his cap to cover my shame but I just look at his outstretched hand and use the cap how it was intended by putting it on my head.

  "Greeting to great dreed Captain Bee" the old lady speaks. Her emotions are off, apart from the usual surface emotions that all thinking people have, her feelings are filled with guilt and a little more shame than most.

  "Do I have the honour of meeting the real Captain Bee" she mentions my doppelgangers.

  I shake my head and point to a rough area where my true body is.

  The old lady walks to my side, ignoring the rain as it splatters her face and looks me up and down as if I wasn't becoming ever more nude as the rain washes my filth away to show more filth.

  Her hand clenches and I feel her emotions spike toward anger but not toward me, but to herself.

  "You've aged well," I say to her.

  Her eyes sparkle in humour "Not as well as you"

  It was obvious to me who this person was, there weren't many who knew my secret identity as a pirate. It has been some time since I last saw Padmé Amidala, the once and twice queen of Naboo, the left-hand woman of the Dreed pirate Bee and now admiral of the new republic. Pleasantries are quickly thrown away as her time is short and she is needed elsewhere. She proclaims how important her mission is and demands an audience from the real me. When pushed to explain herself in more detail she only says that the galaxy needs help with a new enemy, a new war. One where it wouldn't be decided by the power of the force but the power of the quality of the heart. A war where the Jedi were powerless and the powerful technology of this galaxy couldn't stand up.

  The galaxy needs that special type of evil that I am a master in. A tactical mind that can ruin the enemy and make them wish they were never born. They need me because of how far I will go to win. They need me to kill.... a lot.