Star Wars - 215 - Jedi Prince 06 - Prophets of the Dark Side by Paul Davids, Hollace Davids Page B
Authors: Paul Davids, Hollace Davids
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let the darkest curse of all . . . fall upon Luke Skywalker. Promise me that . . . that you grand moffs," Trioculus struggled to speak, as the gasps between his words grew louder, ". . . that you will destroy that Jedi Knight once and for all." Trioculus’s three eyes blinked and then half closed, as though staring off into the distance.
"It shall be done," Grand Moff Hissa said.
And then Trioculus exhaled, closing his three eyes for the last time. A chill swept through the gray, dark room. For a frozen, shuddering moment, all was silent. In a ceremony held before the officers and crew of the Moffship, the grand moffs placed Trioculus’s lifeless body into a cremation chamber.
The fires of the chamber raged. When all that was left of Trioculus was a small pile of ashes, the grand moffs put equal amounts of his remains into four small canisters. Four Imperial missile probes were prepared, each probe containing one of the canisters of Trioculus’s ashes. Then the probes were blasted away, zooming off into space in four directions from the Moffship to the north, south, east, and west-where they would travel to the farthest reaches of the galaxy in honor of their Imperial leader. Trioculus was not the only three-eyed mutant who had a strong influence on the Empire. Perhaps even more important than Trioculus, and certainly more strange, was Triclops. Until recently Triclops had been an inmate in a ward for insane prisoners at the Imperial Reprogramming Institute on the planet Duro. Luke Skywalker rescued him on Duro, and then, for security reasons, sent Triclops to the fourth moon of Yavin to the headquarters of the Senate Planetary Intelligence Network, known as SPIN. There he was kept under observation and armed guard.
Soon after, the secret was out: Triclops, not Trioculus, was the long-lost son of the dead, evil Emperor Palpatine. That gave Triclops a legal claim to be the heir to the Imperial throne, the new ruler of the Empire. And that made him extremely dangerous, despite his previous claims to believe in peace, disarmament, and an end to all war. Triclops slept much of the time, as if he were the victim of some unexplained sleeping sickness or powerful spell from the Dark Side. At the moment, the task of monitoring and observing Triclops fell upon Princess Leia. For the past few days she had also been busy studying the secret Jedi files Luke had brought back from his last trip to the Lost City of the Jedi. In her spare moments, Leia also worked on organizing her wedding to Han Solo, which was shaping up to be a much bigger event than they had planned. Seated at a viewing screen in the SPIN conference room, Leia continued to monitor Triclops. She turned to glance at her brother, Luke Skywalker, who had just dropped by to discuss the matter.
"We’ve allowed Triclops to move freely about the first-level basement of the Senate building," Leia said, pointing to the screen. "He’s sleepwalking again-it’s as if he’s in a trance. Look, Luke-he’s gone to the storage area, and he’s snooping around the old defense files."
"It’s looking more and more like he is an Imperial spy after all," Luke said with a frown.
"I’m afraid all of his sincere-sounding statements about hating the Empire may be nothing more than an act."
From the moment Luke and the others had met him, Triclops claimed to be an enemy of the Empire that his father, Emperor Palpatine, had commanded. Triclops opposed the now-deceased Darth Vader and all Imperial forces. According to Triclops, his opposition to the Empire was the reason he had been shut away inside Imperial insane asylums for his entire life. The Empire would not tolerate anyone who favored peace and disarmament, or who questioned its objectives, and Triclops was considered a great threat. But Luke always questioned whether Triclops was telling the truth. The Rebel Alliance had discovered that Triclops had been kept alive by the Empire for one reason and one reason only: because he
"It shall be done," Grand Moff Hissa said.
And then Trioculus exhaled, closing his three eyes for the last time. A chill swept through the gray, dark room. For a frozen, shuddering moment, all was silent. In a ceremony held before the officers and crew of the Moffship, the grand moffs placed Trioculus’s lifeless body into a cremation chamber.
The fires of the chamber raged. When all that was left of Trioculus was a small pile of ashes, the grand moffs put equal amounts of his remains into four small canisters. Four Imperial missile probes were prepared, each probe containing one of the canisters of Trioculus’s ashes. Then the probes were blasted away, zooming off into space in four directions from the Moffship to the north, south, east, and west-where they would travel to the farthest reaches of the galaxy in honor of their Imperial leader. Trioculus was not the only three-eyed mutant who had a strong influence on the Empire. Perhaps even more important than Trioculus, and certainly more strange, was Triclops. Until recently Triclops had been an inmate in a ward for insane prisoners at the Imperial Reprogramming Institute on the planet Duro. Luke Skywalker rescued him on Duro, and then, for security reasons, sent Triclops to the fourth moon of Yavin to the headquarters of the Senate Planetary Intelligence Network, known as SPIN. There he was kept under observation and armed guard.
Soon after, the secret was out: Triclops, not Trioculus, was the long-lost son of the dead, evil Emperor Palpatine. That gave Triclops a legal claim to be the heir to the Imperial throne, the new ruler of the Empire. And that made him extremely dangerous, despite his previous claims to believe in peace, disarmament, and an end to all war. Triclops slept much of the time, as if he were the victim of some unexplained sleeping sickness or powerful spell from the Dark Side. At the moment, the task of monitoring and observing Triclops fell upon Princess Leia. For the past few days she had also been busy studying the secret Jedi files Luke had brought back from his last trip to the Lost City of the Jedi. In her spare moments, Leia also worked on organizing her wedding to Han Solo, which was shaping up to be a much bigger event than they had planned. Seated at a viewing screen in the SPIN conference room, Leia continued to monitor Triclops. She turned to glance at her brother, Luke Skywalker, who had just dropped by to discuss the matter.
"We’ve allowed Triclops to move freely about the first-level basement of the Senate building," Leia said, pointing to the screen. "He’s sleepwalking again-it’s as if he’s in a trance. Look, Luke-he’s gone to the storage area, and he’s snooping around the old defense files."
"It’s looking more and more like he is an Imperial spy after all," Luke said with a frown.
"I’m afraid all of his sincere-sounding statements about hating the Empire may be nothing more than an act."
From the moment Luke and the others had met him, Triclops claimed to be an enemy of the Empire that his father, Emperor Palpatine, had commanded. Triclops opposed the now-deceased Darth Vader and all Imperial forces. According to Triclops, his opposition to the Empire was the reason he had been shut away inside Imperial insane asylums for his entire life. The Empire would not tolerate anyone who favored peace and disarmament, or who questioned its objectives, and Triclops was considered a great threat. But Luke always questioned whether Triclops was telling the truth. The Rebel Alliance had discovered that Triclops had been kept alive by the Empire for one reason and one reason only: because he
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