I want to talk with Charge about the Sith and stuff like that, but he’s on-duty right now and even if he wasn’t he’s still with people. I really, really don’t want people to know I’ve got doubts about the Empire. If there’s one thing I know about the Empire, it’s that they hate disloyalty. Doubting them is… It’s just not a good idea, yanno?

Okay. Back to researching.

First order of business: who is Emperor Palpatine really?

I only know a little about him, but just that is enough to make me doubt all of it, so… Yeah. Let’s take a looksie.

...Okay, so, before becoming Emperor and founding the Empire, he was just the Supreme Chancellor. Aka. ruler of the Galaxy. From what I can see, normally, a Supreme Chancellor would have a go at it for like four years and then another one would be democratically chosen. Neato! Democracy is neat. I like it. I think. I mean, I’m really not very knowledgeable about politics, so all I have to go on is what I like and don’t like. Circumstances might require other kinds of ruling, right?

On that note, it seems Palpatine ruled for a long time. Like, a really long time.

Mostly because of the Clone Wars. In other words, he got a whole lot of emergency powers, which he apparently used to great effect. Very few people were against him and most people just considered him to be one of the better Supreme Chancellors they’d ever had, especially considering the situation.

This is definitely in contrast to the Supreme Chancellor before him: Supreme Chancellor Valorum. Who’s this guy? No clue!

His life can apparently be summarized by three words: controversy, traitor, and death. That’s what I can see, at least. Almost everything about the man seems very intent on smearing his character.

The most damning event in his history would be the collaboration with a terrorist organization known as the Nebula Front and, even worse, the embezzlement of funds. It was actually discovered that a bunch of something-taininum ingots that the Nebula Front stole from the Trade Federation had been sent to the Valorum family bank account. Which is… Well, by the way it looks, it seems like he worked together with a terrorist organization to further his own family name. Very bad.

In comparison, Palpatine - a kindly and empathetic politician who voiced the opinions of the public - was a godsend. Force-send? Anyhoo, people really liked him. He had and has lots of allies close to him. A good leader.

...But, of course, this is only what the archives say. By all means, assuming these tell an unbiased and nuanced story would be naive. I would love to trust what I read, but sadly, I can’t. I won’t assume the worst or anything, but I’ll make sure not to trust it too readily.

Oh, funny thing! Apparently, one of the guys that really put Valorum on the spot was that fat Twi-lek politician I talked about earlier! Orn Free Taa! I think that was his name, at least. Not sure what he’s up to now. I hope he’s gone on a diet.

He’s probably alive though since he supported Palpatine.

...That’s another funny thing, I can’t really find much information on the politicians who didn’t support Palpatine. Plenty about how great his supporters were and how they’re doing, but everyone else? Nary a peep.

I think the answer might lie in the Petition of 2 000.

I kind of just stumbled across it, really. I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t been removed or anything, but I think it’s because so many politicians signed onto it.

Oh, yeah. It’s a list of names. Specifically, a list of traitors. I can’t see who signed it or anything, but apparently, right before the end of the war and the rise of the Empire, 2 000 senators signed this petition to unrightfully dethrone Palpatine in a bid to increase their own power. Being corrupt senators bought by separatists and merchants alike, they were threatened by Palpatine’s firm hand in the face of bribery and extortion.

So, they made a petition, underhandedly trying to destabilize the suddenly righted Republic. After a thousand years of corruption, only now purged by Palpatine, they wanted to return it to that state, all to feed their own need for power and credits.

According to the archives, that is.

More likely than not, 2 000 senators of some affiliation were unhappy with Palpatine seizing so many emergency powers that they tried to fight it with a petition. But when Palpatine then formed his one-man stage show called The Empire, the petition was pretty much dead in the water. There isn’t much about how Palpatine used his power or anything, but considering that he was able to remain Supreme Chancellor for so many years past his normal expiration date, he was probably making quite good use of his emergency powers.

...If I was a conspiracy loon, I might suggest that Palpatine maybe had a hand in causing or even maintaining the war. Like, he does seem like he’s got a penchant for power, right?

Well, that’s a silly thought, bordering on insanity, so I’ll just… Leave it there. Yeah? Yeah.

But that still leaves me with no answer. I still don’t know how Palpatine survived an encounter with four Jedi masters.

By all accounts, Jedi fully lived up to their hype as evil(?) space wizards. They weren’t chumps or anything, and Palpatine has no apparent training of any kind (as a matter of fact, I can’t even find what his first name is?) and it wasn’t as though his guards could do anything when faced by those kinds of people. So, how in the heck did he live to tell that tale?

Unless he’s just that good of a politician, which I don’t doubt.

Although there’s little to prove many statements here, the fact that Palpatine is a fantastic politician is obvious. You don’t become dictator of the galaxy by looking pretty.

...Do you? I wouldn’t know. I’m just a space octopus.

Moving on, I tried looking up the things Charge told me, but very little could be found.

Anakin Skywalker doesn’t exist and neither does Aayla Secura. I don’t think I could find any single Jedi even if I tried. They’ve been scrubbed from the face of the galaxy, name by name. Charge’s old commander Green Wizard doesn’t exist either, but that’s no surprise. Honestly, the only thing I could find even a scrap of information about was the planet itself, but even then the information is mostly just about its present state. Nothing on what happened in the war.

The war itself seems very ethereal, but I’ve already said that.

At the end of the day, all I can really say is that the more I learn about the Emperor, the more of an enigma he is. I hope I’ll have more chances to learn about him later, but time is starting to run out for the day, and it’s already dinner.

Dinner passed uneventfully, just how I like it. All that really happened was that I constantly asked Fern if there was anything even slightly sweet on my plate. Seeing him always taste a spoonful of my food before me made me feel like he was some royal poison-checker.

The little time I spent between dinner and bedtime was mostly just researching.

I quickly got lost in thoughts, leading to me aimlessly reading about cuisine throughout the galaxy. There isn’t as much sweet stuff as I would have expected, but even then…

I can’t believe this is how my sweet tooth dies. Rest in peace.

And so, bedtime. Today passed quickly.

I guess this is how every day will pass until we get to the bigger ship. Not entirely bad, but I’m afraid it might grow a little boring. Then again, researching about the galaxy is far from boring, even if it is a little frightening.

I wait outside the dorm room until my roommates arrive. Then I enter with them. We talk a little about the day and then it concludes. I guess when there’s no drama life gets a little dull, huh?