Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars: Novelizations #3)

by Matthew Woodring Stover

Darth Vader stood on the command bridge of the Mustafar control center, hand of durasteel clasping hand of flesh behind him, and gazed up through the transparisteel view wall at the galaxy he would one day rule. He paid no attention to the litter of corpses around his feet. He could feel his power growing, indeed. He had the measure of his “Master” already; not long after Palpatine shared the secret of Darth Plagueis’s discovery, their relationship would undergo a sudden … transformation. A fatal transformation. Everything was proceeding according to plan. And yet … He couldn’t shake a certain creeping sensation … a kind of cold, slimy ooze that slithered up the veins of his legs and spread clammy tendrils through his guts … Almost as though he was still afraid … She will die, you know, the dragon whispered. He shook himself, scowling. Impossible. He was Darth Vader. Fear had no power over him. He had destroyed his fear. All things die. Yet it was as though when he had crushed the dragon under his boot, the dragon had sunk venomed fangs into his heel. Now its poison chilled him to the bone. Even stars burn out. He shook himself again and strode toward the holocomm. He would talk to his Master. Palpatine had always helped him keep the dragon down.

Sun-dragon