That was why he was here now; he was ready for the next step.
His wolf was finally walking to heel... even if it still growled occasionally.
He narrowed yellow-flecked eyes, reflecting on his feral Jedi's last visit to the cell, regretting the knowledge it would be just that. No matter how willing his wolf was to walk to heel, it would not tolerate further confinement; that had been crystal clear.
He remembered distinctly standing in the dark Ops room opposite the dedicated detention cell in the depths of the Palace monolith, watching the image within the nearby cell closely, waiting for Skywalker to wake from the drugs, very much aware that this would be a test of wills; though the specialized detention cell had been heavily augmented to allow for his burgeoning powers, it was now at the limits of technology. Skywalker knew his own abilities and he knew his own mind like never before. Now was the acid test.
The reason that he was here- that he had disobeyed his Master once too often and pushed just a little too far- would not come to Skywalker's mind yet; only his outrage at being caged.
And the always-harsh punishment for such disruptive behavior would also wait, often days, while Skywalker remained in confinement to consider his actions- and await their inevitable consequences.
Because when the punishment was finally metered out- often over several days- it was without limits or mercy... as he had often said to the boy; a lesson taught ruthlessly and relentlessly seldom needed to be taught twice.
Palpatine watched as he came around slowly now, fighting the effect of the drugs which would remain in his system to some degree until an antidote was administered to counter their self-replicating attributes- another means to control his emerging Sith advocate.
Still, it didn't take Skywalker long to realize where he was and drag himself unsteadily upright in response. He glanced to the door, but didn't even bother trying to reach it. Instead he shouted out, then turned directly to one of the security nodes; had it been a lens, Palpatine was certain the boy would have shattered it, but it was simply one in a series of staggered sensor relay nodes scattered about the interior of the thick cell walls which combined to create a single holographic image in the Ops room, so there was no specific place to aim his frustration at.
It didn't take him long to find one. He turned about, staggering against dizziness, shouting out again. When no-one came, he crouched down on his haunches, head tucked in, eyes closed...
Palpatine sensed the energy swarm as the boy called the Force to him, an all-encompassing inrush of raw power fed by fear and frustration and anger, and it tugged the Sith Emperor's bloodless lips into a tense, expectant smile.
For long seconds the boy continued to pull power in, head down, immersed completely in the act until it whirled about him like a twister searching to ground...
Then his hands dropped to the floor as fists as he focused the power, throwing it out about him, incredible, elemental energy flawlessly focused-
The impact was felt in the Ops room as a dull thud, several alarms activating, runs of numbers and estimates running up a nearby status screen. Palpatine flinched at the intense Force-directed blow, eyes never leaving the holo.
In the cell, the floor beneath Skywalker had indented in a perfect dish, the two nearest walls compressing in an inverted dome, the ceiling crazing as it did the same. Combined, they described the curve of a perfect, invisible sphere about him as he crouched at its centre, glancing about.
"There's been a sixteen percent reduction in the overall integrity of the structure, Excellency." The nervous Ops guard watched the figures scroll up. His hand hovered over a series of marked keys, awaiting the command- but the Emperor only smiled.
"No- give him that." Palpatine said, pleased, doubting the boy would have the strength left to try the same trick again, especially in his present state.
With several refinements, the cell had been constructed very much the same as the one which Lord Vader had first used to control his wayward son when he had caught him at Bespin.
It was a complex structure, one room within another, the outer room with feet-thick cast and cabled walls under vacuum, the inner room an interlocking series of heavy reinforced panels depending upon the vacuum which pulled them outwards to maintain integrity. Designed to withstand several times vacuum, the overlapping, interlocking structure of the walls was practically indestructible; if a Force-sensitive tried to destroy the cell by outward pressure, they only increased the wall's strength, and if he pulled them inwards and the walls began to lose integrity, the vacuum pressure would automatically be increased to augment them. In the unheard-of event of the structural failure of the inner-cell walls, the resultant equalizing of vacuum would knock anyone within the room unconscious.
It was an ingenious, practical solution to the problem of holding a Jedi, used with great success following the Clone Wars, never once failing...
Skywalker lowered his head and the inrush of power this time was sharp as a knife, heaved in on a massive, expansive scale, pulled tight as a bowstring, incredible capacity converging on a single spot, raw power held suspended, waiting for focus-
Palpatine paused, breathless...
The release was like a bomb detonating, the shockwave of sufficient density to rattle the reinforced door of the cell and jolt the eardrums of the guards lining the hall beyond, making them start nervously, blasters raising, eyes to the cell as the warning light above the door flashed.
"Integrity just went down another twenty-nine percent. Multiple fissures in the inner wall; three structural fractures to the outer assembly. The system is ramping vacuum to compensate." The man was audibly shaken by this, turning to the Emperor.
Palpatine remained still, head set to one side where he had braced against the outburst, eyes on the hologram of the cell as the dust which had scattered down from the ceiling cleared and the image-nodes recovered from the static burst of shock.
The walls were deeply inset now by the craters which still maintained a perfect sphere about Skywalker, long cracks crazing their surface, parts of the casing having broken free to show the heavier interlocking plassteel structure beneath.
He lifted his head to survey the damage and Palpatine leaned in slightly, narrowing his eyes. The pressure change of the outburst in the confined space had been great enough this time to affect Skywalker, though he must have shielded himself. But his nose was bloody, a burst of scarlet red spattered against the plain white of the featureless clothes he was always dressed in for his confinement.
If he was aware of the fact then he ignored it, glancing about him only momentarily before he lowered his head again in concentration, the scale of his influence ramping up again, building like static, grating in like nails down chalkboard, like blades on steel, still fed by that same iron resolve and unmeasured power-
"If he increases the strike by the same degree Excellency, both outer and inner walls will suffer structural failure..." The Ops guard turned tensely, hand still hovering over the same three toggle switches, knowing that he could render the volatile prisoner unconscious in seconds by activating them.
Palpatine considered for long seconds, torn between the fascinated desire to see just what the boy was capable of if pushed to his limits, and his intention that the cell remain indestructible to his Jedi's mind......
"Wait," he said calmly at last, "I will speak to him."
The man nodded, biting down on the wish to tell the Emperor to hurry.
Luke hunched down again, tucking his head in, pulling in focus...
The door slid open with the slightest hiss of equalizing air, pulling the dust up again in a flurry against the bright light from the corridor beyond which made Luke squint as he turned.