Prompt 23b - Moff

[peppermint_shamrock]

Title: Petty Tyrant
Prompt: Moff
Author: peppermint_shamrock
Rating: G
Characters: Wilhuff Tarkin
Pairing: None
Star Wars Media Property: OT
Word count: 300
Warnings/Spoilers: N/A
Summary: The Emperor may rule the galaxy, but the governors under him carve out their own oppressive regimes, too.
Author Notes: N/A
Beta: None, it's just me

Read on AO3

 

To say that Grand Moff Tarkin was the worst person in the Empire was not strictly true, but it was near enough to the truth. Of course, such distinctions mattered little, when it came to the Empire – from its very roots to its expressed goals, the Empire was a machine of cruelty and subjucation and misery, and it was pointless to rank its individual enforcers in terms of those cruelties.

That said, Tarkin was among the cruelest. The very title he held was proof enough of that; it was no mere stroke of luck or simple dedication that earned him his position. No, it was his particular brand of ruthlessness, the willingness to cut down anyone else in his path, and the cleverness to undermine them, that caught the now-Emperor’s attentions and appreciation. With that, Tarkin had always advanced quickly.

That wasn’t to say it was easy for him, of course. He had to constantly be on guard against others, scheming for greater favor within the Empire. He had to be on guard for the Emperor’s tests of his loyalties. He had to root out and destroy rebellious sympathies that threatened his control of his ever-growing territory.

Despite his meticulous and ruthless iron grip, it was never enough. In his pursuit of greater control and power, Tarkin sought grander designs to inflict fear on the people of the galaxy, out of a mistaken belief that enough fear would settle dissent forever, that he could terrify the entire galaxy into submission, and take the credit.

This, of course, was never going to be sustainable. Had it not been the Death Star, then Tarkin would have schemed his way into his own end in some other way, too, a victim of his own pursuit of a perfect tyranny that could never last.