Title: Passion of the Sith
Author: Jthompson5
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters, they are owned by Disney and Lucasfilms.
Summary: An inside look within the black hole of the force himself, Darth Sidious. With a small "guest star" appearance from young Anakin in this trilogy.
Time period: shortly after TPM, one month after Palpatine became Supreme Chancellor.
Author's Notes: This is my first ever fanfiction to have been written, I will try to keep the stories at a moderate size as time goes on. I will also do my best to follow the Star Wars timeline, but in the future, there may be a few AU's. Also, a fair warning that since this story is from Palpatine's perspective, it will have mentions of death. For now please enjoy this narrative from your very own Sheev Palpatine.
Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.
Within the Chancellor's office stood one man, a man who, with the help of his recently deceased master, pieced together the galactic chessboard that would house one of the bloodiest galactic wars the galaxy, no, the universe, will have ever seen. Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, as most know him, was currently standing at the windows of the office, overlooking the capital of Coruscant in all its beauty. Every speeder zooming by, every building and skyscraper glimmering in the sunlight, even that wretched Jedi Temple across the city seems to appear somewhat appealing in the sunlight.
Jedi thought Palpatine bitterly. Even their very name sends a shockwave of repulsion through my being, Palpatine was thinking as he continued to glare at the home of said people. Someday soon, that temple will be nothing more than a pile of ash, with the cold, lifeless bodies of every one of those self-righteous fools laying about. But patience is key and if there is one thing I have learned during my training, it is to be patient. Naturally, as a Sith Lord, Palpatine hated the Jedi with every fiber of his being. To Palpatine, the Jedi were weak, bound to the Light Side of the force, always holding themselves back. But perhaps one of the most infuriating things about the Jedi was their stagnant and dogmatic rules on attachments and controlling their emotions yet having the nerve to preach of such silly concepts like "compassion towards all life" and "peace".
The Sith feed on their emotions, letting it direct every swing of their crimson blade, every breath, every thought in their mind. The Sith of old made the mistake of not controlling their anger, a flaw which has led to the near destruction of the order many times. But not Palpatine. Palpatine was a new breed of Sith, one born and crafted from 1,000 years of Dark Side teachings under Darth Bane's rule. The Jedi, however, stayed set in their ways, becoming nothing more than glorified attack dogs for the Galactic Senate to set on whoever they deem a threat to their ambition and greed.
Moving over to his desk, Palpatine slowly lowered himself onto his seat as if he were entering the office for the first time once more. Power…..unlimited power, thought Palpatine as he gently ran his hand over the desk like it was a fragile glass figure. No…, not unlimited power, not yet anyway….I must first disassemble this pathetic government further, I MUST complete the Grand Plan of the Sith, thought Palpatine urgently.
Power, that was another thing Plagueis ensured was learned quite thoroughly under his training. The concept of TRUE power, not just the power of the Dark Side itself, but the knowledge to control that power, and the power to control those under you. The wise words of his former master still burned bright in Palpatine's mind, even after a month since the death of the Dark Lord by his hands, Palpatine knew those words would haunt and empower him for the rest of his life:
"Tell me what you regard as your greatest strength, so I will know how best to undermine you; tell me of your greatest fear, so I will know which I must force you to face; tell me what you cherish most, so I will know what to take from you; and tell me what you crave, so that I might deny you…"
As much as Palpatine loathed the old Muun, even he could not deny the wisdom behind those fateful words. The power to control those under you, to have them at your beck and call. That, along with the power of the Dark Side, of course, was true power. The Jedi deny themselves power because they have no desire to seek it, they believed that the Sith were gone.
Oh, how wrong they were….
The Sith were never gone, they were never extinct, they were in hiding. Right under the very noses of the servants of the Light Side, the Sith have been manipulating galactic events for centuries. And now they know of our return if Maul's appearance at Naboo was anything to go by. A shame that so much time was spent training him, only for him to die at the hands of some lowly padawan. Oh well, he was only meant to be an attack dog and assassin that would carry out my will as I saw fit. His true purpose was to reveal that the Sith had indeed returned, thought Palpatine with much disregard. However, I will need to seek out another apprentice to take Maul's place, at least until young Skywalker was old enough to be converted.
It was at the moment that an incoming transmission from the desk interrupted the Sith Lord's musings. Answering the call, Palpatine was quick to question the purpose of such an intrusion. "What is it?", he asked. It was one of his secretaries on the other end of the line. "Supreme Chancellor, a young Jedi by the name of Skywalker wishes to speak with you". Internally smiling at the coincidence, Palpatine answered with vigor. "Yes, yes of course, please show him in". Palpatine put on his most sincere smile, all while inwardly preparing himself for the conversation to come.
Within moments of the call, the young Jedi strode into the office, unaccompanied it seems. Good, thought Palpatine as the young Jedi approached his desk, it will be easier to plant the seeds of influence within his mind. Using his most sincerely and grandfatherly voice, Palpatine spoke to Anakin. "Young Skywalker! I must say it is indeed a great pleasure to have you here today, what with saving Naboo from that horrendous droid army. Without your valiant efforts, who knows what could have happened during that dastardly invasion". Anakin stood tall at the mention of his success at Naboo, beaming with pride that was unbecoming of a Jedi learner. Oh, he'll be unbecoming of a Jedi alright. By being a father figure and his conscious, it will be all too easy swaying him along the years, thought Palpatine.
The passion of the Sith is something few would dare to get in the way of. For the Sith, as few, as they are now, will always seek power in some form or way. And what better way to get that power and destroy their sworn enemies than from right under the very noses of the Jedi, of the Senate, of the galaxy itself? Yes, passion is a dangerous thing when wielded carefully. In the coming years, all the galaxy will know, all the galaxy will hear, and all the galaxy will feel is the passion of the Sith Order.
I hope you enjoyed the story, thank you for viewing and please leave a review.