Fate's Child
Summary: What if Darth Sidious was worried that Anakin wouldn't turn to the darkside the way he had foreseen? What if he hired a Bounty Hunter to make Anakin fall and betray all those who he loved? This is the story of renowned Bounty Hunter Soren Esereth and his part in the birth of Darth Vader
Planet: Coruscant, Location: Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's Office
Supreme Chancellor Palpatine sat at his desk, worry creasing his brow. He had been disturbed by his last vision. Some would find it strange that the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic would be having visions. But those select few who knew who he really was wouldn't be surprised. Behind his calm political demeanour beat the heart of a sadistic Sith Lord by the name of Darth Sidious, Sidious had seized power and had begun a war, the outcome of the war was of little consequence to him as he had only one goal. The corruption of the Jedi's most prominent pupil, Anakin Skywalker to the darkside of the force. His original plan was to influence the force to show Anakin visions of his secret wife Senator Padme Amidala dying in child birth. However in this latest vision he saw Anakin and Obi Wan Kenobi on Mustafar embracing one another and helping an injured Padme onboard a sleek Naboo Cruiser. A fit of rage overtook Palpatine and he slammed his fist down on his desk, he would not tolerate failure, he would succeed.
He contacted his secretary, a young Twi'lek by the name of Konya "Konya, I am feeling ill, please hold all my calls and cancel all my appointments for the day."
"Yes Supreme Chancellor" Konya replied politely.
Palpatine released a sigh and decided to migrate to his private quarters so he could meditate and release his anger through the Force. He had no fear of being discovered for he had influenced the minds of the construction workers who had built his rather spacious apartment to make the wall out of a rare material called Durtosis which effectively blocked all forms of Force use from being detected by other Force user. He collapsed onto his plush sleep couch before entering a meditative state, releasing waves and waves of pure rage into the Force. Palpatine snapped out of his meditation as a thought occurred to him as to how he would influence young Skywalker. He quickly strolled over to his desk and retrieved his holo-pad, he quickly accessed the database of all know Bounty Hunters and found the most likely candidate. He would have gone for Jango Fett, but he had been killed on Geonosis by Mace Windu, he accessed the file labeled Soren Esereth. A sinister grin formed on his aging lips as he contacted one of his Agents.
"Fine me, the Bounty Hunter named Soren Esereth and bring him to me" Palpatine spoke into the com-link using his true voice.
"Yes Milord" the Agent replied.
Fate's Child
Planet: Mandalore, Location: Sundari (Second Capital City), Mandalorian Drinking Establishment: Darasuum (Eternity in Galactic Basic)
The Agent briskly entered the Cantina; he took an instant disliking to the place. It was loud and dirty, he preferred the clean halls of the Senate building back on Coruscant. But his preferences didn't matter as he had one task to do, track down this Bounty Hunter and bring him before his Master, if he failed he wouldn't survive long enough to escape his Master's room before he was killed. It was difficult to tell one Bounty Hunter from Another, every Bounty Hunter in the Cantina had the same armor, Traditional Mandalorian armor. He consulted his datapad and gazed around the Cantina. He was approached by two female Twi'lek dancers.
"Looking for someone, hun?" The first one asked while rubbing his arm
"Yes as a matter of fact," the Agent replied, oblivious to the Twi'lek's attempts at seduction. "I'm looking for a Bounty Hunter by the name of Soren Esereth"
"Soren? He's over there" The second Twi'lek said gesturing to a table at the back of the Cantina, where a young man sat, drinking a purple liquid from a glass.
"Thank you Miss" the Agent said before brushing past the women and advancing towards the table.
"Are you Soren Esereth?" The Agent yelled above the din inside the Cantina.
"Who wants to know?" Soren replied cautiously
"My name is not important," The Agent answered, "But what you should know is I work for a very powerful man by the name of Sidious and he wants to hire you to perform a task for him."
"You've got my attention, what is this 'task' he wants me to perform?" Soren said
"It's best that he tell you. I will escort you to him." The Agent informed Soren.
Soren nodded and grabbed his helmet from the table, following the Agent out of the Cantina. He tossed the Bar tender a few credits to pay for his drink.
"Keep the change." He said dismissively
Soren caught up to the Agent outside the Cantina. As the reached the landing pad the Agent suddenly turned on him and shot him in the chest with a small hold-out Blaster Pistol. Soren yelped in surprise before crumpling to the ground.
"Don't worry," the Agent said as he secured Soren in a set of binders. "It was only a stun round; my Master prefers his location to remain anonymous"
Soren groaned as he slipped into unconsciousness, his mentor would have been pissed if he knew Soren was duped so easily.
Fate's Child
Planet: Coruscant, Location: Darth Sidious' Lair, the Works, Lower Coruscant
The Agent knelt before Sidious, "Milord, I have brought the Bounty Hunter as you requested."
"Good," Sidious said, "Now, Leave us."
The Agent nodded before exiting the room. Sidious used the force to rouse Soren from his unconscious state.
"Where am I?" Soren asked in alarm
"It does not matter where you are, all you need to know is why you are here" Sidious replied, stepping out of the shadows and revealing himself to Soren.
Soren was genuinely intimidated; this man might not have been overly imposing in terms of his stature, which was not overly tall but very wiry, but the black robes he wore, hood drawn down so low that it obscured most of his face seemed to make him radiate pure evil.
"Fine, if that's how you wanna play it, Soren said, trying to appear unfazed by the hooded man, "Why am I here?"
"As I'm sure the man who brought you here told you, I need you to perform a task me," Sidious explained. "But first, allow me to introduce myself, I am Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith."
"That man, who brought me here, said that he worked for a man named Sidious, I had no idea you were a Sith Lord." Soren said, he was under the impression that the Sith were extinct.
"We have never been extinct; no we were regrouping, regaining our strength, replenishing our numbers," Sidious explained, his voice grew in it's intensity as he continued speaking. "If you succeed with the task I am putting to you, you will be rewarded greatly and set event in motion that will bring about the Downfall of the accursed Jedi and the Revenge of the Sith will be complete."
Soren was dumbfounded, Darth Sidious was so hell bent on the destruction of the Jedi that he had become something less then human.
"You assignment is two fold," Sidious said, reverting to his Palpatine voice, "Firstly I need you to kill Obi Wan Kenobi; he will no doubt be a very challenging opponent. Once he is dead you must find a way to incapacitate Anakin Skywalker and kill Padme Amidala, but before you do you must harvest both her children directly from her womb, if she gives birth to them naturally they will not be as powerful in the force. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Lord Sidious, I have just one question." Soren answered, taking in all the facts he would need to complete his task.
"Yes?" Sidious replied
"How much am I getting paid?" Soren asked
"We will decide upon your payment if you succeed." Sidious said before using the force to influence Soren back to unconsciousness. Once he was sure that Soren was out, he called for the Agent who re entered the room and dragged Soren out. Sidious grinned in satisfaction as he knew that if the Bounty Hunter succeeded Anakin would be like putty in his hands.