In a galaxy mysteriously almost devoid of the Jedi, the Sith rule of two has grown unchecked. Multiple rival Sith grapple for the ability to call themselves the true lord, but they hide behind organizations, and armies, instead of facing each other in single combat as Darth Bane would have wanted. A Sith ritual which was originally intended to be a simple duel to the death has grown into a galaxy-wide war on the surface, and a twisty web of lies, politics, and espionage below.

Currently leading the deadly power struggle was Darth Sidious, Chancellor of the Republic—a smaller republic than it had once been, with pieces cut out of It, maybe—but still the primary power in the galaxy. The question was: for how much longer? If Sidious had anything to say about it the answer to that question was forever. He had one big thing going for him. His apprentice Darth Vader was growing in power at an almost alarming rate. He was the perfect weapon and Sidious knew that his rivals were beginning to fear him.

Darth Vader was little older than a teenager, but he was already one of the most powerful men in the galaxy, along with a feared military strategist and general. However there were some things, Darth Sidious lamented, the boy was not cut out for. Politics, was one of them, subtly was another, and on the top of the list: espionage. However, it was a matter of espionage that he had been forced to send Vader to Scipio today to deal with.

"General Vader," greeted the Muun representative, who met him on the landing pad, bowing his head slightly in respect. "We've been expecting you."

Vader did not return his gesture. He wasn't the respectful type. Darth Vader had been raised by Sidious from the age of ten. It was rumoured that it had been a custody battle over the boy which had resulted in the death of Sidious's own master Darth Plagueis. He'd been indoctrinated into Sith teachings at an early age, but he'd also grown up aware of his own power. He'd developed quite an ego.

Vader did not believe he could be killed. He did what he wanted, took what he wanted. His confidence had grown so much lately that he'd even started to disobey his master on occasion; nothing major, of course, but Sidious was worried. He wasn't worried Vader would challenge him for the title. He wasn't even sure the young man fully understood the rule of two. The galaxy Vader had grown up in had never seen a single reigning Sith master, and Sidious knew this was partially his fault. However he was worried Vader would slip, becoming little more than a Dark Jedi out to serve himself. The boy had more potential than that, and too much interest in the teachings of the Sith Masters of old.

The Muun and his two guards had heard rumours of what General Vader could be like, and they were tense. They were too proud to bow to whom they perceived as The Chancellors petulant protégée, but they also did not wish to anger him.

Thankfully, it did not appear the Sith was in a particularly bad mood. He seemed relaxed, and when he spoke there was a little bit of laughter in his voice.

"Take me to her."

Yes, Vader was not a spy, but that did not mean Sidious didn't have a network of them reporting to him. He was a master of intelligence as well as combat, and it pained him that he'd not yet managed to teach this particular skill to his apprentice. Vader was a blunt instrument, and there were some problems which required a scalpel. One of his best operatives was republic senator Padme Amidalla. She was good—a fantastic scalpel—but this time she'd gotten caught. It was her Vader was here to retrieve.

He followed the Muun's across the thin bridge from the landing pad. Above them loomed the massive gears of the vault. Below them, nothing but air. The neutral zone clung to the side of a steep mountain face.

Inside the mountain, Padme lay on the couch in her cell, staring at the ceiling. She'd been stuck in here almost two days now. Her handmaiden and dear friend Teckla had been shot dead after planting an explosive device on the building's power grid. It was the discovery of the body which had landed her here. And for two days she'd had nothing to do but think about all the things she could have done to save her friends life, and to worry about what Sidious would do if she failed in her mission.

Her cell door flew open and she sat up quickly. In the frame, flanked by two Muun guards was a familiar face. It was Vader, Sidious's apprentice. He looked as he always did, smirk and scar to dark robes and armour plating, with a lightsaber hooked at his belt. Padme knew him rather well. The pair had been romantically involved, on-again-off-again since Vader had been barely a preteen.

"Well, well, well," he said, hands on hips, "what do we have here? Looks like I'm here to save you again."

Padme rolled her eyes. Vader had been insufferable lately. She knew he loved her in some strange way, tainted by the dark side of the force, but he was possessive and controlling. There had been a time when she'd cared for him. She remembered the loving boy he'd been when she'd met him. She'd felt sorry for him, under the thumb of someone as cruel as Sidious. However they'd been apart for months now, and she fully intended to keep it that way this time. She knew their master had always hated his attachment to her. It was safer this way anyways.

"I'm glad to see you," she said, "we don't have much time if we're going to finish my mission."

"Your mission?" he asked, closing her cell door behind him with a wave of his hand. "Sidious didn't tell me anything, only that I was supposed to come here to retrieve you."

"Well, I know he really wants to get his hands on this information, so we're going to have to go track down Clovis, and—"

Vader cut her off. "Clovis?" Suddenly he was mad, yellow creeping in over his blue eyes. "What does that scum have to do with this? Don't tell me…" he was pacing, "you end things with me then go crawling right back to that filth."

"Shut up for a second!" Padme yelled.

The Sith cut off his tirade, but he gritted his teeth, staring her down threateningly. Padme did not think it was beyond him to hurt her, but she was much less afraid of him than she was of Sidious.

"Clovis is an asset. He's providing me, and in conjunction your master, with highly sensitive information on the current state of the banks. That's all, not that it should matter to you."

"Clovis is a spy for Tyrannus," he snarled at her. "You know what? Maybe I should just leave you here, have someone else come to get you."

"Sidious won't like that."

"Screw him!" Vader spat, but then let his shoulders drop, and seemed to lock his anger back into its box. "I'm not serious. Come on."

He opened the door with another wave of his hand, and the pair exited.

"We have released Senator Amidalla into your custody," said the Muun representative. "We wish to keep good relations with the Republic, but we can only hope that you will deal with this internal matter justly."

Vader responded. "I'm sure it will be proven that the senator had no involvement with Teckla's actions. You're lucky no offence has been taken to her unjust imprisonment."

The representative had to force down a retort, as they walked away.

Padme waited until they were out of earshot of the Muuns before she spoke again. "Clovis was never a spy for Count Dooku. He's a banker. He was just investing in that droid factory. He's untrustworthy, war-profiteering scum, but that has never bothered Sidious before."

They reached the bridge onto the landing pad before Vader said anything.

With the wind to mask his words, he asked, "where is this information?"

"It's on a drive. I downloaded it from the vault myself. Right now… it's probably at Clovis's private residence."

The response from Vader was a grunt and an eye roll.

"I promised him we'd get him off Scipio."

Another, noncommittal grunt.

As usual, Vader had the fastest landspeeder he could find. They zoomed through Scipio's white-capped mountains. It was rather beautiful, Padme mused. The sky was clear and blue, fluffy white snow reflecting the sunlight off the steep slopes. It was a little chilly, especially with the speed at which the air was whipping past them, but that didn't seem to bother Vader.

Padme gave a one more shouted direction and they circled around a peak to see Clovis's chalet. It was a disk perched on a ledge much smaller than itself. A 360 degree wall of windows provided a breathtaking view. As they dropped down on the landing pad, both noticed at the same time that they were not the only ones here. A speederbike was parked near the balcony of the building.

As they crossed the bridge towards it, Vader asked, "is that Clovis's?"

"I don't think so," Padme quickened her pace, "I haven't seen it."

A man in a dark brown cloak appeared from inside. He looked at them for just long enough for them to see his blue eyes, and to realize this was not Clovis. Then, he jumped on the bike and shot off.

"Find your data!" Vader yelled, before taking off running back towards his speeder.

Padme ran in the other direction, sliding through the portal into Clovis's house. The fireplace in the center was unlit, the large living room seemingly empty.

"Clovis?" she called, descending the stairs down from the entrance.

He appeared from below, as if he'd been pressed into the corner the stairs made with the wall.

"Padme!" He seemed to be relieved to see her.

"Who was that?" she demanded. "Do you have the drive?"

Clovis shook his head.

"What do you mean you don't have it? Where is it?"

He shrugged, not saying anything in explanation. There was something strange about his expression, a hidden panic behind his eyes. Padme had a bad feeling about this.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked. "You risked your life to help me get that data…"

Above them, she heard Vader enter.

"Padme?"

"Down here. Did you catch him?"

By the look on his face, she was going to have to guess no.

"He disappeared," Vader muttered. "Like he could teleport. I couldn't feel him in the force, or pick up his speeder's trail."

"General Vader," Clovis greeted, standing a little straighter.

He was aware of the Sith's dislike of him, along with the reason behind it. He and Padme had been romantically involved before Vader had been old enough to count as a romantic rival.

"Where's the data, Clovis?"

"He doesn't have it," Padme said. "I think whoever that was must have taken it."

"Who was he?" Vader demanded, stepping closer, staring down at the smaller man with yellow eyes.

"No one. There was no one here."

From behind Vader Padme looked at Clovis pleadingly. She was not overly fond of the Banking Clan's representative, but she did not want to see him end up dead.

"What do you mean: no one?" Vader was incredulous. "I just saw him. He was right here! Do you think I'm an idiot?"

His tone had grown to a thunderous growl, and Clovis drew back, pressing into the wall of the lowered sitting room.

"You will tell me," he said, confidently.

"I can't." There was no defiance in Clovis's words, only a statement of unwavering fact.

"Oh, I guarantee that you can. And that you will."

Suddenly Clovis was clutching at his throat, struggling for air. Vader squeezed his metal fist and the former senator rose off the ground.

"Wait." Padme's hand was suddenly on his shoulder. "There's something wrong with him, something weird. Can't you tell?"

Vader paused, releasing his force hold around Clovis's throat. Though he still hung in the air, the man gasped gratefully, able to breathe again. Vader cocked his head slightly to the side, examining him.

"You're right." Clovis flew towards him, and Vader caught him by the front of his robes. "I don't notice it at first, but the dark side clings to him. Something's been done to him, some sort of powerful Sith sorcery."

"Can you undo it?" Padme asked.

Vader shook his head slowly. "My master never taught me much about Sith sorcery. I was never one for history lessons, and he told me I didn't have the natural ability for it. All Sith have different talents and it's pointless to pursue the ones that do not suit you."

He dropped Clovis, who fell into a heap on the floor.

"It will wear off though. I know that. Even a mind trick as powerful as this can't last indefinitely."

Padme nodded. "So we just wait it out then? We can't do it here in case the Muuns come looking for Clovis. There's a hotel and spaceport not too far from the neutral zone. We can get a few rooms there."

She hoped Vader did not take that to mean anything more than what it did. They were on a mission and personal matters could wait. She also hoped that Clovis could manage not to piss him off for the short period of time until she could get him safely back to Coruscant. Even if it was Vader who ruined the mission she knew it was mostly her Sidious would be upset with, and it had seemed like he needed both the data and Clovis himself for his plot.

A/N: I just kind of dropped you into that, didn't I? I hope that wasn't confusing. I didn't want to info-dump/explain the entirety of this AU all at once. I'll give bits of information as the story progresses.

The first part of this chapter was almost identical to an episode of The Clone Wars, aside from the fact that the Sith are in charge. I was just using it as a starting point, and as you can see, things are already branching off. Also, I shamelessly admit I am ripping off Kilgrave from Jessica Jones for this fic. That will become more evident in the next chapter.

This is very different from anything I've attempted before. If you like it, let me know. I already have another chapter and a half written and I should post them soonish, if I get more written.