A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

The tedious work, over long relentless negotiations, deliberating, and what nearly appeared as redundant back and forth meetings finally drew to a close. The secret, wealthy, deliberators all came to the consensus that their affairs, as stakeholders, in the upcoming near future will be the most profitable turnover this region of the galaxy had ever seen.

As exciting, as the new endeavors are, not one of the aristocrats, bankers, CEOs or otherwise wealthy businessmen, and businesswomen noticed that there were no Neimoidians in any of the meetings. Essentially, they are largest stakeholders, and operators of the Trade Federation.

One of two humanoids at the meeting curled either of the sides of his lips as he gazed at the delegates of the meeting. Clearing his throat, Palpatine, looked at his audience with his gentle eyes. His gaze alone, could have hypnotically brought silence to the room before he spoke, "My dear friends and colleagues, I want to assure you, that our friends in the Trade Federation will be quite pleased with the recent transactions we have made today. In the continued interest of our friends in the Trade Federation, I would like to reiterate, how paramount the need for secrecy is. With that said, you…"

Palpatine takes in a deep breath. Normally he would foresee how the executions would play out in his mind's eye –through the force - methodically bending every contingency that would go awry in his operandi; however, like pressing his back against a brick wall and expecting it to move, for some reason, he could not see into the veil of the future. It did not matter, he is a Sith, he will bend the future according to his will. Not that some vegetable muscled, credit hoarding, upper class tycoons would be able to stop his elite usage of force powers, alongside his mastery and skill with a lightsaber.

A sinister grin, replaced the kind smile on the corners of either side of his lips. His eyes, went from blue to a sickly yellowish – red colour, as he growled his next words. "…all need to disappear."

And so, it was done. Within the blink of an eye, Darth Sidious's lightsaber fell from the drape of his sleeve into the palm of his hand, and just as quickly, he ignited his crimson blade, striking down the closest aliens to his left, and to his right side before a look of horror, and shock, could fully develop upon their faces.

Raging madness, and cool calculated swift strokes, cauterized and severed limbs and torsos in half, as Sidious darted back and forth across the room striking each-and-every one of the delegates down. The ones who tried to escape were fried to death by a barrage of force lightning.

Saving the human for last, Sidious rushed toward him, and swung his saber in a downward motion to give him a painless death through decapitation.

A tremor in the force?

It cannot be!

The humanoid deflect Sidious's saber, and force pushed him backward. Jedi scum, Sidious thought to himself. How did he not feel, or even see this coming? How is it possible that he could not sense the presence of a Jedi? The opponent was no Jedi, though. Another glance at his opponent and he could not help but notice, that the unknown individual was carrying a crimson lightsaber, only meant for that of the Sith.

Turning around, Sidious's heart sunk. Betrayal! How could Master Plagueis train another apprentice, right from under his nose, with the guise that they all must abide by the rule of two: "A Master to embody the power of the dark side of the force, and an apprentice to crave it." Using the force, Sidious sends another barrage of force lightning to his opponent, "How dare you think your feeble skills are a match for me!"

The surge of force lightning partially was partially deflected by the opponents lightsaber; however, Darth Sidious intensified the usage of his rage-filled hatred through the force, and through his force lightning. The force lightning crackled, and struck the opponent who clung to his lightsaber in a mediocre attempt to cling on to his device, while using the force to attempt to deflect the force lightning, and keeping his pain at bay.

Who are you? A voice cried out in pain, from the opponent.

Darth Sidious heard the voice inside of his opponent's head, and let go of his hatred for a moment, stopping his execution of the unknown individual, who dropped to his knees, with remnants of electricity coursing in and around him.

"You are not just strong in the force, but you carry a crimson lightsaber. Intriguing. Who are you?" The humanoid asked.

Darth Sidious studied the man for a moment. He carried a crimson blade as well, but was not as strong as he is, in the force. He knew how to shield his power, and he could feel the humanoid had potential untapped power stronger than any Jedi he had come across yet. "Who are you?" Sidious growled, through the contorted-rage edged deeply upon his face. He continued. "What are you doing here? Are you here to take my place?"

"My name is Braxxton Thudd. I came from the outer rim territory to conduct business – for the same reason as you. I do not know of you and your place. You are the one that killed everyone with the exception of me just now."

"You do not seem to be in a hurry to strike me down. If that is your business?"

Both are curious about the other, as they study one another, all the while they both continue to grip their ignited crimson blades. In a calm manner, Thudd, casual speaks as if he was speaking to the kind hearted person he knew for months, Palpatine, as opposed to what appears to be a twisted dark sided force user, "Are you part of the Knights of Violantus? If so, how come I have never seen you before?"

Sidious gazed at Thudd with great interest. Thudd alluded to plurality; that means, when he strikes down his master, there are other potential force users he can pick from to have a successor to the mantle of the dark side. "There are more of you?" He asked in a less menacing tone, familiar to his sage like tone of voice.

Before he could continue, his beacon alerted him to a call from Darth Plagueis. He thought about it for a moment, he would never entrust Thudd to meet his master, but he would use the opportunity for allowing him to view the call as a means to garner trust from him. "A moment if you will."

Darth Sidious disengaged his lightsaber – a test – he wanted to know if this other force user is legitimately a Sith, trained to kill him, or just a mere dark sided force user, following some sordid cult of the Sith. If he was a true Sith, Thudd would strike him down, or try to. If he was not, then Sidious would do what he could to find his master, obtain his knowledge and bestow the mantle of Sith apprenticeship upon him, and slaughter the rest of the Knights of Violantus.

He answered his call, "Yes, my Master."

"Have they been taken care of?"

"Yes, I have eliminated all of them."

"All of them?"

If he could not sense Thudd, how could his master, from afar? "Yes? All of them. You seem uncertain."

"I sensed a tremor in the force."

"I felt it too, my Lord. Right before I struck down one of the banker's I felt him as if he was reaching out to me with the force, and he was about to attack me. I ended his life on the spot!"

"Well done Darth Sidious. Return to me at once. We have much to discuss."

Palpatine considered the gesture for a moment, and thought of an exit, "Ahh, yes. I would most definitely love to my Lord. However, I must humbly decline. There are matters I must attend to."

"Such as?"

"Nothing that the most revered Dark Lord of the Sith would ever feel compelled to hear, nor would I as your humble servant feel inclined to share such trivial matters. Unless you would like me to pass word on to my distant relatives, whom I shall meet with, that you have expressed your cordial regards to?"

"I will attend with you."

"Oh my Lord. That is gracious of you. However, I would not wish to bore you with the tireless catching up that we have to do. I shall do this on my own."

An awkward moment of silence fell, Darth Plagueis stretched his force power toward Darth Sidious to find the true intention behind not abiding with his wishes, the power of Plagueis engulfed the room, and then faded, "You wiped them all out, correct."

"You don't trust me?" Sidious queried, in a tone that he would use as if he were Senator Palpatine.

"Come to me once you have returned." Darth Plagueis' voice cackled as the call faded out.

Darth Sidious turned to Braxxton Thudd. He raised his eyes with excitement to hide the disappointment that Thudd was not a Sith, but a mere pawn in a much further game that he would have to play to find the source of the one who is training him.

"Did this 'Dark Lord of the Sith,' just refer you as, 'Darth' Sidious?" Thudd asked, his eyebrows raised with peaked interest. "I have not heard that term used so openly since the time Darth Revan created the Knights of Revan, before the Jedi purged, and wiped out the Sith, and we went into hiding, biding our time before us Knights rule the galaxy once again."

Darth Sidious' eyes rekindled with interest, and intrigue. With this news he would seek to acquire information that not even his own master knew of, and then take the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith for himself, once he obtained what could be a golden gem of knowledge from Braxxton Thudd. "We have much to discuss, my friend. We must make haste and leave this place before anyone discovers what has transpired here. Take me to the Knights of Violantus."