The Ripple Effect

by Freestyle 763

Funny how one last minute decision can influence and change the face of events for over dozens of decades. He was weary and infuriated at first, but his vision was to be realized.

7. Expansion! Peace! Justice!

He knew it was too late. The second he stormed Sidious's office in order to prevent Mace Windu from going too far. To prevent him from killing Sidious. To prevent him from killing his only way to help Padme. He knew it was too late when he plunged his blade through Jo Casta Nu, and seen the look of utter hate and fury on Cadus's face-swelling within the powerful man's aura. Of all the Jedi he cut down, Cadus nearly killed him time and time again, not coming close like Shaak Ti.

He knew it was too late when he reached out with the Force, blinded by his hatred and anger, and tried to strangle his pregnant wife. It was too late then. His fate was already sealed, and he had already made his choice. Only a Sith would harm innocence willingly, those were Cadus's exact words-pointed and direct, but not at all accusing. And, he did just that-not only did he harm his love, but their twins, and he did all because...

It was too late...

Before all of this it was too late when...

When...

It was when he had to leave his mother.

It was with the Tuskens, but when things took a shift...

It was when his Padawan, left the Jedi order.

It was back when Yoda, and Windu...Everyone except for Shaak Ti, and Cadus slighted him...

Back when he was still Anakin.

Back when that weak, arrogant fool Windu had been alive.

Yoda was as always, unreadable. His wrinkled face one of serene contemplation. Anakin never could get a read on the short being, and as a child he felt unusually nervous with the wrinkled thing staring into his eyes...Seeing inside of him, not the flesh, blood, and bone that made him up.

Mace Windu miles well have been carved from stone, as there wasn't a single emotion on his face, and what Anakin had always thought to be a clear dislike of his mere presence.

Holograms of Ki Adi Mundi and Plo Koon floated right above their Council seats, maintained by the low-curved seats' holo-projectors.

Cadus looked as calm and composed as always. He didn't have a grim expression like Windu, and he didn't have that critical-searching gaze that Yoda did. If anything, to Anakin's eyes and perception he seemed rather worried.

Agen Kaler sat next to Shaak Ti, and the empty seat of Stass Allie.

He noted that Shaak Ti looked worried as well.

Obi Wan sat in his own chair, looking pensive. No. Anakin looked at him closely, seeing the knitted wrinkle between Obi Wan's eyes, he realized that the man was worried. Terribly so.

Why were Cadus, Shaak Ti, and Obi Wan worried?

Considering they could fight entire fleets single handedly, he couldn't begin to imagine what would have them so...

"Anakin Skywalker." Mace Windu spoke severely, it was with such severity that Anakin instantly recoiled on the inside, but on the outside he merely frowned at the man. "After long deliberation we've decided to comply with Chancellor Palpatine's directive, with the instructions of the Senate that granted him the authority to command this Council. You are hereby granted a seat at the High Council of the Jedi: as the Chancellor's personal representative."

"And, as a Master." Cadus added, tone surprisingly calm, but the small quirk of his lips were what Anakin would consider a smile. The man was very fatherly, oddly reminding him of Qui Gon in a lot of ways. Maverick, a rogue in a way-Yoda and Windu were always at odds with him.

Kind of like how Qui Gon and Obi Wan were when he had met them.

He could remember Qui Gon losing his temper, briefly. Obi Wan had been going on about how things went south, literally, and how they ended up on Tatooine referring to it as a test.

I'm not testing you, Obi Wan. Life tests you! Every day it brings you new chances for triumph or defeat. And, if you pass the test it doesn't make you a Jedi. It makes you human.

He never felt so frazzled and scared in all of his life-other than Cadus and Sidious, Qui Gon had been his only father figure.

"You've overcome the Dark Side during your battle with Ventress on Yavin 4, Anakin." Shaak Ti gave her humble approval.

He stood still, not sure if he heard what he just heard right, but he didn't move until he knew with absolutely no doubt that he just heard what he did. The Council finally decided to grant him his heart's desire, and they finally recognized his accomplishments, his dedication, his loyalty, his power. He took a slow breath, trying to control the emotions swelling within him-if he wasn't before these people he'd be grinning like mad right now.

"Thank you, Master Shaak Ti and Master Cadus." He had made sure to specify them. He turned to the others, against him. "Masters. I will uphold the highest principles of the Jedi Order and the Republic. I will work twice as hard...No, I will work one thousand times harder than I have been."

"Of that I've no doubt, Master Anakin." Cadus replied, the quirk of his lips still there.

"Allow this appointment, lightly, the Council does not." Yoda's long ears curled forward towards Anakin, like accusing fingers, jabbing daggers. His eyes turned towards Cadus, and they bristled with the same aura-accusing and jabbing. "This move by Chancellor Palpatine, disturbing it is. On many levels."

They're more concerned about avoiding oversight of the Senate than winning the war. Those were Palpatine's exact words, but as he scanned the Master's face he could see three that weren't of like minds. Cadus looked mad. Shaak Ti looked mortified. And, Obi Wan, well he looked even more worried.

"I understand." Anakin inclined his head just a few inches, meeting Yoda's eyes directly.

"I'm not very sure that you do, Anakin." Mace Windu leaned his weight forward onto his knees until he was hunched over, his eyes measuring the younger man in a harsh glare.

Anakin wasn't even paying the fool any mind-he never did like Windu. The man felt threatened by his mere presence, because now Anakin would be the youngest Jedi Master in the history of the Order, and not Windu. He was on the closest turbolift, heading directly to the restricted vault in the archives. Mace Windu's stupid face and sanctimonious mentality weren't things he was even remotely concerned with.

"Master Windu, please don't do this..." Shaak Ti's gentle tone broke through the tense atmosphere. It was a silent plea, a humble request to make a concession. A rightful concession because Anakin did so much, and more than anyone other Jedi did he deserve the rank of Master. It was an insult at this point to not give him the rank and privileges...

This was going to blow up, she could feel it.

Windu was about to say something that'd make Anakin snap, and Cadus was about to voice his own disagreement-backing her up.

"Your sense of ego is baffling Master Windu. Anakin has earned this and deserves this more than everyone gathered in this room, including yourself. To not give him the rank and privileges of a Master is insulting, and show's your loftiness on this matter. It has taken Palpatine to force your's and Yoda's hand to give him a seat among us. Having overcome the Dark Side on Yavin 4, and training Ashoka into a splendid Knight-he should have already been on this Council a year, two years ago."

After all everyone followed Yoda blindly and Windu hated anyone that questioned him.

Anakin had been silent, baffled and almost in a daze. After all, Sidious said that the Jedi were against him, and feared him. But, he never felt that wariness with Cadus, ever, now that he thought about it. And, even now Cadus, and Shaak Ti-more passively of course, were supporting him.

"Master Cadus and Master Shaak Ti. The Council has already taken all of that and more into account."

And, from that daze, Anakin was reawakened, angry at the words he heard next.

"You will attend the meetings of this Council." Windu said, expression completely grim. "But, you will not be granted the rank and privileges of a Jedi Master."

"What?"

It was one simple word.

"How dare you."

He had stood motionless, in the center of the room, totally still.

"There are only two people in this room that can match my power! There's no other Jedi in this room-in the galaxy that can match my power! I've done so much, how can you deny me mastery!? This is an insult to me, it is an insult to the Chancellor. Don't think this will be tolerated."

The Korun's eyes turned stone cold, as hard as Anakin's voice. "Take your seat, young Skywalker."

Maybe I should take yours, you stupid kriffing... Anakin gently clenched his teeth. You think you're going to stop me from saving Padme? You think I'm going to just sit and watch her die!? Think I'm going to watch my child die!? I don't care about your stupid Vaapad, go ahead and just try to stop me from-"

"Anakin. Please." Obi Wan said softly, gesturing to the seat empty right next to him.

Something in Obi Wan's soft tone, his gentle but straight forward approach sent all of his anger dissipating, and it was only replaced with shame and slight mortification. He felt so foolish. He couldn't even hide the flares of embarrassment from flashing on his cheeks, even as he bowed his head. "Forgive me for my outburst, Masters."

"No Republic world has reported any sign of Grievous." Ki Adi Mundi continued as if nothing had happened.

"They're not going to report it. He threatens them and shows what he'll do." Cadus said blandly.

"To coordinate this search, Kenobi, it will be."

"You can't split Master Anakin and Master Kenobi apart. They've always been stronger together. This is ludicrous." Cadus argued.

"It's decided." Windu snapped.

"By who?"

"The Council."

"You and Yoda..."

Silence.

Anakin felt dull shock hearing those very words, he couldn't even pick up Cadus's near scathing remark and objection to the decision. Now, they were going to split him and Obi Wan apart. What made him even more mad was how everyone just stayed silent and Windu said 'the Council has decided' when in all reality it was just him and Yoda.

He just barely registered what they were saying about ten Droid fleets landing on Kashyyyk, and he concluded that he had to say something. He couldn't just sit here for his whole first meeting of the Council, Master or not, not saying anything. Nor would he, just because Windu having an ego trip. Besides, he knew the Kashyyyk system almost as well as he knew the back deserts of Tattooine.

"I can handle it," Anakin offered, suddenly brightening. It'd be good to get out and clear his head, get away from all this...Shit that keeps going on. "I could clear that planet in a day or two."

"I'd like to go myself, actually." Cadus interjected, his tone calm, but hard as stone. He locked eyes with Windu and then Yoda, a deep frown slowly marring his features as he felt immeasurable rage.

"We don't have time to be wasting on these damned Battle Droids, I'll take Anakin with me and have that whole planet liberated before the day's end. We won't even need his 501st. I'll run through all of them."

"Skywalker, your assignment is here. Cadus, you are going to Lehon and Korriban for those assignments." Mace Windu's stare was hard as stone, and just a hair short of openly hostile.

"Chasing after ancient Sith Ghosts." Cadus said mockingly.

Windu just glared.

"Go to Kashyyk, I will. Good relations with the Wookiees, I have."

"Nobody is closer to the Wookiees than I am. I should go, I am going. You're not thinking like a Jedi, you're thinking like a two bit general!" Cadus's tone didn't raise in volume, it didn't change, it was the pressure he exuded as he spoke-as he clashed with Windu and Yoda-just daring Agen Kolar to say something.

"It is settled then." Windu Said.

"No. It's not. Anakin and I should go so we can finish this early."

"Cadus, you will mind your tone."

"Your pride is nonsensical. I will do what needs to be done. I don't care about your ego."

"The Council will decide that."

Cadus bit back a snarl, his eyes glowed with a deep intensity.

"The Council decides nothing, it's you and Yoda. This is nothing but posturing because of your own misled self importance. Just like you won't give Anakin the rank of Master not because of his friendship with the Chancellor, but because he'll be the youngest Master ever, and not you. He will be taking your place, he miles well be taking your seat for that matter. After all, Yoda took you as his personal Padawan, something that hadn't happened since Dooku was in the Order."

Windu was practically out of his seat, eyes hard, mouth pressed to a thin line. "That has nothing to do with this."

"You've grown lofty. Because you've developed Vaapad, you've grown hubris."

"Coming from the youngest Knight in the Order's history."

"My Master and I fought battles that you were too afraid to fight in. That you felt were a lost cause. We persevered. It was my Master's decision, and as a Council you decided that I be given that rank."

"This discussion is over, Master Cadus."

"No it is not."

"I have no time for rebellious Jedi or their thoughts-"

"And, I have no time for sanctimonious, pious, hubris, nor priggish fools, and their loftiness. You're not any better than those self important politicians."

Yoda tapped his stick on the floor.

"Proceed, we must. Not much time, do we have. Be wary of your anger, Master Windu, and of your rage and fury, Master Cadus."

Yoda's eyes had narrowed, and the ancient look to them could have pierced through Mandalorian Iron.

Everyone except for Cadus, Shaak Ti, and himself said yes. Cadus said no, and continued to argue, unlike himself-he remained silent after his outburst, and Shaak Ti didn't say anything just looking troubled and wounded.

Anakin couldn't help but feel a leak of hot, white, rage.

The Council just backed up Windu and Yoda, even Obi Wan.

Only Cadus and Shaak Ti were humble enough...

"It is settled then-" Windu started, only to be cut off.

"I say Master Windu should be the one to go off world and not Master Yoda. I get the feeling that Master Windu will get too zealous like always, and make a huge mistake that'll endanger us all. That will make us outlaws."

"What are you trying to imply, Master Cadus?"

"You're skirting around the Dark Side, always have been."

Anakin remembered how Windu grabbed the handle of his saber, about to ignire it-and Cadus's entire hand was glowing yellow before the man could blink. He could remember not even seeing Cadus move, but only the loud hiss of the energy blade coming forth-and by that time it had already been inches from Windu's throat with an frightening glint in his eyes.

Anakin knew that if he wanted to Cadus could have ended it there, easily.

Mace Windu may have created Vaapad-he may have been the most ferocious swordsman next to Cadus and Yoda, but the man didn't study in all styles and techniques like Cadus. Even he learned a thing or two about saber combat from the older man-he knew that Cadus could move so swiftly because of his knowledge in Shii-Cho-it allowed him to move without any wasted motion, or even telegraphing.

Quite a fearsome ability, as the essence of Shii-Cho was moving as quickly as possible and eliminating all unnecessary movements. It was more esoteric than the main styles like Ataru for instance, but it served its purpose and had its place.

"You've always skirted too close to the Dark Side, and you created Vaapad as an answer to your own weakness. Your own inner darkness. Vaapad is more than a style, it is the penumbra that leads through the Dark Side. Those are your words." Cadus didn't budge an inch-and so his blade didn't move either.

"I acknowledge-"

"That isn't the problem."

"What are you suggesting then?" Windu's eyes weren't at all focused on the yellow blade at his throat, but Cadus's stern, unforgiving gaze.

"You are sanctimonious and hubris, I have not forgotten about that."

For the millionth time, he had felt white hot rage, but the pure hatred he felt in that moment was all consuming.

The incident with his former Padawan...

Ahsoka...

"It was her trial-"

"Windu..." Cadus snarled. "How hard is it to say one, simple, word?"

"Cadus, please." Shaak Ti looked at him, silently pleading that he just let it drop.

Anakin noted that something in the way she asked him made Cadus cave in almost instantly, as he deactivated his Lightsaber and sat back down.

If Cadus hadn't Yoda would have done it for him. The short being looked to be running out of patience.

"I just find it amusing that Windu walks around here like he has a Wroshyr tree stuck up his ass, and I don't mean the ones on Kashyyk's coast, I'm talking about the kilometer high ones in the forests where entire Wookiee communities live."

"Master Cadus!"

Anakin had been a little baffled in the way Shaak Ti reproached him-it was almost exactly the way Padme would reproach him whenever he went too far. However, he could see her subtle smile, and even Obi Wan for all his composure was about to crack a smile. He had to twirl part of his beard in his hand to play it off, and even Ki Adi Mundi looked mildly amused.

Agen Kolar, of course looked mad.

"If you see it fit to constantly-"

"Are you going to remove me, Windu? Agen?" Cadus locked eyes with the older man. "Or will you cast a vote in the Council right now to exile me from the Jedi Order. You can't afford to do that-you've showed twelve whole moves of your Vaapad arsenal, Force forbid you have to show just one more. And, not everyone can be as obsequious as you, Agen."

"Understand your points I do, Cadus. but, decided, this is. This meeting, over, yes." Yoda said, tapping his stick on the ground. "Together we must work, not work against one another. We only give the Dark Lord an advantage, play into his hands, do we by doing this."

His eyes were hard as they remained focused on Cadus.

"The Jedi have always played into the Sith's hands, first with the Jedi's ignorance of the Dark Side, and then with the Jedi's fear of the Dark Side. You leaving the Temple leaves us short handed, badly so. I'm going to need to call in Jedi off world, Cin Drallig can only do so much. The Temple Guards can only do so Sith Lord is here on this planet, not somewhere else.

You act like we're fighting against Kaan and his Brotherhood of Darkness, or the Sith Empires before them. Who used War Ships and Lightsabers to fight us. Darth Bane reformed the Sith-there have only been two, for one thousand years.

Now the Sith use cunning, subterfuge, subtly, deception, and wiles. "

"As we all know." Ki Adi Mundi said, voice a bit mild.

Anakin remembered looking at Cadus intently, this man reminded him of Qui Gon in a lot of ways. They never held anything back, at all.

Qui Gon hadn't sat on the Council because he didn't follow the Jedi Code to the T. He got the feeling these people needed Cadus on the Council, or it was the fact he achieved so much that they couldn't even try to deny him.

"So, stop thinking like generals and start thinking like Jedi. The Jedi have become too predictable and this Sidious..." He shook his head, neck taut as he wrestled with his fury. "I was opposed to sending Quinlan Vos on that mission, and we know how that whole thing nearly turned into a disaster. Ventress is still Dooku's right hand, and she's grown stronger in the Dark Side. Meanwhile Quinlan Vos was nearly taken by the Dark Side and killed!"

"Master Cadus..." Agen Kolar's tone was direct, a hint of a warning within it.

"I have no other choice as Master Windu is Master of The Order once again, for the time being. And, I must go off world for the time being to complete the missions the Council has assigned me."

There was a small argument until it was decided three hundred Jedi would return to the Temple.

As the holograms of Plo Koon and Ki Adi Mundi winked faded away.

As Obi-Wan and Agen Kolar rose in near unison and spoke in soft tones.

As Yoda and Mace Windu walked from the room like they were just the two baddest Jedi the galaxy had ever seen.

As Shaak Ti walked away, massaging her head tentacles muttering something about meditation.

As Cadus remained in his seat-eyelids pressed tightly together as he struggled to maintain his composure.

Anakin could only sit, stunned. Helpless. Angry.

He felt the unmistakable pull of hyperspace-his eyes narrowed as he lightened his grip on the control console, and let his engines roar themselves back to life. He remembered it like it was yesterday, as if it had happened just seconds ago and not weeks, if not months ago. How angry he had been with the Council, not so much Cadus or Shaak Ti, because unlike a lot of Jedi-even his own Master, these two always supported him and never judged. Cadus was especially understanding, even more than Sidious had been...

A lot more, as he had been able to tell Cadus about...

Cadus had been there to see...

Anakin couldn't help but feel anger as he pulled on the yoke of his cruiser. Damn it, couldn't people get out of his way?! After all the things he's done-all the things the GAR and Jedi have done for these fools and this is how they repay him? By getting in his way, not caring that his wife's life was hanging in the balance, and rather than speak with Palpatine who was insisting that Padme was shutting him out.

He was going to speak with Cadus, as he had done a lot.

Unlike...Well, all of the Jedi. Cadus didn't reside in the Jedi Temple-he had his own place in a much less crowded part of the planet-wide city. Anakin wasn't sure if he could really call it much considering Coruscant was always alive with something or another, some event, some great Senators making appearance-how he hated the self important sacks of waste.

Cadus lived far from any of this, but the traffic was still a little thick around his house. It wasn't in 500 Republica, but it wasn't exactly a dumb either. It was rustic and humble, a given since he was a Jedi-there was a deck off to the side that got a nice view of the horizon. Other than that, there wasn't much notable about it, even its design was well...Lame.

However, being a Jedi Sentinel like Cadus was-though he was every bit of a warrior and fighter-meant that he, and everyone with the same title couldn't sequester themselves in the Jedi Temple away from all civilization-they had to live among the general populace and didn't detach themselves from anything at large. Oddly, he found himself wishing in that moment that he too could be a Sentinel like Cadus and few others, but knew that his heart was set on being a Jedi Guardian-though a Sentinel shared the duties of both a Consular and Guardian.

It was a unique and at times a trying rank to have. While a Guardian would sooner kick down a locked door, and how a Consular would stare at the locked door willing it to open, a Sentinel would pick the lock.

They were the jack of all trades, a Master of none, but excelled in all areas.

The inside of Cadus's was just as sparse, but there was a TV of some sort with Galactic Football on the moment he walked in, and a fridge off in a corner. It was surprisingly carpeted, not bare with intricate or exotic designs that seemed to be the norm for even the most basic of houses, or apartments on this planet. As a given, he took off his boots at the door and treaded in carefully, noting that there were two bathrooms, and three bedrooms.

Unlike Yoda-who's room had been something of serene calm and tranquility; Cadus's abode was something of...Anakin couldn't quite describe it, as he wasn't sure what words to use. But, he didn't feel so...Uneasy like he had been with Yoda, despite the short being's room's atmosphere, Yoda had this knack for keeping him on his toes. It was something that every Jedi, including Obi Wan made him feel-and quite frankly he was starting to hate it.

With a passion.

He found Cadus seated on a large, but simple couch. Its material was of a rustic nature, as was its design. It didn't have the long sweeping sides like in the Senate Hall, and it didn't curve like his own. Cadus really was a Jedi, but Anakin suspected that this was just how Cadus was. He only cared for simple things. He found a bed created from wood of the native wroshyr trees of Kashyyk, a gift from their chieftans. Cadus always was very close with the Wookiees, so it only made sense he supposed.

Other than this, Cadus's abode was rather...

Humble.

"Master Cadus."

"Master Anakin, no need for all the formalities. We're not in the Jedi Temple."

He found himself puzzled, but had the instinct to nod in acceptance. "You wanted to speak to me."

Cadus looked him in the eye, his focus turned back to the TV. "Relax, Anakin. I told you, we're not in the Jedi Temple. You wanted to talk to me, too."

Half listening, Anakin found a seat on the space right of the older man. With a long sigh he allowed himself to sink into the soft cushions, feeling some of his pain ebb just from the sensation of sinking.

"You've been having...Premonitions."

He remembered blinking, shocked.

"Yoda told me." Cadus narrowed his eyes, now paying the game on TV no mind at all. "It is death of someone close. Padme."

Anakin couldn't move. He couldn't speak. He felt paralyzing fear. He hoped that Cadus wouldn't say it. He hoped he wouldn't say that she dies in child labor...That his child or maybe children...

He swallowed thickly, barely nodding.

"What does Padme say about this?"

He remembered trying not to be angry. Angry with his wife. But, he couldn't be angry with her. Never in a million years. She murmured love in his ear, and soothed him with her delicate fingers racing through his tangled hair. He breathed against her love, inhaling her scent, feeling the way he heart would pick up-the emotions that caused her heart to race so.

I

Love

You

Every time her heart beat. Every breath she drew.

I

Love

You

Ani

When she'd smile, and brush her fingers through his hair.

I love you

He couldn't be angry, but he still felt hopeless. Padme anchored him, she forced the darkness away-starved all of his demons and calmed the furnace that was his heart. But when she wasn't around or near...He felt like he was being swallowed in darkness. His furnace of a heart grew hotter, more turbulent, and he had no anchor-he was free falling without an end in sight.

He couldn't lose her, he couldn't.

He couldn't.

"She just wants me to love her." Anakin said, hoping he didn't sound awkward.

He couldn't exactly say he was in bed with Padme.

Cadus nodded. "Then that is what you must do, Anakin. You have a duty to her, a duty more important than the duty you have to the Jedi. Padme is counting on you, she's always thinking of you."

"But, love won't save-"

"Anakin..." Cadus's eyes locked with his, a fierce glint to them.

"Who's been giving you suggestions?"

"Palpatine."

The words had left his mouth without his will saying so, without him even being aware of it-he had just answered the question, because he trusted Cadus. Cadus was like a father figure for him-when he couldn't speak to Palptine he spoke to Cadus. He couldn't stop the words that followed, and it felt like hijacked his entire body-his entire conscious and was speaking and acting for him. "He said that there's things the Jedi can't teach me...But, there's teachings in the Archives-that only Masters have access to."

It got deathly silent after this-Anakin had a sinking feeling that Cadus would report this to the Council. As he had learned, the hard way-Obi Wan deferred to the Council, and that's where his loyalty belonged-who it belonged to. The Council. The Jedi are your family-Obi Wan had said, and he said that the Jedi aren't family, I wasn't raised in the Temple-I had a mother.

Amidst his dark swirl of thoughts, Cadus's gaze penetrated through all of it, bringing him back.

"The Dark Side..."

He nodded in confirmation.

"Accarrgm?" Cadus extended his arm forward with a bottle of the clear liquid.

"I don't know."

Cadus poured him a generous amount anyways, and with no hesitation downed his drink, grimacing at the end. "Drink or you're going to lose your mind."

Foolishly he tried to down the strong drink as easily as Cadus had and immediately regretted it. He coughed. He gagged. He swallowed some. And he swore he was about to vomit.

He did, but with the Force Cadus grabbed a hold of his vomit and sent it flying out the nearest window.

"Lightweight." Cadus had commented jokingly.

"I just can't handle the Wookiee brew, like ninety eight percent of the galaxy." He sunk deeper into the couch-it was going to eat him. He felt like he was on fire, sweat beaded his forehead, and even with the Force his gut was going to burst.

He drank the water Cadus offered him with little reprieve

Kriffing hell! No wonder the Wookiees are so fond of this drink.

"Listen, Anakin...If someone immerses themselves within the Dark Side, and continues down the path they can...Gain such abilities. But, the atrocities and heinous crimes they commit. The people-the innocence they slaughter just for their own gain. It leads you down a path that nobody else wants to follow-that they can't follow." Cadus chose his words carefully, because Anakin couldn't think he could brush the Dark Side and not be subdued by it.

"The Dark Side seduces whoever is using it, to use it means to serve it. You can't think you can control its power, its power control you, the more you thirst and lust the greater the power becomes, the greater the power becomes the more you become a slave to its will."

He could remember blinking at Cadus, confused.

"The Jedi train so that they become extensions of the Force-they let it flow through them. Sith, and users of the Dark Side take it with their bare hands, and channel it through their wills and passions. However, Jedi also train in such a way that long term effects of Force use don't deform their bodies. But, when one immerses themselves in the Dark Side they gain...Oddities. Their bodies begin to degenerate."

"Oddities? Degenerate."

"The most common trait is sulfur eyes. But, their personalities can change. They become twisted perversion of who they once were. They can gain a pallor-some immerse themselves so deep in the Dark Side that their physical bodies degenerate. The Jedi train in such a way that all of this is prevented, because the physical body can't exert Dark Side energy without impunity in one's lifetime."

"What should I do then?"

Cadus closed his eyes, opening them again after a few moments. "Love Padme. Put a bubble around you two-so that I, the Jedi, Obi Wan, Palpatine, the entire galaxy can't interfere between your union. Love her like she wants you to, like she knows you do. Do not go down a path she can't and won't follow. Just listen to her."

"A marriage is a union between man and woman. Nobody is to come between them, and the couple in the union don't allow others to come between them. It is a selfless love."

He had been a little confused. Cadus spoke from personal experience, the man had lots of experience. It only made sense that he was so knowledgeable in this area since he had first hand experience. Now that he thought about it, or maybe it was the Wookiee brew, Cadus and Shaak Ti always seemed very close. They were always seen together, and some Jedi hinted that there was something more going on between them.

The two had been close since they were children, after all.

"You speak from experience."

"You think I got in bed with Shaak Ti?" Cadus barked out a laugh.

He could remember shrugging, a laugh escaping his own lips. Yes, how off the wall did that sound?

"Well, I haven't done that with her..."

Anakin laughed, it was definitely the Wookiee brew. He was delirious at this moment, Cadus couldn't really be saying this.

"Qui Gon loved too, Anakin. He had a relationship."

"Obi Wan never told me that."

"I don't think it's something Obi Wan even knows to this day. He wasn't Qui Gon's first apprentice, after all. If he does know it's nothing but shame for him."

"So, who was it?"

"Qui Gon? Well, her name was Master Tahl-she the Chief Archivist before Nu took her post."

"And...You?"

Cadus shook his head, taking another sip of his brew, swishing it around in his glass. "I can almost promise you it wasn't Aaylas'ecura ."

"Almost?"

Cadus finally conceded. Like in saber combat, Anakin was relentless in getting this out of him. It was also amusing Anakin was half believing it-he was older than her Master Quinlan Vos, how or why would he do such a thing with her in the first place. "I was like fourteen, or close to it when Aalya was born, I'm older than her Master too, by a few years."

He had felt a little betrayed, Cadus was messing with him. "So, if it wasn't Shaak Ti or her who was it? Was she a Jedi?"

"A very wild and...Driven Jedi." Cadus chose his words carefully.

"What happened to her?"

Cadus had gone completely still when he asked. The memories must have been painful, as it reminded him of the way he'd get whenever someone spoke about his mother which had been Padme and Palpatine for the most part.

"Some things are better left alone..."

And, Cadus had to give him a ride home after this. The Wookiee brew effects began to set in, and he couldn't tell if there were a billion buildings, or if it all stemmed from one super huge building.

And, Padme had been waiting for him...She smiled as bright as the sun when she seen him, and she soothed his soul.

She anchored him.

She was his light.

Vader gripped the control yolk with monstrous strength-his mechanical hand whirring and crackling as his emotions surged through him, bolstering his strength, his flesh hand's knuckles cracking from the sheer force of his grip. How right had Cadus been back then, if only he had listened to the man. He should have never let Sidious plant seeds of doubt in him about Padme, and by the time he stopped caring about it...It was too late.

You are going down a path I can't follow. All I want is your love.

Padme's words...

With clenched teeth Vader propelled himself forward-the Force and engines roaring like the furnace within him that was in fact, his heart. Those had been Padme's words, and before she had ever said he heard them from Cadus. Cadus warned him, sternly, he told him to love Padme as she loves him...He didn't though, instead he was more concerned about getting the power to save her, because love couldn't and wouldn't save her. Cadus had been right.

But, now as he could sit and reflect it was all one giant mistake. He should have left all of this behind with Padme, on Mustafar, when she begged him to come with her-but instead in his own arrogance he had smirked and told her that there's no reason to run. He didn't leave, he didn't listen to her, and in that moment he thought she was so weak-so fragile and insignificant, but she just wanted to...

None of it truly mattered now. The Jedi wouldn't hear why he did it-Yoda wouldn't hear any of it. No one or anything ever felt a sliver of emotions like that for the wrinkled little troll, and he was certain that Yoda felt nothing like that. More importantly the Jedi-those weak and pathetic fools wouldn't listen to him just because Yoda would be having no part of him, and because he is a Sith-they merely want to kill him. His children were away from him, in the care of Bail, no doubt they'll grow up to oppose the Empire.

Cadus didn't want to hear a word he had to say, and quite frankly he didn't want to speak to the man at all. He could only feel anger with how right the man had been about everything, and he didn't listen to Cadus. More over he impaled Jo Casta Nu right before his eyes, and about forty other Jedi, and so there was no way to turn back from this. As Cadus said those who use the Dark Side ultimately serve it, and it twists them, and it did both to him. Because he couldn't ever go back, no matter how much he wanted to, he allowed himself to delve into the Darkness.

There was nothing he could do now except embrace the darkness. Take his sorrow and sadness, the pain of his loss, and turn that into strength. Turn that into power. Forge power from those smoldering emotions that burned like the sulfur in his eyes. There was nowhere else for him to go-his mother was long gone, his wife was gone, his children were safe out the clutches of Sidious, and so he had no one or anywhere to go in this world.

He was alone...

All alone...

Again.

His neck muscles were about to cramp, his teeth ground from his clenched jaw, and the black smoke within slowly began to form a white mist around him-blinding and overwhelming, instead of bellowing he let the feelings increase, drawing on them, feeding on them. Feeding on the heat that was rising in his face and blinding his vision.

Only now did he realize that he had nothing...The Empire, but that was a moot point, and he never cared about that. The only reason he went so far was to save Padme, but now she was dead...His children were far away from him. Artoo and C3PO were with the Jedi or Bail, and he couldn't help but feel a little thankful his creation and Artoo wouldn't be within the Empire.

The only thing he had left was hatred. Sorrow. Despair. Agony.

But, unlike Anakin who feared all of these things and allowed them to pound him into the ground. Vader embraced them, twisted and distilled them into pure, raw power-power to fuel him.

Vader cracked his neck, a low growl rumbling against the back of his throat. He knew Sidious had used him, and he never intended for Padme to survive, in fact the nightmares had been implanted by Sidious himself.

Vader had been a fool...

But, he'd run his saber through Sidious one day, just like he'd run it through Bol Chatak, and the rest of her little Jedi crew.

And, he knew he'd encounter Cadus.

Cadus was on his way to Murkhana as well.

He knew it.

He could feel it shaking his bones.

When he had accepted this mission he had been on Naboo-a planet in the Core. Usually it'd take a ship four to five days to make it to the Outer Rims, but he got here in just hours and that was for one simple reason. An apparition of the Zabrak Knight he had slain in the Temple hovered above him, eyes accusing but calm.

"You destroyed the Jedi, how dare you betray us."

"You've brought the Sith victory."

"Can you hear our screams?"

Vader didn't respond at first, focusing his mind on Cadus and when his descent in darkness had truly begun, but now that he already come to his conclusion he was faced with this shit again. He chose not to respond, as he'd only be giving leverage to this asinine thing in the first place. He was not seeing a ghost, a ghost was not talking to him, and he wasn't growing angrier by the second because of a ghost.

"Look at you now, Skywalker. A slave to the Dark Side. A slave to Sidious. A slave to your own desires. Your wife is dead and it's all through your own actions. Your lust for power."

"Your betrayal."

"You destroyed the Republic. You've become the very thing you've sworn to defeat."

"You're evil."

"The Jedi are evil!" Vader bellowed, eyes starting to burn ferociously.

"The Sith are evil."

"Shut up! You're not real!" Vader snarled, his hand gripped the yoke so hard his ship began to veer, and with a sharp tug, mostly from the rage boiling through his blood he put himself back on course. His mechanical hand crackled as he flipped a notch up, starting the landing process. He restrained himself from lashing out with the Dark Side power he had already drawn with in, but like a dam it was just on the verge of bursting. Only through his restraint and rational mind was he keeping it at bay.

"This is where you're going to die. Sidious can't control the entire GAR and Droid Army, Murkhana is in the Outer Rims. You barely have enough fuel to get out of the atmosphere of this planet once you land. You're stuck Vader. You're a slave to Sidious. This planet will be where you meet your end."

Vader snarled. "I killed you!"

"Like so many others. Like the countless others you will kill, for no reason. Just like the way you choked your wife."

"Shut up!" Vader erupted.

The yell must have been enough to satisfy some part of his mind, as the ghost vanished after he said those very words. He chalked it up to a lack of sleep that he was experiencing such things.

Many people viewed this as client world of the Trade Federation.

Well, what had once been the Trade Federation until he slew through the entire Council.

It served as the headquarters of the Corporate Alliance. The Corporate Alliance was basically no better than the Black Sun, or any other criminal underground organization, the only thing that separated them is that they were delegates and higher ups in the political field, and not lowlifes. The tallest building in Murkhana was the Argente Tower, a sprawling complex of administrative offices. It was just no coincidence that this tower was named after one of the Trade Federation's Council members. He remembered the way he ran right through the burly being.

Murkhana was also the source for the many Confederate's Shadowfeed.

...Used to distribute Separatist news and propaganda.

It was also the home planet of Passel Argente.

The Battle of Murkhana had been something of a sporadic conflict. The 32nd Air Combat Wing, led by Jedi Masters Roan Shryne and Bol Chatak, along with Chatak's Padawan Olee Starstone had been sent to destroy a deflector shield generator protecting a key landing platform. It was a rather huge landing platform, with something akin to four kilometer long pillars reaching out to it.

However, before they had all been dispatched himself, Obi Wan, Cadus, and Cadus's Padawan led a strike team of ARCs, Rex, Cody, and one of Cadus's Clone Commandos who went by the nickname of Skip-so the planet could be open to invasion. The entire operation took two long months, and about a month of that had been planning and improvising. There was a bastion on the planet, and with the Droid Army's numbers and the bastion's design there had been trillions of Droids and those Droideka raining hell fire down on them, literally.

When Order 66 was issued, it did not reach this planet straight away, and given the reports and numbers he was seeing it was safe to say the three Jedi escaped execution thanks to Ion Team, a unit of Clone Commandos led by Captain Climber, whom Shryne had befriended during the course of the war. They're feats were well known, as was their close friendship. This was exactly why he had been tasked with doing this-to ensure that there were not traitors in their midst. Because if there were he'd see to their demise, with his blade.

To squash these weak and pathetic Jedi-the very same Jedi that had feared his power, his growing power.

He took a moment to survey his surroundings, reaching out with the Force to poke and prod, feel and touch. He could sense the prisoners, the Clones, and even the Battle Droids though it was more the whir and noise of the internal circuitry than their actual life force as was the case with the Clones and prisoners. Murkhana looked like a mud ball from space, a dark brown at best, with little to no geographical structures. However, upon getting to the surface it was a vibrant world covered in vast oceans-the water so bright and scarlet, and the beaches black, sprawling and all encompassing with a few forests here and there.

It was quite a planet to behold. He never did really like the noise and lunacy of the Core Worlds. Having grown up in the Outer Rim-the Frontier, it was all just one giant blur of durasteel and noise when he first arrived on Coruscant. He could barely comprehend that he was riding in one of the infamous cruisers that were called curse on his home world. This planet was nothing like Coruscant, though it did have a capital city and a landing bay, it wasn't nearly as ridiculous as the Core.

It reminded him of Mustafar.

His ship arced down, cutting through the air with malevolent grace. There were only two places of interest here, really. The first being the landing pad, and the second being Murkhana City-or just the Capital. Both were connected by the landing port. He had punched in the proper coordinates before hand, and already initiated the landing sequence.

Upon getting closer to his destination he could make out greater details. The landing pad was actually a hexagonal shaped spaceport linked to Murkhana City itself by four ten-kilometer-long bridges. It had to be a class five if not greater, given the sheer magnitude and staff that was manning it.

The platform itself was supported by thick columns anchored in the wet sea bed, they were constructed in such a way the weight and was evenly distributed, but seeing the size and density of the columns-he concluded it wasn't much of a problem.

There had been a deflector shield generator that was housed in the lower levels of a medcenter, what had once been the medcenter, which protected the landing with overlapping particle shields-though like everything else it was destroyed.

He caught the sight of prisoners, and white, as well as brown and gray. It looked like the Clones and Droids were having another dispute, while the prisoners were all rounded up and awaiting to be transported. Without breaking his focus Vader sighed at scene before the hatch enclosing him within the ship snapped open with a loud whistle, releasing some steam.

It would be a problem if there was so much dissension within the Empire's ranks so soon. The Clones were supposed to be like Battle Droids, and obeying their orders, but these Clones weren't. These Clones weren't part of the new army Sidious had brought in during the closing weeks of the Clone Wars. Yes, there Clones were superior in every possible way, and retained their independence to some extent. They would be the most problematic.

Someone took note of his landing, as team Ion stood at the helm of everyone else ahead of him. He could spot Appo and Salvo next to them. He picked up his strides, moving with a purpose-he was here to battle Jedi and Cadus, really, killing those who defy the Empire within its own ranks was something like second on his mind. Seeing these Clones and Droids, these prisoners, and not a sight of the Jedi anywhere...It just made him angry.

He reached deeper into the force, calming himself. There were ripples, faint, but none of them were explosive. Every single being's aura and energy had a different feel to it. Obi Wan was always a serene calm, Yoda was nothing short of tranquility, Windu-to hell with him, Shaak Ti and Cadus were always harmonious being around them was a lot like being around Obi Wan. Now, when they were in combat it was different story.

The Jedi had to be present somewhere-they couldn't have gotten off of this planet. They were with the prisoners, that's what his instincts and the Force was telling him.

How unlike a Jedi to hide like a coward...Sniveling little rats, no different than the ones he killed in the Temple.

"Climber."

Vader took note of how the whole of Ion Team stood behind their leader.

The commander regarded him.

"The Jedi live."

"As do many."

Vader narrowed his eyes, turning to Salvo with barely concealed disdain.

"The Jedi escaped. Must have caught wind of us." Salvo supplied, though the way he and the rest of the Clones regarded Climber led Vader to believe his first assumptions had been correct.

"I know that, Salvo. I didn't come here to get a report of what I already know, I've come here to punish those who disobeyed the direct order. Kill the three Jedi."

"That will be my fault." Climber stepped up to Vader.

Climber helped the Jedi.

Salvo also wasn't giving up Climber.

"All of you should be put to death. Lord Sidious has no tolerance for such insubordination!"

Vader's voice shook the very ground where they all stood.

"We follow orders, but not questionable orders. We don't kill our own."

"You will find this need for independence to be detrimental."

Climber suppressed a laugh. "What will you do? Torture me?

"They live through your actions, you traitor." Vader glowered at Climber. "And you're no better protecting him, Salvo!""

Climber visibly stiffened. Vader could feel the frown pulling across the man's face.

He could feel the indignant rage fuming off of Salvo.

"We are not lapdogs of the Emperor like you." Climber all but snarled. "We served the Republic and the Chancellor, we fought alongside the Jedi. But, I see there's no Republic left to serve now!"

Vader waved his arm, halting Salvo and his men from taking action. "You served the Supreme Chancellor. You now serve Emperor. That's who you are loyal to!"

Climber wasn't going to back down from Vader. He had served the Republic first and foremost, fought alongside the Jedi, and last time he checked the Republic wasn't just centered around one person. "Sounds like you speak of an Empire. A dictatorship."

"That is exactly what it is. The Empire."

Climber traded looks with his unit, turned his focus onto Salvo and the other Clones, and finally looked at anything that wasn't Vader.

This kriffing asshole.

Brothers killing brothers. They-the Clones had no place, they were expendable, and worst of all they were going to start killing each other. Serving alongside Battle Droids. Serving alongside those shames of soldiers-those stupid ass Clones.

He wouldn't have a part in anything like this...He wasn't going to kill his fellow brothers.

He wasn't going to be a servant or lapdog.

"You can stick it up your ass." Climber all but bit out.

"Shall I kill the traitor?" Salvo asked, voice hard as stone.

And, Climber knew just where he stood now.

His brothers were all blind for now, but they'd find out the cold truth soon enough...

Just like he has.

Vader's arm was engulfed in blue flames, and a second later it swept up in a circle. One head flew, and another followed. Blaster fire echoed through his ears along with screams of the terrified prisoners, the Battle Droids turned their arms against the Clones, and the Clones did the same, but the hum of a saber attracted his attention instantly. It stuck out amongst the blaster fire, screams, explosions, and chaos-it was steady and thrumming, pulsing with the energy of the person wielding it.

He vaguely took note of the fact some Clones formed a wall around the prisoners, only to be shot down by Battle Droids.

So much dissension...

His body moved of its own accord. Years of training and battle honed his instincts and his connection to the Force. All of his struggles, all his trials, all his despair, all of his hate, everything he's ever experienced...Everything he's ever overcome. It all made him stronger, more powerful, and nobody could tell him what to do-not even Yoda. The Jedi had given up trying to tell him how to do things and pointed him to where it was happening.

Sidious thought he was going to be his personal dog and slave, but the man would come to find out he was dead wrong. He hadn't been a slave since the day he realized the power he held within him-the power to break the chains of slavery. He wasn't going to be a slave now, especially to a man he considered to be a father figure, who only used and manipulated him. Who preyed on his love for Padme, and took advantage of how gullible and desperate he had been to save her.

He may not be more powerful than Sidious, but he would be in due time. If he couldn't kill the wrinkled and deformed demon than his children would succeed where he failed. They wouldn't turn to the Dark Side and they would conquer their fears instead of letting their fears conquer them as he own fears had done. But, it didn't mean he was going to be idle-he would become the most feared and powerful person in the galaxy, entire worlds would tremble just hearing his name.

The Jedi would have fear in their hearts-just by the mere utterance of his name.

Vader.

He wouldn't rely on luck like he had when he was Anakin Skywalker. Back then he had been brass, headstrong, cocky and reckless. He recognized their mistakes for what they were-he lacked cunning and patience. He was took quick to rush into a situation or conflict without deducing everything of the situation or person he was facing, it had happened with Dooku, and to some extent it happened with Ventress back on Yavin 4. He wanted things right away, and had no reservations to even wait-it led to many confrontations with the Jedi, and got him into sticky situations where he escaped just by sheer luck.

The crackle of death jolted him out of his thoughts-the shadow of blue covering one side of his whole face, as he just reared back enough to miss being decapitated in one swift motion. Bol Chatak moved swiftly, never allowing him to get a read on her movements or even feel her with the Force-if he hadn't been focused prior he wouldn't be able to get the faint trace of her movements.

However, like all the Jedi he's faced she wouldn't stand a chance if he prolonged things. She couldn't stand against his hate and anger, the black smoke of his hatred that fumed into the blistering blue blade that exacted his hatred. Cin Drallig couldn't stand up to him, and many considered him the finest swordsmen only next to the likes of Windu, Cadus, Shaak Ti, Obi Wan, and Yoda. If Drallig couldn't cut him down there's no way in hell Chatak was going to cut him down-she lacked both the experience and finesse that made Drallig so deadly.

In that place was swiftness and a deft ability.

He blocked the next attack, not just ramming his blade forward, but lashing out with anger and hate. He kept his saber in a one hand grip, holding the opposing saber at bay. Blue hissed against blue, and he could feel the faltering of Chatak to his hatred. His anger. His eyes bored into his attacker, unhindered by the swarm just inches from his eyes, and he knew she was one of his targets. He knew without a doubt-those bony spikes coming from her skull, barely hidden by her dark hair, the female Zabrak.

In her eyes he seen fear, but it was quickly wiped away.

"Bol Chatak." He didn't get the chance to feed off of her fear in that moment, but he'd feed off of it very soon. "Nice of you to come out of hiding. I was wondering how long you were going to stay hidden."

"You disgust me, Anakin." The normally tolerant Jedi hissed venomously, shifting her footing to ready for an attack.

Vader smirked for a moment-she really wanted to kill him. He could lead her down a path to the Dark Side, but she was a Jedi Master and would resist his attempts. He'd need to leave that to Sidious, and he'd likely just kill her before doing anything else. And, he was tasked with killing her and two others, and he'd make sure all three of them were dead. He'd separate their heads from their bodies just to be sure.

"You were a slave as a boy, and now you're still a slave. A slave to Sidious. A slave to the Dark Side."

Vader regarded her poisonously, eyes flashing with hate. But, his focus was upward-the smoldering flame that was coming towards him like a meteorite-two of them, but one was much faster than the other. Another smirk pulled at his face, it seems he'd be able to unleash the full extent of his hate and anger after all. Bol Chatak wouldn't even be a warm up.

"I am not Anakin." His voice was nothing but a growl, devoured by the black smoke of his hate. "I am Vader, your personal executioner."

"I'm terrified."

"Oh, you will be. You're going to squeal and snivel just like the Jedi I killed in the Temple before I take your head! You will not be the first Jedi that I've killed."

"I'm taking you out of the picture!"

Chatak was grace and speed, a magnificent whirlwind that prodded and penetrated into her opponent's space. Her moves broad, rapid, circular-almost as if she had learned some elements of Jar'Kai, but stopped halfway in, and her lightsaber was an extension of her very being. It moved with the same grace and swiftness of its wielder.

Vader, by contrast, was powerful, oppressive and his strikes were coming from the sides in sweeping strokes and hacking slashes that came from up and down. He was nearly a full head taller than Chatak and incredibly powerful, physically. At various times he brought on some stances of Soresu and Ataru-swiveling Chatak's blue flame away or going back and forth like Ataru's trademark whirlwind, keeping her assault at bay.

With thunderous force he rammed his saber against Chatak's going back to his favored Djem So onslaught-the kinetic force was enough to make her stumble back two steps, and he pressed forward again taking a two hand grip. He let himself go in his hate and anger, bashing and crashing against Chatak. Whenever she shifted in for a broad slash he'd jump back, and resume his attack trying to break her down. Trying to beat her into submission.

He swung hard from his left, and with a whirling motion Chatak spun inside of his long reach to inflict a shallow wound to his forearm, but Vader didn't even react to the hit, and though his flesh was burning-cauterized, he sealed it with his hate.

"Vengeance and anger..." Vader cracked his neck, flexing both of his wrists. He couldn't help but feel amused with this woman, even though she struck his wrist. "Is not becoming of a Jedi."

Chatak could only clench her teeth. "How ironic hearing that come from your mouth, Anakin."

"I'm no Jedi...And, I've told you, I am Vader." He slammed his foot through the sand, forcing it to kick up in a storm. "Anakin Skywalker is dead!"

He leapt forward, opening up with a series of quick, aggressive attacks. He moved quickly, constantly pressing Chatak back and back, but she managed to skew and shove off his attacks with some effort.

In response to the inevitable counterattack that was sure to be swift as it was graceful, Vader let himself fall back into rapid retreat, knocking aside her swift strikes or avoiding them altogether. For a brief instant he saw Chatak overextend, leaving her right arm and left leg vulnerable to a strike that would have ended this fight right then and there-he could have maimed her.

Fighting his own urge to crush this little insect, Vader held back.

He wanted to enjoy this battle.

The battle continued in an unfamiliar rhythm, the changing of attack and defense. The mashing of hate and anger, of vengeance and satisfaction. Vader made sure his attacks were brutal, yet precise and calaculated, each blow trying to convince Chatak that he was a superior and she was inferior. Each time the other warded off the other's charges they brandished their flames and transitioned into defensive maneuvers.

With the surge of hate, and explosion of anger with each exchange Vader gently prodded the Force, testing and searching for a weakness he could exploit. It took only a few seconds until he recognized it. Despite her training, the Zabrak likely had no real experience in long, drawn-out battles. None of her opponents had ever lasted long enough because she was so swift and graceful, she's always end her fights within an instant.

Until now.

Her strikes became less swift, the counters less graceful, and the transitions not even half as explosive as they had been before as Chatak slowly, gradually, but surely began to wear down. The fog of exhaustion was slowly clouding her mind, the haze of anger was blinding her, and Vader knew it was just a matter of time before she miscalculated and made the wrong move. He didn't even feel the pressing caution in the back of his head to evade her attacks as he had before.

Even though he was battling Chatak, Vader's real battle was with himself. Time after time he had to press himself back to refrain from propelling through an opening presented by his enemy's increasingly desperate assault. He understood that the crushing victory he sought would only come through patience, that the crushing fear and despair he wants her to experience will not come through anything other than patience.

In the end his patience was rewarded.

Chatak was becoming more and more frustrated as she continually tried and failed to bring her powerful and agile for down. As the prolonged physical exertion began to take its toll, her swings slowly became wild and reckless, until she abandoned all pretense of defense, and in an effort to end the duel she sensed was slipping out of her grasp, she merely used only offense.

She wanted to see Vader's head role.

The instant Chatak's desperation formed a sliver of despair, and turned to hopelessness, everything in Vader screamed with the same black smoke of his hate to take the glaring opening and end the fight. However, he let the intoxicating inevitably of Chatak's defeat feed his rage and anger. He let it feed his bloodlust. His hunger grew just like his power with until it became a physical pain tearing away at his insides like his stomach growling for nourishment.

The Dark Side-his hate and anger filled him and he felt it on the verge of ripping him apart.

It would be splitting his skin and gushing out.

It begged for release.

It demanded release.

Hate and anger can't be contained-they can only be unleashed upon everyone, and in turn cause suffering.

Chatak would suffer, and he'd revel in her suffering.

He waited until the last second to unleash the hate and anger bottling up within him. He channeled it through his muscles and limbs, through his tendons and ligaments, it pulsed into his bones and threatened to tear him asunder until he moving so fast it seemed as if time had stopped completely and there was merely a void.

Chatak flourished, bringing her flame up in a broad arc.

In the blink of an eye he knocked the saber from her arm, his flame of hate came down like a burning sun, slicing down to bisect her elbow joint, it cleaved through instantly cauterizing the wound.

However, he didn't take a pause in his motion and spun through with his first attack, and brought boot down onto her lower leg. A loud crack thundered through the area until a loud pop sounded from that. Her bone splintered under the impact of his kick and she let out a pained cry of pain that quickly turned into a scream, as white pierced through muscle and skin.

Chatak screamed again, this time not bothering to hold herself back. Her eyes were misting over, her vocal cords burned, her voice cracked and faded, raising several octaves before dying out completely,and yet she couldn't release all of her pain. She didn't scream just because of the pain she was experiencing, though it was in large part due to the pain; it was because she was down not even on her knees in front of Vader, her saber arm amputated at the elbow. Her saber somewhere far from here.

Vader had simply beaten her into submission. Dominated her. Toyed with her. And now, she realized with growing horror...

She could never win this fight.

She was never going to win.

She couldn't even stand up to fight.

She was at Vader's mercy.

Olee...Shryne...

Why didn't either of you help me?

"That's right, Jedi..." Vader pointed his blade just centimeters from her face. He drank in her fear and anguish, her pain and suffering, and he let it fuel his flame deep within.

It was one of the things he was never fond of when he had been a Jedi...How they can just let their own be killed. How they let the Clone Troopers be overrun and decimated, Obi Wan had been notorious for doing such things, and he hated it. He remembered the battle above Coruscant.

You can't save everyone.

They have their mission and we have ours.

Jedi were evil, at least Sith were honest with each other. They want power, they fight for power, and they run each other through with blades. But, the Jedi...

They hide behind ideals for killing their own-for going to war against agents of the Dark Side.

He'd love to see Obi Wan's face now, just like it had been on Mustafar. Righteous anger and a tight jaw, eyes hard as stone, but clear as water. But, he quickly reminded himself that he'd send his head flying, and quickly brushed him out of his thoughts.

Obi Wan was weak, a little poster boy.

"This was amusing, Chatak. Where are your comrades now-will they wait for you to be one with the Force? Will they wait for me to separate your head from your shoulders, or will they take that moment to escape this planet when I do behead you?"

Chatak could only muster half a glare, though it lost its effect with the tears in her eyes.

"Anakin..." She seethed through clenched teeth, the tears running more rampant.

"You squeal just like the Jedi in the Temple, and now you're terrified of me." Vader allowed a smirk to pull on his face. "I've broken you, Bol Chatak."

He slowly lifted his blade up, eyes never leaving Chatak's as he got the perfect angle to behead her. He wouldn't even need to arc fully and put some strength behind his stroke to remove her head. "Perhaps I'll choke the life out of you. In any case I will savor your despair and suffering. Because, there's nothing you can do to stop me from doing as I please with you. You're weak."

Chatak could only scream as she watched the blade come right for her.

She closed her eyes, the tears continued to fall.

I don't want to die.

Vader felt the wind leave his lungs-his ribs nearly breaking and he let out one strangled, pained scream.

He slid back, bringing the Force around him and nursing the area of impact.

And, it happened before he could anticipate it-a huge detonation quaked the ground where he stood, kicking up sand, and by extension wiping out a slew of Clones and Droids. He had to jump back, several meters in order to avoid the shock wave and following impacts-even imbued with the Force he could be effected by such things.

"Vader!"

And, with little reprieve Vader was moving-two blurs surrounded him filled with hate and anger. He lashed out with his own hate, snarling, teeth gritting while he swung his blue flame in a one hand grip.

It wasn't hard to know who was attacking him.

Who had hit the exact spot from the sky above.

Isa'bella had the wit and skill to pull it off-she was a great pilot, even in his eyes when he had been a Jedi. She could pilot just about anything like himself, and she had led her own squadron in space battles.

The person who struck him in the chest and almost broke his ribs...

The whirlwind of hate and rage.

"Vader!"

He wasn't sure if it was Cadus or Serra who snarled first, but he knew in the span of a few seconds a thousand blows and parries had been exchanged between them. It all happened to fast to see or perceive, even to the trained eyes of Jedi-the trio would have been mere blimps of instances, more ethereal than matter. Any Clones and Droids that had been near or around the trio were eviscerated in the melee of brutal, violent, fast, and explosive attacks that bellied the rage, fury, and anger all three were feeling at this point in time.

A mere Clone, even a billion, couldn't withstand such hate and fury.

It was double for Droids.

He snapped his head to the side just in time to avoid the smothering rage from ripping through his mouth, and with a deft half turn he swept aside two concise arcs-one shooting for his head, while the other came a few degrees off-aiming for his lower ribs. His boots caught against the ground, and he powered himself to a stop before he could slide any further than three feet.

He hadn't even seen the two of them.

But he felt them.

"Cadus..." He looked at the man.

"Serra..." He glanced at her.

"I'm going to run my sabers through you, Vader!" Serra's teeth were clenched so hard they could have shattered to bits at any second.

Cadus's only response was a glower-the hate and rage flowing off of the man was like a storm. "Vader...I'm going to rip your head off with my bare hands if I have to and feed it to Sidious!"

Vader smirked for a second, a bit amused with the image.

Bol Chatak took this time to observe her comrades, her savior-Cadus-Roan Shyrne and Olee Starstone running to her side, finally, felling Clones and Droids along the way-Climber and three of his men flanked them, the other two falling to Vader's blue flame. There was some cruiser thousands of feet above them, its devastating turrets no longer being focused on the ground, but on the hordes of ships breaking through the planet's atmosphere. Dozen by dozen the cruiser began to shoot the hordes right out of the sky.

"What's going on, Salvo?"

"They came from that Light Cruiser! There's four battalions of our own engaging our forces in space, and two squadrons have been deployed and are killing our forces as we-"

Vader grunted, eyes flicking rapidly in the commander's direction.

He locked eyes with Shryne, noting that Salvo's head was rolling some feet away before it got kicked.

Appo was already gone, leading the Clones and Battle Droids into battle.

"Now you decided to come?" Shryne asked, sarcasm dripping off of his tone it didn't take one to use Force Sense to know he was being such.

Cadus nor Serra bothered to answer.

"Master!"

Cadus could hear-he could feel the fear and anguish in Olee's voice as she ran to Chatak's battered form, and it made him bristle. First internally, then externally, and it clouded his haze of rage and fury with hate.

He took one look at Chatak before turning away.

His sister in the Force. Broken. Crumbled. Battered.

And, Yoda wanted to rely on Bail...

Yoda wants things to continue on as they have.

No, not happening.

"Your ass is mine, Vader!" Cadus focused every ounce of rage and hate he was feeling at this moment onto Vader, and solely Vader.

I need to worry about Cadus and Serra, unlike those two they're intent is to slay me. I'll need to avoid their strikes, take out the other two. Vader looked from one of his foes to the next. They were all Jedi, but only Cadus and Serra were storms of hate and rage, and they were going to project that onto him. In turn he'd need to lash out with his own hate and anger-Olee was going to cut down in seconds, and he would make sure Bol Chatak's head rolled into the scarlet water. She couldn't do anything now anyways other than whimper and lick her wounds.

He couldn't afford distractions going up against Cadus, and now Serra was flanking him as well.

His head would roll if he wavered for a second.

"Come at me, Jedi!"

Cadus's arm was engulfed in a yellow flame. He hoped Olee and Shryne were more perceptive at this moment in time. Isa'bella is going to make a landing somewhere close, take Chatak and get out of here.

They seemed to have read his thoughts perfectly because Olee carefully carried the battered Zabrak and Shryne led the way to where Isa'bella would be picking them up. Their presence grew further away, but it was still strong.

Now he didn't need to hold back.

"Oh? Just the two of you?"

Serra flourished her sabers aggressively, switching them from hand to hand in a show of dexterity and grabbing them so they pointed some degrees off to the side, before taking an unconventional stance, and her whole being smoldered with power. Power was pulsing from her, hot and tangible.

"Talk tough all you want, little Sith. But, Cadus and I aren't like Chatak, Shryne, and Starstone. We hate you and want to see you head roll."

Cadus accelerated, seemingly teleporting to his left.

Vader was surprised by the speed-the man was renowned for his speed and might, but it looked like he moved ten times faster than usual, even when he was flying across battlefields.

Oh, yes, Vader thought. They really did want to see his head roll, and they really did hate him. He could tell in the way they were moving, the way they just closed him off from all sides. Cornering him like a predator corners it prey, and now they were stalking him. They were tapping into the Dark Side, if not just a hair close to falling to it.

Yes, he'd need to fight seriously against them...They weren't like the trio of Jedi that retreated.

They didn't fear the Dark Side.

Cadus compressed himself, one foot sliding back as the other slid forward, his saber clasped with a grip of hatred, and the yellow fork stabbed towards him with the same hatred in Cadus's eyes. The whole space around Cadus was vibrating with power for that matter. It was hard to say who was exuding more between himself and Serra-they were both storms, as he himself was a storm of hate and anger.

Vader watched the swirls of energy wisp around him-hate, rage, fury, he could feel it all. Cadus's aura was bright red, like a burning sun, and Serra's was a wild green that kicked itself off in waves that were as tremulous and they were potent. And, his own aura-pitch black and oppressive, mingled and rebelled against the red and the green, until it was just static noise.

His eyes flashed like acid.

---

In the center of the the Senate Hall, at the very bottom stood Tyranus, Ventress, and Grievous-all three bound by their wrists, necks, ankles, and even their torsos and arms. Ventress and Grievous, upon first arriving to Coruscant were taken alongside Tyranus to this very place, and when Ventress had pressed for answers through the Force she was surprised to find that Tyranus either blocked her prodding or was flat out ignoring her.

She was certain this was Tyranus-even if the suit and mask were covering every inch of him, she knew just by the feel of his being this was Tyranus. She looked at Grievous with a calculating eye, taking note that he like Tyranus was merely staring up at everyone including Sidious, not saying a word. She felt the need to get an answer, and so she began to flick her eyes back and forth-reading into the Force.

As if he felt her prodding, Tyranus craned his head in her direction. "Ventress, be patient and listen. Things are about to fall in place."

Seeing as he remained silent soon after, Ventress did as she was instructed. Part of her silence was due in part to how he sounded. It sounded like Dooku, but the voice was deeper and distorted because of the mask he wore. It was a strange, and spine shivering feeling just to look at him, but hearing his voice come out the way it did...He didn't even sound human.

"Is something the matter, Ventress?"

She shook her head, careful to keep her thoughts under lock and key. "No my lord, it's just that I fail to understand how this goes along with what had been..."

Tyranus shook his head. What he had planned, and what Sidious had planned were ultimately two different things."Sidious is your-our lord now. Things were never explained to you in depth, but you will see for yourself the full depth of the plan by the end of this trial."

Hearing this, Ventress silenced herself. Dooku had always been short with explanations on his part and never divulged more than an inkling of what his true intentions were, and the outcome her actions would have. She never did question him, of course, but now she seen that his own Master hadn't been giving him any greater details to the grand scheme of things either.

Sidious leaned upon his Podium-at the very top. His eyes gleamed yellow, covered by the darkness of his hood so that nobody present could see. How he was anticipating this moment, for so long, and finally it was here. Even if these three were still alive, even though he had wanted them dead, they'd be the forerunners of the expansion. They'd be invaluable pawns and tools. And, when the time came they would be disposed of.

"Order!"

The Senate quieted down.

"The Separatists have been utterly defeated-the Council has been slain. Nute Gunray is dead! The Droid Army has become one with the GAR. Some of you may find this to be disturbing, but rest assured there is a reason for this. Simply put, protection and peace. With such a massive army, nobody will ever try to incite war again! There will never be a rebellion, never an insurrection, never someone trying to usurp power!"

"These three that are on trial before all of us today are all victims of the Jedi and their ploys. In an attempt to take control of the government, the Jedi sent one of their own-Count Dooku to begin the Separatist movement in order to send the galaxy spiraling into war and take the reins of power for themselves. Grievous and Ventress, who followed him are as much to blame for this as the Jedi and Count Dooku themselves, and they should be executed for their crimes...

However because I am a just and fair Emperor I have deduced a proper punishment for all the crimes and atrocities these three have committed against not just the Republic, but the Empire, and the galaxy at large!"

The Senate roared in applause.

"The Jedi Rebellion was our final test, and we have trudged through the darkness! A new day has begun! It is a new day in the Empire! Never again will we be divided! Never again will sector turn against sector, planet turn against planet, sibling turn against sibling, star system turn against star system. Never again will this once unified galaxy fracture like it has and fill the void with strife and war, no those days are long behind us! We are one nation! United! Even as these three stand before us as vile monsters, they too will soon become a part of the Empire!"

The Senate roared once more.

"To ensure that we will always stand together, we have become an empire! We are the first Galactic Empire! No longer will there be so much division among us, no longer will the innocent have to suffer from self centered politicians only concerned about themselves. No longer will we see the likes of a vile being such a Nute Gunray ever again."

The Senate went wild.

"We are an Empire. We are an Empire that will never return to the political maneuvering and corruption that have wounded us so deeply in these last years, and in the long forgotten past. An Empire that will be directed by a single sovereign Emperor, chosen for life! No longer will foolish power struggles and corruption run rampant."

The Senate went crazy.

"We are an Empire ruled by a new Constitution! An Empire of law and order, not of depraved politicians squabbling in a bid for power! Not of chaos like war and strife! An Empire devoted to the preservation of a just society. Of a safe and secure society! We are an Empire that will stand ten thousand years!"

The roar of the Senate took on a constant boom like they were in the center of a thunderstorm.

Sidious smirked for a second, feeding off of the oppressive cheering-the electric of this moment was tangible like the lava on Mustafar. Hot and swelling, he was almost going to start sweating. Now, he would explain the plan for expansion and adventure, for campaigns and eternal growth. "That is why now we will be setting our eyes beyond the known galaxy, beyond the Outer Rims. We will expand! We will bring law and order to the lawless Outer Rims, the so called frontier! We will take it, and move on, and forward! We will surge through everything! Expansion! Safety! Security! Justice and peace!"

The Senate went crazy

"Say it with me! Expansion! Safety! Security! Justice! Peace! Expansion! Safety! Security! Justice! Peace!"

"Outside of the known galaxy!"

The Senate chanted the mantra, louder and louder until the walls began to shake from their volume.

"Order!" Sidious's voice was like thunder as it boomed through the massive hall-bouncing off every single wall and pod. Piercing through every sentient being like the crimson blade of his saber.

"Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress, and General Grievous will all suffer the same punishment. They will need to work off their crimes committed during the war, and will take posts with the Imperial Army in order to lead the Expansion Campaigns. They will oversee the Imperial Army and lead us to peace and prosperity, their actions will be selfless instead of selfish. Count Dooku will be exiled to the planet of Raxus as part of his punishment upon my word, when I feel that the time is most appropriate, he will work off his crimes until then."

The senate roared again, but this time the noise level was literally deafening.

"Prepare the ships just like we planned. We're going to need legions." Sidious said, staring at a holo-image of a Clone Commander. "Things must proceed swiftly."

"It will be done, my lord.."

Now all he had to do was pay that man a visit and punish the Clones that had Jango Fett's DNA-well at least all those who disobeyed from Order 66 from that template, and let all those present know that insubordination wouldn't be tolerated and it was nothing short of treason.

"Is this what you meant?" Ventress asked as she, Tyranus, and Grievous were escorted by several ARCs.

"You will see in time." Was his only answer, and that's the only way he could explain it. Seeing Sidious beyond the known galaxy, just miles from untamed and undiscovered worlds...It made his heart race in such a way that it was unfamiliar to him.

Ventress, like himself, would be amazed by what she seen. More importantly she'd be amazed with the sheer possibilities that lie ahead in the infinite, cold void of space.

The planets and star systems-just within their reach, but so far away.

It was for this reason he blocked out the duo beside him. Ventress and Grievous had always bantered back and forth, and it never got to the point of open hostility, because then he would have to step in. It wasn't to say that these two were always on the same page, as often times they were on two different wavelengths completely, and this led him to splitting them up allowing them to surge ahead.

Together they tended to hold the other back. It would be an easy fix if Ventress wasn't as transfixed on battle strategies like Grievous was when he was about to enter battle. The abomination loved war and battle, and that meant he loved everything to do with it-including strategizing. It became a problem when Grievous wanted to charge head on, while Ventress wanted to be more deceptive.

She'd take a cruiser of some sort and do a concentrated attack, while Grievous would bring an entire fleet and start his usual decimation. Both did excellent alone, and they should have done excellent working together, but at their core they were just two different people. Fundamentally, they were different. Ventress was Force-sensitive to start with and Grievous hadn't been and still isn't.

It didn't make him any less-he was famous for slaying Jedi after all, but Ventress could feel the undercurrents in the Force and allowed that to influence her decisions and studied those undercurrents to plan ahead, rather than for the present like Grievous did most of the time.

There were more reasons of course, but these are the only ones that he could recall with great clarity. They'd never try to kill each other, as long as he was alive to see to it they didn't, or so long as there was someone stronger than two of them and could constantly pull their reins to keep them in check. If they killed each other that'd leave him with nothing, and his potential to slew Sidious would have grown dim.

But, now it was burning bright.

"You going to stay all quiet, too? Grievous?" Ventress asked, allowing a shadow of a smirk to cross her face.

"I'm following my orders, something you should be doing...Ventress." His yellow reptilian eyes flicked onto her with nothing short of murderous intent.

Ventress merely shrugged in response and decided to stay quiet.

She'd see whatever it was that was keeping her former Master silent like this.

---

Darkness surrounded the ship, and within the shadows there was only a pair of glowing white eyes. Secluded by pitch black, they were the only thing noticeable within the black storm that consumed everything. The darkness felt Sidious's fear, and it fed on that fear. A body slowly took shape, still secluded in black, but it glided forward-almost like a ghost, totally silent, and its as if he didn't have legs.

His Masters were pleased with the progress made, though it was a little slow. This should have happened during the Clone Wars in all honesty, not now, but Sidious had been wary and afraid that all of his careful planning would have been spoiled by the Jedi. If it happened during the Clone Wars the planets-which have been in isolation for over thirty thousand odd years, they would have been shaken they will soon be, and forced into the conflict. Fight for democracy or try to destroy it, but now things had changed and the turbulence that would follow, if things were to go in this order, didn't.

But, it would.

Sidious wanted to be in control and he wanted things to go according to his script, it was one of the many...Many things that made him want to crush the man without even batting an eye-crush him like the insect he was, in the grand scheme of things. If things didn't go the way Sidious wanted he'd erupt-like he had a few times now, and before, when he had been paying the Chancellor at that time nightly visits. He insisted that Anakin was the key-the key to everything that they wanted, but he didn't believe in prophecies, and Anakin wasn't reliable at all.

Too emotional. Too prone to anger. Even before he turned to the Dark Side he had been an emotional basket case. How un-Jedi Anakin had been. Falling in love. Getting married. Wearing his emotions and heart on his sleeve. He lacked the Jedi reservation-the ability to let things go and be serene, to not attach onto anger, happiness, or any other emotion. It was almost amusing when Sidious had appointed the pup on the Jedi High Council-all part of his plans.

Play to Anakin's pride.

It worked well into his favor, regardless. It was just a matter of hours, if not minutes before he reached his destination-a system of six planets, all orbiting around the massive sun that gave them warmth, and once that happened things would start to advance swiftly. So swiftly he could already see Sidious's tight jaw, teeth clenched, words just escaping in a wicked hiss. This system was going to jump start this entire operation, and from this point they'd branch out, in all directions from this very point.

Sidious had been sloppy in his dealings with the Jedi, and while he did ensure that some of them survived to Sidious's ire, some of them really did escape on their own, and it proved the incompetence of Sidious and his grand plans that always fell short.

After all, Clones doing the work of Sith...

It was laughable.

Now here he was advancing things on his own, because Sidious had to spend his time back tracking. It was perfect though, because now Sidious couldn't meddle and be the wary pest that he truly was, nor could he try to keep things within his own grasp. He was lying when he told Sidious this would be the first planet, it was a jump start as he said, and from this one they'd branch into more. Sidious would soon have his hands full, more than he ever believed so-the man would realize his vision, but at a severe cost.

He would be hard pressed to sterilize or bombard some of these planets-because the people, beings, and species that inhabit them are the furthest thing from friendly. Though, it was foolish on his part to think Sidious wouldn't do this anyways-as he would to prove his point and bring the people on these planets under his rule without question. But, some would prove to be problematic, definitely.

A surge of delight and the rumble of nearby thrusters around him made him turn his focus outwards, the black shifted into light, and slowly everything came into being as he stood at the very top of a command room, eyes boring into the thousands of Battle Droids and Troopers milling about under and around him, manning the controls, keeping everything going accordingly within this massive Star Destroyer.

It miles well have been a space station, with a crew of over three hundred thousand easily, he had a fully man legion in addition to a mode of transportation. Unlike the wedge shaped one famous in what had been the Republic, and even the ones that were in a league such as the Dreadnaughts of the CIS, this one was even bigger and equipped with every single known weapon in both armies it was nothing short of carnage. Star Destroyers wouldn't stand a chance and nor would the Dreadnaughts, they'd be destroyed.

The fire of the explosion would trail in the void of space, stretching out-not bound by gravity.

Carnage.

A fitting name for his ship.

Carnage.

And, with it being approximately five thousand meters-it was one of the biggest, if not biggest ship in all of the galaxy, and in this very fleet. Though, the thousands of Star Destroyers and other monstrosities were nothing to scoff at-his personal ship was just that more massive. His fleet was equally massive, as there wasn't a single Starfighter or other small Starship bolstering its engines.

This was nothing short of an invasion force for twenty stay systems."

"We are nearing our destination. There are three planets that come before the one we're looking for. There are five in total, and they seemed to be in orbit around the sun."

"Come out of hyperspace."

"Yes, sir."

The unmistakable, but familiar jolting of the ship coming out of hyperspace didn't faze him the slightest. He merely focused ahead. Not on the myriad of stars around them, some light years away, his only focus was on the rather small planetoid three thousand or so kilometers away. The first of the six, with five more spheres hovering around it, the moons of this planetoid, he assumed.

Growing closer, the small dot turned into something massive, but not the most massive he'd ever seen. Dozens, if not hundreds of planets were bigger than this one, even its surrounding moons were rather dwarf-like, and one moon was even bigger than the planetoid itself. Gray, brown, and white were the only distinguishable features that could be seen-considering it was so far from the sun, it was likely ice or something of the like, but to be certain he'd send out a squadron of Droids and Troopers to inspect the surface.

With a small wave of his hand he ordered ten squadrons to be sent out.

Navigating through was a bit challenging, while his ship could pulverize even an asteroid-some of the obstructions, mostly stray asteroids and other things of the like required firepower to be taken care of. And, one after the next, the solid space rocks exploded in confounding flares-stretching through space, only be to wisped away by his ship and the others flanking him.

It didn't take long for the Droid Squadron to make a landing on their designated points.

Of course the other planets leading to the destination, were all massive, different sizes of course three were gas giants, two of which had rings-one vertically and the other much like Geonosis in an outward-horizontal disc, with the last one being the most massive and a stark red. But, they all looked to be the same in the end to him because while they had atmospheres, they couldn't support life the slightest.

However, a beautiful blue planet came into his frontal view-saying beautiful wouldn't give the massive sphere any justice. If one looked at it from afar it looked like a sparkling gem, the jewel of cosmos, only to be beheld and never touched. There were no rings, and white patches formed and dissipated around its circumference, and the sun-much closer now shined brightly on this planet.

"Looks like things will finally begin, as they should have before the Clone Wars." He muttered to himself.

The planet was pleasing to his eye. Of course the people that lived on it were by all means rather primitive-while he knew that some of these unknown planets could make something like rockets, they didn't have the capability of hyperspace or anything of the like. It only made sense since they were after all, outside of the known galaxy, and couldn't possibly have any knowledge of such things. However, it didn't mean that some of these planets had populations that weren't capable of space travel.

There were quite many of them, and that had been the purpose of the Clone Wars. To expand beyond the known galaxy, and with all of the battles already going on chaos would ensure as what little order was left would be corkscrewed and twisted and bent. But, Sidious being the wary and conniving man that he is wanted to delay this, and took great strides in seeing that it was delayed much to his anger. If Tattooine could have been pulled into the Clone Wars-if the Unknown Regions and Wild Space had been a battleground...

The Republic would have fallen apart, and not even Sidious himself would be able to secure it-not unless of course he becomes a dictator. But, at that point in time he was still playing the part of a kindly, yet overly fervent Chacellor of the Republic.

It was too late to consider then and now. Unfortunately the Clone Wars were over with, the closing stages were already all but sealed. The GAR has been amassed with the Droid Army, the two militaries forming the 'Imperial Army'. Part of the whole thing with this expansion was converting Battle Droids and the like to a hivemind, while there'd be a few Battle Droids that are actually intelligent. They'd be designed in a way similar to Grievous-they'd be organic, but covered by machinery only enhancing them.

This idea made Sidious wary because if they were all of a hivemind-if one decided it had enough of Sidious-tens of quintillions of Battle Droids of all types were going to lock their blasters on him.

Shuffling the humorous thoughts away, the hooded being let out a low breath. This wouldn't be like what was supposed to happen with the Clone Wars, not at all, it'd be more turbulent and more destructive than it could have ever been during the Clone Wars-because nobody liked having to take orders from a dictator, especially one with the appearance and attitude of Sidious.

There would be rebellions, but for all of that there would also be planets that quickly join the Empire.

"What a wondrous planet." He mused, a smile crossing through the shadows.

The climate of the blue gem itself was very temperate with snow in some areas, rain in others, spotted deserts here and there, rainforests, jungles, and several islands spaced apart from the large landmasses. One wouldn't need to wear Environment suit in order to roam on this planet, but he didn't require such things in the first place, and unlike a lot of beings and species-he could survive in the cold vacuum of space.

The engines kicked up four notches, roaring, bellowing, until they sounded off one last time. He wanted to hover, or orbit, rather than fly, and in order to do that his ship needed to get some speed to help the process along. With expert maneuvering it was angled down, the pointed nose of his ship slicing through space as it moved, with another jerk the monstrosity shifted upwards vibrating against the planet's gravity as it fought against its well, and finally it came to an almost clear halt-simply hovering in the void.

The total amount of ships...Which were by no means small that were in this fleet-simply put it'd be enough to bring down several star systems. It was one thing to have these ships filled to the hull with Clones, but when you added Battle Droids, quintillions of them, it was a full fledged invasion and seize force. Very few things would be able to stand against the foot soldiers, that didn't include the weapons on the Star Destroyers themselves and the Starfighters and other things along those lines.

Sidious would be getting a quick call soon. Because, he already knew some of these planets were in the midst of war. Some were at war with planets near them, and the humans had managed to obtain means of space travel, but nothing like the Ion engines or hyper drive. Still, it was impressive, and it'd lead to all out war or total submission when these people seen the sheer enormity of what was coming for them.

It's only a shame that they didn't have a Sith Army, like what he had anticipated to happen during the Clone Wars, but that'd take a little time...

For now he was satisfied, it'd be a matter of minutes, hours, or days before one of the Clone or Droid Commanders contacted him and informed him of their progress and the planets and things of the like that they've found. Once that happened things would fall into motion with Sidious taking care of things on his end-ensuring that Ventress, Grievous, and Tyranus are all pardoned for their crimes or have to work off those said crimes.

They'd be named commanders or something of the sort-Tyranus would likely hold a high position while Grievous will assume a role of military leadership. Ventress would take up military leadership and in time, teach people and beings in the ways of the Dark Side. Thus they'd be heading these campaigns very soon.

Vader was well within the palm of Sidious's hand, and the young man knew it now. His only chance of returning to the light-Padme, was gone, taken away by his own hand. She lost the will to love, and her heart was broken due to his actions. His guilt and sorrow, he'd turn it all into anger, and turn that into hatred, and he would suffer for as long as he lived, and in turn he'd make others suffer. All the while he'd draw strength from it.

They'd also be at the helm against the Jedi. So long as the Jedi remained in the picture he could manipulate things and Sidious. Sidious's hatred for the Jedi was well within his own bounds to use, the more he went to war the more influence he'd have eventually.

"I have five reports." A Magnaguard said, standing before him with the usual blank expression.

The hooded man nodded, slowly.

This was the closest thing he was going to get to a superior Droid at the moment-until he made Sidious bleed the Empire's funds dry on what he wants-like this ship. He could remember just how vexed and irate Sidious had been-seeing over two trillion credits gone right before his eyes. It really wasn't that much money considering the royal family of Naboo had at least double that, and then there had been Nute Gunray and all of his cronies who at least ten times that.

It was laughable Sidious had gotten so irate.

Most would have shivered in fear, but he found Sidious's instability rather amusing. It was almost as funny as the time he'd nearly sent Anakin to his death down a ravine-that had been the same day this ship had been finished and he almost snapped Sidious's neck.

He smirked, recalling it perfectly.

He shifted his gaze, and found the reflection of Sidious in the transparisteel of the window. The man stood clenching his teeth in the center of the room.

He regarded the tall, wrinkled, and lanky man. "Sidious...Why are you still here?"

Sidious's reflection turned to something like acid. "I am disturbed by this new move. You told said that the Outer Rim is the most important part. That is why I've pressed for the Outer Rim Seiges. Why is the war reaching into the Mid-Rim and Core Worlds? Why in Wild Space, of all places?"

He sighed, a low rumbling growl.

He had no time to answer this fool's questions or give a long, drawn out explanation that would satisfy him. He was going to be speaking to his Masters soon. He could not do such with Sidious being present in the room, and he couldn't follow through on his inclination to punch him so hard he'd split his stupid wrinkled skull.

He knew in time his Masters would give him the opportunity to smash his fist through Sidious's entire body. The priggish, self important little wretched...

For now, a sense of a rapport had to be maintained.

"Lehon," He said slowly, voice weary seemingly from explaining this more than a million times, "is planet strong in the force, particularly the Dark Side. It was intended to be the center of operations. The defenses on Coruscant are complete. And, more prototype Battle Droids are being made. Now that they are, Lehon will be the most secure planet in the galaxy. We can proceed ahead, and expand this war."

"It's too risky..."

"This ship will also be able to decimate the entire Republic and CIS Navy on its own."

"It damn well should. The construction of your personal ship nearly bankrupted the Republic, CIS, Techno Union, and Trade Federation!"

"Don't be glib with me about money, Sidious. I have no interest in it and you being a Sith Lord should have no interest in it either! Who are you!? Qordis? we both know that's not your money -"

"It is my money! You had better kriffing care! It's my money that finances this entire war! It's my money that pays for those new guns you wanted the Droids and Clones to have, and for those insanely expensive MagnaGuards that Grievous has, not to mention the three prototypes that will succeed them! It's my money that funds the GAR and the new army of clones, it's my money that funds the Droid Army. It's my money that funds the Droid Factories on Geonosis. It's my money! I've already told you I will not move ahead in that respect until Mace Windu is out of the picture."

"What?"

"You he-"

He moved so swiftly that he seemed to appear in front of Sidious like a flash. With a crushing grip he twisted his fingers into Sidious's throat, pulling his hood over his eyes,, partially blinding him. "Tell me, what good is all of that money? What good are those armies...What good is that little insect Anakin..." he growled, flexing his hand, power surging through his joints until they bulged.

"When I can snap your neck right now, you wretched little shit...You are not in control here. That's not your money, it's everyone else's. It is because of me that you've made this far, do not forget your place Sidious."

Sidious hissed before growling, trying to pull away, but it only caused the chair to snap in half. He gripped the beefy arm, fingers clenching against a forearm.

"I have concerns."

"Forget the Jedi. Your wariness and hatred for them is starting to hinder things and make me angry. They do not enter into this equation at the moment. We should already be in the advanced stages."

"They've been a part of it for thousands of years-they're the center of it! They're the whole reason this war-"

"Their destruction is not the sole reason for this war, Sidious! This goes beyond Jedi and Sith! My ship is secure. It can stand against ten thousand Jedi. Ten star systems, twenty, fifty even. The Outer Rims should be like the Core by now!"

"Do you hear yourself? The Outer Rims like the Core!? Are you mad? Fifty star systems!?"

"What I am," He said, tone barely even, "is angry, you need to remember your place...Sidious. How dare you question me."

"I am the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic! You cannot give me orders!"

"Would you care to say that again? Or would you prefer I rip out your vocal cords with my bare hands and break you in half?" He clenched tighter, enough that he could see the flash of acidic hate in Sidious's eyes and a small blue hue to his complexion. "Your fear is holding things back, and I can't have that happening. That's what the Clone Wars is designed for-it is not for the destruction of the Jedi, this goes beyond your dogmatic enmity with the Jedi..."

"You say this, but I doubt you'd be ready to deal with the consequences! I didn't forget about you trying to kill Vader, twice!"

"Be thankful, Sidious," The hooded being said, slowly loosening his crushing grip, but not before banging Sidious's head against the nearby wall. The old man dropped like a stack of bricks.

"That you have not found yourself within the radius of my damage control, because nothing or anyone survives. Vader should be thankful you intervened like you did that one time, and Cadus and Obi Wan did that other time."

In the end Sidious agreed to everything except for the campaigns of single minded conquest beyond the frontier. It wouldn't do any good to force the issue further as Sidious wasn't going to agree, and he'd only find anger in the man's refusal and wish to crush him even more than he does now; so he'd let things play out while making sure things move rapidly from this point on.

Sidious and his wariness weren't going to hinder anything.

"Give me the reports."

"The first is where we are. The first planet we came across have five moons in total. The second, which is one of the three gas giants in this system, and also has a vertical ring, has twenty seven moons in total. The second, which has a horizontal ring has sixty two moons. The last, an largest of these gas giants has eighty two moons. The one we are hovering over right now only has one moon. The gas giants aren't suitable for life, and no life has been found on any of them. You'd need an Environment suit to move around, and all of these gas giants have powerful winds or storms.

The second is a report from a Clone Commander ten parsecs away from our current location. There are four planets in total-two are gas giants. Two are terrestrial. One gas giant has forty six moons, while the other has seventy five-neither have rings. The most beneficial planet is covered in oceans like this one, with eight landmasses, while the other one is mostly covered by land, but appears to have been terraformed at some point in time. Two moons orbit each of these planets as well. One planet has a means of space travel.

The third is a report from a Droid Commander, that is only five parsecs away. There are five planets in the system. Three are gas giants, with only one terrestrial planet. The gas giants have thirty six moons, each. The terrestrial planets in predominately ocean based, with land masses similar to this one.

The fourth and fifth reports come from Droid Commanders. They are both twenty parsecs away-fifteen parsecs away from each other respectively. Both systems they entered have eight planets. Four are gas giants, two are terrestrial, and one in the fourth's report is aquatic.

The gas giants of both systems have ninety eight moons, each. It also appears that both of these...Locations have advanced technology, though it seems they don't have the hyper drives or Ion engines that we do. The technology is still fairly advanced. In the fifth's report there is a planet that is capable of space travel, and there appears to be...Discs of some sort generating power in space, there's multiple levels of them."

He nodded, letting the words sink in. He had deduced all of this. There would be some planets who's inhabitants were capable of space travel. They wouldn't have Starships or Star Destroyers, of course, running on a different kind of technology than the galaxy at large, but the point still remained. Now, he had to wait in order to ensnare all of these planets in one swoop, because Sidious is too busy playing the politician than thinking like a Sith Lord.

If this had happened during the Clone Wars, like it should have...Things would be nearing the advanced stages. The known galaxy would have tripled, easily. The Outer Rim would be like the Core Worlds.

Sidious delayed things by so much...

He clenched his fist.

"I'm getting three more reports."

"Sir!"

"All reports that come in send them to the database. Any planets that are capable of space travel, or anything of the like are to be left alone. This doesn't include planets that have advanced technology. Maintain your positions. Send Reconnaissance Droids to scout the planets and gas giants, also send them to all the moons as well-we need to get everything marked."

"Yes."

However, he let go of his anger for Sidious and his actions, focusing on his objective. Sidious would just need to work twice as hard-the reformation of Republic into Empire was still happening, and Sidious would of course focus on that, but he had other plans for the conniving snake. Sidious would be focusing on these campaigns, as he had other things to do other than direct traffic. He will have created a surge with this-a surge so powerful that everything and everyone was going to be swept up.

"I'm getting three urgent reports. The first is from a Droid Commander thirty five parsecs away, and the second is from a Clone fleet eighteen parsecs away. The First report is the fleet has found a planet with two suns orbiting it, the moon is farther from the planet than the two suns. There's no other planets near. It's peculiar, considering that with all of the reports there are anywhere between twelve and five planets. The inhabitants seem to be strong. The planet's gravity is ten times that of the standard gravity-according to these readings.

The third is a report from a Droid Commander, fifty parsecs away. There are four planets in total, three being gas giants, and two being terrestrial. There seems to be a lot of energy radiating off of one in particular..."

He grunted, glaring at the Magnaguard.

"Bring up the second on the view screen."

"And, the third?"

"Surround it and await further orders."

Within the command bridge, a huge screen slid down-not at all like a hologram, but completely tangible and solid. It was a little, primitive for his taste, but such things like this were better to show planets and the like, as it showed much more detail. Holograms and things of that like were all colored a light blue, and even the planets had this color as well. While there were transports being sent out to assimilate data of these planets, he wasn't going to be the one to make that call. Sidious will be the one to make that call.

The planet was a red gem, orbited by two suns, the moon was a great distance away-and judging from the distance the moon would only come within the planet's radius of orbit about every eight years, maybe more, maybe less. Amidst the fog of red was a haze of yellow, spotting and swirling around the circumference in some sort of embrace. He deduced that the yellow had to be deserts or something of that nature, and since the planet was predominantly red he had a feeling that the sky was red as well.

What a barren planet, it reminded him of Tattooine, but their colors completely differed. This planet was better off wiped out, completely, along with the people on it who had to be savages or something of the like. There's no way any form of technology was on the planet, if the deserts were so vast that even he could see them from the far reaches of space, than the planet was truly a desert.

A blemish and nothing more. It was nothing like the beautiful jewel just under his ship at this very moment. It lacked the landmasses that this jewel did, the vast oceans, and the perfect atmosphere as there were an abundance of clouds. However, he could admire the barren planet for its worth from afar, it was quite a glaring beauty. If someone ever managed to get out this far, they'd spot the planet without any effort.

"What's so noteworthy about this second report?"

"There's giant humanoids, some close to ninety feet. Some are twice as big, even four time as big."

The hooded being only shook his head in annoyance, flicking the holocron on within his hand and watching the video feed being sent from the small, but acute Droids.

The feed played without any interference and what he seen shocked him, just slightly. Giants. There were giants on this planet, and like this jewel the planet had an ocean, and one landmass. The feed showed giants lumbering about-at times they ventured near an area of civilization, but they always turned away for some reason or another. He could see the place, and the Droids hovered hundreds of thousands of feet above all of them. There were three walls so to speak, each stretching out more and more the further they went out.

The giants varied in size and appearance, but they all had the same characteristics. Bulbous eyes, and stupid faces-they looked to be out of it completely, but he could expect nothing less from such abominations. They were seriously lacking in intelligence. He noticed some had beards, some had blonde hair, others had brown, and others had black, some giants's eyes were bigger than others, and lastly but not least he could sense something coming from them...

Hunger.

For blood.

Murderous intent.

This planet was ripe with fear...So many people being terrorized or about to be terrorized by these abominations...Sidious, the Jedi, and all their affiliates would swarm to this planet eventually, pulling the people in one direction or the other-they'll be worshiped as gods and saviors with their technology and Force prowess. It was all too easy, but it didn't take much to pull on strings.

However-within an instant he projected his immense power-eyes glowing in the darkness that sequestered his features. The giants had turned to attack the only place civilization was located. It wasn't hard to destroy them-he didn't even leave any trace of their remains behind, pulverizing them until they were dust. He didn't stop slaying them, even as the ground became soaked in their blood.

They had no organs-digestion or otherwise.

So, these giants just hunt for the sheer thrill of it. The terror and fear of their victims.

Bloodthirsty.

He let his power surge once more, and this time blood sprayed everything.

He was slightly amused.

Sidious would be delighted with this.

Fear is ripe on this world-the Dark Side festers and grows, and everyone taps into it unknowingly.

The first recruits for the Sith Army...

Speaking of which...

"What is it?" Sidious's tone was calm and cordial, but the flash in his acidic eyes said anything but. "I have finished, so we can move things along.

"There's been a change of plans Sidious. Three planets are the jumpstart, I've found the perfect one for the first recruits of the Sith Army. In addition to this, there are about three dozen more that have been discovered, maybe more, so I need you to handle things on your end with Tyranus, Ventress, and Grievous. They need to be out here to lead these campaigns."

"I've gotten the reports-you are downplaying this...Horribly so." The holo-image of Sidious hissed. "However, I will advance things quickly. The Clones and Droids have returned with Ventress and Grievous. They along with Tyranus have all received their punishment. I've anticipated this development on your end and have planned accordingly."

"And, what of Vader?"

"He will be engaged."

"Yes, we should see how his prowess of the Dark Side develops."

Sidious glared.

The hooded man was silent for a moment. "And, Cadus?"

Sidious bared his teeth-fiery rings consuming sulfur. "He will turn to the Dark Side, soon enough. He will be coming after Tyranus, and in doing so he will be coming after me."

"You sound afraid, Sidious."

"He will lead a splinter group of Jedi, and break away from the ignorant Jedi Order. But, he will be no ally of mine or the Empire. He will not be a Sith. Of all the Jedi, he's always been the most dangerous, just like his Master. He knew that I was on Coruscant and pulling the strings-he didn't believe Sidious was a part of Palpatine's inner circle like the rest of the Jedi including that toad Yoda."

"Is this all because your Master turned his focus onto him?"

"That has nothing do with it."

A low rumbling chuckle escaped him. "Nothing is certain Sidious. Just as you Sith believe you bend the Force to your will and the Jedi believe they bend to the Force's will, it's all folly. However, your prudence at this moment is...Intriguing me."

Sidious's response was to only narrow his eyes.

"Make haste to my ship-only you, Sidious. There's no time to waste and I want one thousand legions of Battle Droids, and one hundred legions of Clone Troopers in route with you on your departure. We will overwhelm all of the planets capable of space travel, and both of these planets I have my eyes on will be the first to have recruits to the Sith Army. And, I get the feeling one will be experiencing war, if it isn't already."

"Very well."

He didn't wait for Sidious to respond any further, he crushed the holocron, ordered a Battle Droid to pull up the screen, and then to prepare for a landing in due time while sending coordinates to Sidious's shuttle. Things were going to advance, and he'd make sure of it. Sidious's vision would be realized, but the man had to take it by the helm and turn it into a reality, which he would. The man was beyond ambitious.

In the end he was still getting what he wanted, and his Masters were getting what they wanted.

"What are we to do with the planets that aren't capable of space travel?"

"Give them a rude wake up call. All of these people and beings have lived in isolation for thousands of years...The Rakata, I must wonder..." He paused, trailing off.

"Send four battalions to the Murkhana system."

"If we encounter other forces there and Vader?"

"Attack them." He laughed cruelly.

"It will be done."

These Clones were only obedient to him, and they'd do exactly as he said, and these Droids also have the hivemind he had been pushing Sidious to initiate and Nute Gunray in particular, but neither did for their own selfish reasons.

Sidious would find that the unified army wouldn't be so...Unified.

Checkmate.

"What about the planet with the giants?"

"Set a course, immediately. I will destroy them until things are moving along like they should be. We'll take these three planets, swiftly!"

This is why this should have happened during the Clone Wars...What would Padme say about these giants? Nute Gunray? Rute? Wat? How would the Republic and Trade Federation react hearing and seeing these things.

Unfortunately, it was too late to see such a thing happen, but regardless for Sidious this was...

End game.

Now Sidious had to move.

He would make his move.