Disclaimer – all original Star Wars characters in this fanfic (excluding my OC's) are the property of Lucasfilm and Disney.
Chapter 26 "Darth Enigma."
Coruscant, The Republic Executive Building, The Private Office of The Supreme Chancellor.
The whole Chancellor's suite was divided into eights sections: the entry hallway with a formal reception area; the ceremonial office formally called the Supreme Chancellor's Office, where Palpatine had meetings with important visitors; the anteroom, that led to the private office; The Chancellor's Archives, The Chancellor's Bedroom, The Working Office for Red Guards, Storage Closet, and finally, The Private Office itself.
The private office was smaller than the ceremonial one. It had a metallic and black color scheme with three large black rotating chairs, a supercomputer, and two black spirit urns, disguised as expensive vases. The walls seemed to be made from some kind of metal and were engraved with continuous patterns. Double-glazed transparisteel panoramic window backed the sunken area used by the Chancellor for his private work.
Palpatine currently sat on his chair and pondered about the upcoming events. Everything seemed to go as planned, but that mysterious faction couldn't leave his mind. He learned from the Jedi Order that a member of that faction stole the kyber memory crystal, and now, they gave it back to Count Dooku, who returned to the Order and became a Master again. A group that was able to successfully infiltrate the Jedi Temple and steal something so valuable could not be taken lightly.
It tempted him to task his apprentice, Darth Vundus, to find a way to contact that faction and struck a deal with them to share the list with the locations of the Force-sensitive children. If that would not work, he could always tell his assassins to infiltrate their faction, but once again, they didn't know where their base was located or how good where their security measures.
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden call from Dar Wac, a male Rodian aide, who worked at the reception desk in the entry hallway. "Excuse me, Supreme Chancellor," the Rodian's voice came from the receiver located in the chair's armrest. "Jedi Master Dooku is here to see you."
Palpatine was surprised by the visit, but he pushed a button and replied. "Invite him to my private office."
"Right away, your Excellency," replied the Rodian.
After a few moments, Master Dooku entered the private office of the Supreme Chancellor. "Master Dooku," Palpatine smiled and gestured at the black chair. "Please have a seat. How can I help you?"
Master Dooku politely bowed his head and replied. "Thank you, Chancellor." He sat down and continued. "As you probably heard, I left the Jedi Order five years ago. I tried to contact my old friend Master Sifo-Dyas but to no avail." That was true since Dooku wanted to convince Sifo-Dyas to join the Kingdom of the Force, but he had no idea that Palpatine, aka Darth Sidious, got to him first and made him his apprentice. "He talked with you before he left the Jedi Order. I thought that maybe he told you where he planned to go."
"Oh, dear, I'm afraid I can't help you, Master Dooku," the Chancellor replied. "Master Sifo-Dyas never told me when he planned to go. He lost faith in the Jedi Order and felt rejected when the Jedi removed him from the High Council. In his own words, he said that the Jedi weren't able to keep the peace in the galaxy."
Dooku sighed. He also lost his faith in the Order five years ago. If he would not meet Zai'shira, only the Force itself knew how he would end up.
"Oh, since you're already here," Palpatine began a different topic and asked hopefully. "Is there any more information about the Kingdom of the Force?"
"Unfortunately, no," Dooku shook his head. "They remain as mysterious as always. No traces, no clues, nothing."
"Well, at least the Jedi have back the list," the Chancellor pointed out. The Jedi will be able to train the next generations easily."
"I don't think it will be that easy," the Jedi Master disagreed. "You see Chancellor, a few Jedi already left the Temple to convince the parents to give their children to the Order. As you can imagine, they failed. The only children that were taken to the Order were the from the families not contacted by the Kingdom of the Force. The Council members even decided to tell the Jedi to purport as members of the Kingdom of the Force. However, the parents were told that only the members of the Kingdom of the Force carry specific weapons that distinguish them from the Jedi, strange lightsabers with black cores, so that attempt also has failed. We can't take the children by force, so despite having back the list, the numbers of the new children are disturbingly small."
"That sounds troubling," Palpatine said with a worried expression and tried not to smirk.
"We hope for the best," Dooku replied. "Our best idea right now is to find the members of that faction and talk with them. We need to negotiate with them and form a collaboration."
Palpatine nodded and suddenly heard another beep on his armrest. The Chancellor received another call, but this time, not from Dar Wac. "Chancellor Palpatine. This is Captain Faro Argyus. We may have a situation on our hands."
"What is it, Captain?" Palpatine asked, narrowing his eyes.
"We found one unconscious Senate Commando inside the executive building," replied the Captain. "We patrol the building in pairs, so we don't know where is the other one. The video surveillance didn't reach the spot where they were attacked, and we don't know what happened, so for your own safety, we need to evacuate you from the building. I'll send a squad to escort you right away."
Dooku narrowed his eyes and looked at Palpatine. "Master Dooku is with me right now," the Chancellor informed. "He'll escort me outside. Focus on capturing that person, Captain."
"Understood, Chancellor," replied Captain Argyus. "We'll secure the facility as swiftly as possible and find the intruder."
The Jedi Master and the Chancellor got up and left the private office in haste. After a few minutes, something strange happened. A Senate Commando, clad in dark-blue armor and armed with a DC-15A blaster rifle, literally entered the private office through the metal wall like a ghost. The Commando looked around closely and noticed that there were no cameras in the room. It wasn't strange since it was a private office, and sometimes Palpatine had 'private' conversations.
The Senate Commando grabbed the helmet and pulled it off, revealing the face of Avelon Karkko. Just like he was told by Darth Plagueis, Avelon arrived on Coruscant to steal the ashes of Hego Damask's clone, who was killed by Palpatine. It was his mission, and if he would succeed, he would officially become Darth Plagueis's apprentice. While Avelon wasn't as stealthy as Zai'shira and could not become invisible, he learned one special Force power, which allowed him to get to many heavily-locked places. That power was named allowed the user to pass through solid matter, such as walls, floors, and doors, so locked places weren't an obstacle for the Anzat.
The Muun didn't give Avelon much information about Coruscant much less about the building and the private office location, so the Anzat needed to find his own way to learn everything. When he arrived on Coruscant, he made a quick call to Dooku and told him that he needed to find the Supreme Chancellor's private office, promising to explain everything afterward. Dooku agreed, and since he wanted to talk with the Chancellor anyway, he told Avelon to follow his Force-signature.
Avelon did just that and already formed a plan. He needed to make the Chancellor leave his office, so the easiest way was to create a dangerous situation where the security would need to escort him to safety. The Anzat knocked out two Senate Commandos and hid one of them in the storage room, taking his armor in the process. The other Commandos found the body of their college that wasn't hidden and already raised the alarm.
"Alright," Avelon looked at the two urns and approached them. He lifted them and noticed that one was heavier, which indicated that ashes needed to be inside. Without wasting any time, Avelon reached to the segmented belt around his hips and opened one of the boxes. After he pulled out a small, cubic container, which Darth Plagueis gave him, Avelon poured the entire content of the black urn into it. He made sure that the urn remained completely empty as if the ashes disappeared completely without a trace.
When everything was done, Avelon put the spirit urn in the same spot and hid the cubic container back in the belt box. He put the helmet back on and began to walk towards the same wall he had phased through before.
A couple of minutes later – Coruscant, The Republic Executive Building, Landing Zone.
Master Dooku escorted Chancellor Palpatine to the landing zone, where a shuttle, guarded by four Senate Commandos, already waited for them. A couple other Senate guards yelled and ran in all directions, securing the building and looking for the intruder.
Captain Argyus ran up to the Chancellor and the Jedi Master. He took off his helmet and bowed his head. "I'm glad to see you're alright and well, your Excellency," he said. "Please remain close to the Jedi Master. We found the second guard from the patrol. He had his uniform removed, so we're safe to assume that intruder wears it and is armed with a blaster rifle."
"What does he want?" Palpatine asked. "Is he an assassin?"
The Captain shook his head. "We don't know, but-"
"Look out!" Dooku suddenly warned and activated his lightsaber. The Jedi Master swung the blue blade in front of the Chancellor's face and deflected a blaster shoot. Palpatine got startled, and involuntarily gasped in shock. Of course, this was all an act, he spotted the shooter even before the Jedi Master did, but knew that Dooku was skilled enough to notice and deflect the blast. The Captain and other Senate Commandos turned towards the direction of the shoot and spotted a running Senate Commando with a DC-15A blaster rifle in his hands. Dooku immediately dashed after him.
"It's the intruder!" yelled Captain Argyus. "Get him!"
The Senate Commandos began to fire at the intruder, who reached and jumped into a random airspeeder, parked currently at the landing zone. As he began to fly away, Dooku jumped with the use of the Force and grabbed the rear bumper of the airspeeder.
"Quick! Follow them!" ordered Captain Argyus and turned to look at the startled Chancellor, who exhaled and spoke. "Call the Jedi Temple and inform them of what happened." As Captain Argyus complied with the wishes of the Chancellor, Palpatine followed the airspeeder with his eyes. He genuinely hoped the Jedi would catch the intruder so that he could have a private 'talk' with him.
Half an hour later - Coruscant, Undercity, Level 1331.
The Undercity of Coruscant, also called the lower levels or underworld, were the levels underneath the surface structures of the planet Coruscant. Skyscrapers towered above the highest level on Coruscant, Level 5127, upon which laid the Galactic City, but under the surface structures, the levels of Coruscant descended down all the way to Level 1, which was deemed uninhabitable. The various levels of Coruscant were accessible by huge portals that also served as ventilation shafts. Covered by the surface structures, sunlight did not reach the lower levels, leaving them in a perpetual state of darkness illuminated only by artificial lights for thousands of years.
Due to its enclosure by larger buildings, the air was trapped in the lower levels, creating a micro-climate of which there were at least three layers. Undercity dwellers often had to breathe toxic fumes from millennia of urbanization, while wealthy citizens in the upper levels had access to rich and filtered air. Trapped moisture contributed to rainstorms and convective wind patterns within the canyon floors. A realm of artificial illumination, the lower levels of the galaxy's largest city, were the only affordable areas for many of the planet's citizens. Rumbling with machines that served the elite above, its streets haunted by exploiters and thugs, and its walls riddled with vermin, Coruscant's underworld toughened the strong and consumed the weak.
Coruscant's under levels harbored a larger population than many star sectors, leaving millions beyond the protection of the world's security force. Local neighborhoods were at the mercy of hired thugs and extortionists. The toughest faces sometimes belonged to vigilantes, who chose to defend the people on their own land from criminals.
Dooku and Avelon, who still had the Senate Commando's uniform, reached the level 1331 and found a secluded spot so that they could talk. The Jedi Council already contacted him via comlink, and he explained that he pursued an assassin, who tried to kill the Supreme Chancellor.
"Can you explain what did you try to do?" Dooku asked, not completely happy with what happened. "You almost killed the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic. You told me you wanted to get his private office."
"Let's call Zai'shira and Deiven first," the Anzat suggested, taking off his helmet. "I have a piece of vital information for the Kingdom."
Dooku sighed and went along with the suggestion. Without wasting time, he contacted the Temple of Balance via his holoprojector. When holographic images of Zai'shira and Deiven appeared on Dooku's hand, the human spoke. "Hey, Avelon has information for us. He says it's vital, and I hope it is since he just tried to kill Palpatine."
"The Chancellor?" Zai'shira's eyes went wide, and she looked at the Anzat. "Why?"
"I actually tried to make it look like it was an assassination attempt instead of a theft," Avelon explained. "Darth Plagueis, aka Hego Damask, cloned himself for the sake of precaution after you told him about your vision when you fought him many years ago on Coruscant. His apprentice killed his clone, thinking it was his real Master, and cremated the body. I was tasked by Damask to secretly retrieve the ashes so that Darth Plagueis could convince his apprentice that he found a way to cheat death and get vengeance for the betrayal. I got the ashes with me."
"But what the Chancellor has to do with the ashes?" Dooku asked, confused.
"I was told that the ashes were located in the private office of Darth Plagueis's apprentice, so in this case, in the private office of the Supreme Chancellor," Avelon answered and clarified. "Sheev Palpatine is the Sith Lord and a former apprentice of Darth Plagueis. You can check his midi-chlorian count, but I don't think he lied to me about that. If he wanted me to kill the Chancellor, saying that he is a Sith Lord, then a lie would make sense, but I was tasked to steal the ashes from his office, nothing more. It would be easy to prove if the Chancellor is a Force-sensitive or not." Only Deiven remained calm since he didn't really understand the gravity of the situation. Dooku and Zai'shira understood all too well.
The Jedi Master looked at the ground and placed his free hand on his forehead. "A Sith Lord rules the Galactic Republic right under the nose of the Jedi Order," he muttered in disbelief. "The Jedi Council is oblivious that they take orders from a Sith Lord. This is simply... ludicrous."
Zai'shira was speechless for a long moment, but she finally spat angrily with content. "They're so full of themselves! I have the urge to fly to Coruscant and give the Jedi High Council a piece of my mind!"
Dooku raised his head and looked at Zai'shira. "I'm actually interested why Hego Dam- I mean Darth Plagueis, revealed his apprentice just like that. I get that he's angry and wants revenge, but you're a stranger to him. What's stopping you from telling the Jedi Order about that discovery?"
"Maybe that's a part of my test," Avelon deliberated with a shrug. "Maybe he wants to know if I can keep a secret."
"Well, regardless, we must keep this information between us," Dooku stated decisively. "As crazy as that sounds, we must let Palpatine stay on the Supreme Chancellor's seat. Revealing him to the Jedi would not stop the beginning of the war, and it would only make the Sith go into hiding. Darth Plagueis would not trust Avelon, and we would lose a chance to spy on him, and Palpatine would escape and form a new plan if the Jedi wouldn't catch him. By not revealing who he is, we can observe both Sith Lords."
Zai'shira looked at the human and nodded. "You're right," she admitted with a sigh.
"So it's agreed," Avelon said. "Still, I need to leave Coruscant. I got the ship and the ashes, but what about the chase? You won't get into trouble if I escape?"
"Don't worry, I have an idea," Dooku reassured.
One hour later – Coruscant, Jedi Temple, High Council Tower, Council Chamber.
"First of all, good job for saving the Supreme Chancellor, Master Dooku," said Master Windu.
"I was just doing my job as a Jedi," Dooku replied humbly. "I just regret that the assassin killed himself before I could question him. I didn't expect that."
Avelon and Dooku found someone in the undercity that could fit into the uniform. It wasn't a problem to find a 'bad guy' since the place was literally crawled with them. Once they found a suitable candidate, a human thug, who belonged to one of the murderous gangs, they took him to a secluded place. There, they shoot him with DC-15A blaster rifle in the head and clad him in the uniform of the Senate Commandos. Avelon could escape since no one knew who he was, and Dooku simply called for pickup, informing of what happened.
"No one would expect that," replied Master Windu. "Normally, a bounty hunter or an assassin tries to do their job and escape to try another time. It's very rare for one to take his own life when faced without any means of escaping. We examined the body, but it told us nothing."
"That way, we won't learn who hired him," pointed out Ki-Adi-Mundi.
"It could've been anyone," said Adi Gallia. "The Sith Lords, a new criminal organization, or maybe even someone from the Kingdom of the Force."
"I doubt the Kingdom was involved," Dooku said, scratching his beard. "From what we learn, they're interested in the Jedi and Sith. What would they gain after the assassination of the Chancellor of the Galactic Republic?"
"Good point," admitted Master Windu. "But we can't completely rule them out. We don't know their true motives."
"Agreed," Dooku nodded. "The Senate Guards already doubled the patrols and began installing new cameras. Another assassin that will try to infiltrate the building will not be so successful."
Planet Muunilinst, Harnaidan – Capital of Muunilinst, Tuuno Cantina.
Avelon meet Darth Plagueis in the Tuuno Cantina were they met for the first time. This time, however, Darth Plagueis waited for Avelon in a private booth. Upon entering it and closing the door behind him, the Anzat sat down at the round table on a nice, greenish semi-circled sofa.
"I assume you completed your task," the Muun said with a smile.
Avelon wordlessly reached into his pocket and placed a small, cubic container on the table. He pushed the container towards Darth Plagueis, who opened it and examined its content. "Very good," the Muun praised with a satisfied smile. "No one saw you stealing it?"
"No," Avelon replied, shaking his head. "I was discovered, but no one saw my face, since I stole a uniform of a Senate Commando, and they had no idea I stole the ashes of your clone. Everyone, including the Jedi Master, who ran after me, though I tried to assassinate the Chancellor of the Republic. I lost him in the Coruscant underworld, and I quickly killed a simple thug and put the uniform on him. The Jedi Master surely found the body, and the whole Order thinks the assassin killed himself to avoid capture. They don't even know that I was a Force-sensitive."
"Impressive, Avelon," commented Darth Plagueis. "You've completed my task and then some." The Sith Lord stood up and approached the Anzat. "Kneel before me."
Avelon did as told, and Darth Plagueis spoke. "The Force is strong with you. A powerful Sith you will become. Henceforth, you shall be known as... Darth Enigma."
"Thank you, my Master," Lord Enigma replied. Everything went according to the plan of the Kingdom of the Force. Two spies were ready.
"Rise, Lord Enigma," Darth Plagueis said, and his apprentice stood up. Once again, they sat down on the sofa and their former places. "How do you want to destroy the Jedi, Master?" asked Darth Enigma. "We don't have an army."
"We will destroy the Jedi by exploiting their sense of righteousness and obedience to the Republic," the Muun answered. "We will make them appear to be the enemies of peace and justice rather than the guardians. I also plan to use the Kingdom, but in their case, we must be careful."
"I agree," the Anzat nodded. "And what about your apprentice? When do you plan to make a move against him?"
"We can't be hasty," replied Darth Plagueis. "If I reveal myself to him too quickly, he will notice that the earlier infiltration had something to do with the ashes. We have my apprentice. In the end, the Sith will destroy the Jedi and will rule the galaxy, forever."
The Muun's lips formed a vicious, sinister smile, which Darth Enigma replied with a smile of his own. However, the Anzat smiled since he knew that the Sith plans would never succeed. The Kingdom of the Force would make sure of that.
Please R&R ;)