Vader's Folly
Author's notes: Thank you for all the feedback! I appreciate it all :) Glad everyone enjoyed the Dooku/Vader fight. Hope u enjoy this one as well.
Canon: I will be a using a mix of both the Disney and Legends canon. Mainly Legends.
Summary: An ancient site filled with ancient technologies, of course Dr Aphra can't resist playing around. The result, one Sith Lord with a lot of options.
Chapter 8
Mother Talzin had felt her son's dark soul extinguished in the Force. She did not fume or rage at Maul's loss. She had felt the future shift, she knew the thread of his life was doomed to end, sooner now, rather than later. This new universe of possibility was already closing off every path she had seen before. So many paths had been shut forever now. Others opened and then just as quickly were closed off.
Like a gardener weeding a garden of all he did not like. And it was someone not something, she'd felt the darkness pushed forward cutting off the paths.
It was not Sidious, that she was sure of, this darkness was blatantly moving against him.
But to her that only question that mattered was it coming for Dathomir? Was this darkness coming for her next? Was it only a matter of time before it came to Dathomir for her and her daughters?
She stirred the echoes of the dark side around her, trying to see more clearly what was moving, but all she saw was a black, Death's Head mask standing in Judgment over the galaxy as it caught fire.
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Lod Okrud was the Neimoidian captain of a starship in the Trade Federation. His was the only battleship in the sector. The sphere of his battleship was grounded on the planet for maintenance and loading of supplies. He sat on his command chair patiently waiting for the shipments to be fully loaded onto his ship and the work to be finished. It was dreary work overseeing it all, but safe work. He knew there was nothing special about him, he was a middling mid level bureaucrat entrusted to oversee one ship and the protection of a shipping line into the edge Hutt space.
Nothing ever happened. Bribes had been paid to the Hutts to maintain security and leave them all alone as they conducted business on this dreadfully boring world. He could barely remember its name, even after coming here so many times.
The Hutts were a good business- from a distance. The Slugs were terribly arrogant and their smell was worse. Thankfully, his superiors were the ones that had to deal with them. All he had to do was take the cargo back and forth.
As far he was concerned, it was an excellent job. He loved his job. No risk, with moderately good pay. It gave him a good lifestyle that he enjoyed without getting too extravagant.
Lod Okrud was dead before he realised it as the bomb that had been placed under his chair exploded killing everything and everyone on the bridge. If he had still been alive, he would have then felt the reverberations from the rest of his ship as the rest of the bombs on his ship exploded.
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Knabb Akkot was a Rodian that enjoyed his work. Few things in life brought him true joy and contentment as much as his work. He sat back on a small cargo container, at the far edge of the spaceport and watched his handiwork. The Trade Federation ship was burning gloriously. It had been so easy to sneak in his little creations.
There had been an order to everything before today, bribes had been paid for protection, but the Hutts had rescinded everything, and it was open season on the Trade Federation and all it's holdings. They were paying extra for Neimoidian heads that were brought to them...but that was too much effort for him.
And ship burned so beautifully after he set off his masterpieces. It was worth a little less cash from the Hutts just to watch everything burn. His only annoyance was that he'd had to limit the damage to the spaceport...but still, the ship was burning quite nicely now.
Sirens were blaring across the spaceport even as as more explosions rang out in the night.
Right on schedule, he thought with a contented smile.
Now the rest of the Trade Federation freighters were burning as well.
It was all so...beautiful!
He sighed happily, there was some movement at the base of the sphere of the burning remains of the Trade Federation battleship and he raised up his macrobinoculars to get a better look.
"Awww...that so beautiful," he cooed with another happy sigh.
One of the spaceport workers was aflame, running around screaming. Akkot's eyes followed as the worker ran back and forth helpless as the flames consumed him. It was a hypnotic and magical sight.
This was but the first of many jobs given to him by the Hutts.
It was good time to be alive.
A very good time, he grinned to himself.
The worker finally fell the ground and grew silent as the flames continued burning.
He put his macrobinoculars down and took in the sight of the aflame spaceport.
The flames were so beautiful.
He sat back and looked up at the remains of the Trade Federation battleship, it continued it burn beautifully.
He sighed again in blissful contentment.
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It took every ounce of self control Palpatine had not to fly into a rage and destroy his office as he finished reading the reports.
On the outside, the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic was concerned and worried as he sat in his private office on Coruscant.
War had erupted everywhere, the Confederacy was going strong from the beginning even as the Jedi and Clones struggled to face them across dozens of battlegrounds.
As a Sith lord, a dozen plans were coming to fruition, as Jedi started dropping like flies. A millenia of planning nearing it's end. It was a beautiful thing to behold.
Unfortunately, War had also erupted somewhere he hadn't expected.
Someone had brazenly murdered Jabba on Tatooine and the Hutts' retribution was a thing of destructive beauty that under much different circumstances he would have admired and respected greatly. Every report he was receiving from the Republic and the Confederacy pointed towards the Trade Federation of being guilty of instigating this stupidity!
There was no question in the matter, the Trade Federation was being targeted and attacked by the Hutts. The list of bombings in Trade Federation territory was massive, and growing daily. Secure shipping lanes were being attacked by bribed Huttese Pirates. And two worlds were being overrun by mercenaries supported by a small fleet, on the payroll of the Hutts. And this was just the vanguard of the Hutts' attack. Real warships and fleets were assembling over Nal Hutta, all with the full backing of all the Hutt Clans.
All because the Trade Federation had murdered Jabba.
Palpatine had had Grievous question Gunray, but the sniveling fool had vehemently denied any part in that murder, even with how damning the evidence was.
He ground his teeth in anger at the situation, because for once in Gunray's life, the sniveling coward was telling the truth.
The Trade Federation was reeling from all the attacks, bleeding ships and materials as they struggled to combat everything that the Hutts were throwing at them. Struggling to secure their supposedly already secure borders with the Hutts. To redeploy ships there to face this attack, and more importantly- away from the Republic forces.
And to top it all off, now Dooku was missing. The silence from his apprentice was deafening. Dooku had gone to Bakura and that was the last anybody had heard of him. The Jedi ambush there had been sprung and defeated, but Palpatine had felt surprise and then disbelief from Dooku before he seemingly disappeared from the Force.
Palpatine knew that Dooku was still alive, he hadn't felt his apprentice die. That was one of the few things that Palpatine was certain of.
There was a tenuous web between it all. He could barely see the machinations, but his instincts were screaming at him that this was just the beginning.
He didn't know how it was all happening, or why...but he knew who was behind it.
His spies had brought him whispers of a dark figure in a Death's Head mask. He had had visions of the Death's Head laughing at him. Whoever this person was, Palpatine knew he was behind it all. The recent disturbance in the Force, the Hutt attacks, Dooku disappearing...everything.
He would find this interloper and rip the answers from his mind, one neuron at a time. This interloper would scream in agony for an age before Palpatine was done with him!
But for now, he was forced to bury his emotions down, as deep as he could. Now, he had to play the confused and surprised Chancellor. The Hutts had bought the Republic time and space to counterattack. He would have to do something about that.
He pressed a button on desk, buzzing his secretary, "Send the Senators in, my dear, I am ready to receive them," he stated in a mild and warm tone.
Now the beloved Chancellor, later...darkness and retribution beckoned.
He rose as his door opened, and he welcomed his visitors, "Senator Organa," he paused and gave them all a wide welcoming smile, "Ah! And Senator Amidala! It is so good to see you recovered and back from Naboo! Tell me, how is young Skywalker doing after his grievous injury?" he asked in false concern.
Author's Notes: Anyway, and the first crashing wave has arrived ;) ;P As always, don't forget to review! :D