Two things surprised me about the holocron when I first laid eyes on it, set innocuously on the table in Palpatine's parlor like an ornate conversation piece.

The first was that the carvings on the surface of the pyramidal structure were modern Aurebesh letters and represented, as far as I could tell, only modern Galactic languages. In the four I could read, the message was the same: "Open to gain your greatest desire."

The second was that the glowing structure itself bore no signs of age. It wasn't worn, faded, or cracked; the metal that formed the outer surface looked identical to a modern steel alloy often used in tools and shipping containers.

In short, this chronicle didn't look like it was cast out into the forgetting Galaxy by some long-dead Sith Lord in the early days of the Republic. It could have been made yesterday.

"What does it mean, 'your greatest desire'?" Olana breathed. She eyed the small shape like it was a live animal rearing to strike her.

Dooku's gaze was similarly wary, but more assessing, as he answered, "Power. It is all the Sith desire, and they assume others desire it above all else as they do."

"An understandable perspective, my friend, but not wholly correct," Palpatine chided gently. "In my own studies, I have found many different Sith have very different desires. To some, power is no more than a means to some greater end, to fulfil some deeper need. For love, or security, or to abate fear, or gain revenge." His own measured gaze at the holocron betrayed no hint of concern or fear, only curiosity. "But it is those with a naked lust for power that have risen to great heights in the past, and clashed so colorfully with their Jedi counterparts. And so it is those that the Jedi best remember."

Silence fell, for a moment, before I changed the subject. "Have you opened it yet?"

Dooku shook his head. "I tried earlier, just a brief sending of power as I would any Jedi holocron. It rebuffed me."

"In my visions," I shared, "it took a Dark Force-wielder to open a holocron made with the Dark Side. Or a strong enough show of emotions by a Force-user."

Palpatine looked to the Jedi Master. "Could you manage that?"

Dooku scowled, his eyes not leaving the artifact. "I could, but I will not. My own struggles with the Dark Side are a fresh wound. Perhaps Master Windu-"

"I must continue to ask your discretion in this matter," Palpatine cut off his suggestion. "Most on the Council would take a dim view of how this was acquired, legal though it was."

"Then we are at an impasse," I said simply. "I have never, and will never, allow myself to channel Dark Side energy. It's a bright line I've set for myself. Which means that no one here can - "

"More!" The tiny cloaked figure stood revealed on the platform, surrounded by glowing red energy as the petals of the pyramid folded downward. "Open to it! Show me the full power of your deepest desire!"

"Do what?" I immediately retreated into my mind, reaction speed increasing as I centered myself, assuring that no stray emotion from me had triggered the construct.

But the hologram didn't look at me. I turned my eyes and senses to Olana, who held the Gatekeeper's attention with full focus as though levitating a delicate object.

I felt the energy that Olana was sending into the holocron, and I sensed nothing of the destructive Dark Side emotions in it. No hostility, no fear. But neither was it free of emotion altogether. She had a hunger, a deep need for something, although I could not see the object of it. I watched in fascination as she opened herself more fully to the fell thing, letting it feel the deep intensity of her craving. Whatever it was she was drawn toward more deeply than I had ever wanted anything.

"What is happening?" the Senator asked in confusion, but both Dooku and I were stunned into silence, at least for the moment.

"Yes; yes!" The figure cackled in open delight. "That is more than enough. You, young Jedi initiate, have demonstrated that you possess the seed of greatness: the first element that distinguishes those destined to wield the full power of the Force. There is something that you truly want."

I allowed my protective instincts to wash over my surface without affecting the calm underneath. Whomever this Sith was, Olana was far too young to be faced with the task of confronting him. I raised my hand, ready to forcefully close the holocron and break the link -

But Dooku's hand on my arm held me back. Meeting his gaze, he nodded, and I understood his meaning with no words exchanged. I needed to trust my apprentice - to save her if something went very wrong, but to allow this to play out for as long as she safely maintained it.

"What is your name, young one?" The cloaked figure asked.

"Olana," she said simply.

"The Padawan to Obi-wan Kenobi. We have met before."

She frowned. "You mean, I have met the Sith who made this holocron? When?"

The gatekeeper cackled again. "In due time. The other presences in the room, then, are Kenobi, yes? And… the Count of Serenno?"

"This isn't just a repository," I interjected, "it's an intelligence. Olana, you are in danger."

The girl turned to me. "But you said a Sith holocron couldn't corrupt, only teach. Do you have so little faith in me, Master?"

"Indeed," the image intoned. "Obi-wan clearly thought that he would be the one to access this. Worry, not, young one. With the knowledge contained herein, your master will see your true worth, will give you the faith that you deserve."

"Fascinating," Palpatine breathed, but his interest was lost in the intense emotions of the Force-users on the room.

Plucking the holocron from the table, Olana held it up to her sight, but looked through it to meet my gaze. "That may be true, gatekeeper," she smiled, "but you have lost sight of one thing. Obi-wan may not have sufficient faith in me, but I have complete faith in him. At his word, I will destroy this holocron without hesitation."

"Ah, perhaps just close it?" Palpatine asked in a panicked voice. "It's quite irreplaceable…"

The cloaked figure gave another cackle. "Your master will allow you to learn from me, because his desire is also found in this chronicle. When you have proven yourself worthy, you will be given access to everything herein, including my plans and how to find me."

"And who," Olana asked, "are you?"

"I am the ruler of the Galaxy," he said simply. "The one who sent Darth Maul to kill Adi Gallia, and arranged for his defeat at the hands of Kit Fisto and Qui-Gon Jinn. The one who assured that Anakin Skywalker would be found on Tatooine and trained as a Jedi. Who arranged for the Jedi to take on the burden of a Clone Army."

"You're the Emperor," I found myself saying.

"I will be," the cloaked figure agreed, turning to me directly. "I am Darth Sidious. And I assure you that this is the only way you will learn what you have forgotten in time."

"Thank you," I addressed the droid that brought my requested beverage in a glass tumbler. It was an unassuming humanoid unit of a design I didn't immediately recognize, but from its build and appearance I assumed it was a protocol model priced at a large amount.

The four of us were seated in an observation room with a panoramic view of the uneven residential structures in this residential area of Coruscant. The comfortable wingback chairs were arranged in an arc to allow us to see each other as well as the scene that formed the focal point of the room. There were a few moments of silence as each of us sipped our own beverage, pointedly not looking back into the parlor where the holocron again sat, reverted to its closed shape.

"I will, of course," the Senator finally spoke, "have the artifact destroyed immediately. Unless you would prefer that we allow the Jedi Council do so."

My eyes narrowed in surprise despite the rising alarm I had felt in Palpatine since the gatekeeper had spoken to Olana. Before I could respond, though, Dooku spoke. "Why, Sheev? All that happened today was that we confirmed what we already knew: this is a living chronicle of the knowledge and secrets of a Sith Lord."

The senator shook his head. "Ancient secrets from millennia-dead tyrants are one matter. The device of a living Sith Lord is quite another. And this… 'Darth Sidious' was very clear that he would only instruct young Chion, here. The risk is unreasonable."

I asked, "You would allow us to turn the holocron over to the Jedi Council, over your earlier objections that they will investigate how you acquired it?"

Palpatine shook his head. "If you insist that the Council see and destroy it, then I would ask you to omit mention of me in your account of how you received the chronicle. I can even arrange to have it placed somewhere for you to discover it, if this would help assuage your conscience." He looked at Dooku. "I would rather attempt to destroy it myself, using methods that I have found in other writings. But in deference to your aid in these matters and our continued working relationship -"

"Did he tell the truth?" Olana's her eyes were firmly locked on mine. "Are the plans of the Sith mastermind behind recent events, really what you need to prevent the rise of the Empire?"

I shook my head. "There's no way to know that. Quite frankly, I can't remember what it is that I can't remember. And if this Darth Sidious really is behind it all, as he claims, then I strongly doubt his offer seriously represents something he believes would hurt him." I thought through the possibilities. "Either he's lying about the holocron including his plans, or he doesn't believe that you will unlock the holocron to gain access to those plans, or he thinks that he can deal with us even if we learn them."

Dooku asked, "Were your visions stripped of every mention of this figure? Of the Galactic Emperor?"

"Not exactly. The Emperor features prominently," I explained, "but his identity and origin are both blocked out. I have memories of Vader speaking with him, and I can even see him die at Vader's hand, decades from now. But when I try to focus on his face or name, or retrace how he rose to power, I get nothing." When Sidious had introduced himself, I hoped that I might have a return of some portion of my memories, like I did with Darth Maul. So far, no such breakthrough.

"I can do this," Olana said quietly, and I realized her eyes had never left mine. "I can learn from this… monster, pass his tests, without breaking faith with the Order. I know I can."

This prompted another moment of silence, as the two older men pretended they weren't intruding in a moment between me and my student while I considered Olana's plea. Because that's what her statement was. She was pleading with me to demonstrate my trust in her by allowing her to take on this danger, to face this risk and prove herself pure of intention and strong of will.

The truth was, when I separated myself from my visceral fear of losing her, I actually did believe she could weather this. Since I rescued her, Olana had always focused on doing the most good, on helping others and benefitting the Galaxy as the true purpose of the Jedi Order. Whatever desire the artificial Sidious had seen in her that made her a candidate for his lessons (and I had my suspicions as to what it might be), I was certain that it reflected those same beliefs.

"She can," I finally said, breaking from her gaze, turning to Master Dooku and his immediate reaction of skepticism. "Olana is capable of this. I think we should let her try."

But Palpatine interjected again, indignant. "She is a child," he hissed. "How can you allow this?"

Dooku answered the Senator. "In the eyes of the Jedi, she ceases to be a child when she passes her Initiate Trials. A Padawan, while still under the watchful eyes of her Master, is nonetheless an adult, and expected to make adult decisions. And," he looked appraisingly between me and her, "this is the sort of decision that we expect a Padawan and her Master to make together. So, if Olana and Obi-wan believe that she should attempt this… I will not stand in their way."

Sheev Palpatine's alarm had not decreased significantly, but I felt his resolve crumbling under the visible agreement of the other three in the room. "All right. I… will freely admit to being very excited by what information will be produced. So, despite my misgivings, I will allow this. Ah, Miss Chion, do I have your word that you will safeguard my property, and return periodically to describe what you have learned from it?"

After an approving glance from me, Olana nodded.

"Then," he sighed, "I suppose we should return to the other room, and see what more the hologram has to say."