Chapter 10
Sith Training Facility
Their arrival was unremarkable. Given that Palpatine's not quite right feelings had been active since his encounter with Darth Mard and had been growing since. If the past was any indication events should be coming to a pinnacle soon. As they approached the common eating area of the facility there was only one person present. "Darth Hazd this is a surprise." Darth Mard said.
'This is it.' Palpatine thought, 'Now it all unfolds.'
"Darth Mard, I have ha a problem with your apprentice. He disobeyed my instructions."
"He has always been most respectful and obedient to me." Darth Mard said the turning to Palpatine he asked, "What do you say Sidious?"
"Darth Hazd is correct he instructed me to abandon a line of inquiry in my normal job. I did not."
Darth Hazd moved to stand next to Darth Mard a look of glee on his face as Mard asked, "Your reason for disobeying a Darth?"
"I mediated twice in the force, a move you directed regarding all my major decisions. Both times the path shown to me was to disobey the instructions."
"Then you must suffer the consequences of your disobedience." Darth Mard replied, "If you were truly force lead you should survive in some manner." Turning to Darth Hazd he asked "What is your request regarding the resolution of this?"
"The Court of Honor."
"You are aware Sidious has not yet chosen to fabricate a light saber."
"Then let him use one from the training area. I will see him on the court in one hour." Darth Hazd said as he turned as stalked out of the room.
"Come Sidious, We have only a short time for you to chose a light saber and become comfortable with it." This will not be like you fight with my former apprentice Moric. Darth Hazd is a master of the Saber."
"Then I will not use one. Ka al Ja taught that the force will reveal methods to those who need them." Palpatine replied.
"That path leads to death. At least with a light saber there is always the chance of a lucky hit." Darth Mard countered.
"I'm sorry Master but this is the path I feel the force leading me down and I will follow it." Palpatine replied trying to keep his thought's from the vision he had received.
"I should not have allowed you to spent all that time on Naboo without guidance. I will not make that mistake with my next apprentice." Darth Mard said closing the discussion while revealing both how he thought the contest would end and a tender side that Palpatine had not seen before.
"Trust the force Darth Mard I do." Palpatine replied in as comforting a voice as he could adding, "We have fifty five minutes left. Let us have that meal we were headed to before Darth Hazd interrupted us."
Palpatine sat outside the "B" door to the Court of Honor. Over dinner Darth Mard had become down right chatty about what he could expect to happen within the Court of Honor. Just about anything it turned out. The only advantage given to anyone was as the aggrieved party Darth Hazd had the choice of entrances and entering first or second. All the rest was left to the force. Palpatine spent the waiting in a light trance, Remembering all past insults, his eyes noticing only the light that would turn green when it was time for his entrance. The force told him thirty seconds before it did that his wait was over. Palpatine stood up and walked through the door glancing up the concealed room where most of the Sith on board the station had gathered to witness his execution. The room was typical Sith; non-reflecting walls, floor, and ceiling with minimal illumination. Along the edges of the room using his non-reflecting cloak Darth Hazd could disappear at will. That is if he pulled up the hood and de-activated his light saber. Both of which Palpatine gave little chance of happening. Darth Hazd stood center stage in the room facing the concealed room and the door Palpatine had entered through his hood was down, his cloak tossed back over his shoulders, activated Light saber at his side.
"Activate your light saber Sidious." He called out.
"There will be no sport for you today Darth Hazd, I have no light saber." Palpatine said drawing his strength and most of the words from the Dark Force.
"If you run well I might let you live as a garbage slave for a while." Hazd said coldly advancing on Palpatine bringing his light saber to the ready position. Palpatine stood his ground relaxing and letting the dark force guide him. When Hazd swung a head severing blow Palpatine ducked quicker than the eye could blink. Rising back up as an off balance Hazd spun around back to him so strong was the force of his swing. Palpatine reached out his hand giving a slight push to one of Hazd's shoulders sending him into a heap on the floor.
The force relayed the chuckles of astonishment coming from the concealed Sith. Quickly he focused his anger and pushed them aside. His attention back on Hazd just in time. He felt Hazd gathering his force strength.
Hazd sprang from the floor rising over Palpatine swinging downward with his light saber as he did. Palpatine turned and leaned back removing his body from the space were Hazd swung. The blade passing a hair's width from his body. When he spun around after landing to view his fallen opponent Palpatine was still standing in the same place and turning slowly to face him.
"I tried twice to only wound you and you mock me! No longer, now you will die!" Darth Hazd said. Hazd's attack was sudden. A force warned Palpatine was not caught off guard. He force leaped back landing at the base of a wall. As Hazd attempted to copy Palpatine's leap Palpatine reached out with the force and reversed the gravity grid directly under Hazd sending him crashing to the ceiling. An immediate reversal back to normal of the grid combined with a quadrupling of the field strength brought Hazd crashing down to the floor accompanied by the sounds of bones breaking.
"Do you yield Darth Hazd?" Palpatine asked quietly as if nothing more than a game was being played.
"No." Hazd yelled simultaneously throwing his light saber at Palpatine.
Palpatine could feel Hazd directing the saber. With one quick thought he broke Hazd's arm that had thrown the light saber. The pain caused Hazd to falter in his control of the flying saber. Palpatine took the opportunity seizing control of Hazd's saber. When it flew behind him Hazd realized he had lost control. Palpatine sensed his fear and drove the light saber's blade through Hazd severing his spine and stopping his heart.
Palpatine approached Hazd's body as it lay on the floor the strike from the light saber had cauterized but blood was running out of the body from the various openings caused by bones protruding from the body.
The Sith that had been observing from the hidden room were starting to file into the court. Darth Mard approached Palpatine a stunned look on his face.
"Master?" Palpatine said questioningly.
"Not for much longer I fear. Sidious you took control of your destiny before we dined tonight. There are things the other Darths and I must discuss," Darth Mard said. Waiving a servant over he continued. "This slave will show you a place to rest. After our deliberations are over I will come to you and inform you of their outcome."
"Yes Master." Palpatine said watching Darth Mard join the other Darths who were directing the removal of Hazd's body and giving instructions for the clean up of the Court of Honor.
Palpatine walked from the court following the slave feeling the fear of him radiate not only from the slave guiding him but most of the others in the room as well. Entering the room assigned he quickly crossed to the lone chair and sat down. The slave disappeared and Palpatine was left alone to reflect on the day's events. He had known the confrontation was coming through the force. Darth Mard had known it was inevitable from their discussion at location "L" but did nothing to caution or prepare him. A knock at the door interrupted his contemplation. Palpatine reached out in the force and opened the door. The slave had returned with Palpatine's small travel bag. "Set it down there." Palpatine said indicating a small space near the desk. The slave approached and after carefully setting the bag down retreated to stand by the door.
'I wonder who assigned him to watch me?' Palpatine thought before quickly scanning the slave. 'Ah, Darth Hazd was his master. I wonder if the fear of me I felt at the Court of Honor included the Darth's?' Palpatine added as he reached down into his bag and withdrew the Sith Cube. "Too bad you are out of answers old friend." He said to the cube. An image formed in his mind. Palpatine recognized it as the schematic for the station. A line appeared connecting his room with a second a short distance away. He got up from the desk heading out the door. At the location he faced a blank wall. Palpatine searched and a complicated locking mechanism was force revealed. A careful analyze of it had Palpatine holding five separate latches using the force before he could swing the door open. He entered a room that looked like a chapel from Naboo. Twenty four black padded chairs were arranged in a semi-circle facing a cube that stood on a black pillar the main light in the room shining down on the cube. He entered the room shutting and locking the door behind him. The distance to the cube was short only about twenty five feet. But Palpatine crossed it slowly. Glancing from the cube on the pillar to the one he carried in his right hand and back again comparing the two. His appeared to be an exact duplicate. Stopping facing the cube on the pillar he focused on the new cube as he did on his. The depth of knowledge was so much greater Palpatine felt himself diving to greater and greater depths sampling only a minor fraction of the knowledge at each level before proceeding deeper. A separate part of his mind watched as his body responding to the cube raised up his cube rotating it and placing it beside the cube on the pillar when he pushed them together the designs interlocked and Palpatine watched as all the information from the levels he'd bypassed flowed into his cube. Palpatine did not hear the Darth's enter and take their seats his focus was on the slowing flow of information into his cube. He realized not all of the information the cube on the pillar contained had flowed in to his as the thought 'why' formed in his mind the cube answered 'Go and learn this, then return. I will only allow so much to be taken at one time.'
Palpatine swam back from the depth of the joined cubes to the current place finally sensing other wielders of the dark force had joined him. Before he could speak Darth Mard rose from his seat in the front row and turned to address the assembled Darths. "Fellow Darths, based on what we just witnessed here and on the Court of Honor we need to discuss what to do about my apprentice Sidious. For killing a Darth and tampering with the Master Sith Cube both carry an automatic penalty of death. I suggest another course. Promote Sidious to Darth. He has on both occasions demonstrated a great oneness with the Dark Force. I realize previously construction of a light saber was mandatory for promotion but Sidious refuses to construct one. Instead he seeks a different path to oneness with the force. I sense he is well on the way to achieving that goal."
Palpatine took the natural pause in Darth's Mard's speech as an opening. He removed his cube from the one on the pillar drawing every eye to him. Mard also turned to face Palpatine. Palpatine looked each of the assembled Darths in the eye then said, "Darths I leave you to make your decision. I await it in the room you have assigned me."
The decision was not long in question. Darth Mard interrupted Palpatine's mediation to inform him he would receive his Darth Cloak in a ceremony scheduled for tomorrow then retired for the evening.
Palpatine re-entered the trance his attention on his reinvigorated cube. The trance was not broken again until his slave, 'What an odd ring that had to it' Palpatine thought 'His slave', interrupted him to inform him breakfast was being served. And question if he should fetch Palpatine a tray.
"No I will go to the dining area. It will do me good to allow all I have studied to sort itself out."
Arriving at the common dining area Palpatine greeted Darth Mard who was arriving from another direction. "Master I wish to thank you for your kind words last night."
"Knock it off Sidious we both know that if any of the Darths, myself included, had tried to kill you they would be dead now."
"That is true although even now I don't have a good grasp of how my abilities related to yours master."
"I will try to keep it that way Sidious. If you wish, for your own reasons, to still play the part of my apprentice I will go along with it. But my eyes will be open."
"Darth Mard it suits my purposes to be your apprentice. I must still spend considerable time in the normal world. You will lookout for my interests amoung the Sith until I chose someone else. To make it easy for you I will call you master. But don't try to deceive me into a trap like you did this time or the result will be pain."
"We understand each other then." Darth Mard said.
"Yes master, we do."
The ceremony that evening cloaking Sidious was simple and tasteful. The court of honor was transformed in to a better lit hall filled with a seat for everyone on the Sith Station excluding the security lookouts. The Darths filled the front row; each had his apprentice seated in the row directly behind with their slaves arraigned behind them. Darth Mard called Sidious to stand beside him as first Mard then each Darth in individually acknowledged Sidious's mastery of the Dark Force. When they finished Sidious pledged his loyalty to the Dark Force and the Sith collectively. Darth Mard then picked up a Darth's cloak holding it as Palpatine donned it.
Donning his Sith cape Palpatine felt himself changing from a Naboo born citizen of the republic who used the Dark Force to a full Sith Creature who lived in the Dark Force. Latter he would notice only a slight change in his appearance when he donned the cloak to a casual observer however he became another creature entirely.
"Darth Sidious, Remember the Dark Force is master of us all." Darth Mard said to end the ceremony.
Afterwards the slaves scurried off to their menial tasks while the Darths and their apprentices congratulated him and inquired as to rather he was staying on station to continue his studies. His standard reply of, "No I'm returning to Coruscant tonight. Other events there demand my attention." brought relief to all who asked.
