Part 4:
Janier Rar could hardly believe his eyes as he saw two robed figures hold up a picture of the girl his client asked him to retrieve.
"Who is she?"
"This cute little baby is Shmi Skywalker." Replied the colossal being who led the other person. From the general shape of the figure and the slight accent in the words, the Twi'lek was sure that the robes hid a Barabel who was raised on Coruscant.
"Master, what does this girl have to do with our mission?"
"We're picking up a new trainee on our way back. The Bothan colony she crashed on isn't too far off our path. Heard she was born on Tatooine."
Rar, using his inborn, Twi'lek grace, slipped back to his assigned section of the spaceport unnoticed. The bluish green Twi'lek could not be sure if the baby those robed people were picking up was a look-alike, but he had to at least pay a visit to Bothawui.
Okay, I am following this madman because I can learn from her! Just how insane does this get? Palpatine wondered as he trotted after the Skywalker woman through the underlevels of Coruscant.
"This would all be right underneath the capital of a Sith Empire if it weren't for those blasted Jedi. They arrested Senator Diabla and sent her to Kessel before she had the chance. Locked all of her accounts; about fifty million credits and talked her army into living like civilians. Gonna try to get into one of them." The Sith Lady sighed as she used the Force to crumble a wall. "Sly old Diabla had a few tricks up her sleeves and she paid the pilot to drop the whole bunch on Tatooine."
"Who is this Diabla?"
"That, my apprentice, is the name the previous Sith lord used for a girl that he trained." The Sith Lady proudly announced. Palpatine's eyes widened in shock when he realized the true identity of the girl to whom Lady Skywalker had referred. This woman's psychosis was worse than he had originally thought.
"Just as I thought. The vault's right behind this wall."
"But this is illegal!" The boy protested. He should have returned to his home village on Naboo when he had the chance.
"Just who wants to follow rules set by a government run by Jedi? Certainly not you, I hope."
"But the Jedi are protectors of the peace!"
"Child, did it ever occur to you that there is no peace? Peace is weak and war is in everybody's blood. In some species it is stronger than in others, but we all have it. I see a great warrior in you, but you must let him dominate. Just think how wealthy and powerful you can be when you conquer and rule planets. You can be a great senator, or, if you do not fail the way Diabla did, you might become a Sith Supreme Chancellor. But for now, just close your eyes and watch me."
"But I can't watch anything with my eyes closed!" Now I really wish I knew this planet. She needs to check in to a mental hospital soon. Oh well, if I'm ever getting home I'll take her to the nearest psych ward first thing. The boy thought.
"Search your feelings. You know I'm not lying, young Palpatine." Replied hooded Sith.
The adolescent, much to his surprise, complied and saw a blurred version of his current location. He could see the wall that Lady Skywalker was attempting to collapse and, somehow, he could even see through things. As Halen Palpatine began to expand his scope, he began to hear things that his ears could not discern. This is crazy! Am I telepathic?
Much more. The Force can provide much more than mere telepathy. I know what you think of me and you leave whenever you want.
"No, I'm staying. You have so much to teach me." Palpatine admitted after minutes of consideration. The woman was a criminal with mental issues, but she seemed to know more about him than he did. If he returned to his poverty-stricken village, he would be disappointing his mother with a broken vow, and he would not cause for his mother to suffer more than what she already lived through.
Now, concentrate on me and repeat after me The boy frowned. He was sure he had heard the megalomaniac, but his ears received nothing.
I'm between you and the wall. Pull yourself in before any Jedi catch us.
Palpatine limited his scope to his immediate surroundings, but he could not feel the Sith Lady the way he had touched some of the ignorant bystanders.
"Looking for your brother! Hah! That's the most ridiculous excuse I have ever heard!" Scoffed one of the Bothan officials.
"It's not like he's my biological brother or anything like that! Mom took him in forty years ago and the kids she raised are all my siblings! He wants me to drop by his new home but some of his signals got scrambled." The green faced Janier Rar backed up his excuse to read through the records of the Bothan colonies. The man was glad that a helmet concealed his shocked expression.
"A mixed family, beautiful. Search away, just don't take too long, son." The official, convinced of the falsified story, handed Rar a datapad. The harsh beginning on Ryloth, along with years of hunting and smuggling must have molded Janier Rar into a seasoned liar and actor.
The Twi'lek skimmed through the information with lightning speed, for the prospect of competing with a reptilian who was twice his size for a baby seemed uninviting to a man who survived on speed and cunning. If those two people from the spaceport were the mythical, god-like Jedi… The green skinned man shook the thought off. Bounty hunters should care only about their assignments and never the odds of success.
End of Part 4