Darth Sidious would consider himself the most patient man in the galaxy by leagues.
It was hardly even a competition. One did not make it day by day through tedious government bureaucracy and squabbling diplomats and be considered impatient. One did not spend a decade meticulously poisoning the mind of the Force's child and be considered impatient. One did not spend their entire life in the pursuit of total galactic domination, crafting every single decision around that one final goal, and be considered impatient. No, the essence of the dark side itself was of patience, and so was its master. So was he.
There were setbacks over the years, of course, occasionally. Every now and then the Jedi managed to foil a plan, or a motion failed to be enacted in the Senate. Usually it was the fault of the same few, Organa or Amidala or Mothma. But the victories vastly outnumbered the setbacks, and thus Sidious remained patient. Continued in his efforts. Worked toward that final, ultimate goal with a passion befitting the most powerful man in the galaxy.
They were hours away, now, from what would effectively be the beginning of his retirement, when in through the door to his private office strode Mace Windu, followed by three of his lackeys, all of whom were dead barely a minute later, impaled by a red blade. The red then met purple in a glorious clash, an entertaining little detour that he was sure he'd claim victory of, as well….
They called Windu the greatest duelist of the Jedi Order. Sidious had personally called Skywalker as much, many times to the boy's face, adding coals to the fire of his already flaming ego…and speaking of whom, the boy was due any minute now, drawn to his new master like a mewling pup was drawn to shelter in a storm…Windu struck at him and Sidious evaded, buying his time, waiting for his new apprentice to arrive and don his new mantle, to give into his own darkness with finality….
Minutes passed. The boy did not come. Sidious would have to adapt, for that was what he did best. Adapt, and conquer. He did not feel the boy's presence nearby. He was not in this building. Unexpected, unplanned for, but workable. Sidious was not omniscient, after all. He was simply very good at predicting the moves that his chess pieces would make. But Skywalker had a mind of his own, sometimes, and occasionally Sidious wondered if perhaps he should have just taken the easy path and enslaved the boy by force….
Clashing his sword against Windu's, he devised a new plan. If the boy did not want to come to him, then he would simply have to go to the boy. There was risk, as there was with every plan, but the last time he saw Skywalker on this very day, a shaking heap of susceptible fear and dread, he had soaked up every word Sidious had said, had been swayed by each thread Sidious had woven…although….
Perhaps it is simply a question of whether you love Obi-Wan Kenobi more than you love your wife.
Could that, perhaps…?
No. No, there was nothing to fear. Perhaps the boy just needed one final persuasion.
The Jedi would take him for a coward when his new, revised plan was enacted. But the effect it would have on Skywalker…all of Sidious's hints proven true, that the Jedi were taking over, that corruption and chaos would run rampant…not to mention his obsession, his irksome little wife….
He surrendered. His lightsaber flew from his hand through the shattered window of his office, and he fell back. "Wait!" he cried in a terrified voice, equal parts Palpatine and Sidious. He looked up into Mace Windu's eyes and pretended beg. Pretended to plead. A Sith Lord did not beg, just as a Sith Lord was never defenseless. A Sith was an actor, and the galaxy was his theater. He could play any part. In fact, he had a tendency to play every part. As he would play with Mace Windu now. "Don't kill me, please!"
"You are under arrest, my lord," Windu spat at him, bitter contempt filling his voice. Sidious wanted to laugh. The unemotional Jedi Master, indeed.
"Don't kill me!" Palpatine's voice called out, "Anything but that!"
"So you surrender?" Windu said, purple lightsaber half a meter away from Sidious, who nodded and trembled and consciously leaked fear out into the Force.
"I do, I do, just please, don't kill me!"
Never taking his eye off Sidious for a moment, never flinching, lightsaber not wavering an inch, Windu called for assistance from the Jedi Temple. The sky was dark, now, and Sidious played the part of Palpatine so well, cowering and shivering there with stun cuffs around his wrists. The second time in barely a week. How bothersome.
It was late when they took him to the Jedi Temple, landing in a hangar near the top of the tallest spire, and he could feel it, the boy was close, this would all be over with soon and Sidious could ignore this minor delay of Protocol 66….
And indeed he and his adorable little escort of Temple Guards and Jedi Masters had nearly made it toward the hangar bay doors when the Force lit up, thunderous and volatile, and Sidious knew he had made the right decision in coming here.
"Chancellor!" a voice called out to him, and the Force rumbled in cacophonous symphony. An orchestra of terror and suspense. "No, don't hurt him!"
"Anakin!" he cried out over his shoulder in the Chancellor's voice, unable to see the boy but able to sense him, a nexus of fear, an eruption of dread and unfiltered hatred. "Anakin, please, help me! They're going to kill me, Anakin! You're the only one who can stop them!"
"I need him!" Skywalker yelled at someone, "Let me go, I need him, please don't hurt him, please —"
"Quiet," Windu hissed at the Sith, motioning to the Temple Guards to proceed. Their hands tightened around Sidious's arms and pushed him toward the hangar bay doors. "You've poisoned that boy enough as it is."
"Don't you see, Anakin?" Palpatine's voice called out, "I told you, didn't I? Look at what they're doing to me! I'm telling you, the Republic is next! They're taking over!"
"Let me through!" the boy yelled, his voice sounding raw and frightened as a child. "I need to see him, get off —"
Satisfied, and certain of the outcome, Sidious struggled against the grip of the chess pieces holding on to him in an act of false desperation and turned toward the boy. "This is your chance, Anakin! You must choose — the Jedi or the one you love!"
But as he spoke, he saw something that he had not seen previously, had not expected, had not heard over the ruckus of his own shouting, and Skywalker's. And what he saw made him realize that the boy had already made his choice, and he had in fact chosen the one he loved.
What Darth Sidious saw then made him think for the first time ever in his life that this was what fear must feel like. Fear that his plan might not quite proceed after all. Because at the start of this day, there had only been one obstacle remaining in his conquest, one final thing that had needed to be done away with in order for Sidious's words to finally stick in in the boy's mind. And that obstacle had been discarded, sent thousands of lightyears away to do the Jedi's dirty work for them, and hopefully die in the process — and now that obstacle was back.
Kenobi was here.
Here, in this hangar, making a great effort to restrain the boy. Kenobi was here, the one final person that stood in the way of his empire. The one person who had any meaningful influence on Skywalker at all besides Sidious himself. The one person that Sidious had been trying to do away with, on and off, for the last ten years.
And in that moment of brief, uncharacteristic fear, that moment in which time seemed to stand still, his eyes locked with Kenobi's and he saw in them a look of triumph. A look of boasting. A look that told Sidious with great, clarified certainty: You have lost.
Then time started moving again, and he watched the boy wrestle against the iron grip of his mentor, struggle to reach the Sith in terrified desperation — and Sidious thought, Not yet.
In one final show of power, before the blast doors closed behind him, Sidious called, "She is going to die, Anakin!"
The Force erupted like the volcanos of Mustafar, and Sidious smiled. He had done all he could; the dark side would have to do the rest.
