The two Force entangled beings passed through the entrance. To Palpatine's great dismay the doors slid shut behind them, air hissing as it locked. His alarm evaporated as he took in, Palpatine supposed, Bazaron's secret lair.
Palpatine never could have guessed how much Bazaron's fascination with fauna or his obsession with life could go.
However, all around him was life.
Palpatine passed healthy and well-tended plants. Artificial but warm lights meant to imitate a sun hung from above. Large roots had broken through the tile and Palpatine more than once had to step over a root.
The duo stopped before a gargantuan tree. Its roots spread out beyond the circular room and its leafy branches reached out across the dome ceiling.
Palpatine could tell it was no ordinary tree. A strange sound emitted from it, a crackling sound, the sound of lightning. That's impossible...
Overwhelming bitter feelings rolled off the tree's lively fibers to wash over Palpatine.
Bazaron gestured grandly, "My greatest and first creation...the Plagued Tree."
Palpatine stared at the tree and then glanced at Bazaron, "It's your creation...?"
Bazaron sighed deeply, "Yes...a first creation no matter how flawed and raw, is a true embodiment of that one's soul. A life sprung from another. However, I'm afraid plant life is one thing and...sentient life is another...a secret yet to be unfolded..."
Clink. Clink. Clink.
Palpatine whipped around at that sound. His gaze scanned the flora terrain. Scurrying, lurking. In less than a heartbeat, the sound stopped.
From behind a bush Palpatine spotted a green eye peering at him. Harsh red blood vessels streaked across its cornea. The creature soon darted away, more clink, clink noises followed.
"Ah, I see you've taken notice of my droid." Bazaron remarked as watched Palpatine prowling around the premises.
"That's a droid? But it has a real eye." Palpatine pointed out.
Bazaron nodded. "I suppose he would be considered a cyborg." Bazaron joined Palpatine in searching for the cyborg. Palpatine gave Bazaron a look as he started clicking his tongue. "B0-DY! Bee Zero-Dee Y? Buddy!" Bazaron started calling for it.
He named the thing?
"He's a bit shy." Bazaron continued calling. He clasped his hands at the sides of his mouth to enhance his voice. "BUDDY! Oh, here he is."
A spider cyborg monstrosity scuttled towards Bazaron. The top of the spider appeared to be mostly organic. Its legs appeared to be made of durosteel. Its eight green irises slid to Palpatine, mistrust in its many eyes. The beast clicked its pincers at him. Palpatine took a step back.
"Come, here, Buddy. Come meet Palpatine!" Bazaron beckoned Palpatine but Palpatine refused to get any nearer. Bazaron assured Palpatine. "Don't worry, Palpatine, he won't bite."
The spider hissed and clicked its pincers at Palpatine. Are you sure? Palpatine didn't have to tap into the Force to know that the cyborg was unfriendly.
Palpatine glanced at Buddy and up at Bazaron, "I would love to, but I am allergic to arachnids. My deepest apologies." Palpatine lied.
Although Palpatine wasn't well versed in the Force he attempted to conceal his feelings from Bazaron as much as possible. He stuffed them deep into his soul so that Bazaron wouldn't sense it.
Bazaron said blithely, "Do not be sorry." Palpatine breathed easier when he realized Bazaron hadn't sensed his distaste.
Bazaron scratched the cyborg spider's head as though it was a tame dog.
"Me and this little guy have through a lot together. I...wanted to create living beings at my own hand. After the tree, he was my first sentient creation and..." Bazaron motioned to all the prosthetics inserted into the beast, "...it didn't go as planned but at least I was able to save him. That's all that matters."
"What a touching story," Palpatine pretended to be deeply moved. He gestured as though he was wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. Then he clasped his hands as he looked upon the disgusting creature, "But it is a sentient creature, is it not?"
Bazaron's mask turned to face Palpatine, and he lowered his voice, "Indeed, it is. However, when I brought him into this world he was on the verge of death. To wretch a soul from the Cosmic Force and bring it into the Living Force is...unnatural. It is to deny the ways of life itself. And what we are to pursue is not only unnatural, but also dangerous, perilous."
Bazaron sighed deeply and drew away from Buddy, changing the subject abruptly. "I have dawdled long enough. I suppose I should tell you what the mission is." Bazaron held up a finger, "Well, as much as I can tell you."
Palpatine stepped closer still maintaining a healthy distance from Buddy, "Wait you haven't told me how we are to achieve immortality. Nor have you told me exactly who you are!" Palpatine took a sharp breath, "Tell me now or—"
Bazaron cleared his throat cutting Palpatine off, "All in due time, Palpatine. All in due time." He laughed and went on. "I mustn't reveal all my secrets at once. Those who do wind up dead in our world, Palpatine. Surely you know that?"
"No, I don't," Palpatine drily replied. He went on with a sense of urgency, "What is our world? What does that mean?"
Bazaron motioned for Palpatine to follow him. They strolled through the gardens, shoulder to shoulder, "How about I make a deal with you, Palpatine?"
Palpatine nodded, "It depends on the nature of the deal."
Bazaron took a few moments to think before he told the curious Palpatine, "In exchange for you completing the mission I am about to task you...I will give you, my name." Bazaron continued when Palpatine appeared to be confused, "My true name..."
Palpatine took a moment to consider and turned to Bazaron, "Tell me what the mission is exactly then I may agree."
Bazaron hummed to himself, "This is not a negotiation, Palpatine. You complete the mission with unwavering obedience and then I will tell you my real name."
"How about you tell me your true name first and then I'll complete the mission with unwavering obedience? No further questions asked," Palpatine folded his arms as the duo came to an abrupt stop, "I would say that is a quite beneficial deal to you, wouldn't you say so?"
Internally Palpatine felt that bickering over a name was ridiculous, but he wanted to access Bazaron's knowledge. Palpatine sensed that accepting this bargain was necessary to get closer to Bazaron. Besides, if Bazaron believed that his name was so important than learning it could gain Palpatine some leverage over him.
"How do I know you'll keep up your end of the bargain, Palpatine?" Bazaron inquired.
Palpatine stated flatly, "I may not know exactly who or what you are. However, I can say with confidence that you are a dangerous man, Bazaron Formidas. I'm simply a lowly vineyard boy from Naboo. What chance do I have against you?" It was a fair question, however, as Palpatine was saying those words, he wasn't as helpless as he let on.
Palpatine had pressed a recording button that was embedded in his tracking device at the beginning of the negotiations on his HoloComm and had ensured that his location was being pinged to a direct line to his bodyguard, Nuvan Girris. He wasn't sure how much it would do in the end since he was at a disadvantage. His craving for power and his destructive curiosity hadn't eclipsed his concerns for personal safety.
"Fair enough," Bazaron agreed. He glanced down at Palpatine's tracker on his sleeve that was secretly recording their conversation, "I shall tell you my name after you dispose of your Holo devices."
Palpatine placed his his tracking device on a sleek table nearby. Palpatine followed Bazaron as they twisted and turned through the gardens. They stopped near a man-made stream. Flora sprouted from its depths but there was no aquatic life.
Bazaron almost whispered and drew in a deep breath, "My true name is..."
That feeling, the Force welled up within Palpatine's heart. A barrier was to be shattered between the two Force sensitive beings. Something was about to intertwine them that could never be pulled apart.
To one person a token of trust was to another a piece needed to end their life.
Two words marking the beginning of an inevitable downfall lingered in the air.
"...Darth Plagueis."
A moment of silence hung between them.
That's it? That's his name? How underwhelming. That's the name he was making an ostentatious deal about? Wait a minute, Darth? Darth, that sounds familiar. Isn't that...no, that's impossible.
Palpatine looked up at Bazaron now known as Darth Plagueis, "You're a Sith Lord? I thought you were jesting when you told your son this was a lair of a Sith? You weren't...lying?"
Plagueis replied, "While I choose to conceal some aspects of my personal life, I will never lie to him. Never."
"Aren't the Sith long dead? The Jedi say they've been gone for a millennium. How is it possible...that you're here? That you're a Sith," Palpatine wondered aloud.
Plagueis scoffed, "We've always been here. Unlike the Jedi we prefer to enjoy our riches privately. We are the puppet masters of the universe, always here but never publicly visible." Plagueis paused, "This is how it has been done for a millennium and it is how I personally like it to be done."
"You've never wanted to...look your inferiors in the eye? Order them around personally? You've never...craved that?" Palpatine was puzzled, in awe.
How peculiar that someone with so much power would prefer to never display that power. Why lurk in the shadows? A puppet master, yes, but not a feared and famous leader?
"That is how a Sith gets themselves killed. I have all I've ever wanted: riches, a loving family. And now I am on the quest to enjoy eternal life with my family, privately," Plagueis explained in a condensing tone.
What a limited scope...how can you ever truly enjoy power if you can never truly enforce it?
To watch as they kneel before you, their knees bleeding, eyes glistening with fear and yet still praising your name.
To have a crowd hang onto your every word and look upon you as if you're a living and breathing god.
Where's the fun in that?
Plagueis snapped his gloved fingers in Palpatine's distracted face. Palpatine came to back the present. Plagueis continued, "I will tell you much more once you return from your mission. And, perhaps...perhaps, I may take you on as my new apprentice. If you come back alive."
Palpatine restrained his excitement but nodded quickly. Become a Sith apprentice? Fark yeah!
"I humbly accept your generous offer," Palpatine gave the smallest bit of a bow with his head and then he asked. "What is the strategy, Darth Plagueis?"
Darth Plagueis continued walking and Palpatine returned to his left side once more.
Plagueis stated coolly, "The number one rule for this mission is to ensure that Buddy is fed. Or else he'll become very irritable, and he will compromise the mission." Plagueis looked at Palpatine, "Is that understood?"
"Understood."