"An announcement for all able Jedi: our adored retired Jedi Master Denth Cruz has been killed by an unknown poisonous monster in his sick room. All Jedi guards are to be dispatched immediately at all entrances and exits. The Jedi Temple's perimeter will be secured until the intruder is found. All Jedi remain alert and report or address any suspicious activity." The PA echoed through all the nooks and crannies of the Grand Jedi Temple.
"Was that you, Buddy?" Palpatine whispered to his cloak pocket where Buddy shifted, hissing a disgruntled reply. Palpatine took in a breath and asked, "So is that a yes?" Buddy hissed again. "Well even though you were ravenous, that doesn't mean you go kill a senile Jedi Master and eat him!"
A middle-aged woman with a slim build and a stone-cold face seamlessly stepped from behind a bookcase. "Young Jedi," she said. At first Palpatine didn't register her greeting then he turned. She raised her eyebrows at him, "Loitering is prohibited in the Jedi Archives. Either direct your interest towards our vast knowledge of the galaxy, or you may leave. Now." The name Jocasta Nu was engraved on the hilt of her lightsaber. It hung loosely at her belt.
Palpatine would have laughed any other time at being rebuked by a tiny hag. However, tonight he was more worried about being caught. He hoped his face was concealed. "My apologies, Master Jocasta Nu but I was wondering where the Varotu artifacts are held?"
Jocasta Nu scoffed, "Well, young Jedi…" she pointed her finger at a sign. "…as you can read, the sign clearly says Artifacts that way."
Palpatine nodded, restraining his frustration. "Thank you." He made sure Buddy was stuffed in his coat pocket before he swept by her.
"However, I am afraid that any…dubious artifacts are off limits to anyone besides a Jedi Master." Jocasta Nu countered. "Are you a Jedi Master?" she arched her eyebrow with great doubt.
Palpatine restrained a scoff. "No, I am not one," he responded. He knew if he lied then she might expose him and anyways, he had a better idea. Jocasta Nu nodded her head and walked away.
Palpatine's eyes darted around the premises. It was quiet, only a dozen or so Jedi quietly perused the Archives. He withdrew Buddy from his pocket and set it on the floor. Buddy instantly sprouted its legs and reared its monstrous head.
Palpatine drew from his knapsack a container of Dyru, an incredibly flammable sticky liquid. He bent down, snapping open a compartment in Buddy's durosteel armor. Buddy hissed and scuttled back. Palpatine sighed deeply. "Do you want to be destructive or not?"
Buddy perked up. It hissed approvingly.
"Good." Palpatine placed the Dyru container in Buddy's compartment. Palpatine told it concisely, "Now, disperse this on the ceiling and the ground floor. Be subtle."
Buddy hiss-cackled before scuttling up the wall and away. Palpatine's gaze shifted towards the scattered Jedi who were either examining a HoloCron or had their eyes glued to a HoloScreen. Palpatine had to keep their attention away from Buddy.
In one swift motion he simply knocked over a bookshelf at the far side of the room. Thud! Almost instantaneously all the Jedi in the room turned to the sound. Jocasta Nu had already appeared at the scene of the crime. A bewildered Nautolan padawan who had been standing nearby to the bookshelf stared at Jocasta Nu helplessly.
Jocasta Nu demanded, her voice echoing throughout the Archives. "What kind of joke is this? These are valuable HoloCrons! They have existed longer than you have, and I intend to keep it that way!"
Palpatine glanced at Buddy who had reached the first floor. It scuttled around inconspicuously from table to table, spreading the Dyru upon the carpeted floor. Buddy moved rapidly and efficiently.
The accused padawan told her in a small voice that echoed across the room. "Master Nu. I swear! I didn't do this!"
"Then how do you supposed it happened, then, Lori Dreytila?" Jocasta Nu told Dreytila in a cool voice.
Buddy scampered to Palpatine's side. Palpatine praised it in a dry voice. "Excellent work, Buddy." His gaze shifted from the distracted Jedi to Jocasta Nu to the accused padawan to Buddy to the Artifacts sign, and then to his hand. "Now…" he trailed off.
Palpatine outstretched his hand. He let a quick burst of darkness flow through his body and to his fingertips. Palpatine considered a candle on a nearby desk but shook his head. It wasn't…melodramatic enough.
A maintenance droid was tending to a loose grand chandelier at the center of the Archives. His gaze settled on it, and he outstretched his hand.
Palpatine closed his eyes, to imagine and to cause. Within the void, his hand grasped the cool ancient Jedi gold of the chandelier. He felt the warmth from its candles. The screws coming loose. His eyes snapped open just as the chandelier came crashing down.
And the archives went aflame.
Well, not exactly all at once. The Dyru helped the flames take hold of the carpeted first floor. Then the flames grew larger and rose. The wood ceiling covered in sticky Dyru caught fire as well. The trim along the walls went with it. Mass chaos erupted and Palpatine calculated he had only a single minute of distraction before help was to arrive.
In one smooth motion Palpatine snatched Buddy up, pocketed him, and hurried past the flames.
The Artifacts sign was crumbling, the arrow's ink melted away. Palpatine darted off in the direction the arrow had pointed. Palpatine wanted to look back at the marvelous work he had done on the Jedi Archives but resisted. A moment wasted was a moment closer to comprising the mission.
Palpatine dodged a burning wood plank as he wretched open the door leading to the Artifacts room. A small circular room awaited him.
Little trinkets were scattered about the small room. Amatuer, a small, minded trick.
Palpatine picked up a few of the worthless trinkets. No energy, light or dark emitted from them. They were simply there to deter any nosy non-Jedi Masters from venturing further. The true artifacts are in the depths…does this room even lead there?
Palpatine came to stop before a nondescript plaque on the wall. It read: What is the greatest teacher? Underneath the question it read: Success or failure?
Ah, here it is. It must be a password to enter. Hm…success is the greatest teacher. It teaches you how to win. Failure…well, those who fail simply fail. There is nothing to be taught except to give in. It must be success.
Palpatine spoke aloud. "Success is the greatest teacher."
The plaque lit up in a faint yellow. Its words changed: Incorrect. You may attempt again in 365 rotations.
Palpatine scowled. In his mind's eye he pictured the plaque being ripped off the wall. He clenched his fist bringing the image into sharp detail and focus. Palpatine opened his eyes to see the plaque shudder as it hit the stone beneath his feet. The entrance behind it beckoned him, darkness lay beyond.
Palpatine entered and descended the staircase leading into the depths of the Jedi Archives. Buddy jumped out of his pocket as they proceeded down the staircase. The air around him grew icy cold as the spiral staircase twisted into the basement of the Jedi Temple. Even though it was freezing and impossibly dark, it felt…strangely familiar.
Palpatine almost slipped on a slanted step. The steps of the staircase were sharp, dipping, and rising. Even the railing twisted at odd angles denying its purpose of safety. The floor below seemed to ungulate with sealike ripples. Like waves it was irregular, tilting and lifting. Palpatine was no mathematician, but he knew that the geometry of the entire place was wrong, erratic.
As he reached the bottom of the stairs the floor tilted, setting him off balance. He grasped onto the odd railing for support. Buddy slid into Palpatine's ankle making him wince.
Palpatine stared around the hall bewildered only to become even more baffled. Despite the darkness there were blinding white lights above. Even then this place defied the laws of light, of the natural world. The darkness was so strong in this place that no light penetrated its strong barrier.
The darkness of this shrine and the light of the temple above balanced each other. Like a candle flickers with great brightness, a great shadow followed spreading great darkness.
Palpatine almost shrieked as something slimy snaked past his ankle. Buddy hiss-squeaked at the sound of the sudden slimy thing zipping past. Palpatine tried to squint through the darkness to see it, but it was long gone.
"Keep alert, Buddy." Palpatine advised the cyborg as he kept an eye out for the slimy thing in case it reappeared.
Buddy hissed an affirmative. They stepped into the great dark hall that seemed to stretch endlessly in both directions. The ground tilted right and left to the rhythm of a human heart. Palpatine's own heart started to race as he took cautious steps further into the darkness.
Palpatine took a step out to the hall. As far as the eye could see, all the objects lit up in harsh hues of crimson. Then all at once the crimson lights winked out and there was darkness once more.
A shiver went down Palpatine's spin. No, do not be afraid. These are artifacts of Plagueis' past. Surely…nothing terrible will happen.
Palpatine blended in with the darkness, he let his feelings freely flow. His full power at his fingertips. He whipped around as he sensed a burst of disgustingness, of the light.
Amongst the rows behind him, a shadow stood a hundred meters away pouring over artifacts. They held a lamp high over their head, a light in the vast void of darkness. Palpatine suspected who it was but kept silent.
He crouched down alongside Buddy behind a table with a charred skull in a glass box, its jaw opened and closed ever so slightly, whispering terrible secrets of its past. Palpatine ignored its jabbering.
That same voice that had been calling out to him for the past few days, spoke again. But this time it wasn't simply three words, it was much more:
"I knew you would come. Millennia after millennia have waited for one like you. Devoted disciple of the Dark Side, prove to me you have what it takes to be worthy of my power!"