Darth Plagueis

Hego Damask gazed upon Harnaidan with sulfuric eyes and pondered the Sith Lord waiting on him high above. He sensed her the moment his shuttle revered into the Muunilinst system. She blazed brighter than the twin suns of Tatooine. Fire and fury wrapped themselves tightly around the young Sith Lord. She was powerful—powerful enough to think of herself as 'the Dark Lord of the Sith'. He could sense her ambition and her desires. He nearly chuckled, sensing how she found slavery to be abominable. She even justified her feelings using the Sith Code and other doctrinal beliefs abandoned long before Darth Bane renewed the Sith with the Rule of Two.

Naturally, she had sensed him. From that moment, expectation and frustration welled within her as she was forced to wait. He found the feeling amusing. An understanding existed between them, despite having not met in any true fashion, that he would summon her in his time. What would become of her following that meeting remained dubious, even if he trended toward destroying her. Should this 'Darth Gladiolus' escape into the galaxy beyond, she could alert the Jedi Order to the continued presence of the Sith. Some—Grand Master Yoda, along with Masters Dooku and Qui-Gon—already knew a Sith Lord walked the galaxy. They had sensed the ascension of Darth Gladiolus to her Sith powers. They believed her to be far away, restrained on whichever backwater she should have been born and died on.

But he knew better. Soon, the problem would be dealt with.

He activated his holocomm, contacting a Muun up on High Port. He had been provided with an alias the woman had provided shortly after her landing; she used it again when she descended the skyhook on a visit to Harnaidan with some fool human spacer. He would be disposed of with time, should he know anything of the other Sith Lord's true nature.

"Send word to the 'Lady Edelweiss' that I am ready to speak with her."

"At once, Magister Damask."

Only once the holocomm deactivated did Darth Plagueis, Dark Lord of the Sith, allow himself the hint of a smile beneath his transpirator mask. Plans aplenty were in motion. Soon, the hope to stop them would be vanquished. For now, he would contend with destroying a minor threat to the final victory of the Sith.

Darth Gladiolus opened her eyes as Landren entered the central room of her suites. She retained the spacer's service following their trip down to Harnaidan on Muunilinst. Thinking of the world below reminded her of who she sensed days ago. Relief had coursed through her at first, followed by the slow welling of frustration. At least she had 'convinced' a port authority official to permit the Dearg Due official transit codes for Muunilinst proper. Should the worst come to pass during her confrontation with Darth Plagueis—he would not kill her, for she would not permit that fate—she would possess the means for her shuttle to pass through the defensive shields and atmosphere so she could beat a hasty, and frankly embarrassing, retreat. The thought of being repelled repulsed her, but she could not be so foolish as to believe her victory was guaranteed. She knew not the Muun's power in the dark side, nor his skill with a lightsaber. She presumed he would be a fierce opponent, perhaps even a true rival to her powers in the dark side.

But she could not guarantee victory. Not when she faced potentially dueling a Sith Lord with more knowledge, power, and experience than her.

Her bedroom door hissed open. Landren lingered on the threshold before stepping across. He smelled of a woody cologne that was almost pleasant to the senses. Unfortunately for him, it reminded Gladiolus enough of her past life to irritate her.

She sensed something else from him. Something more important. Something already known to her.

"He's summoned me, hasn't he?" she asked without turning to face him.

"It's disturbing how easily you know what I'm going to say."

"You're predictable. That, and I knew before they informed you." She turned to the spacer with a vicious grin. "Why, I knew almost the moment Damask—no, Plagueis—sent word to his contact here on High Port."

Landren swallowed, radiating unnecessary fear. "Must you use that name openly? You know every inch of this station is bugged."

"I want him to know that I know what he is. There's no point engaging in clandestine acts against a peer or a rival once a confrontation has been put into motion. Now, I can only rely on my power and how little he knows of me."

"…that sounds clandestine to me."

Gladiolus snorted as she turned her back to him once more. "Then our understanding of 'clandestine' is different, Landren." She rose from the meditation cushion she had been kneeling on and gathered her lightsaber, her cloak, and her gauntlets. It had been uncomfortable, meditating with her boots on, but the discomfort helped her concentrate her mind on the dark side of the Force. "As a Sith, 'clandestine' purely concerns masking one's nature and desires in the Force. We can sense each other at great distances, and at moments of weakness can know what the other intends."

"Have you considered that he wanted you to know about the summons?"

Gladiolus rolled her eyes. "I would be floored if he did not desire for me to know—and that is to my advantage. I know he intends harm toward me. How it will come about remains unknown for now, but he will not be able to keep that secret from me. Not for long."

"That does not fill me with confidence," Landren muttered.

The Sith Lord waved off the spacer's worries. "You should be preparing the Dearg Due. I want it ready before I depart Muunilinst." She started for the doorway where he still stood. "Oh, and don't dare stay aboard once you finish. I plan to continue on my way without your presence haunting my every step."

"I think it'd be safer to travel with you," Landren grumbled. "I don't need extra enemies."

Gladiolus ignored his complaint. She drew on her gauntlets and cloak before belting her lightsaber. She tossed up the hood, left her room, and crossed the main one. She sensed Landren follow, but he said nothing. She strolled through the corridors of High Port, heading not for the landing pad where the Dearg Due waited, but the skyhook terminal. While it would be safer to fly down, she wanted to toy with Plagueis. He would notice the absence of her ship and wonder what she planned. Perhaps he would believe her so arrogant she could oppose him without a backup plan.

It was true. She was arrogant. But she believed in her power. It would ensure her victory over her rival. His corpse would lie at her feet, just as the corpses of Dumbledore and Voldemort once rested before her.

Darth Gladiolus grinned viciously as she stalked the corridors of High Port, frightening the Muuns and any other who crossed her path. She minded them not, for another Sith Lord awaited her. He held her focus.

They would clash, and one would walk away alive.

A speeder car awaited Darth Gladiolus upon reaching the surface. A cold-faced human awaited her, eyes faintly dulled by the Force's influence. She felt Plagueis's power wrapped thickly around the man, warping his mind to the point he barely recognized what was and what was not real. It was pathetic. She suppressed her impulse to strike him down and free his wretched soul from servitude.

But that, unfortunately, would draw undue attention.

Gladiolus slipped into the back seat of the speeder car. She raised an eyebrow as the influenced man slipped into the pilot's seat. They then lifted off and joined the meager sky traffic across Harnaidan. The Sith Lord tapped a finger against her thigh as she watched speeders pass. Soon she would face Darth Plagueis. Those passing by now did not know the fate of the galaxy might be decided this day.

Her gaze wandered Harnaidan's skyline. She had found it repulsive on her first visit, and she found it more repulsive now. Still, it reminded her of images of ancient Rome, but also the Americans and their great governmental buildings. Everywhere stood temples to greed and power.

Her lip curled. She saw no strength in the Muun. She only gazed upon their weakness: an obsession with the wealth they believed would acquire protection against greater threats.

Threats like myself, the Sith Lord thought, unable to restrain her ego and arrogance. While Gladiolus understood danger waited before her, she could not help but judge Darth Plagueis—and thus the Sith of this galaxy—by the standard witnessed in the common Muun. Unless he had risen far above the natural traits of his people, he would prove to be a pushover.

That was what Gladiolus attempted to convince herself of as the speeder car continued to wherever Darth Plagueis awaited her. Earth's Sith Lord needed to believe in the ease of her victory over her potential rival. To believe anything else risked wasting all she had accomplished since her departure. It could be even worse—these Sith could learn the way to Earth and enslave her people.

Her hands clenched in her lap. Gladiolus would prevent that fate. Her people would not know the humiliation of enslavement or foreign domination. Whether from these other Sith or the Jedi, she would protect Earth from the dangers of the galaxy beyond their quaint dominion along the Orion Arm. She would safeguard her people. Their safeguarding began with destroying Darth Plagueis.

A sly smile reached her face. Darth Gladiolus would reveal the full extent of her power, and emerge victorious over her foes.

The speeder car stopped before a narrow landing pad near the top of a pinnacled skyscraper that dominated the northern outskirt of Harnaidan, nearest where the Plain of Harnaidan rose to meet the foothills of the Mornivane Mountains. Gladiolus glanced down as she stepped out of the car and onto the narrow landing pad before her. The distance to the small buildings close to the ground appeared to be miles away. She raised an eyebrow at the absurd distance, for she had not expected a perch of this height from a fellow Sith Lord when the Jedi otherwise dominated the galaxy.

Though now that I see his hiding place, I am unsurprised. I should have known he would seek a great height to perch upon, set aside from the other great towers supporting the skyhook from High Port. Gladiolus crossed the landing pad, the hem of her cloak rippling behind her as a cross breeze cut across the pad. It reminds all on Muunilinst of his power and influence.

And how would think to find a Sith Lord in such an obvious spot? He hides by casting an illusion so thick nobody but I can parse it.

She briefly entertained the idea of raising a tower of this grand height once returned to Earth before casting it aside. Her mind needed to focus on the present, not on potential futures. Gladiolus approached a glass door twice her height, edged with gold molded to emulate the great frescos of ancient works. She stopped before the door and waited to be properly greeted as her rank and title warranted.

Several tedious seconds passed before the door clicked. It then withdrew an inch before sliding aside silently. Gladiolus raised an impressed eyebrow. She had expected a slight hiss like with every automated door she had passed through during her time traveling through the galaxy.

She crossed the threshold. Her gaze wandered the room she entered. Nobody waited on her. Not even a droid. Gladiolus frowned as she stepped forward. Her boots echoed off shiny tiles checkered ebony black and ivory white. They guided her gaze to three separate passages. The walls, papered with rusty green copper and a few mirrors framed by gold, provided no guidance concerning where Plagueis waited.

And so Gladiolus closed her eyes and reached out with the Force.

Immediately she knew which path to take. Darth Plagueis blazed bright in the Force, revealing himself to her. She shuddered feeling his power. Her mind flashed back to when she had been Edelweiss Potter and the foolish times she walked into danger: Quirrell, playing host to Voldemort, and the Philosopher's Stone; Tom Riddle and the Chamber of Secrets, where a basilisk lurked; her journey back through time to rescue Sirius from werewolves, dementors, and the Ministry; even the Triwizard Tournament, meant for witches and wizards older than her.

And yet she emerged from those trials alive. Where she could have died, she instead thrived. Edelweiss Potter bloomed into Darth Gladiolus. And just as that last form of myself became who I am now, I must ascend above the threat of Darth Plagueis. If I am to conquer the galaxy, then I must cast down him and his apprentice.

Confidence swelled in her chest. Though misplaced, Gladiolus clung jealously to it. Without it, her courage would fail her. And with that, it would not matter how much power Darth Gladiolus had acquired. She would falter and she would perish at her rival's hand.

"Here I come," she murmured aloud as she entered the left-hand corridor. Every step clicked loudly. Gladiolus gazed ahead, cloak trailing behind her. And as she neared her foe, a hand drifted toward her lightsaber.

Darth Plagueis kept his back to the door when it hissed open. He had finished calculating the value and danger posed by the miscreant Sith Lord during her commute across Harnaidan. Beginning now, her survival relied solely on her utility to him. Yes, there was the Great Plan put into motion by Darth Bane a thousand years ago. But he had chosen to depart from its strict structures—and her appearance helped justify that choice. Still, she remained an anomaly. His attempts to divine more about her had been thwarted. It was as though a shroud of secrecy had stitched itself into her skin, seeping out into the Force.

He sensed her pause right before the threshold. A moment passed, and then she stepped forward. The doors hissed open, and she entered with clicking steps. Her gaze rested on the back of his seat, which rose high enough to cover his lanky frame from her burning gaze. Plagueis appreciated the strength and speed he possessed as a Muun, especially when augmented by the Force. Many—humans especially—assumed his shape and structure meant he was weaker or clumsier than him. He permitted their ignorance, for it made his work easier.

"So you are Darth Plagueis," the woman drawled. She sounded like any human from the Core. Yet something about her accent revealed to the Muun Sith Lord this human Sith Lord came from elsewhere in the cosmos. "I had believed you would show me more courtesy. But then why bother when you've already decided you will likely try to kill me this day."

Plagueis pressed a button on his right armrest. His chair spun and he came face to face with the new Sith Lord. She was young and slight compared to his apprentice. But her eyes blazed bright with the dark side's influence and her face bore markings he knew from studying the ancient histories of the Sith. She wore black, though he spotted hints of metal around the hands and feet, along with at her waist.

This Sith Lord arrived knowing they would cross blades.

"Welcome, Lord Gladiolus. Your survival hangs by a thread. It depends on the use I can extract from you."

She snorted. "We both know I will not surrender myself to your desires. Spare me the false pleasantries." Darth Gladiolus swept back her cloak, revealing the lightsaber at her hip. Her upper arms were exposed, revealing streaking black across her pale white flesh. "So, will we begin now, or will you further waste my time? I can appreciate your desire to extend your life." Her gaze lingered on his transpirator mask. "Already you take efforts to avoid death."

"I am the product of a thousand years of preparations and plotting, Lord Gladiolus. I will seize every chance to prolong my life and thus see my purpose fulfilled."

"You speak of destroying the Jedi and their Republic, don't you?"

Plagueis smiled behind his mask. "You are more perceptive than I expected."

She raised an eyebrow. When he did not respond, she continued: "It is only obvious. The Sith, extinct? I knew it could not be true when I first heard the tale. The logical conclusion was that the Sith changed their methods. They evolved to achieve their aims. The goal of dominating the galaxy remains. But instead of war and conquest, you instead seek to undermine and turn the people of the Republic against their very defenders."

"So you understand. Good. Though you would be useful toward our aims, the Sith renewed itself with Darth Bane—"

"Following the Seventh Battle of Ruusan," Darth Gladiolus said with a roll of her eyes. "I learned of that battle and its outcome. I thought it curious that the Sith went extinct as a result of that battle, despite sensing a remnant of them in the galaxy. That explains the 'how'."

"Yet I have not explained it all," Darth Plagueis said. The other Sith Lord shifted into a curious posture. Despite her talk, the girl desired answers too much to strike him down now. She coveted his knowledge and power, just like his apprentice. "Darth Bane imposed the Rule of Two. It is how we have managed to escape the notice of the Jedi and prevent the infighting that had doomed the Sith in the past."

"So only a master and apprentice, yes? That… That makes sense." She then smiled crookedly. "I had attempted to train three apprentices before I ventured from my world. I had wondered why it failed so… spectacularly. I had presumed that their natures were unreliable for becoming Sith. But your explanation answers other questions I've had."

"Few are like us, Lord Gladiolus. Few are willing to sacrifice everything for power."

She hummed and nodded. "I guess that is true. Though I must confess that I find your idea of a master and apprentice… appealing, even if it limits the growth of our order."

"That very growth dilutes our power and exposes us to dangers beyond our control. The Jedi must not know we remain. Not until it is too late."

Lord Gladiolus hummed thoughtfully. "Is that why you developed connections across both the Senate and within the Jedi Order? Or could it be that one of their number—a senator, should you make me guess—is your apprentice."

"And why would you believe that?"

"Call it a… hunch," she said, smirking harshly. "Though if he is a senator, then you are one step closer to destroying the Jedi and their Republic." Gladiolus then shrugged and held up her hands in a fashion that confused Plagueis. Her emotions were utterly cut off to him. "Were I in your position, I would seek someone bound for politics as well. Claim the most powerful post, and all it would take is one convenient crisis to destroy the Jedi."

Darth Plagueis tried to not flinch at the other Sith Lord's words. She leaned forward, a knowing gleam in her familiar sulfuric eyes. His eyes looked the same whenever his grasp on the dark side threatened to consume him. To see it so honestly in another Sith Lord astonished him—and made him jealous of her. She did not feel the need to mask all that she was. She lived as a Sith Lord, and she would die as a Sith Lord, with power in her veins and a lightsaber in her hand.

He thought of how he murdered his master. He thought of what his apprentice might attempt. Sidious possessed the ability and means to eliminate Plagueis should the chance present itself. The assumption his apprentice was not ready to eliminate him was folly of the highest degree.

He resisted the temptation to draw Darth Gladiolus into the fold. She was a threat to the Great Plan, and that was more important than thwarting his apprentice's plotting. Exposing themselves to the Jedi could not occur until a time at which it mattered not concerning the destruction of the Jedi and their Republic.

Her execution would come about by his hand, despite it being a waste of a talented pawn in the unending war against the Jedi.

Darth Gladiolus sensed the moment Darth Plagueis decided she would die. She remained calm and collected, pretending she remained unaware of his feelings. Soon he would lash out, and she wished to be prepared for however he would strike. Would he leap across his desk and duel her with lightsabers? Or would he attempt to use his strength in the Force to destroy her?

Whichever option he chose, she would be ready.

"I would be concerned if you did not see the wisdom in recruiting a politician to our cause," Darth Plagueis said, still pretending as though they could be allies. "Perhaps I worried unnecessarily about you, Lord Gladiolus."

"I cannot fault you for being worried about me, Lord Plagueis," she replied with a false simper. "We Sith Lords must stand together if we are to destroy the Jedi."

He nodded, yet she sensed the disgust in his heart. Her mere presence repulsed him now, which ignored how he once considered her valuable enough to be kept alive—for his use.

"That we must," Plagueis said. "I wonder… I wonder…" He rose to his feet. "Would you care to witness my work, Lord Gladiolus? I wonder what you shall think of my work with midi-chlorians and their influence on life."

Gladiolus shivered as she considered the offer. While learning more about the means and methods this Sith Lord used to further enshrine his power would benefit her, it reeked of a trap. She had every reason to suspect he would guide her into destruction.

Yet revealing she knew would spring his trap. Prematurely, yes, but Plagueis would still hold the advantage. He would attack her in his laboratory or he would attack her in his office. Based on what she sensed from Darth Plagueis, his options would be limited by entering his laboratory. It could be a deception, but Gladiolus believed she could turn any trick of his. And she should learn more about these new Sith and all they had preserved and relearned.

Judging from the mask he wears, he's closer to the grave than he'd ever admit. A shame he'll perish soon. But… but I will try to seize what knowledge I can from him before his end.

"I appreciate the offer. Please lead the way to your laboratory, Lord Plagueis."

He stepped toward her, towering more than other Muuns. They were an elongated race, likely possessing strength not apparent upon gazing at their peculiar structuring. Plagueis in particular struck her as having tremendous physical strength. Certainly, he possessed enough to overcome her without accounting for their strength in the Force. Her frustration and fury rose with the realization. Her hopes of defeating him increasingly relied upon the Force, and she did not know if her strength and power would be enough to overcome the other Sith Lord.

I must believe it, else he destroy me.

"Then follow me," said Darth Plagueis. He waved her toward a massive pillar crafted from a dark grey stone. He used his other hand to push it aside. Gladiolus approached him with slow, small steps. She reached out with her senses, searching for the moment of betrayal. Nothing leaped out at her. But then Darth Plagueis masked his feelings better now that they were heading for his laboratory.

The Sith Lords entered the secret turbolift. Gladiolus maintained some distance between them while resting a hand on her lightsaber. Plagueis paid her no heed. He acted as though he were alone. With a wave of his hand, they were on their way, descending through the massive looming tower.

"You do not need to be so worried, Lord Gladiolus," Plagueis said. "When I destroy you, you will know. I do not need subterfuge to eliminate you."

She smiled wryly. "Thank you for the courtesy."

The Muun Sith Lord nodded. He then returned to ignoring her presence.

Gladiolus studied him throughout their descent. She suspected they passed beneath the surface of Harnaidan, though the elevator failed to prove an alert. The turbolift did not display which floors they already passed during their swift yet long descent. And interestingly, her sense of Harnaidan beyond Plagueis's tower went hazy. It was as though the presence of the Muun Sith Lord muted her powers.

She shot him a suspicious glance. Could he affect her so? It could be possible; dark side energies had grown thick enough around Coruscant that the Jedi had lost their capacity to sense dark side users around them. How else could two Sith Lords flutter around Coruscant?

I should learn how they mask their true nature. If Lord Plagueis's apprentice is truly a senator, then he must've mastered how to hide from the Jedi in the Force. His master can only be detected when he desires it—and so the apprentice must be the same.

And I… I desire it. Will Plagueis accept an offer to teach me? He can only kill me for my daring to demand power from him.

"The way you mask your presence is quite impressive, Lord Plagueis," Gladiolus said. He glanced at her. Confusion rippled out from him. "I had wondered how you fooled and duped Jedi after Jedi. But I understand now. Your power outmatches theirs. Yet can it outmatch mi—"

"We both know only one of us will step away from this encounter alive, Lord Gladiolus," drawled Plagueis. "Why seek my knowledge and power?"

"Because you are a Sith Lord descended through a thousand years of masters and apprentices, Lord Plagueis. How can one predict what knowledge will be lost when you inevitably die? You are welcome to try and escape death. Perhaps your student will succeed. Perhaps he won't. But I have already killed an immortal. To kill another would be child's play, regardless of the source of his power."

Gladiolus sensed Plagueis's interest. Just as she coveted some of his knowledge, he coveted some of hers. She smirked. Oh, is he truly that simple to influence? What fools these Sith have become—presuming my suspicions are true.

"Perhaps… I could teach you how I destroyed the tools of immortality. I used the wisdom of Naga Sadow to sow the seeds of his destruction."

"A holocron of Naga Sadow?" Darth Plagues almost sounded breathless. "Do you truly possess one?"

"Along with many more," Gladiolus confirmed. "There are some Sith Lords I only know of, for I do not possess their holocrons. Others have told me of them; from the ancient past and the glory days of the Sith, and even the ages of Darth Revan and the Sith Emperor who nearly conquered the Republic twice, and many, many more."

She sensed Plagueis's want, his desire for knowledge and understanding. He coveted the holocrons she possessed. Amusingly, his decision to kill her faltered. It did not vanish entirely, but Gladiolus knew that if the path to claiming those holocrons relied on not killing her, he would accept it grudgingly.

He would still kill her for them once he knew where she stashed them. Gladiolus knew a Sith Lord of his age would have learned wisdom and patience, especially given the peculiar nature of his particular line.

The turbolift stopped suddenly. The doors hissed open. Gladiolus stepped out on impulse. She realized what she had done, and then stepped aside. She waited on Darth Plagueis, watching the Muun Sith Lord carefully as he stepped out. He considered her briefly before guiding her down a long, undecorated corridor.

"We are almost a full kilometer beneath the surface of Harnaidan," he said proudly. "Once this tunnel was meant for escape, should enemies of the Damask Clan manage to engage us in warfare."

"And now it serves the needs of the Sith," Gladiolus remarked, her gaze wandering. They passed a few doors, all sealed tight. She briefly wondered if any remained in use.

"My purposes, primarily, but yes," said Darth Plagueis. "However, this is not what you are interested in. That is ahead of us."

Gladiolus raised an eyebrow but garnered no response from the Muun. He picked up his pace, forcing her to hurry along. Eventually, they neared the end of the corridor. A black door waited for them, nondescript beyond its position. A red scanning wave shot from a small device at the doorway's apex, passing first over Plagueis and then over her. Whatever it detected proved enough for the security system, for the doors hissed open without issue.

They entered a large chamber with several consoles and a pair of large tubes filled with strange liquids and organic material. Gladiolus's gaze wandered the chamber, seeking to make sense of everything she saw. Her senses told her little about his experiments beyond his meddling with the Force and midi-chlorians, the strange microbes that made Force-sensitivity possible.

It was fascinating.

It was horrifying.

Her skin crawled as a wretched, nauseous feeling swelled within her. Never had Gladiolus thought to defy the nature of life so. That degree of abomination had been the purview of Voldemort, the false dark lord she deposed to claim her title.

In that moment, understanding flooded her. Had Voldemort been a Sith, he would have been like Plagueis. Both were dark lords, well-versed and practiced in their distinct fields. Each coveted immortality, though only one had found a means to achieve it, if temporarily.

Yet a clear distinction between them filled her mind. Where she became a Sith to destroy Voldemort, Gladiolus had no special means to overcome Plagueis. Not when she was so far from home without anything magical to grant her extra power to counter his superiority in Sith knowledge.

My arrogance led me to think I could cast aside the witch I was born as. I should have taken those lessons seriously while I learned the Force. Why, I never troubled with Sith sorcery after I destroyed Lovegood.

How… foolish of me.

Gladiolus scanned the chamber before telling Plagueis, "What a fascinating laboratory," while trying to sound normal. She detected nothing abnormal in her voice, yet the other Sith Lord regarded her with renewed suspicion. "Tell me more about your work with midi-chlorians. I sense that you have harnessed them beyond their normal abilities…"

"I pursue immortality, Lord Gladiolus. I hope everything you know can aid me where my experiments have… gone astray."

She considered him warily. Should he know how to fashion a soul jar as Voldemort possessed, he could become indestructible. Unlike the magical dark lord she overcame, Plagueis's soul jars would not be exposed to dark side energies. He would guard against her power in the dark side, thus forcing her to find other solutions.

And that, annoyingly and frankly, meant magic. Earthly, witchy magic.

"And what have you achieved?" she asked, drawing her cloak around her body. Let him think her disarmed despite recognizing his cunning. "I cannot provide guidance without understanding what you have and have not done."

Lord Plagueis nodded. He then began to explain his efforts, methodical and scientific in his language. Half of what he said went over her head, though Gladiolus grasped enough to understand the basics: Plagueis had used a combination of the dark side and the natural tendency of midi-chlorians to promote life to affect and influence it. He had even caused a ripple through the Force, one he was convinced had led to a child being born without a father.

"The Chosen One," Plagueis said of the child. "He will be the key to our revenge. He will replace my current apprentice."

Gladiolus hummed. She wondered what this child was like. She had a feeling that Plagueis knew little of him; it was though the child—a boy, Plagueis was already convinced—lived beyond his grasp. She grappled with the temptation to question the Muun about the child. She knew that should she have her chance, she would seek the boy out and steal him away. She would not allow one with such powerful potential in the Force—enough to destroy the Jedi—to slip through her grasp. Not when she could claim him and protect him from her original destiny: to be fashioned into a weapon for foolish old men.

"He will emerge with time," Plagueis said, seeming to know some of what Gladiolus thought. "I know where the child is. He can be retrieved at my leisure. He is the final key for the domination of the Sith."

A lie. He knows not where the child is, yet Plagueis still believes he can use this mystery child. Him or his apprentice.

So Darth Plagueis is truly the 'master' as dictated by Darth Bane. How bothersome.

While Gladiolus knew she could expose Plagueis's lies, she knew the Sith Lord would humor her presence longer if she did not question him. Given the way he watched her, she knew her suspicion was valid. They would eventually clash. But the longer she dragged out their conversation, the more she learned about these new Sith—and so she could increase her odds to destroy them. They, like the Jedi, were her enemies.

"…so you have realized it, Lord Gladiolus," drawled Darth Plagueis. She stared at the Muun from the corner of her eye. "We are enemies, though I still see utility within you. I will strip the secrets of immortality from you before I end your life."

"Then I won't give it to you."

Lightning filled the crowded air of the laboratory. Gladiolus dove under the blast of Force lightning and rolled along the smooth floor. She slammed her right hand toward Darth Plagueis, who still stood with a hand stretched toward where she had been. Her Force magic flashed between them, a wave of green putrid death. Plagueis dove out of its way and shot another blast of Force lightning her way. Instead of dodging, she raised a hand and caught the blast in the palm. She grimaced and dug deep within, searching for what she had learned of tutaminis. Once she had listened to Darth Malgus grouch about how the Jedi Satele Shan used that skill to stop his lightsaber from claiming her life.

Now, she used it to absorb the power of Darth Plagueis's Force lightning. It left her breathless and lightheaded; the excessive flow of power within her simmered in her veins and crackled in her bones.

"Not bad," drawled Darth Plagueis. "That burst of green power… I sensed witchcraft and the dark side in there."

Gladiolus bared her teeth. "Aye. A useful blend of the power I was born to and the power I adopted to achieve my ends." She raised both hands, reaching deep for the power that bloomed into green death. "I will destroy you with it, Lord Plagueis. And then I will hunt down your human apprentice. I only need to comb the record of human senators to find him. His face has been revealed to me through the Force. Just as I knew you are Hego Damask, Plagueis.

"And once I have finished my hunt, your apprentice shall be dead—and the Senate weakened. I shall be the one to cast down the Jedi and their Republic, left to rot away in forgotten, ignored histories!

"I need not follow whatever plan you have devised, Lord Plagueis. I must only continue seizing power—and victory."

He laughed. "You? Destroy me?"

In the blink of an eye, he crossed the distance between them, lightsaber in hand. Gladiolus backpedaled and summoned her lightsaber to her hand as the familiar snap-hiss filled the room. She activated her weapon before Plagueis could bring his down upon her. She squatted slightly as she caught the heavy blow with a high guard. His eyes widened slightly.

"I'm full of surprises," she said in mockery. "You'll just need to discover them."

With a harsh grunt, she forced him several yards back. She panted, for most of the energy she absorbed had been poured into the repulsive shove. Gladiolus withdrew a few steps before raising her weapon in a high guard once again. She waited on Plagueis to attack—their surroundings were poor for standard Ataru katas. An open area like the landing pad above or even his office would have been more ideal for her style of fighting. Those spaces would have provided her with more opportunities to pierce his guard and strike him down.

"Will you not attack? Or are you content to hide behind a cowardly guard?" taunted Plagueis as he shifted into a cross-body guard.

Gladiolus hummed low in her throat. She stepped forward, lowering her lightsaber. Her left hand, left free, rose. She then directed her fingers toward his forward leg.

Plagueis's blade shifted to defend both leg and torso.

Seconds passed as they stood, waiting for the other to strike first. Both anticipated the coming clash, but neither wanted to initiate. That would place leave exposed to a counter-attack maintained the initiative.

Best I—

A slightly mechanical voice suddenly filled the laboratory. "Magister Damask. A Zabrak with the appropriate codes has requested landing. Should he be permitted?"

Plagueis sneered. "No. Inform him Lord Gladiolus fled and has departed the system already."

"Understood, magister."

Gladiolus raised an eyebrow as the comm cut out. "A Zabrak? You must know him… So is he your pawn or your apprentice's?"

"My apprentice's. Maul will never amount to anything more than a pawn."

She hummed. "Then shall we—"

The Muun suddenly appeared before her. He unleashed a barrage of strikes, forcing her instantly onto the defensive. She grimaced; her arms ached from the effort to keep pace. His speed just outpaced her, enough that he easily controlled the tempo of their duel. Only her ability to anticipate his blows prevented her death. Gladiolus understood that with a single error, Plagueis would separate a limb from her body or her head from her shoulders.

"You are not as strong as I hoped, Lord Gladiolus," Plagueis taunted. "I expected better from you."

"Sorry to disappoint," she snarled. Gladiolus lunged back a few steps, escaping Plagueis's immediate range. "But I still possess enough strength to defeat you. Especially since you sent away the one who could have turned the tables completely in your favor."

She sensed the flare of insult within the Muun. He roared and brought his lightsaber back for a severe overhead blow. Gladiolus waited until he committed to the attack before diving beneath his legs, rolling through as she delivered shallow slaps to the back of his knees with her blade. She shot to her feet, Force lightning flying from an outstretched hand into her foe's back. The blast struck. But it failed to knock Plagueis from his feet. The other Sith Lord stiffened, held in place by the electricity flowing through him.

Gladiolus grinned widely as she stepped forward, lightsaber readied. She was about to win. She was about to win!

White gas suddenly poured into the chamber. Gladiolus sniffed the air and hissed. Poison was her first thought. She sniffed again and sensed a strange toxin entering the laboratory. It would not affect Plagueis thanks to his mask.

But she was exposed to the gas.

Her mind flashed back to her previous life. During the Triwizard Tournament, that disastrous event responsible for Edelweiss Potter embracing her fate as Darth Gladiolus, two of her opponents used a spell to cast a bubble around their heads, thus permitting them to breathe underwater. She suspected with a mix of the Force and her latent, mismanaged magical power that she might manage to create a similar bubble.

She grasped the image from that other life tightly in her mind and waved a hand around her head. A clear film formed, but some gas reached her before it could seal. Gladiolus drew in a quick, rushed breath and then focused her mind on blocking what toxin managed to pass through her defense as she returned her lightsaber to her hip.

Plagueis watched her closely, eyes burning with malevolence. The pain she delivered upon him provided strength. Gladiolus stumbled under the full weight of his gaze. She suddenly understood how others felt under her gaze.

It chilled her to the bone.

She permitted her stumbling to guide her away from the other Sith Lord. She sensed the toxin within her body as it struggled to gain a foothold. Something blocked it from claiming her as it should.

Gladiolus worked her way toward the door they entered through. She heard a voice, vague and taunting, behind her. It drew close, but never so close as to be an immediate threat.

Plagueis, she thought in a moment of striking clarity. He is playing with me now, despite the wounds I gave him. I failed to succumb to that toxin gas as he hoped, so he stays nearby ensuring he can sweep me up once it manages to drive me unconscious.

And yet, Gladiolus did not find herself drifting toward unconsciousness. Her connection to the Force grew stronger as frustration and anger flowed through her. She had been duped by the simplest of tricks: honesty. It had nearly brought about her destruction.

Yet she persisted. She had not fallen, despite efforts to the contrary.

Darth Gladiolus, Dark Lord of the Sith, still lived.

She tumbled through the doorway, rolled several feet along the cold durasteel floor, and then popped up into a kneeling stance. She grasped every shred of power in the Force and slammed said power into Darth Plagueis, who loomed in the laboratory doorway. Miraculously, she took him by surprise just enough to crush his defenses and send him tumbling back.

Breathing heavily, she sprung to her feet and dashed down the corridor, the Force flowing through her like whitewater rapids. The corridor blurred until she reached the turbolift.

The doors did not automatically open.

"Shite!" she hissed. Gladiolus peered over her shoulder. Plagueis limped her way, knowing he possessed the luxury of time. It was on his side; he had no cause to rush. All required of him was to reach her before she could manage a miraculous escape.

Gladiolus turned back to the turbolift doors. She stepped back, breathed out slowly, and then reached out with the Force. Her teeth clenched together as she forced the turbolift doors open. She leaped into the chasm without looking up or back. She caught the far wall—and heard a screeching sound above.

She let go before glancing up. The turbolift car descended swiftly, sparks flying from where it ground against the elevator chasm. She slammed a pulse through the Force, accelerating her while briefly slowing the turbolift. It would soon accelerate again. But by the time it could threaten her again, she would manage her escape somehow.

Gladiolus softly landed on the bottom of the turbolift shaft. She sensed the turbolift above, racing downward. She grasped the Force, sensing for where to carve through the floor. Her lightsaber slammed into her hand the moment she knew where to cut.

By the time the turbolift crashed into the chasm's bottom, Darth Gladiolus had escaped into a thick pipe below. She grimaced as sewage seeped into her clothes and boots. But she still sensed Plagueis near enough to press on. He rippled power toward her, knowing what she sensed would delay a future attempt on her part to fight him.

One day, I'll have the power required. Until then…

Gladiolus followed where she felt a breeze, the Force filling her with speed. She followed the sewer line away, all while promising retribution against the legacy of Bane.

Plagueis stared down the turbolift shaft. He sensed that insect Gladiolus as she made her escape. He waited several seconds before peering up the shaft. Despite his command, Sidious's assassin had landed atop the building. Tempted to destroy the foolish Zabrak, Plagueis considered summoning another turbolift. The lowest levels would be inaccessible until that specific maintenance crew could be brought in. Yes, he could use the Force to open the way. But Gladiolus had already created enough distance it would waste his time to hunt her down.

Instead, he permitted her to flee. A pawn should chase her.

Sidious will not appreciate having his assassin hunt Darth Gladiolus. But he no longer has a choice in the matter. He was a fool to involve the Zabrak. I will remind him that all Sith bend to my will.

He turned from the shaft and limped back into his laboratory. His work must continue, and Maul required orders.