Next chapter, hope you enjoy!
---
Palpatine sighed as he settled back into his chair. The day had been long and the nuances of politics stifling. Senator Amidala had been a thorn in his side as usual and interceded between a growing conflict between the Mandalorians and the Epikonia based upon the blockade on trade through the Hydian-way due to Separatist movements in the region.
The entire controversy had been an effort on his part, a delicately laid plan to ensure that supplies in the trade route were scarce for the period of a month or two. During that time his apprentice, Darth Tyrannus, would conquer the systems around Mandalore and ultimately prepare to annex the ancient system of warriors.
Beskar was a necessity for his future plans and his apprentice owning those resources would allow for him to surreptitiously continue construction of his 'Death Star' and the technology needed for such a superweapon. As with all plans however, it did not survive contact with the enemy.
Feeling a growl curl in his throat Palpatine grasped a finely made glass of Nabooan wine, sipping at the soft red liquid until his thoughts were tamer. Acting as if he were not a Sith was taking a toll on his mood of late. The Jedi had been incessant in their searches for a 'hidden' sith and he needed to keep the scum from detecting him. His mind slowly brought forth the image of one Barriss Offee, a small smirk curling along his face until he looked slightly mad.
Barriss was a great distraction that he had planned for future. Infiltration of the temple had been easy... A guiding hand to a Padawan who had been heavily confused by her Master's teachings and her own feelings... And then you have the perfect 'hidden' sith that has been acting against the Jedi. He snarled at the mere idea that a Jedi could be anywhere near as effective as him, let alone a Padawan.
He lightly placed the glass on his sleek desk as he considered his plans for Anakin. They had been going swimmingly, it was almost too easy for him to slowly snatch the young man away from the Jedi. His emotions were raw, powerful and vast. The control he had gained over the force was only increasing as he matured and grew inside the clone war. Each Sith Lord who ruled over territory needed an arbiter of their will, an executioner and seneschal... Anakin was to be his, in due time.
Turning in his chair he stared out at Coruscant, the city shining like a jewel amidst the darkness of night.
The force was worrying him however. His plans were delicate and far-spanning. It's warnings as of late had been muted, soft, almost stuttering. Something had changed within the force and yet he could not pinpoint the change. Someone, something, or several someones have disturbed the tranquillity of the Dark Side and the Force as a whole. Gritting his teeth Palpatine could do nothing but flounder against his connection to the force, being rebuffed every time as if he were a petulant child being scolded by his parent.
It irked him that he could not rebuke the force itself. Oh, he could wield it and bring doom upon his foes in both a physical and mental way... But taming the entirety of life and existence in the Galaxy was beyond him. Controlling fleets from a moderate Galactic distance was all he could manage for now, and even then, it was a taxing effort to do so.
Something was gathering and he did not know whether it was a boon or ailment on his plans and machinations... There was nothing to be done than be patient and await evidence of this 'disturbance'.
"Soon, this shall all be mine." His whispering canter vanished into the expansive office.
"Soon..." He steepled his hands on his chest and watched as speeder cars and ships flew backwards and forwards along the highways of Coruscant.
~~~
Jocasta Nu delicately arranged several Holocrons that had been borrowed by several younglings, earlier this day, with a warm smile. Her task as a Jedi was to establish order within the archives of the Jedi Order and to teach all Jedi who wish to learn. She took this duty very seriously and never failed to impart some form of knowledge to those who ask her for her's.
She tidied the Holocrons before stepping back and nodding at her work. Today had been a busy day, the youngling classes having just received permission to read into the early history of the Order. This years' batch were looking mightily impressive with regards to their thirst for knowledge. Softly she turned and began aimlessly walking through the halls of the archive, her mind wandering to the recent orders of the Jedi Council.
Grandmaster Yoda had personally come to greet her in the archives, his wooden stick tapping ever so annoyingly against his floating chair. Supposedly there were a group of Sith Lords who disavowed themselves of the teachings of Bane and had requested an 'exchange' of knowledge between their 'orders'.
Personally she found the idea pitiful and sad. The Sith had lost so much of what it meant to be what they were that she wouldn't be surprised if they merely spoke of Bane and perhaps a single figure from the time Darth Revan. She had hid her personal feelings on the matter however and nodded along with the grandmaster.
These Sith were supposedly acting most unlike Sith... A curiosity, for sure. Yoda had shown her the recording of the council's meeting with Obi Wan and found the young man's perspective naïve. It could have been the exhaustion that he displayed throughout the meeting or the general attitude of Qui Gon Jin being passed down to his Padawan, but it didn't matter in the end. The council had agreed to the exchange and thus she must slowly toil away in her archive until the Sith arrive. And then the work begins anew. The force was nothing if not surprising in how it guided some people, she mused.
~~~
In Berlin, Germany, Home world of Drecarios...
Elias Muller was a hard working man who originally worked for DHL Group in Germany. It was a large company that specialised in postal service across continents and large bulk transport of goods between mainland Europe and the rest of the world.
His life was a simple one... Work from 8 in the morning until 8 at night and then repeat every day. Work provided enough money to allow his wife and two children a comfortable life, a decidedly middle-class education for his girls and a somewhat lavish existence for the love of his life.
This all came crashing down when Frostborn Dynamics revealed technology that made ocean transportation inconvenient and slow. Spaceships had killed the modern cargo industry and had even effected air transport. DHL started breaching money horribly. It didn't take more than a week or two for the company to start reducing pays and firing people. Their cargo-transport business was going under and as per usual the little guys always took the fall first.
A month later he had found himself in an entirely new company, his expertise as a lane manager for DHL being put to use as a Store Manager for an Aldi branch. His pay had dropped to half of what it used to be and his family had needed to downsize and move.
At first he had cursed Frostborn Dynamics for carelessly ripping away such a large industry and leaving people to starve or suffer... But that feeling faded with time as said company began back-hiring any people that used to work for the companies it was killing.
Just yesterday he had heard from his friend, Schroder, that Frostborn had hired him on as a consultant. Supposedly he was now working on mapping efficient atmospheric routes for their spaceships. He couldn't help but be a little envious of his friend's position as he was now making double the money he used to make.
He had hoped that he would be hired soon and it seemed his wish had been granted... as the day after he met with his friend he was reached out to by a woman named Discordia. It was an odd name, but Elias wasn't one to judge.
She had spoken of his efforts in making the cargo routes more efficient and also of his skill in physics from when he was in university. It had been a long time since he had discussed topics of science with someone and he was intrigued as to why they were reaching out to him, instead of someone who had multiple doctorates or PHDs in these topics.
What he heard next had him on the edge of his seat, metaphorically speaking, Germans did not misuse a chair like that... It was just not done... Anyway, yes, apparently Frostborn Dynamics were wanting to establish a base on the moon sometime in the near future and was wishing to create a list of people who could potentially kickstart a colony on the orbiter of Earth. Naturally there were a lot of misgivings within his mind as to the validity of the project working and whether it would be good for his family... But, the woman had a way with words and explained that he would be hired on as an instructor in how to make trade routes and also receive training himself on topographical differences between planetary terrain and space-faring geometry.
He would have been stupid not to accept such an offer, the talk of a moon colony withstanding.
It was a week later that he was getting payed 300,000 Euros a year in wages and given a free penthouse for his family in Berlin, right next to the skyrise that served as a landing pad for Frostborn Dynamic's ships. Life was finally looking up again!
~~~
New York, USA, Home World of Drecarios...
Madelyne Pryor growled as the bitch who took her loved one pranced around inside the X-Men manner. It had been a long time since Jean dared face her and it seemed this wasn't the day either.
Ever since she had been working as a teacher inside a school in New York she had been slowly trying to needle her spy network and magic into the godforsaken mutant school. So far she had failed in almost every attempt. Someone was shielding the building from psychic presences and even beyond that, magical ones as well.
Sinister was most likely the man behind it... Perhaps he enjoyed toying with her, or maybe he was intervening for something else. Jean, she knew, had an unhealthy liking for Rogue. When she was first awakened she had sensed this from Jean at the time. Something about Jean's powers were making her unstable, misdirected.
The first evidence of this began when she started manipulating the X-Men around her. It started with Logan, then Xavier... The situation quickly devolved into such a state that when she pointed out the flaw in her copy that everyone refused to listen to her and in fact kicked her out. Those months of solitude and loneliness out in the streets of New York were horrible but also enlightening.
She wasn't the copy as they claimed her to be. She was the true version of her previous self. Yet she couldn't go by 'Jean' anymore, her copy had stolen that from her. No, she chose a new name for herself and resolved to find a way to end her copy's manipulations over her former allies and friends. She only needed to find a way...
And unfortunately, it would seem she was no closer to achieving her goal than she was a month ago...
~~~
Onboard the Negotiator...
"So the interdiction field is down?" Canis questioned with a hint of happiness lining his voice.
"Yes. We shall immediately set off for Coruscant immediately, the council is eager to meet you." Nexus smirked as all the Sith and Jedi present sat opposite one another in the canteen, every single clone trooper in the room staring at them as if they were an exhibit in a zoo.
"Wicked! How long will it take?" Revenant asked excitedly, his exuberance only mellowed by the fork he punctured into a slice of Bantha meat.
Anakin stared at the Sith in front of him for a few moments before glaring at his master who just shrugged at the Darth's question. "A few days, if nothing happens in-between..."
"Great!" Nexus and Canis laughed at their younger member's antics before setting into eat their lunch. The Jedi just sat there, stunned.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have a Patreon where you can get exclusive Discord roles, vote on Fan fiction decisions, and even suggest Extra Chapters for me to write. Join here: patreon.com/user?u=111976696.
If you'd like to further support my work, here's my PayPal: paypal.me/RBSMFF.
Feel free to join my Discord community here: https://discord.gg/wVZXpPpUQn.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------