Coruscant – Deep Undercity Vault, 32BBY
He came alone, hood drawn, robes concealing his presence in the Force.
There were few places on Coruscant untouched by time, but this vault had remained buried for centuries—older than the Republic, older than the Jedi Temple. This was where Darth Plagueis made his throne: hidden beneath the galaxy's glittering rot.
The air was cold. Ancient. As he stepped through the final door—a slab of black obsidian inscribed with Sith runes—it hissed open like a wound.
And there he was.
Darth Plagueis.The Muun Lord, tall and skeletal, wrapped in robes of crimson and shadow, sat amid a circle of arcane relics. His face was unreadable, elongated skull cast in the half-light of burning braziers. Beside him floated a black holocron, pulsing with dull red light.
"You're late," Plagueis said without looking.
"I am cautious," Palpatine replied evenly. "Caution keeps us alive."
Plagueis smiled thinly. "Caution also delays power."
Palpatine bowed. The motion was flawless, respectful. Inside, Greth burned with curiosity. Not rage—ambition. He studied Plagueis like one studies a crumbling structure: reverence for its foundations, but also knowledge of where to strike if needed.
"The Senate is responding," Palpatine said. "Valorum grows weaker. The Trade Federation is mine now. Gunray dances when I twitch a finger."
Plagueis rose, robes dragging across the stone floor.
"Yes. And your apprentice?"
"Maul is progressing. Fast. He burns for purpose."
"Then he is a risk," Plagueis muttered.
Palpatine tilted his head. "He's a blade. When I decide to strike, he will be ready."
The Muun turned, finally facing him fully.
"Do not grow sentimental. Maul is a contingency, nothing more. Just as you were."
Palpatine said nothing. Greth said nothing. But in his mind, the thought coiled like a viper:
I am no one's contingency.
Plagueis gestured to the center of the vault. There, surrounded by Sith statues and alchemical instruments, stood a sealed column of transparisteel—housing half a dozen ancient Sith holocrons.
"Your mind is ready," Plagueis said. "Your control has matured. You may begin studying the holocrons."
Palpatine's eyes narrowed.
"They contain the teachings of Bane," Plagueis said. "Of Nihilus, Tenebrous, Andeddu. Not all truths will serve you—but all must be known."
Palpatine approached the column. The air grew colder. The red light of the holocrons pulsed like heartbeats. Inside each one, knowledge older than empires, darker than death itself.
"I will master them," he said.
Plagueis nodded, pleased. "Good. But beware, my apprentice. These artifacts do not whisper—they scream. If your will falters, they will tear your soul apart."
Palpatine turned back to him, calm and unreadable.
"Let them try."
Later That Night – Alone in the Vault
The vault was silent now. Plagueis had gone to meditate, leaving his apprentice to absorb what he wished. Most would be afraid to touch these artifacts without supervision.
Palpatine wasn't most.
He reached out toward the holocron marked with the sigil of Darth Bane, founder of the Rule of Two. It flared to life in his palm, vibrating with ancient fury.
A voice emerged—deep, metallic, regal.
"Only two may there be… one to embody power, the other to crave it."
Palpatine smiled.
"No," he whispered. "Not two. Not anymore."
The Sith had survived for a thousand years by hiding. Greth had no intention of hiding. He would use the Rule of Two to ascend—but he would break it once he reached the peak.
He moved to the next holocron—Darth Andeddu, master of dark immortality. Secrets poured into his mind: soul transference, essence preservation, eternal decay in eternal life.
He laughed softly. Immortality was not a goal. It was a requirement.
Knowledge flooded him, not as poison, but as fuel.
And in the shadows, the Force did not resist.
It bent.
It yielded.
Last Lines of the Chapter:
As the last holocron dimmed, Palpatine stood still in the dark.
Plagueis believed he was shaping the future.Maul believed he was serving it.The Jedi believed they were guarding it.
But only one truth mattered.
He was the future.He would shape the war, the fall, the rise.
And the Force itself would kneel.