SIDIOUS: Lord Of Darkness - Chapter 12

65 BBY - Somewhere

Once the light had faded, Sidious didn't find himself in the cave on Mustafar. In fact, he wasn't even on Mustafar at all anymore. He was in some sort of medical room, made entirely out of sand and stone. ''Master?'' He called out. But there was no sign of Plagueis at all. ''Master!?'' He shouted. Still nothing. A door behind him slid open, and Palpatine turned to see two people, both appearing to be in their late sixties, walking into the room. They did not seem to notice him, and were walking towards something else. Sidious turned his head, seeing a young woman appearing to be in her thirties in a bed, holding something wrapped in a blanket of sorts, something Sidious could sense had the strongest presence in the room.

''How is your son doing, Shmi?'' The man asked, sitting down next to the girl, whom Sidious now knew simply as Shmi. ''I'm so happy to welcome this young boy into the galaxy.'' Shmi said, a smile on her face. Palpatine couldn't stop thinking about the baby though. He could sense that this baby was strong with the Force. Even stronger than Sidious himself. How can this be? How can this infant have a higher potential in the Force than me...? Sidious asked himself. ''What would happen to be the name you wish to choose for our grandson?'' The older woman asked.

Shmi chuckled. ''For a long time, I was deciding that as the day of his birth was drawing closer. But I decided that I will name him...        Anakin.'' Shmi said. ''Anakin Skywalker.'' The older couple nodded. ''And who would his father happen to be?'' The man asked Shmi. The smile that was on Shmi's face quickly faded. ''I mean, there has to be a father of your newborn child, my dear daughter...         Right?'' The older woman asked as well. Shmi paused, choosing her words carefully, as far as the expression on her face could read. Finally, she spoke. ''There is no father. This pregnancy just...        occurred by way of mystery.''

Palpatine's blood froze like ice. No father? A higher Force potential than me!? Sidious thought to himself. Something clearly wasn't right about this child. But before he could put the pieces together, the ground beneath him collapsed. The walls instantly turned to dust, as were Shmi, her parents, and her baby. Sidious rushed towards the three of them, but before he could grab onto Shmi's bed for safety, a wind stronger than anything he had ever felt in his life pulled him away from the bed. The Apprentice screamed in terror, not knowing what possible kind of horror awaited him next as he fell.

Suddenly, and violently, another gust of wind swept Sidious away as he was falling. The Apprentice then crashed onto the ground beneath him, tumbling on a metal floor. For a moment, Sidious began hyperventilating, thousands of questions about the baby rushing through his mind. The sounds he heard next were that of bubbles in a liquid, coupled with the slight mechanical whirring of droids moving around. Sitting up, Palpatine turned his head and saw a Bacta Tank towering over him, with two guards dressed in red standing at the opposite end of the room and a few medical droids watching the tank intently.

A loud cranking noise could be heard, and Sidious quickly stood up, watching the glass walls of the tank sink into the ground. The liquid itself, however, lost it's shape and leaked all over the floor. In the place of the tank, Palpatine saw a crippled man with no limbs, ghastly white skin, and scars all over his body, being held to the roof of the tank by straps and cables. And in this moment, Sidious could sense the same level of Force potential in the crippled man that he did previously in the baby. Instantly, the Apprentice came to the realization that the baby and the crippled man before him were one in the same.

Sidious took a moment to think to himself. Didn't Shmi say this individual's name was...      Anakin? And wasn't his last name 'Skywalker' too??? He hadn't exactly been paying attention to the name of the baby in that moment. A snapping noise was then heard, and Sidious could see the crippled man's breathing aparatus had already been magnetized to the ceiling above him. Out from the wall, a prosthetic arm, carrying by a small crane, lodged itself into the right stump of the crippled man's torso. The crippled man appeared to wince as it happened. Two prosthetic legs appeared out from the floor, and clicked onto the two stumps on the lower half of the crippled man's body. Again, he winced the moment it occurred.

Another prosthetic limb appeared out of the right wall, and shot into the crippled man's left stump of an appendage. Sidious shuddered at the sight of this man, not out of fear, but out of confusion. What did this man do to end up in such a horrific state? Palpatine asked himself. More grinding noises are heard, and Sidious could see two arms locking onto something behind the man's back. The crippled man winces again, and a few tubes could be seen being pulled up into the ceiling. Another machine out of the ground slowly drapes a piece of synthetic fabric over the man's legs, alongside shiny, black boots and a belt that had control buttons all over it next to the silver buckle.

The man's arms suddenly shoot upward, as if a magnet is trying to bind them together. Yet another machine appears, drapping more synthetic fabric over his scarred body. The arms immediately go back to the way they were before, and this time, two gloves are drapped over the metal hands of the crippled man. Something inside the gloves lock onto the man's hands, making him groan. A metal arm appears out of the ceiling, pushing a control box riddled with buttons onto the crippled man's torso.

Once more, a machine appears, locking a black-metal gater onto the crippled man's neck, coupled with a cloak connected by a small chain. ''Sidious?'' Palpatine could hear faintly. A hissing noise was then heard, and a black mask with dark, crimson-tinted lenses lodged itself onto the crippled man's face. ''Sidious...?'' The voice spoke again, this time more clearly. Sidious instantly recognized the voice to be that of his Master, the only sign he had that he was still alive after the white light overcame him. A black shell appeared out from the ceiling, and clicked onto the crippled man's mask, the sound that came next would be the thing that snapped Palpatine out of the vision....       An artificial breath from the crippled man, who had just been turned into a machine.

65 BBY - Mustafar, Sith Cave

Sidious's eyes snapped open as soon as he heard the crippled man breathe. He placed his hand on the ground to push himself up, but almost as soon as his hand made contact with the foor beneath him, he collapse back down, wincing in pain. Plagueis was towering over his Apprentice, clearly concerned. ''Are you alright, my Apprentice?'' He asked. ''For a moment, I thought that explosion killed you.'' He continued, helping Palpatine up to his feet. Only then did Sidious just realize that his entire arm up to the side of his neck was riddled with scars. He turned to Plagueis. ''The Crystal? Was I successful?''

Plagueis extended one hand, closed into a fist, forward. He opened his hand, and Sidious could see Imri Cantaros's Kyber Crystal in his Master's palm, now emmanating a stark crimson hue. ''Well done, my Apprentice.'' Plagueis said. ''Now let us leave so the wounds on your face can be repaired.'' He continued. Plagueis was about to exit the cave when Sidious spoke up. ''Master, I..   I have something to tell you.'' Sidious said. Plagueis stopped dead in his tracks, and turned to face Sidious, a look of curiosity having come across his face. ''What is it, my young Apprentice?'' Plagueis asked.

Sidious paused, wondering how he should explain the visions to his Master. ''...When I was bleeding that Crystal, it..       It gave me two visions. The first one was of a woman named Shmi giving birth to her baby. Her parents were there too, and when they asked who the father was, Shmi said there was no father. And then the second one was of a crippled man being transforned into a cyborg. In both the baby and the crippled man, I could sense a high potential in the Force...       Higher than either mine, or yours.'' Palpatine said, a bead of sweat trickling down the wounds on his face.

Plagueis's eyes widened with shock. ''Impossible..'' He muttered under his breath, practically shaking with terror. Sidious noticed this quickly. ''Are you familiar with these visions, Master?'' He asked. Plagueis took a moment to compose himself, before he spoke again. ''Generations ago, after Ajunta Pall and his followers became the first generation of Sith, the Jedi created a prophecy under the divine influence of the Force...         This prophecy foretold that a Chosen One, born with no father and a Midichlorian count higher than any other user of the Force, would one day destroy us and bring, as the Jedi believe it to be, 'balance to the Force itself'.''

Plagueis continued. ''Later, the future generations of Sith made a prophecy of their own, known as the prophecy of the Sith'ari, foretelling that one Sith in a generation would destroy the Order, only to rebuild it stronger than it had been beforehand.'' Plagueis placed a hand on Palpatine's shoulder, looking at him dead in the eyes. ''Sidious...      I would strongly advise treading these visions carefully. You may have seen either our own downfall in the form of the baby and the cyborg, or you may have seen the key to our future. Though I myself have never been one to believe in prophecies, these visions present a series of problems for the Grand Plan, if The Chosen One prophecy of the Jedi proves correct.''

''I understand, Master.'' Sidious replied, taking the Kyber Crystal from Plagueis. ''What will we do with the corpses of the Jedi, and their ships?'' He asked. ''We will destroy their starfighters, but leave their bodies. Their Order often considers this place a graveyard for their kin, and will not dare go searching for just four of their members.'' Plagueis replied, slowly walking out of the cave. ''As for you, I will need to take you somewhere where your face can be fixed. And only afterwards can we begin your training in Lightsaber Combat.''

Sidious nodded. He and his Master both slowly left the cave, just as the candles burned out. Upon exiting the cave, Plagueis reached out towards the sky, and thunder began to boom. Crimson lightning suddenly came down from the clouds, hitting all four of the Jedi starships that came to Mustafar and instantly blowing them up. ''Now, let us leave the corpses of these pathetic Jedi to rot.'' Plagueis said, jumping down from the mountain peak and landing softly on the ground below, next to the burning ships. Sidious followed suite, landing next to his Master. And sure enough, the engines belonging to Plagueis's personal shuttle were roaring right next to them. 

Plagueis entered the ship first, almost as soon as the ramp lowered. Sidious, again, followed suite, entering just when the ramp closed behind him. However, Palpatine did not follow Sate and his Master back into the cockpit, but instead went to the refresher. He looked in the mirror, and for the first time in his life, the sight of his own reflection disturbed him. Sidious's forehead looked like it had just been split in half, and there were multiple tears in the skin of his own face, one of which went from his head down to his neck, while another had ripped open his bottom left eyelid, and another had sliced open his lip and chin.

For a long time, Palpatine would stand in the refresher, seeing his deformed reflection staring back at him. He was still human, as it was in his blood. But to him, he looked like something else entirely. Finally, the doors to the refresher opened, and Sidious saw Sate standing in the doorway. ''We're coming up on Sojourn if you wish to join us in the cockpit.'' Sate said. This immediately caught Palpatine's attention. ''Sojourn? I thought we were going back to Mount Rivan on Almas...'' ''Lord Plagueis has other ideas. He wants to explain this to you in the cockpit on the way, so come on.''

Palpatine followed Sate out of the refresher, eventually finding himself in the cockpit of the shuttle, which only now just dropped out of Hyperspace. As soon as soon as Sojourn's surface came into view, the comlink on the ship began to buzz. A female voice then came over. ''Is this who I think it is!?!'' The female voice asked. Plagueis spoke into the intercom. ''Yes, Koril. It is me. Apologies for being absent for so long. I had other...         Necessities to take care of, to put it lightly.'' The voice spoke again. ''Welcome home, Magister Demask. I am eager to meet the new Apprentice you telling me about a while back.''

Plagueis spoke again. ''How is my primary test subject holding up?'' He asked. ''Oh, he's been doing great under my supervision. Don't worry, I haven't let him out of his tank or anything while you were gone. See you soon, my Lord.'' The woman said, before the transmission was finally cut. Sidious then spoke up. ''Who was that woman you were just speaking to, Master?'' He asked. ''Mother Koril.'' Plagueis replied. ''She was a former member of the Aniseyai when my Master wiped out most of their cult. Koril actually aided him in doing so, and helped him conduct his rather...        Outlandish experiments. Until I eventually claimed the title of Sith Master and started experiments of my own, while keeping Koril as my assistant in conducting said experiments.'' He continued.

Palpatine nodded his head slowly. ''And who is the 'test subject' that you mentioned to Koril?'' Sidious asked, just as the shuttle was descending through Sojourn's clouds. ''That would be Darth Venamis.'' Plagueis replied. ''An Apprentice my Master trained in secret should I ever fail him. After I killed my Master, I confronted Venamis and defeated him. The Bith begged for mercy, and pledged himself as an Apprentice to me. But since he was too old and too brash to be my student, I kept him alive and have since been using him as a test subject for my experiments...        Experiments which I will share with you another time, Lord Sidious.''

The ship soon touched down on the planet's surface, next to a village retreat. Sate opened the door, and allowed Plagueis and Sidious to exit first. Standing at the entrance of the retreat was a Zabrak woman with a fair skin tone and dark blue tattoos, along with horns on her head, just in front of her hair. She also happened to be wearing the same violet robes Mother Aniseya and the other Aniseyai were wearing on Brendok, which immediately made Sidious think this must be Mother Koril herself. Koril walked up to Plagueis, bowing before him. ''It's an honor to welcome you back to your laboratory, my Lord.''

''I am most eager to see how far my experiments have come in my absence, Mother Koril.'' Plagueis replied, a smile having come across his face. ''I wish to introduce Lord Sidious here to Venamis.'' Plagueis continued, motioning to Palpatine. ''Are the others working on him right now, or not?'' Plagueis asked. ''We have not worked on Venamis yet today, Lord Plagueis.'' Koril replied. ''We'll be saving him until...       Well, Lord Sidious's face is repaired.'' She continued, pointing in Sidious's direction. ''Follow me.'' Koril said, walking back towards the retreat. Plagueis, Sidious, and Sate all followed behind Koril, entering Plagueis's laboratory inside what was only a simple village retreat.

Upon entering the retreat, Koril lead the trio towards what appeared to be a cryogenic tank on the far side of the room. ''I will inform the other assistants of what must be done to repair the damage done to Lord Sidious's face. In the meantime, I will let you speak to our one and only test subject until I return.'' She said, before walking farther down the halls of the retreat and disappearing through a curtain. Plagueis pressed a button on the control panel, and the tank slowly opened. Cold, misty air billowed from the tank as it opened, but once the mist faded, Sidious would see a Bith, dressed in a gown of sorts, shackled to the inside of the tank. A mask appeared to have been sealed onto his face. ''I assume this is Darth Venamis, my Master?''

Plagueis smiled. "Yes, my Apprentice. This is Venamis. I will let you introduce yourself to my good friend in this tank until you are ready for your injuries to be tended to." He said. It seemed to take a moment for Venamis to fully come to his senses, but then, he finally spoke. "I see you've finally found the Apprentice you were looking for, Plagueis. Took you long enough.." Venamis said. Sidious pulled his knife out of it's sheath, before leaning closer into the tank to take one good, hard look at Venamis. The poor Bith looked like he hadn't seen the light of day in decades he looked so pale. Though not nearly as pale as the crippled man Sidious had seen in his vision back on Mustafar.

''W-Who are you?'' Venamis asked. Palpatine could hear a hint of fear in the Bith's voice, and wondered if he was freaked out by his scars, or something else. Nonetheless, Venamis's fear brought a smile to his face. ''My name is Palpatine. Sheev Palpatine." Sidious said, showing Venamis his knife. "I used this weapon to kill my entire family. I'll test it on you if you don't cooperate with the way I will be helping my Master with his experiments." Plagueis then made a motion for Palpatine to leave, and the Apprentice rose. As he was about to exit the room, however, Venamis asked him another question. ''Has your Master happened to give you a name?'' Palpatine let out a fake chuckle, not amused by the question in the slightest. "You can call me...      Darth Sidious."

Without saying another word, Palpatine disappeared through the same curtain that Koril went through earlier, disappearing behind it's tendrils. Venamis, whose face was riddled with terror, glanced at Plagueis. ''What kind of monster have you chosen for a student!?!'' Venamis demanded. ''Oh, Sidious is no monster, my friend.'' Plagueis replied. ''If anything, he is the key to the success of the Grand Plan.'' He continued, taking two steps towards Venamis's tank. Venamis, although very weak, balled both hands up into fists. ''Master would never approve of this if he were still here!'' Venamis declared. He could have shouted if he wanted to, but his vocal chords were too weak to get anything less than a normal voice level out.

''Tenebrous was a fool!'' Plagueis fired back. ''Can you not see it, Venamis!? The past looms over the Sith of our time! Whether it would be Tenebrous's experiments with the Maxi-chlorians, Wyrm's attempts at creating an 'Anti-Force' to use against the Jedi, or Gravid's mission of combining the knowledge of both our Order and our enemy's Order together, it does not matter! None who have come after Lord Bane have understood what the Grand Plan looks like in it's full form...               Except for me, and my new Apprentice. The only other Sith who could have...          Is Lord Millennial.''

Venamis's eyes widened. ''You didn't DARE just speak of our predecessors like that! Lady Gean and Lord Alighieri were visionaries!'' Venamis exclaimed, wheezing as he finished. ''Yes, you would be correct. However, out of fear she would fall into the same mental trap as her Master, Gean did not do anything thought-productive with the Grand Plan. Not only this, but this fear was passed down to Alighieri. It wasn't until Wyrm took Tenebrous under his wing that we began to go somewhere with our plan!'' Plagueis shot back. ''Even so, Wyrm and Tenebrous only had half of an idea of what the Grand Plan was going to look like. Only through me and Sidious can it succeed now. The Banite doctrine ended with Tenebrous on Baldemnic anyway..''

Plagueis was about to go through the curtain, when Venamis spoke up. ''Remind me again, Plagueis...       What is the purpose of your experiments, and how do you know they won't fail to exceed your expectations?'' Plagueis turned to Venamis, locking eyes with him. ''To extend my life indefinitely. To achieve what Vitiate could not..        To gain immortality. And the experiments I have conducting will not fail to exceed my expectations because I have devoted too much of my life into studying the Midichlorians now...         I will not stop until I have become immortal, even if it means sacrificing Sidious.''