SIDIOUS: Lord Of Darkness - Chapter 10

74 BBY - Naboo, Palpatine Manor

On the ground, there lie a young Sheev Palpatine, the top of his garments torn off. His back was bloody, being lashed several times over with a whip. The boy, only ten years old, was crying on the ground, in a pool of his own blood. Towering over him was his father Cosinga, who still held the blood-stained whip tightly in his hand. ''And that, my son...          Is why you never harm your siblings.'' Cosinga growled, raising the whip above his head to strike again, when a hand grabbed him by the wrist. ''That's enough, Cosinga!'' Sheev's mother demanded, practically shouting in the living room.

Cosinga snapped his head to his right, locking eyes with Darsua. ''My dear, Sheev threw Kel into the wall! Should he not be puni-'' Cosinga began. Darsua slapped him across the face before he could finish. ''It's Kel's fault for stealing one of Sheev's possessions, Cosinga! It is she who should receive the reprimand, not Sheev!'' She protested. This only made Cosinga more angry. ''I disagree, Darsua! We've been blessed with a CURSE the moment Sheev was born!! I shouldn't consider him my son, given how much of a failure...'' ''ENOUGH!!!'' Sheev screamed, rising to his feet and thrusting both arms forward. Darsua only staggered back, whilst Cosinga was sent flying into the dinner table. An orange flare could be seen in Sheev's eyes.

Sheev paused, looking down at his hands and realizing what he had just done. Cosinga got back up, the expression on his face a mixture of horror and rage. ''What are you...?'' Cosinga asked. At that moment, Sheev made a break for it. Ignoring the pain of his injuries, the young boy ran for his life in spite of Darsua's protests, breaking straight out of the mansion door. It was raining outside, and almost immediately, Sheev was bathed in the storm. He continued running, dashing down the endless streets of Naboo for what seemed like hours on end. Finally, he cut a corner and tripped, falling down a hole in the pavement and screaming in terror.

65 BBY - Brendok, Aniseyai Meditation Chamber

Sidious's eyes snapped open. The first thing he felt was water being pulled in through his nose, and he quickly sat up. Upon feeling air come through, Palpatine coughed, choking on his own air. ''What's the holdup, my Lord? Are you alright!?'' He heard a voice shout into his ear. He winced in pain, wondering who or why could have shouted in his ear like that, until he realized he still had a comlink inside his ear. Pressing a button on the side of the device, Palpatine spoke into it. ''S-Sate? Wha..       Is Cantaros still here!???'' He demanded.

''Oh, thank the Maker!'' Sate exclaimed. ''For an hour or two, it seemed like I lost contact with you...'' Sidious's eyes widened at the notion. He ran his fingertips all across his face, and felt wounds. The Apprentice paused for a moment, checking his surroundings, before he responded to Sate. ''Cantaros wouldn't happen to be asking for the ship right about now, would he?'' Sidious asked. ''Uh, yeah, actually. He is.'' Sate replied. Palpatine's expression hardened. ''Keep him talking until I am out of the chamber.'' ''As you wish, Lord Sidious.'' Sate said, before the comlink shut off.

Outside the Aniseyai camp, Sate Pestage turned his attention back to Jedi Master Imri Cantaros, whom he had been speaking with for at least an hour about Cantaros borrowing Hego Demask's ship. ''Well, Master Cantaros, looks like your question has been answered.'' Sate said. ''Senator Palpatine won't let that happen.'' He continued, reaching for his hidden blaster. Cantaros snarled. ''Will your mind change if I happened to tell you Senator Palpatine tried to kill me inside the meditation chamber?'' Cantaros asked.

Sate was about to formulate a response, when screams of rage ran out in the night sky. Looking over Cantaros's shoulder, Sate saw Darth Sidious, his face ripped open and clothes wet, charging the Jedi with his knife in hand. Cantaros turned around to face Sidious, but before either of them could make a move, a pair of glowing blue chains wrapped themselves around Palpatine's torso, leaving him unable to move. ''Did you really think we would let you kill our friend...?'' Asked Mother Aniseya, who pressed her attack, using the Force to tighten the chains around Sidious. ''From the moment you set foot on this world, we knew you represented the darker half of the Thread. But we also knew you wouldn't succeed in your assassination attempt on Master Cantaros.''

Sidious gritted his teeth, struggling against Aniseya's chains. ''The Thread...? That's what you witches call the Force, isn't it?'' He asked, flipping his knife around in his fingers. ''How interesting...         It's a shame I'll have to kill you now.'' He continued, thrusting both arms outward. A pulse of wind emmanated from Sidious's body, as Aniseya's chains were shattered and all the Aniseyai were flung back. Cantaros and Sate too were knocked off their feet. Turning around, Palpatine glanced at the mountain just behind the Aniseyai camp and reached out with the Force, crushing the mountain's base.

A rumbling could be felt throughout the confines of the camp, as the mountain began to collapse. Aniseya got back up, alongside her Aniseyai sisters. ''Quickly, comrades! We must protect ourselves!'' She shouted. The other Aniseyai reached out alongside their leader, creating a bright, blue shield in front of themselves. Sate turned around and started dashing for the ship, while Palpatine pulled his knife back to his hands. ''Shall we finish what we started in the chamber, Master Cantaros?''

Cantaros unclipped the hilt of his Lightsaber from his belt, igniting the lilac blade at his side. ''Gladly.'' He said. At that moment, the thrusters on the shuttle ignited in the midst of the rumbling. Sidious briefly looked at the mountain, which was just seconds away from demolishing the Aniseyai camp. He turned his attention back to Cantaros, and charged the Master with his knife in the reverse grip. Cantaros acted first, thrusting his free hand forward and blasting Palpatine backwards. ''You can't leave this place alive, Senator Palpatine!''

Sidious quickly rose to his feet, running as fast as he could in Cantaros's direction. Instead of swinging at the Jedi with his knife, however, the Apprentice instead kicked Cantaros in the face, and then the chest. Flipping his knife, Palpatine jammed the blade into the side of his oppponent's shoulder. In response, Cantaros grabbed Sidious by the throat, tossing him to the side. At that moment, the mountain collided with the camp and the ground beneath them began to crumble. Palpatine kicked Cantaros again, this time in the ankle, before launching him off the cliff with the Force.

The Apprentice looked forward, seeing the shuttle in front of him with the ramp. He dashed towards the edge of the cliff before the mountain could completely collapse, jumping towards the ship. But before he could set foot on the ramp of the vessel, an invinsible grip tugged at his body and Sidious was pulled through the air at rapid speed, smashing through several tree branches at once, until he smashed his back against a boulder, and landed in a nearby river, whilst Mount Aniseyai crumbled a few feet away.

Palpatine groaned in agony, feeling his back throbbing. He rolled over onto his side, seeing Master Cantaros getting back on his feet once the dust had settled. Grabbing his knife, Sidious leaped at Cantaros, who ducked just in time to ignite his Lightsaber. ''Where's your ship now, Apprentice?'' Cantaros asked mockingly. Sidious yelled at the top of his lungs, swinging several times at Cantaros in the hope he would find a weak spot. Reaching out with the Force, Sidious lifted a medium-sized rock at Cantaros from behind. The rock smashed right into Cantaros's face, distracting him long enough Palpatine to deliver one final kick to knee, before jamming his knife straight through Cantaros's chest.

Cantaros staggered back as soon as Sidious let go of the knife. He began to wheeze, only now just noticing the knife lodged deep in his chest. He looked back at Palpatine, and then collapsed to one knee, letting go of his Lightsaber. The blade instantly sunk into the ground, melting the flora and fauna around it. Sidious walked up to Cantaros, using the Force to pull his Lightsaber out of the ground. For a moment, the Sith looked at the blade, staring into it's lilac core. ''An elegant weapon..'' Sidious began, gripping the hilt with both hands. ''..for a more civilized age.'' He finished, swinging the weapon at Cantaros's neck. A few seconds later, Cantaros's head slid from his shoulders, collapsing onto the ground, alongside his now headless corpse. Sidious reached for his earpiece, pressing the button on the side. ''Sate, do you copy?''

''Yes, my Lord. Where are you at this moment?'' ''I've just killed the Jedi. I'm in the forest.'' Sidious replied. A massive gust of wind swept over him, coupled with the sounds of engines roaring. ''Come on, Lord Sidious. We must meet Lord Plagueis at the Mustafar system before the Jedi discover who did this to the Aniseyai.'' Sate said. Sidious shut off the comlink, deactivating Cantaros's Lightsaber. He first placed the weapon on his belt, before bending over and grabbing Cantaros's head by his hair. The ramp of the ship opened, and Sidious jumped onto it, pulling his knife back to his hands before the ramp closed.

65 BBY - Coruscant, Jedi Temple

Meanwhile, inside the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Jedi Master Sol would be walking amongst his fellow peers, eventually approaching one of many doors in the vast hallways of the Temple. Pressing the buttons on the control panel, Sol watched as the door slid open, revealing a Jedi Knight with darker skin and a unique hairstyle for a Jedi. ''Yord?'' Sol asked the young man. The Knight immediately awoke from his meditation, standing up and turning to face Sol. ''What is it, Master Sol?'' Yord Fandar asked.

Sol paused for a moment, trying to choose his next words carefully. ''Your Master, he..'' Sol began, pausing for a second time. A tear in his eye could be seen. ''We don't know how, but the mountain that served as the camp for the Aniseyai remnants on Brendok...         It..      Collapsed. We found Master Cantaros's body away from the ruins of both that mountain and the one behind it, interestingly enough...'' Sol finally said, the tear rolling down his cheek. ''Both his head and his Lightsaber were found to be missing. A funeral for our fallen friend will be in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I will let you process all that I have just told you.''

Yord was about to speak again, but Sol already closed the door. Now alone with nothing but the information about his old Master's sudden demise, Yord closed both hands into fists, squeezing them until his knuckles turned white to the bone. And then, he lashed out. Screaming as loud as he possibly could, Yord blasted many of his possessions back into the wall with the Force, throwing others at the ceiling and floor beneath him. This lasted for minutes on end, until Yord finally gave up and collapsed onto his sleeping mat, exhausted. But the rage still lay dormant in his spirit. He began to hyperventilate, once again balling both hands up into fists. Suddenly, a voice began speaking to him. ''The Jedi live in a cage, Yord Fandar. They do not have all the information you desire. All they see is a political spectrum, and all they care about is a political spectrum. Nothing more.''

Yord stopped looking down at his feet, now staring at the wall. In all his years of existence, never had he felt such darkness, such hatred like this in his life. After all, why would he? The Jedi forbade pupils like him from falling victim to such emotions. The only time he came close was when his Master had left the Order and taken up the Barash Vow, but even then, he learned to accept Master Cantaros's decision with respect and empathy. ''I'm going to find who did this...'' Yord told himself. ''...and I'm gonna let them know what it's like to suffer until their physical body can suffer no more.''