Darth Plagueis
It had been two days since the fight over Porso Hill, Valad was seated on the floor of the ready room with his legs crossed. His body was facing away from the aft airlock and the security droids were disabled. Even the interrogation droid was resting on the ground with its repulsor lift disabled.
Meditation was something he believed would help him with his thoughts. While he didn't really see it as a way to get over guilt, he didn't seem to have any regret of his actions.
There was nothing else he could have done. They had their weapons, they wanted to kill. If they didn't fire on him, he wouldn't have any reason to fight back. It could have ended peacefully.
He felt the life force of the Tico woman in one of the sleeping compartment beside the airlock. Then the girl who was part of the maintenance, the teenager who he had found amongst the mercenaries, was sleeping in the other nearest to the corridor leading to the Maintenance crawlspace and cargo hold, left from the lift.
Opening his eyes partially, his eyes were met with the eyes of the Queen who was standing in her handmaiden apparel at the aft airlock.
"Where'd this come from…?"
Narrowing his gaze on her as he heard her tone, she sounded rather surprised. She had her people examine the ship after it had suddenly appeared and founded out that not only was it an expensive ship, it was highly modified and worth well over twenty million credits.
Squinting slightly at him as he remained quiet for longer than she expected, it as if he didn't want to tell her, his Queen who he was to protect. Was he not telling her in order to Protect her? Or was this a personal secret? Was this something that belonged to his family?
Yawning slightly, he finally replied. "It's an experimental ship from the Republic Sienar Systems," His tone was dull as if he wasn't enthusiastic about the ship. Though truth be told, he was ecstatic.
It was mostly due to the fact that he hadn't slept in twenty six hours and was going on without much food as well. This was the reason she had actually visited since she had noticed his abnormal behavior.
During that time of not sleeping, Valad had completed the quest of indoctrinating the administration and royal advisory board in the dead of night and even amidst the day. He succeeded so he was tired, since it took a while.
Avoiding detection while doing this was relatively easy since he hadn't come across any other Jedi or force user on the planet so far. Though he was rather curious as to what he should do next. There were some other quests to complete, but there was also more things he could prepare.
There was also the idea of exploring the galaxy for a short period of time, even going places and changing more than before. Such as going and rescuing Assajj Ventress and her Jedi Master from the planet he had crashed on.
That would eliminate Dooku getting a hold of a potentially dangerous Sith Assassin should he have been turned by Plagueis. It would also save her from the heartbreak of losing her master and her hatred for the Jedi abandoning him.
Tapping his chin, he would look towards the ceiling of the main floor of the Scimitar with a light sigh. The queen was still standing there, staring at him with intent written all over her face.
"Come on in, Your Highness." Getting to his feet as he made a friendly gesture, Valad would walk towards the lift, allowing the automatic doors to open. He changed his demeanor completely as he allowed her to enter first and the two made their way up to the bridge. Once the doors opened, she stared and looked around, ignoring the presence of the disabled security droids
"Just call me Padme," She retorted with a quiet giggle, she was dressed as a handmaiden of course. There was no reason for him to address her as her Highness.
"Course," he wore a blank smile and soft eyes upon his face as she walked passed him and out of the lift and looked around. Unlike the first level of the starship, this area seemed to have been redone. There was a smooth second layer of flooring which made it more aesthetically appealing. It was reflective black floor, the control panels were black and trimmed in scrap quality chromium.
Raising a brow slightly, she knew Chromium was a royal exclusive material, as seen on her royal starships. It was strange seeing this, especially since on Naboo it was forbidden for non-royals ships to have it.
Like a switch had been flicked, Padme looked to Valad with an inquisitive expression. "Who's banner is this under?" She asked, curious and feeling partially betrayed. She assumed he knew that he shouldn't have chromium used within his vessel. Especially as decoration.
"Oh…?" Valad grinned a bit ear to ear, saying very little. His eyes glanced side to side, before looking towards the door to the lift. The lights within the bridge began to flicker and the door closed and locked, the light above it turning red.
Taken aback by his sudden change of expression and the strange occurrence with the machinery around her, Padme took a few steps back and fell into one of the passenger seats. She sat there, staring at him.
She was trained by Panaka in self-defense and martial arts. However for some reason she felt that even if she tried to fight him head on, she wouldn't fair too well against him since she had never trained against a force sensitive.
At the same time, he had never really trained in martial arts and despite having the lightsaber kit, he didn't make his saber yet. While he had absorbed the knowledge from the manuals, he hadn't really practiced them either.
When it came to learning things such as those, he was likely wanting to learn from an actual teacher. Maybe being trained by a Jedi would be a good thing? Tapping his chin slightly, maybe he could use the Trade Federation blockade to lure in the two famous Jedi to himself.
He liked the idea of this, especially meeting Qui Gon Jin, though that could also represent a problem pertaining to his activities.
"It doesn't have a banner yet, but I am in your service. So it is under you," Valad's expression relaxed as her head tilted to the side, mentally questioning him but saying nothing.
"Anyways…" He walked towards the seat in which she was now situated and rested his hands on the arms of the chair and leaned in towards her.
Padme's eyes widened as she felt the subtle breathing of his nose caress her skin. This made her recall Ian Lago, a man who was convinced that he loved her. A man who she was advised to break up with and was convinced that the Naboo people needed her more than him. It was relatively shocking that she found her chest beating at such an unusual pace because of his closeness.
Should she push him away like she did her dear Lago? His eyes seemed to see into hers, and hers seemed to be staring at her own reflection. She felt like a helpless goldfish being preyed upon by a large avian predator.
Gulping shallowly, she opened her mouth, but didn't say anything audible as her head turned away from him. She was trying to gather information in her mind, but her head was beginning to feel hot.
Why was she feeling like this? She had a panicked expression on her face, she was trying to find something to center on, anything except for his face.
His grin began to relax and he simply remained smiling towards her with a blank, neutral, smile across his lips. His soft look was something that was regular for him. It was his resting face.
"I would like you to remain here while I make an important call… No matter what you see, what you hear, do not make your presence known." Padme didn't really understand why he was telling her this. She simply nodded, curious of what his goals were with all of this.
Walking over to the holographic projector in the center of the room and began to input numeral values. Moments later as he called upon the Banking Clan, a Muun would appear and look up on the man.
It wasn't Darth Plagueis, it was his secretary. "Greetings from the InterGalactic Banking Clan," he bowed his head slightly as he eyed this man carefully in the hologram. "Whom may I be speaking with?"
"Valad Katsure," He stated with a light chuckle before tilting his head to the side slightly. "I'm calling in order to talk with your Magister Hego Damask the Second." Valad had suddenly changed is tone to that of an arrogant individual who clearly knew that they wanted.
"And what would you have to speak about with our Magister, Child?"
With a short pause, Valad simply responded, "Personal Matters."
The Muun's brows furrowed as he stared at the boy before nodding. For a moment the holographic screen went blank and there was nothing. It took a few minutes before the individual known and recognized as Darht Plagueis appeared on the screen.
His small beady eyes stared at the human child who was looking up at him. He was wearing a Transpirator mask upon his face. "Valad Katsure, What personal matters do you have with me?" According to his secretary there was apparently a 'child' who had a personal matter with him. It was rather unusual.
"If Sheev Palpatine was still alive, you'd be dead by now."
His already elongated face seemed to get longer from his relaxed expression. What did this man just say? He knew the name of Sheev Palpatine? He knew their connections?
Padme watching on from the seat could only watch, but said nothing as she didn't want to get in the middle of this. Why would the deceased member of the Palpatine House have killed this man? What was their connection? These questions, she waited for an answer.
Frowning as he finally brought some words. "What are you talking about?"
"Your plan for Sheev Palpatine to become Chancellor and you Co-Chancellor wouldn't have worked out. He would have killed you in your sleep after seeing that you lost all your usefulness." He watched as the Muun's eyes widened as best they could. He had barely a jaw to drop. His long bony fingers were twitching.
It was clear this boy was threatening him, implying the same speech he would have given Sheev Palpatine. 'Tell me what you regard as your greatest strength, so I will know how best to undermine you; tell me of your greatest fear, so I will know which I must force you to face; tell me what you cherish most, so I will know what to take from you; and tell me what you crave, so that I might deny you,' were the very words he had shared with the young Palpatine.
Valad knew the man's ambitions, he knew what he cherished most and he knew his alter ego. This boy had everything that could lead him to his downfall, but the Sith had everything he needed to take the fight to the boy.
"What is it you want?" Plagueis asked curiously, maybe he could reason with him and use him for his own needs and desires. Someone as cunning and informed as this would be valuable. Though he couldn't help but feel strange hearing about the surname.
"I want information on your Midi-chlorian research," The Dark Lord's eyes beamed hearing this. The only reason someone would have information about this is if they had some sort of spy amongst his people, but even his people didn't know about this. On top of that the only people interested in this were force users, Sith in particular. Was this man competition or looking for a teacher? "And to know if you brought Dooku to your side…?"
"…" How did he know about Count Dooku? Darth Plagueis stared at the man who was before him. This was no ordinary boy, he had information that most people didn't even know about. Could it know that he knew about the Clone Army which was being developed? Was everything compromised?
That' when he was suddenly interrupted by another Muun who came into his private quarters and walked over, whispering something into the man's ear before leaving.
"Funds belonging to Borvo have been transferred into your Account?" The Muun stared at the boy, astonished by something that had just happened. "And what is the state of the Hutt?"
"Torn to pieces," Valad gave a simple response and a blank expression as he observed the man who was observing him as well. The Muun interpreted this man's black expression and tone as something cold and aloof.
Darth Plagueis stroke his mask lightly as he was still on the holographic display. He was trying to figure out what else this guy knows. If he knew all of this, did he know about the impending invasion by the Trade Federation? Did he know about the plot to destroy the Jedi?
"Why did you reach out to me boy?"
"Because there is a consciousness inside your body that is not your own. Your Master is using you as a life boat. I'm saving your life, again."
Before Plagueis could clearly feel his face heating up as he heard that his master was inside of him. The previous Dark Lord was such a coward as to not face conscious death!? Before he could inquire more, Valad ended the transmission.
Apparently the call had been made through the use of various virtual shells set up across the HoloNet within private networks. He was unable to trace the source of the transmission.
Padme, who had been watching this whole thing go on, was speechless. She just witnessed Valad talk to the Magister of the InterGalactic Banking Clan without addressing him properly, but also threatened him and revealed a large amount of covert information.
[ Secret Achievement Gained: Meddler. 5,000 EXP. ]