Title:  Tales of the Sith

Author:  Jonathan Evans

Author email:  noggins@btinternet.com

Republic Saga Homepage: http://www.angelfire.com/scifi/republicsaga

Summary: Many years before the Empire a group of students at the University of Naboo unleash something that will envelop the galaxy in darkness.

TALES OF THE SITH:
CHAPTER ONE
By Jonathan Evans

The room was dark and a quiet humming sound filled the air as
the four human figures sat around a carefully constructed fire
that didn't send the entire building up in flames or, at least,
get them caught for what they were doing. The older of them all,
a twenty three year old with dark, chiseled features picked
up a bag and sprinkled some of the substance inside onto his
hand. With a loud snort his head shot back and his sighed happily.
"I must say we've got some good spice this time around," he grinned
as he offered it to the others who were more than willing to
accept this new gift.

A female next to him smiled as she wiped the remnants of the
line she just inhaled from around her nose. "The best Ryloth
has to offer, Troi," she giggled slightly. She passed it to
the nineteen year old next to her who took a long snort from
the pile he had just carefully sprinkled into his hand. "We
really should stick with this contact," he offered before
turning to the young man who, being next to him, completed
the circle they were seated in. "You want some, Palps?" he
asked.

Palpatine took the bag and, feeling brave, poured out more
than the others had. They looked at him with amazement as
he took it back with great ease. He shook his head as the
impact of the spice hit him with a bang. His ears rang
loudly for several seconds before everything around him
suddenly become crystal clear. He put the small leather
pouch aside and relaxed. Life happened to be pretty fine
right now. He had just returned to the Univerity of Naboo
after a years study on Coruscant. It was great to be able
to see his friends again. His small apprenticship to the
Naboo Senator had been long and hard but he had learnt a
lot. A degree in galactic politics wasn't far off now.

Troi broke his concentration with a cough. "I think it's
time, don't you?" he said to everyone present. "Sara, you
brought the medallion?" The girl nodded and flashed a
large silver pendant. It was almost rectangular in shape
with rounded edges and strange, alien inscriptions on it.
"Sure have. Palpy, I hope you got the book..."

The young student reached back to his bag and pulled out
a huge tome. He placed it on the floor in front of him.
The front was unreadable, it was over seven thousand years
old and taking it from the vacuum seal in the Coruscant
museum had caused slight damage to it. It was, however,
very much readable on the inside and that was exactly
what they wanted. "Do I ever let you guys down?" he said
flashing a smile. "It's been a year now since we promised
to obtain these items and now we're here. I can't believe
it."

"The Ancient Sith would be proud of us," Gerrin, Sara's
older brother added. He was in the same year of study as
Palpatine but was focusing more on the arts hoping to
continue his study in the prestigious Alderaanian University.

It was true. They had decided to meet up and perform a
spell of the dark arts to give them luck, and long lives.
Secretly Palpatine was hoping for a little more with Sara
but didn't like to say anything about it, she was with
Troi after all. It all really began when Palpatine said
that he was chosen to be taken away for Jedi training as
a young child but decided to stay with his family rather
than pursue the hard life in the temple on Coruscant. As
far as he knew there were no records about him even being
found in the Central Computer but if there were, once he
got into office they would be wiped. The last thing he
wanted was Jedi keeping taps on him for his entire
professional career. Once his friends discovered had at
least some midi-chlorians in his blood they realised his
potential for joining in on their plans. Dabbling in black
magic was something most people could do but only the
select few were possible wielders of the Dark Side.

It was kind of scary. He didn't want anything to do with
it. Only bad things could come out of it but, having made
the deal to get the book from Coruscant during his years
absence he read up and realised it would only be a little
harmless fun.

Troi turned the pages of the book until he found what he
was looking for. "Here it is. Just like our research said.
The summoning of Al-Grageth, the third Dark Lord of the
Sith." His eyes closed and the four joined hands to create
a complete circle. The older student began to chant slowly.

"From the sands of time we call you O Al-Grageth. Through
the reaches of time we request your presence O Al-Grageth.
Through time we pull your spirit it to us O Al-Grageth.
Korah Matah Korah Rahtahmah..."
"Korah Rahtamah Yoodhah Korah," Sara continued.
"Korah Syahdho Rahtahmah Daanyah," Gerrin said with a little
more passion than the previous two due to the effects of
the spice slowly reaching his brain. There was a silence
as everyone waited for Palpatine to say his piece. This was
it. Now or never. Whatever happened from here on in would
change their lives. He took a deep breath. "Korah Keelah Daanyah."

They all held hands tighter and began to sway. "Nyohah Keelah Korah
Rahtahmah." The flame in the centre of the room changed from
hints of yellow to blood red. Still they continued chanting.
"Syadho Keelah Korah Rahtahmah!" The fires burst six feet
into the air. All four of the students felt the heat beating
on their faces. Palpatine opened his eyes slightly and
noticed the calm expression that covered everyone else. Surely
they weren't worried like he was. "Korah Daanyah Korah Rahtahmah!
Korah Daanyah Korah Rahtahmah! Nyohah Keelah Korah Rahtahmah!
Syadho Keelah Korah Rahtahmah! Korah...."

Before they could finish the next chant a loud voice boomed
down. "Why do you call me foolish children. I am Al-Grageth,
Dark Lord of the Sith. I am more than you! All of you!"
Troi opened his eyes with a smug expression on his face.
"I bind you Al-Grageth. I bind you to this world. Korah Daanyah 
Keelah Rahtahmah!"

The Sith Lord screamed loudly. They had done it! They had captured
the essence of the Sith. It's power was theirs. Palpatine
couldn't believe it. He never thought it would be possible. His
face changed when the scream turned to laughter. "You do not
understand the Dark Side of the Force. You cannot control it.
You are merely puppets of the Sith!"

The flame exploded sending furnature in all direction, even
that held down to the floor. Palpatine dived onto Sara, shielding
her from the blast as it hit his back, reducing his clothing
to shreds of material. He covered her ears so that the deafening
explosion wouldn't hurt her as much as it did him. The final
part of the blast died off and he looked up.

Troi sat in the corner, shielded by a chair that was blown in
front of him. Sara looked dazed but she was the least hurt
of them all. Palpatine's gaze turned to Gerrin, or rather, what
was left of him. His remains were charred so much all that was
left was a blackened and brittle skelenton, steam hissing
from it. After what seemed like an eternity of staring at
this horrendous sight it turned to ashes leaving only a black
pile of dust on the floor.

Palpatine couldn't make sense of it all. Maybe it was the spice
that was flowing through his veins, maybe something else but
he felt different. His entire soul seemed super-charged to the
brim. Sara burst into tears at the sight of her brother's
excuse for a corpse while Troi just shook, apologising to
something that wasn't there.

Palpatine didn't know why but he smiled.

			CHAPTER TWO

All things considered, the funeral went pretty well. It
was mainly a quiet, family affair but Sara had insisted
that Palpatine came along. She needed the support desperately.
The death of her brother hit her harder than it did most
of the others. She was there when it all happened. Hell,
she may have been the one who caused it. It really was
breaking her apart.

During all of this Palpatine remained oddly calm. On the
starship back to Naboo from Gerrin and Sara's home planet
of Caprioril he said nothing to his friend until she
finally broke the silence. "I wish Troi had been able to
come. I know Gerrin would have wanted him there."
Palpatine nodded. "He still can't come out of the hospital.
It's like he's trapped within himself," he stated matter-of-
factly. Truth be told, he really didn't care about Troi.
He was the oldest of their group and took this as meaning
he was the one in charge. Only Gerrin could see the potential
leadership qualities in Palpatine, Sara was too caught up
doing whatever the hell she could with the man who was
currently on the verge of being a vegetable. Anything right
now could tip him over the edge.

"Mom tried to make me stay home," Sara continued sadly.
"She doesn't think I should start working until I've got
over Gerrin's death. Try as I like I'll never do that."
Palpatine glanced out of the window, not looking at the
girl he was talking to. "Best to take your mind off it.
It's the only way to survive."

As he glanced out of the starscape something seemed to be
in the distance heading towards them at an almost dangerous
speed. As it got closer it started to glow red until it
started to show the features of a face. A Sith's face. It
hit the side of the starship and Palpatine jumped into the
air with shock. He looked around to see everyone staring
at him as if he was mad. "Uh, nothing wrong. Just a bit
of space sickness..."

Some comments were made as he settled back into his seat.
Sara looked at him and was obiviously worried. "Are you
okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine. I just saw something out of the window.
It scared me."
"We're travelling in hyperspace, Palp. I doubt there's
anything else in here." She paused. "It's starting to
affect you isn't?"
Palpatine look startled. How could she know what was
going on inside him? Was she suffering in the same way?
"What... what's affecting me?"
"Gerrin," Sara began. "How it's... our fault." She started
to cry and Palpatine did the only thing he could think of.
He put his arm around her and held her as tight as he
could. "Sshh. It's not our fault. We weren't to know what
would happen. We weren't supposed to know it would actually
work."

Sara couldn't say anything else, her voice was drowned by
the sobs that uncontrollably left her. Palpatine just
stroked her hair. A voice boomed from the loudspeaker.
"We are now leaving hyperspace. Prepare for entry into
the Naboo system."

The lights outside changed from long streaks of white
on a black backdrop to a more round and precise shape as
the vessel began to slow down to a halt. Someone behind
Palpatine and Sara began to vomit on re-entry into
normalspace but all of the other passengers seemed
unaffected.

As the aisle filled with people from dozens of different
races, Palpatine helped his friend to her feet and
guided her to the exit. He was too concerned about her
to realise how much he was shaking.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Troi sat in the white padded room, rocking on his toes while
his arms were wrapped around his folded knees. He muttered
apologies to himself, something he hadn't stopped doing
since Gerrin's death. The only time he would rest was when
the doctor's were forced to sedate him.

The door to the cell opened with a whoosh and one of the
staff entered. "Troi, you have a visitor..." The young
man looked up blankly. "I'm sorry," he murmoured. "Oh Gods,
I'm so sorry." Palaptine came into the room but there
seemed to be no recognition. He walked slowly to his
friend and sat down. He motioned to the doctor to close the
door.

Once they were alone Palpatine spoke. "We just got back
from Gerrin's funeral. It was quiet. Everyone paid their
respects. It's quite amusing, you know... how they all
think it was a fire in the dorm. But we know different,
don't we?"
"Forgive me..." Troi said to no one in particular, his voice
shaking with each syllable. "Please..."
"If only it was that easy, Troi," Palpatine replied knowing
he wasn't the target of the plea. "Sara's in such a state.
She doesn't know what to think. At least you have insanity
to dampen your grief but I won't let you. You should see
things as clearly as I can."

With a wave of his hand in front of Troi's eyes, the twenty-
thee year old suddenly came to life. He looked at Palpatine
knowing exactly what he just did. The life came back to his
eyes but rather than joy all that could be seen was pure
panic. "We did it!" he exclaimed. "We did it!"
"*You* did it," Palpatine corrected. "You convinced us it
would all be fun. *You* are the one who killed Gerrin."

"No! It was the Sith!" Troi said as sweat started pouring
from his forehead. "You know that, don't you?"
"I really wish it was you who'd been hit in the blast. I
liked Gerrin. You were... are... a fool who's gone deeper
than they should have."
"You don't really think that?"
Palpatine frowned as he started to get more and more angry.
"You don't know what I think! Not even I do anymore. My
mind is just full of anger and, somewhere deep beneath it,
great power. Power I will now demonstrate."

Troi backed himself into a corner as Palpatine stood and
walked towards him slowly. "There's no need to call the
security," he whispered.
"There's no need to call security," Troi repeated as
the earge to do just that disappeared in an instant.
"When they let you out of here, which they will very soon,
you are going to get the first blaster you find and use
it on yourself. Rid the world of the menace you have
created."
"Get blaster... use it on myself..."
"Exactly."

With that Palpatine called to the guard to let him leave.
Troi just watched him go, dumbstruck by his cure and at
the same time filled with sheer guilt.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Palpatine retired to his new dorm. All of the arrangements
for his new move had been made while he was away and, despite
not liking the decor of the room, he was now allowed to
stay here alone.

He took out the book of the Sith which had survived the
explosion, powered, no doubt, by the dark energies that
emminated from it. Flicking to the correct page he started
the summoning that the four friends had only two weeks
before. He chanted alone and the Sith spirit emerged from
a fire that wasn't there before the young man started
speaking the dark words.

Al-Grageth looked down on his new student. "You are
welcome here Palpatine, son of Ruk," his voice boomed.
"You have fulfilled the task I gave you?"
"Yes, master," he bowed. "Troi will be dead the moment
he leaves the hospital."
"Good... No one disturbs my slumber without paying dearly.
Still, it was not such as waste. I found you, did I not?"
Palpatine nodded. "That you did. My will is yours from
the moment you entered my soul."

The ancient Sith spirit would have smiled if not for the
evil ghostly armour that covered his entire body. "That
I know. But I have a further mission for you. On the planet
Korriban there is the only living Sith Lord in the galaxy.
With his apprentice he is waiting for the day when we
will reveal ourselves once more. You are to destroy the
apprentice and take his place at his master's side. You
are the One, young Palpatine. The blood of Bane flows
through your veins. Go..."

The Sith disappeared into the fire which eventually faded
into non-existance leaving Palpatine the only one left in
the room. He got to his feet and smiled. "But there is one
more thing I must deal with."

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Sara sat in her new sleeping quarters. The principle was
understanding enough to realise she needed company during
this traumatic time but right now her room-mate was out
on the town, what little town there was in Theed. She
had received a communication from Troi saying he
had been let out and was coming to see her. That was nearly
two hours ago.

When the door chimed she leapt to her feet and commanded
that it open. Without even looking to see who it was
she wrapped her arms around the visitor and kissed him
deeply. "Gods, I missed you..." her voice trailed off when
she realised she had just kissed Palpatine. "Oh!" she
almost squeaked. "I thought you were Troi! I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," Palpatine smiled as he walked her back to the
bed she was sitting on and took a place next to her. "I
heard Troi was going to be here too and I really wanted
to see him."
"Well," Sara said blushing. "I was hoping we'd be able
to have some time to ourselves."
"I hardly think he's in any condition to do anything like
that. Last I heard he was a gibbering wreck. He may have
a a fast recovery but it'll take more than this before
he's fighting fit again." Palpatine winked and smiled.

"Oh, not that! I just wanted to talk to him. He missed
seeing us take Gerrin away and I really wanted him there.
I know it's too late now but we need to talk everything
over..."
"I was just as much a part of it. I should be there when
anything's discussed," Palpatine argued. He waited eagerly
for the communication about Troi's fate with anticipation.
Sara shook her head. "What I mean is what this will do to
what I have with Troi. You know, where our relationship
stands..."

Just on scedule Sara's personal comm-link activated. A
computer's voice was heard. "Message for Sara Prefil. D
you accept?" The girl replied "yes" and the image of the
university principle appeared from the holograph projector
on the table. "I have some rather disturbing news. Would
you like to come to my office?" Sara's eyes turned to
Palpatine who looked just as shocked as she was, something
he'd perfected on the way to her dorm.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Palpatine waited outside the office just as he'd promised.
During it a voice was heard clearly in his mind. Al-Grageth
called him from beyond the grave. "Palpatine, your scheme
is most devious. Do away with those who are a threat to
you. Two are now gone, a third will be soon, no doubt."
The young student was able to speak telepathically, a skill
he never knew he had. "I don't intend to kill Sara. I just
want her to... suffer."

The voice continued, this time it was angry at its new-found
apprentice. "You have feelings for her? That is not acceptible.
The ways of the Sith do not allow for anything of this sort.
Prove yourself and destroy her or suffer a similar, but more
painful fate."
"You can't do that to me," Palpatine thought. "You're not
even alive."

Suddenly, sparks of electricity spread over his body, knocking
him to the floor where he writhed in agony. Thankfully no one
was walking passed during all of this encounter or they would
have feared for Palpatine's sanity. The pain subsided and
the would-be Sith managed to crawl back to his seat. He was
seething with anger at his treatment. "You can't do that to
me," he thought as loudly as he could. "I will destroy you!"
"You cannot harm me, young Palpatine, but you can use your
anger on another."

With that the door opened and Sara ran out in tears, straight
passed her friend. Palpatine tried to speak with Al-Grageth
but the spirit no longer resided in his mind. He ran after
Sara as fast as he could until he finally caught up with
her. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"It's Troi," she sobbed. "He's dead."
"What? How? I heard he was going to be let out? He'd recovered!"
"He... he..." Sara broke down again and wailed at the top
of her voice.  For the second time that day, Palpatine held
her. He noticed the smell of her hair, how soft it felt
against his skin. He couldn't kill her. He just couldn't.
"Tell me," he said quietly.
"They say he killed himself. He stole a blaster from someone
at a cantina. He used it on himself before they caught up
with him." Tears flowed freely from her open eyes. "What have
I done? It's all my fault. Everyone around me is dying."
"I'm not dying, believe me. I intend to live a long life and
no hocus pocus is going to stop that."

Her arms fell from around him and she turned away. "But it's
still my fault. If I didn't bring that medallion none of this
would have worked. The items wouldn't have been complete..."
"It's not your fault, Sara," Palpatine said, trying to get
ahold of her again but she pulled away.
"Then who's is it? Troi's? Are you blaming Troi?"
"It was his idea..."
"I refuse to hear you say that! You're the one who brought
the book! You're the one who saved me when I should have
died! It's you! You're the key!"
"NO!"

He never knew he could speak with such ferocity. He knocked
Sara aside and her head hit the wall. She fell to the floor,
blood coming from the side of her head. She looked up to
see something new in her friend's eyes. The only time she'd
ever seen anything like it was when they summoned the Sith.
Only his eyes were as penetrating as these. "It... it is
you. The Jedi... the Jedi... I must warn..."

She was lifted into the air by an invisible force. Palpatine
raised his arm and started to close his fist. Sara began to
feel her throat tightening. "I was going to spare you. I didn't
want to do this but my master ordered me. I could have let you
go but not now. Not if the Jedi will be involved." His hand
grew tighter leaving Sara unable to speak. She was close to
passing out when he stopped and turned away. "Go. Run. Get
away before I can catch you..."

Sara looked up from her position on the floor panic-stricken.
She was shaking all over. Palpatine span around and this
time his eyes were not only full of hate but flames were
visible in them. "GO!"

The girl got onto her feet and ran as fast as she could,
stumbling as she went. Palpatine screamed with rage as
Al-Grageth's voice pounded his brain to mush. He didn't
want to do this. He couldn't. He had to contain the feelings
that were fighting to be released. "Do it!" The Sith hissed.
"Destroy her and your journey to the Dark Side will be easy.
She will contact the Jedi. She will reveal us before it is
time. Destroy her..."

With a loud yell Palpatine let all of the rage that had been
building up in his entire life. The losses and disappointments
of his childhood, the cruelty of his family who considered him
a runt who should never have been born, the academic failure
that almost lost his place here... everything came out and
there was only one way to stop it. Kill Sara...

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Sara ran back to the only place that she knew was safe - her
room. She closed the door behind her and locked it with
every security seal available to students and sat in the
corner. How could this be happening to her. It just
didn't seem possible. First her brother died, then Troi
went mad and now Palpatine was insistent on killing her.
Not for the first time that day she broke down and cried.

The door slid open despite the lockout procedures. Palpatine
entered with a smile on his face. "I have a lot of anger
in me, Sara. I must be rid of it."

Reaching for the nearest object, Sara grabbed an alarm clock
and threw it at the deranged student coming closer to her.
He knocked it aside before it was even a metre in front of
him. She tried again, this time with a ceremonial knife from
her planet that she kept in a nearby drawer. With the most
powerful and accurate throw she could muster, it lauched
right at Palpatine's chest. He held his hand out and the
blade went right through. "You cannot hurt me. The power
of the Sith flows through me. I don't want to do this, truly
I don't, but I must..."

Sara watched as all of the fight she had left in her disappeared.
Palpatine stepped slowly towards her, his hand outstretched.
Lightening came from his fingertips and covered her entire
body. She convulsed dramatically as she no longer had any
control over her body and finally she just gave up. Everything
went black and her body slumped to the floor.

His fingers sizzled with pure energy as his former friend's
body was drained of all life. Palpatine stood amazed at what
he did. He had killed. Al-Grageth was right. After the first
time it would be easy. All that was left now was a trip to
Korriban. There a new era in the history of the Sith would be
born.

			CHAPTER THREE

The landing ramp closed behind Palpatine as he entered the transport.
Finding the way to the front he met the pilot, a four armed Morseerian he
took the place as the navigator. The alien looked him over before
finally speaking. "So where you goin' boy?" he asked.
"Korriban. I do hope you know where that is."
"Korriban? Yeah, I know the place. A little out of the way. Nothing
there as far as I can tell. Why you goin'?"
"Personal reasons," Palpatine muttered.
"Sure, sure." The pilot pressed as many buttons as he could with all
of his hands. The starship took off from the landing pad on the
outskirts of Theed and made its way to the upper atmosphere. "They
say the Sith come from Korriban," he said trying to make conversation.
"I know it's just a myth you tell the little kiddies but it really
scares some of the best star pilots in the galaxy. They refuse to
go anywhere near that system. You're lucky I'm such a brave guy."
Palpatine nodded. "I'm sure your bravery comes with a price."

"Nice to see you understand the way the galaxy goes 'round, my
boy. How's seventy thousand for you?"
"How about five."
"Five thousand? That's barely enough for fuel and we're not
even going into danger money there. I'm gonna take us back down.
I guess your pocket money ain't enough to get you where you
want..."
The would-be Sith waved his hands in front of the pilot. "Five
thousand. You're very lucky I'm even bothering to pay you. I'm
just feeling generous."

The pilot nodded happily. "Five thousand sounds good to me, kiddo."
"And stop calling me that or you'll realise how painful even sudden
death can be." With that Palpatine's companion shut his mouth for
the rest of the journey."

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

The transport came to a stop on the top of a mountain range above
what seemed to be an ancient temple. The Morseerian looked down
out of the viewscreen. "Wow, this place is a real treasury of history.
Maybe some of the stuff down there could be worth something." He
glanced over to Palpatine. "I'm guessin' that's why you're here."
"No. I am here to take the place of the present Sith apprentice.
You will now stay here and wait for my return."

"You've gotta be kiddin'. I've got money to make elsewhere. And while
we're on that topic..." There was a loud crack and the pilot's head
fell limply to the side. Palpatine looked at the body with glee.
"You know, I think I can control this thing better than you
could. I may need a ship of my own anyway..."

The former Naboo student stepped out into the harsh sunlight and
looked down over the rockface. The statues of the past Lord of
the Sith stood in various states of repair. Palpatine noticed
that of Al-Grageth was still standing tall and proud over the
others. Next to him were the feet of who may have been the
second Sith Lord that stood at one side of the entrance to
the main confines of the temple. It called out to him in voices
that couldn't be heard by anyone but Palpatine himself. He
slowly started to descend the cliff.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Darth Malthus watched as his apprentice struggled in overcoming
two large beasts that took turns in diving at her with their
full body weight. The young Cathar Sith pushed them aside
with the Force but their attacks became faster and more
frenzied. The apprentice fell to the floor with a dark furred
creature standing on her chest.

"Use your anger, Pernicia," her master instructed. "Take the
life from the pathetic creatures."
"Yes... Master..." The attractive dark haired alien looked
her enemy in the eye and pushed out with all of her strength.
The beast fell back and growled loudy. Darth Pernicia did
the same but with more ferocity. She jumped forward and
ripped the throat out of the creature's neck. It fell to
the floor. She looked at the blood that covered her hands
and smiled. "I understand now."

Before she could move again the slain beast's mate launched
another attack. She fell to the floor with a thud and saw
a claw bearing down on her face.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

The first trap was easy to avoid. As he walked along the dark corridor,
a loud rumbling came from above. Palpatine looked up in time to see
a set of spikes coming down on him at a considerable pace. He
fell to the floor and rolled away as the trap fell apart into
many pieces. He looked ahead. "They think they can stop me? A
Sith? They are fools."

"Do not get over confident," the voice of Al-Grageth called out.
"Not until you have the control do you makes claims such as that."
"Yes, master," Palpatine grumbled as he walked onwards.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Pernicia pushed the shaggy creature off her body and jumped to her
feet. As it pounced again, she projected herself upwards, grabbing
onto one of the stone spikes that covered all of the walls and
ceilings of the cave. They seemed almost evil, which suited the
type of training Darth Malthus put his students through.

His student dropped back to the ground and kicked her attacker
across the face before getting to safer ground. Another dive
pushed her into the wall, only just avoiding two spikes. There
was no way out. She had left the Jedi Order for nothing. The Sith
lied. Pernicia closed her eyes tightly.

There was a loud crack of bones being broken. She looked around to
see the beast impaled on the wall, its blood trickling down into
a puddle on the floor. Palpatine stood in the doorway, a neutral
expression on his face. "I am here to see the Sith. Obviously you
are not one of them." He stretched his hand out and the woman was
pulled towards him. "Why are you here?"
"Shouldn't I be asking that question?"
"No," boomed Malthus. "That is my duty." He looked at the intruder.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Palpatine. I was sent by Lord Al-Grageth to be taught
by you."
The only living Sith Master smirked. "But I already have an apprentice."

Pernicia felt her entire body being lifted through the air. The
last thing that went through her mind as the spike pierced her
heart was sheer anger. She'd done it! She was a Sith! Her body
slumped to the floor with a sickening smile on its face. Palpatine
turned to Malthus. "Not any more."

Palpatine bowed before his new master and felt the darkness envelop
him at last. The future had been born.


				EPILOGUE

Darth Sidious left the Sith Temple and glanced up at the sun. His
black robes should have made it too hot for him but right now he
gained pleasure from the discomfort. The body of Darth Malthus was
still inside, his spirit had moved on. For now there was only one
Sith but soon there would be another. The Dark Lord lifted himself
up with the Force to the plateau where his starship had been left
six years earlier. It was still there, as was the decomposing body
of the pilot. He dragged it out and entered the cockpit.

The vessel took off into the atmosphere as Sidious checked the
navi-computer. Zabrak. That was where he would find his apprentice.
A quick journey there and back to Naboo where he would find a way
to replace the current senator. The new age of the Sith was about
to begin and Palpatine would be the one to bring it about.

	- - - - - - - - - - 	END	- - - - - - - - - - -