Chapter Text
29BBY
Coruscant
It was two days after the eve of his greatest success yet, and Sheev Palpatine was still delighted.
The culmination of years of planning had finally begun to affect the galaxy, and pulling the sentients within into a malevolent web of deceit and manipulation. There was celebration and headlines all across the Republic about the dramatic events of the past week.
The Blockade of Naboo. The battle that followed. The Trade Federation, caught invading a planet in a breach of countless laws. A Jedi Master dying in the conflict. And above all, the vote of no confidence in the long-standing Chancellor Vallorum, breaking a long and trusted history of his family line serving the Republic loyally.
It had all served a greater purpose, one only known to a handful. The Grand Plan.
And now, Palpatine was Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. The most powerful man in the galaxy. He sat at the desk that controlled it all, atop the Senate Building in the heart of the Republic.
It was all his now.
It had been hundreds of years in the making. The entire legacy of his master and their masters before them rested upon him now, to bring about their revenge to the galaxy, to destroy the Jedi Order, to prove the power and cunning of the Sith could never be stopped.
There was so much to be done. Finally reaching the top of the galactic government was only the beginning; Palpatine had years of careful maneuvering, seed planting, and political planning to begin, all while keeping up the disguise of a benevolent and caring old man. He would be busy for an entire decade at least, slowly building his web until the entire galaxy was trapped within it.
But for now, he could enjoy the fruits of his labor, the removal of his foolish old master, and the greedy sycophants of the corrupt Republic begging for his time. He would take these next days to savor the finest wines Coruscant had to offer and familiarize himself with the power he now held.
Yes, everything was going according to pl-
A shrill beep interrupted his internal monologue.
Palpatine blinked, then looked down at his new desk. A blinking light came from the comm system in the corner. He was still new to the position, but that line should go the reception of the Chancellor… ah. He pressed it promptly.
A tired female voice spoke. “Chancellor, sir, there is someone to see you.”
Palpatine tilted his head thoughtfully. He didn’t recall any other meetings for the rest of today. He was not yet familiar with all the practices of this office and its staff, however he found it unlikely the receptionist would bother the Supreme Chancellor the moment anyone dropped by to talk to him. Part of their very job was to filter out riffraff and unimportant people from taking up his valuable time. So if this receptionist was willing to risk annoying a brand new Chancellor with an unexpected guest, it had to be someone significant.
Well, back to playing the game then.
Palpatine cleared his throat and faded fully back into the kind old man the galaxy knew him to be.
“Who is it?” He asked gently. “I don’t believe I had any further appointments.”
“It’s Master Yoda, of the Jedi Order, sir,” the receptionist replied, sounding nervous.
Palpatine slowly tensed, his eyes narrowing. This was unexpected. The chancellor’s office worked closely with the Jedi Order, yes… but the Jedi Council had already sent him their congratulations for winning the election. And the Order’s council representative was certainly not the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order. In fact, Palpatine could not recall any time in recent history that Master Yoda met directly with the previous chancellor, or the one before him, especially in the Senate building. He had monitored those interactions closely over the years.
This turn of events was highly unusual. What was Yoda doing here?
He needed to find out.
Palpatine quickly reinforced his mental shields, burying everything unique about his force signature behind careful force illusions, layering them on far thicker than usual. He had spoken with Master Yoda before, but only once; and he was not willing to take risks of being discovered in prolonged social contact with the small being.
Even after years of research, Palpatine did not truly know the extent of Yoda’s knowledge or powers in the force. He was the most dangerous Jedi to be near.
This conversation would have to be handled delicately.
“Send him in, please,” Sheev told his receptionist, his eyes locked on the door to the office.
A moment passed.
“He is on his way. Thank you.” The comm went silent.
Palpatine waited impatiently, his mind whirling, angles and careful considerations for every potential way this conversation could go. It was not often he was caught off guard, and he did not appreciate it. He was struggling to find any reasonable explanation for Yoda to be here himself, instead of another Jedi.
And he could not find a single one.
And the force was unsettlingly quiet, as if it was holding its breath, right before something immensely important was about to happen.
That did not bode well.
Palpatine concentrated briefly and verified the dark aura of his lightsaber was tucked away in his robe, hidden under illusions. He didn’t expect to need it, but decades of careful manipulation told him when something was about to go off script. And the incoming meeting was all but screaming it.
The large doors to his office hissed open, revealing a small green being covered in earth-colored robes and using a knotted wooden stick as a cane.
And beside him, floating in the air with the force, was… a large gift basket?
“Chancellor Palpatine, a pleasure to meet you again, it is,” Yoda said in a wizened old voice.
Palpatine glanced from the ancient Jedi Master to the gift basket beside him, wrapped in pink ribbons. He was unsure what this was about, but he did relax a bit at seeing something more predictable.
“Master Yoda! How unexpected! Please, do come in. What can I do for you?” he asked in a perfectly friendly tone.
“Wished to speak with you, I did,” Yoda rasped. He slowly walked into the office, the basket trailing behind him. He pushed himself into a seat before Sheev’s desk and set the basket down atop it. Sheev was quick to join him, setting his elbows on the desk and steepling his fingers expectantly.
Palpatine glanced at the basket, wary, but through the wrapping material he could see various upper-class treats and wines. It looked like a completely normal gift purchased in the Senate district. Receiving something like this from a senator would not be unusual, but from the Jedi Order, let alone the Grandmaster himself?
What was this?
Were the Jedi trying to gain his favor? Were they stooping as low as the corrupt government they served now?
“I am at your service, Master Yoda,” Sheev replied. “What did you wish to talk about?”
Normally he would draw out the conversation with a guest and file away every bit of information he could get, but this was not a being he wanted to stay in the same room with for long. Even now, Palpatine could feel the Master’s force signature, old and gentle and powerful . The Jedi were mostly arrogant buffoons in this day and age, but anyone over eight hundred years old would not be stupid. Sheev needed to tread lightly here.
“Congratulations, I wished to offer you,” Yoda told him, his wrinkled face open and honest. “A great achievement, you have accomplished.”
Palpatine carefully reached out to the force, trying to sense deception in the words, but found nothing to indicate a lie. It seemed the old Jedi truly was here just to appeal to the new chancellor. Perhaps his fears about this meeting were unfounded.
He relaxed his body slightly and leaned back, putting a modest smile on his face. “Oh, there is no need for this, Master Jedi. The council have already sent me their best wishes, and I have spoken with representative Gallia about the relationship between the Order and my office going forward. I’m sure we will work together closely in the years to come.”
“Insist, I do,” Yoda answered. “A mountain of corruption and challenge, the Senate can be. To achieve the position you have, with the wide support of the Republic, no easy feat this is. My compliments you have.”
Palpatine waved his hand. “I have just done my best to serve the Republic, nothing more,” he answered. “I am thankful to the Senate, and the Order, for supporting me.”
Yoda hummed and his eyes grew more serious.
“Much planning and effort, it took for you to reach this goal.”
Palpatine frowned. The old Jedi was making it sound like he had planned this. Almost leading towards an accusation. That was a dangerous line of thinking, one he couldn’t allow to continue.
“I admit part of me did aspire for the position,” he admitted carefully, “But the rest was just a fortunate opportunity, to help both Naboo and the Republic.”
There, he had put forward his reasoning, showing himself as a flawed but genuine politician. Nothing suspicious to be found on the surface. Now if the old Jedi did have any accusations to make, he would make them now.
Palpatine’s mind carefully crafted several contingencies for this conversation. Whatever Yoda said next would require his galaxy-wide web of deceit to be adjusted accordingly.
Yoda smiled. “Proud, your master would be.”
Sidious froze.
…
The entire office, the Senate, all of Coruscant seemed to come to a sudden stop.
Adrenaline shot through Palpatine’s body, and his hands began to shake. Hundreds of years of planning came to a crashing halt against the Jedi’s five vague words.
My master?
No…
He couldn’t… there was no way he could possibly know, was there?! There had to be a misconception, maybe he was referring to past mentors in politics? Surely?!
…
And all Yoda did was sit there and smile at him, waiting for a response.
Palpatine wanted to growl. Was this a test? A game?! Did this wrinkled old loon actually know the truth of his identity, and was making a move? Did he know, and if so, for how long?
How much did he know?
And he referred to Sidious’s Master … which, if true, was an enormous concern. For Yoda to know about Plagueis, in ANY capacity, was far more alarming than Sheev’s own identity. It would indicate potentially decades, perhaps centuries of awareness of the line of Sith and their plans.
Palpatine’s mind ran rampant with worst-case scenarios and found himself horrified at the new factors added to his goals. The potential depth of changes and the dangers of Yoda having long known the truth were staggering. The entire plan, hundreds of years in the making, might need to be scrapped.
NO!
He could recover from this. He had never let anyone stop him before.
All he needed to do was identify the threat that Yoda presented and remove it. And he needed to do it carefully, in case his identity was not yet compromised.
His eyes narrowed dangerously at the small being across from him.
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean, Master Yoda,” he answered in a fake voice. “Is there something you are trying to say?”
He mentally gathered himself, preparing both his body and the force to eliminate the Jedi before him.
Yoda just scoffed at him. Scoffed. The audacity!
“Need to keep acting, you do not,” he replied. “Know the truth of who you are, I do.”
Sidious seethed as the diminutive master fully confirmed his fears. His mask slowly slipped off, with hatred and danger seeping into his expression. The damage to his plans here was immense, and it felt as if years of hard work were falling apart, all thanks to this fool before him.
He stood up and his eyes flashed to their true color, glowing a sickly yellow.
Sidious bent over the desk, looming over Yoda with a sinister scowl, gathering power in the force to crush his opponent, dropping his illusions and letting the dark seep into the room. And Yoda just sat there, appearing completely unconcerned.
Oh, he definitely knew.
Was he truly that confident? Did he believe himself to be that powerful? Were there perhaps other Jedi, maybe even the flaunted Council, waiting nearby? The arrogant fools, all of them! They didn’t know the power of the Dark Side!
There were no more lies or deception now, he could finally discover what the Grandmaster sought to gain from this.
“And what, exactly, will you do with this information, Master Yoda?” Sidious snarled, prepared to kill him in an instant.
Yoda hummed. “Told you, I did. Congratulations, I am here for. Brought this basket for you, I have.”
Sidious paused.
…
What.
…
“Spoke highly of you, your master always did,” Yoda continued, seeming completely unworried about the furious Sith standing across from him. “But his time would come soon, he sensed. Getting old, he was. Ask me to support his apprentice after death, he did.”
Sidious stared at Yoda with mouth open, absolutely baffled .
What.
WHAT?!
How did… why would… WHAT?!
The amount of things wrong with this got worse with every word the Jedi said, and Sidious was struggling to keep up with the spiraling implications.
Yoda knew his master? They were seemingly… friends?!
The Jedi Grandmaster and the previous Sith Master of the Banite line?
Fully knowing their identities?!
WHAT?!
And even worse, Plagueis asked Master Yoda of all people to watch over Sidious if he died?
This meant the Jedi knew fully of the current Sith line, and their plans, to some capacity!
This meant Plagueis had hidden enormously significant information and relationships from him, leaving Sidious reeling with horror at the loose ends he had missed.
And why was the Jedi Grandmaster just… befriending the Sith?! And supporting them?! It made no sense!
This meant all his future plans were now a completely unclear mess. His master had thrown a giant wrench into everything, and Sidious had no idea how far it went! The entire Jedi council might even be aware of him! How was he supposed to collapse the Republic if they KNEW?! He could just picture them now in the future, taking one look at the careful manipulations he created and raising an eyebrow at him expectantly, already knowing what he planned, just toying with him!
Sidious wanted to throw his desk through the window.
How was he supposed to take control of the galaxy now?
He forcibly strangled his rage back down and got control of himself. No, he could fix this, he always did. He wouldn’t let anything stop him.
And honestly, he needed answers to this entire insane situation. Starting with what was going through the head of the ancient Jedi in front of him.
He sat back down in his seat and tried to focus. “I… am grateful for your support, Master Yoda,” he lied through his teeth. “But may I ask why you would do this? Why would you knowingly support a Sith Lord who has plans that stand against the beliefs of your order?”
Yoda closed his eyes and considered his answer, and Sidious watched intensely, desperately wanting to know the answer.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Yoda opened his eyes.
“Bored, I am,” he said. “Eight hundred years of politics and drama, you should try sometime. Fun, it was, to spend time with your master. Agreed with me, he did. Fun, it will be, to see what you do next.”
Sidious’s eye twitched. The large bay window behind him cracked in a dozen places.
“You befriended my master… and you’re here today to reveal all this… because you’re bored? ” Sidious asked darkly.
“Yes,” Yoda answered, eyes innocent.
Sidious fought to keep himself under control. “Are you a senile idiot? Surely you know my plans stand against everything the Jedi represent. Will you just watch and let my Empire rise, destroying the Jedi and the Republic, because you’re bored? ”
Yoda waved a clawed hand through the air. “Bah. A threat to the Jedi, you are not.”
…
The window behind Sidious completely shattered with the fury in the force he felt. Shards flew out into the Coruscant skyline.
“You don’t think I’m a threat?!” he snarled.
Oh, he would show this arrogant fool exactly how wrong he was…
“Bigger problems than you, the Jedi Order has,” Yoda said, unphased by all the broken glass. “Of the four surviving lines of Sith, the least dangerous, you are.”
Sidious’s anger died out instantly.
…
What.
…
He had to have misheard.
Please tell him he heard wrong.
“Did… did you say four lines of Sith?” Sidious questioned.
Yoda nodded, seeming caught off guard. “Yes. Surprised you are not aware of the others, I am. A far greater threat to the galaxy than the Banite line, they are. Follow the rule of two, they do not. Thousands of them, there are. Fought them for many years, the Order has, in secret. Carefully protected the Republic from the danger, we have, by appearing to preserve peace in the core and outer rim. Wish to draw the galaxy into more force wars, we do not.”
Sidious gripped his desk hard enough to crush the edge. There were three other Sith lines? With thousands of members? How was he supposed to deal with them too?!
“Appear to be peacekeepers here in the core, we do,” Yoda continued. “Intentional, this is. Preserve peace and happiness in the Republic, we seek to. Avoid panic, fear. In truth, in the Unknown Regions, the bulk of the Jedi Order is, committed against the Sith. For several hundred years now, this has been the case.”
Surely this couldn’t be… surely…
Sidious sagged in his seat, barely able to believe his ears. He wasn’t sure how much of this he could truly trust, but he felt no deception from the wizened old master. It unsettled him deeply.
The Jedi Order he had known and planned against for years… they were just peacekeepers? And there was a much larger, more capable, and dangerous part of the Order deployed elsewhere? His chances of victory against the Jedi had never felt more distant. How could his plans for the Clone Army’s betrayal, for the Republic itself to hate the Jedi, work if the Order was far larger and more capable than he believed?
Yoda put a hand on the desk, looking sympathetic. “Respect your master, I did. Support you, I would like to. Friendship, if possible. Ambitious, your plans are. Removing corruption in the Republic with Sith efficiency, support this I can. A good Chancellor you may yet make, Sith or not. But attempt to destroy the Republic, or stand against the Jedi Order, you should not. ”
Sidious glared at the Jedi. He hadn’t felt this helpless in years. “And why not?” he asked acidly.
“If cross that line, you do…” Yoda said, looking sad. “Be able to protect you, I will not. Even as Grandmaster of the Order. If a true threat, you become, the entire Jedi Order… come for you, they will. And very good at killing Sith, some of them are.”
Sidious took a deep breath and exhaled a mix of rage and dismay. He angrily stood up and walked to look out over the Coruscant skyline, wind from the broken window buffeting his new robes.
“So you just came here to keep me in line,” he spat. “So you can focus on the other Sith.”
He heard Yoda sigh behind him. “Think what you will. But came here with hope for peace and cooperation, I have. Enemies, we need not be.”
The audacity of… He had spent decades of his life preparing, just to be cut off here? And the old fool expected friendship?!
Sidious spun around and glared at Yoda, energy crackling at his fingertips. “I will never be your friend, Jedi. I don’t care what you know, or how powerful the Order really is. I will become the strongest Sith in the galaxy, whether you know it or not! I will take vengeance for our legacy!”
Yoda looked unimpressed. “Or perhaps, retire, you could? Getting up in years, you are.”
“Retire?!” Sidious spat. “Me?! How dare you! You’re ancient compared to me!”
“Easy to be Sith, it is not,” Yoda said with pity. “Poor mental health, all of you have. And bad for your eyesight, the dark side is. Work too hard, you also do. A better idea, there is. Serve one term as Chancellor, then retire with good benefits. A generous pension, and counseling, you will receive.”
“Wha- No!” Sidious growled, walking back up to the desk to glare down at the Jedi. “My master and all before him have entrusted their legacy to me! I will not just give up!”
Yoda’s ears dropped and his eyes suddenly became far more serious. “Then your path, what will it be?” he asked knowingly. “Your plans, know them already, the Council does. If become a threat, you do, several strike teams, prepared they are.”
Sidious seethed.
“Win, defeat the Jedi, bring down the Republic, perhaps you could, perhaps you could,” Yoda said. “But years and years of difficult work, it would take. Countless battles, stress, an entire life consumed. The final result, the same as right now, it would be. Yourself, atop the largest organization in the galaxy, able to live in any way desired.”
Yoda gripped his cane with both hands and looked up at him with wisdom beyond his years. “Work so hard, why do you, to get what you already have? When atop an Empire, what is accessible then, that you do not have now? Owe the dead nothing, you do, especially when the dead are vengeful and bitter. Your destiny, this is. Choose how it ends, not your masters.”
The energy seemed to slowly release from Sheev’s body.
The old fool had a point, as much as he hated to admit it.
Sheev had been turned into the next weapon in the cycle of Master and Apprentice, to bring down the Jedi and avenge the ones before. He was so angry, so hateful, and he thrived on it, it had powered him for decades against his master and the galaxy itself.
But other than thriving in the dark side as an Emperor, and chasing immortality as best he could, what would be the point? He had immense wealth already. Enough credits to buy entire sectors a dozen times over, the result of centuries of planning and hoarding.
Could he really give up those immense dreams, the ones that had kept him going for years?
Yoda made a sympathetic noise and slowly jumped out of his seat. “Much to think about, I have given you. Take my leave, I will. But a challenge, I leave for you.”
Sidious frowned at the Jedi. “What do you mean?”
Yoda raised his eyebrows. “As Banite Sith, much power you have. Power to influence and deceive, far beyond that of the Jedi. If wish to get vengeance on the Jedi, another way there is, besides slaughter.”
“Another way? How so?” Sidious asked, partly curious.
“Wiping out the Order, done before, that has been, many times,” Yoda stated. “Old news, that is, as younglings call it these days. Make you special in history, it will not. So instead, a different way to defeat the Jedi I present you.”
“Oh?” Sidious leaned in closer.
The master had a point, killing all the Jedi was hardly special, and each time before they had managed to survive as an Order. He himself wasn’t entirely sure he could do it either. Kill most of them, sure, but some would slip through the cracks. If there was another way…
“Humiliate the Jedi, before the entire galaxy, you could,” Yoda told him with a smirk. “Use the skills, influence, and power you have for the Republic, you could. Continue as Chancellor. Investigate and arrest corruption. Implement impressive policy that brings change. Serious problems the Republic has; thousands of years old it is, with deep seated corruption and selfishness. Fix all of that, you could. And then reveal yourself as Sith, before the galaxy, a Sith that did more than any Jedi ever before. A great victory for the Sith, it would be, unlike any before. Forgotten by history, it would never be, even though the Jedi Order dislikes it.”
Yoda pointed his cane at Sidious’s face. “This path, great power it would give to you. Love and respect you, the Republic would, and do nothing about it, the Order would be able to.”
Sidious stared at the old Jedi, mind whirling. His idea was absolutely preposterous, naïve, practically a joke!
Yet…
There was something so appealing about it.
He had always imagined ruling as an Emperor, sitting atop a throne of power and fear, keeping others in line with a thick web of loyalty and terror, with weapons like the Death Star to destroy any hope that emerged.
To think he could do it the other way, to use his skills to become the savior of the common people. It sounded insulting. Yet the thought of carefully crushing opponents and maneuvering the Republic into a way that made them adore him, by using his office to fix the glaring issues in the government, all while keeping his activities hidden to avoid the Jedi… it sounded almost entertaining.
There were countless lives that needed to be snuffed out in the higher echelons in the Republic, and the opportunities to do that with his power would be limitless. And using the Force for large scale influence in the Senate, to influence votes for the common people and force them through, it would be a challenge worth his time, especially to do so without it being too obvious to the Jedi.
And the final result, revealing himself in front of a Republic that loved and celebrated him, in direct conflict with the Jedi Order, who would be helpless to intervene… who would just have to congratulate him and glare at his success, watch him be genuinely adored more than they could ever achieve…
Oh he could just picture it now, being the third-time elected Chancellor at a Gala, accepting compliments from dignitaries even as Jedi representatives seethed in the corner. Oh, the delight he would feel to feast on their emotions…
He would become one of the most iconic figures in galactic history. Taught in every school’s history. And the Jedi would be forced to live with his legacy, humiliating them for the rest of their existence.
It was an entirely different way of victory, and it… warranted further exploration.
He wasn’t sure he was truly going to give up on the Grand Plan, but after today’s mess of revelations, he had a lot of thinking to do about his next moves.
Sidious sat back down in his chair, hands steepled once again.
“You’ve given me much to think about, Master Yoda,” he said, his mask worn once more. “I make no promises, however.”
Yoda nodded, and a kind smile returned to his face. “Happy to help, I am. A busy man with much to do, you are, so leave now I shall. Enjoy your gift, please. Upon return to the temple, instruct them to remove the explosives underneath your office, I will. Believe they are needed, I do not.”
Sidious’s face scrunched up. The urge to throw the desk out the window returned to him.
“I… that would be appreciated, Master Yoda.”
Yoda nodded and bowed deeply, then turned around and slowly hobbled out of the room, his cane tapping against the metal floor. He waved his other hand in the air as he left, and passed through the doors, with them shutting behind him.
As soon as he was alone, Sidious put his head down on the desk and sighed long and hard. He suddenly felt his age and the weight on his shoulders seemed immense. The idea of retirement was surprisingly appealing at that moment.
He had underestimated his master. He had underestimated the Jedi Order. And now every single plan he had would need to be revaluated. His own goals and desires would need to be revaluated.
But maybe it was better this way. It was liberating to not have to hide who he was so intensely, like a breath of fresh air after being trapped in darkness for ages.
Even so, Sidious still grabbed the gift basket on his desk with the force and threw it out his window with a screech of rage, watching it fly into the distance. Hopefully it hit a speeder and killed a few people.
Centering himself, Sheev Palpatine spun his chair around to look out on the Coruscant skyline, and began planning anew.
He could work with this. Right?