Chapter Seventy Seven

Since his decision to do away with Plagueis in any way he could contrive it, Darth Sidious had not had much time to actually devote to that goal. His public identity as the Chancellor was a full time job after all, a fact he was noting somewhat wryly as he leaned back in his chair in the Chancellor's office after a meeting with the Alderaanian senator. The man is so sanctimonious and moral it makes my skin crawl, but he is so useful as the head of the anti-corruption committee. An attack dog who doesn't realize he is only ever launched at targets I choose. Doesn't make him any less pleasant to be around.

Yet on top of that he also had other tasks, and Sidious punched in a few quick commands into the computer set into desk. He waited several minutes as it went through several thousand security programs before connecting into an entirely different network, which in turn eventually connected him through several dozen cutouts to the computer network in the secret underground base the Sith had built up over the millennia directly beneath the Jedi Temple. Security, as always, was a must, and since Sidious needed to remain here visible and available for meetings for the rest of the day he couldn't get away physically. The Jedi might not be at home with the world of computer espionage, but that was no reason for overconfidence.

The first thing that caught Sidious's attention as he worked his way through the backlog of notes in the system was that Plagueis was away once more, not in the underground base or even in his yacht in orbit, something Sidious had already sensed. With the amount of time he had to devote to his public persona, Sidious had barely been able to notice the absence of the other Sith even peripherally. Force curse it! Just one evening, that is all I would need. Just one evening where he sleeps on Coruscant! As Chancellor, Sidious couldn't get away even for the time it would take to head up to orbit, and even if he could there was no way he could arrive on Plagueis's ship before Plagueis was aware of his presence, even asleep. And Sidious had no desire to face his former master head on if he could help it.

Not that Plagueis was idle by any means on those trips. Regardless of his rising conviction that Plagueis's continued existence was in many ways damaging the Great Plan, Sidious understood that. The older Sith continued to work on his experiments in Sith Alchemy, and while Sidious still felt many of them were abominations and also pointless, there were others for which he could see a use. Plagueis was also handling some of the military aspects of the Great Plan, finding scientists and ship designers the galaxy over who could be manipulated in the future. That was actually what Plagueis was doing at present, meeting in person with a few scientists elsewhere in the Republic. He hadn't left any indication of what scientist or why, however, which greatly annoyed Sidious.

Sighing, Sidious once more pushed those thoughts to the background. Besides, there were many parts of the Great Plan he had to keep moving on too. Plagueis will die; that is certain. It will happen; the Force is on my side. It will happen; I just need to be patient and grasp the opportunity when the Force presents it to me.

With that thought he turned his attention to going over the other bits and pieces he had to look at, mostly about ongoing espionage work the universe over, as well as the slowly building plans for the Trade Federation's hidden army. That seemed to be building apace despite not having access to the Lucrehulks the Trade Federation lost over Naboo. That had been a blow, and Sidious had not liked the impact that he saw the Lucrehulk given to the Wookies was having on the ongoing low key conflict between them and the Trandoshans. Certainly Kashyyyk's security would be heightened to an entirely new level, even if they hadn't kept most of the Vultures.

The others would have less of an impact. Naboo would be more secure than he would like, but the one given over to the Order after working to pay back Serenno… Sidious let himself actually scoff. Imagine turning a ship that size into a mere humanitarian aid vessel! Pathetic. I can see Master Fay's hand in that. It might win the Jedi more…affection…among the Outer Rim and weaker planets, but it will also bring more attention there and away from where it really matters in the Core.

With the thought of Master Fay and her subtle danger to the Great Plan in mind, Sidious turned his attention to Serenno and fought back a frown. His agents' efforts to infiltrate the new Jedi training center had failed for the simple reason that no servants or droids were allowed in the area now. And Dooku's mansion too was a closed network in terms of the droids there. Sidious's agents, who of course had no idea who they really worked for, could not make any headway either electronically or physically. That leaves me with no way of knowing what Fay or Dooku are doing there. I will just have to wait and see if I can find some other way in, or… Hmm… Perhaps one of my pawns in the Order could be asked to retrain themselves there. Yes, that could work.

Making a note of that, Sidious continued to work, only pausing as he noticed another minor report from Serenno. Dooku was apparently getting in touch with people from past missions or meetings, talking to them in person on Serenno or elsewhere. These meetings were circumspect, in person, with nothing truly hinting at what was going on, but they were all over the spectrum in terms of the individuals involved. But there is a pattern here…

It hit him like a blast of Sith Lightning an instant later. They are all people Dooku met during the time he was most angered at the Senate and at the Jedi's complacency, the time when he was looking into information on the Sith! For a moment a new, almost unknown emotion filled Sidious, an emotion he had never felt since becoming Darth Sidious in the first place: fear. He knows!

After a moment, however, his self-control reasserted itself. The rest of the Order had made no effort in this direction; they were still following the trail he had left them leading out into the Outer Rim in search of the Dark Brothers rather than looking for the Sith. This looks as if only Dooku only has a suspicion here, and he is clearly acting on his own. That makes this manageable.

Going through his own meetings and memories of talking to Dooku, Sidious also knew he had not said anything to the man which would lead him to thinking of Sheev Palpatineas a possible Sith. I would have had before long, but his sudden near-retirement to look after his former padawan Vosa removed him from my orbit, and his interest in the new techniques Fay and T'ra Saa have introduced completely removed his desire to learn about the Sith. So I am safe…

A smile of pure villainous delight slowly formed on Sidious's face, and he fought back a desire to cackle like a villain from a child's show. But Plague is not… This, this could be the opportunity I have been waiting for. Now…how to go about setting this up and making certain none of it can splash back on me…

OOOOOOO

Dooku slowly pulled out of his meditation, only now noticing that his shoulders were a bit sore. I am quite obviously not getting any younger, despite the sheer amount of exercise I have been getting lately, he thought to himself with something approaching amusement. The Force could do many, many things, but reversing the touch of time was not one of them. And as a human he had a finite amount of lifespan, unlike Master Fay or Yoda. I suppose I should be happy I am not as frail as most men my age, but even so the Force can do only so much.

Despite the pain in his shoulders, Dooku allowed himself a grim little smile as he moved over to the window looking out into the sprawling training area. He had been busily clearing his memory, organizing it and going through each memory in turn which he thought might hold a clue to whoever had been trying to manipulate him into looking into the Sith. Dooku had been astonished by how much he had actually retained, but the organization of his memories left much to be desired until he started learning what Master Fay called Occlumency.

Organizing his memory thus also brought to mind a few of his less than best moments and forced Dooku to deal with them in turn. While I was a good Jedi for the mot part, I might not have been the best person at several points, including when I was training my padawans.

This method of organizing his mind had brought instantly to his conscious mind how many mistakes he had made in the training of both of his padawans. Very different mistakes, but still mistakes. He thought he had dealt with that, and he had in terms of Komari and had even atoned for his mistakes with her. But Dooku hadn't been able to truly atone in his own eyes for the mistakes he had made with Qui-Gon.

Still, at least I recognized most of them once they were rubbed in my face. I simply made new ones, Dooku thought ruefully, turning to another set of windows on the other wall as he heard the sound of people walking on the gravel walkway leading up to his mansion's front door. He looked out to see Aayla and Harry arriving from a meeting he had asked them to go to in his place. More and more often Dooku had been asking Harry to step up to talk to the Council of Counts as a 'Jedi observer,' something Harry didn't seem to be noticing, though the other counts and their heirs certainly did. The other counts in turn routinely brought along their heirs, forcing them both to take part and to interact with Harry and Aayla. This seemed to have brought out the best in all of them, and none more so than the two padawans.

Aayla was outgoing, and Harry had an exceptionally sharp mind to go with her equally high level of Force-assisted empathy. Harry had an almost magnetic personality when he was forced into the spotlight, though he did have trouble putting himself forward in the first place. He also had an exceptionally good head for business on his shoulders, something Dooku admittedly had not expected. His political savvy Dooku could take some pride in fostering along with Master Fay, but Harry's instincts were his own. And the boy doesn't even realize what he's doing, Dooku thought with a chuckle.

Turning back to the other window Dooku stared out over the training area once more, a single word reverberating through his mind: legacy, legacy, legacy. One half of my legacy will be Harry Potter and this training center, my mark on the Order which will last for centuries longer than my own life. And Harry Potter…he will continue to change the Order for the better, to make it evolve, and possibly to even make the Republic evolve, at least this small corner of it, I can hope.

The smile slid off his face as he stared up at the stars. The other half of my legacy will be to find this hidden Sith who tried to tempt me. I will find you, and I will end the Sith for all time!

Dooku did not realize it, and none of the people around him had any way of noticing considering how good he was at not letting his inner thoughts show, but finding the Sith had become an obsession for Dooku at this point. It would be a way to for him to atone, to atone for his near fall and to atone to his padawans for what they had gone through. It didn't matter anymore if it was right or wrong; that was the way Dooku saw it, and he would see this through to the end.