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Chapter 184 - Chapter 184: Palpatine

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One began to strip the Mandalorian of his armor, which one of the droids disposed of, as the others began their work on his body. In a few hours both Jango's body and that of Sifo-Dyas would be fertilizing a few local farming habitats.

After making certain the droids were being thorough, Plagueis turned away, walking off without further concern for the grisly sight behind him. The Jedi Master had chosen this place because it was empty of any all other life, allowing him both solitude and secrecy. That had come to plague him, and it allowed Plagueis to make certain that no one found either body.

He made two more stops before leaving the planet. First was to make certain that the training core had their marching orders and were completely cut off from any kind of hyperspace communications here. Just as he had not trusted Jango, he did not trust them overmuch, but they would perform adequately. They were surprised to not be meeting Jango, but when told he had duties elsewhere, the Mandalorians the now-deceased bounty hunter had brought together as the Cuy'val Darunderstood.

Under a Force-assisted illusion that portrayed him as a random senatorial aide, Plagueis gave them an impassioned plea that Sidious had written for him. It told the Cuy'val Dar that they would be a major part of creating a new era of order and prosperity once the clone army was on line, and they could sweep away the old corruption of both the Senate and the Jedi Order, ushering in a new era of centralized authority which would bring prosperity to all.

It was a passionate speech, and all of them bought into it, which almost made Plagueis chuckle. There would, of course, be a centralized authority. Despotisms had to be centralized by their very nature. The speech was also a front, of course, a way to grab his victims' attentions as Plagueis sent his Force powers into their minds, making them more biddable, more subservient to his orders in the future, less questioning about their role or that of the clone army they were creating.

His second stop was much faster, picking up the clone cylinder with Jango's child in it. This clone didn't have any of the modifications the others did to make them more biddable and susceptible to mental commands. But Plagueis wanted to see what could be done with a normal individual if given Sith training or possibly imbued with the Force powers of Sidious's assassin. Whatever he decided to do with it, the baby would be an interesting experiment to while away his time as he made plans to recover or turn the vergence he had created to the Sith cause.

OOOOOOO

It had been several days since the events on Naboo had reached their conclusion, and the new Chancellor of the Republic was still stuck on the planet. There were a few political reasons for this, though admittedly most of them he could have handed off to other people. However Sidious had wished to make certain that Maul's ship was taken off-world with no one the wiser. That ship represented a lot of technology that he did not want to see falling into the Jedi's hands even discounting the fact that its construction might well have pointed them to some of the Sith's secret bases.

He also wanted to plant a few spies in the royal palace. Sidious hadn't had to do so before: Captain Panaka had been his creature even if he didn't know it, which of course meant "Palpatine" would need to find a suitable replacement to watch the child queen. Such are the dangers of compartmentalization. Still, one tool is much like another.

That, of course, was a minor detail in comparison to the large one Sidious continued to think about at the back of his head, that of coming up with a replacement for Maul. His next choice was not ready to fall into his lap just yet, so instead Sidious decided to take some time to think long term, sneaking some genetic material from Maul's corpse just in case. It never hurts to play the long game, Palpatine thought, before returning to the here and now, watching Padme and the fat amphibian Boss Nass work over the wording of their pact.

Padme had surprised Sidious in a few ways over the past two days. She had used the crisis to remove power from her so-called advisors, the ones who had insisted on her surrendering the planet and then had done nothing for her people under occupation after she was forced to flee. After a public referendum on their conduct, they had all been removed from power, placing the reins of the government in Padme's small, feminine hands. It had been a shrewd political move, and her alliance with the amphibian Gungans had shown that she was flexible as well as giving Naboo an extra bit of military strength. Not in the conventional sense, but the filthy amphibians' victory against the droid army had given them quite a bit of fame in local space.

In the long term this gambit will fail. She is too idealistic and inexperienced, and will no doubt trip up, yet even so it shows a distinct level of promise. If only she was not such a peacenik she would be a much more useful tool. Still, when she trips up Padme knows she will always have me, her old senator, as an ally…

Seeing that the fat oaf of an overgrown frog had finished speaking, "Palpatine" stood up, smiling and putting his signature down on the paper between them with a fanciful overdone twirl of his pen. As one of Padme's maids began to transcribe the treaty, "Palpatine" looked across the table at Padme.

"Now we come to the matter of the four Lucrehulk ships that remain in Naboo's possession. Handing them over to the Republic would be a sign of good faith between yourself and the Senate. After all, you already have all of the weapons from the droids, and no one is gainsaying your desire to keep the starfighters or the droid parts. Those will gain Naboo quite a lot of money, and that plus the reparations we have already forced down the Trade Federation's throats will make certain that they will never repeat this adventure.

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