Star Wars - Darth Plagueis

I will bring about great changes for you, and in exchange you will do the same for me.”
    Gunray looked worried. “You claim to be a Dark Lord. But how do I know that you are? How do I know you have any ability to help me?”
    “I found you a rare bird.”
    “That hardly validates your claim.”
    Sidious nodded. “I understand your skepticism. I could, of course, demonstrate my powers. But I’m reluctant to convince you in that way.”
    Gunray sniffed. “I haven’t time for this—”
    “Is the pylat nearby?”
    “Just behind me,” Gunray allowed.
    “Show me.”
    Gunray widened the scope of the holotable’s cams to include the bird, perched in a cage that was little more than a circle of precious metal, crowned with a stasis field generator.
    “I was concerned, when I extracted him from the jungle habitat, that he would die,” Sidious said. “And yet he appears to be at home in his new environment.”
    “His songs suggest as much,” Gunray replied.
    “What if I told you that I could reach across space and time and strangle him where he perches?”
    Gunray was aghast. “You couldn’t. I doubt that even a Jedi—”
    “Are you challenging me, Viceroy?”
    “Yes,” he said abruptly; then, just as quickly: “No—wait!”
    Sidious shifted in the chair. “You value the bird—this symbol of wealth.”
    “I am the envy of my peers for possessing it.”
    “Would not actual wealth generate even greater envy?”
    Gunray grew flustered. “How can I answer, when I know that you might strangle me should I refuse you?”
    Sidious loosed an elaborate sigh. “Partners don’t strangle each other, Viceroy. I would prefer to earn your trust. Are you agreeable to that?”
    “I might be.”
    “Then here is my first gift to you: the Trade Federation is going to be betrayed. By Naboo, by the Republic, by the members of the directorate. Only you can provide the leadership that will be needed to keep the Federation from splintering. But first we must see to it that you are promoted to the directorate.”
    “The current directorate would never welcome a Neimoidian.”
    “Tell me what it would take—” Sidious started, then cut himself off. “No. Never mind. Let me surprise you by arranging a promotion.”
    “You would do that and ask nothing in return?”
    “For the time being. If and when I’ve earned your full trust, I will expect you to take my suggestions to heart.”
    “I will. Darth Sidious.”
    “Then we will speak again soon.”
    Sidious deactivated the holoprojector and sat in silence.
    “There is a world in the Videnda sector called Dorvalla,” he said to Maul a long moment later. “You will not have heard of it, but it is a source of lommite ore, which is essential to the production of transparisteel. Two companies—Lommite Limited and InterGalactic Ore—currently control the mining and shipping operations. But for some time the Trade Federation has had its sights on overseeing Dorvalla.”
    “What is thy bidding, Master?” Maul asked.
    “For now, only that you acquaint yourself with Dorvalla, for it may prove the key to ensnaring Gunray in our grasp.”

25: THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE MERITOCRACY
    A more outlandish quartet hadn’t set foot, belly, claw, and jaw on Sojourn in twenty years. A half-breed Theelin female, her Hutt master, his Twi’lek majordomo, and his Chevin chief of security crossed the fort’s leaf-litterd courtyard and entered Plagueis’s reception room. With the exception of the Theelin, they looked as if they might have wandered in from the greel forests to consort with the creatures that had constructed nests and burrows in the fort’s dank corridors and lofty turrets.
    Plagueis and 11-4D were waiting just inside the gaping entrance.
    “Welcome, Jabba Desilijic Tiure,” Plagueis said through his transpirator mask.
    Droids had restored some semblance of order to the room and installed tables and chairs. Morning light streamed through square openings high in the wall, and a fire crackled in the stone hearth.
    “A pleasure to see you again after so many years, Magister Damask,” Jabba said in coarse Basic. The ageless criminal lolled his huge tongue and maneuvered his great slug body onto a low platform the droids had erected. Gazing around, he added, “You and your droid must visit my little place on Tatooine in the Western Dune Sea.”
    “Someday soon,” Plagueis said as he lowered himself into an armchair across from the platform.
    Like Toydarians