Star Wars - Darth Plagueis

dispatching Jedi, Master Yoda and the rest have refused to send reinforcements to search for survivors.”
    Palpatine considered it. “If Baltizaar was meant to be another attemptto impress you, all Komari Vosa did was prove that you were right about her all along.”
    Dooku regarded him. “Perhaps. But the failure is mine.” He ran a hand over his short beard. “As skilled as I am with a lightsaber, I’ve turned out to be an ineffectual teacher. Master Qui-Gon Jinn has become a solitary and secretive rogue. And now Vosa …” He snorted. “I declined to be a member of the Council in order to devote myself to diplomacy, and look how that has turned out. The Republic is sliding deeper into chaos.”
    “You’re one man against a galaxy full of scoundrels,” Palpatine said.
    Dooku’s eyes flashed. “One man should be able to make a difference if he is powerful enough.”
    Palpatine let the silence linger. “You would claim the title of Count of Serenno?”
    “By right of birth. My family is agreeable. Now it’s simply a matter of informing the High Council.”
    “Has anyone ever left the Order?”
    “Nineteen before me.”
    “Have you shared your discontent with any of them?”
    “Only Master Sifo-Dyas.”
    “Of course.”
    Dooku looked up. “He worries that I’m going to do something rash.”
    “Leaving the Order isn’t rash enough?”
    “He fears that I will denounce the Council openly, and reveal how divided its members are about answering to the Senate.” He looked Palpatine in the eye. “I’ve half a mind to join your cause.”
    Palpatine touched his chest. “My cause?”
    Dooku adopted a sly smile. “I understand politics, my friend. I know that you have to be circumspect about what you say and to whom. But that the disenfranchised worlds of the Outer Rim enjoy any support at all is largely due to you. You speak honestly and you champion the underprivileged, and you may be the only one capable of bringing the Republic back from the brink. Unless, of course, you have been lying to me all these years.”
    Palpatine made light of the remark. “Perhaps a few lies of omission.”
    “Those I am willing to forgive,” Dooku said, “whether or not we become partners in addition to being allies.”
    Palpatine interlocked his hands. “It is an interesting notion. We would have to deepen our conversations, become completely honest with each other, bare our innermost thoughts and feelings to determine whether we truly share the same goals.”
    “I’m being honest when I tell you that the Republic needs to be torn down and built up again from the ground up.”
    “That is a tall order.”
    “Tall, indeed.”
    “It might require a civil war.”
    “And how far from that are we now?” Dooku fell silent for a moment, then said, “The Senate grapples with trying to solve disputes the Jedi often see firsthand. What laws are enacted only follow from our having brought our lightsabers to bear.”
    “It was the Jedi who pledged to support the Republic.”
    “The Order’s place in this is a matter Sifo-Dyas and I have discussed endlessly,” Dooku snapped. “But the members of the Council are not similarly inclined. They are entrenched in archaic thinking, and slow to embrace change.” He paused, and adopted a sinister look. “Don’t let yourself be fooled, Palpatine. They see dark times ahead. In fact, they think of little else. That’s why they have allowed the Jedi to become involved in parochial conflicts like those at Galidraan, Yinchorr, and Baltizaar, which are like brush fires born of windblown embers from a massive blaze just beyond the horizon. But instead of actually rising up against the corruption in the Republic, perhaps disbanding the Senate entirely for a period of time, they have become fixated on prophecy. They await the coming of a prophesized redeemer who will bring balance to the Force and restore order.”
    “A redeemer?” Palpatine stared at him in authentic surprise. “You’ve never alluded to this prophecy.”
    “Nor would I now if I still thought of myself as loyal to the Order.”
    “I never considered that the Force needed to be balanced.”
    Dooku’s lip curled. “The Order interprets the prophecy to mean that the dark tide needs to be stemmed.”
    “You don’t accept it?”
    Dooku had an answer ready. “Here is the truth of it: the Jedi could fulfill the prophecy on their own, if they were willing to unleash the full powers of the Force.”
    “The