Star Wars - Darth Plagueis

was death itself!”
    Plagueis sat tall in the chair, in genuine astonishment.
    He could see Palpatine now in all his dark glory. Anger and murder had pulled down the walls he had raised perhaps since infancy to safeguard his secret. But there was no concealing it now: the Force was powerful in him! Bottled up for seventeen standard years, his innate power had finally burst forth and could never again be stoppered. All the years of repression, guiltless crimes, raw emotion bubbling forth, toxic to any who dared touch or taste it. But beneath his anger lurked a subtle enemy: apprehension. Newly reborn, he was at great risk. But only because he didn’t realize just how powerful he was or how extraordinarily powerful he could become. He would need help to complete his self-destruction. He would need help rebuilding those walls, to keep from being discovered.
    Oh, what a cautious taming he would require! Plagueis thought. But what an ally he might make. What an ally!
    “I’m not sure I know what to think of this, Palpatine,” he said at last. “Have you always had such powers?”
    Color had drained from Palpatine’s face, and his legs were shaking. “I’ve always known I was capable of summoning them.”
    Plagueis rose from the chair and approached him warily. “Here is where the path bifurcates, young human. Here and now you need to decide whether to disavow your power or to venture courageously and scrupulously into the depths of truth—no matter the consequences.”
    He resisted an urge to grasp Palpatine by the shoulder, and instead paced away from him. “You could devote the rest of your life to trying to make sense of this power, this gift,” he said, without looking back. “Or you could consider a different option.” He swung to face Palpatine. “It’s a dark path into a trackless wilderness from which few return. Not without a guide, at any rate. But it is also the shortest, quickest route between today and tomorrow.”
    Plagueis realized that he was taking a great gamble, but there was no turning back from it. The dark side had brought them together, and it would be the will of the dark side that decided whether Palpatine became his apprentice.
    “In your studies,” he said carefully, “have you ever learned of the Sith?”
    Palpatine blinked, as if preoccupied. “A Jedi sect, weren’t they? The result of a kind of family feud.”
    “Yes, yes, in some ways just that. But more: the Sith are the prodigal offspring, destined to return and overthrow the Jedi.”
    Palpatine cut his eyes to Plagueis. “The Sith are considered to be evil.”
    “Evil?” Plagueis repeated. “What is that? Moments ago you defined yourself as a storm. You said you were death itself. Are you evil, then, or are you simply stronger and more awake than others? Who gives more shape to sentient history: the good, who adhere to the tried and true, or those who seek to rouse beings from their stupor and lead them to glory? A storm you are, but a much-needed one, to wash away the old and complacent and prune the galaxy of deadweight.”
    Palpatine’s lip curled in anger and menace. “Is this the wisdom you offer—the tenets of some arcane cult?”
    “The test of its value is whether you can live by it, Palpatine.”
    “If I had wanted that I would have forced my parents years ago to surrender me to the Jedi Order instead of transferring me from school to private school.”
    Plagueis planted his hands on his hips and laughed without mirth. “And of what possible use do you think a person of your nature would be to the Jedi Order? You’re heartless, ambitious, arrogant, insidious, and without shame or empathy. More, you’re a murderer.” He held Palpatine’s hooded gaze and watched the youth’s hands clench in fists of rage. “Careful, boy,” he said after a moment. “You are not the only being in this plush stateroom with the power to kill.”
    Palpatine’s eyes opened wide and he took a step back. “I can sense it …”
    Plagueis grew deliberately haughty. “What you sense is a fraction of what I can bring to bear.”
    Palpatine appeared suitably chastened. “Might I be of some use to the Sith?”
    “Possibly,” Plagueis said. “Perhaps even likely. But we would have to wait and see.”
    “Where are the Sith?”
    Plagueis allowed a smile. “Just now there is only one. Unless, of course, it is your will to join me.”
    Palpatine nodded. “I do wish to join you.”
    “Then kneel before me and pledge