ladyofleithian | Murder the Dawn: Chapter Six: Reevaluation

In which the AOTC part of the story gets started, Sidious is regrouping after Maul's death at Mandalore, and Padme goes to meet with Dooku to recruit him to the grand cause of taking over the galaxy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Notes: Hope at the very least I've got Sidious down (or at least, his agenda). I'll admit, getting Sidious down is pretty difficult. It's sort of the matter of knowing what his plans are, how he executes them, things like that. I know he does take home the gold medal in terms of Magnificent Bastardry, though. :3

To say that Darth Sidious was most displeased would have been much like saying that the Tatooine desert was hot -- it was both obvious and an understatement. Even now, facing Sidious, Padme was only grateful that she had had experience, of sorts, dealing with Sidious -- because if anything else, meeting up with her master after managing to escape a highly guarded Coruscanti security cell, this was going to be far from easy.

“So you are saying that after all of this planning, all of this perseverance, your actions got Maul killed?”

“I didn’t get Maul killed,” Padme said. “It was an unfortunate accident. It seems we underestimated what Padawan Kenobi was capable of. I assume it was fortunate that he managed to regain his legendary self-control.”

“Indeed.” Sidious seemed calmer now -- if anything, he seemed more nonplussed. “Fortunately, not all is lost. I have a new task for you, my apprentice.”

“Tell me, Master.”

“Go seek out the Jedi Master Count Dooku.”

“What could a Jedi Master do for us?”

“Former,” Sidious said. “From what I can gather, he has had...difficulties with the Jedi Council. He left recently if only because of corruption in the Republic.”

“A smart move, I can imagine.”

A smile seemed to tug at Sidious’ lips. “Indeed. Be patient, my apprentice -- in time, the Republic will become that which it was meant to be. You will see.”

***

It was after going through every possible terminal on Coruscant (disguised, of course -- if her cover was blown, how could she possibly complete the mission?) that she, finally, managed to find a lead for Dooku. Apparently, long after a disastrous battle on Galidraan (no doubt spurred on by those still infuriated by Satine’s actions during the occupation of Mandalore -- and to be fair, what could she do? The woman was hopelessly blinded by her own principles to the point of allowing the suffering of her people to continue. Even now, Padme could hardly comprehend who would do such a thing), Dooku had begun to have some doubts about the Order, and, finally, long after the Battle of Mandalore, he had officially left, retiring to Serenno, which he was now a ruler of.

Recruiting Dooku had two purposes, really -- if anything, several. For one thing, it would secure Serenno as a possible alliance for Sidious should their Empire -- perhaps the only true chance for peace that the Jedi were incompetent at establishing -- come into being. And for another, it would perhaps wake up the Jedi to the fact that they had to adapt, to change, to merge with the Sith (their former brethren, if the old tales were anything to go by), and thus, both Jedi and Sith could co-exist, ruling the galaxy in fairness and peace.

Perhaps it was nothing more than a ridiculous dream -- Padme had been told by others that she had always been too idealistic for her own good. Even from a young age, she was already thinking of ways to change the galaxy, to make things the way they should be. Optimistic to a fault, some said.

And yet...

Perhaps, after they had won this war, Sidious would be willing to listen to her point of view. Or perhaps not -- Sidious was not fond of the Jedi to put it mildly.

Still, Padme mused, smiling a bit under the hood of her cloak, it wouldn’t hurt to try.