Star Wars_ Darth Maul 02_ Shadow Hunter - Michael Reaves [15]
Lorn glared at the droid. “I never should have disconnected your creativity damper.” He brooded for a while longer, then said, “But you’re right—no point dwelling in the past. Got to look ahead. What we need is a plan—right now.” And with those words he fell backwards onto the cot and began to snore loudly.
I-Five stared at his recumbent companion. “Random evolution should never have been entrusted with intelligence,” the droid muttered.
Darth Sidious was also thinking about the Jedi.
Their fire was dying in the galaxy; of that there was no doubt. For more than a thousand generations they had been the self-appointed paladins of the commonweal, but that was now coming to an end. And the pathetic fools, blinded by their own hypocrisy, could not see the truth of this.
It was right and fitting that this be so, just as it was right and fitting that the instrument of their downfall be the Sith.
The few pedants and scholars who even knew the name thought that the Sith were the “dark side” of the Jedi Knights. This was, of course, far too simplistic an evaluation. It was true that they had embraced the teachings of a group of rogue Jedi thousands of years ago, but they had taken that knowledge and philosophy far beyond the insular didacticism they had been given to start with. It was easy and convenient, as well, to demarcate the concept of the Force into light and dark; indeed, even Sidious had used such notions of duality in the training of his disciple. But the reality was that there was only the Force. It was above such petty concepts as positive and negative, black and white, good and evil. The only difference worthy of note was this: The Jedi saw the Force as an end in itself; the Sith knew that it was a means to an end.
And that end was Power.
For all their humble posturing and protestations of abdication, the Jedi craved power as much as anyone. Sidious knew this to be true. They claimed to be the servants of the people, but over the centuries they had increasingly removed themselves from contact with the very citizens they ostensibly served. Now they prowled the cloistered hallways and chambers of their Temple, mouthing their empty ideologies while practicing hubristic machinations designed to bring them more secular power.
As one half of the entire existing order of the Sith, Darth Sidious craved power, as well. It was true that he was operating covertly toward that end, but he was doing so out of necessity, not sophistry. After the Great Sith War, the order had been decimated. The lone remaining Sith had revived the order according to a new doctrine: one master and one apprentice. Thus it had been, and thus it would be, until that glorious day that saw the fall of the Jedi and the ascendancy of their ancient enemies, the Sith.
And that day was fast approaching. After centuries of planning and collusion, it was now almost here. Sidious was confident that he would see its culmination in his lifetime. There would come a day in the not too distant future when he would stand, triumphant, over the last Jedi’s body, when he would see their Temple razed, when he would take his rightful place as ruler of the galaxy.
Which was why no loose ends, no matter how inconsequential, could be permitted. Perhaps Hath Monchar’s absence had nothing to do with the Trade Federation’s looming blockade of the planet Naboo. That was conceivable. But as long as the slightest chance existed that it did, the Neimoidian had to be found and dealt with.
Darth Sidious looked at a wall chrono. It was now slightly over fourteen standard hours since he had given Maul the assignment. He anticipated hearing from his apprentice shortly. The stakes were high, very high, but he had every confidence that Maul would perform the task with his customary ruthless efficiency. All would continue as planned, and the Sith would rise again.
Soon.
Very soon.
The