The Cradle Will Fall

Chapter One: Conceiving Darkness

"In what amounted to a state of rapture they knew that the Force had yielded, as if some deity had been tipped from its throne. On the fulcrum they had fashioned, the light side had dipped and the dark side had ascended."

Darth Plagueis (novel)

43-42 years BBY

He had succeeded!

He could feel it.

Somewhere, light-years away, midichlorians had woven together, bended and shaped by his design and, in so doing, had conceived a child. His child. Plagueis would have shed tears if it were within his capability.

Darth Plagueis had created Life.

He called out to the Force, beckoned it closer, and when he felt its caress glide upon his face, Plagueis seized it, and drew from it one of its most precious gifts; vision of things yet to come, foresight into the future.

Gradually, the world around him filled with fog. Through the haze splashes of light and color swirled around him at speeds unnatural to possess until, at last, the scene was allowed to unfold.

There sat a woman. Plagueis could not see her face, but judging by her form he surmised that she was human. Her stomach protruded out from underneath her worn tunic and she placed a loving hand upon it, singing a lullaby. Her voice was soft and filled with love.

Curious, he peered deeper, and Plagueis saw within her womb a shimmering orb of blinding energy, humming with a strength and power that verged on terrifying.

Plagueis felt himself sigh.

My son…

Far too soon, the vision morphed and Plagueis watched as countless Jedi were slain, their bodies toppling to the streets, eyes fixed on the sky, searching the stars for a savior that would never come.

Men, no, the same man, hundreds of him, marched the streets, shooting down hope, slaughtering adversity. An army of clones?

At once he realized: The Order had fallen.

Atop the ruins stood a creature pulled from ancient Sith legend. Donned in Sith armor, with a glistening helmet as black as oblivion, the figure stood fearsome, loathing, unforgiving. A sound emanated from the shadow, a deep intake of air, a hissing release.

Plagueis had come to know the sound well. It was life, won back from death and nurtured with agony far worse than should the body sustain.

My son.

The thought came to his mind once more and Plagueis felt an unnatural need to reach out to the phantom image, to touch with his physical form that which he had so desperately yearned for so many years.

The picture wavered, Plagueis called out to the Force to sustain it, to look upon his creation for a little while longer, but it was all in vain.

He felt himself slipping, falling back into his body with jarring impact.

Plagueis heard a voice and it pulled him from the murky land that had him claimed for drowning.

Reluctantly, he followed the sound, and into the present he emerged, trembling, gasping, and rejoicing, for in his soul he knew: The Revenge of the Sith was close at hand.

*x*X*x*X*x*

"Master," Sidious was saying. "Master, are you well?"

Plagueis's eyes opened to the sight of his apprentice, standing near the bed where Venamis lay, lifeless and cold. Sidious's hands were folded neatly in front of him and his face was creased with concern, but whether genuine or not, the Muun could not say.

Plagueis took in a long, deep breath, in an effort to ease the tightness in his hearts.

"Yes, I'm fine," he said at last, rising from the armchair. Making it clear that the subject should be changed, he gestured to the body of the Bith. "Now, at last, he sleeps. There is a lesson to be learned in this, Sidious."

"And what lesson is that?"

Plagueis glanced at the man for a brief moment before pulling the sheet above Venamis's blank face. "One that will turn mortality into a long forgotten fantasy."

Plagueis could see the flash of irritation in the pale blue of his apprentice's eyes, but his composure remained respectful, and Sidious responded with a slight bow.

"How long can Palpatine stand to be parted from Coruscant?"

Sidious joined his master's side and the two walked in measured steps to the vine laced balcony overlooking the forest. "The Senator is expected to appear before the senate in two standard weeks, until then there is merely paperwork. What is it you have planned for him?"

"He is needed on Tatooine."

Sidious's eyes widened, slightly, "What for?"

Plagueis grew silent. It wasn't that he felt the need to keep his vision from his apprentice; in fact, quite the contrary. It was simply that he, with all his knowledge and power, could not find the right words to say, because I did it!

No, nothing seemed to fit. No phrasing could capture the triumph, the passion, the absolute satisfaction that only victory over life and death could bring. How could you possibly tell another that you, in every essence of the word, have become a god?

So he didn't. He would let Sidious find out on his own.

"There is someone rather important to me there that I believe Palpatine should meet for himself."

Sidious raised a brow, but made no move to protest. "Will he be going alone?"

"No. Hego Damask will join him."

"Oh?" Sidious's surprise was obvious. "Under what pretense?"

Plagueis waved a hand, dismissively. "It matters not. On a world like Tatooine our traveling together would be of little interest. We would do better to concern ourselves with being courted by thieves and smugglers than we would about scandal."

Sidious crossed his arms, shivering from the unnatural wind breezing through Sojourn. Though Plagueis was unaffected, he made a note to have 11-4D take a look at the weather regulation system.

"When do we leave?"

Underneath his transpirator mask Plagueis wore an expression that would have placed him on the brink of euphoria.

"Tonight."

*x*X*x*X*x*

Hego Damask's ship landed near the outskirts of the vast area known as the Dune Sea. The few settlements that were located along the desert's edge appeared to be the dwellings of ghosts, for all daily activity had ceased in preparation for the sandstorm fast approaching.

"The droid suggests that we wait inside the ship for the storm to pass, Master," Palpatine said, entering the main lounge from the cockpit.

Damask lowered his cowl over his eyes and adjusted his mask so that it pressed tighter against his face. "We don't have time for that," he said. "Grab your cloak and let us go."

"As you wish," Palpatine said, shrugging into the heavy fabric. "Now might I ask where is it that we are headed that does not merit waiting a meager two hours?"

Damask pressed the button that opened the exit ramp, covering the room in a thick layer of sand. He had scarcely given his apprentice any information regarding their sudden departure to the Outer Rim, and he could sense Sidious's patience growing thin.

"We are headed to the domicile of a Ms. Pi-Lappa," he said, raising his voice to be heard above the storm. "A skilled mechanic and droid distributor in the area."

"And for what purpose," Palpatine asked, lowering his face to the ground as the two leapt from the ship and sprinted in the direction of the eastern settlement, Damask in the lead, drawing on the Force to strengthen their limbs, thus increasing their speed.

"To find the mother of my child."

To be continued…

Author's Note:

And so, the story begins. I hope you enjoyed it!

Feel free to leave a REVIEW and tell me what you think!
Chapter Two coming soon.

Clearing up Confusion –

If you have not read the novel, Darth Plagueis, Venamis was a Bith trained by his master to kill Plagueis. The Muun bested him and kept him alive to test midichlorian activity before finally letting him die.

11-4D is simply Plagueis's aquired medical droid.