Sidious held the flask in his hand.  He didn't really need it.  Not anymore.  He'd already tried to drink it.  Again.  But that hadn't worked.

The pond chooses. He scowled.   Ridiculous.

He would just hold onto it for now.

He placed it back on the shelf in the storage facility.

He'd reluctantly had the Sith relics he stored in his apartment moved here, where they would stay until the completion of his current plan.  He would have liked to store them somewhere closer, but that would pose a risk of their detection.

He looked around at the space, a windowless boxy room the size of a warehouse, filled with dusty books, datapads, and artwork.  When he'd sold the Convergence estate, he'd sold most of his family's possessions along with it. Money had been of considerably greater interest to him than his family's furniture or assorted knicknacks, after all.

But there had been some items he'd considered valuable enough to keep.  Certain pieces of artwork, certain books, and most importantly, every personal document and record anyone in his family had ever accumulated, all of it meticulously sorted and organized.

It hadn't been an act of sentimentality.  Rather, he'd anticipated that his family's accumulated connections and knowledge might someday be of value to accomplishing his own goals.  He'd had occasion to use some of it already.

He even had some of Ricar's old drawings and effects, something which he'd kept in case he'd ever wanted to follow up on an...idle curiosity of his.  He picked up the rock Ricar had given him once, turning it over in his hand, then placed it back on its shelf.

Next to Ricar's single shelf was a much larger set of bookcases filled with Milena's records, books, and journals.  His sister had expressed an early interest in politics, but had been forced by their father into dance, an area of study Cosinga had said was 'more befitting a lady of their house'.

Palpatine snorted.  Cosinga had tried to mold his eldest daughter into something she would clearly never be.  And when all had been said and done, he'd only delayed the inevitable.

"Hey, looks like we'll both be attending the same university, Sheev," Mil said.  They were outside, seated in a gazebo near the lake for which the Convergence estate was named.  Mil was examining a flimsiplast on top of her datapad that Palpatine assumed to be an acceptance letter.

Palpatine raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were to attend the Theed  School of Theatre?"

Mil smiled, though the expression didn't reach her eyes.  "Oh, yes, that.  The thing is, ballet is somewhat lacking in fulfilling my career goals.  Playing Queen Yram on the stage isn't really comparable to a political science track, I feel."

"You enrolled in the same major Father is forcing me to take?"  Palpatine frowned.

"Of course," Mil said.  "If you're going to end up a politician one day, someone has to stop you."

Palpatine rolled his eyes.  "Presuming I ever finish my education."

Mil narrowed her own eyes.  "You expect me to believe that you won't?  That you plan to drop out?  And do what?"

Palpatine shrugged. "Maybe I'll become a racer."

"You, a racer?  You, who said that seeking the Naboo monarchy would be beneath you, are going to drop out of school and become a racer?"

A sudden breeze passed through the gazebo.

"I never said racing was beneath me."  He leaned back on the wooden paneling.  “Anyway, how are you doing this?"  He knew she had to have gone behind Father's back.

"It was easy to get accepted--I have top marks in the Legislative Youth Program.  But I needed to change my concentration, and my university--and I've finally figured it all out.”

"That still doesn't explain how you're doing this."

"You're not the only one who can forge documents," Mil said.  She pulled a leaf out of her hair that had been blown into the gazebo and glanced down at her datapad.

Palpatine laughed.  "The forgeries! I believe that was the 134th time Father threatened to disown me.  Ah, I remember the special camp for troubled teens he sent me to after that.  It's a tricky business, forgery."

"You can tell me what to watch out for, then.  You aren't going to snitch, are you?"

"What, and help Father?  No, of course not.  You're going to need more than a few fake documents changing hands to pull this off, though."

She grimaced.  "Don't I know it."

Sidious stared at the dusty datapads and flimsiplasts arranged in front of him.   She would have made an ambitious politician...

He sighed, and turned away.  It would help nothing to dwell on such matters.

He lingered then on the shelves containing his mother's effects.  She hadn't really kept a journal or anything of that sort.  She had saved most of the letters she'd received, however. His mother's life had been heavily defined by Cosinga.  When she'd  expressed any political opinion at all, it had been one approved in advance by Cosinga.  When Cosinga made decisions about his children's lives, she had never shown any resistance to them.  In this she had disappointed him time and time again.

And yet.  She had not simply been a moon orbiting his father.  As she had proven to him many times as well, most notably with the gift of the Sith artifact.  The book which, alone among his Sith relics, rested on these shelves now.  His eyes settled on the ancient glyphs embossed on the binding:

Sith Alchemy Vol 4 by Sorzus Syn

He'd never mentioned the book to Plagueis.  It had become a source of amusement to him.  Plagueis possessed the other six volumes but had never been able to track this one down.  It contained information on the creation and behavior of hybrids created from disparate animal species--A topic Plagueis would have found of great interest, he was sure.  But the book belonged to Sidious, and he'd had no intention of giving it up, ever.  And even less so now.

It reminded him of her.  Of her smile whenever she sensed he was pleased, of her tending to his bruises after his bitter fights with Father...

He felt a sudden sense of overwhelming loss.  Standing in the presence of these items had never affected him this way before.  He glanced over at the rows of shelves devoted to Markon and Mayelle before looking away.

He scowled.  Was he really doing this?  Wallowing in these sickening feelings of sorrow, of remorse?  What he wouldn't give to turn it all off.

But then he would be a danger to Maul.

He sighed again.  There would be time to reminisce later.  He would return to this place once he'd completed the execution of his current plan.

But he needed to finish his preparations.  Yes, it was time to leave.

He had an assassin to hire.

Sidious stood with his arms crossed in the subbasement he'd had built under his apartment, wearing a generic cowl.  The cowl was merely decorative-he'd digitally blanked out his face along with his voice--but even if it wasn't his Sith robe, it seemed appropriate for this sort of skulking.

"Well?" the Sith Lord asked.  "Will you do it?"

"How many credits, again?" the assassin's voice was soft, almost a whisper.

"1 million," Sidious repeated, his own voice terse.

"3 million, and not a credit less."

"May I ask why?"  Sidious had already offered twice the man's usual fee.

"You want me to kill Ambassador Palpatine, correct?"

"Yes."

"Man who murders the the Orphaned Lord is going to be an unpopular man around these parts," the assassin said.  "Man's going to have to move away.  Man's going to miss Naboo."  He said the last part resentfully.

Sidious felt a pang of annoyance.  This wouldn't have been an issue if he had hired a Core assassin.  Unfortunately, it was necessary in this case to work with this more local underworld denizen, for whom he would be a bit of a minor celebrity due to his family's abrupt and well-publicized deaths.

"If you're really so worried that you'll be identified, why not conceal your face?"

"I plan to," the assassin said.  "But if I stay here, someone will find me eventually.  That's the way of these things.  I'll have you know, this is a terrible idea for you, too, stranger."

"But you'll do it?"

"For 3 million credits, yes."

"Then we have a deal," Sidious said.

"If I may ask--why are you doing this?  Did he spite you in some way?"

"Is there a reason you wish to know?"  Sidious said, though he had counted on this question being asked.

"Yes, I need to know what kind of death you require."

"Any, but it is imperative you carry it out in the time and place we discussed, and with no additional casualties.  It's not personal.  He's become a political liability," Sidious said.  "You don't need to know the details."

"You're right.  I don't. I will contact you when the deed is done."  The assassin's hologram flickered then, and was gone.

Sidious smiled.  Now all that was left for him was to pack for Coruscant.  He was looking forward to this trip.

Sidious was packing a suitcase on his desk with Maul seated next to it.  Talzin was standing next to him, watching him fold clothes and pile datapads into the suitcase.

"Have you ever seen Coruscant?" Sidious asked.

"No," Talzin said.  "This is the first time I have left Dathomir."

Sidious looked over at her.  "I could guess that, but I was wondering if you'd ever seen holos. Or pictures."

"No."

Sidious handed her a datapad.  "In that case, you'll want to read up on it."

She looked down at it.  "What do I do with this?"

Sidious was silent a moment, surprised by the question.   Though I shouldn't be , he thought.   Dathomir is a wretched place.  "Give it to Maurice," he said.

She placed the datapad in front of Maul, who activated the screen and began to press merrily on the front of it.

"Maurice, can you find the Holonet?"  Sidious asked cheerily.

Maul tapped the screen and a display showing the galaxy came up.

"Very good!" Sidious said.

"You've taught him well," she said.

"He learns quickly," Sidious replied.  "You can give the datapad voice commands or type with the virtual keypad--see demonstration below."  He gestured towards Maul, who was smiling widely and typing a random combination of Aurebesh characters.

"Though I don't think he's quite gotten the hang of the written word yet," Sidious noted.

As Talzin leaned over the datapad with Maul, Sidious returned to packing and considering the plan he had developed.  This would be his first time meeting Jedi, which he viewed as an important test of his Force masking abilities.  If they sensed anything amiss in him, things could get--messy.

But it was also an opportunity.  It was time to test the ability of the Jedi to perceive him.  He thought it  unfortunate that he wouldn't have control over which Jedi he encountered in this case, but at least he felt confident that the Order wasn't going to send someone like Yoda to meet with an obscure dignitary like himself.  If things went badly, he had arranged to give himself ample opportunity to rectify the issue.  Though hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

Sidious pondered also his plan to address Vidar's thorny situation.  He knew, of course, that Vidar was right. King Tapalo had had his entire family murdered. He also knew that Vidar was in danger of ending up that way, too, unless something was done.

And he certainly knew that the Jedi were not the solution to this problem.  They were, however, a necessary component of his plan.

"The Jedi Temple is enormous," Talzin commented.  She was regarding the datapad with a frown.

"Yes, approximately 50,000 Jedi reside in the Temple at any one time,"  Sidious said, reciting the fact from memory.

"Fifty thousand Jedi." Talzin said, placing a hand over her heart.  She looked up at him, wide eyed.  "We are massively outnumbered."

Sidious shrugged.  "That is of no consequence.  The Sith no longer rely on numbers to overpower our foes." He looked over at her.  "Of course, someone has upset the current plan,” he said, giving her a significant look,“but I am working on a new one.” He folded a set of his ambassador robes. “One day, I will destroy the Jedi."

"Jedi," Maul said, looking up at him from the datapad.

Sidious looked down at him.  "Yes, Maurice.  Do you know what a Jedi is?"

"Jedi?"

"Jedi are ineffectual, sanctimonious  fools," he said, smiling down at Maul.  "Can you say 'ineffectual'?"

"In-fect-uall."

Sidious patted the toddler carefully on his spiky head.  "Good, good."

"I must wonder why you are contacting these Jedi.  Surely it is too early to strike at them."  Talzin crossed her arms.

"It is," Sidious said.  "But I have no intention of striking at them yet.  This is merely an observational mission, intended to further my long-term plans."

But also to help Vidar, which greatly complicates my long-term plans.  He looked worriedly at Maul.  He of course planned to leave Maul with Talzin while he met with the Jedi. She would explore Coruscant with Maul while he implemented the most complicated part of this plot.

That part of his plan would be far too risky to involve Maul in, even with all the additional safeguards he'd put in place.

"And what are your long term plans?"

"I could ask the same of you," Sidious replied.

Talzin laughed.  "That's fair." She lifted Maul off the desk and held him to her chest.  Sidious looked over at her briefly, but raised no objection.

"I must admit," she said, "despite the  appalling number of Jedi who reside there, I am looking forward to seeing Coruscant."

"Yes, it is quite an exceptional place," Sidious said. He smiled.  One day, he would destroy the Jedi, and take Coruscant for himself.  Or give it to Maul, if he wanted it.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

He looked up, frowning.  Who would be visiting him at this time of night?