The human laughed. "You came to the wrong place, my friend."

"Your name is Rizlus Arcturus, is it not?" Plagueis asked. "Sub-Directorate for Black Sun."

"Yes, and you are?"

"Mak Plain," Plagueis said.

"I see. The thing is, Mak, we don't particularly care for those who come rooting around here for money without paying their proper respects."

"Proper respects?" Plagueis asked, raising one hairless brow.

"Do you know how to kneel, Muun?"

Plagueis was silent a moment. Exhibits excessive displays of dominance despite limited influence. "I do."

"Then I think you know what happens now."

"You're absolutely right." Plagueis grabbed the necks of the two heavyset, but shorter, mercenaries, pinching a pressure point. The two men toppled to the ground. He then loped over to Rizlus and, pulling out his concealed weapon, stabbed the man with it in the heart.

Rizlus gaped at Plagueis, then stared down at the syringe in shock before collapsing in his throne. Plagueis leaned over him and checked his pulse and breathing, which he found to be within the expected parameters of the sedative he had used. Turning to the mercenaries, he saw they had also both survived his attack.

All targets successfully acquired, Plagueis thought with satisfaction.

Darropolis, Hosnian Prime

"Please, sir," Sidious said. holding up his hands. "Don't hurt me."

The man stared at him, his eyes wide. "Oh, but don't you know? Hurting people is what I do. It's what I'm built for."

"Please, have mercy."

"I don't understand that term."

"Don't do this! I have a family."

"Don't care." The man took a vibroblade out of his pocket. "Now let's hear some screams."

I agree. Sidious grabbed the man's wrist and pushed it back 180 degrees until he heard a loud crunch. The man screamed and dropped the blade, which Sidious grabbed with his other hand. The Sith Lord then kicked him in the solar plexus, sending him crumbling to the ground in a heap.

Sidious grimaced, and kicked the man a few more times for good measure. He found the physicality of these attacks distasteful. His very essence was a weapon, and he was reduced to this? But Plagueis had insisted that they not use any skill that might inadvertently indicate their status as Sith. Which meant no Force abilities, or even lightsabers.

This is beneath me, Sidious thought sulkily as he bent down and began dragging the man back to his ship.

Ivax Nebula, Anoat Sector 

"You are Voras the Hutt?" Plagueis asked.

"I should think that would be obvious," the Hutt replied in his native language. "Not that I imagine you comprehend Huttese." Looking up at the guard, he said. "This had better be worth my time."

"I caught him wandering a quarter mile north of here," the guard said. "Certainly he's decent hostage material."

Hutt,age 237, head of Ivax Syndicate.

"I trust you checked he was someone more significant than a lowly accountant?" Voras asked, his tone bored.

"He's a Muun," the guard said. "Got to be worth something. Maybe alot of something."

"You didn't check, did you?" Voras said. He turned his gaze to Plagueis. "I suppose we can put him in a holding cell until he can be identified. Was he carrying any ID?"

"No, sir."

"Curious," Voras murmured.

It was at that moment that 11-4D, disguised as a protocol droid, struck out with multiple stun-blasts. The five guards in the area dropped, and Voras widened his large eyes, lurching with surprising speed off his dais.

"You've got to be kidding me," the Hutt rumbled to himself as he slid across the floor, ducking behind tables and sofas and attempting to reach the exit.

Inconveniently fast, Plagueis thought as he pursued the fleeing Hutt.

Just as Voras reached the entryway, Plagueis caught up with him and stabbed him in the flank with a syringe. Voras made a noise of dismay and whipped around, grabbing Plagueis with his large muscular tail and lifting him off the ground, squeezing thick muscles around his chest and neck.

Plagueis could feel himself begin to suffocate. Just as he had prepared to use a Force attack in desperation, the Hutt's grip on him slackened and the Sith fell to the ground, covered in slime. Plagueis rose, attempting to wipe off the unpleasant material.

Target acquired. Barely.

11-4D walked up to Plagueis. "I apologize I could not be of more assistance. Energy blasts are ineffective on Hutts."

"The fault is mine," Plagueis said. "I became overconfident. Still, we have succeeded. Now I will require your assistance with moving Voras." He looked down at the Hutt, who's eyes were still wide open, his mouth slack. Plagueis had used a paralytic rather than a sedative this time, as all the known Hutt sedatives had required an overly large dosage and waiting time to take effect.

So Voras was still fully conscious. Plagueis looked down at him. "You may find this part slightly uncomfortable," he noted. "I would apologize, but you did try to kill me."

Broken Horn Syndicate Headquarters, Lothal

"If it isn't our sneaker," Aritar Vizago said, crossing his arms. The Devaronian eyed Sidious contemptuously.

"I wasn't-"

"Save your protests," Aritar said. "You were sneaking, and if you were sneaking, it means you were thieving."

"Are you-going to get me in trouble with the authorities?"

Aritar laughed. "That's a good one! No, we take out our own trash here."

To his guards. "Remove all his fingers."

Sidious was bound this time, but he had anticipated this complication. He had taken the time conversing with Aritar to pick the lock. Not that lockpicking was his specialty, but he'd tried it over 200 times in Force visions until he'd finally figured out the trick. That had been a lot of hypothetical fingers lost.

He took out his anger by grabbing a blaster from one of the guards while poking the other in the eyes. Sidious grinned maniacally as he shot at the guards and Aritar, who dove for cover. Not all of them survived.

But Sidious wasn't troubled by this. He had ensured Aritar had lived, along with a random selection of his underlings. That would have to be enough to appease his Master.

Aritar crawled slowly behind a crate, groaning. Sidious stood over him.

"I was just joking about the fingers," Aritar pleaded.

Sidious bent down over him. "I don't believe you." Then he changed the setting on the blaster and shot Aritar in the face with a stun blast.

Level 1313, Coruscant

Plagueis opened his eyes, noting with interest that the metal slab he had been manacled to was surgical-grade. He'd allowed his attacker to sneak up on him and administer the sedative, silently reversing its effects with his Force powers as he'd allowed his body to fall limply to the ground. He trusted that such a thing would be unlikely to be detected even if his attacker hadn't taken great pains to ensure he wouldn't be seen. The mode of attack fit the description. Subject is behavioral match for target. Deciding that he should make a show of it, he started rattling the manacles.

"Oh, so you're awake now," the man turned around. He wore a smock and a doctor's mask.

"What do you want? I am quite wealthy," Plagueis said.

The man laughed. "Oh, you needn't trouble yourself with the cost. I do all my operations for free, you see."

The Dissector, human, age unknown, true name unknown. Psychopath, homicidal type. Fascination with anatomy.

The Dissector walked up to him and placed a stethoscope on the Sith Lord's chest, making a displeased 'hmmmm' sound after a moment. "Your heartbeats seem unusually calm for one of my-patients. A bit of an adrenaline speed-up, but not erratic. You do not appear to be a Muun under significant stress."

Possesses some legitimate knowledge of physiology. Intriguing. Perhaps we should compare notes sometime. Plagueis performed a quick scan of the room.

"This appears to be a completely private location with soundproof walls and no cameras," the Sith Lord noted.

"Yes, I would consider that the ideal environment to perform my procedures on conscious subjects," The Dissector said. "It's not exactly a legal activity, after all."

"Perfect."

The man gave Plagueis a baffled look, his eyes wide. Plagueis unleashed a Force wave which sent The Dissector smashing into the far wall along with a number of glass vials and medical implements. He ripped his arms and legs out of the manacles and sat up on the slab, rubbing at his wrists. Jumping off the table, he walked over to The Dissector, grabbed one of the man's own syringes, checked the label, and stabbed him in the chest with it.

Target acquired.

Pirate Vessel, Sriluur

Sidious, hanging by nothing more than his two hands off an airborne shuttle, had had an epiphany.

I hate pirates. More specifically, he hated their boots.

Sidious hissed as the pirate captain brought her durasteel-toed boot down on his hand.

"No one double-crosses Jenea Ohnaka!" Sidious moved his other hand before she could stomp that one, too.

"Obviously you're wrong about that," he goaded.

"Arrgh! Fine. No one double crosses me and lives!" She stomped again.

This time Sidious was a split second too slow and the pirate crushed a finger. This is completely ridiculous.

Sure, the pirate captain was surrounded by a rather numerous assemblage of lowlifes. And sure, she was reasonably well-armed. But that sort of thing was an obstacle to normal people. Not Sith Lords!

Nevertheless, the Weequay woman seemed absolutely untouchable. And Sidious had an inkling as to why from what he could sense of her. She was a Dark Side nexus. It made absolutely no sense-a nexus was a place, not a person. But-there it was, plain as day to him. She was a walking, talking, boot-stomping Dark Side nexus.

"Looks like you missed a spot," he mocked, glancing at his remaining uninjured digits. He didn't think the Dun Moch was actually doing him any favors in this case, but it was just his nature. On the other hand, it seemed it hadn't occurred to her to just shoot him in the face yet, so maybe it was of some value.

"I will kill you and then I will kill you again!" she said.

This is not worth it, Sidious decided. "You can only do that once, you know," he drawled. She wasn't Plagueis, after all. At least there was that.

Just as she was about to bring her boot down to stomp his remaining good fingers, two red-robed arms materialized out of a green mist and pulled her back.

"Aughh!" the pirate groaned, hitting Talzin in the face repeatedly with the side of her blaster. The Nightsister grimaced and backed away. Sidious thought she might be sensing the same thing he had from the pirate.

Talzin's expression brightened suddenly and she grabbed a Weequay man who was standing off to the side. Then she jumped out the the open hatchway Sidious was hanging onto. Looking down, he saw their ship. Time to get off this worthless rock.

He grinned up at the enraged pirate and let go of the hatchway. He and Talzin landed on top of their ship, which then began to move away from the pirate vessel.

"Come back here with my jogan cake, you vile creatures!"

Her what? Sidious thought, before he realized she was referring to the man Talzin held. He must be her-lover? Husband? Whatever his significance to her, it seemed to be preventing her from firing on their ship, which Sidious found an immense relief.

They entered the ship and left Sriluur right then, Sidious applying bacta bandages to his fingers and noting the caretaker droid piloting the ship. He'd wondered who had been flying it. Talzin, meanwhile, had placed the Weequay in a holding cell, and was now holding Maul to her robes and showing him something outside the ship's window.

This trip had been a wretched failure. It troubled him that he had put Maul in danger, however briefly. And Sidious hadn't even achieved his objective, since Plagueis had specifically requested the pirate captain, and not her spouse, lover, or whoever the Weequay they now held captive was. He did not look forward to explaining this.

But Sidious wasn't going back for her.