"It won't be much farther now," Sidious said.

"You said that an hour ago, sir," Anakin replied.

Sidious laughed lightly. "And I meant it! I thought the Jedi taught you patience!"

"It's not that. You're not boring me. But I wouldn't want to be called to some battle before I even got a chance to see this retrofitted speeder of yours. Anyway, won't someone notice you're missing if we're gone for too long?"

"No, I've taken the day off," Sidious said. "Anyway, I have the solution to your problem." He held out his hand. "Give me your comm."

Anakin handed the device to the Chancellor. One corner of Sidious' mouth quirked upward as he threw the device off the walkway and into the darkened void below.

"Hey!" Anakin ran in front of Sidious, staring fruitlessly over the railing into the blackened abyss below them.

"It was for your own good. The Republic shall have to manage for some short time without you, Anakin," Sidious said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You can't always be at its beck and call."

Anakin sighed. "I guess you're right, Chancellor."

"Of course I am," Sidious said smoothly. "Now, right this way. It's just past this next turn here."

Sidious observed Anakin thoughtfully as they walked the short distance to the speeder. If he could make haste in turning this 'Chosen One', he wouldn't need another makeshift apprentice. The Jedi have no conception of what you truly are, Anakin. Only I know that you are not a creature of prophecy, meant to aid the Jedi in 'balancing' the Force, whatever they may mean by that. Only I know that you, Anakin, are a creature of the Sith, created by our tinkering into the fundamental nature of the Force. And you, like all of our creations, will ultimately serve our will.

"Wow!" Anakin said. "It really does look like a podracer!"

"You like it?" Sidious asked, giving the Jedi an indulgent smile. "It's yours."

Anakin gave him a wide-eyed look. "I couldn't. Jedi aren't allowed-"

Sidious frowned. "You deserve more than the Jedi allow you, Anakin. Besides, I am not bound by the rules of your Order."

"Still, they'd never let me-"

Sidious sighed. "I understand. Which is why I've rented you a space for it in a storage facility." He pressed a key card into Anakin's hand. "It's yours."

Anakin looked down at the key card, then at the speeder-turned-podracer. "Are you sure?"

Sidious crossed his arms. "Do I appear uncertain to you?"

Anakin laughed. "I don't think I've ever seen you uncertain about anything."

"Then you've answered your own question."

Anakin's expression was still doubtful, though. "It would be another secret to keep from the Council."

Sidious gave him a sympathetic look. "I apologize. If you think it would be too much trouble-"

"No," Anakin said. "It's not your fault." He pocketed the key card and smiled brightly. "Thank you, Chancellor."

"No, thank you, Anakin," Sidious said. "For everything you have done for this Republic. For standing against the evil without, and the corruption that lies within." He gestured to the racer. "You first."

They both settled into the two seats, and removed the hooded Jedi robes to reveal their usual clothing. Anakin started up the vehicle and it bolted into motion. The momentum pushed Sidious back into the seat.

"You all right there?" Anakin asked, giving the older man a concerned sidelong glance.

Sidious smiled, laughing. "Is there a reason I wouldn't be? You know, you can go faster. There's no traffic at all here." The entire place was abandoned, in fact. It was one of the Sith Lord's favorite haunts for that very reason.

"Yeah, I was just worried it might be too fast for-you."

Sidious snorted at that. "You underestimate me, Anakin."

Anakin raised an eyebrow and smiled deviously. "All right. You asked for it, old timer."

The vehicle picked up speed and then Anakin began to spin it upside down in tight loops.

This will be a worthwhile trip even if I make no progress on my objective, Sidious thought, closing his eyes momentarily and focusing on the sensation of the acrid-smelling Coruscant wind on his face. If there was any mundane act he enjoyed more than racing, than the feel of immense speed and momentum, Sidious could not bring it to mind. Certainly it was a welcome change from attempting to appear awake while bores like Orn Free Taa droned on, or having to endure yet another harrowing heart-to-heart with Senators Bail or Mothma, or, worst of all, Amidala. He sighed, thinking of how incredibly tedious his life had become. The last time I did anything truly exciting was when I killed Plagueis. Maybe this little setback with the Separatists will not be as much of a disaster as I thought, if it requires me to do something more interesting than sit through endless Senate meetings.

"Not bad, but you could try to be a bit more adventurous," Sidious suggested.

"Really? I thought you'd be begging me to stop by now," Anakin said. "Everyone else hates my driving."

"You must be joking," Sidious replied, smiling serenely as the vehicle lurched out of the way of a row of exposed girders at the last possible second. "I trust you completely, Anakin. Who wouldn't?"

Anakin laughed. "You might be surprised. You are holding up really well, sir. And I mean, especially for someone your age."

"Can you keep a secret, Anakin?"

"Of course," the Jedi said instantly. "You've always kept mine."

Sidious smiled. "I used to be a bit of a racer, myself. Not podracing, of course, but I was quite good in a speeder in my day."

Anakin laughed. "Really?"

"You don't believe me?"

"No, it's not that. It's just-this is a deep, dark secret for you?"

"I think you underestimate what the tabloids can do with the slightest bit of-unusual information."

Anakin scowled. "No, you're right. Reporters will do anything for a story."

"I suspect you understand that from a very personal perspective."

"To say the least," Anakin responded.

Sidious gave him a sympathetic look, but didn't say more on the subject. Instead he asked, "How is your mother?"

Anakin smiled and his expression brightened. "Doing well. She's started a class recently to learn Aurebesh."

The Sith Lord gave Anakin a benevolent smile. "I'm glad to hear it." He had once privately fumed over the act that had brought Anakin's only parent to Coruscant less than a month after the Battle of Naboo, but had come to accept that, in this, Padme's meddling had actually done him a favor. Shmi was Anakin's mother, yes, but she would never inhabit his world mentally even if she did so physically. So close to him, and yet, so truly far away.

Palpatine, on the other hand, understood Anakin, understood his world, his interests, his joys, and his greatest fears. Shmi's presence, Sidious had realized, had only served to highlight to Anakin just what she was unable to provide in the way of parental guidance as he grew into an adult in an increasingly complex world she could neither hope to understand nor help him to navigate.

It had also made the Sith Lord's assassination attempt of her shortly after Anakin's adventures on Geonosis an incredibly simple affair. And when Anakin had foiled that attack, Sidious had felt the darkness unfold in the young Jedi as he had not simply killed her would-be murderers, but tortured them mercilessly before finally ending their lives. Another secret shared only between Anakin and Palpatine, as Anakin had ensured that neither Shmi nor anyone else was present when he 'dealt with' the attackers.

Thus, what had seemed an irritating setback to Sidious at first had instead been turned into a fortuitous circumstance.

A true Sith Lord can always work with whatever the universe may offer.

Sidious looked idly up at the sky. Far in the distance, he saw a tiny gleam of chrome and yellow. Insignificant except for the occupant he sensed inside it.

Ventress. Right on schedule.

He smiled. And now the real fun begins.

Ventress brought her rented vessel down on the landing platform in the deserted area called The Works. Her usual ship was undergoing repairs in a distant space station-even if it had been in peak condition, it was a bit too identifiable for her tastes to be landing on Coruscant. The vessel she was in now was also a fighter, but one of Nubian origin. She was just about to open the hatch when she saw an unusual vehicle speed right past her.

Ventress narrowed her eyes. Skywalker. A realization came to her. Not a coincidence. A test.

She raised the ship back up from the launch pad and took off in pursuit of her foe.

The vehicle Skywalker rode looked to be a standard speeder at its core, but had been retrofitted with gear more often seen in the podraces of Malastare or Tatooine. Is he trying to podrace-by himself? Guess that's the easiest way to win.

She had the ship bring up a zoomed-in image of the vessel and her eyes widened in surprise. Looks like he brought the Chancellor along for the ride. She grinned. Two for the price of one.

She fired a volley of bolts towards the pod, severing one of the enormous engines powering it. Skywalker sped up in response and somehow reattached the broken engine through the Force. Ventress sped her ship up to match the speed of the racer. Pressing the sequence to place the ship on autopilot to follow the other vehicle, she opened the hatch window and jumped onto the left fin of her ship, directly across from Anakin's vehicle. She ignited her twin lightsabers.

"Skywalker! Looks like you could use some competition!"

The Jedi scowled, gritting his teeth. "Ventress."

"Now that introductions are out of the way, we get to the fun part. Do you want to die by lightsaber or by crashing?" She laughed as the Jedi seemed to realize his predicament. She spun her lightsabers lazily and walked towards the racer.

"Anakin!" The Chancellor said suddenly. "I'll drive. You fight."

"Are you sure-?" Anakin started.

"Yes!" Palpatine said, his eyes wide.

The Jedi didn't argue any further and jumped out of the seat to the side of the speeder as the Chancellor took the controls. Anakin ignited his blue lightsaber and clashed it against the blades Ventress held.

"I thought I sensed a dark presence," Skywalker growled.

"So glad to make an impression," Ventress hissed trying to push him back into the speeder.

The speeder-turned-podracer shook erratically, forcing Ventress to use her Force powers to stay anchored to the wing of her ship. She ducked as they passed a bent pole, her ship's right wing scraping the side of a building. The racer went into a steep dive then, and her ship followed suit, essentially copying the Chancellor's motions with the racer.

"Maybe the Chancellor should get his license revoked," she remarked. "His driving is terrible."

"Pretty sure-he did that-on purpose!" Anakin parried her slashes and then slashed back at Ventress, who leapt backward toward the cockpit of her fighter.

"In that case, perhaps we're better off without his direction." She used the Force to yank the Chancellor from the driver's seat and pulled him towards her. Dooku had impressed upon her the importance of taking the Chancellor as a hostage, rather than killing him outright. And so she realized this would be the perfect opportunity to use that one bit of neglected tech she had acquired. She grabbed the wide-eyed Chancellor by the front of his elaborate robes and activated the nanotech device stored in her lightsaber. A small light on her saber handle indicated that the nanoprobe release had been a success.

"Don't move, Jedi, or your Chancellor-."

Anakin didn't waste a moment to use the Force to grab the Chancellor back. He supported Palpatine in his left arm while holding his lightsaber out towards her from his right hand. "You'll pay for that, Ventress," the Jedi growled, his expression dark.

Ventress laughed. "Well, aren't you a vindictive one. I think it's time for me to go, though." She jumped back into the cockpit of her ship and turned off the autopilot, turning the nose of her ship up right before it would have joined Skywalker's doomed vehicle in an explosive crash against the side of a building. When she reached the top of the building, she saw Skywalker had jumped off the side of her ship and onto the building. He still held the Chancellor in his left arm. She didn't pursue them further.

You think you've won, Skywalker, she thought. But the Chancellor is still my hostage. He just doesn't know it yet.

Ventress hated waiting.

It had been almost a full standard day. After the battle with Skywalker she'd returned to the space station where she had dropped her ship off earlier to pick it up. Then she had fallen asleep in front of the communication panel on her now-repaired ship, only to now be jolted awake by a harmless passing freighter. She had spent any time she hadn't been sleeping second-guessing whether her instincts about the encounter with Skywalker had been correct. Had Sidious meant to appear? Had the whole thing been a freak coincidence despite the certainty she had felt otherwise? The anticipation and worry was nearly unbearable. But she would bear it if it meant she would finally be named a Sith. Surely Sidious would make her his apprentice when he learned of what she had done with the Chancellor. She called up her nanoprobe program and watched idly as coordinates flashed across the flat holoscreen.

At any moment, she could make those numbers still...

But she needed to prove to Sidious that the deed had been hers, and hers alone.

She thought back to the man who had supplied her with the nanoprobes. Technological terrors that could rival the powers of a Sith in some respects, the knowledge of their existence had caused Ventress considerable consternation. Their inventor, an otherwise unimpressive human, had been willing to sell these most dangerous inventions to the highest black market bidder. As such the probes she had just used had been her only supply. Not because of any issue with the money, but because she had run their creator through with her lightsabers, slagged all his datapads, and bombed his lab to oblivion. As Dooku would've said, such power was not meant for mere mortals.

She frowned. She had to admit, she kind of missed the deceased Sith Lord. He'd been a difficult taskmaster, but had never seemed to doubt her abilities the way Sidious did.

Suddenly a holo-image of Sidious appeared, and Ventress sat up straight in her pilot's seat. "Lord Sidious!"

"Ventress," Sidious said. He smiled. "So, how did you find the meeting?"

Ventress frowned. "I wouldn't call it a much of a meeting with only one of us in attendance."

"Oh, I was there," Sidious said. "Observing. You simply didn't see me."

Ventress tried to imagine the Sith Lord standing on some rusted skyscraper holding macrobinoculars to his face. The image seemed-unlikely. He probably doesn't need anything like that, though. Probably just uses his Force powers to enhance his vision. Still, he must have been awfully sure Skywalker wouldn't spot him.

"In that case, what is your assessment of my accomplishment?"

Sidious frowned. "Don't you mean your lack thereof? I didn't see anything accomplished besides a bit of property damage, Ventress."

"All right. Then perhaps you missed it."

"Missed what?" Sidious asked.

"When I dispatched a series of nanoprobes into the Chancellor."

The Sith Lord crossed his arms in his robes. One corner of his mouth quirked upward. "Did you now?"

"Yes, he won't even notice they're there. They'll serve as a tracker, and can also kill him via brain stem cauterization-I have the remote activator right here."

"Really? Impressive."

"Should I-?"

Sidious held up a hand. "Not at this time. Do not do anything with the probes until I command it, or I guarantee you will lose any chance at becoming my apprentice."

"As you wish, Lord Sidious. So, what now? Did I pass your test?" Surely I will be named a Sith now that-

"You still did not kill Skywalker."

Ventress felt disappointment. Disappointment and anger. "He's really hard to kill!"

"Hmmmm, perhaps. But if you can't even take down a Jedi, my other prospective apprentice will grind you into the ground."

"You found another candidate? Who?!"

Sidious laughed. "I may tell you, in time. If you can complete my next task for you."

Ventress tilted her head. "What is this task?"

"I want you to travel to this Outer Rim location," a star map appeared next to the holo of Sidious, with a flashing red dot placed in the Unknown Regions.

Ventress frowned. "Is there even anything at that location?"

"Oh, yes, I assure you there is," Sidious said. "But more importantly, someone who will be very useful to my plans resides there."

"You want me to kill them? Torture them?"

"No," Sidious said. "I want you to bring them to me, alive and well. Do not under any circumstances bring them to harm."

Ventress frowned. "With all due respect, Lord Sidious, this sounds more like a mission for a courier than someone to be trained as a Sith."

Sidious smiled. "Being a Sith isn't all fun and bloodshed, Ventress." His expression grew serious. "If you are to be my apprentice, I need to know that you will follow my commands. All of my commands."

"Of course, Lord Sidious. Who is this person I must bring you?"

"His name is Mitth'raw'nuruodo," Sidious said.

"Mith-Raw-Nu-What?" Ventress asked. The name had entirely too many syllables for her liking.

Sidious sighed. "I'll send you the phonetic spelling so you can practice it until you get it right. He is to be treated with the utmost respect."

"Understood."

"Oh, and Ventress?"

"Yes?"

"While I will again impress upon you the importance of not bringing him to harm, there are no guarantees that he will act in kind. I will send you a message from myself which may gain you his cooperation. But if he does not agree to the offer in my message, he is to be brought to me, unharmed, regardless. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Lord Sidious."

"Good."

Sidious ended the communication. Ventress stared out her viewport at the asteroid and its space station companion in the distance, grimacing. She still hadn't been named a Sith, and worse, she'd been sent on some menial errand instead of a real mission.

She sighed, typing coordinates into her ship's hyperdrive. Let's just get this over with.