Chapter 79

Palpatine has pretty good instincts. The old devil can't touch me with my cautious behaviour and ever-changing nature, but that doesn't mean he hasn't placed traps. I know they are traps because of the way he has set them up.

An example would be when he broadcasted the capture of three hidden padawans and announced their trial and execution hoping the Jedi would come and rescue them. The old dog hadn't captured any padawans, they were just some criminals who had murdered and raped but the citizens didn't know and didn't care, all they wanted was their deaths.

It was all a lie to generate unreasonable hatred toward the Jedi and the rebels. Yoda was worried, but I calmed him down by promising to do something.

Yoda was pleased until he found out what I did. I had the fake padawans executed before their trial could take place with a nice set of timed explosions. The mess that it made caused the public to be disgusted and Yoda wasn't too pleased either.

Yoda bitched at me in that annoying broken speech way.

"More and more the dark side path you take"

"Darkside, Lightside it's all the same" I answer with little care.

"Hearing disturbing stories about you, I have. Killing innocents, I have heard."

"In a roundabout way, but only when I need results"

Yoda was about to say something but I didn't care.

"This time there were no innocents, just three murders. With these unexpected deaths, there will be any number of discussions and arguments on what happened and no one will know the truth. The Jedi's limited reputation will be protected and the public will find any number of convoluted stories to explain what happened. No one apart from Palpatine and us will know what truly happened. The longer we say nothing the more ridiculous it will become and never the true answer will rise to the surface. And the best bit is we won't have to do a single thing extra to spur the madness on. It will become an argument where the truth was lost and no one will care to find it, the only thing they will care about is being right and proving others wrong" I rub my hands together.

"A mess that sounds like," said Yoda

"Very much so" I answered "The truth and lies mashed together with extra servings of pointless info that will branch off to other questions that have nothing to do with what originally happened. It will become such a mess that Palpatine will never be able to use it without covering himself with shit"

Yoda looked to the floor and shook his head "The dark side is in politics.

"Now you're learning," I say with glee "In politics and reputation, you either swim in shit and get it done or stay clean and become ineffective"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Yoda shakes his head in disappointment "Not the way of a Jedi, way of the Sith it is"

"You are correct, I am always surprised when the Jedi involve themselves in politics and war. The Jedi should separate themselves away from governments and stay as a peaceful religion, concentrate on good works, bend the will of the people to see you in the best light and take advantage in changing laws to benefit yourself and your allies"

"You use the Jedi as a police force, hypocrite you are" says Yoda

"I don't pretend to be anything other than me. I know what I am, I do things that benefit me and most important of all I don't pretend to be a Jedi. It's too hard to be a Jedi. Too many rules contradict each other. Too many rules that make life more difficult than it has to be. I am who I am, and the Jedi shouldn't be involved in so much death and corruption if they want to be seen as a peaceful group"

"What is the answer then" asked Yoda

"Unfortunately, there are no solid answers in this galaxy. If the Jedi did nothing but good works, the hidden Sith would have wiped you out.......or they may have left you completely alone. The rules of the Sith are one of power and control, and they don't like having to share."

"Defeating Palpatine through politics may be the answer?" asked Yoda

I shook my head "Palpatine is stuck in the power of politics like a Mimban tick, there are no ways through politics to remove him. No one who is involved in politics will risk receiving the wrath of the complete Empire to remove Palpatine from office"

"Defeat him, how do you?" asked Yoda

"I would have said to outlast him and wait for him to die of old age but that is not likely now" I flipped my personal computer on my wrist open and did some small calculations "Even with a small part of the empire's resources they should find a way to counter my stealth ships within the year"

My fingers danced on the screen while Yoda looked down at his cane "The empire will most likely start a brutal campaign of invading the Grove Collection to weaken the rebels within the year"

Yoda looked up sharply at what I was saying.

"Within five years, the empire will have cut into the territory and attacked, divided and spread out through the Grove causing many of the inhabitants to flee or join the Empire for protection," I said

"Counter him, how do you" asked Yoda

My fingers stop and I flip the screen back closed "You can't, the problem with fighting a unified galaxy under an evil wizard who has no problems with murdering at the planet scale is it doesn't matter how many times they fail or how badly they use their resources they will eventually succeed due to chance. We have to be lucky or skilled every time, the Empire only has to be lucky once"

"What is the answer" Yoda was almost whispering

"You have to cut off the head, the Empire is too big to succeed under one normal ruler. If you left the Empire in a normal man's hands there would be infighting, backstabbing, different groups battling for control, and any number of sneaking thieves trying to steal whatever they can, ultimately you get what the Republic used to be"

Yoda didn't like that I called the old Republic names, I could feel his annoyance.

"It was messy but you could work in that mess. However, Palpatine is a scary ruler backed up by an army and magic that defiles common sense, and the worst thing is he can fight. Assassins don't work when you can crush them before they know what's happening. Bombs have little effect when the force warns you of death. Getting near him is challenging enough but he has the skill to defend himself and the power to call on thousands of starships to wipe you out"

"No answer, is there?" Yoda muttered

"Not necessary" I muttered back "Power is the only currency of the Sith worth protecting, if you affect their power you can move the person into a less favourable situation"

Yoda gripped his cane hard, his hope was within his next question "What would make Palpatine move to an unfavourable position

I turned to Yoda with a slightly crazed smile "That, my old friend is the billion credit question"