Chapter 25: Death and Plagues
21 BBY, Nar Shadaa
Darth Plagueis had been surprised when he had been notified that someone had entered one of his laboratories, and in Tatooine, of all planets. He had set up many of them over the years, though most were there to study certain anomalies in the Force.
It had been some time since anything had brought him from his experiments, but alas, recent events had made him quite curious about them. For one, the veil of darkness over the Jedi Temple was gone. Given that Plagueis had been the one to design the ritual, this had been quite the insult to his work. Of course, his mastery over the Force and the Dark Side had increased greatly since the day he and Sidious performed the ritual, but it was still one of his proudest achievements. But now, it was Sidious who would deal with the consequences of this, though he was curious as to how that happened in the first place.
The Muun wondered what his apprentice, well, former apprentice now, would think if he knew that he was still alive. It was quite an amusing thought, and to think that the boy had thought that he had tricked him all those years ago.
No, Plagueis had chosen to provide his apprentice with the perfect opportunity to kill him, feigned weakness so that Sidious would fulfil their Grand Plan, while he focused on what was most important to him, his quest for immortality.
He had become quite… disillusioned with the plan after some time. The Republic was so corrupt that anyone could do what they wished, should they have the credits to do so. Truthfully, Plagueis saw no need to conquer it; it already was his, and there was little that the Jedi could do, their order having become a shadow of what it once was.
Immortality, true immortality, was a much grander prize to seek. He had come very far in his research, finetuning his manipulation of the Midichlorians enough to heal his injured jaw, removing his requirement for a respirator, but he knew that there was still much ahead, many paths until he achieved his dream.
However, Sidious had visibly been more enthusiastic regarding the extermination of the Jedi and the Sith grand plan, enough to know that he would likely betray Plagueis shortly after the plan would not need him. And if he were honest, Plagueis preferred not to let the legacy of Darth Bane wither and die.
And so, the Muun let his apprentice fulfil his ambitions and pretended to have perished at his hands. Sidious was certainly powerful, and he was growing quite quickly, but his knowledge of the more esoteric Dark Side techniques and rituals often lagged behind his focus on raw power, especially at that time. A clone piloted through a refined version of spirit transfer that he had developed for years had been more than enough to fool him then.
He wasn’t sure that it would be enough if he did the same now. Arrogant as Sidious was, he did grow greatly in power, after all, and he had obviously studied many of the Holocrons and tomes that Plagueis had conveniently left, all to secure the line of Darth Bane.
In the meantime, Darth Plagueis, the true Lord of the Sith, focused on his experiments. There was a certain freedom to it, certainly, finally gaining the complete and utter dedication to his true goal, while Sidious ruled as Lord of the Sith. Perhaps after obtaining his immortality, Plagueis would decide to involve himself in the affairs of the galaxy, or perhaps he would find another venture that would be worthy of him, to conquer the Force itself.
And yet, in all his years, no one had been able to intrude into one of his laboratories. He had hidden them well with the Dark Side, and those who stumbled through them often died to his security measures. The one in Tatooine was a rather large Krayt Dragon that he bound to his laboratory, corrupting it with the Dark Side, with the command to kill all who attempt to enter it.
This was why Plagueis felt a certain measure of curiosity as to who could have defeated his pet, a feat that would normally need a team of Jedi Knights to accomplish. Plagueis activated his surveillance on the laboratory and smiled as he saw the perpetrator.
There was a bounty hunter of no consequence, a child, and a droid, but the most important person was one that he immediately recognised, “Harry Potter.”
The man was looking around with a dispassionate look before settling on the large symbol carved into the walls of the Rakatan cave that he had made his own. Then, slowly, he turned, looking specifically towards Plagueis, and spoke up loudly, “Not greeting guests is quite discourteous, don’t you know?”
The Muun found a large smile growing on his face. Well, that was certainly new, wasn’t it? He activated the hologram function, and then, his surroundings disappeared, replaced by his laboratory in Tatooine. It was an unusual setup, certainly, but Plagueis found it extremely useful to keep tabs on his experiments with great detail, even when he was on the other side of the galaxy.
The Sith Lord then looked at the object of interest and said, “Harry Potter. It seems the Force has seen fit to bring you before me.”
He was not even lying. He would easily admit that the man was a curiosity to him. Given the timing of the fall of the veil of darkness and the bounty, he could have easily discerned that it had been Sidious who had set up the bounty on the man’s head, likely in retaliation for being involved in some way.
He would have loved to speak with the man, to pick apart his thoughts; breaking his ritual required precision and knowledge of the Force that Plagueis wanted for himself. It would certainly be helpful for his research.
To his surprise, Harry Potter smiled widely, completely unconcerned with the dangers that he likely faced, “It’s always wonderful to be greeted so politely. First impressions are quite important, and sometimes people can be quite rude. I was actually greeted by an angry mob once, though to be fair, they did apologise afterwards. Most of them, anyway. Does surrendering count as apologising? Now, that’s a question for the ages.”
The Sith Lord would have been convinced by the man’s foolish nature, were it not for the intelligence that he could see in his eyes. This was something that he had seen a few times, though mostly in criminals, to make their enemies underestimate them.
And so, Plagueis nodded agreeably, while waving around the room, “What do you think?”
“Not quite my favourite décor, if I’m honest. Though who am I to judge people’s taste?”
It was an evasion if Plagueis saw one, but thankfully, the young boy who had come with them spoke up and asked, “décor? There are people in these tanks.”
Harry Potter shook his head while answering, “Not people. Just one.”
The bounty hunter quickly grabbed the boy chidingly, in an urge to convince him not to speak, a wise course of action, though ultimately useless. It was unlikely that any of them would walk out of his laboratory.
Still, Potter’s answer made a smile grow on Plagueis’s face, as it confirmed his suspicions. To think that he would be sharp enough to recognise that every single creature was a failed experiment, an attempt at cloning a person of great interest to the Sith Lord. He had learned much of every one of these failures, but sadly, even with his prowess, he could not recreate the full specimen. Not yet.
“That is quite observant of you. I am quite proud of this laboratory, if I am honest. I built it on the foundations of ancient Rakata ruins. They were an empire strong enough that they had learned how to harness the Force to do their bidding in a way that no one had been able to replicate since. That was until my own humble research, of course. I found their history and culture to be especially fascinating, very much so.”
The Sith Lord saw the glint of interest in Harry Potter’s eyes and suppressed the feeling of victory that he felt at tempting the man. He was not wrong, of course. Tatooine was an impressively remarkable planet, especially given its lack of resources and general viability to the galaxy as something other than a hub for smugglers and criminals.
He had not expected to find these ruins when he first came to this planet. He had sensed it rather quickly. After all, it was completely and utterly drenched in the Dark Side, which permeated the very walls of the cave. He had extended his stay in Tatooine just to set up his lab. It was not common to have a place so strong in the Dark Side available, especially with no sign of Jedi oversight.
Still, Potter did not say anything, and so the Muun pressed, “Are you an avid enthusiast of pre-Republic history as well?”
The man had a mischievous look in his eyes, “I’d say so. I have always been a fan of mysteries, and it seems that I have one on my hands, one that I am very much looking forward to solving.”
Plagueis wanted to laugh at that. After all, he felt quite the same, though the mystery in question was Harry Potter himself. The man obviously had some skill in the Force. Unravelling Plagueis’s ritual was not a feat that anyone could achieve, and the fact that he had sensed the Sith Lord observing him was also a sign of Force Sensitivity.
The Lightsaber that was on Potter’s belt was also old, given the design and its slight bulkiness, he would say that it was sometimes before the Ruusan Reformation, meaning that he had likely found it, and had not made it himself.
His best guess so far was that he was part of some kind of Force sect. There were a few scattered across the galaxy, but they were often primitive and weak, though a few were interesting. The witches of Dathomir were examples of such sects, though Plagueis preferred more precision in his Force Technique than their ‘witchcraft’ offered.
It mattered very little in the end; he would have all the time in the world to flay the secrets from Harry Potter’s mind. What was more important was his character. Plagueis was somewhat confident of his estimation of it.
The human was intelligent, much more than he displayed, and perceptive. He could see it in Potter's eyes, the fact that he would not be fooled, or tempted in any way, that he likely understood the situation that he was in, that they were both in.
There was only one solution, one way out, and the man had likely found it, just as Plagueis did.
In the end, the conclusion was inevitable. “I am much the same. It is unfortunate that things would take such turns. In another life, you would have made a suitable apprentice.”
“In another life, you would have been a suitable student,” Potter confidently answered, “Alas, there only seems to be a single way to resolve this problem of ours.”
Plagueis nodded and did not say any other word.
Instead, one of the tanks shattered in a great telekinetic blast whose power was so great that Plagueis could almost sense it despite the distance. Potter and his companions were sent flying back, and the Sith Lord smirked at his coming victory.
He then watched as a figure emerged from the destroyed tank, allowing the only human experiment to emerge from it. After all, the rest of the experiments were his attempts at cloning it, for it was the body that belonged to one of the greatest mysteries that he had encountered.
It was the body of Shmi Skywalker.
Plagueis thought that it was the very proof of the Jedi’s foolishness that they did not even dare to research the mother of their so-called Chosen One. After all, this woman was chosen by the Force itself to birth its champion, its reaction to Plagueis’s meddling and progress in his mastery of it.
The Sith Lord had hoped to use her to recreate the Force’s feat with his own Midichlorian manipulation, to create his own Chosen One. Alas, it seemed like the birth of Anakin Skywalker had rendered her unable to bear children, and thus, he could not study it. He had the records from the medical droid that she and her husband had shared. His attempts at cloning her, hoping to study her ‘neutral’ body, without the Force’s interference, failed, resulting in the experiments in the tanks that filled his laboratory.
He wondered if he should have simply captured the woman. It had been tempting to simply buy her from the Toydarian that had been her master, but he knew that Sidious was likely keeping an eye on her, and he had not wanted his former apprentice to look for him, or perhaps, another rival Sith. Sidious’s talent in foresight was great enough that he would have complicated matters, which would have detracted from his research.
Plagueis had almost given up on it until Shmi Skywalker’s death, when an opportunity showed itself. It did not come as a surprise to him that the woman was extremely strong in the Force, though unaware of it. He had taken the dead woman’s body from her grave and, with his growing skill in the Dark Side, brought a semblance of life to her.
His mastery over Life and Death was such that he had been capable of it, though she returned as barely more than a lifeless, mindless husk, but it was one that held great power in the Force.
And so, when what remained of Shmi Skywalker let out a Force Scream that took the intruders’ forms and sent them flying towards one of his laboratory’s walls, pinning them to the wall. Even the droid was being crushed, its servos sparking, at the sheer pressure of her power.
Potter was the only one who showed a marginal show of resistance, taking steps forward towards Shmi Skywalker, despite her Force Scream, only for the attack to intensify, finally overpowering Harry Potter, and sending him flying back with a thud.
A part of him had hoped that Harry Potter would have shown himself to be a great adversary, but he knew that there was a reason why the various Force sects in the galaxy had never been able to challenge the Jedi or the Sith in thousands of years. They simply lacked the power and refined control to do so, and there was no reason that Potter was any different. Victory had always been inevitable since the moment that the man entered his laboratory.
Still, a better fight would have made his victory all the sweeter, and the knowledge that he would gain more meaningful. Perhaps he should rethink Sidious’s competence, to allow himself to be outmanoeuvred by an opponent with such lacklustre strength.
Plagueis looked at the pinned man with apathy, “I do sincerely hope that you will be forthcoming during our time together. It would certainly make your remaining time less… unpleasant.”
To his surprise, despite the pressure and being pinned to a wall, Potter chuckled at that, though there was a hint of resignation tainting it, “At least you’re honest. But for curiosity’s sake, I’d like to have one of my questions answered, if you don’t mind. One last mystery wouldn’t hurt anyone, would it?”
The Sith Lord raised an eyebrow under his hood and paused. For a brief moment, he considered refusing outright as his prey had been caught, but a part of him was curious as to what his question would be.
And so, he simply inclined his head, letting the human speak up, his voice desperate, “The symbol on the wall. I know that you gave Jabba the Hutt a medallion with it. What do you know of it?”
Plagueis paused, not having expected that.
He followed Potter's gaze and saw it. It was a symbol that he had encountered a few times, mostly in old ruins and temples, but he had never truly given it much thought. He had thought it to be some kind of crest, or something of the like, maybe something designating the Rakata, given its age.
However, Potter was right. He did give Jabba the Hutt a medallion as a gift, though he had done it mostly because he had found it in the Rakata ruins. It was very strong in the Dark Side, and Plagueis had used that to turn it into a gift that was capable of bypassing Jabba the Hutt’s surprisingly impressive mind shields when he wore it. It had made him more agreeable to allow the Trade Federation access to his Hyperspace Lanes, which had greatly strengthened it and set the path for the current war.
If Potter had known of the medallion, then he likely also knew of Plagueis’s name from the same source.
Jabba.
It seemed like he would end up visiting the Hutt soon.
Potter shook his head, still straining from the pressure pinning him to the wall, “You don’t know, do you? Well, this has been an utter waste of time, hasn't it?" The sudden change in attitude, from the desperate, defeated man, to this unconcerned one, "I suppose that it's only right that I enlighten you."
Before Plagueis could register these words, the man continued, his eyes suddenly sharpening, “Death. That is what this symbol means. It is inevitable for all who draw breath, and it is merciless to all creatures who think themselves above it, who think that they could defeat it, creatures like you, Plagueis.”
Despite himself, the Sith Lord took a step back at these words. Defying death had always been his greatest goal, his greatest achievement, and to hear these words spoken out loud disturbed him greatly.
No... It was not just these words. There was something wrong, a faint sense of danger that he felt, that slipped through his unsettled mind.
Just as he was focusing on what it was, he felt a burn on his wrist, and he turned around instinctively, stiffening as the hologram around him suddenly shifted. His surroundings changed as if they had glitched; the scene then became completely different from what it once was, with the prisoners pinned on the walls disappearing completely in the blink of an eye.
The Dark Lord of the Sith felt his breath catch as he turned towards the source of the burn on his wrist, and his eyes widened as he saw Harry Potter standing there, grasping the hand in question despite it being through a Hologram.
The positions had changed so swiftly that Plagueis thought that he had imagined it. Where he had once loomed over Harry Potter, the human did the same to him. And behind him, his companions stood completely unharmed, with the droid holding the unconscious husk of Shmi Skywalker.
The Sith Lord pulled his arm back, away from Potter’s reach, but struggled to do so. It was like an arm of metal was holding him, not that of a man.
Eventually, he managed to force his arm away, but the burn permeated, making him hiss as he removed the sleeve to see what had happened.
It was then that he saw it, the same mark on the wall, the same one that Potter had just mentioned, on his arm, like some kind of brand.
Ignoring the impossibility of the act of someone affecting him from star systems away, he gasped out, “What is this?”
Potter answered that his eyes seemed almost inhuman, glowing, while his voice was more extremely serious. “You are marked now, marked by Death. It will follow you wherever you go, body to body, soul to soul. Such is the consequence of defying the rules of Death.”
Plagueis could feel the pressure, the coldness, and the chill running down his spine, and so, without a moment’s hesitation, he broke the connection to his Laboratory in Tatooine.
That might have alleviated the coldness, but the mark of Death did not stop burning. He can feel it attacking him, constantly. No, it was worse. It was attacking his Midichlorians. It was like a disease, infecting them, killing them.
Plagueis would admit that he was afraid, terrified even, at what was occurring. The idea of succumbing to the void that was Death, of his existence being undone, was one that haunted him for a very long time. And quickly, fear led to hatred, and the Muun could feel his control slip imperceptively, trying to destroy everything around him, to crush the threat to his life, but he could not, for the threat was inside him all alone.
Thankfully, in the end, the Sith Lord's logical mind prevailed over his panic; he instinctively used his Midichlorian manipulation and stopped the mark from infecting them, fighting its influence even, and for a few moments, it seemed like his mastery was enough to stop it. However, the influence of the mark still continued to progress, albeit slowly.
No, he refused.
He was Darth Plagueis. He was to be immortal, to defeat Death and rule over the Force itself. He would not be defeated, not like this.
He needed to contain this and quickly, and to do that, he needed to go somewhere that the Force itself had been damaged, a wound in the Force.
Malachor V.
He needed to go to Malachor V, for if there was anywhere in the galaxy where the Force itself had been wounded deeply enough to contain the mark of Death, it would be there, and when he had mastered it, Harry Potter would learn that even Death itself could be conquered.
AN: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. As I said before, I’m still getting the hang of writing a Star Wars story, so bear with me if anything feels off.
Again, this chapter really got away from me. I meant for it to be a bit shorter, but I Plagueis's POV opened a lot of doors, while also being annoyingly hard to write. The chapter was a bit more serious than the ones before, but I sort of couldn't manage to write a light-hearted Plagueis POV. Even then, I'm not sure if the confrontation between Harry and Plagueis came out right. I sort of didn't want to prolong it, at least too much.
I also wanted to show Harry's change in attitude when he saw Shmi's body and realised what Plagueis had done. The way Harry beat him was essentially playing on his ego of being powerful, trying to get him to talk, as someone who would brag to a defeated enemy, while it was all essentially an illusion. I thought that it was fitting, in a way, to mark Plagueis with the Death that he avoided for so long. I do have something cool planned for Plagueis and how he would deal with the mark, which is why I went with this approach, but please let me know if it feels off.
As usual, I don’t mind rewriting this chapter depending on your feedback, so please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.