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Sidious made an interrogative noise, and Plagueis smiled in his race's manner. "I was experimenting with mixing DNA structures. I thought it would be interesting to see what I could add to that pure clone Jango Fett required as his payment. We shall see if that bears any fruit. I left IG-42 there to look after things."
Sidious nodded, again very carefully keeping any emotion off his face. IG-42 was a medical droid with all of its emotional and moral subroutines removed. It had long been Plagueis aide-de-camp in any experiment which had a medical side to it. That was an area of Sith alchemy that Sidious had never truly had any interest in, not really seeing a point to it outside of the ability to transfer his consciousness into a clone. That, he was very interested in. After all, who wouldn't be interested in the idea of eternal life?
Plagueis eyes suddenly narrowed dangerously. "Speaking of experiments, what of the vergence? What has the Order done with him?"
Sidious allowed a wince to appear on his face, though inside he was calm, watchful. "He has been assigned to Windu as his padawan."
He watched his Master's face close down in a way that would have sent a shiver down most people's back. "Tell me more," Plagueis ordered.
"According to our robotic spies inside the Temple, the boy was taken by Windu as padawan as a sort of parting gift to Jinn. Jinn would've taken on the boy as an apprentice if he had lived, and reading between the lines and using what we know of Windu he might almost have felt guilty about not preventing Jinn's death and sees this as a way to atone."
Plagueis fell silent, and Sidious did likewise. This was, in point of fact, not the end of the world from Sidious's perspective, but it was a somewhat large setback to the idea of twisting the vergence to their own side. Mace Windu was one of the easiest Jedi Masters to manipulate at a distance, but he was also one of the most entrenched in his opinions and in how he viewed the Force and the Order. He would not allow any external influence to influence his padawan, certainly not a 'friendship' with Sidious in his Palpatine persona or any other politician, as Sidious had thought he would be able to do.
Of course, if I try to contact the boy like that, and Mace eventually finds out and cuts such contact off, the boy might feel resentment, which could be used to drive a wedge between them. But that is such an ephemeral plot; I don't want to put any emphasis on it. I might have already developed something of a rapport with the boy on Naboo, but that is not going to stand up to the constant reinforcement of Windu's thoughts and opinions.
"Does that mean that Mace has stepped down from his position as Master of the Order?" Plagueis asked thoughtfully.
"Yes, Master. He has been replaced by the Thisspiasian Ranicisis."
"Interesting. Ranicisis is not as predictable as Windu, nor as logical. That could be a problem going forward."
"It already has proven to be a bit of a problem long term. Master Fay has been doing a referendum on lightsaber styles, connecting deaths in the line of duty to specific weaknesses in the Jedi who fell. Niman might well be set aside completely."
Plagueis nodded absentmindedly, waving one hand as if that was of no moment. "The clones will do for them still when it comes time. No, the vergence is still the most important thing. If Windu is taking missions once more, we might wish to take steps to remove Windu entirely if we can get away with it. And we have those samples from Yinchorri… They would incubate even faster than a human, and Windu was the leader of that mission."
Sidious smiled evilly. That was actually a very good idea, and Windu's death would remove one of the most dangerous Jedi in terms of combat ability. But before he could speak, Plagueis looked up at him thoughtfully. "But we should not try to remove the vergence from the Order entirely. No doubt by this point Yoda at least knows that the vergence is and has connected him to the Chosen One prophecy."
The older Sith sneered, while Sidious nodded, keeping his face blank. While he found his master's obsession with the vergence a weakness, the Chosen One prophecy was perhaps one of the most telling victories Darth Bane's Order of the Sith had ever scored against the Jedi. Getting the Order to accept the false prophecy had impacted the Order's ability to fight the Veil of the Dark Side in a subtle but telling manner, and he enjoyed the dark irony of it immensely.
"There is more, Master," Sidious said in an effort to change the subject. The least Plagueis can do now that he is back and trying to stick his nose in everything is to give his opinion on this point. "There is talk about some kind of lightsaber retraining center. It will be run by Master Dooku and Master Fay on Serenno."
The two Sith exchanged a sneer at the woman's name, but Plagueis immediately understood his apprentice's concern. Obviously that meant that the techniques that Master Fay had apparently come up with would continue to spread through the Jedi Order. The shield technique in particular had proven to be a lifesaver, and one they had yet to emulate.
"Would you be able to put any Senate pressure on that? After all, I can't imagine the Senate is happy about having the Jedi creating another center of power," Plagueis asked.
"I can attempt it, but it would seem odd that I as the Chancellor would not squash such talk given how I have maneuvered myself to be seen as a friend of the Order. I would have to be very clandestine, and I do not think it would amount to much. Master Dooku and Master Fay are too well thought of in both the Order and the Senate. Some of that, at least, is our own fault in terms of Dooku's position, and his recent activities have made him even more popular in certain circles."
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