By that time, Malgus had pulled the hood over his head, the rest of the cloak concealed most of his body though none if that helped his rather imposing form. He said nothing as they made there way passed various people. Some looked at him and whispered.
He didn't pay any of them any attention.
Not even a glance was given to the man towering over a small cowering woman -- an alien of some sort. She might have have been a slave or servant of some sort, either way she dropped something and that had earned the man's ire.
No one really paid them any attention until he went to strike her, but instead moved his hands to his throat grasping at an invisible force. The sounds of his struggle only lasted a moment before a sickening snap and his body collapsed to the floor.
A few people gathered around, causing some minor chatter and commotion.
It likely said absolutely nothing good about Obi-Wan as a person that his first response to feeling that surge of the Dark Side and realizing what was happening was-
Okay his first result was that it needed to stop, right now, but that was quickly not an option and the result right on its heels was that if there was an Inquisitor anywhere nearby they were going to have a problem and he really should have given Malgus a better debriefing before going into public with him.
The Dark energy was physically uncomfortable, casual murder was morally uncomfortable, that he'd killed someone who was being abusive was possibly mitigating and -
He kept his mouth shut until he paid for their transport ship, that he'd fly himself thank you, gotten them on it and set coordinates.
At that point - "I don't think the Empire's Inquisitors would respond much better to use of the Dark Side by an unknown than they would to the same from the Light." Slightly careful.
He actually did not care if anyone were to attack, in fact he welcomes it. As a warrior he wishes nothing more than for conflict.
His current situation of civility with the Jedi was irritating, but mildly instead of something that would cause him rage. Malgus could also be patient. And while the object of his past anger was no longer here he was sure he'd find a new target in time.
"Fear?" He considered, but he didn't need to consider for long. "No." It would get him killed, but he was going to die, regardless. One way or the other, no matter what, he had an expiration date from the time the Jedi fell. Leaving Tatooine was going to, quite likely, hasten it.
He did, however, want to make it count.
(He was a little afraid - just not of death).
He got up while he talked to bring up the database system, so Malgus could pursue what he wanted, when he wanted. He was sure the man knew how, in general, but 3,000 years was a long time.
"It just seems... pointless, particularly coming from a man who was so recently speaking to the need for Sith to think of the larger picture, rather than wasting time and lives fighting one another."
"I spoke about the need for reform, yes, but there is nothing wrong with battle. I dislike the politics, the underhanded methods of betrayal. I would welcome forward combat."
At least he knew exactly what he was dealing with in that case. Malgus never played the Sith Politics game very well, but then again most Sith would fall if they attempted to physically fight him.
It went hand in hand.
He did move to the database system, flipping through various news articles. 3000 years was a lot of time to cover.
He snorted, a bit inelegantly. "Well, if you'd like to go around attracting the attention of the Dark Side Force users who could be your future Sith Order, I'm hardly going to object."
A pause and he really realizes-- "If nothing else your reaction to at least some of their weapons should be entertaining." He can just imagine, already.
If Malgus were any other type of person he would have rolled his eyes, instead he stayed focused on the database in front of him.
Inwardly he pulled the dark side all around him before it basically disappeared, making his presence in the Force. Or at least his presence as a force user.
Not because he was afraid of being attacked or because he was admitting the Jedi was right, but so hopefully Ben would stop complaining.
And maybe because the Jedi was correct in that he'd be attracting attention.
"So did the Jedi betray the Republic or did the Repiblic betray the Jedi?" Which should give a small indication of what kinds of past news Malgus was looking at.
There was no great shortage of propaganda there, he was sure, particularly if Malgus got back to the start of the Empire. It was hardly very old.
"Sidious betrayed both," he says, wryly. He had to admit, though it frustrated him to no end, that it was a very good plan. "The Emperor was the Chancellor. Long ago they disbanded the Army of the Republic and arranged for an army of clones to be made, using the name of a dead Jedi Master. He then began and funded a group of Separatists to go to war with the Republic, and events to ensure that the Jedi would collect 'their' clone troops. From there we became the military leaders of the Republic, and he was able to use the fear of the Republic to give himself more power. When the Council realized what was happening and he had his power and his new apprentice he gave the clones an implanted command to turn on the Jedi, and declare us treasonous. It was remarkably well planned and well executed in most regards. And, as you said, we are fools."
And that, at least, comes with a range of frustration, anger - and not all at himself or the Empire, surprisingly - and outright bitterness.
"You were decieved." Malgus' attack on Coruscant had been a surprise as well (as the Sith waited in the shadows until their numbers grew). This time it was a very underhanded if not clever plan.
"And once again, your temple burned." Slightly metaphorically and literally.
Malgus preferred direct battle, and a full assault would have been his idea. The only time he staged a secretly executed plan was when he attempted to overtake the Sith order and declare himself Emperor. He almost succeeded.
There was a small bit of irony in how despite their grand plan, the Empire still did not fully crush the Jedi as he was currently sitting near one.
"Yet they also failed or else you would not be here." Completey eradicating the Jedi order was also part of his original plan. As they represented hope, and even one remaining could spark the fire of rebellion.
"The Jedi cannot be entirely defeated, any more than the Sith can be. Light and Dark will always exist within the force, and there will always be those who seek them. Without them both- "
Using his own phrasing, he would say that there could be no balance - a lesson the Jedi had learned too late, but had learned.
"Without both there is no meaningful conflict. One of the... fundamental lies of peace, I think. That it's merely a matter of imposing order and ending conflict. That's what this Empire has tried to do. For personal gain of power, of course, but that is why it will eventually fail. Order can never be.... peace or conflict. It's simply static. Nothing, not the force, not the galaxy, not the interaction between two people or even two cells, can remain static."
"Light and Dark cannot be destroyed, no." He did agree there. The Jedi themselves, however, can be. As the Sith can as well.
He did look over when Ben said 'fundamental lies of peace.' He almost laughed.
Peace is a lie.
Part of the Sith code he quoted earlier. Was this Jedi having some sort of revelation? He was partially right, without true conflict life becomes static but can never truly remain that way. The Force itself is conflict and the Empire is supposed to be an instrument of the Force.
It was odd if not intriguing to hear a Jedi speak of ideas outside the orders little box.
"Careful Jedi, you almost sound like a Sith." Or maybe an unconventional Jedi.
"And as soon as one force user reaches for the light, you have a Jedi. Even in a sea of dark, even without an Order, you have that spark, and it will spread. The same is true of the Dark and the Sith."
Is he having a revelation? Not at this moment, no. He had his revelation listening to Yoda on the Tantive IV.
"We are the balance ...and the conflict. We are the reflection of the fluid, dynamic, ebb and flow in the Force. The mistake of the Sith and the Jedi was - and has always been - the belief that we will ever finally 'win'. That we will eradicate one another. The mistake of the Empire is the belief that they created and control that conflict."
He doesn't feel much like a Sith. In truth, just then, he's pretty well... lit up, really, if invisibly. That quiet, steady glow, sure, but very sure in it.
So, go with unconvenitonal, then.
Or maybe he's just been alone long enough to be insane.
I'm not sure how much of this malgus personally knows but fuck it I do what I want
Malgus stared at Ben for a brief moment, before turning back to the news articles. It was an interesting philosophy, but not one he expected to hear from a Jedi. Then again ...
"Roughly three hundred years before my time, I'm told there was a Jedi who ended up walking both paths. A strong Jedi and a deadly Sith, but in the end not really either."
Did Malgus believe that was the right path itself? No. He was fully consumed by the Dark Side that almost embodied it.
"I believe in conflict, Jedi. But you have to commit to one side or the other. That is where both Jedi and Sith fail. You, however, currently sound like that Jedi of legend."
Who was not really a Legend. He did reappear in Malgus time and attempted to destroy everything as his spirit had split into light and dark. How he survived that long? Malgus didn't know -- no doubt the previous emperor before Acina had something to do with it.
He considered events that led to the fall of the Order. He considered Anakin, and Padme, and the shatterpoints Palpatine had seen and exploited and their nature. He considered his contribution to those fractures and weaknesses in Anakin, and his role in them.
He considered what Yoda had said on the Tantive IV, and about what Mace had said long before.
He considered things Qui-Gon had said, and places he tried to resist the Council, and Qui-Gon's death. He even considered that he had used the Dark Side to kill Maul, he'd simply turned from it again immediately.
He did all of that while watching Malgus at his articles and shrugged slightly. "Perhaps. And perhaps it's simply time to learn from past mistakes."
Did he want to be a Sith or embrace the Dark Side? Absolutely not.
"Very few Jedi admit there are mistakes in their order." The same went for the Sith. None of them learned anything. The Empire itself learned nothing.
It was infuriating.
"Everyone is focused on tradition and how things have always been run. Never once do they consider their views lacking or their absolute. They push out others do to differences and deny themselves powerful allies as a result. Why? Because that is how it's always been. Ignorance is a dangerous flaw."
"Both Jedi and Sith have had opportunity after opportunity presented them to change. Every time we fall, there is the potential to learn and to change. It has been ignored time and again. One way or the other, there Will be Jedi and if I have a single thing to say about it -" And one way or another, he would, even if it was in how and why he died, "There will be change."
A pause and then cocked eyebrow. "Now what are you going to do about the Sith?"
"You speak as though you will live that long." For there to be a new Jefi Order. Something Malgus does not want. No more Jedi.
"As for the Sith. I am going to recreate the order from the ground up as I intended in the past. And I will destroy your Emperor and the Empire will become my own." With his rules and ideals.
Even if he has to kill off half of the people in the Empire to achieve it.
They have just had this discussion. He can't stop there being more Jedi, and they will form an order because the light will still be there.
It wasn't worth an argument, it was such a foregone conclusion to him.
He waved one hand, vaguely, at mention of his death. "I'll be dead in a matter of weeks." It made no difference. "And good. Then I know exactly how you can get very close to the Emperor."
"Frankly," he said, with a bit less... politeness than thus far, "I do not care for whom or why you do it. It matters to me that you will be better than what exists now, and unless you plan on enslaving every non-human in the galaxy you are."
Seriously, why has always been the question he concerned himself with least. It's... a question for the future or echo of the past. It has little impact on now.
Malgus will give this Jedi credit, he is good with his words. Not a skill most are known for.
"No. That was the basis for my Empire. One free from the shackles of past thinking. Dismissing the merits others simply because they look different is ignorant." He gestured slightly with one hand. "Something the Council and I disagreed on. They also did not see the use in employing outside forces -- they considered mercenaries and others unsavory. But I found that a well paid individual serves better then one who does so because they have to."
He made a gesture with one hand as though to say 'there you are'. Because, indeed, there they were. He'd already gathered much of this about Malgus, if not specifically. That bit of confirmation was quite enough for him.
This man was Sith, but he also had a sort of... honor, or at least code by which he lived that while entirely self-serving was not entirely about subjugating others.
Therefore.
"Your key to audience with the Emperor is me. And whatever you can find on the planet were in transit to."
Also why he was going to be dead (probably, though he doubted quickly he was hardly going to rely on Malgus letting him go), but you know what? If it got Palpatine dead shortly thereafter, he'd be happy with the trade.
Interesting. So that gives more of a clear understanding why Ben was in hiding. If he was of some importance to the current Emperor, that meant he might be of more use to Malgus than previously thought.
"There might not be anything left on the planet. But we will see." He pauses a moment before continuing, "is the Emperor fearful of you or are you just someone he desperately wishes to kill?"
He actually flashed a grin, at that. "If he were afraid of me, he'd be wise to desperately wish to kill me. He isn't that smart."
He sobered a bit and went on, with information. "In truth, the answer is very likely neither. His goal for years was to kill me, and to turn my apprentice. He eventually got my apprentice, but... made lesser than he had expected and I kept having the audacity not to die. At this stage, he simply hates me. And as we discussed, altogether too many Sith view forced submission as a victory - the only victory. He will eventually kill me, likely in a fit of frustrated rage, but it won't be until after he has failed to claim what he considers a victory in dominating me."
He's not even arrogant. He is 200% confident on the reality that he cannot be forced to submit. As he'd said - killed, tortured, broken, but not truly dominated. You can't do that without the cooperation of the person you were dominating and he simply wasn't going to do that.
"Not dying. Truly a terrible crime. In that, Jedi, we are apparently not so different." How many have attempted to kill him yet failed?
Though he wasn't sure if he died and Acina just brought him back with tech. It didn't matter either way. He still lived even now.
"Tell me about your apprentice."
If that is one of the Sith, then the Jedi can give him the most information about them. And knowledge is power. The more he knows, the smoother his eventual strike will be.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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He didn't pay any of them any attention.
Not even a glance was given to the man towering over a small cowering woman -- an alien of some sort. She might have have been a slave or servant of some sort, either way she dropped something and that had earned the man's ire.
No one really paid them any attention until he went to strike her, but instead moved his hands to his throat grasping at an invisible force. The sounds of his struggle only lasted a moment before a sickening snap and his body collapsed to the floor.
A few people gathered around, causing some minor chatter and commotion.
As for Malgus? He kept walking.
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Okay his first result was that it needed to stop, right now, but that was quickly not an option and the result right on its heels was that if there was an Inquisitor anywhere nearby they were going to have a problem and he really should have given Malgus a better debriefing before going into public with him.
The Dark energy was physically uncomfortable, casual murder was morally uncomfortable, that he'd killed someone who was being abusive was possibly mitigating and -
He kept his mouth shut until he paid for their transport ship, that he'd fly himself thank you, gotten them on it and set coordinates.
At that point - "I don't think the Empire's Inquisitors would respond much better to use of the Dark Side by an unknown than they would to the same from the Light." Slightly careful.
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He actually did not care if anyone were to attack, in fact he welcomes it. As a warrior he wishes nothing more than for conflict.
His current situation of civility with the Jedi was irritating, but mildly instead of something that would cause him rage. Malgus could also be patient. And while the object of his past anger was no longer here he was sure he'd find a new target in time.
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He did, however, want to make it count.
(He was a little afraid - just not of death).
He got up while he talked to bring up the database system, so Malgus could pursue what he wanted, when he wanted. He was sure the man knew how, in general, but 3,000 years was a long time.
"It just seems... pointless, particularly coming from a man who was so recently speaking to the need for Sith to think of the larger picture, rather than wasting time and lives fighting one another."
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At least he knew exactly what he was dealing with in that case. Malgus never played the Sith Politics game very well, but then again most Sith would fall if they attempted to physically fight him.
It went hand in hand.
He did move to the database system, flipping through various news articles. 3000 years was a lot of time to cover.
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A pause and he really realizes-- "If nothing else your reaction to at least some of their weapons should be entertaining." He can just imagine, already.
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Inwardly he pulled the dark side all around him before it basically disappeared, making his presence in the Force. Or at least his presence as a force user.
Not because he was afraid of being attacked or because he was admitting the Jedi was right, but so hopefully Ben would stop complaining.
And maybe because the Jedi was correct in that he'd be attracting attention.
"So did the Jedi betray the Republic or did the Repiblic betray the Jedi?" Which should give a small indication of what kinds of past news Malgus was looking at.
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"Sidious betrayed both," he says, wryly. He had to admit, though it frustrated him to no end, that it was a very good plan. "The Emperor was the Chancellor. Long ago they disbanded the Army of the Republic and arranged for an army of clones to be made, using the name of a dead Jedi Master. He then began and funded a group of Separatists to go to war with the Republic, and events to ensure that the Jedi would collect 'their' clone troops. From there we became the military leaders of the Republic, and he was able to use the fear of the Republic to give himself more power. When the Council realized what was happening and he had his power and his new apprentice he gave the clones an implanted command to turn on the Jedi, and declare us treasonous. It was remarkably well planned and well executed in most regards. And, as you said, we are fools."
And that, at least, comes with a range of frustration, anger - and not all at himself or the Empire, surprisingly - and outright bitterness.
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"And once again, your temple burned." Slightly metaphorically and literally.
Malgus preferred direct battle, and a full assault would have been his idea. The only time he staged a secretly executed plan was when he attempted to overtake the Sith order and declare himself Emperor. He almost succeeded.
There was a small bit of irony in how despite their grand plan, the Empire still did not fully crush the Jedi as he was currently sitting near one.
"Yet they also failed or else you would not be here." Completey eradicating the Jedi order was also part of his original plan. As they represented hope, and even one remaining could spark the fire of rebellion.
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Using his own phrasing, he would say that there could be no balance - a lesson the Jedi had learned too late, but had learned.
"Without both there is no meaningful conflict. One of the... fundamental lies of peace, I think. That it's merely a matter of imposing order and ending conflict. That's what this Empire has tried to do. For personal gain of power, of course, but that is why it will eventually fail. Order can never be.... peace or conflict. It's simply static. Nothing, not the force, not the galaxy, not the interaction between two people or even two cells, can remain static."
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He did look over when Ben said 'fundamental lies of peace.' He almost laughed.
Peace is a lie.
Part of the Sith code he quoted earlier. Was this Jedi having some sort of revelation? He was partially right, without true conflict life becomes static but can never truly remain that way. The Force itself is conflict and the Empire is supposed to be an instrument of the Force.
It was odd if not intriguing to hear a Jedi speak of ideas outside the orders little box.
"Careful Jedi, you almost sound like a Sith." Or maybe an unconventional Jedi.
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Is he having a revelation? Not at this moment, no. He had his revelation listening to Yoda on the Tantive IV.
"We are the balance ...and the conflict. We are the reflection of the fluid, dynamic, ebb and flow in the Force. The mistake of the Sith and the Jedi was - and has always been - the belief that we will ever finally 'win'. That we will eradicate one another. The mistake of the Empire is the belief that they created and control that conflict."
He doesn't feel much like a Sith. In truth, just then, he's pretty well... lit up, really, if invisibly. That quiet, steady glow, sure, but very sure in it.
So, go with unconvenitonal, then.
Or maybe he's just been alone long enough to be insane.
I'm not sure how much of this malgus personally knows but fuck it I do what I want
"Roughly three hundred years before my time, I'm told there was a Jedi who ended up walking both paths. A strong Jedi and a deadly Sith, but in the end not really either."
Did Malgus believe that was the right path itself? No. He was fully consumed by the Dark Side that almost embodied it.
"I believe in conflict, Jedi. But you have to commit to one side or the other. That is where both Jedi and Sith fail. You, however, currently sound like that Jedi of legend."
Who was not really a Legend. He did reappear in Malgus time and attempted to destroy everything as his spirit had split into light and dark. How he survived that long? Malgus didn't know -- no doubt the previous emperor before Acina had something to do with it.
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He considered what Yoda had said on the Tantive IV, and about what Mace had said long before.
He considered things Qui-Gon had said, and places he tried to resist the Council, and Qui-Gon's death. He even considered that he had used the Dark Side to kill Maul, he'd simply turned from it again immediately.
He did all of that while watching Malgus at his articles and shrugged slightly. "Perhaps. And perhaps it's simply time to learn from past mistakes."
Did he want to be a Sith or embrace the Dark Side? Absolutely not.
But they could be better.
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It was infuriating.
"Everyone is focused on tradition and how things have always been run. Never once do they consider their views lacking or their absolute. They push out others do to differences and deny themselves powerful allies as a result. Why? Because that is how it's always been. Ignorance is a dangerous flaw."
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A pause and then cocked eyebrow. "Now what are you going to do about the Sith?"
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"As for the Sith. I am going to recreate the order from the ground up as I intended in the past. And I will destroy your Emperor and the Empire will become my own." With his rules and ideals.
Even if he has to kill off half of the people in the Empire to achieve it.
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It wasn't worth an argument, it was such a foregone conclusion to him.
He waved one hand, vaguely, at mention of his death. "I'll be dead in a matter of weeks." It made no difference. "And good. Then I know exactly how you can get very close to the Emperor."
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He did mentally question why the Jedi would die so soon. Malgus hadn't planned on killing him yet.
In the future, yes. That was a given if their paths crossed again.
"I am not an agent of the Jedi and make no mistake if I do this, it will not be for you or your order. But for the future of the Sith."
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Seriously, why has always been the question he concerned himself with least. It's... a question for the future or echo of the past. It has little impact on now.
Also? He wants Palpatine dead.
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"No. That was the basis for my Empire. One free from the shackles of past thinking. Dismissing the merits others simply because they look different is ignorant." He gestured slightly with one hand. "Something the Council and I disagreed on. They also did not see the use in employing outside forces -- they considered mercenaries and others unsavory. But I found that a well paid individual serves better then one who does so because they have to."
no subject
This man was Sith, but he also had a sort of... honor, or at least code by which he lived that while entirely self-serving was not entirely about subjugating others.
Therefore.
"Your key to audience with the Emperor is me. And whatever you can find on the planet were in transit to."
Also why he was going to be dead (probably, though he doubted quickly he was hardly going to rely on Malgus letting him go), but you know what? If it got Palpatine dead shortly thereafter, he'd be happy with the trade.
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"There might not be anything left on the planet. But we will see." He pauses a moment before continuing, "is the Emperor fearful of you or are you just someone he desperately wishes to kill?"
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He actually flashed a grin, at that. "If he were afraid of me, he'd be wise to desperately wish to kill me. He isn't that smart."
He sobered a bit and went on, with information. "In truth, the answer is very likely neither. His goal for years was to kill me, and to turn my apprentice. He eventually got my apprentice, but... made lesser than he had expected and I kept having the audacity not to die. At this stage, he simply hates me. And as we discussed, altogether too many Sith view forced submission as a victory - the only victory. He will eventually kill me, likely in a fit of frustrated rage, but it won't be until after he has failed to claim what he considers a victory in dominating me."
He's not even arrogant. He is 200% confident on the reality that he cannot be forced to submit. As he'd said - killed, tortured, broken, but not truly dominated. You can't do that without the cooperation of the person you were dominating and he simply wasn't going to do that.
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Though he wasn't sure if he died and Acina just brought him back with tech. It didn't matter either way. He still lived even now.
"Tell me about your apprentice."
If that is one of the Sith, then the Jedi can give him the most information about them. And knowledge is power. The more he knows, the smoother his eventual strike will be.
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