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.
"Oh, you've decided to notice, have you?" It was a light, snarky, smirky, joke though. It had come up more than once. He'd accepted it, confusing and strange though it was.
Yes, he can tell that Malgus absolutely despises him. It's easily made clear by the fact that he hasn't been killed yet.
"I can't tell you everything. He was my student for 12 years. He came to the Jedi late - very late - at ten years old. He was a slave before that. He has always felt things deeply. He is the most loyal person I have ever met. He is the best pilot and lightsaber duelist I have ever seen. He loves as deeply as he hates. He lacks impulse control and is arrogant. Had he gone to Sidious without first being dismembered and on fire, he would be better than his Master now. As it stands I've very little idea of how much he's lost, in either power or skills."
It is Malgus' turn to smile, though his is hidden. There is so much the Jedi does not know about the force.
"Being wounded does not negate power if one knows how to adapt."
Malgus is a prime example of this. Despite his injuries he's lost nothing.
"Do not assume he has lost anything. The Dark Side can give strength through the greatest of pain. In battle, I feel none."
The rest was interesting though. Loyalty was an aspect Malgus respected and the rest were useful skills. Perhaps he could turn the apprentice away from his current master. It was a thought at least.
"I am not assuming based on pain. Or even injury. I am suggesting that having lost a large percentage of his body, having four prosthetic limbs and limitations of being encased in a life support suit may still be a situation he has not entirely adapted to, yet."
He turned away and back to the databank. He's missed so much and 3000 years was far to long to look up and read everything. He might have to keep the Jedi around longer, a living 'databank' of current events at least.
Until he finds someone else.
"After we arrive planetside, we will engage in battle. A test of your skills will give me an indication of your apprentice's." If this Jedi has survived this long, he has to have some skill.
"We are? How lovely. Do you mind telling me how you intend to stop the battle, as we are presumably not interested in killing one another at this point?"
Also lightsaber combat in the middle of a Sith World where he may or may not be hallucinating.
He could leave that there and was almost tempted, but being a smart ass only runs so deep.
...Which is plenty deep but not quite that deep.
"In training scenarios, we tend to use lower powered weapons or an agreed upon signal for surrender." He hadn't really had to work hard to come up with one for Anakin, it had just... been there, from familiarity. Others had been Jedi and had used the force or a word, and with newer trainees lower powered weapons that were painful but not deadly. "I suppose simply saying 'stop' will suffice."
"Do you plan on losing a limb or being consumed by flames?"
Could be a joke or he could be completely serious. Either way he did not plan on losing anything. One of his hands was mostly cybernetic anyway.
Sith training sometimes used swords that were not as deadly as a lightsaber, but could still kill someone. That the Jedi would use something 'safer' was not all that surprising.
"It will be a Sith planet. I may be hallucinating. I may also spontaneously burst into flames in the presence of that much dark." A pause. "So possibly."
"Stronghold, perhaps. I can only imagine the difficulty of moving or aiming it."
Yeah, he was joking. He was being an outright smart ass. "Though I should tell you that I'm not certain I've heard of more than a handful of Jedi respond to even that level of concentrated Dark Power to the degree I did. I am apparently delicate."
Yeah still smart assing. About the delicate part, anyway, in spite of being more than a foot shorter and probably well under half the weight of Malgus.
That was either a continuation of the joke or simply a statement. Though this Jedi is apparently ... quick witted, he has yet to see any indication of physical skill.
Though avoiding death is in itself a skill.
He's reserve full judgement (beyond his disdain for Jedi) until he saw it first hand.
"That was the implication of delicate," he said, mildly.
"I'm going to sleep. Wake me when we need to land, and try not to run into an asteroid."
He knew that was unlikely. He was snarking, but without offense. He was also tired, which meant moving to a bench to sleep until they landed was next on his priority list.
...He clearly had a great deal of concern about being weak.
One: He was not so deeply asleep that, after years of serving as a general in a war, flying and on a variety of ships, he could have slept through the change in the vibration and sound of the engines that preceded landing
Two: As they got through the atmosphere he could Feel the planet and energy that saturated 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."
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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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"What do you want to know?"
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Irritating ... Annoying ... Thankfully not infuriating, otherwise Ben would be dead by now.
Though he definitely has Malgus' full attention by now. Which can be good or bad depending on how someone wants to look at it.
"I want to know everything."
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"I can't tell you everything. He was my student for 12 years. He came to the Jedi late - very late - at ten years old. He was a slave before that. He has always felt things deeply. He is the most loyal person I have ever met. He is the best pilot and lightsaber duelist I have ever seen. He loves as deeply as he hates. He lacks impulse control and is arrogant. Had he gone to Sidious without first being dismembered and on fire, he would be better than his Master now. As it stands I've very little idea of how much he's lost, in either power or skills."
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"Being wounded does not negate power if one knows how to adapt."
Malgus is a prime example of this. Despite his injuries he's lost nothing.
"Do not assume he has lost anything. The Dark Side can give strength through the greatest of pain. In battle, I feel none."
The rest was interesting though. Loyalty was an aspect Malgus respected and the rest were useful skills. Perhaps he could turn the apprentice away from his current master. It was a thought at least.
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Hey, he had used pain -even physical, but still.
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He turned away and back to the databank. He's missed so much and 3000 years was far to long to look up and read everything. He might have to keep the Jedi around longer, a living 'databank' of current events at least.
Until he finds someone else.
"After we arrive planetside, we will engage in battle. A test of your skills will give me an indication of your apprentice's." If this Jedi has survived this long, he has to have some skill.
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Also lightsaber combat in the middle of a Sith World where he may or may not be hallucinating.
Wonderful.
How do these people find him?
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Most of the time.
Malgus had no intention of losing control as he still needed the Jedi alive. The local wildlife might not be so lucky if his rage were to take over.
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He could leave that there and was almost tempted, but being a smart ass only runs so deep.
...Which is plenty deep but not quite that deep.
"In training scenarios, we tend to use lower powered weapons or an agreed upon signal for surrender." He hadn't really had to work hard to come up with one for Anakin, it had just... been there, from familiarity. Others had been Jedi and had used the force or a word, and with newer trainees lower powered weapons that were painful but not deadly. "I suppose simply saying 'stop' will suffice."
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Could be a joke or he could be completely serious. Either way he did not plan on losing anything. One of his hands was mostly cybernetic anyway.
Sith training sometimes used swords that were not as deadly as a lightsaber, but could still kill someone. That the Jedi would use something 'safer' was not all that surprising.
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Was that a joke?
Maybe.
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He assumed the Jedi was joking, if not he was being highly overdramatic.
Though a planet where Jedi just instantly burst into flames would be the most effective place to hold a new Sith Temple.
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Yeah, he was joking. He was being an outright smart ass. "Though I should tell you that I'm not certain I've heard of more than a handful of Jedi respond to even that level of concentrated Dark Power to the degree I did. I am apparently delicate."
Yeah still smart assing. About the delicate part, anyway, in spite of being more than a foot shorter and probably well under half the weight of Malgus.
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That was either a continuation of the joke or simply a statement. Though this Jedi is apparently ... quick witted, he has yet to see any indication of physical skill.
Though avoiding death is in itself a skill.
He's reserve full judgement (beyond his disdain for Jedi) until he saw it first hand.
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"I'm going to sleep. Wake me when we need to land, and try not to run into an asteroid."
He knew that was unlikely. He was snarking, but without offense. He was also tired, which meant moving to a bench to sleep until they landed was next on his priority list.
...He clearly had a great deal of concern about being weak.
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Malgus took the time to familiarize himself with the controls. Modern ships had some differences, but the basics were sti the same.
Which is why he didn't bother to wake the Jedi when they approached the planet or when he went to land.
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For two reasons.
One: He was not so deeply asleep that, after years of serving as a general in a war, flying and on a variety of ships, he could have slept through the change in the vibration and sound of the engines that preceded landing
Two: As they got through the atmosphere he could Feel the planet and energy that saturated it.
So, he sat up, rubbed his eyes and waited.
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