A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my Patreon for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!

Anyways... back to our Jedi characters standing outside a Sith Laboratory. This is fine.

-x-X-x-

Tylo discards multiple options in the next couple of moments. His first idea, sending Aayla back to the ship to see if they can trick the Holocron into accepting her absence as ‘good enough’ is almost immediately set aside for obvious reasons. But likewise, they really shouldn’t just break in. Traps would be one thing, though the sort of traps a Sith Master would bring to bear isn’t the kind of thing Tylo wants to have to deal with.

But what if the entire laboratory is hooked up to some sort of self-destruct and the Holocron has access to the controls? No, rather… it seems incredibly likely that the Holocron has access to the lab’s systems and sensors, otherwise how would it have known that Tylo and company were here in the first place?

Still, he’s not going to ‘kill the spare’ as Darth Plagueis’ remnant put it. Fuck that. Still… still, while sending Aayla away is right out as an option, tricking the Holocron is not. If it were the actual Darth Plagueis standing before them, Tylo didn’t think he’d have a chance in hell of making this shit work. Then again, if it were the actual Darth Plagueis in front of them, they’d either all already be dead or at the very least fighting for their lives at this very moment.

That said, the fact that it’s a Holocron and not a real person gives Tylo hope that the crazy idea he’s left with just might work. Stepping forward, Tylo plasters the most sinister ‘Sith-like’ expression on his face that he can manage, before letting out his attempt at an evil cackle.

“Apologies, but you are mistaken, milord. Those Mandalorians are indeed my servants, but the Twi’lek is as much my pet as the Zabrak is. They are my slaves, both of them.”

The Holocron Remnant’s eyes narrow at that and then flicker past him to Aayla and Maris. Finally, it looks back to Tylo and scoffs.

“You expect me to believe that? The Zabrak is untrained enough to be believable, but the Twi’lek? I can feel her strength. I see her past. A Jedi Master, your slave? It would have been more believable if you tried to pass yourself off as her slave, boy.”

Tylo stiffens at that… but isn’t ready to give up on his scheme. Not yet anyways. Unfortunately, despite being a mere shard of the Sith Master who empowered it, the Holocron clearly has some strength to it if it can detect such things about them. Which means it’s not enough for him to just put on a brave face. He needs to go further. He needs to go deeper.

Reaching down within himself, Tylo takes hold of his feelings for his former Master. He loves Aayla Secura, there’s no denying it. He might love her more than anyone else in the entire universe, though it would be a toss-up between Annie and her if he were being honest. Still, Annie isn’t here right now. And besides, she has Padme as well. Aayla… it’s been him and Aayla for a long time now. He’s been all Aayla really has.

Concentrating on those feelings of love, Tylo… consciously twists them. He focuses on what Aayla means to him… on how he would feel if he lost her. He focuses on how it feels to dominate her, how it feels to possess her. He focuses on her submission and his control over her.

A muscle in his jaw spasms as Tylo turns away from the Holocron and looks to Aayla, ignoring all the others. He can see from her eyes that she senses what he’s doing. He can also see that she’s concerned for him. And yet, at the same time…

I trust you, Tylo.

Stepping forward, Tylo reaches out with the Force and rips the lightsaber from Aayla’s belt. He doesn’t light it, nor does he light his own. He doesn’t want to see how the Remnant of Plagueis would react to seeing Jedi colors come from their lightsabers, even if the Holocron admittedly recognizes their ‘past’ as Jedi. Best not to give it any reason to suspect that their time as Jedi isn’t really as far in the past as it clearly believes.

Instead, clipping Aayla’s lightsaber to his belt next to his own, Tylo reaches out with an empty hand… and curls his fingers. Immediately, he feels the blue Twi’lek’s windpipe in the clutches of his Force Sense. Immediately, Aayla begins choking under the power of his grip. As he gets closer, Tylo focuses… and Aayla drops to her knees before him, continuing to gasp for air, her eyes bulging, her mouth opening involuntarily to try and snuck in oxygen that can’t make it past the restriction of her throat.

However… she does nothing to resist. He’s all but killing her, and she doesn’t fight him one bit. It’s as the Holocron said. She IS a Jedi Master, a highly skilled and fully trained Force User. There’s no denying that Aayla COULD break free of him if she wanted to. There’s no denying that she could fight his hold on her throat off in a moment if she chose to.

But she doesn’t. She doesn’t even bring her hands to her throat like most sentients would do at being choked out with the Force. Instead, they remain upon her knees as Aayla kneels there placidly, save for the fact that she’s being choked to death by her former Padawan. Looking into her eyes, Tylo allows himself to revel in holding Aayla’s life in his hands, even as she gives him the slightest smile.

Love… you…

She’s ready to die here. She’s ready to let him kill her. But of course… Tylo isn’t ready to do the killing. Instead, he brings her to the brink… and then pulls back, his grip on her throat closing just before she can pass out from the lack of oxygen. As Aayla gasps and begins to fall forward onto her hands, Tylo reaches out and arrests her motion with his hand on one of her lekku grabbing it rather roughly and holding it firmly as he keeps a limp Aayla from collapsing onto her face.

At the same time, he reaches out and grabs hold of Maris with the Force, yanking the unsuspecting Zabrak Padawan over into his grasp. She squeaks but has the good sense not to speak up or yelp too loudly as he grabs her by her dreads and yanks her down to her knees as well for good measure. Then and only then, holding his two ‘slaves’ by their heads, does Tylo look back to Darth Plagueis’ Remnant, lifting an eyebrow as he smiles a sinister smile.

“As you can see, they are BOTH my pets. Little more than property. I could certainly kill or maim one or both for you… but it would seem like a waste of resources to me. Their loyalty is unquestionable. They will never betray me.”

There’s a pause as everyone, including the three Mandalorians who have been watching all of this from the sidelines, holds their breath and waits for the Holocron’s verdict. Tylo does his best to hold onto the feelings of possessiveness and dominion that he’s currently drawing from. Even though he can feel the Dark Side hooking itself further into his very being as he does so.

Finally though…

“Hm. Very well. A Jedi Master turned slave. I would say that’s impressive, boy, but I think we both know the proclivities of your average Twi’lek.”

The shade’s lips pull back to reveal rows of teeth in what Tylo realizes is an amused grin at his own comment. Tylo, meanwhile, resists the urge to shudder. Necessary. This was all necessary. And if he kept telling himself that, he just might come to believe it.

Still, as the doors suddenly begin to open behind the Holocron’s pedestal, Tylo can’t help but breathe a little sigh of relief. They’d passed the first hurdle. Now they just needed to enter the belly of the beast and find what they were looking for.

“Take my Holocron with you. While there are other places within the laboratory where I can manifest myself, this will allow me to be by your side, handling your training, always.”

Right. That made sense. Though, even if it did make sense, no part of Tylo actually wanted to touch the Sith Holocron. Even from where he was standing, he could feel how slimy and… dark its presence was. Still, needs must. Turning so that the Remnant couldn’t see his lips, Tylo mouths the words ‘I’m sorry’ to Aayla and Maris, even as he releases his hold on them, making a show of pushing them away from him. What he actually does is push them into each other’s arms however, so that Maris can hold up Aayla and keep the Twi’lek from toppling over as she recovers from her brush with asphyxiation.

Smiling at him, eyes fluttering, Aayla just shakes her head.

Nothing to apologize for, Tylo. Good job.

She might say that, but it doesn’t make it any easier for Tylo to stomach what he did to her. And the way he’s currently feeling about her… about all of them really, he doesn’t like it. He wants nothing more than to sit down and meditate until he’s released these dark feelings into the Force, but unfortunately that’s not an option right now.

Jaw clenching, Tylo turns and marches over to the pedestal, reaching out and grabbing Plagueis’ Holocron with both hands. The red pyramid shifts into a smaller configuration once he’s pulled it from the plinth, allowing him to ultimately rest the Sith Holocron in just one palm. Meanwhile, the Remnant of Darth Plagueis projected from the top of the holocron also shrinks down so that Tylo is looking down at it instead of up to meet the deceased Muun’s eyes.

With that, he walks through the open doors into Plagueis’ laboratory, his… servants and slaves following behind him. As they traverse a long, dark hallway, the Sith Lord in his palm speaks up again.

“I wonder… all sensors indicate that it has not been very long since the Grand Plan should have been put into action. If only this laboratory had been discovered a thousand years from now, I would feel secure in the knowledge that Darth Sidious succeeded in carrying our goals. But the fact that it’s only been a handful of years… tell me, boy, how did he fail so tremendously?”

Tylo very nearly asks ‘how did WHO fail’, but manages to hold himself back, recognizing that as the verbal trap it was. Darth Sidious… Tylo dearly wanted to know who that was. But if he asked, then the Remnant of Darth Plagueis might realize his apprentice hadn’t ‘failed’ like he currently assumed. And if the Holocron realized that Darth Sidious was still out there putting the Sith’s Grand Plan into action even now, then he might realize they aren’t actually Sith themselves and turn on them.

It was a delicate balancing act that Tylo had to walk right now. And he was the only one who could walk it too. Fortunately, an idea comes to mind swiftly enough, even as they reach the end of the hallway and step out into a spacious, large laboratory filled with what looks like a mixture of advanced technology and Sith Alchemy.

There’s only one thing that Tylo knows for sure is part of the Sith’s Master Plan. And that…

“It was the clones, milord. Something went wrong with the clones.”

Darth Plagueis’ Remnant looks up at Tylo, the deceased Muun’s brow furrowing in consternation.

“Impossible. The biochips should have ensured their obedience. Did the Kaminoans betray us? But no… the connection is still active. The orders are still in place.”

Tylo blinks as he tries to keep up with what was just said. Biochips? Orders? An active connection? He can feel the others all reacting in their own way behind him, but he focuses on the Holocron in this moment.

“Apologies… connection, Master? Orders?”

Looking distant now, the Remnant nods absently.

“Yes, of course. The Orders downloaded into every biochip installed in every Clone Trooper’s head. As Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, it would have given my Apprentice direct control over the Republic’s new Grand Army at any time. Of course, treachery is the way of the Sith, so I made sure that I had my own connection to the clones’ biochips here in this laboratory. As well, I implemented an order that not even the Kaminoans knew about. None still living anyways. Order Zero would have allowed me to usurp control of the clones at any time if need be, in the event of my Apprentice’s death or betrayal.”

Wait. Wait, what? Tylo suddenly feels faint. As well as sick to his stomach. Surely the Holocron couldn’t be saying what he thought it was saying, right? Except… he couldn’t possibly ask it to clarify for the same reasons that he hadn’t asked before who Darth Plagueis’ apprentice really was. And yet, despite holding his tongue… it seemed he’d found out anyways. Darth Plagueis had just inadvertently spilled the beans.

Glancing back, he sees Aayla looks just as stricken as he does. Technically it was possible that Darth Plagueis’ information was woefully out of date. They still had no idea WHEN the Sith Lord had even died. But… Tylo doesn’t think so. While it’s possible that Plagueis’ Apprentice never became Supreme Chancellor… it’s infinitely more likely that he did.

Which would mean that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine is in fact Darth Sidious, Lord of the Sith. The more Tylo thinks about it, the more it makes a truly terrible amount of sense. They already knew this entire war was orchestrated by the Sith. That the Clone Army was a trap designed for the Jedi Order to fall right into. And while there was a Sith in the form of Count Dooku openly leading the Separatist Movement, they couldn’t very well orchestrate the war if they only had control of one side, could they?

“Hm. My apprentice must have died before he could implement any of the orders. That’s the only thing that makes sense. A travesty to be sure… and the likelihood of you being made Supreme Chancellor is minimal to say the least. Fortunately, Order Zero does not require you to be part of the Republic’s outdated mode of government in any way.”

Tylo finds himself pulled from his thoughts as Darth Plagueis’ Remnant finally refocuses its attention onto him.

“… But you’re not ready for that yet. First, you must be trained. Once you have proven yourself as a proper Sith Lord, then and only then shall I grant you control of the greatest army that the galaxy has ever seen.”

… Great.

-x-X-x-

[ ] No deception, too risky. Allow himself to be drawn into whatever Sith Training the Holocron has in mind - 23%