The Diary
by Z.P. Florian ...her website
The Diary of Darth Nolan
1 of Seeding.
This is the worst nightmare. Losing my apprentice to the rimworld fever was unexpected. Fortunately I had no deep fondness for him. He was rather conceited, not a good quality in any man and a deadly sin in a Sith. I have seen ninety-four summers already... The last thing I want is to start training a new Sith Lord. And where am I going to find one who is worthy? I’ll open myself to the Force to see if there’s a young lad -- not a boy, I’m too old to start with a mewling child.
2 of Seeding.
This is a jest, I hope. My future apprentice that the Force led me to is a nondescript young man, soft and harmless. Definitely not a warrior. I’ve seen him through the Force, and I don’t think he can be trained. He lives on Corell. He is working in a portside hostel that is barely better than a bordello. Everybody who knows him thinks of him as a harmless, whimpering coward.Still, I have to go and see him anon.
14 of Seeding.
I met him. His name is Darenni Ortanest, and he works in that hostel as a bookkeeper. He is very strong in the Force, but he doesn’t know anything. He was born in the hostel; his mother was a whore. He has ambitions, but he has never done anything to realize them…unless I count that, despite his pleasant looks, he has not become a whore himself. Must give him some credit that he avoided that fate.
16 of Seeding.
I asked him if he’d consider working for me. He wanted to know why I needed a bookkeeper. He probed me with the Force -- apparently he knows how to do that. Why didn’t I see that at first? Is he so well shielded? Have I underestimated him? Was the entire aura he projected a camouflage?He fooled me, what a delight! He is good enough to fool a Sith Master. Then he is good enough to fool that collection of conceited and compliant Jedi Masters in their trice bedamned council. I begin to hope that I have found the one who will bring the Sith to power.
20 of Seeding.
I took him with me to my fort. He came without even asking too many questions. Just how well does he read me? I talked to him at length about the Sith. He listened, he is extremely intelligent. His rare questions are important and to the point. I'm beginning to think that he is perfect. He enjoys the small luxuries I provide him with, the food, the warm water in the bath, the sweet wine, the fresh fruits.
He keeps surprising me. I was worried about his physical training. But his thin body is strong. And he is not too bookish. He knows several forms of hand-to-hand fighting. Besides that, he told me he can fight with a knife. I wanted to see a demonstration so I got him a fighter to spar with. His opponent was larger and far stronger than he. But I’ve never seen a trickier fighter than him. He made a whole show of being scared. He lead the fighter to becoming overconfident, and when the big warrior thought he could win easily, Darenni got him with one quick stab. He wasn’t even gloating, just smiled a little. And enjoyed his supper in my company. I wish I were just twenty years younger. How gladly would I pleasure him.
1 of Harvest.
I couldn’t even find time to write into my diary in the past three months. My apprentice is taking up every waking moment of my time. He soaks up knowledge. He studies in my library, he barely sleeps, he is the most ambitious creature I’ve ever seen. When I told him that I’ve foreseen that the time is close when the Sith can take over the galaxy, he lit up like a Springfest display. He is devious and imaginative.
There's not much that he needs to learn. In his miserable childhood, he already learned to use the Force to subtly manipulate people around him. That's what saved him from the common fate of portside boys who don't have anyone to take care of them. When I started to teach him to manipulate people from a distance, he did far better than I. Unlike my previous Apprentice, he is not given to overconfidence, he doublechecks everything. His natural attitude is that whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and he prepares for that eventuality. I remember when I was his age, I wasn't this careful. He’s never made a mistake in the training. Which is good, because I'm not in any shape to give him a sound whipping.
5 of Feasting.
He made his first mistake a week ago. He is not good with a lightsaber. It is mostly my fault, for old as I am, I can't train him myself. I pray to the Ancient Gods that I should live long enough to finish his training.
I had him working with remotes, which are by far not as good as a living opponent. He allowed himself to be hit. Never do I want to see him injured. I told him that I won't live long enough that he can afford the luxury of getting himself killed. He will have to carry on the Sith's traditions alone, once I'm gone. His lightsaber training must be speeded up. I told him it would go a lot faster if I could whip him properly. He didn't understand how would that help. I told him that the pain would serve as a sound reminder for the rest of his life, making him more cautious the next time. He asked me if a droid would be able to administer the beatings in my stead. From then on, he submitted to the harshest form of training.
20 of Feasting.
His lightsaber training is progressing properly now. He will be able to train a warrior with what he has already learned. He has been soundly beaten several times already. And took his punishment without a sound. A splendid apprentice. He understands that it is an unusual situation: he has to use every day while I live, taking every bit of knowledge I have, absorbing all I know.
He has to be the one to establish the Empire of the Sith and walk among the dead bodies of thousands of Jedi. I see his future. In his dark robes, he walks on a plain; the sky is red with the setting sun, and the Earth is red with the blood of the Jedi. He is our true champion, the one who will achieve what the Sith have been planning for a hundred generation.
He is gloriously devious.. He suggested that we change his background; he wants to find a small and peaceful planet and establish a solid background there. I think Naboo would be fine. I shall find an older woman there who will be easy to manipulate. She will be made to believe that she had a son who had been taken by slavers as an infant. Then my apprentice will show up, and she will recognize him as her long-lost son. The story itself will generate much sympathy for him, and eventually he should go into politics there, as a champion against slavery. He thinks he will be able to become a Senator first, then Supreme Chancellor. In that role, he can do anything. First he has to create a situation that will cast a shadow on the Jedi, find something to accuse them of. Make it stick and let the mob turn against them. The Jedi Council is conceited and that will work to our advantage.
3 of First Snow.
I found the right woman on Naboo, a rich widow named Lady Palpatine, who will do fine. Altered the hospital records to show that she had given birth to a son. My Apprentice is ready to show up on Naboo any time now. He learned the language in a month. I think he never sleeps. His training is almost finished.
I'll call him Darth Sidious. He is perfect. He learned to use a lightsaber, not that he expects ever using one, but he needs the skill to teach his own apprentice when the time is right. I don’t think I have more than a year to live. Soon he will be on his own.
1 of Last Snow.
My Apprentice is now the most interesting person on Naboo; his tragic story of being enslaved is the sensation of the whole planet. They love him no end. I watch the holonews. He is perfect, so kind, so sweet, so unassuming, so modest, so polite, so friendly. He has a compliment for everybody, a gentle touch for each child, a smile for every animal. He never complains, not a world leaves his lips, that it is not a cheerful utterance. This is all an act, and what an actor he is. He is the first Sith, I think, who will ride to victory on the wings of popularity. He smiles often. He is firmly convinced that only the weak need to resort to weapons. His favorite weapon, he told me, is his mind.
Not that he won’t build an army when it is time to take over the galaxy. He will be an Emperor, ruling over this herd of sheep. I warned him about the prophecy of the Chosen One. He has to find him and take him as his apprentice. The Jedi thinks that the Chosen One will work for them. How stupid they are, for the balance demands that the Chosen One should fight against the Jedi. Too many lightsiders, too few Sith.
30 of Firstbloom.
I’m getting weaker every day. I feel the time of my death approaching, the dark tendrils of death swirl around me. My Apprentice is coming to visit regularly. The quill is heavy in my hand. My letters look tilted and ugly. I wonder what will come after I leave this realm of the flesh. Is there really a world to await us? I shall know soon. Are there Ancient Gods? Is there an omniscient Ibsen to judge me, to measure my usefulness in the grand scheme of things? Shall I be allowed to reborn, or will my essence be melted down to be molded into a different man? My religion believes in the buttonmaker who comes for those who are not fully worthy to be declared good or evil. I hope I'm not going to be judged to be no more than raw material for another soul. I have done my duty. Besides being totally devoted to the Sith. All I cared for was my roses. Darenni doesn’t like them. He doesn’t understand what I see in roses. But that shouldn’t bother me. I had my pleasure with my roses for all my life. Perhaps I should ask him to bury me under my roses, so my body could nourish them.
5 of Secondbloom.
Darenni came last week. Sat beside me and penetrated my mind, reading me so completely that he learned everything I had ever known. He smiled when he sensed that would I be younger, I would have taken him as my lover. And what a cherished lover he would have been. I hate to leave him alone. He asked me if it is true that I might be able to come back after I died. I should be able to do that if he really needs me.He promised me that he will bury me in the rose garden.
He is happy, everything is proceeding as we planned. He is already elected as a representative on Naboo. Next step is the Senate. Becoming Supreme Chancellor might take a couple of decades.
But he is still very young and so happy. Rare is the Sith who can have so much joy. He enjoys the game of politics, subtly manipulating everybody behind the scenes. The world is indeed a stage, and he knows that. What a mind, what a glorious mind. I told him that after I die, he must continue the Diary. This is our tradition so that nothing is ever lost for the next generation. I already made the clay urn that should house my ashes and wrote my birth name on it. Fortunately, I could beautifully form the letters even with these gnarled hands. I consider that a good sign that the Gods are with me. But that urn will be empty. I shall rest with my roses.
10 of Secondbloom.
He came again both of us know that today I leave this
plane. But I trust him to carry on the Sith traditions. He will be Emperor.
I know it. He knows it, too. He should find himself an Apprentice soon.
He is so strong in the Force that nothing he wants to do is beyond his
abilities. And he is driven. The future looks glorious. He sat beside me
for hours. I already call him His Majesty in my mind. He likes that.
Darth Nolan died here, his diary ended. His earthly remains, were handled according to his wishes... His clay urn now rests on the shelf with the urns of all the Sith lords who came before him.
Here starts the Diary of Darth Sidious.
1 of Seeding.
My Master died yesterday. I will miss him. But life is good, very good, I’m the happiest man in the Galaxy. As they are so fond of saying on Corell, no king is happier with his feast than a beggar who finds a piece of stale bread. The less you start with, the more you enjoy what you get. From my miserable beginnings, I’m rising to the throne, a throne that doesn’t even exist yet. Still, it is so solid that I feel the armrest under my palms. This is a great game. Nobody can see me. My shields are strong.
I already met several members of the Jedi Council; they didn’t recognize me as a Force user, and they never will. Not until it is too late. There’s only one Jedi that I'll have killed…their bad boy, Qui-Gon Jinn. In one of the possible futures, he took the Chosen one for his Padawan. So sorry, Master Jinn, the Chosen one is mine.
2 of Seeding.
Now I have to find myself an Apprentice. Then the Chosen One will be found. I have foreseen that he will be my weapon, my warlord, my tool to eliminate the Jedi. I know I’ll have to be careful with that one. He will not be fully trustworthy. But I will enslave him nevertheless. There will be war, and great fleets of armed ships will serve me. Me, who had been born so low and will rise so high. Shouldn’t I be happy? If it wasn’t for my talents, I’d be a second rate whore on Corell. Corell will suffer for that. No one who had ever known me will recognize the despised Darenni, in the rich man who Palpatine is.I will subjugate that planet as it has never been. I work hard, for the Dark is a harsh mistress. It may consume a lot of my life energies, using that much manipulation to maintain my shields; I may age faster than others. But I don’t think it is too high a price to pay. Can’t wait for the day of my coronation. There will be much rejoicing. And I’ll laugh at the morons who will celebrate. I must be careful not to get overly confident. My Master warned me about that.
But it is hard not to be pleased about being able to fool them. They say on Corell that no one can fool everybody all the time. I can!
And this is only the beginning. I have my plans detailed. I will be two people at the same time. Darth Sidious will do his part and Palpatine will do his part. Sidous will do the bad things and Palpatine will be the savior of the Galaxy. I like that. The Sith will rule, if we can manage to keep up this deception long enough. Let the sheep love us. Love is stronger than fear. Fear is useful, but if they think I’m their savior, I’ll win faster and with a lot less effort.
3 of Seeding.
I’m not exactly looking forward to train an apprentice. Considering that the first one will be just a disposable warrior putting all the effort into training him seems wasted.The Chosen One will be my successor. But if he’s as unreliable as I have foreseen, I shall take his son. He will have a son, I know. I have seen the future, and they were fighting. And that boy will be very strong in the Force. I shall have him. He will kill his father for me. I think that boy will be the last Jedi. Whoever trains him must try to guide him to kill his father. I think I can arrange that. The Jedi are not immune to manipulation, they only think so. I shall practice that in the coming years. First, just in small things, like making one Jedi to chose a particular tea, until I can manage more. I won’t rest until I have seen the Jedi fail completely. This is a great game, and I’m royally entertained.
The end. (just for now, I think)