EVEN DEATH KNEELS BEFORE ME

     His Master’s throaty tone was unmistakable. Of course. Darth Sidious would always find his way back to him, even if the Dark Lord had privately hoped to lead this journey on his own. No matter. His Master was here now; Vader might as well continue on the path set before him accompanied. 

     Better two Sith Lords seek out this O M I N O U S calling that sought them out.

     “The Force,” Vader replied simply. “There has been a calling of sorts that reigns from the Dark Side.” But Sidious already knew this, didn’t he? He always seemed to know when the powerful pull of the Force surfaced from the depths of space, coaxing its masters to their hidden secrets. An ability that Vader respected — and loathed. Slight breeze whipped between the two lords, invisible tendrils moaning as it lifted the edges of their cape and cloak. 

     “A vision of the Force led me here. One that has repeated itself over the past few weeks. I thought it enough to come and reveal what it is that B E C K O N S our presence. Perhaps we can DISCOVER it together.”

Examination of the area bringing him to turn, his smile only widens out of his apprentice’s sight, cracking across his face like a fissure giving way to a bottomless pit. He had sensed Vader’s flash of irritation, and cannot help but wonder just how honest the other is currently being with his willingness for his master to join him. As though I require such approval. This place is of the dark, and he the master of shadows; he would not be denied, no matter his creature’s feelings on the matter. The chill that flits through the air reminds him of the pull to whatever is waiting for them here. Doubtless Vader’s assistance would make locating it an easier task. And provide an opportunity to observe how the other may react to whatever it may be. “Perhaps we can. And we will. We need only determine where best to begin.”

Their presence was felt long before he saw them. A trickle in the Force that whispered silently over his senses. He knew he would find them here on this wretched planet. The still air brought an aura of sinister intentions. It mattered not whether those intentions came from the Dark Lord himself or the other. What mattered was that they had found H I M. 

Or rather, had he found T H E M?

❝ You are a fool to think you can approach me in silence. ❞

Now that he is here, the call is only stronger, pressing harder on the edge of his senses. More than a mere flickering disturbance in the Force; upon feeling it, he had known he must seek it out himself. But having arrived at his destination, the weight of it had only grown more oppressive (anger growing in the shadow that had become his soul at the thought of a darkness not under his command), and the source no less elusive. Perhaps that was why, upon detecting the sudden presence of another, he did not immediately recognise it, though it was one of his own making. Crooked smile forms in answer to his apprentice’s challenge, along with a swell of pride in the knowledge that his thrall still retained his strength and wit.