The Jedi Temple overlooked all of Coruscant, a sanctuary of white stone and towering spires that glittered like a promise against the dusk.
Yet promises were rarely kept.
Anakin Skywalker walked its halls with wide eyes. Everything was silent. Peaceful. Controlled. This was not Tatooine. No shouting merchants. No sandstorms. No slavery. Every wall, every room, every lesson seemed carved from rules.
Too many rules.
Obi-Wan walked beside him, posture straight, voice gentle but firm.
"You must listen. You must be patient."
Anakin tried.He truly did.
But his mind was fast, always turning, always reaching, always asking why.
The other children watched him in training. Some impressed. Some uncomfortable. He was strong but different. Unshaped. Wild.
During meditation, while others breathed and softened into stillness, Anakin felt something else.
A warmth. A pull.As if the Force itself called to him.
Come find your destiny.
But he did not know that destiny already had a name,
and that name was Palpus.
Far below the Jedi Temple, in financial districts of chrome towers and silent encrypted boardrooms, Palpus Shaw moved like a phantom through numbers and markets.
He no longer needed a hood or mask.
His battlefield was commerce.
Holo-screens flickered before him in a darkened chamber. Lines of figures. Purchase trails. Market predictions. Political trade permissions. And most importantly.
Corporate ownership networks.
Kuat Drive Yards was not simply a ship manufacturer.It was the heart of the galaxy's war machine.
Whoever controlled KDY controlled fleets.
And Palpus intended to control war itself.
He spoke softly, voice even:
"Redirect shares through the Theta Banking Consortium. Then transfer into the Eriadu Steel Holding Group, Category C division."
A masked administrative droid nodded and executed the order.
"Move another 8% through the Outer Rim Investment Trust under Tier-Three secrecy."
The droid obeyed.
Every move was silent.Untraceable.Legal on paper, treasonous in intention.
Finally
A notification chimed.
KUAT DRIVE YARDS – TOTAL OWNERSHIP SECURED: 58.3%
Palpus exhaled slowly.
A rare smile touched his mouth.
"We own the forges."
The Unknown Regions were harsh uncharted stars, fractured gravity fields, cold nebulae without names.
Here, hidden inside the fractured shell of a dead star, the Material Extractor took shape.
It was massive.A rotating ring structure the size of a city, braced around a blackened core.
Dozens of construction drones drifted around it, welding, carving, shaping.
Crystals hummed in containment chambers, glowing like burning blue hearts.
Palpus stepped through the observation gantry, cloak trailing behind him. Engineers loyalists purchased from across the galaxy stood at attention.
"Status report."
The chief engineer bowed.
"Primary Frame is complete. The Extraction Lattice is 42% finished. We require a stable plasma converter for star-core absorption."
Palpus nodded.
"And the weaponization array?"
The engineer hesitated.
"It will work. But the energy yield… will be catastrophic."
Palpus turned his gaze to the void cold stars flickering outside the viewport.
"Good."
The extractor was not just a tool.
It was the end of worlds.
Father and Son
Palpatine arrived silently, cloak whispering like smoke.
No guards. No Senate robes.Just the man he truly was.
The two Sith stood side by side, looking out across the half-forged titan.
Palpatine spoke first.
"The war is approaching."
Palpus answered without looking away.
"Wars are profitable. Wars create weakness. Weakness births obedience."
Palpatine smiled.
"And the Jedi?"
Palpus finally turned.
His eyes were molten yellow.
"The Veil still blinds them. They feel disaster but cannot find its source. They raise Anakin to fight shadows they no longer see."
Palpatine's amusement deepened.
"A perfect tragedy."
Palpus stepped closer to the viewport, watching sparks dance across the extractor hull.
"The Clone Army will be theirs."
He raised his hand.
"The Fleet will be ours."
A quiet beat passed between them shared understanding, shared hunger.
Palpatine: "And when the galaxy burns?"
Palpus: "We will decide who lives to rebuild it."
Anakin sat alone under the Jedi star-scape ceiling, watching holographic constellations drift above him.
He felt something distant
A shiver through the Force.
Like a voice whispering his name from far, far away.
You are meant for more than peace.
He didn't know that voice belonged to his future master.
He didn't know destiny was already moving.
He didn't know the galaxy was already being remade around him.