Palpatine sat in his office within the Coruscant Parliament building, his yellowed eyes fixed on the holographic game feed.
As expected of a top-100 player, culled from billions across the galaxy, the opponent fought like a sharpshooter.
Every burst found its mark. Most shots were headshots.
And that thrilled him.
*This* was the mark of an elite.
The player's name was Kavis, nicknamed "Cat's Eye"—and she had once wiped out the entire city of Pochinki in a solo match using only a pistol.
A true marksman. Palpatine leaned back, fingers steepled.
If he could recruit her, the Jedi and their precious lightsabers would be meaningless. He wouldn't even need an army. Just her.
Lost in his daydream, he barely noticed when his assistant rushed in.
"My lord, something has happened."
Palpatine turned from the screen, expression sour. "What is it? Speak."
"My lord, the Jedi Order is investigating those cases. The ones from over the years."
Palpatine stood abruptly.
"Impossible. How did they find out?" His mind raced. "Could it be that orange cat?"
He paused, then dismissed the thought with a wave. "No. If it were that cat, our doorway would already be swarming with Jedi Knights and their lightsabers."
The assistant swallowed. "Sir, what should we do next?"
Palpatine glanced around the office he had occupied for over a decade. "I've worked here for ten years. It feels… strange to leave so suddenly."
"Sir?"
Palpatine pointed to his desk. "Notify the Trade Federation. Prepare the fleet."
The assistant understood immediately. Palpatine had always been ready.
Beneath the respectable facade of a politician, he had prepared an escape, a bomb, cloned flesh, and a dozen contingencies.
Even countermeasures for the Black Knights.
After the assistant left, Palpatine opened his personal communicator, scrolled to a deep-cover agent, and sent a short message.
*Escape from the Cicada's Shell.*
Then, calmly, he pressed the timer switch beneath his desk.
A soft beeping began. He signaled his two guard robots and slipped into the secret passage.
✦••┈┈••✦••┈┈••✦
Meanwhile, at the game competition, Garfield was also watching Kavis. Her performance was inhuman.
Clearing Pochinki with a pistol was one thing, but now she zipped around on a scooter, snapping off burst-fire headshots at anyone whose footsteps she heard.
Every bullet hit. No wasted motion.
And no cheating, at least, no detectable cheating. No race could hide from the Transformers' scrutiny.
For this to be legitimate, the opponent would need brief prophetic abilities, perhaps even time-stop or time-reversal power.
Garfield rubbed his chin, considering whether to activate the Eye of Agamotto for a closer look.
*Beep. Beep. Beep.*
His robot dog let out a warning. "Master, I have detected a large amount of encrypted information, mostly about the Jedi, and a small portion about you."
"Project it."
Garfield skimmed the data, then smiled. "So. The Jedi's dark history… and evidence of my so-called conspiracy to overthrow the world."
"Palpatine's work, no doubt. What is that old fox up to now?" He paused. "Fight to the death, or find another way out?"
"Robot dog, where is Palpatine?"
"According to his personal terminal, he left his office five minutes ago and took a shuttle to an Incom factory on the far side of Coruscant."
"An Incom factory?" Garfield frowned. "What do they produce there?"
"Domestic robots and police force weaponry."
Garfield's eyes narrowed. Palpatine was planning something.
Take control of every household droid and security robot across Coruscant? Spread chaos? Frame the Jedi?
As an orange cat dedicated to maintaining world peace, Garfield couldn't allow that.
"Robot dog, activate the subroutine we planted inside the Incom factory. Take control of all machinery in the facility where Palpatine is located."
"Access internal surveillance. Keep him under constant watch."
"Yes, Master."
The robot dog linked through the network, breached the Incom Group's root server in under a minute, located the correct factory, and seized control.
Surveillance footage flickered to life before Garfield.
Palpatine's shuttle landed smoothly.
Two factory managers greeted him and escorted him toward the main control room.
Security robots and cameras, all now subordinate to Garfield, tracked every step.
Palpatine felt the Dark Side's warning, a cold prickle at the back of his neck. But he pressed on.
He had no choice. The plan was already in motion.
At the control room entrance, two henchmen verified their fingerprints at the terminal and bowed. "Lord Sidious, please."
Palpatine stepped inside.
The factory supervisor, several robots, and control personnel rose and bowed as one.
"Greetings, Lord Sidious."
Palpatine waved a hand. "How is the factory operating?"
The supervisor straightened. "Lord Sidious, as you instructed, we have secured control of all robots produced in this factory over the past several years."
"The plan can begin at your command."