Sins of the Father (Maul x OC)

Devilish When Respectable

"Is this the place sir?" the driver asked, and Palpatine looked up from his tablet. Indeed they were in the agreed upon location. A storage facility, and one that was far from any of his other businesses. He had a unit here, under an alias, it was one that held some... sentimental things. It was the perfect place to meet an undesirable fellow that he could not trust anyone else to stand in his stead.

"Yes," Palpatine replied and put down the tablet, donning a pair of sunglasses and adjusting his long coat. "Drop me here and wait around the corner, I will summon you when I am finished." The old man instructed, and covered his head with a hat. He took up his old-fashioned cane as he stepped out of the luxury vehicle, the driver leaving him there as instructed.

Palpatine walked into the warehouse and past the men standing guard just inside the doorway. He swept past, they knew better than to stop him, and made his way up the stairs to a mostly empty office above where many of the storage units lay, where his 'guest' awaited him.

In the room stood a hunched figure, wearing a leather jacket with a hood, a black tshirt, and cargo pants tucked into combat boots. A quick glance spotted a knife tucked into one boot and dog tags hanging around his neck. The most striking aspect of this man, was of course the eyes that peered out from behind a skull-like mask. Grungy white and two red lines painted down almost like tears.

"I saw your work," Palpatine said with no preamble. "Well done, I should imagine that she will have a hard time avoiding questions." He chuckled and reached into his coat pocket.

"I wasn't expecting her to rush out when she did... but it does throw a dispersal on her character," the man rasped in an accent Palpatine could not place, his voice further disguised by the mask. He let out a cough, and Palpatine could not tell if he was ill or simply smoked.

"It doesn't matter, it works out for both of us in the end." Palpatine handed the man an envelope, stuffed full of notes, payment for a job completed.

"Do you have any other work you wish me to carry out?" the man asked.

"Not currently, but be assured, I know that if I need a job done, I know who to call, Grievous," Palpatine chuckled at the little name the man had given himself. He was sure it was probably very scary to the little people on the street and made the man feel like he was powerful. How quaint.

"Heh, I am sure you do, a man like you will have many enemies I am sure. The rich always do," Grievous laughed, which again became a cough. Palpatine regarded him coolly.

"I shall contact you if I need anything further," the older man said dismissively. With a nod of his head, Grievous turned away and strode out of the office, their business complete. Palpatine waited a few minutes to hit send on the message ready to be sent to the driver, and by the time he'd sauntered back down to the street, the car was pulling up.

There was a lot to think about. Now that Amidala had survived, there would be more planning in regards to the campaign, just in case she was foolish enough not to give up her bid for his seat.

She would not win of course. Already he had his people asking the questions of self-sabotage, and having evidence suggest a story that he wanted. There wasn't much to it, the only point that irritated him was the way the Skywalker boy defended her. Anakin was supposed to be his son! Swearing fealty to his adopted Father... Ungrateful whelp. Still, the boy remained useful, until that usefulness ended, he would keep trying to convince Anakin to give him information on Amidala. He could at least do that.

He read through the tablet as they drove back to his office, having removed the hat, glasses and coat. He decided he had to visit the accountant soon, to get an idea on how his current operations were going. It would be quite the trip but he did not like to go too long without checking in.