With the Clone Army in production, Count Dooku was able to step aside and lead a quiet life for the next few years, all the while being schooled in the dark arts of the Sith by Palpatine. It would seem that all they had to do was sit around and wait. But Palpatine, the eternal schemer, was not about to sit idly by, and thus he put his hand in a few plots in the intervening years.

Three years after the Battle of Naboo in 29 BBY, Palpatine increased his friendship with Wilhuff Tarkin, and the two began to discuss the prospects of a New Order in more concrete terms. Among the things they agreed on was the concept of a humans-first society where aliens were driven from power and even some of them made slaves. They also agreed on a new vision of a stong central government with an awesome military might. Together they made Palpatine's power base grow even further yet at the same time remain largely under the surface. One individual in particular they pulled in was Tarkin's friend Raith Sienar of Republic Sienar Systems, a master starship engineer who would later create the TIE fighter and its offshoots. Sienar had begun early work on the possibility of creating a moon-sized superweapon, an idea that both men latched on to.

In the meantime, Tarkin had his sights set on a more immediately available superweapon. He had discovered the Jedi had sent Obi-Wan and Anakin to look for the fabled Zonama Sekot, a planet of immense power that could produce amazing starships. Palpatine believed the planet was worth seeking out, and sent Tarkin and Sienar to the system. But the sentient world defended itself and escaped, and Tarkin's ship was destroyed by Obi-Wan. But the expedition was not a total loss, as Sienar and Tarkin developed concrete plans for their battle station, which Palpatine greatly desired. The plans were sent to Geonosis, where they would be turned into a formal blueprint.

Even at this juncture, we can see Palpatine's quest for superweapons and material power, things he valued far more than his future apprentice Vader would. Just like I have said before, instances such as this show how Palpatine was both Sith and not Sith: he was an absolute student of Sith teachings and the Dark Side of the Force, yet he was not above gaining power by any means necessary, and did not view it as lowering himself by also relying on "technological terrors". Palpatine was a Machiavellian in the truest sense; he would achieve his aims by any means necessary regardless of the methods. As long as Palpatine got what he wanted, that was satisfactory. It is also interesting to see Tarkin's relationship with Palpatine even this early on, as it is clear that he is as close as anyone can really get to having equal footing with the Dark Lord.

As the years wound down and the time for the Clone Wars approached, Palpatine continued to gather power and maintain key advantages, such as in 27 BBY when he sabotaged the Outbound Flight Project in order to discreetly dispose of some powerful Jedi, including one of his former Jedi advisors, Jorus C'Baoth. By 24 BBY, the Dark Lord and his apprentice believed the time had come to act.

On the garbage world of Raxus Prime, Count Dooku delivered his first of many speeches which criticized the Republic and pushed for a new order. Wielding the double-edged sword of passion and prejudice much like his master, Dooku rallied worlds and alliances to his cause. The Confederacy of Independent Systems was born. Many world joined out of an idealistic view on the galaxy, seeing that the Republic had gone too corrupt. But many, especially the corporate, trade, and industrial conglomerates joined because they wanted to wield power and punish the Republic for stifling them. Little did they know that Palpatine had intentionally hurt them so that they'd have an anti-Republic grudge. Dooku would use their industries to create massive droid armies to serve as the counterpart of Palpatine's clones. Dooku also contracted several agents, including bounty hunters and Force users that would be used like pawns to achieve different aims in the coming war.

The Separatist crisis resulted in the Senate extending Palpatine's term as Supreme Chancellor indefinetly "for the duration of the emergency" a phrase that would become all too common in the future Empire's lexicon. For that was another level of Palpatine's deviousness: while he would use force and violence to achieve his aims, within the public eye he would take power in an almost perfectly legitimate way. Palpatine would slowly and "reluctantly" receive more and more power, and would amend the constitution time and again until the Republic was practically an empire except in name.

Palpatine also engineered more and more bureaucracy within the government. Endless debate for or against the creation of a Republic Army and Navy went on without clear resolution. Palpatine kept things going in circles to such an extreme that the people began to hunger for a central authority to take the reins and create order. Violence soon escalated on dozens of worlds, as sectors, systems, and even individual planets became divided on their loyalty to the Republic or CIS. It was apparent that sooner or later, only war would solve the crisis. That was exactly what Palpatine wanted.

Incidents on Antar 4, Ansion, and Ando brought the crisis to a head: there had to be a vote on the question of creating an army, and it needed to come now. The galaxy stood on the edge of war, and Palpatine was ready. He ordered Dooku to secure the final support of the industrial conglomerates so that their surging numbers of droids and fleets could be deployed. Palpatine then hatched a plot that would "reveal" the Clone Army and the true intentions of Dooku to the Jedi, one that would not-so-curiously involve Anakin Skywalker, now a highly skilled Padawan learner.

Over the years since becoming an apprentice, Palpatine had become like a second father to Anakin, serving as a counter to Obi-Wan. The Dark Lord fed Anakin's arrogance and desire for greatness; he told Anakin everything he wanted to hear. Anakin put his faith in the seemingly kind old man, and began to trust him implicitly. Mentoring Anakin in such a capacity was the first step in turning him to the Dark Side, an event Palpatine has anticipated for years.

Palpatine prepared to unleash his war, and at the same time he would make certain that Anakin and Padme crossed paths again. He foresaw her becoming the liability through which Anakin could possibly betray everything for.............


NEXT TIME: Part VIII: Attack Of The Clones

I examine Palpatine's control of the events in the film, including the launch of the Clone Wars and the temptation of Anakin Skywalker.