You know what I actually spent so much time writing the content warnings I don't actually have time to start writing the post. I will write it tomorrow, I guess.

You know what I actually spent so much time writing the content warnings I don't actually have time to start writing the post. I will write it tomorrow, I guess.

The year is 65 BBY.

To all external appearances, the arrival of Hego Damask II on Naboo is an entirely innocent matter. He's a businessman, trying to encourage the small planet to open up more to trade. There's a proposed deal in which Damask Holdings will help fund the construction of a small spaceport, in the hope that if Naboo starts exporting things, maybe in a decade or two they'll have opportunities for major trade alliances. Nothing out of the ordinary.

If you went looking for nefarious purposes in Damask's actions, you might find that he seems to have a somewhat suspicious connection to Bon Tapalo, one of the candidates in the upcoming election for Naboo's King. Indeed, Damask Holdings seems to be vaguely connected to a number of unconfirmed political rumors that are damaging the opposition to Tapalo, such as by discrediting enemy politician Cosinga Palpatine - and all of this seems to have started at the exact same time that Tapalo began endorsing Damask's own positions. But this really isn't much out of the ordinary either; there are corrupt deals between politicians and businesses all the time. And so this is where people would stop looking any further.

This, of course, is also not Damask's primary purpose here.

No, Damask's most important business is that of his other identity, Darth Plagueis, Lord of the Sith. He's heard rumors about Cosinga Palpatine's rebellious teenage son, Sheev, who has incredible reflexes that let him race landspeeders at ridiculously high speeds, and a knack for predicting the future, and very intelligent political opinions, among other notable traits. And Lord Plagueis is wondering just what Sheev Palpatine might turn out to be.