Palpatine in the Trek Verse

[Lord MJ]

Q decides he's had it with Palpatine, and decides to inflict upon him, the most torturous smackdown he can think of: he transports him to the Trek verse. Laughing as extinquishes the portal to the Wars-verse so that Palpatine can never leave.

Now Palpatine is stuck in the Trekverse, but he still has all his powers. In addition he is on a planet with access to interstellar travel, in the Alpha Quadrant. (Meaning he can get to the Federation, if the planet he was transported to was not already a Federation planet.)

So what can Palpatine do:

Can he create a new empire in the Alpha Quadrant?
Can he create a new generation of Sith in the Trekverse.
Can he manipulate his way into power.
Does he try to ascend to the Q's plane of existance to get revenge?
Or does he get squased (he's is just one guy)

Discuss.

[Lord Revan]

this has been done already, if we assume that trek verse people can

a) be affected by the Force

b) use the Force

it shouldn't be too hard for palpatine to succeed in first 2 things

Remember tha Darth Sidious is an manipulator, not an fighter (he can fight but does so only when it's nessery), also AQ doesn't have Jedi population from whom Palpatine needs hide from (so using the "mask" of palpatine would much easier).

[Hedgehog's Roommate]

this has been done already, if we assume that trek verse people can

a) be affected by the Force

b) use the Force

it shouldn't be too hard for palpatine to succeed in first 2 things

I think some of it would also depend on age. Are we talking a TPM, AOTC, ROTS, or ROTJ Palpatine? The older he is the less likely he'll be to succed before dying. So if he's older he might not succeed intaking over, but he'll definitely lay the ground work for his apprentice.

[Kuja]

this has been done already, if we assume that trek verse people can

a) be affected by the Force

b) use the Force

it shouldn't be too hard for palpatine to succeed in first 2 things

I think some of it would also depend on age. Are we talking a TPM, AOTC, ROTS, or ROTJ Palpatine? The older he is the less likely he'll be to succed before dying. So if he's older he might not succeed intaking over, but he'll definitely lay the ground work for his apprentice.

Not necessary. He can get a black-market clone grown for himself and use his soul transfer.

[Hedgehog's Roommate]

Ah yes forgot about that. I suppose that would make it a bit easier.

[frogcurry]

Quick question: would he have to worry about hiding from Betazeds and other telepaths?

[Hedgehog's Roommate]

I don't think that issue has ever been settled. Simply because we don't know enough about the Force, Betazed (and other Trek type telepaths), and how they would interact.

[frogcurry]

Bugger...another quicky question: given the average Trek alien is a lot more human-like than those in Star Wars, would Palpatine see them as near human enough to tolerate, or worthly only of extinction?

I'm reckoning on a mix personally... keep some, kill the klingons...

[Lord Pounder]

Palpatine was never a racist, he was an opportunist. As Obi-Wan points out in AotC he (Palpatine) is very good at manipulating the passions and prejudices of the Senate to get his way, or words to that effect. The whole "Empire is Racist" is an EU brain-bug. If he was so racist why was his first apprentice a Non-Human?

[Noble Ire]

Palpatine was never a racist, he was an opportunist. As Obi-Wan points out in AotC he (Palpatine) is very good at manipulating the passions and prejudices of the Senate to get his way, or words to that effect. The whole "Empire is Racist" is an EU brain-bug. If he was so racist why was his first apprentice a Non-Human?

The Empire was "racist", not the Emperor himself. Tarkin, numerous grand admirals and moffs, etc. could preform attacks of genocide and slaving of non-humans with virtual impunity, because the Emperor saw no reason to put a stop to it. I would imagine to him, it wouldn't matter what you were, just as long as you did as he schemed and ordered.

[A-Wing_Slash]

I would imagine to him, it wouldn't matter what you were, just as long as you did as he schemed and ordered.

Grand Admiral Thrawn fits with this. If the Emperor was truly racist no blue skinned alien would even be allowed in the navy, much less rise to the rank of Grand Admiral.

would Palpatine see them as near human enough to tolerate, or worthly only of extinction?

While the Empire might be racist, and aliens did get enslaved and persecutted, there was never a threat that they would be extirminated wholesale.

[Noble Ire]

While the Empire might be racist, and aliens did get enslaved and persecutted, there was never a threat that they would be extirminated wholesale.

This is not entirely true. Certainly, no well-known, former Republic member species was in true danger of intentional annihilation (with the possible exception of the Mon Calamri after Endor) but there are few cases of fringe Imperials on the Outer Rim committing total xenocide (Publius makes mention of this somewhere on his site.)

[Crossroads Inc.]

Q decides he's had it with Palpatine, and decides to inflict upon him, the most torturous smackdown he can think of: he transports him to the Trek verse.

OK, That opening line really cracked me up, nice way of looking at things

[Lord MJ]

Does he try to ascend to the Q's plane of existance to get revenge?

On this point, I've only seen the movies, and have not read novels, comics, or any other canon material.

Is there any record of force users ascending to different planes of existance and being able to effect things in those planes?

[Noble Ire]

Is there any record of force users ascending to different planes of existance and being able to effect things in those planes?

IIRC, outside of the Force itself, there isn't any mention of any plane of existance in the SW universe beyond the physical one.

[Elheru Aran]

Is there any record of force users ascending to different planes of existance and being able to effect things in those planes?

IIRC, outside of the Force itself, there isn't any mention of any plane of existance in the SW universe beyond the physical one.

IIRC, in the distant EU there's a race of spiderlike aliens that don't exist quite all the way in our plane of existence... damned if I remember the name, though. They're probably Infinites-level canon by now.

[Tychu]

Is there any record of force users ascending to different planes of existance and being able to effect things in those planes?

IIRC, outside of the Force itself, there isn't any mention of any plane of existance in the SW universe beyond the physical one.

IIRC, in the distant EU there's a race of spiderlike aliens that don't exist quite all the way in our plane of existence... damned if I remember the name, though. They're probably Infinites-level canon by now.

are you talking about the creatures in Other Space? I dont remember their names either but what they were, were creatures that lived in a plane between hyperspace and regular space. This was made by West End Games in the 80's . Their space was just the oposite then ours the "stars" were black pinholes in a white space. OtherSpace had 2 campaigns. Other Space I and II.

The other dimension creature and is quite fitting in this forum since many fans who read DarkSaber consider it a Trek book in the Star Wars Galaxy, has a creature from another dimension. I read this book like 6 years ago so God help me remember the name and what he was doing besides eating our heros

[Noble Ire]

The other dimension creature and is quite fitting in this forum since many fans who read DarkSaber consider it a Trek book in the Star Wars Galaxy, has a creature from another dimension. I read this book like 6 years ago so God help me remember the name and what he was doing besides eating our heros

That would be The Crystal Star, not Darksaber. Hm, I had forgotten about that gelatinous glob (thankfully.) Still, he apparently is extra-dimensional, somehow.

[Hedgehog's Roommate]

That would be The Crystal Star, not Darksaber. Hm, I had forgotten about that gelatinous glob (thankfully.) Still, he apparently is extra-dimensional, somehow.

No there was one in Darksaber as well. It was some weird furry hivemind space bee type thing. One those involved in the project made a deal with the queen in exchange for her help in building the Darksaber they would help her spread through the galaxy. I think they all died when it blew.

[Noble Ire]

No there was one in Darksaber as well. It was some weird furry hivemind space bee type thing. One those involved in the project made a deal with the queen in exchange for her help in building the Darksaber they would help her spread through the galaxy. I think they all died when it blew.

But was it "extra-dimensional"? Hive-minded, telepathic creatures are hardly without president in the SW galaxy.

[Hedgehog's Roommate]

But was it "extra-dimensional"? Hive-minded, telepathic creatures are hardly without president in the SW galaxy.

KJA was pretty vague about it's origins. I'm pretty sure it said something to the effect that it was a life completely alien to the galaxy/universe. Like I said though vague, bastard just never comes out and says it. Tiptoes around the subject. Made me figure he was trying to add suspense.

[NecronLord]

Not necessary. He can get a black-market clone grown for himself and use his soul transfer.

A piece of Sith 'Alchemy' which almost certainly requires some of those hordes of force-magic-devices he takes everywhere with him in his overnight bag, err, shuttle, but doesn't have in this scenario. Note that, for example, he needed Anakin Solo, any unborn child wouldn't do.

[NecronLord]

While the Empire might be racist, and aliens did get enslaved and persecutted, there was never a threat that they would be extirminated wholesale.

The scale of the number of aliens out there prevented them eliminating all aliens wholesale, but the Galactic Empire did indeed exterminate whole species for no reason, especially under the orders of Grand Admiral Danetta Pitta, a petty minded little sadist whom despite his rank had no military ability to speak of, and who depopulated whole alien homeworlds for slavery and vivisection.

[Publius]

Palpatine's rise to power in the Star Wars galaxy was the product of a very large support network of allies and dupes. Consider for a moment the various contacts Palpatine of Naboo could call upon during his rise to power:

• "Many key members of the senate, the Republican Guard, and even those Jedi Knights who remained uncorrupted," according to Admiral Mordon in The Stele Chronicles, and supplemented by The New Essential Guide to Characters, which mentions "Commander Screed of the Republic Judicial Department and Jedi Master Jorus C'baoth" as "key personalities" with whom Palpatine had forged alliances, by the Core Rulebook, which mentions "friendships with respected public figures – including military commanders and even a Jedi Master," and by "Bloodlines," which mentions his close and longstanding friendship with Master Jedi Ronhar Kim (this friendship predated his friendship with C'baoth, whom he'd met while a member of the Ando Demilitarization Observation Group during his service as a Senator). C'baoth would subsequently be assigned as Palpatine's "Jedi Advisor" from 6BrS:5 to 5BrS:3.
• "Influential figures in the Senate and the great learning centers," according to the Revised Core Rulebook, which goes on to state that "political science students pored over his speeches," while "military science students absorbed his philosophies," establishing his influence within the centers of higher learning throughout the galaxy; the Core Rulebook mentions that his 'notes on power' went on to become "popular political texts," that he was invited as a commencement speaker to numerous university graduations, and that "not a few young government officials owe the beginnings of their political careers to him."
• The Galactic Corporate Policy League, a little-known policy consortium introduced in the Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook, which was in reality "a cabal of plutocrats with ties to Palpatine and his New Order," and included some of the largest 'megacorporations' in the galaxy (viz., the Tagge Company, Merr-Sonn Mil/Sci, Ayelixe/Krongbing Textiles, Millennium Entertainments, Bank of the Core, Chiewab Amalgamated Pharmaceuticals Company, Kuat Drive Yards, Rendili StarDrive, Cybot Galactica, and the Karflo Corporation), all of whom were able to join the Corporate Sector Authority as signatory sponsors, a privilege that the Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook indicates costs not less than 50 quadrillion credits in capital or real property. As the result of Palpatine's secret alliance with the GCPL – which began when he was still a Senator (ca 27 BrS – 3 GR) – he "already had wealth and connections enough to guarantee himself absolute power" by the time he was elected Supreme Chancellor after the Naboo Crisis of 3 GR.
• "Amoral factions in the Transport and Power ministries," according to the Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook, which he used to award contracts and funding to the members of the GCPL, in the process enriching himself via kickbacks and favors from the very same companies, which were in his back pocket all along.
• Senator Finis Valorum (Spira, Lytton Sector), whom The New Essential Guide to Characters describes as having numbered Palpatine as one of his "oldest political friends," and who was elected Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic in 4 BrS and became especially close with Palpatine at the start of his second four-year term in 1 GR, transforming Palpatine into the Supreme Chancellor's unofficial chief policy advisor and éminence grise, to the extent that Valorum's chief of staff, Sei Taria, became "linked" to Palpatine's aide Kinman Doriana, and was said by Episode I: The Visual Dictionary to have "learned much from Senator Palpatine" regarding "the fine details of necessary procedural regulations" (i.e., in addition to being Valorum's chief consultant on policy issues, he had insinuated himself into the very nuts-and-bolts functioning of the Office of the Supreme Chancellor).
• Wilhuff Tarkin, an "acquaintance" of Palpatine's according to Cloak of Deception, scion of the wealthy and powerful Tarkins of Eriadu, a brilliant and ruthless man who secured for himself the office of Lieutenant Governor of Seswenna Sector by 3 GR, and who figured into a number of Palpatine's early schemes, including the scheme in "Darth Maul: Saboteur" that led to Dorvalla IV falling under the Trade Federation's influence, setting into motion the chain events that would eventually culminate in scandal for Valorum, setting the stage for Palpatine's own election as Supreme Chancellor. He would later serve as a liaison in the Republic Outland Regions Security Force, and would be assigned by certain anonymous parties – "I will not tell you who does the assigning or how much they pay," he told his old friend Raith Sienar – to "keep track of all the Jedi on Coruscant" and "discourage any increase in their power." Tarkin's later roles in Palpatine's plots are well-known.
• A well-armed pirate band funded and equipped at Palpatine's expense, which he used to attack and destroy the Jedi Order's Oracle at Pelgrin, which had been used for 3,000 years to predict and help to prevent or mitigate galactic disasters, according to the Power of the Jedi Sourcebook.
• LiMerge Power, a corporation said by Labyrinth of Evil to have been "involved in the manufacture and distribution of prohibited weapons during Finis Valorum's term as Supreme Chancellor," and was rumored to have been "responsible for funding acts of piracy directed against Trade Federaiton vessels in the Outer Rim," leading to the TradeFed "being granted the right to defend their vessels with battle droids." LiMerge's Dacho factory in the Grungeon Block of The Works on Coruscant would later serve as one of Darth Sidious's many Sith lairs.
• The Nebula Front, a terrorist group active primarily along the Rimma Trade Route which was extremely hostile to the increasingly Neimoidian-controlled Trade Federation and the Republic Government; according to Cloak of Deception, Palpatine's connection to the Nebula Front was twofold; as Palpatine, his contacts within the Bith delegation led to further contacts within the extremist wing of the Nebula Front, led by Eriduan holodocumentarian and media correspondent Eru Matalis (who used the alias "Havac"), while as Sidious, he fed information to the extremists about Trade Federation shipping and cargo details.
• "Under-the-table allies in every organization from the Techno Union to Freedom's Sons," according to The New Essential Guide to Characters.
• "Hundreds of Pawns, both willing and unwitting" under Darth Sidious's control, according to the Revised Core Rulebook.
• Sienar Advanced Projects Laboratory, according to Rogue Planet and Episode I Incredible Cross-Sections, which provided technological support to Sidious's schemes, including Darth Maul's Sith Infiltrator, the Scimitar. It is not clear how much Raith Sienar himself knew about his business partner, although in Rogue Planet he thinks of Sidious as being "a buyer whose name it is death to even whisper."
• The secret world of Thule, described by Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds as "a sleeping Sith asset in the vast space of the Outer Rim," whose 790 millions were ruled by a clerical-military junta of Sith loyalists steeped in the religion and traditions of the long-vanished Sith Empire, providing an enormous pool of military resources for Darth Sidious's exclusive use – having sworn their loyalty to the Sith Order, the hosts of Thule were at the Dark Lord of the Sith's beck and call.
• The Prophets of the Dark Side, a quasi-Sith cult of exceptional skill in prescience and clairvoyance, whose alliance with Darth Sidious is well-documented by The Dark Side Sourcebook and "The Dark Forces Saga" feature on Wizards of the Coast's website. The Prophets would undertake to train dark side adepts on their hidden world of Dromund Kaas (of Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith fame) for Sidious's use, and may well have performed this function even before his acclamation as Galactic Emperor.
• Nute Gunray, Hoth Monchar, and Rune Haako, the Commanding Viceroy, Deputy Viceroy, and Legal Counsel of the Trade Federation, respectively, who were drawn deeper and deeper into conspiracy with Darth Sidious in Cloak of Deception, leading to the creation of a secret mechanical army for the TradeFed by Baktoid Armour Workshop, Haor Chall Engineering, and Colla Designs, and to the assassination of the TradeFed's Executive Board Directorate, leaving the TradeFed to fall under near complete Neimoidian dominance. One of Sidious's most important alliances, the TradeFed's role in Palpatine's rise to power is well-known.

A mere glance at Palpatine's network of allies and dupes makes it clear how much he relied on his many years of cultivating friends and contacts to propel himself to absolute power; it should be clear that he did not much use his Force powers at all to create the Empire, but rather he used his own cunning, manipulation, and the venality and credulity of others. Although Darth Maul and Darth Tyranus played important parts in his schemes, they did nothing, strictly speaking, that someone who was not a Sith Lord could not have done. Indeed, Darth Sidious's real utility was as Palpatine's alter ego, a disguise that enabled him to control others who were not susceptible to Palpatine's influence or control (the scheme with the TradeFed, for example, probably could not have worked had it been Senator Palpatine and not Darth Sidious that had been Gunray's puppet-master).

Could Palpatine duplicate his success in the Alpha Quadrant? It is possible. Taken at face value, his usual modus operandi of exploiting greed would not work as well in the United Federation of Planets, where neither capital nor for-profit organizations exist; he would be unable to duplicate his connections with the GCPL, LiMerge Power, the TradeFed, the Techno Union, and other business organizations, although, given his connection to Terrinald Screed in the Judicial Department, developing similar connections within Starfleet would not be unprecedented for him (assuming that he continued to maintain his Darth Sidious guise, he could very likely appeal to numerous parties within Starfleet, including the militant wing, and possibly including Section 31 itself). Given Palpatine's previous connections within the Transport and Power ministries, he might be inclined to find similar connections within Starfleet, which appears to incorporate those functions into its mandate.

Obviously Palpatine would lack his personal connections with the Federation's counterparts to Finis Valorum, Raith Sienar, Wilhuff Tarkin, and the Jedi Masters Jorus C'baoth and Ronhar Kim, personal connections that were to serve him well in his rise to power in the galaxy far, far away. Given the obscure nature of the Federation's social and political structures, it is not clear if he could duplicate these connections in his new surroundings. Certainly his academic background and extensive education would enable him to insinuate himself easily into the ivory towers of the Federation, as he was a noted political theorist and academic in his own time and place; his well-established passion for art and music would serve him well in making his way through Federation society, which seems to prize the fine arts and performing arts very highly. Palpatine is a gifted polyglot and a master of psychology (aided, no doubt, by the clairvoyance, prescience, and telepathy that his Sith training lends him), to say nothing of the fact that the Dark Empire Sourcebook credits him with knowledge of xenobiology, bureaucratic procedure, alien cultures and languages, psychology, criminology, military history and science, planetology, cloning and cloning technology, and computer programming. Whether or not he would be able to manufacture a lightsaber or similar Sith tools in the Milky Way galaxy – presumably he was brought to the Alpha Quadrant without any of his extensive collection of Sith arcana, and may or may not have had his lightsaber on his person at the time – his familiarity with computer programming ought to serve him equally well, especially given the lackluster performance of computer safeguards in Starfleet's premier warships.

One important detail is the timing of Palpatine's transference to the Alpha Quadrant; if he has not yet become Galactic Emperor, then he does not yet know the secret of reincarnation, which he learned from Master Jedi Ashka Boda and his ancient holocron after the Great Jedi Purge and the massacre of Order 66. This means that Palpatine is as yet in his pre-disfigured form, and is limited to one lifetime (although he does have the ability to 'empower' others by imbuing them with the dark side as he did in Dark Empire II; the Revised Core Rulebook states that this is a skill that belongs to the Sith secrets he gained when he became the reigning Sith Master). He may or may not yet have access to the skill of creating Doppelgängers yet, either. Given that no telepaths or empaths within his own galaxy were able to detect his Sithian nature, it seems fair to say that they would not do so in the Alpha Quadrant, either, provided that he takes similar precautions (e.g., no overt displays of his more preternatural skills). Prudence dictates that the absence of the Jedi Order would not give him carte blanche to indulge in much more blatant use of his Sithian powers, as he must still make his way in an unfamiliar galaxy whose technology is significantly inferior to that he is accustomed to using.

Could Palpatine duplicate his success? It is possible, but would require somewhat different strategies, given the different political and social climate of the Federation. One suspects that the politically naïve Federation would be easy prey to Palpatine's cunning, but the real trick would be to put him into a position where he can take advantage of that naïveté, a task complicated by his sudden loss of all his contacts and allies, and by his more advanced age; Palpatine had been building his network since before his twenties, and would suddenly be without even the aid of his lifelong alter ego and right hand man, Sate Pestage. He may be freer to use his considerable mentalic and telepathic powers, but in so doing may risk exposing himself for what he truly is (although there are no known individual beings below the 'otherdimensional' category that pose any significant threat to Palpatine personally, he lacks the infrastructure and support to accomplish much of anything once his true face is revealed).

One wonders, of course, what mind be the result of Palpatine's contact with the so-called new humans of Earth, an ultracollectivist movement of human beings who replaced their individuality with "group consciousness" by learning "to submerge their own identities into the groups to which they belong." Given the result of an attempt to make a psychic link with Darth Maul in Darth Maul – what might be described as severe psychic trauma – one supposes that if Palpatine were to join a new human group, he would very likely traumatize the entire collective; on the other hand, given his abilities to 'empower' and 'absorb' others with his will, he might simply overshadow the existing group consciousness with his own, effectively making thralls of them. This is the same technique that Palpatine taught his dark side adepts to use in order to create the mute Sentinels seen in Dark Empire; the Dark Empire Sourcebook explains that they use the dark side to overshadow the cloned Sentinels' minds, leaving them wholly dependent on the dark side adepts' will, perfectly enslaved by the dark side of the Force.

An interesting thought along similar lines is what might be the result should the Borg Collective assimilate Palpatine, given that the Collective does absorb a victim's knowledge and persona as well as taking physical control of his or her body (as demonstrated by Locutus of Borg in "The Best of Both Worlds"). Would the Borg be able to use Palpatine's Sith and dark side secrets? Would Palpatine's spirit be able to withstand the physical assimilation of his body? He already possesses the ability to exert his will over more than one body, as his Sithian skill of 'empowerment' is what ultimately led to his own act of 'assimilation' vis-à-vis his Dark Jedi in Dark Empire II, who were "perfectly absorbed into the Emperor's will," and whom he regarded as being "each a living extension of his power," and he had learned from the ghosts of long-dead Sith Lords of Korriban how to "transmigrate his essence across lightyears" (i.e., the ability to survive after death as a dark side ghost, knowledge that he later combined with the secret of spirit transference which he obtained from Ashka Boda and his holocron in order to perfect his art of reincarnation into cloned bodies of himself), so it seems possible that he could in fact survive assimilation intact (assimilation would not destroy his body, only transform it, as proven by Captain Picard's subsequent restoration from his Locutus form). Is it not possible that in the event of assimilation, the Borg Collective would unwittingly expose itself to what amounts to a computer virus, in light of Palpatine's already known ability to take control of another's mind even without a direct connection such as that afforded by the Borg Collective? Cf. the 'Dark Nest' of the Killiks, formed by a hive mind absorbing a dark side magus, as seen in Dark Nest I: The Joiner King.

It does bear mentioning that Palpatine would very likely be the most physically dangerous being in the Milky Way galaxy outside of 'transdimensional' reality-altering beings. In the Episode I Journal: Darth Maul, Darth Sidious demonstrated his ability to move faster than Darth Maul's eye could follow (at least in short bursts), and was capable of using the Force to enhance his speed, agility, and strength for extended periods of time in Revenge of the Sith, including feats of strength and agility that do not seem possible for a human being to accomplish, let alone a man of his age and physical condition. This is to say nothing of his impressive strength and skill in the use of psychokinesis, which Revenge of the Sith demonstrated is sufficient to wrench automobile-sized Senate pods from their moorings and hurl them at considerable speed; in Dark Empire he demonstrated the ability to simply disintegrate an opponent's lightsaber or even a large piece of machinery thrown at his head. This is to say nothing of his most famous power, his characteristic use of Sith lightning, seen prominently on display in Revenge of the Sith, Return of the Jedi, and Empire's End; Palpatine's Sith lightning has been seen to be excruciatingly painful, capable of hurling a fully grown man great distances, and even able to kill a man in mere seconds (Rayf Ysanna was killed practically instantly). Even without his lightsaber, there is not a single 'cisdimensional' being in the known Milky Way that has demonstrated comparable physical prowess; the famous Jem'Hadar and Klingon warriors would be comically helpless before a demigod of war like Darth Sidious.[/list]

[Publius]

It bears noting that Palpatine's known modus operandi of cutting across party and even war lines means that it is quite likely that he would attempt to set up contacts within neighboring powers like the Cardassian Union, the Romulan Star Empire, and the Klingon Empire, as well as rogue organizations like the Maquis (cf. Freedom's Sons) or the Orion Syndicate (although he apparently had minimal contacts in organized crime in his own place and time, at least until he had Maul slaughter Black Sun's leadership and his own acquaintance the Prince Xizor of Falleen rose to control of that particular syndicate).