27. INT. NEUTRALIZER- TRAINING ROOM

Extreme close-up on those same eyes, then dolly-back to reveal Palpatine/ Darth Sidious, thirty five years later. He is strapped to a chair.

Two large worm-like creatures slither down his arm. Simultaneously, they bite into his skin and slide underneath it. Two large bumps in his skin can be seen sliding toward his elbow.

His face is contorted into a grimace of pain.

Two more worms follow suit.

Palpatine violently thrashes the chair around, screaming in agony. Moments later, the door opens, and Plagueis enters.

Plagueis makes one sweeping motion with his hand.

Four blood-covered worms fall to the floor with a sickening "splat" sound.

33. CLOSE-UP ON PALPATINE'S WRISTS

The restraints that bind him snap open, as if by magic.

The Protocol droid, T-101, is seated in the right side of the cockpit, piloting the Neutralzer. A brown, mucky planet fills up the viewscreen in the front. Plagueis and Palpatine enter from behind.

Korriban is a desolated world. It is covered in a reddish dust, like Mars. Decrepit pyramids dedicated to the Sith Lords of the past litter the landscape, but the single living entity in the area is Tam Whiting. Tam is a medium tall, scrawny-looking alien. As the Neutralizer approaches, he begins to shake nervously.

The Neutralizer lands. The entrance ramp opens up. Plagueis and Palpatine step onto land. They are cloaked in black Sith robes, hoods up.

The Sith Lords approach Tam. He throws himself onto his knees and takes Plagueis's hands into his own.

He kisses Plagueis's hands. Plagueis jerks them away in disgust.

He grabs Tam by the collar and tosses him to his feet.

Tam turns and walk. Plagueis and Palpatine follow. As they walk, they pass many of the ancient pyramids.

They arrive at a newly excavated site. A large stone seal with ancient symbols rests on the ground, covering the only entrance to the vast area below it.

Plagueis makes a large sweeping motion with his hand. The seal rips out of the ground and soars into the air. It crashes down fifty feet away.

Large stone stairs lead down into the tomb below. The three of them peer in the stairwell. It is completely dark.

Palpatine grabs him by his neck and pushes him down the stairs and into the tomb.

The room is pitch black.

Palpatine lights a torch hanging by the entrance. The room is filled with light.

The room is magnificent. Four statues of old Sith Lords stand guard in the corners. The walls are lined with shelves, each loaded with jewels and various other artifacts. In the center of the room is the sarcophagus Tam tripped over. It is rectangular, with alien letters sculpted on the lid. The living Sith Lords walk over to the sarcophagus, pushing Tam out of the way. Plagueis traces a finger over the epitaph.

Plagueis extends his right arm, his fingers arranged in the recognizable "force-choke" position. Tam turns purple and makes gurgling sounds. He grabs at his throat, to no avail.

Plagueis thrusts the lid of the sarcophagus off. Inside are the skeletal remains of Darth Trepid, his lightsaber at his side, and nothing else. An ominous breeze blasts out of the coffin.

Plagueis looks up, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice. Palpatine releases his grip on Tam. Tam falls to his knees, and rises quickly, gasping.

A ghostly figure apparates from a far corner of the room.

Tam has seen enough. He turns to flee, pausing long enough to spy a marvelous-looking artifact. It is an octagonal, crystal-like sphere. He grabs it, stuffs it into his pocket, and sprints up the stairs.

The entire tomb begins to quake violently. Darth Trepid's lightsaber levitates out of his sarcophagus, pausing in midair to activate, and attacks Plagueis and Palpatine.

Tam runs behind one of the pyramids, where a small spaceship is parked. Tam jumps inside it.

Darth Trepid increases his efforts. Plagueis and Palpatine are assaulted by waves of flying debris. Palpatine battles his way through scores of artifacts and rushes Trepid. He plunges his lightsaber into Trepid's chest, but it passes through him like a knife through fog.

Trepid force pushes Palpatine, slamming him roughly against the wall where his lightsaber has cornered Plagueis.

Palpatine realizes the answer. His eyes dart over to the sarcophagus.

Tam starts his engines, but they sputter and stall out.

Palpatine charges toward the sarcophagus, ducking and diving and jumping the various items thrown at him. He stretches a hand over the coffin, and Trepid's body levitates out of it.

Palpatine hurls his body against the wall, where it shatters into a billion pieces.

The spirit of Darth Trepid trembles violently, and explodes. A giant shockwave blasts the entire tomb. The ground quakes, and large chunks of earth fall from the ceiling. Trepid's lightsaber drops. Plagueis immediately starts searching the shelves.

He pauses at the shelf nearest the entrance. His eyes rest upon a spot that is dust free. Something has been removed from the tomb. Plagueis knows what has been taken, and who did the taking.

The both run up the stairs as the ceiling collapses, and the room fills with dirt.

Tam is frantically trying to start his ship.

Plagueis and Palpatine emerge from the entrance. They spot Tam in his ship.

Tam sees the Sith Lords. Simultaneously, his engines spring to life. His ship propels upward, into the sky.

Plagueis and Palpatine watch as Tam's ship flies into the atmosphere.

Plagueis turns, and storms off into the desert.

FADE.