I took a deep breath outside Queen Organa’s council chambers. Dressed once more in my black silk fineries, I added a hood for effect. Now I really looked the part of a Dark Council member. To signify her as my new fledgling initiate, I gifted Alha a similar draped hood and cape. Alhoy was there as well. On one hand, I felt like I was playing favorites, but on the other, I would not force such training on him. Apprentices must seek out power, not have it forced upon them.
Stepping up to the arched door frame, it automatically opened in swirling fashion. Like everything else on Alderaan, the room was beautiful. The almost pure white chamber was accented with Alderaanean coats of arms. It was shaped like an oval with a domed ceiling. On the far end, the Queen presided on a raised gilded chair. She was dressed in her typical royal blue robes and crown of braided hair. The center of the room contained a marble conference table with a simple but elegant holovid unit in the center.
Probably the drabbest thing in the room was the assembled Jedi. Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi, though tired had come out of the last few days unscathed; physically at least. It was a pleasant surprise to see Plo Koon. The surprise was less pleasant when I realized he was missing his entire right arm and part of the adjoining shoulder. Aparently he had tried to assist Yoda in the duel against Sidious but to disastrous results. Jocasta Nu and Sinube were their normal ancient selves. Shaak-Ti seemed a little better than the last time I saw her. She was at least conscious, but looked exceptionally frail.
Finally, there were two clones that were seated closest to the door. Though I didn’t recognize them apart from other clones, they were apparently Commanders Cody and Wolffe.
“Hello there,” I said as I walked into the room.
I took the last seat available which put me across from Yoda, who took the seat closest to the queen. The siblings leaned against the wall behind me.
Upon feeling my presence, Plo narrowed his eyes. “I am not entirely convinced that we can trust this being Queen Organa. He is a self proclaimed Sith Lord. His people never give more than they take,” he said while turning towards the Queen.
“I must concur, it is most irregular, basically heretical, for us to allow such an individual within our fold,” said Obi-Wan.
"I am inclined to agree. Have we not suffered enough at the hands of the Sith?" interjected Shaak-Ti.
I’m not gonna lie. It stings when one of your favorite characters dislike you. But I didn’t let it show. I just gave him a toothy grin. “Suffered? I believe it was a Jedi who led the attack on the temple. Speaking of the devil, Obi-Wan. Please, Please tell me you made sure Anakin died on Mustafar?”
“I left his fate to the force…” He replied.
“You left a man to burn by the side of the volcano. I’ll let you in on a little secret. He survived. The emperor is hard at work fixing the his body with cybernetics as we speak,” I admonished him. I turned to Yoda and said, “Were my instructions on the holocron not clear enough?”
“I didn't have a chance to read them all,” Obi-Wan answered instead. “I did what the force would have me do,” he explained.
“I have many things I would like to say to you Master Kenobi, but I will keep them to myself. They would not prove useful at this point,” I said while staring at him and clenching my right fist so hard it began to shake.
“Lord Zaros has more than proven his necessity in the past few days. Now, let’s get down to business gentlemen,” the Queen said judicially.
"Palpatine has solidified his support base and won the final vote to give him absolute power over the Republic. That Republic has died and in its place an empire has risen," she explained while addressing the assembled peoples.
"We are assembled here to discuss the next steps in resisting him before all is lost," she concluded.
“Wayward Jedi we must find. Weak they are when isolated amongst the stars,” Yoda said.
“With known Jedi defectors and the temple under Sidious’s control, we can no longer trust the old encryptions,” Plo Koon explained. “Without stable coms, every living Jedi has become an island unto themselves, unable to bridge the gap between each other.”
“Is there no code or signal that can be activated for Jedi to find?” I asked.
“Anything they can find…Anakin can as well,” Master Nu explained.
“We are not even sure who survived other than those at this table,” Sinube lamented.
“Ahsoka Tano, Cere Junda, Caleb Dume all should have survived,” I said while counting them on my fingers. “There are probably others that I’m forgetting though.”
“Ahsoka!” Obi-Wan exclaimed. “Do you know where they are?”
“Caleb might still be on Kaller. I haven’t the slightest idea about the others,” I replied.
“How are you privy to this information?” asked Kenobi.
“I’m an extradimensional traveler, who’s foreseen the future. Though now that it’s changed, I’m slowly losing my ability to provide useable information,” I explained.
“What? Please be seriou-” Kenobi started to say.
“Don’t tell me that’s absurd Kenobi, you literally met some force-gods a few years ago." I retorted. "Speaking of the gods of Mortis...We should really talk about the implications of that later," I added quickly. I was only then realizing just how many galaxy wide threats there were.
“Force-gods? Perhaps we should table the discussion on locating Jedi,” said Plo Koon.
“Yes...er No, one thing at a time. Sidious is currently organizing a group of hunters. He’s calling them inquisitors, masters at hunting down Jedi. Maybe a similar organization of detectives would prove useful to your people?” I offered.
“…I agree,” Kenobi said warily. “Anyone assigned to such a mission would need to be smart, flexible, capable of covert operations, and have the ability to stay hidden…” he said.
As he spoke, everyone in the room slowly began to stare at him. “… they would preferably have a history in detection and intelligence… why are you all giving me that look?”
“Master Kenobi, have you not just described yourself?” Plo Koon asked him.
“No, I have been tasked with a greater responsibility,” Kenobi replied.
“Your little responsibility wouldn’t be put in danger just because you’re on assignment. Shouldn’t that responsibility be treated with the same care as all the other young-er responsibilities?” I asked and only narrowly managed to keep up the thinly veiled secret.
Kenobi narrowed his eyes before saying, “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It feels like you’re overly attached to this responsibility,” I replied.
“The child is of the utmost importance, he must be kept hidden,” he said.
It was my turn to narrow my eyes. “Hidden, yes. But the other younglings will be hidden as well. Surely you weren’t planning on…oh, I don’t know, running off to some desert and not teaching him the ways of the force properly?” I replied, knowing full well that was what he planned. I really did not think the man should be waiting on Tatooine for the next two decades. Then it dawned on me. Kenobi could not be allowed to spend his life on Tatooine. His time there would directly cause the rise of Darth Krayt.
“We…” he began to say, but I cut him off.
“I’ve never cared for your way of doing things in the past. That should come as no surprise. But I’ll tell you this. If he-“ I stopped and looked over towards Bail. “-And his sister, aren’t being taught the ways of the force by the age of ten, I’ll make the decision for you and teach them the dark side,” I threatened. Well, I would consider this course of action, should I still be here.
“I won’t have you deny them their talent, especially if it is as powerful as I believe it to be," I continued.
Kenobi slammed his hand on the table at the provocation. “I will be forced to cut you down before that happens.”
“I don’t want to teach them as much as you don’t want me to teach them, if only because I don’t need that type of monster loosed onto the galaxy. But I just want it to be known that not teaching them makes absolutely no sense,” I replied. After a pause, I added, “And don’t you dare tell me that the force wills it, so help me...”
Nu cut us off and said, “You are both getting off-topic. Kenobi, we-“ and the she gave me a look, “the Jedi here at least, make up the ruling council. If we deem you are the one for the job, then you will do it,” she explained. Then she turned to the rest of the group and said, “We must find a safe haven and reestablish the academy.”
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“The younglings need safety and stability for the future,” Sinube said in agreement.
Everyone nodded at the sentiment.
I faked a cough and then raised my hand.
“An idea, you seem to have?” Yoda acknowledged.
“Well, you have quite a few options,” I began. “Yoda, I’m aware that you already have a sanctum in mind. Do you think it’s a suitable place?”
“Unsure I am. Much life there is on Dagobah, but so too death.” Yoda said after a moment of thought. “More evil than good, it may be for the unready.”
“I suppose that means you’re against Ahch-To,” I said absentmindedly.
“Are you saying the fabled first Jedi temple is tainted by darkness?” inquired Obi-Wan.
“Je’daii. The first Je’daii temple does have darkness. Every Je’daii temple had both light and darkness. It is the same with the moons of Tython. It was the same on Mortis until you-,” I began to say before I stopped myself. I had made a self-promise not to continue bringing up the Jedi’s failures.
“I’m getting off-topic again. Dagobah and Ahch-To offer the safest havens from the empire," I offered.
“The archives have no evidence of anyone having visited Ahch-To in living memory. It was lost to time,” Nu replied. “Or is its location another archaic piece of the knowledge you possess?”
“No…what do you mean nobody has traveled there? Wasn't there a star compass in the archives?” I asked incredulously.
“The star-compasses have been lost for millennia,” she said matter-of-factly. I narrowed my eyes.
I went silent and leaned back in my chair for a few moments. She could have been telling the truth. The only compass I knew of would only be recovered from Palpatine years from now. It was only my assumption that he stole it from the Jedi Temple. But, Sidious and the Baneites have been collecting trinkets for a thousand years. He easily could have been in possession of the compass the whole time. Or he could have plundered it from any number of planets that he now ruled with an iron fist.
“Fine, then why don’t you all just pick a random uninhabited planet and make that your academy?” I said with annoyance.
In the following conversation, Yoda announced that he would still enter hermitage on Dagobah to finish his training, though he would at least wait until the Jedi found a new home. Several uninhabited and uncharted planets were discussed though the Jedi decided not to choose until they surveyed them personally.
Afterward, talk turned to the alliance forces. The 41st, under Yoda, found the most success in resisting order 66. Commander Gree, once freed from his chip, was able to hold onto three Arquitens light cruisers with around three hundred soldiers. The 212th came in a close second with two hundred troopers and two light cruisers. Commander Wolffe and 104th were almost trapped on their Venator. Though they were able to disable the ship and flee aboard its contingent of shuttles and fighters. Only 150 troopers made it out. The free clones rendezvoused somewhere in Hutt Space that I couldn’t pronounce nor remember.
Alderaan and Chandrila already pledged their support of the alliance, though it would be discreet and mostly off the books. Everything else was up in the air though. It seemed Bail's group of 2000 weren't exactly going to offer up their systems as a war zone.
The conversation was going swimmingly until it turned to the leadership of the newly formed forces. The Queen assumed the Jedi would once more lead the fight now that their ancient enemy had resurfaced. They had other plans.
“No more fight, have we left to give,” Yoda said. “Lost our way…almost lost the future, we have,” he explained.
With a single look around the table, one could understand where Yoda was coming from. Everyone, there was either ancient or suffering from wounds, both mental and physical. Aside from Shaak Ti and Kenobi, the entirety of the Jedi order consisted of a one-armed master, three elders, and around fifty kids. They just weren’t in a place to fight.
“There’s nothing wrong with licking your wounds,” I said. “So long as you come back stronger and better able to fight against your enemies.”
That sentiment got a surprising number of nods.
“The clones under our charge need to be given a choice as well,” Kenobi said after a moment. “They fulfilled their duty, should they not be allowed to retire as well?”
Everyone turned to the two commanders at the far side of the room. Aside from reporting on the fighting during Order 66, they had stayed under the radar. It looked like they hadn’t even thought of themselves as decision-makers here.
Cody was the first to talk. “Captain Rex and I had a few conversations during the war… about what we would do after the fighting stopped. Neither of us could imagine a life without fighting, so we planned on joining some planetary defense force,” he said.
Then Wolffe said, “Every clone should have a choice to fight. For too long we just accepted that it was our place to defend the Republic. Now millions of my brothers are enslaved and don’t even have the illusion of choice.” Then he sighed before adding, “but my choice is already made. I have a commitment to save the rest of my men.”
“Is it that easy?” I asked. “You’re all deserters now. Sure, your men can choose to lay down their arms and become farmers somewhere, but they’ll be hunted down just like the Jedi.”
“Just as the Jedi can hide without scorn, so can my men,” replied Wolffe. “What will you do?”
“Saving the Jedi wasn’t enough?” I said with a chuckle. “I’ve got some errands to run. If I’m still around when the fighting starts, feel free to give me a call,” I explained before sliding a communicator on the table.
The meeting essentially ended with that for me. There were other issues of course. Logistics, current allies, future allies, a load of things I wasn’t concerned with. It was nothing my specialized knowledge could really help with either.
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“So, what’s the plan now, oh great lord of the Sith?” asked Alhoy.
The two of us were standing next to the Fury while some droids loaded up the last of the cargo for us. We stayed on Alderaan for another day after the meeting, which was just long enough to get the sublight engines refitted. I also managed to convince one of the local mechanics to get us a signature key modulator, since our ship’s old key was probably all over the imperial fleet as a high priority target. X2 also got some upgrades, though his three-thousand-year-old programming was surprisingly good when compared to the current state of the universe.
“First we amass resources and allies,” I reply. “Hey careful with that!” I admonished one of the droids. It had just dropped one of the containers “Those were a gift from the Queen!”
“What for?”
“We’ll be searching for artifacts, whispers, basically anything that might explain why I’m here and anything that might help. It’ll be easier to do if we aren’t just a band of three,” I explained. Then I sighed and added, “they will also help us keep Sidious and his rebuilt apprentice off of our backs.”
“Where to first?”
“Dathomir.”
“That backwater planet can’t be a good place to find allies or resources…” he replied. By that point, the last of the crates were loaded into storage so I began walking up the ramp.
Without looking back as I entered the ship I told him, “I found you on a backwater planet as well.”
The Aldaaranea skies were clear, and take-off was easy. Within minutes, we were out of the atmosphere and jumped to hyperspace, which allowed me to relinquish controls to 2V. Alha seated herself in a quiet corner, still trying to dominate the credit. Alhoy had taken over the main table, while he polished his long rifle.
I walked past the two without saying anything and into the cargo hold. It only took a few minutes of rummaging around all the new crap we received to find the old training swords I hadn’t used since the first time I left Korriban. I also pulled out an old vibrosword and brought it with.
“I come bearing gifts,” I announced once I stepped back into the main hold. Without warning, I tossed the training sword over to Alha, who caught it admirably well. It was a testament to the natural athleticism that came with growing up as a hunter I supposed. I laid the vibroblade against the wall and brandished my own training sword.
“Nothing for me?” Asked Alhoy.
“I didn’t know you were looking to be schooled,” I replied.
He shrugged before answering, “I’m not…it just looked cool.”
“I’ll get you an extra vibroblade or something then, but the only reason you would use this,” I replied while waving the activated training blade around. “Is to learn to use a lightsaber.”
I walked into the open center of main hold and motioned for Alha to join me.
“Now we shall do an exercise that was apparently quite popular between teachers and younglings on Dromund Kaas,” I explained. “You will strike at me for a minute. Should you fail to land a blow, I will strike you.”
Alhoy perked up, and swiveled his seat away from the table to get a better look.
“Alhoy, set a time for us,” I commanded.
He nodded before pressing a few buttons on the table and a holographic clock appeared. A countdown began on it to signal the start.
Alha got into a wide stance, a suitable set for powerful strikes.
3…2…1…and a small horn sounded at 0. Alha lunged towards me with impressive speed. I raised my trainer to swipe hers away from right to left, only for her to change directions.
She pulled her stab back, and instead swung it around her head with a slash to my now vacated right.
It didn’t work.
I easily moved my own sword back and batted the blade away with little effort.
Alha fought admirably. To any normal person, her slashes and stabs would have been dangerously efficient. She further understood the use of feints and continued to employ them. She was trying her best to get behind me by constantly circling and moving about.
Though, by the time the minute was waning she grew desperate. She followed up her latest feint and unleashed a flurry of blows. When that proved ineffective she began trying to hit me with all her might to break my guard. Soon, She was letting herself get terribly off balance and ruined her footwork.
“Come Acolyte. Try harder, or I’ll be forced to discipline you.” I said while warding off her blade.
“Maybe I should have demonstrated the pain these cause. The Sith Academy is a curious institution, these swords are tuned to cause the most pain without serious injury,” I explained.
That seemed to do the trick. She redoubled her efforts even as fatigue kicked in. When the minute was finally up, she was a sweating mess and out of breath. She was still trying to take swipes even as the bell rang, though by that point they were little more than wild swings. People rarely realize just how tough a minute of complete and utter action does to the body.
“Many Sith revel in granting others pain, especially those weaker than themselves,” I said as I raised my blade.
“I can't claim to enjoy this. I believe the only worthy opponent is one capable of fighting back,” I explained as I gave her a hard strike aimed at her abdomen. She tried to block the swing with her own sword, but the defense was weak and the blade was sent flying through the air. The shock was delivered instantly, and Alha cried out before collapsing to one knee.
I crouched down to her eye level and looked her over for a second. Doing something like this before I became Zaros would have been unthinkable. Hell, outside of the game, I’d never even been in a fight before. Yet I knew that was how the Sith were taught, enough lore from the various Star Wars stories had told me as much. Zaros's memories reassured me. Pain was how he learned. It raised him to impossible heights.
I stared into her eyes. “Pain is a necessary teacher. It inflicts memories that one never forgets, but pain without a lesson is meaningless,” I explained as I offered her a hand.
She grabbed it and I pulled her to her feet. “What was the lesson here?” she asked while rubbing the sore spot on her side.
“There are many lessons to learn from this exercise. Some of them are things you must learn yourself, but since you performed so admirably I will explain two of them to you,” I said. “Allow the pain to teach you, to motivate you to do better. But should the pain cause you to fear, cause you to give up, it will have weeded out those who are too weak to learn our ways.”
Her discarded sword, which had come to stop on the far side of the room flew into my open left hand. I offered it to her again. “The second lesson is that you must use the force to stand a chance. Your physical strength is important but without enhancing your power with the force you will never break my guard,” I explained. “This pain is a motivator to help you dominate the force around you.”
She grinned. “Brother, restart the clock,” she commanded.