Rage Against The Dark Ch 16 (Patreon)

Heyo, sorry being a bit late. Part of this chapter fought me pretty hard. But I got it done!

Hot off the press as it were. My head is killing me. Hope you guys like the chapter. Drop me a comment maybe. I'm gonna go get some tylenol.

=][=

“Vanity, this was.” Yoda said, pacing back and forth in front of the gathered Knights and Masters, some of them veterans of numerous decades, in one case a couple of centuries. “Felt threatened by a child, you did.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi lowered his head and accepted the chastisement with as much grace as he could muster.

“Master Yoda!” Gasped Ki-Adi-Mundi, not managing the same level of serenity. “I—”

“Harm another Master’s Padawan, you did!” Yoda snapped, cutting his former Padawan off. “And all of you! Stepped in, you should have! When you saw a Master harming an apprentice! And why did you not!? Because you were embarrassed that he was more talented with the blade than your own pupils!”

There was a collective cringing back from the Knights and Masters. Obi-Wan sighed and lowered his head further.

“Sullied this sacred practice with vainglory, you all have!” Yoda huffed. “An embarrassment you are to the Order!”

“From these, I see the flaw that led to this farce!” Yoda said, stopping in front of Obi-Wan. “But from you!? Qui-Gon’s wisdom, from you I had come to expect! Quick you’ve always been, to defend Skywalker from the derision of others, yet such drive you do not show for your Grand-Padawan!?”

Obi-Wan knelt. “I have no excuse, Master Yoda. I allowed…I allowed politics to dictate my actions, instead of that which I knew to be right or wrong. I am ashamed, but at the same time elated that Asami surpassed me in wisdom today.”

“Master Kenobi!” Hissed Ki-Adi-Mundi. “You agreed with me that that rascal needed a lesson in humility!”

Obi-Wan took a deep breath, feeling his anger surge at Ki-Adi’s words, and with effort he let it out into the Force, allowing It to suffuse his being. “I agreed with you in my worries that Rylanor might allow his seemingly effortless victory to get to his head, and thus skimp on his training. I did not foresee to what extent you would take things, Master Mundi.

“By the time I saw that things had gone too far, I feared what might happen if two members of the Jedi High Council were seen to be disunited in so public a setting. I see now that this was cowardice. I shall have to apologize to Rylanor, once the healers have seen to him.”

Ki-Adi scoffed. “That boy needed a lesson in manners!”

Everyone stilled as the Force became cold. An unnatural stillness that radiated from the Grand Master. He opened his eyes, and there was no trace of the usual serenity one would spy in them. “You found a willful child to be crass, and thus chose to beat him to the point that he couldn’t properly see, could barely stand, and could only half-coherently speak, all for the sin of doing better in a competition than you approved of, and showing you defiance when you attempted to snuff out the spark within him.” Yoda turned his back on them all and began walking away. “You should join your apprentices in the gardens, young ones. And reflect on the decisions that led you here.”

“Master Yoda, I—” Ki-Adi began.

“You have said enough.” Yoda snapped. “Out of all of you, only a child, months from having been an initiate, acted like a true Jedi. Reflect on your failures and be better.”

He threw one last disappointed look at all of them, the dojo full of Knights and veteran Masters shrinking back from that stare. Then, with a final sigh and a shake of his head, the Grand Master of the Jedi Order walked away.

Obi-Wan sighed and began making his way to the gardens.

At the very least he could take heart in the fact that he’d be the only Master there who was not being punished alongside his student.

=][=

“For the third last time Flip, the syrup goes on the pancake!” Rylanor said as he sat up and looked around the warm blue room he’d been assigned at the Halls of Healing, blinked twice and said. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

Asami sighed in relief. The healing trance Rylanor had been put in had taken a few hours, but he was awake.

“Don’t do anything rash.” Asami said and pressed the button on the communicator she’d been given, Rylanor turning to regard her. “The Head Healer is on her way.”

“You should smile more.” Rylanor said airily. “You’re really pretty, and your constant attempts at Jedi stone face are a shame cause you’re so pretty.”

Asami felt her face turn hot. “Rylanor! What’s gotten into you!?”

“The Sith aren’t back, they never left. They used the last millennium to infiltrate the highest levels of the Republic. They engineered the war to gain even more political power after having secured immense wealth.”

“Stop spouting nonsense!” Asami hissed as the door to the room hissed open, and in walked an elderly blue Twi’lek woman.

“What seems to be the issue, Padawan Fukuhara?” Master Vokara Che and asked.

Unfortunately, before Asami could find words to explain, Rylanor spoke. “How true do you think those rumors are that the Twi’lek as a species were engineered by a long-forgotten galaxy spanning Master Civilization to produce the perfect female sex pets?”

Asami goggled, her mouth opening and closing in search of words.

Master Vokara Che merely stepped forward and calmly said. “A concussion, I had hoped this wouldn’t happen, but it is not much of a surprise.”

“Master?” Asami was able to gasp.

“After the beating the boy received, do you truly find it surprising?” Master Vokara Che asked. “Force Healing is thorough only because the body’s healing is thorough, young Fukuhara, but it remains, as always, natural healing. The Sapient brain is highly complex, and it while we can encourage healing, we cannot force it. He will get over this concussion, in time.”

“The Jedi’s refusal to implement the Scientific Method to the study of the Force is short sighted, dogmatic, and thoroughly foolish. Healing techniques that would speed all recovery or even forcibly keep someone from dying so they could be stabilized and healed conventionally are in all likelihood entirely possible, but they remain out of reach due to religious zealotry.”

Master Vokara Che’s eye twitched. “Until he recovers, chances are he will blurt out whatever is on his mind, thoughts that he would otherwise keep to himself, likewise he is likely to take actions that will seem like lunacy, this is because the mechanisms that would usually allow him to restrain his impulses are not working correctly after the beating he received. Keep in mind, he may not necessarily mean them in whichever way they are spoken.”

“Turning your lightsaber off mid-battle to turn it back on and stab someone is dumb on the extreme because the first reaction anyone fighting you is going to have to you no longer having your weapon active, is going to be to hit you with their lightsaber. Also, using a reverse grip on a lightsaber, beyond the absolute most unlikely of circumstances, is utterly stupid because all you’re doing is shortening the reach you’d otherwise have with it in the first place.”

“Padawan Creed, I feel that it is best for you to remain here under observation for a while longer.” Master Vokara Che said disinterestedly.

“Are head tails sensory organs or are they just erogenous zones?”

“Padawan Fukuhara, I would like to ask you to remain here, someone as strong in the Force as Padawan Creed may cause issues if left to his own devices.” Master Vokara Che said.

“That’s profiling, and profiling is wrong.”

“Why is that, Master?” Asami asked.

“As can be shown by his constant chatter. His impulse control is not functioning very well, likewise his control over the Force is compromised. He may accidentally use Force Push or Force Pull without meaning to; or project his Telepathy onto others forcefully, likewise by accident. Any Initiate should be able to maintain their Shield enough not to be bothered by unfocused attempts, but if he decides to do something like throw himself out of a window because he doesn’t want to deal with stairs, I do require someone who would be able to stop him.”

“I will do my best, Master.” Asami said.

“Most alternative lightsaber designs are stupid. Pikes, double-bladed lightsabers, whips. They’re all just gimmicks that are a lightsaber but worse, and unless made from a lightsaber resistant material, the lightsaber pike is worse than useless.”

Asami blinked. “He’s out of line, but he’s right.”

“I’ll leave him in your care, Padawan Fukuhara.” Master Vokara Che said somewhat stiffly as she left.

No sooner had the door closed that Rylanor tried to leave the bed. “Bored now.”

Asami walked over to him and tried to push the large boy back onto the bed. “You’re supposed to rest.”

“Rest is boring.” Rylanor said.

“Boring or not, it is what you’ll be doing.” Asami insisted firmly.

“On one condition. Kiss me.”

“Wha-hmmph!” Asami at first asked but was then yanked down onto Rylanor’s lap, his lips were on hers and his hand was on the back of her head, she tried turning her head to free her lips and ask him what he thought he was doing, but he used that opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. She tried to push his tongue out of her mouth with hers, but he all but wrapped his tongue around hers, his hands weren’t idle while he kissed her, running over her legs and belly as he flipped her easily onto the bed and pressed her down with the weight of his body, something she was surprised she did not find nearly as uncomfortable as she would have thought.

The longer the kiss went, the stronger an unfamiliar warmth in her belly grew, and what once were grunts of protest slowly became sighs of enjoyment, her hands which once pushed him away found themselves holding onto his shoulders, her body betraying her and pushing her chest upward when his hand ran over her breast, anything to increase the contact her body had with him.

When their lips finally parted, Asami could barely manage to lay on the bed and breathe, her mind in a complete daze while she took deep lung stretching breaths. She eventually managed to regain her scattered wits enough to breathily say. “R-Rylanor, we shouldn’t.”

Rylanor quieted her with another kiss, making her whine.

“It’s fine.” He murmured into her ear, his hand getting into her clothes and caressing her belly directly, making uncomfortable yet exhilarating things happen in her core. “You’re mine Asami, it’s perfectly fine that we do this.”

“N-No, Rylanor—” Any further denial she had was cut off as his lips found hers again and she sighed into his lips as she received a very thorough education.

=][=

Dooku, the Count of Serenno barely succeeded in hiding his grimace as his Master, Darth Sidious, spoke in a quiet, cold, clinically detached tone that nonetheless screamed with rage, the Dark Side of the Force seemed to quiver with delight as it fed upon the emotions of the Master. [The Malevolence is set to arrive at Kuat Drive Yards in two Coruscant Planetary Rotations. This colossal failure will set us back months if not years.]

“I assure you, Master.” He said, suppressing the urge to shift uncomfortably as his knees ached, but he did not dare rise from his kneeling position. “I have impressed our displeasure upon Grievous, he will not make so blatant a mistake again.”

[What use is this lesson worth in the face of such a colossal failure?] Darth Sidious snapped. [What good is a tool that is not fit for purpose! Not only did that half-droid simpleton fail to kill any Jedi, he failed to keep the Malevolence secret and even delivered it onto the hands of the Jedi! Not only have the Separatists lost an unconscionable number of resources through this monumental setback, morale among the fools of the Republic is at an all-time high.]

“Yet beyond the Malevolence, they’ve suffered defeats on three sectors, their lines are being pushed back.” Dooku said.

[Do not presume to speak of that which you fail to comprehend, you simpleton.] Darth Sidius hissed. [We need fear. Through fear the vast thoughtless masses of the Republic can be controlled, through fear we shall keep them quiescent, through fear we can make them do as we desire. If the foolish masses are not afraid, then they shan’t dance upon the strings no matter how hard we pull them!]

“Of course, Master Sidius, my apologies.” Dooku said, bending his neck and not gritting his teeth thanks to long practice. “I only meant to say that it should not be a difficult task to remind them of their fear.”

[Pray tell, Darth Tyranus, how would you invalidate this monumental victory for the Republic?] Darth Sidius asked with deceptive calm.

“My Master, we have assets within Kuat Drive Yards, assets we have kept hidden in the case of unseen circumstances. Circumstances just like this one.” Dooku said. “If we want the people of the Republic to be afraid, then what better way than showing them that their greatest triumphs can be invalidated, purely because they truly can never know if their neighbor is friend or foe?”

Darth Sidius remained quiet for a very long time, the suffocating pressure of the Dark Side bearing down on Dooku thankfully lessening before he responded. [You show great promise, Darth Tyranus. It is truly a shame that we will have to burn such valuable assets, but needs must. See that it is done, I will ensure that attention is away from the true target, do not waste the opportunity I shall create. And make certain that Grievous understands that we do not have use for unreliable tools, one more failure on little less than a quarter of the scale of this one, and he will be replaced by someone more competent.]

Dooku once again bent his neck in obeisance. “Your will be done, Master.”

The communicator winked out, nonetheless, Dooku waited for the presence of Darth Sidius to fade before he pushed himself painfully to his feet, his knees and other joints crackling. He did not allow himself to make the undignified noise that sought to climb out of his throat, but it was a near thing.

How he despised growing old.

Dooku shrugged off the unworthy thought and made his way to his office. Activating those assets in Kuat Drive Yards would not be a popular prospect among the war council, normally he’d prefer to take a lighter hand in convincing the various beings of the need of his decree, but with the Malevolence being only two standard planetary rotations out from arriving at Kuat?

Dooku drank deep of the Force, the Dark Side seeping into his body, alleviating the many aches and pains of old age with its cold comfort.

The war council would do as they were told. Few were the beings in the galaxy who could dare deny the Count of Sereno.