The Weaving Force: Chapter 121 (Patreon)

Chapter 121:

Taylor:

Every Venator under the direct command of a Council member, had been retrofitted in recent years with- well- a Council chamber. Or at least I called it a council chamber.

In truth- it was a communication uplink directly to the Council chambers on corruscant. Highly encrypted with top of the line security, swept for bugs with clearance codes changed every ten days by Master’s Poof and Yaddle. Any and all communications to and from the Council were run through these hubs.

I called it a Council chamber because it was set up like the original. Circular room, chairs arranged around the main holo plinth. The chairs were arranged in a way that the real life people did not overlap with their holo counterparts. Or the hologram emiter actively adjusted things as needed via its programming.

But regardless of how it was arranged it was arranged and taking the time to refuel and resupply on Bandomeer, Obi-Wan took the time to contact the Council and report on our ‘findings’.

Personally, I would have waited to have more concrete findings. But, it was Obi-Wan’s decision, not mine. 

“We’ve catalogued and documented everything Masters. The droids are still processing everything but by the time we arrive on Corruscant we should have  a fairly accurate holo recreation of events.”

“Evidence of survivors?” Yoda asked, his holo form flickering  even more than the rest of the council. 

Anakin; or well, Councilor Skywalker in this setting I supposed, was the one to answer the Grandmaster. “There is some evidence that shuttles did leave the planet. But wether it was an evacuation or merely seps taking off once the operation was done we can’t say.”

“And it would be impossible to tell wether or not anyone escaping successfully got past a blockade or pursued by droid fighters.” Ahsoka chimed in beside her Master. “So; we don’t know.”

Mace, glowing blue besides Yoda, turned to Obi-Wan. “And this Lightsaber you found. You’re certain it belonged to the Sith you slew on Naboo over ten years ago?”

Obi-Wan nodded, his face grave. “I will never forget that Saber. I have no doubt it belonged to Maul.”

“Could he have survived?” Master Gallia asked, almost gently.

“I don’t see how.” Obi Wan all but scoffed. “I cut him in half.”

“The body was never found.” Master Fisto, seated beside other ‘New’ Council members reminded. 

“Well there’s your problem.” Vicky offered with an exaggerated southern drawl accent.

“Master Dallon please.” Obi-Wan groaned, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. “This is serious.”

I could sense that she wasn’t really sorry in spite of the fact that she offered Obi-Wan a somewhat apologetic smile and a shrug. 

And then; I felt a warning in the Force and I got a distinct feeling that I was going to want a divorce in a few seconds.

“Alright alright-” She conceded, hands held up. “Still, for arguments sake lets say he survived and walked it off-”

I wanted to groan.

Obi-Wan did groan.

Anakin laughed. 

Ahsoka slapped his shoulder while trying not to laugh. 

“Then why go to Dathomir? Like-” I was going to choke her. “-if he had half a chance of making it somewhere that’s not exactly a first choice vacation spot.”

“Perhaps it was his homeworld.” Kit fisto, in spite of his twitching smirk, did mercifully ignore his fellow Master’s stupid puns. “The Zabraks you found there were tattooed similarly; even with the state of the bodies that was clear enough.”

“And they were inundated with the Dark Side.” Master Poof nodded; his head bobbing up and down on his long neck. “There are not many other places that fit the… criteria so specifically as to serve as Maul’s homeworld.”

That was a good point. “True.” I said cutting in. “But then that begs a question; Why didn’t Sidious simply get a ‘New Maul’ when Obi-Wan cut down the first one? He had a ready made recruiting pool. So why risk converting others like Komari, Jorus or even Taan?”

“Or-” It was Karla who cut in now, her emotions unnaturally still and calm amidst the Council meeting. “Why not add a fourth or fifth apprentice to serve as additional enforcers?”

Yoda rubbed at his head, little claws likely leaving pale trails not picked up by the holo. “Hrm… Dathomiri witches. Sith they are not.”  He said. “A bargain may have been struck. Or, a convert, Maul might have been.”

“At the time Maul being an independent offshoot or one time transaction would fit.” Master Aayla, her right arm, right lekku and a good portion of the right side of her face held together by cybernetics, cupped her chin with one hand, features pensive. “But that wouldn’t explain the sudden escalation of hostilities. As Master Hebert pointed out in her report; this assault seems to have been carried out with haste and very little planning or execution in terms of eliminating evidence. Something changed.”

Windu nodded. “The question becomes then ‘What changed’”

“Exposure.”

All eyes rounded on Vicky.

I agreed. 

She nodded, seemingly internally affirming her deduction. “These witches must’ve known, or found out Sidious’ identity. And they were going to reveal it.”

“So he had to move against them fast.” I added. “Shut them up before they could bring him down If this Maul did survive-”

‘I give him half decent odds.’

If she was here, I’d have thrown my lightsaber hilt at her stupid head. 

Instead, I had to settle for ignoring her snickering and Iskt’s not so well hidden smirk, pressing on through grit teeth. “-then he probably knew exactly who Sidious is.”

“If…” Obi-Wan cut in; his face, almost furious in its intensity. “And to be clear I do not believe he is alive. But if he is… his body was not found on Dathomir either.”

“There wasn’t a body found near the lightsaber itself.” Iskt calmly reminded. “Its very likely that whoever wielded it… did survive the fight that damaged the weapon.”

“Then-” Yaddle leaned forward in her seat. “A priority it becomes, to determine-” She held up a single claw. “If there were survivors.” She held up a second claw. “How to find them if there were.”

“You know; I do have to ask. How and why is it that you guys-” She pointed at Master Yoda, and Yaddle “Seem to know an awful lot about these witches. Not accusing anything, just curious.”

Yoda shook his head, stamping his stick a bit as he spoke. “Dathomir, known to the Jedi it is. Hidden, sealed in records for generations it has been. The witches of Dathomir; known too- they are.”

“The Jedi do not seek out war, or participate in genocide.” Windu answered. “The Witches of Dathomir were an isolationist sect. Yes they are practitioners of the Darkside, but so long as they were content to remain in their system- we had neither reason nor desire to seek out conflict with them.”

Not what I would have chosen; but given the sheer levels of battle strength seemingly needed to dislodge a few hundred witches by the Seperatists (At least one full Lucrehulk led by Grievous and possibly Sidious) I’m not entirely sure anything less than a full battle ready contingent of the Jedi order numbering in the hundreds  could have fought these ‘Witches’ with anything approaching success.

Speaking of-

“Grievous.” I called and Vicky’s smile dropped, her features turning neutral as she looked at me. “We have reason to suspect that he was here. Any sightings elsewhere at all?”

Vicky shook her head. “None. Even when we started this campaign with me as the headline General over Anaxes he’s still MIA.”

“No other fronts have reported him either.” Master Windu commented. “Several weeks or months preparation for a campaign on Dathomir would account for this.”

“And if he was injured by Force users-” I noted. “-One of the few things we know can hurt him. Then that would account for the other few weeks for him to rest and recover.”

“Well… be repaired and get his oil changed to be more accurate.” Vicky smirked.

“Doesn’t mater now.” Anakin said with a shrug.. “The Gundark and Rancor fought eachother for us. And now we need to decide our next move. If there were survivors of Dathomir who know who Sidious is, we need to find them. Ideas?”

“We are recalling several Jedi Masters and Knights with specialized knowledge in investigation, and archeology to go over the findings you made on Dathomir.” Master Poof again nodded with his head bobbing on that long neck. “Master’s Eno Cordova, Cere Junda and others are already waiting on Corruscant to go over ine information we have on record. Furthermore, I have recalled several Jedi shadows to redeploy them in and around the Dathomiri system. Not many hyperlanes connect to it. If a ship escaped, we might be able to trace them through those hyperlanes.”

“Does Dathomir have any known sects or connections to other worlds?” Anakin asked, looking at Yoda and Yaddle.

It was Yaddle who answered with a shake of her head. “No. Isolationist, the Dathomiri always were. It was the foundation for our peace with them.”

“Masters.”

This time, all eyes turned towards a Master that had so far, been rather quiet.

Master Rancisis’ serpentine body uncoiled as he straightened up just a bit in his seat. 

“There might be a way to find them.”

“Better than Maul’s fifty fifty odds?”

If Yoda was anywhere near her, I hoped he was within shin thwacking distance.

Master Rancisis ignored Vicky, thank goodness. “The Force can grant some the ability of Psychometry.” 

Karla leaned towards me, whispering. “Master?” She asked.

“The ability to have visions through objects-” I explained quickly. I’d heard of Psychometry, but I’d never seen it done, or even heard of it through the temple grapevine. 

Master Rancisis glanced towards Obi-Wan. “The Lightsaber. It was held by a Force sensitive; wielded in battle. I imagine its imprint is strong.”

Obi-Wan nodded, a new energy slipping into his frame. “Yes. Certainly. And given its very recent use- I can imagine any vision drawn from it would be quite clear.”

“Do we even have any practitioners of Psychometry in the order?” I asked, genuinely curious.”

“Yes we have one-”

“Two.” Master Rancisis corrected his colleague.

Obi-Wan blinked. “Two?”

“That’s two more legs to stand on than Maul has! OW!”

It was Yaddle that hit her.

I’d have to send her a box of Master Fay’s cakes.

—

By the time the Council adjourned there was a… very rough plan in place.

There were two Jedi who could examine the Lightsaber to hopefully glean information from it.

The first was Jedi Master Quinlan Vos- Obi-Wan’s old crechemate and friend, former Master of now, Councilor, Aayla Secura.

A veteran, seasoned warrior and Jedi master that had more than earned his spurs. 

The second; was Cal.

Cal Kestis.

Barely twelve years old. Still a Padawan.

Hell; he’d been a Padawan next to my own Padawans and crechelings. 

I understood using whatever resources you had available. I understood that Psychometry was an exceedingly rare talent found once in a handful of generations and we were lucky to have two that could theoretically do this. 

But understanding it didn’t make it sit any better in my stomach, and I had to wonder if the Jedi order of old- the one not emaciated by centuries of erosion and… weakness would have been in a place that they wouldn’t need to rely on pre-teens and children to fight their war for them.

Each of the Council members said their farewells, returning to their commands. As the holo plints slowly shut off, Vicky sneakily blew a kiss my way that Karla pretended not to notice.

I had to remind myself I’d see her again soon.

The room fell into natural lighting again, Anakin bumped his elbow into Obi-Wan’s. “You alright Master?”

“I’m fine Anakin.” the Councilman answers.

Ahsoka turned towards us across the room. “What is it Master Vicky says ‘Fine’ means?” She asked glibly.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. “I’m really not in the mood to listen to Master Dallon’s unique brand of wisdom.”

Iskt -halped- “Fucked-up, Insecure, Neurotic and Emotional”

I smacked the back of his head. “Don’t curse.”

Obi-Wan pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath, and probably counting back from ten while he was at it. 

I crossed one leg infront of the other. “I’m curious though. Even in the unlikely event he is alive-”

“I give him Fifty-Fifty odds.” Anakin cheekily cut in before Ahsoka smacked him on the shoulder in reproach and Obi-Wan rolled his eyes so hard he might have rolled them right into his skull.

“Why does that scare you?” I pressed. And yes, it was fear there.”You’ve beaten him before.”

Obi-Wan glared at me. “As far as we know, Maul was Sidious’ first apprentice. If he survived likely he’s continued training all of these years. He’s no doubt stronger than he was before and he was already dangerous.”

I… doubted that.

In fact, I was fairly sure it was… old trauma coloring Obi-Wan’s objectivity here.

Maul’s greatest accomplishment was killing a middle aged Jedi Master who, even by Dooku and Obi-Wan’s own admission was not the greatest bladesman, doubling down on a lightsaber style he was simply too old to use adequately anymore. And even in his prime; had not been a legendary swordsman by any stretch of the imagination.

And then immediately after that victory, had been bisected by a Padawan who could barely be called a Knight. 

Obi-Wan himself, though not as famous as Victoria, or myself was not a man to be taken lightly in any confrontation.

To put it frankly, I was not worried about Maul. 

What did worry me; was that if he was alive…

Then how far would Sidious go?

I tried placing myself in the Sith lord’s shoes. Tried to envision what I would do when I was backed into a corner. Just how much would I push? How far would I go?

I didn’t like my answers.

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Happy Valentines day everyone :)