Author Note
A little shorter than past chapters, but I'm already over fifty thousand words.
Jump Chain Gothic 6 - The Phantom Menace
Part 10.
Base. Teth.
While this planet had once been a prominent vacation world for the Hutts, somewhat recently Teth suffered an economic crisis when the Galactic Republic began to crack down upon the criminals that used this world as a base of operations. Jedi Master Plo Koon helped local constable Janu Godalhi capture pirates who'd been based here as part of the Republic crackdown, further driving the Hutts out.
In the original time line, during the Clone Wars, the planet was home to Confederate agents who'd kidnapped Rotta, son of Jabba Desilijic Tiure, they concealed themselves within a B'omarr Monastery, the very place I was now using as a base. There were no B'omarr monks around to object, if they had I would have just set up elsewhere.
In the Clone Wars movie the monastery became the site of a battle between Republic and Separatist forces. The battle raged up the mesa's cliff side, in which AT-TE Walkers were used to climb up to the fortress. Upon reaching the top, Anakin Skywalker and Padawan Ahsoka Tano recovered the missing Hutt child.
Later on, Skywalker and Tano found a ship called the Twilight on an adjacent cliff, and used it to transport Rotta, the baby Hutt, back to his father on Tatooine.
In the Clone Wars show Ziro the Hutt visited his father's hidden grave, which was located on this planet. He used the site to hide a holo-journal containing information about the Hutt Grand Council's illegal dealings. Once he had recovered the journal, Ziro was betrayed by his girlfriend, who shot him dead and took the journal to Jabba, her employer.
Alas finding that grave was turning out to be problematic as while it might exist, and it might contain information I could use against the Hutts, it was after all just a burial site, they weren't always easy to find, not when you had a whole planet to search.
"My lord" said one of the asari that I'd brought with me "The Stargate has been set up, and we're already getting the supplies we need. It won't be long before we have a shield up, and then we can get to work on the weapon emplacements".
The Stargates my group built were made in linked pairs so the only gate that could reach the one we now had on Teth was back in a secure location in Lantea on Tatooine. These gates would allow to us to easily move supplies and people between the two locations without needing to use one of our ships.
"Good work, Captain" I praised.
I really should have invested in some proper minions before now, having an army made up of intelligent women, who were also nice to look at, was very pleasant. Sure I could employ bots, but that just wasn't the same.
Because these asari had the memories of the person I'd cloned them from I'd equipped with Mass Effect style weapons, armour and omni-tools, so that they had equipment that they were familiar with.
I didn't have stockpiles of Element Zero, but there were ways around that, and the asari had implanted memories as well holodeck training that allowed them to use some of the technology I'd acquired from other universes.
"As soon as we have holographic communications set up, let me know" I instructed as the asari officer followed me on my walk around the new base "I'll need to discuss a few things with the people back on Lantea".
Sure I could use the communication equipment on my ship, but since my ship wouldn't be able to remain in orbit of this place all the time it made sense to set up some communications equipment here.
"It will be done my lord" said the sexy alien.
Good the sooner the better. The Hutts would need time to organise before they made any kind of strike against us, and that would give me to quickly visit a world that was on my list of worlds to visit.
"I'll leave you in charge for a time" I told the blue babe "Do a decent job of it and you could find yourself with the rank of General".
The new Confederation didn't have much of a military as of yet, but it was growing at a fast rate so I'd decided to create the rank of General for those who commanded important bases such as this. Confederation Army Captains were meant to led soldiers at the front not to command bases.
"Thank you, my lord" said the alien.
I didn't know why she was thanking me I hadn't done anything other than to promise her what would hopefully be a boring desk job.
(Line Break)
Crystal Cave. Dantooine.
Considering that it didn't look as if anyone had visited this place for centuries I was mildly surprised about how easy a time Anakin Skywalker and I had finding the caves. Of course it helped to have the Force as well as decent scanning equipment.
The Crystal Cave was located on the southeast end of the Khoonda on the world of Dantooine. Khoonda still existed, granted it was a major city now, but it was still in the same place and had the same name.
According to one of my holocrons, the Jedi Order, discovered the caves Anakin and were now visting, when Jedi Master Vodo-Siosk Baas established the Jedi Enclave not to far from here. The Enclave was long gone, however this world was still strong with the Force.
After the Enclave was set up the Jedi Order was given sole access to the world's wealth of precious crystals, which were vital to the construction of the Order's lightsabers. Among the naturally occurring crystal structures were the rare Adegan crystals, once believed to only grow on Adega, which produced blue, green and yellow variations.
While I knew that both Revan and the Jedi Exile had once been in this very place I felt no trace of them. But they had both been dead for thousands of years so that was to be expected, even if it was a shame.
"Why are we here, Master?" the young human asked.
I'd not told the boy why we were coming here because I'd wanted to keep the lad in suspense.
"You don't need to call me Master" I reminded Anakin "You're my student not my slave".
Cameron and Supi got to call me Master, but they were attractive females and could get away with it.
"Yes, Sir" Anakin said, before repeating the question.
I let the central chamber of the crystal cave answer for me, at least in part.
"You should know why we are here" I said.
His smile let me know that he'd figured out.
"We're going to find a crystal to power my lightsaber" he said.
He was only partly right.
"The crystal is not, by itself, the power source of the weapon. Like the Force User who wields the lightsaber, the crystal is attuned to the Force. Without that attunement, the crystal is just a pretty looking rock" I told my student" And while a non-Force user can ignite and wield a lightsaber, all that lightsaber would be for them is a shaft of superheated plasma. But for a Jedi, even a Grey Jedi like me, the lightsaber becomes something more: it is a manifestation of a Jedi's connection to the Force".
Around 4000 BBY, lightsaber crystals were used to indicate a Jedi's chosen class. Blue indicated a Jedi Guardian, a Jedi who used the Force on a more physical level, a warrior in truth. Green indicated a Jedi Consular, a Jedi who preferred to reflect on the mysteries of the Force and fight the dark side at its heart. Yellow indicated a Jedi Sentinel, a Jedi who honed his or her skills in a balance of combat and scholarly pursuits.
This distinction fell out of practice in later years, and now most Jedi used blue or green crystals that came from Ilum caves. Purple, yellow, and orange crystals were still used by some Jedi until the fall of the Jedi Order, which I may have prevented or at least delayed in this time line, but they were exceedingly rare.
To me that was a sign of how stagnate the Jedi Order had become as while each lightsaber was still unique due to the range of different materials used during constructed, my holocrons had informed me that in times past a much wider range of crystals had been used.
Which was why I'd brought my student to this world (leaving Teth in the hands of Morgana who was using her new diplomatic skills to convince the disorganised people of that planet to join my new Confederation) because I wanted him to have a crystal for his lightsaber that would unlike those used by the members of the Jedi Order.
"If none of the crystals here call to you then there are other places we can try" I told my student.
It was even possible for him to grow a crystal. I knew how to make organic crystals and Anakin could grow one, nurture it, forging a connection to the crystal over months or even years if needs be.
"You aren't ready to wield a lightsaber yet" I told the lad "But I want you have the crystal now so that when you are ready you can begin working on the weapon right away".
While there were plenty of Jedi Younglings who got their lightsabers at age even younger than Anakin, however at that point they'd already spent years in training. My student barely had any training at all, which meant he could do himself an injury or worse.
"Another place we could try is the the Adega system" I said to Skywalker".
That system was located in the Auril sector of the Outer Rim Territories, it was once a major center for Jedi activities according to the gatekeeper of the Tedryn Holocron. Again its abandonment was a sign of the Jedi Order's failing. They were so focused on maintaining the Republic that they kept all their operations on Courscant, a world that was not strong in the lightside of the Force.
"I think we should stay here, Sir" said the boy.
He was being drawn to a crystal I guessed. None were calling out to me, and this was a little disappointing as I was hoping to make myself a lightsaber shoto, which were essentially miniaturized lightsabers.
The main purpose of such a device was primarily to serve as an off-hand weapon for those duellists seeking to employ the twin-bladed technique of Jar'Kai lightsaber style, but were also utilised by those Jedi and Sith whose diminutive stature made wielding full sized lightsabers impractical, or, in some cases, impossible. Master Yoda used a shoto lightsaber for example.
In terms of design the lightsaber shoto was nothing more than a scaled down version of its larger sibling, and differed very little in its internal mechanism and construction. Generally speaking a shoto would be half the size of a standard lightsaber in both blade and grip length, and usually featured hilts that were considerably slimmer and more streamlined to allow for maximum dexterity.
Although relatively rare in comparison with common lightsabers, shotos saw some use during the Jedi Civil War, to the point where a standard design was adopted, and saw considerable usage, particularly among the Dark Jedi of Revan and Malak's empire, who wielded shotos with blades of crimson or violet.
Like their more traditional counterparts, these sabers were constructed by hand, and were as unique as the individuals who wielded them. Shotos that followed this basic blueprint all shared several common traits, including conical shaped pommels, ringed handgrips and cylindrical emitter shrouds.
Typically a duellist seeking to incorporate a shoto into their arsenal would recreate their original lightsaber in miniature for the sake of convenience and familiarity, although many also opted to make their second blade a different colour from that of their primary weapon.
The primary purpose of a shoto in lightsaber combat was to counter attacks by an opponent's weapon while freeing the primary lightsaber for a return strike. To this end, shoto wielders were required to become proficient in the lightsaber techniques of Jar'Kai in order to reduce risk of injury to themselves due to the increased dexterity needed to master the use of both blades simultaneously.
Masters of this technique could deliver a high number of attacks in a very short amount of time, potentially overpowering opponents quickly rather than engaging in a protracted duel. I preferred to kill my enemies as quickly and cleanly as possible.
The Grand Master of the New Jedi Order, Luke Skywalker, constructed a shoto lightsaber during the Galactic Civil War to counter the unusual nature of his opponent's weapon. The Sith Lady Lumiya's, made use of a lightwhip, which was a weapon I didn't know anything about, at least not yet.
My existing lightsaber contained a special magical crystal, which was not imbued with the Force, but rather magical energy, and yet it worked just as well as any other lightsaber, for some reason.
However for my shoto I intended to use a crytsal that was bonded to me through the Force if possible. If not then I'd just use my existing lightsaber and move onm or perhaps I'd create a backup lightsaber in case anything happened to the one I was carrying right now, hidden behind my black greatcoat.
While my lightsaber had been created by Jump Chan, and there it could be returned to me if destroyed, that might not happen right away, so it might wise to have a backup, I didn't know why more Jedi didn't since it was possible to bond with more than one lightsaber. Another example of their needless uniformity I figured.
I could even use one of the crystal that were meant to enhance the abilities of near-ascended humans. I'd not made use of them so far because my talents had been more than enough to for my needs, but that could change.
"Found it!" Anakin called out.
The presented the blue crystal to me, and it glowed with Force energy, I figured that in time Skywalker would fully tune himself with the crystal and then he would be ready to build his lightsaber.
"Good job" I said, while returning the crystal to its new owner "Keep it somewhere safe until the time is right".
I then presented my student with a gift.
"Along the way you'll find the other parts for your weapon, but I want you have this" I said as I gave the boy a special naquadah power cell, one that could last for centuries if the saber was used wisely "Its much like the power cell in my lightsaber, only I was able to improve on the design since making the prototype".
After thanking me Anakin took the power cell and put in his pocket along with the crystal.
"We should get back to the city" I was now saying "No doubt your mother has missed you, and you have classes".
I wanted Anakin to be my apprentice, to carry on my work once I was gone. Which would be to look after the Confederation, but I also wanted him to have options so it was important for him to have a well rounded education.
The lad said nothing as we headed back the Puddle Jumper, but I could sense that he was thinking eagerly about the future, and I could only hope that it would be a good one for him.
(Line Break)
Lantea. Tatooine.
Upon returning the city I was briefed by Miranda who had some news for me.
"Teth is now part of the Confederation" she told me.
This was surprising news.
"That was quick" I said.
I'd only left that planet about a day ago.
"The planet didn't have any unified leadership so Morgana called up the leaders of each of the major settlements and got them to agree to a deal" I was told "The planet is now somewhat unified, and they'll be sending someone to sit on the council and then to join the assembly".
Like the last Confederation that I'd built this one would be led by an assembly, an organisation somewhat like a senate or a parliament. However that would only come about once we had enough members worlds to justify it. Until that day a smaller council would do the job of providing civilian leadership.
As the administrator of this city, Miranda would also have a set on the council and then the assembly. She wouldn't be elected into office, every world could chose its representative how ever chose, but her successor would be. But that could wait until the Confederation was actually built, and we were ready to leave it the locals.
Anakin would still be too young to replace me at that point, if that was the path he chose, but I had plans to undo Dooku's ageing so that he could stick around for a while longer and watch over the nation he was helping to build. Also increasing his life span would be a fine reward for his services.
I was also considering getting Supi an important job within the Confederation. It would amuse me to place a former slave into a high ranking position, however that would also have to wait as currently she wasn't suitable for such a job. She needed more education and more practical experiences in the wilder galaxy, both of which I could provide.
"Teth is a farming world for the most part" Miranda was telling me as we sat in her office "They were trading their excess food for farming equipment and other goods, but you scared off the smugglers who were bringing those goods in so Morgana convinced them to sell us the food, and in exchange we will sell them manufactured goods".
My goal in creating Lantea had been to provide myself with an industrial base very quickly. It had served me well so far, but if we were going to selling farming goods and other stuff to Teth, while supporting a war, we might need to expand the city.
Which was something I'd planned for when designing the city. There was plenty of free space on this planet, so all I'd have to do was set up another time field and build the needed factories myself.
For me that would take a few weeks, but only hours would pass on the outside. I wouldn't send my companions into the field again because I wouldn't be losing months this time only weeks at the most.
Some of the work would take place once the field was done as I would need to bring in workers and instruct them with memory transferring as well holodeck training. This combination had proven very effective so far.
While we didn't have enough liberated slaves I could just make more asari or go and liberate some slaves from somewhere in Hutt Space, or better yet I could do both. I had a lot of options.
"Get me a list of goods that they normally have smuggled in" I said to Miranda "I need to know what we'll be building".
Not that it really should be called smuggling if you don't have any laws against importing goods because there was no government to enforce any laws.
Given that we had replicators we didn't really need grown food, and Miranda had knew this as well as I did.
"Replicators are great" said the former Cerberus operative "But at the rate we're going we'll have a large army to feed and replicators take time to build. With food stores we'll have a surplus which we can use for rations for the army".
There was a reason why I left these sort of matters to Miranda she was very good at getting things organised behind the scenes as it were, and that left me free to focus on other matters.
Also I knew that while replicator technology would likely spread across the galaxy it would be very bad for the galactic economy if that happened to quickly. While Republic credits could exist digitally they sometimes had a physical existence.
Aurodium, a metal much like gold only rarer, which could be replicated, was used as currency, and once replicators became common Aurodium would become worthless. Which would be bad for people if it hadn't too quickly.
Replicators needed to be introduced slowly and to be limited to providing food, water, clothing and basic medical supplies at first. Over a period of years as people figured out how to better use the replicators I would leave behind the locals would begin to use a currency backed by the value of something that couldn't replicated, but could be mined.
Which was why in the Stargate verse I'd used a naquadah based currency as while naquadah could be mined on many worlds it could not be replicated, as such there was finite supply and the material was needed to keep the technology going so it would always have real value.
"I'll get the new factories sort out" I promised "But I might need to delegate the training. The Hutts will try something soon and I'll need to return to Teth, since we'll be using it as a staging area for our invasion of Hutt Space".
Teth was in Wild Space were there was no law and order, and while my city had been noticed by the greater galaxy, my base on Teth shouldn't draw too much attention from groups like the Republic.
"Our new Jedi spy is on his way" Miranda was now telling me as she handed me a datapad "Here's all the information we have on him".
The Jedi Master, who Jedi Knight Kenobi had mentioned would be sent, turned out to be Jorus C'baoth, who was a male Human from the planet of Bortras who served in the Jedi Order at this time.
From what I knew of the man he was arrogant, overly sure of his own skills and talents, he was known to be a warrior and philosopher. Also of note he viewed non-Force sensitives as inferior to those who could call upon the Force.
While he was highly controversial figure among his own peers, C'baoth was regarded as the epitome of a Jedi Master by some, while others were distrustful of him. I was already wary of the guy and we'd never even met.
During his exemplary, if unorthodox, career, C'baoth settled a number of conflicts. He notably participated in the demobilization of Ando, he defeated a band of Dark Jedi in the Elrood sector, put an end to the Ascendancy Contention of Alderaan, and helped his colleague Tra's M'ins mediate the Duinuogwuin–Gotal conflict. Not that these events meant much to me.
While doing all that, he also found time to train a Padawan, the young Human female Lorana Jinzler. At this point in time she was still a Padawan, and would therefore be coming here with her Master.
Most importantly was the main proponent of the Outbound Flight project, which he envisioned which he saw as a way of spreading the teachings of the Jedi to distant worlds, perhaps finding candidates for the Jedi Order in the unknown parts of this galaxy and beyond.
In the original time line Outbound Flight, was ultimately doomed by his arrogance and events outside of C'boath's control. Its downfall came at the failure of his vision and the destruction of Outbound Flight at the hands of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force led by Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo, also known as Thrawn.
C'baoth eventually fell to the dark side of the Force when he submitted to his anger and attempted to kill Thrawn. He himself died when a Chiss radiation bomb exploded inside of the expedition's main starship,.
Darth Sidious would later use recovered samples of C'baoth's DNA as the template for the insane clone named Joruus C'baoth. That clone became the guardian of Emperor Palpatine's private treasury, and later worked with Grand Admiral Thrawn during his campaign against the New Republic.
Not that any of this could happen now what with Sidious being nothing more than dust in the stellar winds.
"He could be trouble" I said to Miranda Lawson "But it makes sense that he's coming here".
My companion and lover nodded in agreement.
"He's interested in life in other galaxies" she said "And we're claiming to be from another galaxy in this universe".
While we were from the Milky Way, it wasn't the Milky Way of this reality. Perhaps we'd find that galaxy one day, but for now we had others places to explore.
The Jedi Master was no doubt coming here because we were known as the Outsiders, if he wanted to learn about what was outside of this galaxy then we were the people to ask.
"Maybe we should give him a Ha'tak with an upgraded hyperdrive" I mused "Let him have his Outbound Flight Project".
I was a little worried about him trying to take Anakin. The Jedi had the legal right to bring Force Users into their order, it was some law left over from when they'd been fighting the Sith in past wars, but the Jedi had tied themselves to the Republic to the point that outside of its boarders they no legal authority.
Also while this rule meant that they could recruit Force Users of any age the Jedi Order only took very young children. In my experience religious groups, be they mainstream or shady cults, did like to start the brainwashing process with children.
Someone like C'boath, who could go crazy and evil, might not care about that rule. Sure I could protect Anakin, but if I fought a Jedi Master, even without killing him, that might sour things for me with the Jedi Order. Getting rid of him in a non-violent way might be wise.
"I want work started on Ha'tak meant for an extended journey" I decided "We'll give it a Goa'uld hyperdrive, upgrade it so that it can reach nearby galaxies in a few months, and let C'boath leave on it if he so wishes".
Even if it got back-engineered it would still be slow when compared to my ship which could reach other galaxies in mere hours if I pushed the engines.
"An expedition will need a lot of supplies, but it won't need a large crew" I went on to say "We can provide the supplies, he'll have to sort out his own crew".
It wouldn't equal Outbound Flight, but that didn't matter to me, and as for C'baoth, he could go bother some other galaxy, leaving me free to influence this one.
"What do you think the Jedi Council will say to that?" Miranda wondered.
They might not approve of me letting one of their masters leave the galaxy, but they had no authority over me. They'd most likely just send another Jedi to keep an eye on this city, one that was devoted to the Council.
Maybe we'd get Obi-Wan back, he hadn't been too annoying.