Chapter 4:

Anakin was looking at Ahsoka in shock, and Obi-wan shook his head and gestured with his hand, "I beg your pardon, Ahsoka, but could you please repeat that. I could have sworn you just said that she had no midi-chlorians."

Ahsoka shook her head, "You didn't mishear me, Master. She has no midi-chlorians at all."

Anakin felt Ranma through the force again just to make sure, "She sure feels like she is alive, and she feels like she should have a ton of midi-chlorians. Yet she has none?"

Ahsoka nodded, "I had to engage the Protocols on the droids."

Anakin's eyes widened, "What?!"

Obi-wan rubbed at his beard with his right hand while holding his elbow with his left, "Makes sense."

Anakin turned to his master with *that* look on his face, "You can't honestly tell me you believe this. We need to run another scan, the results had to be wrong."

Obi-wan shook his head, "I could feel through the Force that she isn't lying, and it would probably go a long way towards explaining the impact she has on the Force. Ahsoka, can I see the data you collected?"

Ahsoka handed it over, and Obi-wan nodded on seeing it, "She doesn't have midi-chlorians, Anakin."

Anakin looked back and forth between Obi-wan and Ranma, "Then how is she even alive?"

Obi-wan looked over the scans again and said, "I will have to get the healers in the temple to confirm it for me, but it appears she has structures native to her cells that are performing the same biological function as the symbiotic midi-chlorians are in ours."

Ahosoka tilted her head to the side, "What does that have to do with her impact on the Force?"

Obi-wan raised an eyebrow, "You don't get it? She has a far greater connection to the Force than any of us because she is connected with it directly instead of indirectly through intermediaries like we are. And because it is a natural and direct connection she is far more attuned to the Living Force because she essentially is like a piece of the Living Force itself."

They all digested that for a few seconds, and then Ranma asked through the droid that had been translating the conversation for her, "What is this Force thing you are talking about, and even though I didn't pay all that much attention in biology class, I have never heard midi-chlorians before, so what are they?"

Obi-wan quickly adopted what Anakin recognized as his lecturing pose, "The Force is energy field created by all living things that surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together. Midi-chlorians are symbiotic lifeforms that are supposed to live within the cells of all living things. They connect us to the Force and provide the energy for our cells that we cannot provide ourselves."

Ranma nodded at that and then the droid translated for her again, though it was painfully obvious some terms didn't necessarily translate well, "So the Force is the natural energy of the universe and it is powered by the life energy of every individual being. These midi-chlorians sound similar to what my teacher called, mito-something or other. Though I don't think the things my teacher talked about were other life forms living inside me."

The Jedi nodded and Commander Cody and Captain Rex started upon hearing things put in those terms. It actually made more sense to them that way, but it didn't stop the fact that Jedi were just odd in the things they could do. That was one thing they doubted they could ever get.

Ahsoka turned to Obi-wan and hesitantly said, "She said she was from a different universe."

Obi-wan stroked his beard, "Considering what we know about life in the Galaxy that fits with her biology and the splash, for lack of a better word, she made in the Force when she arrived."

Anakin sighed, "So what are we going to do with her?"

They pondered it for a bit, and Obi-wan spoke up, "Until we get to Coruscant she can stay in the unused Padawan quarters joined to my room that you technically abandoned months ago. After that I will take her before the council, and we shall see from there."

Ranma spoke up, "Do you think your council will let me learn your techniques?"

The Jedi in the room grimaced, Anakin especially, "I doubt it. The council has something against giving training to people who are older than 3. I myself only barely got in."

Ranma tilted her head to the side, "That sounds stupid. Techniques should be open to all, no matter the age."

Obi-wan sat down on his bed, surreptitiously tilting it a little bit with the Force to cause Anakin to roll off when he moved to make room for his former master, "Based on how you speak, you sound more like martial artists from the different corners of the Galaxy. The problem is that the council feels that the older you are the more likely you are to fall to the dark side when being trained in how to utilize the force."

Ranma grinned, "I am a martial artist, the best, and what exactly is the dark side?"

Obi-wan sighed, "You may be able to guess based on the name, but it is the evil within the force. It is powered by and feeds off negative emotions, and it is like a poison. Those who start down the path of darkness, it will forever dominate their destiny."

Ranma gave them a confused look, "Energy is energy, it has no will, and evil is within, not without."

Obi-wan sighed and shook his head, "The Force has a will, and unfortunately on the second point as well you are incorrect."

She shook her head, "Is this dark side?"

The room noticeably cooled in an instant as their guest seemed to take off whatever restraint she had, the Jedi could all feel that she had manually connected with the Force in the same way they did. Her eyes had become a molten yellow with slit pupils as she seemed to let rage consume her, and it built to the point where it was almost suffocating. Her power and strength, though she was just standing there skyrocketed. All the Jedi present had been in the presence of Sith Lords before, and what she was currently doing was making those Sith feel like sparks compared to a supernova. It suddenly cut out as she closed her eyes, breathed in, disconnected herself from the force again, and let her anger cool impossibly fast in their opinion. When she next opened her eyes they were blue again, and she had an insufferable smirk on her face. She was also without a doubt purely on the light side again.

Ranma laughed a little at their reactions and then said, "Meh, Dark Side is no problem for me. All I need to do is disconnect my emotions from natural energy and I no longer get that weird feedback that makes it hard to control anger."

Obi-wan recovered from his shock first, coughed into his hand, and then asked, "Feedback?"

Ranma nodded, "Anything going into the natural energy of this place is like a microphone held up to the speaker it is connected to and set to fairly low volume. At first you won't notice the noise, but eventually it gets loud enough that it can be heard for miles."

Anakin gasped, "That's…"

Ahsoka looked at her master, "If that's true…"

Obi-wan drew him-self up and adopted his master on the council voice, "I think we just saw a demonstration of it being true, and that changes everything. It explains so much yet leaves so many other things unanswered. I will need to tell the council about this, and if they say no, then I will take her on as my apprentice myself."

Anakin raised an eyebrow, "I thought you were against that sort of thing?"

Obi-wan sighed, "I am not anymore. I know why Qui-gon wanted to do it with you, and I agree with his reasoning now. At the time I was too concerned with impressing the council to see what he was shooting for, but I do get it now. I am also both glad and sad that he was not here to train you, glad because you are like a brother and son to me now, and sad because he wouldn't have made the same mistakes with you that I did."

Anakin wanted to both accuse and comfort his master in that moment, "Obi-wan?"

Obi-wan sighed, "When it came to your mother, Anakin, I failed you, and for that I am truly sorry. If I could go back in time and do things over again, I would be the first one to hop in a ship the moment you told me about your visions. I merely thought them to be dreams at the time. That doesn't excuse what I did, but I wish I could change it now. Unfortunately I can't."

Anakin got onto the bed as well and hugged the older man, "I forgive you, Obi-wan…"

Ahsoka coughed into her hand after a moment or two and said, "Not to interrupt the tender moment, but I think we de-railed, Masters."

Obi-wan nodded as he cleared the extra moisture that was most certainly not tears from his eyes, "Yes… Yes. She is going to be trained, whether the council likes it or not. In fact, how about we start now, though… Droid, what language is she speaking?"

The protocol droid nodded to him, "She is speaking a dialect of ancient Mandoa."

Obi-wan gave her a look, just knowing the council would come to the same conclusion he did and not be happy about it, "So you are a Mandalorian?"

Ranma tilted her head to the side in complete confusion, "No, I am Japanese, why would I be a giant demon snake follower?"

Obi-wan ran back over all the topics of conversation, "No, the better question is probably, how is it that your native language is similar to the language of the ancient Mandalorians?"

Ranma shrugged, "I got no clue, who are the Mandalorians?"

Anakin piped up, "They are a warrior culture that exists in the galaxy, though I heard their new ruler is trying to make some kind of reforms in their culture. They were heavily expansionistic back in the day, and about a thousand years ago the republic decided that they needed to be kept in check. So before another war with them could start, the Republic engaged in a preemptive strike on their planets and decimated them."

Ranma paused for a second to digest that information, "Sounds kind of like my country and its former habits before the Second World War when it provoked the country that eventually dropped an atomic bomb on two of our cities. That country was a republic too."

Obi-wan stared hard at her, "Do you think it is possible that you are not the first person from your world to come to this galaxy?"

Ranma nodded, "Seems as good a thing to think of as any. Too many parallels for there to not be some sort of shenanigans happening, and with what happened to me I know there is a way for it to happen."

Obi-wan nodded as well, "That is very true… hmmmm… Ahsoka, could you guide Ranma to the hanger. I will be there in a moment, but I need a second to think."

Ahsoka bowed as the droid was translating, and afterwards Ranma replied with a grin, "Sounds good to me."

Ranma placed her hands behind her neck as she followed Ahsoka out of the room. Cody, Rex, and the protocol droid were following along behind them. The door shut behind them with a hiss of air, and they started walking down the hallway in the direction of the hanger bay.

Ahsoka looked at her, unable to figure her out, "You do know they just wanted to get rid of us so they could talk about something, right?"

Ranma nodded, "Yup, I figure that whatever it is I will find out soon enough. I wish I knew your language though. No offense to the droid, but not being able to properly communicate is a pain."

Ahsoka thought about it for a second, "There… there might be a way for that to happen almost instantly."

Ranma stopped and looked at her in surprise, "Oh?"

Obi-wan watched the door slide into place, and then he turned to Anakin, "I am guessing you felt it, too."

Anakin nodded, "I did, master."

Obi-wan stared at his fist, "Despite proving her little reverb theory true when she 'fell' to the Dark Side, she caused a different sort of reaction in the force."

Anakin sighed and said, "I got a feeling of joy from it, like a person long thought lost has at last returned."

Obi-wan nodded, "That is what I sensed too. She has some sort of connection with it that even she isn't aware of…"

Anakin glanced at him, "…You think the council sensed it?"

Obi-wan sighed, "I know they did, they sensed both things and I expect there will be a 'minor' session called any minute now."

Anakin looked at his former master in worry, "What would you like me to do?"

Obi-wan stroked his beard while holding his elbow with his other hand, "Get her started on the basics of Jedi teaching while I take the call that is going to come in any second now on the hypercomm channel used by the council."

Anakin scowled, "And the basics are…?"

Obi-wan grinned at him when the com unit in his room started beeping, "Your least favorite thing; meditation."

Anakin grumbled his whole way out the door and Obi-wan hit the button to accept the call as it was coming in, first thing he said to them was, "Masters of the council, I am guessing you felt that?"

They all nodded to him, and Yoda asked, "Fell hard and returned from the dark side she did. Troubling it was."

Obi-wan nodded, "You don't know the half-of it master, but there are things about her that it would be best I explain to the council in person. I will say this though, with everything we learn about her, more questions just keep popping up."

Mace Windu nodded, "All but Master Koth and Master Ti should be here by the time you arrive, and after the council meets this young woman you have picked up, we have another mission that we are sending you on. We will give you the details in person."

Obi-wan raised an eyebrow, "Just me?"

Yoda nodded, "Needed on Felucia young Skywalker and his Padawan are."

Ki-Adi Mundi nodded his tall head, "Unfortunately the only droids left on planet are about three hundred commando droids, and the troops there are not used to dealing with them."

Obi-wan nodded, "They will need Cody, so I hope the mission is only one that requires a couple people."

Yoda's eyes narrowed, "Qui-gon's defiance. Sense it in you I do."

Obi-wan smiled wryly, "Unfortunately, Master. There is a very good reason for it I assure you."

The other masters of the council wondered what that was about, and Yoda sighed, "Talk to you more, when less danger there is."

Obi-wan smirked, "Both from spies and shoddy hyperspace communication malfunctions. May the Force be with you, Masters."

They all echoed, "May the Force be with you."

The blue holograms of the council cut out, and Obi-wan sighed, "I better get out there and make sure they aren't driving each other up a wall… or trying to fight each other instead of meditate."

For Sidious, it was a good thing that he was alone when he felt the surge in the Dark Side. He had just finished reprimanding his temporary apprentice for allowing the being to escape, but right as he was about to open up his office to receive guests he felt the powerful being fall to the Dark Side. He could tell that the being that fell most likely eclipsed even his power, and his rage built to the boiling point at the thought of a rival Sith Lord more powerful than him.

The feeling of joy that echoed through the depths of the force didn't help matters any, and on top of that he had felt the Dark Side recede from him. It was as if the Dark Side had a new favorite son or something, and was more than willing to drop him like a sack of Bantha Poodoo. He took a moment to calm himself and then reached out with his mind into the force.

"I didn't want to do this, but it seems I must bring back my wayward apprentice. Possibly even recruit the false Sith from the lost tribe on Kesh and the night sisters on Dathomir."

He felt into the force to try and get an answer as to what he should do, but his ability to see the future was fragmented at best. His power was fluctuating as well, almost like the Dark Side no longer thought him worthy of being its master. He flexed his might and metaphysically wrestled control of the Dark Side from its current state of rebellion. It required more effort than he had hoped, and though he succeed, it cost him hours of intense labor. Even then, it was almost impossible to see more than a glimpse of a variety of different futures. In some he saw the massive black durasteel cyborg of his originally planned future apprentice. In others he saw a grey-haired Anakin Skywalker hugging his golden-red haired great grandson. In one particularly unlikable one to him he saw his arms and head being chopped off by a red-eyed Dooku.

Beyond glimpses similar to those he could see nothing, and when he tried to focus on the anomaly that had caused the reaction in the Dark Side, he only ended up with an extreme headache for his troubles. He could tell that it wasn't because the Force was actively defending the being, but rather it seemed to him that the being was a sort of natural shatter point in the time-space continuum. As such, it needed to be eliminated as soon as possible or he would never regain his foresight.

"With the being now under the protection of the Jedi, I cannot simply kill it myself. I will need to move as many of my pawns as possible into positions where they can eliminate the problem. Maybe I can find out where it is going when the council next reports to me about the progress of the war, and I can ask why resources were diverted away from battle areas to go to some remote planet not even inhabited by any sentient life."

He pulled off his hood and sat back in his chair. He allowed his eyes to cool from molten yellow and then buzzed the guards outside his office, "Guards, I will now be accepting guests."

The reply came back, "Yes, your excellency."

He clicked off the com unit and then folded his hands, "Soon enough they will be calling me that for another reason."