Chapter 16

Having just informed the Jedi Council over what went down above Tatooine, Hiccup, Obi-Wan and the newcomer, Astrid, wait as the Council process the information over Astrid helping them as well as Count Dooku crashing onto the planet.

Since the Jedi still don't trust her entirely, Astrid was kept in handcuffs with her hands behind her back and Hiccup held onto her and Dooku's lightsabers.

Mace Windu, with his hands folded, comments, "With Count Dooku dead, this means a devastating blow to both the Separatists and the Sith. I suppose I should commend you, Ms. Hofferson, for helping us take him down, but I also wonder if you did so with…other intentions."

All eyes were now on Astrid as she thinks up what to say before sighing. "Look, I'm not going to ask any of you for full forgiveness, I don't deserve it, but I just want you to believe me. I helped out these two Jedi," she gestures to Hiccup and Obi-Wan, "with my own free will. If I was going to attack them in any way, then I had many chances to do so during that duel against Dooku. You can lock me up if you want, that I do deserve, but do know that I really am here to fight with you guys now."

They all ponder this for a moment before Yoda replies, "a threat, We have all seen you as. Especially to you, Haddock. but help our fellow Jedi, you certainly did."

Ki-Adi Mundi adds, "If only we had some way to prove whether or not you really want to help us."

After another momentary pause, Astrid then asks, "Well, what if I had some information regarding the Sith? Information that could…help us take them down entirely."

Hearing that statement, the other Jedi look to each other with confusion, concern and also intrigue. Mace looks back to Astrid and says, "Go on."

Astrid takes another deep sigh. "Count Dooku was not the Sith lord that you think he was. Yes, he was a Sith, but he was simply a supporting set of hands to the real person behind both the Separatists, the Sith and, I suspect, the war as a whole."

All eyes go wide as they hear this before Mace asks, "And, who is this Sith lord?" Astrid raises a brow to him for a moment before Mace glances down. "Right." He lifts his hand and was about to use The Force to unlock the handcuffs when Master Luminara, the green skinned Jedi, stops him.

"Hold on, how do we know that she's telling the truth?" Luminara points out.

Astrid raises her other brow before opening her hand and perfectly lifting up an empty chair with The Force before making the chair flip downwards to where the legs were parallel to the wall behind the chair. She then flips the chair back to its original position and lowers it back to where it sat. Astrid then states, "That could've easily been one or two of you in that chair. Believe me now?"

Seeing that she really was trying not to harm them, Mace uses The Force to unlock the handcuffs, making them fall to the floor. Astrid brings her hands back to the front as Mace says, "Now, let's hear it."

Astrid nods before beginning. "The person I speak of is a man who has been perfectly playing both sides of the war, and has even orchestrated the whole thing. I suspect he's also responsible for coming up with the idea to create the Clones that you all have trusted all this time. If you thought Dooku was powerful, then this guy is something else entirely. He's the true Master of the Sith, and he goes by the name of Darth Sidious. Sound familiar?"

Mace looks to Obi-Wan who comments, "Before the war began, I heard mention of the name from Dooku, but until now I've had no actual evidence that he even exists. So, you're saying that he is real?"

Astrid nods. "As real as the nose on your face. I never actually met him, but from what I've heard he's far more powerful than anyone you have ever met, and he has an alter ego, someone that you have also trusted for a long time. I'm afraid that's all the information I have."

Mace taps his fingers together and comments, "So not only is he real, but we have all met him without even knowing it. On top of that, biding to the rule of the Sith, in that there are always two, this means that Asaaj Ventress isn't a Sith at all, but simply an assassin who is with the Dark Side of The Force."

Ki-Adi looks to Obi-Wan and asks, "Kenobi, years ago you took down the Sith assassin, Darth Maul. Is it possible that he was simply the apprentice in that situation?"

Obi-Wan puts his hand to his bearded chin and replies, "I was just thinking the same thing. Really is hard to imagine who this hidden threat could be. It could be a member of the Senate, it could be a world leader of some form, hell it could even be a Jedi."

Hiccup then asks, "Could a Jedi really have the desire to take us down?"

Mace replies, "Wouldn't surprise me, especially considering Captain Rex's report of the recent incident with Master Pong Krell on Umbara. From the sounds of it, he barely made it out in one piece after Krell turned on him and his squad."

Yoda then comments, "a real puzzle, This is. the knowledge of who to trust, This compromises."

It was then that Kit Fisto, the green skinned tentacle haired Jedi, points out, "You know, we do have a way to find out more about this Darth Sidious."

Hiccup's eyes widen. "Oh yeah, the Jedi Scope, and we even have a Sith lightsaber to use it on so we could see if there's information about Darth Sidious on it. Where is it?"

Mace replies, "It's in a private location. I will need you to leave as I retrieve it." Astrid nods and turns around as she starts to walk out the door before Mace adds, "You too, Haddock. We…have something to discuss." Finding it a little odd but understanding, Hiccup bows and walks out with Astrid.

Once outside the room, Hiccup and Astrid stand in the hallway as they wait for the Council to discuss whatever it is they needed to discuss. Hiccup looks over to Astrid and asks, "…So how did you end up here?" Astrid gives him a side eye before Hiccup adds, "You basically told me earlier, so you might as well explain."

Astrid closes her eyes as she thinks about it before replying, "It was about a month ago…I randomly woke up on Raxus. I didn't know where I was or how I got there, all I knew was my name. That's when Count Dooku found me, he took me in and apparently he saw potential in me, so he offered to take me in and start training with The Dark Side. I didn't know anything else up until that point, so I went with him.

Dooku was right about one thing, I do have a very strong connection to The Force, so when he found out that you were running about being the golden boy Jedi, he sent me to hunt and kill you. And, well you basically know what happened from there."

Hiccup stares Astrid down as he processes the story. "That sounds just like what happened to me, only I was trained with The Force, not The Dark Side. I, too, woke up randomly and found myself in this galaxy, and Obi-Wan took me in and saw potential in me to be a Jedi, so I began training."

Astrid then asks, "If you woke up like me, then how do you even know who I am."

Hiccup was about to answer that when the doors to the room open and they are let back in.

Meanwhile on Raxus, Darth Sidious had appeared on a large holographic call in front of the droid-suited alien, General Grievous, and the white skinned, bald assassin, Asaaj Ventress.

Sidious says to the other two, "The loss of Count Dooku, while unfortunate, will not hinder my plans to take back the galaxy from the Jedi. Hence forth, General Grievous, I now appoint you as the new supreme leader of the Separatists."

Grievous bows to him. "It is an honor, sir."

Ventress scoffs to that. "So I gotta suck up to this bag of bolts now?"

Grievous looks to Ventress and replies, "You can just hear the enthusiasm in my voice."

Sidious then adds, "There is more. Ventress, biding to the rule of two, since you were Dooku's apprentice prior to his death, you will now be promoted to an official Sith lord."

Ventress crosses her arms and smirks to that. "Well, that's more like it. Perhaps Dooku should've died a long time ago."

Sidious then adds, "Now, your first assignment with your new titles, the girl. She knows too much about the inner workings of both the Sith and the Separatists. I want you to find her and kill her."

Grievous and Ventress bow to Sidious as they reply, "As you wish, Master." Before the call ends and they begin planning on how to do just that.

Hiccup and Astrid re-enter the Jedi Council room where Mace says to Astrid, "Alright, Hofferson, here's the deal. While your actions of the past have been questionable…we do believe in second chances. We would like to offer to take you in as a new Jedi. If not, then we can simply let you go as a citizen."

Astrid thinks about the offer for a good minute. She looks to Hiccup, then all around to the other Jedi in the room and she does recognize that these people have been far more kind to her than Dooku ever was, so she replies with a nod, "I accept your offer to become a Jedi."

Mace nods. "Alright. Now, since you are new to The Force, we are going to start you off as a Padawan, just like Hiccup did. As such, you are going to need a master. Haddock?"

Hearing this, Hiccup was a tad confused, but then the pieces click and he asks, "…Me? You want me to be Astrid's master?"

Mace nods. "You both have already displayed a similar set of skill and power, we think this could work out very well."

Hiccup looks to Astrid, wondering if she was ok with this. Astrid thinks for a moment as well before giving a genuine grin to Hiccup. Hiccup grins back before looking to Mace and stating, "…I accept."

Mace nods. "Excellent. Now, the other matter at hand." He brings up the cylindrical device that is the Jedi Scope and has Hiccup walk over to retrieve it. They then pull down blinds over the windows in the room and dim the lights.

Hiccup holds up Count Dooku's curved lightsaber hilt and says to the other Jedi, "Ok, I don't know what we're about to see, but we better brace ourselves."

Hiccup inserts the saber into the back end of the scope and activates the saber, causing the lens at the front end of the scope to flash out with a red glow onto the wall in front of him, showing graphic images of people using Dark Side moves like lightning and Force Choke on others.

Mace comments, "That is a Sith's crystal, alright."

Hiccup nods. "Now, let's see what this thing can tell us."

Hiccup turns the knobs on the scope and it flashes a few faces. First Dooku, who was already marked as 'Deceased', then over to a red with black lined faced man under the name 'Darth Maul', then after a few more clicks, came across a man wearing a black hood where you could only see his mouth.

Hiccup asks, "That him?"

Astrid replies, "Has to be."

Obi-Wan comments, "Sheesh. I've seen some Sith in my time, but this guy is something else entirely. This is just an image of him and I can feel the power coming off of him."

Mace squints to the image. "That face, it's…familiar but I can't put my finger on it."

Hiccup then comments, "Let's see what the Jedi Scope has to say."

He flips down to the section that has further information about the man.

'Sith name: Darth Sidious

Age: Unknown

Birth planet: Unknown

Power level: Unmatched

Current rank: Sith Lord'

Having read that, Hiccup turns off the scope and the lights flip on. Mace then comments, "Well, I suppose that didn't help as much as we would hope. If only we had some kind of recording or video of him."

Astrid then asks, "Well, what if I told you I do have a recording of his voice?"

All eyes went back to Astrid in shock and amusement. Mace simply asks, "What?"

Astrid nods. "Before I stole that cargo ship to meet up with Hiccup, I managed to overhear a conversation between Dooku and, who I presumed to be this Darth Sidious."

Mace blinks to that. "And you're just now telling us this?"

Astrid raises a brow to that. "Do you fully trust me yet?" Mace didn't really know how to respond to that, so he sits there in silence before Astrid nods. "What I thought." She brings up a recording device and states, "Alright, you all better brace yourselves."

She plays the recording. It begins with Dooku's voice, "You were right about the girl, Master. Her power is beyond that of any apprentice I have ever seen. I believe she will be very valuable to us."

Then a coarse voice appears. "Goooood. Once she captures and takes down Haddock, my plans for taking back the galaxy will be closer to coming to full force, and my Empire will finally be born."

The recording cuts off after that, but it was all that the Jedi needed to hear. Mace comments, "Whoa."

Obi-wan adds, "You all heard that right? There's a…familiarity to that voice but I just can't figure it out."

Yoda adds, "felt it too, I did."

Hiccup then asks, "So, how can this help us in any way?"

"I think this can help us exactly how we want it to help us." They turn around and see Anakin standing there, leaning against the doorway.

Mace asks, "Skywalker? How long have you been standing there?"

Anakin shrugs. "Long enough to know that Dooku is dead and you all know that Darth Sidious is real."

Obi-Wan comments, "Anakin, what are you doing here? You know that with your suspension, you can't be in the same room when the Council is having a discussion."

Anakin nods. "Look, you can be mad at me if you want, but I do have a leg up here." He then holds up a small, speaker-like device with a small light on it.

Obi-Wan asks, "What is that?"

Anakin replies, "This is a voice recognizer. You give it a codeword, then when that word is uttered, the recognizer will connect the voice used in the original codeword's recording with the voice being said. Now, since we don't know who we can trust yet, I used a very simple word from the video that Astrid just shared."

Mace asks, "And just what is that word?"

Anakin then replies, "Good." The device scans a bit before the light on it flashes red. "Well, that would be a negative, if there was a match then it would turn green. It can activate on that word in any language, any pitch, tone, or frequency, even through a holographic call."

Obi-Wan shakes his head. "I swear if you put as much effort into your inventions as you do to listening to us and taking orders."

Mace nods. "This device will be a big help to us all, no doubt. Now, let's pass the device around and say the word."

They all look to Mace upon the request as Hiccup asks, "What?"

Mace replies, "We want to make sure it's not one of us, right?" That much made sense, so all of the Jedi, both current and recent, pass around the device and say the word 'good', only for it to come up as negative each time. For those who were speaking through holographic call, the device was held up for them by those who were physically there.

Once the device gets back to Anakin, he nods and Mace comments. "Alright, well, that much is clear. Now, we'll have to think strategically about who we have say the word."

Just then, the doors open up and Padmé appears, walking in saying, "Oh, sorry to interrupt anything. Master Skywalker, Chancellor Palpatine wanted to see you for a…mission briefing." She gives him the quickest wink she could give.

Anakin nods to that. "Oh, uh, yes I'll be right there."

Just as the two of them exit the room, Obi-Wan says to Padmé, "Oh, Senator Amidala? I believe Anakin, here, has something he'd like to tell you."

Anakin gives Obi-Wan a side glare before looking back to Padmé and saying, "Oh, yeah, uh, my suspension should be over any day now."

Padmé smiles to that. "Ah, good!" The recognizer beeps a bit before coming up as negative.

Anakin nods to that and says to Padmé, "Yeah, uh you go on I need to speak with my Master real quick." Padmé shrugs and walks away before Anakin whispers. "Really?"

Obi-Wan shrugs. "At least now we know." Anakin thinks about that for a moment before smirking a bit.

An hour later, Anakin has Obi-Wan meet him in a call room where Obi-Wan enters and asks, "This better be important, Anakin. I have important business to attend tooooooo…"

He looks up and spots a holographic call of a woman with looped blonde hair wearing a bright blue dress. The woman's eyes widen upon seeing Obi-Wan as she says, "Oh, uh Ma-" she composes herself a bit more. "Master Kenobi. Your apprentice did not tell me you'd be here."

Obi-Wan composes himself and comments, "Duchess Satine. Yes, Anakin didn't exactly tell me that he was calling you."

Anakin rubs the back of his neck. "Ah, sorry for conveniently leaving out that detail. Uh, my Master here actually wanted to inform you something, didn't he?"

Obi-Wan glance down and saw the Voice Recognizer stashed in Anakin's pocket and knew exactly what this was. Obi-Wan looks up to Satine and says, "Yes, uh…what was it?" he snaps his fingers a few times as he tries to come up with something before replying, "Oh, yes, we just had a new Jedi join us."

Satine nods. "Oh, I see. Well, that's good…" the device comes up as negative. "…I suppose. Any help is needed in this time. A bit odd that you'd tell me like this, though."

Obi-Wan nods. "Yes, indeed, uh well that should be all. I hope to speak with you later."

The call ends as Anakin twirls the device in his fingers and comments in a mocking voice, "Well, at least now we know."

Obi-Wan comments, "That was a low blow, even by your standards."

Anakin shrugs. "Probably, but at least now we're even." He then proceeds to leave the room. Obi-Wan looks to the call device in front of him, sighs and leaves right behind Anakin.