Back on Tython, two messages had just arrived. One was from Bail. The other was an alert from Master Sinube that a message was at the dead drop. In the Council Chamber, the eight members of the Council still on Tython reviewed the message from Bail.
"A trap, this could be," said Yoda. "But logical, it is. The home of the Sith, Korriban is. To train his acolytes there, makes sense, it does."
"It also explains how he has been able to corrupt so many, so quickly," offered Plo Koon.
Nodding her head and agreeing with him, Jocasta Nu said, "Korriban is steeped deeply in the Dark Side. I know of no other planets that have been so thoroughly corrupted by it."
"One other, only, do I know of," said Yoda. "A planet uninhabited it is. But a nexus for the Dark Side it is."
"What planet is that, Master Yoda?" Asked Shaak Ti.
"Dagobah, the planet is called. Strong in the Force it is. Upon it's surface, could many Jedi hide if needed. Hope, I do, that day never comes. But on Korriban should our attention be."
Speaking up for the first time, Cin Dralig asked, "If we do decide this information is accurate, what do we do with it? We don't know how many Sith or Dark Jedi are there. We don't know if Sidious has his fleet protecting the planet."
At that, Master Va Zhurro spoke up, "I think it's a fairly safe bet that he has at least part of his fleet there. Sidious would be a fool to leave the planet undefended."
Nodding his agreement, Cin continued, "We also don't know how many Clones he has there. I would assume at least a legion. For us to attack Korriban, we would need to bring overwhelming numbers. At least several hundred Jedi. More if he has significant ground forces on the planet."
"Not to mention bringing a large portion of the 501st as well," added Aayla Secura.
"I'm not sure hitting Korriban at this time is practical," said J'oopi She'. "The Order has been weakened severely from the War and Palpatine's betrayal. Do we risk what strength we have left by attacking such an obvious target? The attacks we have launched already have been on relative backwaters. And on Kashyyyk and Ryloth, we could count on the support of the local population. But not on Korriban. That is the heart of Sidious' order."
Yoda, not liking what he was hearing from his fellow Jedi, spoke up. "Defeat, I am hearing in your words. Defeated the Order is not. Sworn to destroy the Sith we are. Do that by sitting still, we do not. Gaining strength, the Sith will be. If wait longer, we do, harder our task will be. More bloodshed, I do not wish. But destroy the Sith, we must."
A feeling a embarrassment swept through the High Council Chamber at Yoda's words. The assembled Jedi Masters all realized that Yoda was right. The Order had most definitely been weakened. Weakened badly even. But they had been speaking as if the Order had already been defeated.
"You're right, Master Yoda," said Master Koon. "We are not defeated. And the Sith will never be weaker. But any attack on Korriban carries with it grave risks."
"Know this, I do. Argue not for a blind attack, do I. But attack, we must. Allow the Sith to build their strength, we cannot. For a thousand years, turned a blind eye to the Sith we have. Assumed we did that defeated the Sith were. No more. Gradually, cast aside our role of guarding the Republic from the Dark Side, we did. Too easily believed we did that the Sith, return, they could not. Wrong we were. Destroy the Sith now we must. And on guard for their return we must ever be."
The truth of Yoda's words resounded deeply with each and every being in the Council Chamber. Had they already forgotten the lessons that the Fall of the Temple had taught them? Were they so ready to simply give up, stay in hiding and let the Sith rule the Galaxy unopposed because of their complacency? The Council Chamber was silent as the High Council contemplated exactly what Yoda's words meant for the Order as a whole and for them individually.
Finally, Master Ti spoke up. "You're right, Master Yoda. For too long has the Order been complacent and let the Sith manipulate the Galaxy to their benefit. It seems that it is more difficult to shake that complacency off than we realized. As Jedi, each and every one of us took a vow that we would do out utmost to destroy the Sith and root out the Dark Side wherever it may be found. Now it is time for us to live up to that vow."
"Beyond time," said Plo Koon. "I too have been guilty of this. For too long have I been far too content to simply be carried along in the current. The Order must take up the mantle of Guardians against the Dark Side once again. And to do that, we must destroy the Sith." Turning to Jocasta Nu, he asked her, "What information do we have on Korriban? I seem to recall that the Order at one time did try to cleanse the planet."
"A very long time ago," replied Master Nu. "And without success, I'm afraid. The planet has been corrupted to it's core. Any Jedi sent to attack the Sith there must be exceptionally committed to the Light. The pull to the Dark will be very strong there. Any who are sent that have even the slightest doubt will be vulnerable."
"Hmmmmm, trust we must show. Showed trust I did in Anakin, rewarded me, he did. Show trust in all our Jedi we must. Our trust in them, anchor them to the light, it will," stated Master Yoda.
"Master Yoda, while I agree showing trust in Anakin resulted in anchoring him to the Light, isn't it foolish of us to believe that will be the case for everyone?" asked Master Dralig. "After all, we trusted Palpatine, and he betrayed that trust in the worst possible fashion."
"The Sith, our Jedi are not," replied Master Yoda, an edge of durasteel creeping into his voice and his eyes hardening. "Worthy of our trust are the Jedi in our care. If expect them to place their trust in us, our trust in them is also to be expected."
Suitably chastised, Master Dralig nodded his head in acquiescence to Master Yoda. The rest of the Council as well agreed, reluctantly, with Master Yoda. While betrayal was the way of the Sith, it was not the way of the Jedi. And if the Order was to survive, they would have to show trust in all their Jedi. The Jedi present all, finally, agreed that an attack on Korriban must be made. Once the rest of the Council was gathered together on Tython again, a final decision would be made.
On Korriban, Darth Sidious walked the halls of the newly repaired Sith Temple. A number of slaves were still completing repairs, but the building was finished enough to be used. His Sith Acolytes would be moved into the Temple from the temporary barracks later today. Sidious reveled in the power of the Dark Side in this place. The Temple was designed to channel the dark energies of the Force from the planet into a powerful Force Nexus. Enhancing the power of those committed to the Dark and corrupting those in the Light. It's power was already manifesting itself in the slaves here as they were slowly corrupted, allowing Sidious to feed off their Force Energy, enhancing his own abilities.
The ability to drain the Force from a being was one of the rarest abilities a Jedi or Sith could command. For the Jedi, it was considered a prohibited skill, known only by the most powerful and committed of the Masters such as Yoda. For the Sith, the skill was no less rare. But for entirely different reasons. No Sith Lord would willingly teach his apprentice how to incapacitate him in a fight. Not if he wished to live, that is. If a Sith wanted to learn the talent, they had to learn it on their own. It was his ultimate trump card. He had spent years refining the technique on beings he had kidnapped from the underlevels of Imperial Center. Beings that no one would miss. Most were common, non Force Sensitive beings, though a handful were Force Sensitive. Untrained, but still connected to the Force. The skill not only weakened, and in some cases killed, his opponents, but strengthened him simultaneously. He had only ever used it in combat against those he had captured. Which, granted, they weren't much of a challenge, but he couldn't afford to use it against a Jedi. Not without revealing his power. If he could, he would never reveal this power until Darth Aella challenged him for supremacy of the Sith. And then, only if he had to. Unfortunately for him, the currents in the Force were hinting to him that he might not have that luxury. In fact, they were the entire reason he was on Korriban at all.
While he had been planning a trap for the Jedi ever since they had discovered his plans for the Death Star, he was starting to get disturbing tremors in the Force. A warning that things were not well. And they seemed to be centered on Korriban. And for that reason, he was here. He had planned to ensconce himself at the top of the Temple, where the Dark Side was strongest and root out the source of these tremors. So far, no matter how much he tore at the fabric of the Force and tried to impose his will on it, the Dark Side refused to show him what he needed to know. Only now was he realizing just how far the ripples were spreading from his failure to turn Anakin and completely destroy the Jedi when he had the chance. Just thinking of Anakin was enough to make him seethe. When he had encountered the boy on Naboo, he stank of the Light Side of the Force. Not even a hint of the darkness that had been within him before. The darkness he had spent years coaxing into existence until it threatened to swallow the boy completely. Only to watch him get snatched back into the Light and into the Jedi just as he was about to wrap his claws around him completely.
The only good to come of that disaster was the unlimited source of anger and rage it gave him to channel the immense power of the Dark Side within him. He was currently bottling it up within him, holding the power inside him until he could unleash it upon some being worthy of his rage. Unfortunately, all the targets he wanted to attack were out of his reach at the moment. The Jedi had pulled a vanishing act that was unsurpassed. Oh, he certainly had ideas as to where they had gone. Certain planets that featured in the Order's history. Ach To, Dantoine, Ossus. Even Tython.
Ossus he had ruled out almost immediately. The planet had been largely destroyed thousands of years ago. It was barely capable of sustaining the most basic life forms. Still he had checked it out. The planet was deserted. Dantoine was the same. The ruins of the Jedi Temple there were empty, no sign that they had been disturbed in hundreds of years. Ach To had been lost to history. No one knew if the planet still existed. Or even if that was the current name of the planet. It would be an ideal hiding place for the Jedi. And was where Sidious believed the Jedi to have gone. The Jedi likely had information that was not available to the rest of the Galaxy. Information that had probably been stored in the Jedi Archives. The Archives that they had wiped clean before he could capture them. Of all the likely options, that left Tython. But after not one of the ten scout ships he had sent to penetrate the Deep Core had returned, had not even sent in a single report, he had, reluctantly, accepted the fact that the hyperspace routes to the planet had indeed collapsed.
Until he could find the blasted Jedi, he had resigned himself to bringing the rest of the Galaxy to heel. And training his new Sith Order. So far, he had managed to corrupt a dozen Jedi to the Dark Side. And numerous other, less well trained, Force Users. As a whole, they didn't have a prayer of standing up the Jedi Order. Not if the Order attacked in force. Something Sidious was keenly aware of. That was why he had stationedt he entirety of the 7th Sky Corps, since renamed the 7th Imperial Corps, on the planet. They had taken heavy losses in the assault on the Temple, but he had ordered them built back up to strength as soon as possible. Now, they were the primary security force for the Sith Temple. While he remained on the planet, the local forces were also augmented by his Royal Guards. He was confident that they would be able to thwart any attack by the Jedi.
Sidious himself would also be present. He actually smiled a bit at the irony of it all. For decades he had despised lightsabers. He felt that they were beneath a true master of the Force. That the Sith as a whole had outgrown them. But since taking power as Galactic Emperor, he had used his lightsaber more then ever. He had to admit, the glowing red blade did inspire a certain level of fear in those he faced. He still hated having to wield his lightsaber though. It was a constant reminder to him that he was still fighting a war against the Jedi. That they were still out there, haunting him, challenging his rule. Until the Jedi were nothing but dust, he would have to carry his blade. Grimacing to himself, he resolved to continue digging into the Force to find the source of the tremors he was feeling.