A/N: I hope everyone is coping with the current global situation ok. It is incredibly annoying for me, but at least I have more time to wright.
I will try to make uploads every Sunday whilst this situation continues, although I can't/don't want to make any promises.
I will never own any of star wars. I only created my OCs, Shilerria, the Shilerrian species, culture, language and this chain of events.
Perspective
Chapter III
"Due to Master Keen's condition, it was decided that I would be your temporary master," Kenobi explained.
Eela nodded. "Is that what tomorrow was meant to be about?"
The living area of the ship contained a curved sofa and two chairs, arranged so they were surrounding a circular table. The walls, like most Jedi transport, contained little in the way of colour or decoration. On one of the chairs sat Eela, opposite Master Kenobi and Master Koon on the sofa.
Obi-Wan nodded. "Partially. We were also meant to be tracking Seron Rin, but that has been put on hold."
"Who is Seron Rin? Master said he was a bounty hunter, but implied that he was a lot more."
Kenobi looked to Master Koon, who had been fiddling the the hilt of his lightsaber. He looked up and took a breath.
"Master Keen was correct in calling him a bounty hunter," he explained, "But he is perhaps the most unique bounty hunter I know of. He will do anything for anyone, for a price. But he also is not tied to an employer, as Jango Fett was tied to the Separatists."
"Several bounty hunters are like that."
"That's true, but he makes himself incredibly difficult to track – much more so than others," Koon explained, "Take when Jango Fett attempted to kill Senator Amidala. Master Kenobi and young Skywalker caught the person Fett payed, but he killed her using a special type of dart so she wouldn't speak. The dart was traced to Kamino, Kenobi found him, chased him, and discovered he was employed by Dooku. Therefore, we knew Dooku wanted Amidala dead."
"Except I was caught," put in Kenobi.
"But if Dooku employed Seron Rin to kill Amidala, then Amidala would have died. And even if she didn't, Kenobi wouldn't have been able to track him in the way he did with Fett," The Kel Dor finished.
"Seron Rin is also a very contrasting character," Kenobi added, "In that he appears to like saving lives. He often does so with no other purpose – as in, we don't think he gets payed for it. But then someone shows some money in his face and a Republic cruiser is destroyed the next day, and all the clones onboard are killed."
Eela nodded. "So why are we going to Tatooine?"
The two Jedi Masters looked at each other. "A long time ago, there was a very powerful Jedi in the Order," Plo Koon explained, "He died, but the information you brought back from Serenno indicates that Dooku's master believes otherwise. Dooku is there now, looking for him."
"Despite the Jedi being dead."
"Correct," answered Kenobi, "But we can't afford to take the chance. If Dooku does find him and turn him, we are done for."
"But if you know he is dead, why bother?"
"Because we can catch Dooku when we're there," Plo Koon said, "Which is why a Council member, and experienced fighter and the most powerful padawan in the Order are going."
"I'm hardly the most powerful padawan in the Order," protested Eela, "If I was, my Master wouldn't have sustained the injuries he has."
"A lesser Jedi wouldn't have coped," Master Kenobi assured her, "But both you and your master survived. That says something."
"Even so," Eela argued, "There are hundreds of padawans. How can I be the most powerful?"
Obi-Wan just laughed. "Believe what you want. You're experienced enough to be picked for this mission, which is enough for me." Even Plo Koon seemed to be smiling beneath his mask.
Jabba's Palace
"I understand your distress, your greatness," he said, kneeling to the Hutt.
The audience chamber was silent, the several onlookers watching with great anticipation. Kneeling before Jabba was a humanoid figure, all in black. Black boots, robes, belt, cloak, hood – all black. His mask too was black, a cloth covering most of his face ending below the eyes. His left normal eye was a startling blue, and his right...three quarters of his iris was purple, from about twelve o' clock to nine, and the other quarter was his wrists, covering his foreams, he wore black vambraces, probably carrying any range of deadly devies. His voice was strong, silky and smooth, and you just wanted to believe it because his voice was just right amount of dominating confidence mixed with the down-to-earth knowingness and kindness of someone who understands. His blasters, apart from the sliver of exposed skin where the gap between the bottom of the hood and top of the mask revealed his eyes, were the only visible colour on his body. Gleaming silver, one on each hip, hanging in black holsters. The handles were smooth, reflective. He carried an air of dominance, speaking fluent Huttese to Jabba.
"If only you could..." The great Hutt answered, "My vaults, suddenly next to empty. Ten percent of what they once were. But tell me…why have you come?"
"Actually, it is about you're vaults, your majesty," the figure replied, "I believe it possible I can track the thief and recover your vaults. No matter how elusive he is, he can't escape me."
"I know your reputation," Jabba boomed, "but they are likely gone forever. Even the mighty Count Dooku has had no results."
"The Sith are strong in the force," agreed the outsider, "But quite inept when it comes to tracking. I beg you to let me try – I am the best in the galaxy when it comes to this. Whoever it is, they won't escape me. I promise you."
Count Dooku sped across the Tatooine desert, observing the emptiness of the sand.
His speeder, a small single-seater, was one he had picked up from some locals. Now, heading away from Jabba's palace for the last time, he inwardly laughed at the Hutt's foolishness. To him, the thief was obvious.
He wasn't here to track thieves. He was here to look for a lost Jedi. And, at the same time, strike the alliance of a certain bounty hunter.
After landing and leaving the ship at Mos Eisley spacesport, Plo Koon led the other two Jedi into the heart of the city. "Remember, this place is full of slave-traders, bounty hunters and smugglers," briefed the senior Jedi, "Don't trust anyone."
"Eela," asked Obi-Wan, once they had sat down at a table in the corner of a crowded canteen, "If you were looking for a Jedi no-one had seen for eleven years, what would you do?"
"Apart from give up?" asked Eela, "Probably murder everyone in the galaxy and if they put up a successful resistance it's probably a Jedi."
Kenobi laughed, "If you had to find them under a time-limit."
She thought about it. She could assume that the missing Jedi was on Tatooine, as Dooku's master had thought so, but even so, it was a huge task. "Ask around the locals?" She suggested, "Perhaps they may have seen someone like him."
"A good start," said Plo Koon, "apart from a couple of problems."
"Even though Plo Koon knows what Michael looked like all those years ago, it is likely his appearance has changed in the eleven years since," Kenobi advised, "Furthermore, it could alert Dooku."
"I sense him," said Plo Koon, "He is close."
They both looked at him. "You mean Dooku?" Obi-Wan asked.
Plo Koon nodded. "We must be cautious. But perhaps we can follow him. He has been here five days longer than us; he may know something."
"And if he finds out we're here?" asked Eela, "He's not just going to let us go."
"There are three of us and one of him," reassured Plo, "And even if Ventress is here as well, she shouldn't be a match for us."
As it happened, Dooku did know something, but not about Michael Shepherd. No, it was something else. Something which could be extremely beneficial or go wildly wrong.
After leaving Jabba's palace, he had returned to Mos Eisley, to meet with Ventress. She had spent the day searching the town for any sign of the lost Jedi, and had sensed someone following her. Someone strong in the darkside. She had tried to find and confront the stalker, but to no avail; she felt the force signature vanish. After telling her master, Dooku admitted he had had a similar feeling at Jabba's palace. After a lengthy discussion, they agreed a course of action.
That night, Ventress went out into the streets of Mos Eisley again. It was a lot less crowded by then, and darker, so when she slipped between the narrow streets and felt that familiar darkside presence, she had no trouble distinguishing it from the surroundings. She let it close up, and she struck. Lashing out with both her red lightsabers, she saw the thing following her was a human, dressed in black Sith robes, with a pale face and purple lips. He met her blades with one of his own, and met her eyes. "We don't have to fight," the newcomer said, before collapsing in front of her, revealing Dooku. "Good work, my apprentice," he applauded, "Let's go."
On their ship, they searched their unconscious prisoner and removed his possessions, so that he had nothing but his robes. They bound his wrists behind his back with stuncuffs, and waited for him to come round.
And he did. Without his hood, they could see his long, dark hair spilling out behind him, his pale, pallid complexion and his orange-red Sith eyes. He was a tallish figure, reasonably slim, but well-built. Every few seconds, he winced at the shock the stuncuffs repeatedly gave him. They saw his slightly panicked look, before he calmed himself and asked "What do you want?"
Dooku had met his gaze. The captive was sat on the cold, hard floor of the ship, leaning back and supporting himself with his bound hands, whilst his captor was sitting comfortably in a chair before him. "Nothing much, I assure you. We just want to ask you a few questions, that's all."
They had interrogated him, and not got much useful information, apart from his name – Darth Phobos – and a few warnings about how his 'friends will come for him'. It had concerned Dooku, and they had constantly been watching outside for any possible 'friends', and slowly turning up the stuncuffs until the prisoner relented.
His name was Darth Phobos, and was part of a separate – larger - Sith Order from the unknown regions. There were three of them on Tatooine, all looking for someone. When asked who, he didn't say, but revealed it was to help destroy the Jedi. He had been following Ventress in Order to capture her and take her in for questioning when he had been caught.
And so Dooku called his master, unsure what to do about the new Sith.
"Bring him to me at once," ordered his master.
Back on Coruscant, Shaak Ti was searching high and low for any clues pointing to Seron Rin. So far there had been nothing, spare an odd account of a terrorist attack on Shilerria. It described a group of extremists attempting to take the lives of the entire royal government, but Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and her padawan Bariss Offee had put an end to the attack. It also stated that 'if not for the abilities of an unkown figure who disappeared before we could confront him, many members of the public would also have been killed.'
It wasn't much – the two Jedi had tried tracking the stranger, but he had disappeared too quickly – but it was better than nothing, so Shaak had to try.
Looking into the status of the two Jedi in question, she saw they were both out on a mission. Sighing, although hardly surprised (almost everyone was out on a mission now, due to the war) she made the necessary arrangements to go to Shilerria.
As Dooku's ship disappeared into the morning Tatooine sky, the black robed figure gazed up at it as it faded away. What had Dooku been doing at Jabba's palace?
From his elevated, hidden position, at second-floor window of a crumbling ruin, he watched the public mill about, his mismatching eyes twitching. It wasn't late in the morning, but already the streets were crowded, shopping, on their way to work, leaving or going to a ship, whatever.
What was life like for a normal person?
His own ship was a burning wreck when he had left it. His money, belongings (apart from his weapons, which he kept on his person at all times) and food had all gone up in smoke with the ship, leaving him stranded on the wasteland named Tatooine.
And now, when he had enough money to feed an army, he didn't want to leave. He thought back to Jabba, who had payed him to track down the thief who had broken into his vaults, stolen his money and left, all undetected. Inwardly laughing, he thought what a fool. He wanted to find what it was which had brought the Sith here. He wouldn't leave.
Amongst the crowd, something caught his eye. Three Jedi, by what he saw and felt. Two Jedi he had known, as well. What were they doing here? Three Sith and three Jedi on the same planet? Do the Jedi know about the other Sith? Something was happening on Tatooine, he was sure of it. But what?
Something was amiss. He could feel it.
Wandering through the crowded streets of Mos Eisley, Eela felt a pair of eyes watching her, tracking her (their) movements. Glancing up and to her left, she saw a crumbling ruin, standing out against the well-kept and taller buildings around it. The ruin was maybe two or three floors high, and appeared to be abandoned. Something nagged at her, telling her to go there.
"What is it?" asked Master Kenobi, noticing her distraction.
She mentally shook herself. It was just a neglected building. There was nothing there. "Nothing," she said, tearing her eyes away from the ruin. Just as she did so, she thought she saw movement on the top floor. Glancing back at it, just to be sure, she confirmed it had just been her imagination.