Chapter 44: Strange New World
Author's Notes: Change change change!
The next day, Siri is finally given leave to exit the Halls of Healing.
She does so, Obi-Wan at her side, two Temple Guards following in behind, and she is... quiet.
Its strange, without the bond to Sidious. It was... quieter, She had never realized it until it was gone, that there had been a kind of background noise. Not sound per-say, but a oily miasma not her own seeping down the bond, a dark hymn created by being connected to a creature like Sidious. She wont say it was direct influence, Sidious was more subtle than that when he so chose to be. It was an interesting thing to study, as it slowly faded out of her mind. She had watched Bant as she worked, on manipulating and healing or shutting down certain mental activities, so she has a bit more understanding than she did before. What that 'miasma' was... was encouragement. It wasn't exactly a compulsion, which could be forceful or active, this encouraged certain responses and actions. Made them more enticing for her to choose, but did not force her to do so. A twitch of nerve receptors to release pleasure or delight in certain acts, or the opposite for others. She could never say Sidious had forced her to do anything with this... miasma, just encouraged it and she went and did it on her own. She could never say nor guess what may or may not have been influenced by it, because she had done plenty of things that would go against it, but still...
It was terrifyingly ingenious, anyone Sidious formed a connection to, training bond or otherwise, would be subtly influenced by him without direct effort. It was like an aura of corruption if she had to name it. Just how many more tricks and tools did he have like this? Probably too many more if she's honest, but regardless...
She hadn't mentioned it to the Jedi though.
This was a tool she was going to keep to herself if she needed it, though she's not quite sure how to make it.
It was also a lesson, a repeat lesson that really should have sunk in by now, that Sidious never left anything to chance. She thought she had rid herself of his influence years ago when she destroyed the compulsions and left fakes and traps in their place. But lo and behold, Sidious had something else prepared and in place. He would always have a backup plan. Its a reminder of how screwed the Jedi are.
How screwed she probably is.
She brushes that thought off for a good ten years down the road. She has time to grow stronger, and perhaps the Jedi can make enough of a nuisance of themselves to delay Sidious. The Sith Lord himself is being an arrogant prick at the moment and 'letting her' challenge him. His mistake. He should have killed her when he had the chance. She doesn't know what memory he culled from her mind, what he deemed important enough to strike out at her, but she'll still find a way to ruin him.
She swears it.
They reach her room and she moves to the doorway to open it without pause. "Siri?"
She glanced back at Obi-Wan. "What?"
"Are you okay?"
Her eyebrows furrow. "Why wouldn't I be?"
He hesitated. "You're rather quiet, I don't know how much time you've had between resting and Bant's sessions to... process what happened..."
"Oh for kriff sake," she says, oddly not annoyed, but definitely exasperated, "I'm a Sith Apprentice, Obi-Wan, what Sidious did is normal."
The look he gives her says exactly what he thinks of that.
She doesn't feel like arguing at the moment (shocker there); she's been holed up in the Halls of Healing for a few weeks, along with having been comatose for roughly a month. All she wants to do is laze on her couch, grab her datapad, catch up, and then sleep this all off like a bad hangover. So, she gives him a brief sharp nod, enters the apartment, and kicks the door closed behind her without turning. He probably got the hint. She goes to her room, her datapad is under the mattress where she left it. She nabs it, goes to the couch, and flops down with a sigh.
"Kriff you Sidious," is all she muttered before flicking her datapad on.
She'll browse the highlights before digging in and looking for what events might have happened that wouldn't have been obvious as major to anyone but a Sith...
Then her eyes go wide as the first headlines scroll across her datapad...
JEDI ORDER IN REBELLION? Demands for the Ruusan Reformation to be repealed!
SITH INFILTRATION WORSE THAN EXPECTED: Jedi detail a thousand years of manipulation of our Republic by the Sith!
TRUTH OR FICTION? Have the Sith infiltrated the Senate, or are the Jedi grabbing for power with their demand for the Ruusan Reformation to be repealed?
OVER TWENTY-THOUSAND JEDI DEAD: Casualties of Sith machinations in the Republic Senate!
THE RUUSAN REFORMATION: The why, when, how, and what it means if it were to be repealed.
CAN WE TRUST THE SENATE? If the Sith can control them from the shadows, can we trust anything they do?
NOT A FULL REPEAL: Despite widespread rumors, the Jedi have only asked for part of the Ruusan Reformation to be repealed, not all of it.
On and on it went, pages worth of articles and newsroom reports and talk-shows and the like, all discussing arguable the second most massive thing in under a year aside from the revelation of the Sith's continued existence. Siri's jaw is partially dropped, her mind frozen in a state of disbelief. The Jedi... they actually did it... they...
The Jedi were learning.
They were actually trying to adapt.
"Guess Banthas are flying," she muttered under her breath, frowning in thought.
The question now became, could the Jedi adapt enough in time to survive Sidious?
That she still doubted but who knows, maybe they could. She still wasn't going to make plans around the Jedi Order surviving the Revenge of the Sith until they actually proved themselves capable. The amount of damage the Sith had done over time demanded some kind of response after all, perhaps this wasn't too unexpected. Regardless, she is elated by this change, by this change SHE incited. A grin spreads across her face, tongue slowly licking her lips at the chaos the articles imply.
Because she did this.
The Jedi never would have tried this without her prompting.
"What would the Jedi do without the Sith?" she said, snickering after, "We force them to adapt or die."
She tilted her head back. "Though Sidious would prefer they just die I suppose, shame about that."
After all, without the Jedi, would the Sith have evolved to what they are now?
She hummed to herself and went to the article about which parts of the Reformation the Jedi wanted repealed. Her pleasant mode faded almost instantly, incredulousness spreading across her face. That's it? The right to determine their own missions, investigate a senate based mission before agreeing to it, and the right to refuse a mission without penalty or question. THAT'S IT?! That's all they want? Even worse, that's the only changes they wanted to do? They wanted to undo the Reformation as it pertained to the Senate-Jedi relations but NONE of the changes that the Jedi made to themselves a thousand years ago?
Not getting rid of that abominable no attachment and no family rule?
Not getting rid of the age limit?
Not getting rid of the one master on student?
Not lifting the ban on a Jedi Military?
Not revisiting their outdated code?
Not decentralizing their training from Coruscant?
Survivability wise, that last one was perhaps the most immediately important. It made it so easy to keep track of the comings and goings of the Jedi and any rising stars if they were ALL in one spot. All Jedi being trained by the same set of teachers culled diversity in learning and what was taught. Honestly, growing up in a temple on a planet with life, rather than endless cityscape, could do wonders too. Not to mention that when the time came, Sidious would only need to stamp out one temple, two considering the Corellian Temple, rather than a multitude of scattered Jedi Temples. There were probably thousands of little reasons to do so too.
Her lips curled into a sneer. "But nooo, doing that would make it harder to indoctrinate all the little children."
She shakes her head. "Not enough change Jedi, not nearly enough."
She switches off her datapad and decides she's going to laze and nap the day away...
Until she blinks awake when a knock comes at the door. "Siri?"
She scowls at the door, rubbing her eyes briefly. "Enter Kenobi."
He walks in. "Are you hungry?"
"I'm not starving at the moment," she says offhand.
His look is disproving. "I really hope that's not your baseline for determining if you should eat or not."
She rolled her eyes, sighed and flapped a hand. "Fine, whatever, go get me food."
"Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to come down to the dinning hall."
Siri slowly raised an eyebrow. "I was under the assumption I wouldn't be allowed anywhere near where all the little poor impressionable initiates or padawans could be."
He gave a self-depreciating smile. "Its a good hour after lunch, it should be relatively empty."
She snorted in amusement before scrutinizing him. "Is this cleared, Obi-Wan? Or am I going to get in a metric shit-ton of trouble with the Council for suddenly appearing there? Normally I wouldn't care, but I like my little apartment over a cell."
She reflects briefly. "Relatively, its way to empty and devoid of any personality or life, but hey, Jedi Temple, its to be expected."
She scowls a little when he doesn't even acknowledge the jab. "I believe in asking for forgiveness and proving there's no harm, unless you want to be confined to this room or the training halls all hours of the day?"
"Where else would I go?" she asked flatly.
"Among other places, how about the Room of a Thousand Fountains? Or the Archives?" he posed.
She wrinkled her nose. "Now why would I care to go to either of those? Not to mention, I'm pretty sure the council's response to giving me access to the archives would be 'over their dead bodies'."
"Restricted access," he amended, "I doubt it would be soon anyway, something slowly built up to as you..."
"As. I. What?" she asked thinly, eyes narrowing, "I still have no interest in turning away from what I am, Obi-Wan."
They both stared at eachother for a few moments before Obi-Wan turned away. "If you want to go, lets go, otherwise I'll bring you something back."
She weighed whether it was worth it or not, but, she could pin the blame on Obi-Wan for dragging her out there if it came down to it. It had been his idea after all, and it let her test boundaries. "Fine."
She pockets her datapad, stretches out after standing up, and heads for the door, eying Obi-Wan as he briefly informs her watchers of their destination. She doesn't get a sensation or a feeling of their thoughts on the matter, the temple guard simply fall in behind them, the familiar sensation of eyes on her back occurring seconds later. She ponders whether or not to harp at or pester Obi-Wan about the partial Ruusan Reformation repeal, but decides to at least get her food first incase it started up a hissy fit and got them kicked out...
...aaaand then Master Yoda strolled around the corner, talking with a female human Jedi, both of them pausing to look at them. The hair on the back of Siri's neck stands up as the second Jedi looks at her and appraises the Sith Apprentice with narrowed eyes. This one was powerful in the Force, extremely so, who the hell was this? Sidious made it a point to know their enemies, but Siri did not recognize this one. The Jedi bore pale skin, blond hair, pointy ears that made defining her race a bit difficult despite her otherwise human appearance. Perhaps a Human-Sephi hybrid. She was certainly striking, beautiful in a way that had Siri almost jealous. She had curved line tattoos on her cheek and forehead that Siri didn't know the meaning of. The Jedi's robes were mostly standard, save for the strange symbols along the edges if her robes. She also, oddly, doesn't have a lightsaber on her person, there is no hum of a kyber crystal about her. Then there were her gray eyes...
Eyes that seemed so much older than the rest of her youthful appearance.
Siri was, without question, on guard.
Yoda grunts and looks up at Obi-Wan. "Mmm, where off are you and our guest to, Padawan Kenobi?"
"The dinning halls Master Yoda," answers Obi-Wan, eyes briefly flickering at the unknown Jedi in curiosity.
So Kenobi doesn't know who she is either, interesting.
"Hmmm," muses Yoda, looking up at Siri for a moment, "Feeling better are you, Young Tachi?"
Siri's eyes haven't left the unknown Jedi's. "As well as can be expected, having Sidious out of my head is nice I suppose."
She crossed her arms, annoyed to admit, "I suppose it was my own stupidity, I liked to think of the bond as little as possible, it should have been the first thing nipped in the bud after the Senate hearings, I... kind of forgot about it."
"You forgot," said Obi-Wan flatly.
Yoda walked forward and poked her knee with his gimer stick. "Hmph, avoiding and forgetting problems you were, bad habit that is."
"As you say, most venerable elder," she says mockingly.
That gets her a wack from the gimer stick. "Pah, always rude you are."
Siri scoffs. "if you're expecting pleasantries, look elsewhere, I am a Sith."
"And without a shred of doubt of that," murmurs the unknown Jedi in a smooth, almost melodic voice, "I'm afraid Master Yoda, I don't see what gives you the hope for redemption with this one."
"Always make a poor first impression, Young Tachi has, even when an initiate she was, even as an infant, threw up on the Jedi that retrieved her, she did," he answers, ignoring the scowl Siri gives him, "More to her than meets the eye, there is. Yes, yes, just arrived, you have, talk and observe, you will. Later, yes, especially talk with Young Obi-Wan you should, an interesting perspective, he is. For now, need to catch up, you do."
"As you say Master Yoda," answers the woman doubtful, eyes narrowed at Siri, "But, all I see right now is hatred and bile given form."
Siri shakes her head; she probably shouldn't be poking at an powerful unknown, but she just can't help herself. "That is such a Jedi response that it bores me."
"Well, then it is fortunate that I am for one, a Jedi, and two, not here to entertain you, Sith," the Jedi answers back flatly.
"Pah, time for bickering, I have not, enjoy your food, Padawan Kenobi, Young Tachi," said Yoda, moving to walk around them, "Come come, Master Fay, see the council we should. Ready for my seclusion I am. Long has it been since simply rested, I have."
Obi-Wan's breath hitches for a moment at the woman's name, and for some reason, that name faintly tickles Siri's fixed memories. And what was this about a seclusion? Was now really the time for the Jedi Grandmaster to go on a meditative retreat?
Fay hummed and moved to walk beside him. "I'm still not certain requesting me as your temporary replacement over one of your Council was the wisest decision, I'm am woefully out of date, and have spent vast amounts of time out in the Rim rather than the core."
Siri's eyes went wide. What did she just say?!
Yoda just cackled as they went down the hall. "Good that is, yes, yes, a new perspective, the Jedi need. Glad I am you answered."
"I am sorry, but I wouldn't have if the Force hadn't said I was needed here," she answered bluntly, her voice starting to echo down the hall as they made for a corner, "I go where the Force beckons me, not..."
Then they're out of hearing range; Siri turns her head towards Obi-Wan, the term -Temporary Replacement Jedi Grandmaster- ringing in her head. "Who the hell is that?"
"I... I actually thought she was a myth," admits Obi-Wan, "A tale for Padawans. That is Master Fay, she's a legend, she's centuries old and is rumored to be ageless in the Force. The stories go that she swore off teaching, off the normal Jedi mission roster, and leads a nomadic life, just letting the Force guide her to where she was needed. They say she's never once used a lightsaber for combat after she was knighted."
Siri's eyes sharpen, acknowledging what that implied. This 'Master Fay' used solely the Force for combat. Eager anticipation rolls down Siri's spine, because this was something she hadn't thought existed within the Jedi. Sure, they had their Jedi Counselors who favored using the Force over a lightsaber, but they still used and trained with them. If Fay only used the Force though... she would be leagues ahead of normal counselors, even without the whole ageless bit. The fact that she was that old... coupled with that methodology... that power Siri felt...
"Oh I wish I could see the look on Sidious's face when he realizes there's another Yoda grade Jedi on the playing field," said Siri with sadistic glee, a lift to her voice.
Obi-Wan squints suspiciously at her. "And you don't particularly care yourself?"
"Hey, I cut a deal with judicial, in ten years I'm out no matter what and there isn't a damn thing the Jedi can do about," she answers smugly, "Need I remind you it isn't illegal to be a Sith nor use the Dark Side?"
He scowls at her.
She reaches over and pats his head, grinning when he swats her hand away. "Don't worry Obi-Wan, incase you forget, I really don't give a shit if your Order lives or dies, so her being here is just another blow for Sidious."
Though, in reality, that Jedi is going to have a giant target on her back once Sidious realizes she's here and what kind of Jedi she is. The Jedi isn't as strong as Sidious is, but she's strong enough that if another strong Jedi entered the fight alongside her, Sidious might actually be in trouble. If Fay and Yoda fought Sidious together...
No, Sidious would have to realize the danger and adapt.
One of those two was not going to live to the execution of the Grand Plan...
Sidious watched with masked disdain as the Senate argued among themselves over trade disputes. With the Trade Federation revealed as being in the pocket of the Sith, the Federation had lost many of their rights, authority, and was being heavily downsized. Hardly a loss when he could shift most of his efforts there to the Banking Clans instead for about the same impact, or simply create a new corporation if need be to act through. The proceedings were, however, a colossal bickering waste of time, his time, the session should have ended at least an hour ago, he was going to miss his reservation at his favored restaurant for dinner at this rate. Alas, this was the second to last item on the agenda today, aside from some clerical announcement of the Jedi, something to do with a Council appointment. He was only partially curious as to who had left the council and who was the chosen replacement. He supposed it didn't really matter, they'd be dead within two decades regardless.
"...conglomerate is at least armed! Any trade organization that does not have their ships armed is going to be robbed blind in the Outer Rim between the Hutts and Pirates!"
"But if they are allowed to be armed, we could have a repeat of Naboo down the road! Perhaps not soon, but when its all cooled off..."
Sidious cleared his throat and chimed in. "Then, gentle-beings, it is upon us to come up with proper regulations and enforcements of these regulations to make sure a repeat tragedy does not occur."
He paused briefly, looking over the senate, resting his gaze on the new Senator of Aldaraan, Bail Organna, replacing the previous Senator who had died of a 'sudden heart attack'. Such a shame really.
He gave the senator a smile, pleasant on the outside, but sadistic in truth. "A committee can be formed to look into the matter, perhaps our newest member could join them for much needed experience in our profession."
Coming off as polite and encouraging all the while demeaning him for his inexperience. Sometimes, he truly enjoyed wordplay.
Organna gave a curt nod. "It would be my honor, your excellency."
"Good, good," said Sidious, "I would appreciate recommendations being forwarded to my office for who to fill the committee with, I will make an announcement next week after viewing our options. Now, before we close for the day, I believe the Jedi Order wished to make a clerical announcement? Would someone usher them in?"
A door is opened to one of the lowest pods, and in walks Master Yoda and... a female Jedi Sidious does not recognize. Yet, the moment he looks her over, the Force ripples in warning and change. There is a hiss of apprehension from the Dark that was not there before. Sidious exercises complete control of his face and does not narrow his eyes, merely giving the pod a curious look instead. Something is about to happen that may change things; it happens on occasion, some event happens somewhere, or someone makes an unlikely decision that changes the thread the Force would have normally followed. That it originates from the Jedi though...
Yoda hobbled forward on his stick and addressed the Senate. "Quick we will be, and thank you for your time, we do. As of today, temporarily step down from the position of Jedi Grandmaster, I do. On leave to a seclusion, I am, meditate on the Return of the Sith I must, consider where gone wrong, the Order has, to allow this to happen, I will."
Sidious went oh so very still; a sudden stunned hush coming over the senate.
He motions to his counterpart. "Chosen I have, for Jedi Master Fay to replace me, until it is I return. That is all."
Master Fay... Sidious knew that name from somewhere. He reached a hand up to rub his chin, watching as the two Jedi turned and left, the Senate bursting into chatter among themselves. The fact that the Jedi had simply dropped it like that and left meant it wasn't open for discussion or debate with them, Yoda had made his choice and that was that... yet...
Sidious carefully reaches for his comm and punches in a code for one of his eyes within the Jedi Temple and types out a quick message. If Yoda is leaving, then he wants the Jedi tracked, preferably a beacon to be placed on whatever ship he uses. There is a heavy sense of instability from the Dark Side, future in terrible, unstoppable motion, that can swing one way or another. He needs to be aware of all the pieces. He also needs to remember where he knows that blasted Jedi Woman's name from.
He doesn't get an answer until he is done for the day, canceling his reservation to dine out, and retreating into one of his hidden sanctums on Coruscant. It was fortunate, he muses, that aside from the one Tachi had been trained in, he had never shown her any others. That one was already cleared out, save for a little treat for his apprentice and the Jedi should she ever take them to it. Not explosive, no, but something to strain tensions at least, and the best part was he hadn't had to do anything save for leave two rooms, Tachi's and the cell she had pledged herself to him in, intact and untouched.
He sits in a dimly lit room, going over a collection of information on the Jedi Order gathered by many of their line, most of it out of date with the passage of time, save for one single name: Jedi Master Fay. Sidious rubs his chin as his eyes take in the record of a rather unusual Jedi. First and foremost, his lips peel back into a snarl at her being named 'Ageless in the Force'. The Jedi would never understand the true value of immortality, that this Jedi can someone stop herself from aging and wastes it away transversing through the Outer Rim doing 'the Will of the Force', it absolutely disgusts him. There were notations from several of his predecessors considering capturing her to try and see if whatever method granted her this boon could be replicated through the Dark Side, but it never seemed to go anywhere, there is no further hint as to why they did not try.
Common sense would dictate that his predecessors were simply not as powerful as Sidious himself was. When he had confronted Plaguis, they had been rather evenly matched, which considering the vast age gap between the two of them, was a so satisfying and elating sensation to see just how strong he was, and how strong he would yet become. In considering the Jedi... Fay is far more powerful than any normal Jedi, confronting such a Jedi would be sure to send out ripples through the Force, especially if she could not be subdued quickly, perhaps they had deemed it to risky, if they had tried and failed it could have revealed the Sith to the Jedi far to prematurely. Sidious and Plaguies had diverted a great deal of energy to simply contain their confrontation until... he could admit, he had let his emotions get the better of him and lost control in his bloodlust to kill his teacher.
He goes through the notes on Fay again, and all throughout them, while the Sith are aware of her, and covet that ageless state, at no point was she ever considered a threat. She had stayed out in the Outer Rim, out of politics, away from the Senate or corporations the Sith delved into, away from the spot light, putting out small fires, the occasional war, at most a minor inconvenience to the Grand Plan, never a true danger. He doesn't even know if she had ever returned to the Jedi Temple after leaving it to start in her nomadic lifestyle, there's no note or record of it.
Yet here she was, replacing Yoda temporarily as the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order completely out of nowhere.
Sidious has no clue how long 'temporary' will be. A month? A year? A decade? Fay is an unknown, in personality and outlook, how she manages things will differ from Yoda. Sidious would have to watch and learn and adapt to a foreign kind of Jedi. And then, all his adaptions may be for naught when Yoda simply waltzes back in. Which is another, dangerous matter in itself, if Yoda is separating himself from Coruscant, from the epicenter of Veil of the Dark Side, to look back and think on where the Jedi failed (and many failings did the Jedi have), there was a chance this perspective change could become an obstacle, and something else he has to overcome. Of course, Yoda may not learn anything in his meditative retreat, or may learn the wrong lessons, that was always a possibility.
Another possibility was, if his contact could get a tracker on Yoda's ship... Yoda would be completely alone, and since the Sith were already revealed, getting into a confrontation with, and killing Yoda, would not matter, his existence was already known... it would be a massive blow to an already unstabalized Jedi Order... but while he is surely stronger than Yoda, surely he is, he must be, there are no guarantees. There is always a chance Yoda might get lucky, or... it could also be a trap, and more Jedi could be in wait... it could be bait...
He cannot bumble into this, he closes the notes on Fay and closes his eyes, leaning back in his chair as he reaches into the Force, deep into the Dark Side, and demands answers...
As he meditated, Sidious is gifted with a vision he saw years ago, of himself facing off against Yoda in the senate dome. Except now its changing, the foe he faces flickering. Constantly switching between Fay and Yoda, between a pure Force duel and a mixture of lightsaber and Force. It is such a swirl of different motions fading in and out of existence, the future in flux, either possibility of his foe a likely outcome. He sees himself unleash a devastating barrage of lightning, and his vision is split in two. In one, he sees the old end where Yoda is cast off a senate pod to the depths of the chamber far below, defeated, with Tachi coming out to confront him. In another, he sees Fay manage to shove his lightning off and throw him to another pod, the two of them staring eachother down, behind them, he sees Tachi watching in the shadow a doorway, eyes gleaming with a predatory delight...
Sidious breaks from his meditation as the vision ends, agitated and furious. "I had not foreseen this. That Jedi never should have become involved until the time came to hunt down and wipe out the Jedi Order."
Thus, he had yet another reason to strangle his apprentice, for drawing in a dangerous piece to the chessboard. He could not, would not, tolerate there being two Jedi of this caliber, of actually being able to at least somewhat face him in combat, alive when he entered the final stage of the Grand Plan. He is not blind to the fact that the Force did not grant him any insight to the inbetween of here and the end, a destination was possible, but the journey there was still in flux, trying to demand that of the Dark Side while the tides of the Force were still a storm was potentially dangerous.
He was not in a hurry.
He had time.
He could wait, and observe, and meditate more as the dust settled.
He doubted Yoda's seclusion would be quick, he would have time if he wanted to confront and kill the little troll. On the reverse side however, he's not sure when he would get the chance to kill Fay if she's going to be bogged down in the temple handling Yoda's responsibilities. It could be a very long time, perhaps longer than the duration of Yoda's seclusion, and having them both active and in the same place at once... But ultimately, in the end, it did not matter. For he was a Sith, the most powerful ever born, and the Sith were an ever changing and adapting enemy. All this new development would be was a new challenge to overcome, and a Sith thrived in the face of adversity.
He would still outmaneuver the Jedi.
He would still wipe their weak order from the face of the Galaxy.
He would take the Revenge of the Sith.
He would become Emperor of the Galaxy.
There was nothing the Jedi could do at this point, all the pieces were now in place or being moved to their final spots, a few loose ends to nip in the bud, or draw back into the fold such as his foolish apprentice, or replace her with Skywalker if need be. It was already over, he had already won. All it would take was time...
Review Responses:
Guest: It's right goddamn now!
Nerdman3000: Ehhhh, I didn't plan on going that route. Sidious knew the bond was going to go, he merely watched and did not challenge it, Che removed it slowly and surgically. End of that. I never read any of Disney's stuff, the bleeding Kybers was something I read/adapted from other fics/wookiepedia more than it was about Disney. Without C'Baoth leading Outbound Flight, it wouldn't happen, and Sidious has snagged him for filling Dooku's role. Thrawn's up in the air at the moment, haven't decided on him yet.
Redshirt1453: Biiiingeee reaaaadiiiiing! Personality wise, wisdom and mellowing out come with age. She's a dark young woman, and a Sith apprentice, she will change, but a Gray Jedi is an unlikely outcome.
EclipseTobias: To paraphrase Obi-Wan: The meaning of what Siri said in the vision depends entirely on your point of view. I can't say much on the CIS/C'Baoth without spoilers, and I've done a lot of that in Review Responses as it is.
1saaa: (1) I've read so many fanfics, you'll have to be specific on which one that is. (2) Not spoiling!. (3) If by posess you mean an actual relationship, then I can't answer that without spoilers, it'll come up in this section of the story though, dont you worry. (4) No. Siri is done. 'Falling out' is a very light term for Siri absolutly hating Sidious's guts.
Everyone else, thanks for the reviews.