Back on Kashyyyk, Aang and Jo had the base to themselves. Aang was packing some supplies for the upcoming mission.
"So where are we going?" Jo asked. "Exar didn't exactly leave us with anything to go on."
"On the contrary," Aang said, "On Dathomir II, Exar said he was raised on Tatooine. Although he didn't say where on Tatooine, it does narrow it down."
Jo didn't remember that, hence why he didn't pack anything.
"Alright, I'm ready. We should g-" Aang strapped his pack to his back, then stopped his sentence when he saw Jo with nothing. "Are you not packed yet?!" He shouted in an irritated tone.
Jo quickly put up his hands and defended himself. "Hey, I didn't know where we were going! I kept asking!"
Aang dropped his head and sighed. "Just, pack something. We're going to Tatooine." He said, dropping his pack to the ground.
"Yeah, I heard you the first time." He said, retreating to his quarters to bundle some things. "An actual desert planet this time." He mumbled, shivering to himself. "Force help me!"
Jo joined Aang on their shuttle, heading for Tatooine. The trip was long and quiet without Exar, ironically. Even managing to keep the most to himself, Exar kept the team's energy circulating and the fires of their determination lit.
'He's away for the greater good.' Aang convinced himself. 'His greater good.' But on that note, Aang wondered if Exar's absence would do the team any good. Even though Exar's ways were unorthodox, they got stuff done with little-to-no hindrances. Aang had some experience in leadership, though only for military operations. But this mission didn't quite read as a 'leadership needed' type. 'What am I even thinking?' Aang thought.
"Hey!" Jo shouted, effectively pulling Aang out of his apparent trance. "Snap out of it, buddy. You had me thinking you were going to crash us with the way you were so monotonously still."
'Was I that deep in a trance?' Aang asked himself, refocusing himself to flying the ship as Jo rambled on.
"Wait, are you okay? Are you sleepy? Do you need me to fly?" Jo asked.
"The last thing we need is your flying the ship." Aang said strictly. He and Exar had been protective of the control they would place their ship under. They had tested Jo's flying abilities; but though he wasn't terrible, the upgrades and particular upkeeps Aang and Exar added to the ship made it extremely valuable to them. And in this time in the galaxy, they absolutely did not want to take any risks.
He had endured that argument too many times, so Jo changed the subject. "What was it you were thinking about that distracted you that much?"
Aang wasn't too sure how to answer without revealing a weakness he didn't want to reveal. He didn't want to leave Jo unanswered, but he wanted to take the spotlight off of himself. 'A second opinion.' He thought. He set the ship on auto pilot once they exited the atmosphere, then turned around in his chair. "How do you feel about the decision to remove Exar from leadership and the team? Temporarily, I mean."
Jo shrugged. "I mean, if the situation is as serious as Exar made it out to be. Don't you think we'll need all the help we can get?"
"If it's as serious as Exar made it out to be, won't you be glad we actually know what we're dealing with now? I think we have a chance." Aang said, turning back around only to activate lightspeed.
Jo looked off to the side. Aang had a point, but things always felt safer with Exar around. "What if there's something else he didn't tell us that he'd otherwise tell us at the last second?"
Aang faced forward again, pulling his lips in to pretend to stifle a reaction. "What's done is done." He said after a moment, he turned his head to the side to get eye contact with Jo. "Although for what it's worth, I have a good feeling about this."
Jo sensed Aang's pulse and change in breathing pattern and applied it to Aang's last words. 'He's lying.' He thought.
. . .
'Wait, am I a truth detector?' Jo exclaimed loudly in his head.
"Sir! Over here!" A scientist called to Bolen.
"You'd better finally have a result." Bolen said, approaching the scientist's table with obvious unenthusiasm in his slow, ragged steps.
"Okay, so, it had occurred to me that we won't find any results when trying to match this substance with anything 'material.' "
"Okay?" He pressed, looking at the unidentified substance through a microscope.
"So I did some research on other similar properties. Other things not easily identifiable or explainable-"
"Do not tell me that this thing is unexplainable." Bolen said, staring down the scientist while pointing at the element under the microscope.
"That's the thing. It's that we can't explain it, that actually tells us more about it."
Bolen's look softened, but in obvious confusion; he stared at the scientist, internally begging for elucidation.
"I analyzed it, initially scanning for an element, expecting results for an element; put simply, expecting familiar results."
"Uh huh?"
"Whatever this material is, is no mere material, obviously."
It came suddenly to Bolen. "Whatever this is could be rallied into the same category as the force?"
"Just like the force."
Such a statement, comparing a material to the force sounded blasphemous to Bolen, but he listened for a specification. "In that it can't be explained?" He guessed.
"Yes. We don't know its meaning, its capabilities; neither do we understand its basic molecular construct."
"So, what then?"
"According to Lieutenant-governor Calfan's report: whatever this is, briefly restored Mustafar to a former state; then upon returning it to its current state, sent a powerful repulse in all directions."
"This isn't making any sense to me." Bolen said.
"And yet that says a lot. This thing, this, unidentifiable thing has a wide variety of properties that we can't single it out to a single group of materials or elements. This thing is extremely versatile, and dangerous."
"And someone out there has hands on more of it."
Meanwhile on Naboo, the royal council had gathered for an emergency meeting to discuss the ghost's appearance. Naboo had been working on a paranormal investigations team of their own, just to remain separate from the new Republic by order of the new King. There were some who did not agree with such methods, as their progress with constructing this investigations team had grown rather slow. Coruscant had gathered the best paranormal experts for their organization, which left Naboo with little to work with.
The Naboo Council was very confined and closed, consisting of the King and his four most trusted advisors. At the meeting, currently, was only the four advisors. Some of them wanted to join with the Republic to help their work flourish, but the others sided with the King's point of view and disagreed.
"Naboo must remain independent. We should focus our time on strengthening ourselves and our resources to become a stronghold for other independent systems." The words of advisor Vifi Jago, a black female human and native of Naboo.
"Independence to us will only be what a magnifying glass is to an insect. Just look at Mandalore, my home; its independence turned it into a planet of dust. All of Mandalore's resources have to be imported because nothing can grow there anymore. There have been rumors of war circulating around the Republic Senate, according to a friend I have there. With the Republic, we cannot fail." The opposed opinion from Demas Arnjak, Mandalorian immigrant.
"They are only rumors. If we let fear rule our judgement, that will only lead to our own self destruction." Vifi replied, but added her condolences to Demas's home. "I am sorry to hear about your home, but history rarely repeats itself."
"Considering the King's past, I think it repeats itself more frequently than you know." A valid point by new female Zygerrian advisor Calla Tull.
"What would a slaver know about such matters?" Vifi asked, to which Calla abruptly stood up, clearly offended.
Demas stood up and put a hand on Calla's shoulder, "We don't need a fight breaking out. Please, sit." He said, barely audible over an interruption by another advisor.
"That was uncalled for." The fourth advisor, female human Lila Tavik, also stood up, jousting a finger at Vifi.
"Well I see our first official meeting is bearing fruit." The voice of the King rang through their ears as they suddenly froze. They faced him and bowed, their fists on their hearts.
"King Solo." They each acknowledged.
Naboo King Ben Solo put a hand up, dismissing them to sit back down, following suit himself in his throne.
"My grandmother was queen of Naboo. She was beloved by both her people and those in the Republic Senate. I take it upon myself," He paused with a hand upon his chest, "to continue her good work."
"My King," Demas spoke up, "you want to follow in your grandmother's footsteps, but how will you do so being independent?"
"Compromise." Ben replied. "I can be involved without being a part. I've had the honor of personally knowing some Jedi of the new Council and Republic Senate."
"Really?" Demas exclaimed.
"Who?" Calla asked.
Just at that moment, the palace doors opened up. The Jedi Viran Fexive and Ephraim approached the meeting with a guard escort.
Ben stood up, arms spread wide in welcome. "Master Fexive. Welcome."
"I wish we could've been visiting under -even- diplomatic circumstances, but there is a desperate matter that requires immediate attention and action." Viran said.
Ben's brow furrowed. "And why have you come to me? Naboo is independent."
Viran's expression softened, and he sighed. Ben sensed the distress and put the pieces together.
"We may discuss it here." Ben emphasized, sitting back down.
That decision didn't make Ephraim feel comfortable. "I don't think that's a good idea."
"If the matter involves me, I want to be transparent with my advisors. We all took an oath that whatever is discussed here remains within these walls."
"If you say so, ehm, your highness." Viran said, bowing.
"So what is it, that involves me, that's causing such distress within you?" Ben asked.
"To be blunt," Viran began, "we think your former apprentice is making a resurgence, leading a secret Imperial army that is soon to strike."
"Your what?" Calla exclaimed loudly.
"In league with another Sith, we might add." Ephraim added.
Ben's gaze drifted downward, ignoring the growing clamor from his advisors. Once he gathered his thoughts, he shouted for silence which received an immediate response. He looked at Rye and asked, "What evidence do you have?"
Viran pulled up a holopad displaying Exar's report from Dathomir II, and cast the image to the hologram projector in the center of the meeting circle. Ben read through the report very quietly, murmuring each word, but emphasizing "-wielding a crossguard lightsaber." It wasn't the mention of the crossguard that set off his train of thought; it was the specific detail of the lightsaber's design and the claim that it used to belong to him.
"We were under the impression that the lightsaber was destroyed along with Kylo Ren." Ephraim said.
Ben occupied himself, trying to figure out how his past had possibly resurfaced. 'How could anyone have recovered it?' is the question that circled around the most. "It was never destroyed. I only cast it away into the deepest ocean in one of the darkest places in the galaxy." He averted to the next subject. "What about this Imperial army? What do you know?"
"My team sabotaged an attempt to mass produce a clone army of stormtroopers on Kamino." Viran exclaimed.
"Those facilities were sunk shortly after the Empire planted its roots. How was any of the technology even functional?" Asked the last advisor Lambida Nunes, a Lasat historian.
"I heard they were only shut down." Vifi said.
"Regardless," Viran directed attention back to the King, "King Solo, we need your help. We don't know how we might find him."
Ben practically stared into Viran's soul. He knew how things worked with his former apprentice, but to put it into a proper sentence was rather difficult for him. He had been trying to improve his speech by not saying things so directly and bluntly, by keeping things simple and not striking fear or uneasy feelings. 'But then again,' he thought, 'this is a rather serious matter.' Stroking his chin, he figured, 'I suppose there is only one way to put it.'
Ben stood up, hands on his desk and said, "My former apprentice is not one to be found. He's the hunter, he finds you."
"A bit of a dramatic, isn't he?" Ephraim whispered to Viran.
"According to him, it runs in the family." Viran whispered back. "Not quite sure what that means for us, but we thank you for your time." He said to Ben, he and Ephraim both bowing and making their exits.
"If his former apprentice is forming an army, where do you think he'll strike first?" Demas said. "We need the Republic for this."
That statement set off Ben's train of thought.
Viran and Ephraim reached their ship before a Naboo guard caught up to them.
"Master Jedi!" The guard shouted. When he caught up, he threw a hologram projector on the ground. Appearing before them was the life size image of Ben.
"If what the information you've brought before me is true, Master Fexive, I believe you should warn the Republic, prepare your defenses. If I know my former apprentice, he'll make his first assault a statement, a manifesto. I believe he'll attack the Capitol."
"Why would he do that?" Ephraim asked.
Ben looked at Ephraim and said, "I don't believe I've made your acquaintance."
"Oh, just Ephraim, your highness. I don't have a last name."
"He'll find you." Ben repeated. "He'll finally make himself known. . . to get my attention."
"Only one of those options." Viran mumbled. "Thank you, your highness."
Ben ended the call. The guard picked up the projector and retreated back inside the palace.
"Why didn't he just meet us outside?" Ephraim asked as he and Viran boarded their ship.
The lab back on Kamino was empty, so Exar led the team through to the cloning room. Calista approached the machine in hidden awe.
"This is the machine they used on my son?" Rye asked.
"Yes. Although it didn't do him any damage." Exar said.
"How did they clone him with this?" Calista asked, observing the device.
"I couldn't tell you." Exar answered, dramatically shrugging his shoulders. "My friend Aang said he knows some of the galaxy's best scientists, and even their best works couldn't match this."
"Match what? What is it this thing did exactly?" Calista asked for specifics.
Exar blew a raspberry. "I don't know. Made him glow, it took his essence and put it into the other tube there, and a clone appears. I don't know how it works."
"And where does the clone go?"
"Somewhere else in the facility. I don't know." Exar answered, becoming annoyed.
Calista looked at Rye. "Team leader, huh?"
"Not anymore." Rye replied, to which Exar clenched his fist.
"And where does that lead?" Calista asked, pointing to a door on the other end of the room.
Exar noticed the door and looked genuinely shocked. "We never saw that door. This wall was completely shadowed." He looked up and noticed flickering lights. "It wasn't even on the map." He used the force to open the door, and entered through.
Everyone followed Exar in onto a small overseeing porch; and it was at that moment Exar knew he had failed. There was an even bigger room, with even more cloning machines. And many more stormtroopers. There were armor, helmet, and weapons supplies all around as well.
"That's a lot more than we saw."
"Hey look at this." One of the team members said. He picked up a note and handed it to Exar.
The note was in the Galactic Basic lexicon and read 'You thought you could foil us that easily?'
Frustrated, Exar crumpled up the paper and threw it down. "Dank farrik!" He exclaimed quietly as he realized his mistake. He didn't react fast enough to use the force to pull it back up before it landed.
Some stormtroopers noticed the crumpled paper fall down and looked up.
"It's that Zabrak again! Get him! Get all of them!" One stormtrooper shouted before the troops aimed all their weapons at him to fire.
Exar took a deep breath, relaxed his muscles, then reached his arms out forward.
Everyone else looked on in awe -some much more than others- as Exar successfully halted every bolt of energy that surged his way. Sucking in another deep breath, he mustered enough strength to push the blasts back to where they came from. Exar then leaned on the rails, recovering from his massive use of the Force. "I'm too strong for this. Why am I here?"
"Community service." Calista answered. "We need to find a way down there, without using a trap door."
Everyone else discussed the mission, but Rye stood still as a statue, traumatized. He'd just seen his son struck down in front of him. A hundred times over.
Erickson didn't know Brett very well, but he felt the tremors in Rye's mind. He put his hand on his brother's shoulder, wanting to comfort him, but words were failing him. He looked down at all the clones and- 'Clones! That's it!' He thought. "He's still alive, Rye." He said soothingly. "He's back at base, safe."
"I know." Rye said quietly.
Suddenly, Exar flashed right by them and jumped down to the floor level. "Those who aren't force-sensitive, jump down and I'll catch you." He said.
Rye and Erickson jumped down and helped get everyone down. "Okay!" Erickson said lightly, "We have some evidence. Let's pack it up."