A Shift in the Force: Chapter Fifty-Two: Words of a Friend

AN: Is anyone else dead after seeing the SWR season 4 trailer and The Last Jedi trailer? Because I know I am!

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Depa roused slowly, her body aching and her chest sore. She opened her eyes, blinking feverishly in an environment that she didn't recognize. It was a living quarter of some kind, the kind often seen on a small class ship.

Depa sat up carefully, looking down at herself. She could feel the bacta strips on her face and there were bandages across her upper chest.

Not exactly her finest moment, she had to admit, but, to be fair, she hadn't been expecting to have a bunch of thieves hijack her negotiation. They had worked pretty seamlessly, she had to concede, but the one with the mask had intrigued her the most.

They'd been like a void in the Force, Depa could sense nothing from them, and Depa was very good at Force sense.

"I guess the Jedi aren't the heroes the galaxy thinks they are," came a voice beyond the doorway and Depa blinked.

"They've never been very good with change, I will say that," a second voice agreed and it was that voice that Depa found painfully familiar. "There's an open invitation to go back, but…too much has changed for me, I don't think it would be good for the Jedi or for me."

The first voice grunted and Depa pulled herself into a standing position slowly, feeling for the lightsaber at her hip, but it was gone. "Guess they didn't realize what an asset you were to them until you were gone."

Depa stepped out of the living quarters, following the hallway until she reached the open cockpit door.

There was an R3 unit with pieces painted a dark maroon with scoring across the domed head that Depa recognized as the steadfast companion of Sabé Amidala. Arthree beeped a greeting to her that caused two heads to shift towards her.

The woman with the bionic eye was leaning against the wall surveyed her coldly, a hand on the blaster at her hip as the captain turned back to look out into the hyperlane.

"Jay, go check the exhaust, I don't want anything rupturing before we get to HQ."

Depa's eyebrows rose high as the dark-plated security droid rose from the co-pilot seat with a grumble, traipsing past Depa in the direction on the engines, no doubt.

"Sure you want to leave you with her?" the woman jerked a thumb towards Depa, turning her head towards the captain. "Jedi can get inside your head, I've heard."

The laugh was short. "You don't need to worry, Jalindas, my mental shields are too great."

The woman, Jalindas, grunted again before leaning off of the wall and making her way past Depa too.

"Master Billaba, I trust you rested well?" The chair turned slightly and Depa blinked at the sight of Sabé Amidala sitting in the pilot's seat. Her curly hair was short and free of its usual braids, barring one small one of beads that reminded Depa vaguely of a little eleven year old girl showing her Padawan braid off with its first bead proudly to Depa. She certainly looked more like a captain, loose navy shirt tucked into military-grade pants, but she wore a protective guard fitted to her left shoulder and arm guards bound to her lower arms.

"Yes," Depa said finally, realizing she was staring. "You know…it would've been easier on you to leave me behind."

"That's what Jalindas said too," Sabé agreed, flicking a button on the console above her. "But I'm not ready to let another Jedi die because of me."

Depa couldn't see the knuckles of her only flesh arm, but she imagined that they were white. Depa's lightsaber hung from her belt loop.

"Korinth'Kel's death wasn't your fault."

Sabé's brown eyes narrowed sharply and she pointed to the vacated seat beside her to indicate for Depa to sit. "Korinth'Kel was forced to see something she couldn't comprehend…of course, she was right about me being Darth Carina, but I didn't want to kill her, she was my friend."

Depa sat down gratefully, easing back into the seat. "Visions can be dangerous, and they are often—"

"Misinterpreted, I know," Sabé sighed, her expression as dry as Tatooine as she leaned forward to pick up the mask she'd been wearing. "I've been having them since the day I was born, I'm quite familiar with them."

Sabé probably hadn't had a vision that wasn't plagued by darkness.

"Yes," Depa agreed softly, "and for what it's worth?"

Sabé looked up from tracing her fingers over the indents on the Temple guard mask.

"I don't believe it was the wisest decision to strip you of your title as Jedi Knight."

"I appreciate the thought, but it doesn't change anything," Sabé said, not even blinking at the pronouncement. "And I feel this is where I'm meant to be. That could change, but right now I'm content, and I feel more at peace with House Renliss than I ever did at the Temple."

"I'm sorry," Depa said as gently as her eyes were soft.

Sabé shrugged helplessly. "I guess it helps that they don't employ detachment in their day to day activities…I'm more of a vagabond now, going where I please, learning what I will. Knowledge, that's the real power in the galaxy."

Her eyes glazed over slightly and Depa smiled at the expression, the smile faltering when she sensed the stinging undercurrent.

"But you still feel betrayed by the Order," she noticed. "Cast aside like 'saber part that had out served its use."

There was a spike then of raw emotion that would've earned Sabé disapproval if she'd been in the company of Depa's old master, or even Yoda, but Depa was neither Yoda nor Mace Windu.

Sabé kept her eyes fixed ahead, though, giving no indication of her feelings beneath. That took serious skill.

"The Order was my life," Sabé said after the longest silence. "I believed in it completely up until I was sixteen…no one believed me when I said that Zabrak had yellow eyes, that he was a Sith. They didn't want to believe that the Sith could come back from extinction…then I started to question everything. Curiosity like mine was frowned upon; no one should question the Code." Depa grimaced at her bitter tone. "Jedi Shadows aren't exactly the most revered in the Temple, we knew too much about the Sith and that could be dangerous…I know the High Council thought I might be more susceptible to the Dark Side."

Depa's lips thinned into a line, but she didn't deny it. That matter had been brought up once by Pablo Jill, expressing his doubts about Sabé's views coming from anything other than a seed of darkness planted during the attack against her.

Sabé pressed a button that engaged the autopilot. "I need a break," she muttered as she stood. "Stay out of Jalindas' way, would you? She's not a fan of Jedi right now."

Depa watched her step out of the cockpit with a frown on her lips now.


Jalindas lingered outside the sliding door that led into Sabé's living quarters, her fist raised to knock, but knocking had never really been her style…yet still she didn't know if it was right to interrupt.

But she thumbed the button and slipped inside, blinking.

Darth didn't have a lot of materialistic possessions, she noticed. There was a blaster rifle leaning against the wall and spare rounds mounted on the same wall, her double hand blasters next to them. There was a neuronic whip wound in a circle on the floor. A Nubian tapestry was looped onto the wall bearing a floral design that surprised Jalindas.

Mostly the items in the room were practical; weapons and traps. Darth herself was sitting on the bottom bunk bed, her legs crossed and her fingers interlocked slightly as a quarterstaff twisted slowly in the air.

"Has knocking gone out of style?" Darth asked archly.

"You know I'm not much of a knocker." A smirk painted a cross Jalindas' lips that Darth couldn't see with her eyes closed, but it fell slightly. "You sounded upset."

Darth's brow furrowed slightly in confusion.

"Your footsteps were louder on the way here. You emphasized them more."

The corner of Darth's lips twitched. "I always forget how perceptive you are."

Jalindas snorted. "Well, I did have to work around not having one of my eyes for awhile," the woman conceded, her eyes watching the quarterstaff. "Um…what exactly are you doing?"

"Making a Force weapon."

Darth couldn't see Jalindas' flummoxed expression, but she could certainly sense the confusion. "And what exactly is that?"

"It's an item that a Jedi or a Sith can empower with the Force, increasing their strength and durability," Darth said without preamble.

She sounded like a scholar of some sort and Jalindas' eyes shifted to the quarterstaff, but it didn't seem any different.

"When you were a Jedi," she said instead, noticing how Darth tensed, "what did you do?"

A frown marred Darth's lips. "I was a part of the Jedi Shadows, we were trained in espionage and to find ancient artifacts…it was a specialization that only three Jedi possessed before I left."

Jalindas' eyebrows rose high. "Only three?"

"Myself, Taria, and Maw," Darth agreed. "Most Jedi would rather be as far from the Dark Side of the Force," she chuckled slightly, "ironic given the planet they live on."

Darth breathed out slowly and the twists of the quarterstaff became a bit sharper.

"Do you miss it?" Jalindas asked instead.

"Some days more than others," Darth said simply with a shrug of her shoulders. "But I have chosen to look beyond the Jedi, to look to the Force. Being a Jedi…I did love it once, and I wish I still could, but there is no light without darkness and no darkness without light. Being a Sith taught me that believing any different was nothing short of ignorance."

Jalindas wished she could understand more of the words coming out of Darth's lips, but the Jedi had always seemed a bit magical and fantastical, moving things with their minds, convincing others with their words.

"Sabé," Darth said suddenly, her eyes opening slowly as she caught the quarterstaff as it fell out of the air.

"What?" Jalindas asked in confusion.

"My name," Darth said, brown eyes meeting a gray and silver pair, "its Sabé, Sabé Amidala."

"I know," Jalindas said, a faint smile curling her lips. "I looked you up after I met with your sister…you were very impressive as a Jedi."

"I'm flattered," Sabé said with a light laugh, her fingers fitting over the grooves of the staff.

"That little Twi'lek girl…your sister said she was your daughter?"

Surprise colored Sabé's face as she tilted her head to look at Jalindas again, and then she smiled. "Talik might as well be, but no, she was my old Padawan, my apprentice. A friend of mine is training her in my stead."

There was a long silence filled by Jalindas watching Sabé inspect the quarterstaff.

"What're you going to do now?" the bounty hunter asked.

Sabé pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I don't know. I have been charting Wild Space and the Unknown Regions, but I kind of want to get back to the roots of the Force…see some ancient Temples, meditate, figure out what I really believe in, that kind of thing."

"Well, if you're interested, we could always use an extra hand in expanding HQ," Jalindas said easily.

"I'll keep it in mind," Sabé promised, giving her companion a smile, before motioning for her to come an sit. "What does HQ look like now?"

"We're really liking Tython," Jalindas said, slumping down beside Sabé. "A completely off the grid planet that no one outside of the organization can reach? Gratina was exalting you to the stars when we first scouted it."

Sabé's laughter was light and easy.

"We hollowed out a cave and that's where we are currently, but since we're expanding, we'll be setting up another HQ a bit farther around the planet…"


Depa mulled over Sabé's last words to her as she sat in her rounded seat during the High Council session. Sabé had dropped her off at a neighboring spaceport, Jalindas and the droids remaining inside while Sabé descended the ramp to see her off, surprisingly neglecting to wear the mask.

"I won't apologize for who I had to become to keep the Holocron safe," Sabé had said seriously. "But the past is supposed to be something that we learn from, and mine has taught me much. It's shown me the flaws of the Jedi and the flaws of the Sith…but I can't believe in the Jedi anymore, not after…all this."

Sabé had heaved a heavy sigh and quoted a Code Depa wasn't familiar with:

"There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.

There is no fear; there is power.

I am the heart of the Force.

I am the revealing fire of light.

I am the mystery of darkness

In balance with chaos and harmony,

Immortal in the Force."

Sabé had lifted Depa's lightsaber from her hip, holding it out to Depa. "Tell Yoda that, and that I am where the Force wills me to be."

"Master Billaba? How went your mission to Falleen?"

Depa lifted her head to meet the dark eyes of her former master. "Well," she said finally, "though not in the manner I was expecting."

Mace Windu made a gesture with his hand for her to continue. "The matter was ultimately resolved, though a sudden intrusion by three thieves certainly complicated matters…especially when one used the Force to make away with almost all of the Yloth gang's power generators."

That caused a few mutters. "She caused a minor explosion by launching one of the power generators into the air and having one of her companions shoot it…I regret to say that I was out of commission due to the explosion." Depa's healing burns ached under her robes. "When I came to I found myself on Sabé Amidala's ship The Dawning."

Those mutters increased in strength and Yoda considered Depa with renewed interest.

"I believe it would be safe to say, masters, that she has no interest in returning to the Order," Depa's words were caught up with her sigh.

"Certain, are you?" Yoda asked sharply, aged eyes narrowed.

"She did state it rather bluntly." Depa grimaced. "And she wanted me to pass something along to you, Master Yoda."

Yoda's ears curled slightly and Depa recited Sabé's words for him to ponder.

"So, Amidala has made up her own Code now, has she?" Pablo Jill's disdain was clear and Depa's brow furrowed at the remark. She knew that Jill had never been a fan of Sabé, even when she'd been a child. He'd considered it deceitful how she'd managed to hide the levels of her strength in the Force, but Depa had seen Sabé then, small and thin, circles under her eyes, not wanting the adding pressure from the High Council members at being part of a prophecy when she could hardly sleep.

"Create that, Sabé did not," Yoda responded quietly, eyes distant. "From the Je'daii Order, it was. An ancient code, abandoned it was…forgotten, I have, of my old pupil's love for ancient history."

"My old pupil have to say, what more?" Yoda inquired of Depa.

"She said that she was where the Force willed her, and she wouldn't apologize for who she had become to keep the Holocron safe."

"If she did indeed find the Holocron," Ki-Adi-Mundi offered.

"Sabé Amidala isn't the type to lie about something as coveted as a Holocron," Adi Gallia reproached, the white tendrils from her headdress swaying.

"But she is very good at lying," Saesee Tiin pointed out.

"A fact that made her a rather accomplished Jedi Shadow," Plo Koon spoke without inflection but Depa wasn't fooled. Plo Koon had brought Sabé to the Temple, and he'd always had a fondness for her, much like little Ahsoka Tano.

"A specialization that ultimately brought her closer to the Dark Side," Coleman Trebor threw in his credits and Depa twitched in aggravation.

"I hope, Master Trebor, that you are not suggesting that we demonize our own two remaining Jedi Shadows because one went farther than any Jedi has ever gone to keep a Holocron from falling into the wrong hands?" Depa arched an eyebrow coolly.

"Of course not," Trebor said quickly, "but one cannot deny the facts. It sounds to me perhaps Amidala enjoyed being Carina far too much."

"Perhaps she found Carina more liberating," Depa replied, unimpressed.

"Speak plainly, Depa," Mace Windu said not unkindly and Depa tilted her head slightly in respect to her old master.

"I only mean that Sabé learned to shield herself at a very young age because of how sensitive she was to the Force." Depa spread her hands easily. "She was told that some emotions are bad to express so she suppressed everything. Sabé was tightly controlled and Carina was lack of control. Carina didn't care about the judgment of the Jedi Order because she hated the Jedi Order. Now Sabé is on her own and she feels abandoned by the Order. Is it really that surprising that she falls more in line with Carina's line of thinking?"

Yoda made a soft grunting sound. "A fair point, you make, Master Billaba," he conceded, "Powerful my old padawan is, searching for who she is, I sense she is. Uncertain her future remains, but her path, with the Force, it still is."

And several heads inclined with agreement while another couple abstained, still, it was the best that Depa could've asked for.

She sensed Yoda was right, the Force was intertwined with Sabé's fate so tightly that it was impossible to consider otherwise.

Sabé…may the Force be with you.


Taria sat alone in her quarters, her thoughts a mess. She knew that Sabé's message couldn't have been unfounded, Sabé didn't go around randomly accusing Jedi of burning fellows on deep cover missions, but only one person was in charge of Shadow missions and that was for a very good reason.

Sabé and Taria had worked too closely on previous missions to consider each other to be the traitor, but Maw had always been set apart.

The interest he'd had with the Sith Holocron of Korriban…Taria couldn't explain it. How willing he'd been to give Sabé the title of Spymaster if she would hand over the Holocron…Taria didn't like it. She and Sabé would look at a Holocron like that for its knowledge, but Maw would look at it for its power, that there was the schism of the Jedi Shadows.

Taria knotted her fingers together, her eyes narrowing.

She needed to think this through carefully and move cautiously…


"Block high!"

Lightsabers clashed.

"Middle!"

Caleb was struggling. It was hard learning Niman, and it was so clear to see that Talik Shala outstripped him in every possible way. And if she was good at it, her master was undoubtedly exceptional and Caleb couldn't even imagine what that looked like.

"You're over thinking it," Talik said, holding one 'saber with a single hand, pressing down on Caleb's as he struggled with the strain of keeping his up with two hands. "Focus on where you are, Caleb, or you'll never defeat me."

"I don't think that'll be too much of problem," Caleb muttered through gritted teeth, before he went flying back at the force of her next strike.

A laugh escaped her lips. "My old master would've liked you. She liked people with sharp tongues."

"She must've liked you a lot, then," Caleb joked but Talik smiled softly.

"She did." Talik deactivated her 'saber and returned it to her hip before striding over to where he'd fallen and offered him a hand to help pull him upright. "She raised me not to conform and taught me to question everything that came my way."

"My teachers don't like it when I ask too many questions," Caleb muttered under his breath, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably.

"I think that might be something all teachers don't like," Talik said dryly, turning as someone called her name and Caleb watched Anakin Skywalker approach.

Anakin was kind of awing, Caleb couldn't deny that. With the highest midi-chlorian count in the Temple and with the whispers that he was a former slave that had come to the Temple at an age considered too old for Jedi to be trained, but here he was a rising star amongst the Padawans.

"Can you do me a favor?" he asked Talik and the Twi'lek arched an eyebrow.

"What kind of favor?" she asked suspiciously as Caleb looked between them.

"Master's in a meeting right now…so can you tell him that I went to see the Chancellor?"

Caleb could've sworn he saw something flicker in Talik's eyes but she promised to do so as the boy ran off again. He would've asked her about it, but it wasn't really any of his business.

"Padawan Shala?"

"Hm?"

"How did your master pick you to be her Padawan?"

Talik looked down to his wide, curious eyes and her lips twitched faintly in the corners. "Sabé didn't believe in choosing a Padawan, she believed that it was the other way around, that a Padawan chose a master…I was in 'saber class and I was ten, very young, but Sabé was the same age when Yoda took her as his Padawan. I thought I'd sensed something lurking in one of the corners…like a tingle in the back of my mind…" Talik lifted a hand to her bare skull, as if remembering the sensation and Caleb's eyes tracked the movement.

"I didn't even realize it was her until I was sparring myself and when our spar was done, she stepped out of the shadows. I'd never seen her in person before, but she was very impressive and her eyes were very intense." Talik cupped her chin thoughtfully, trying to remember how she felt that day. "I remember how focused I was on her lightsabers."

"Why?" Caleb tilted his head slightly.

"Have you ever seen them?" Talik arched an eyebrow and he shook his head quickly. "Well, they're works of art. Lightweight with leaf and petal patterns carved into the hilts. She said it was symbolic, of how the Force had given her life and was life…I doubted their abilities until she handed one to me. It was only after that that she took me on as her Padawan."

"She sounds…interesting," Caleb said finally.

"Well, she certainly is that," Talik laughed. "Her saberstaff was more practical in appearance, but that might've been from Carina rubbing off on her…"

Caleb didn't have time to question her about that comment because Ahsoka had appeared at the end of the room, calling his name and he rushed off without a second thought and Talik waved goodbye good-naturedly.


Sabé breathed in and out evenly and reached out through the Force as Jay-Seven settled into the co-pilot's seat beside her.

"Where to?" he asked and the Force whispered a suggestion, forcing Sabé's eyes open as they lifted off of Tython and shot up into the sky.

Jalindas had tried to convince her to stay a little longer, but Sabé was itching for something new.

Her fingers tapped out the coordinates and she grinned as she pulled down the lever. "Mustafar."


AN: I've realized that Sabé's journey might end up being longer than I'd originally thought, but book two is going to be hugely long anyways, so it's not really all that surprising…

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