A Shift in the Force: Chapter Sixty-Five: At the Precipice

AN: Guys…I don't know how many fix-it fics don't even reach the Clone Wars, so in case some of you are concerned…the Empire doesn't need to rise to enact change. Its' true that initially, I had planned on writing through the Clone Wars and into the Imperial Era, but that was also a point where Sabé was still with the Order and believed completely in their way of life and this Sabé who has grown organically over the years is not the same one.

This fic is incredibly AU and there's been a lot of lore but I'm not really into retelling the Clone Wars when I can go in a completely different and profoundly more interesting direction.


Darth Tyrannus had become too loud and Darth Sidious' anger had grown. He had allowed Dooku to attempt to clean up his mess with that troublesome Jedi, Siri Tachi after she'd found the location of the Sith Holocron on Korriban, the location that had eluded Sidious for so long, but Dooku hadn't been able to reclaim the information before he'd had her killed…only to find out that she'd beamed the details to Sabé Amidala, the woman who'd been a thorn in his side for as long as he'd known of her. The former Padawan to the Grandmaster had forced him to hide his plans, burrow them deeper to remain unseen and unnoticed.

She was too perceptive for her own good and perhaps at one time he'd considered her a valuable ally in a similar way to Anakin Skywalker, but Sabé struck him as someone who was harder to break; broken people knew how to survive the world that broke them.

Sabé had evaded him and had put so many kinks in his plans for so long it was starting to greatly anger him…and then she went and found the Sith Holocron of Malachor. She was really starting to get on his nerves.

Supposedly, Dooku had had her killed on Ryloth, but Sidious had his doubts. He could feel the presence of a Sith Holocron out of reach…he reached into the Force and felt—

"This is the Sith Holocron of Korriban, it's the genuine article and I am its keeper," Sabé Amidala's voice echoed in his mind. "But the Jedi won't be getting it."

Eyes like molten gold blazed through the darkness, keeping it at bay, holding it back as though by the light of a single candle.

Be wary of where you step next, the Force whispered in his mind, and Sidious didn't like that warning but certainly Sabé Amidala, already a quarter-droid with her prosthetic limb and full of novice ideas that would never come to fruition, was little more than a hindrance that had only grown to be an annoyance in recent years.

But Anakin Skywalker was the real prize and with her -and soon troublesome Talik Shala- out of way, his plans could continue.


Meditating had never come difficultly to Talik, it was actually one of the easiest things that Sabé had taught her, and one of the first, but now she was having a hard time. It was like Sabé was her center and now she was off-balance without her; she'd felt the same way when their bond had snapped after she Fell.

It wasn't good to be co-dependent, that was something that Sabé had taught her too. It was never an issue for Sabé because she and Yoda had never been close, but Talik and Sabé…it was like being on the same wavelength.

Talik would've been content with how things had been, with how the Order was, but then Sabé crashed into her orbit and she was questioning everything.

Why was it an unspoken rule that no one argue with Grandmaster Yoda? Was his opinion and decisions higher than everyone else simply by being the Grandmaster? Why did being emotionless make you better than the Sith who embraced the full spectrum of emotions? Why was it bad to have attachments? Why was so much information restricted from Jedi who weren't a part of the High Council?

"I can practically feel your thoughts," Aayla said from where she was sitting across from Talik on a round cushion and Talik couldn't help but open her eyes. Aayla's remained shut, giving off the semblance that she was deep into her meditation, but Talik knew better.

She couldn't help but sigh. "I'm sorry to wear you out, Master Aayla."

"You're not." Aayla's lips twitched faintly in amusement. "The most worn out I've probably ever felt was when Sabé, Kit, and I decided to climb through the vents to get to lightsaber practice instead of just walking because 'it'll be more interesting, Aayla!' and then getting knocked flat on my ass by the instructor because I was not yet made for climbing and lightsaber sparring."

Talik snorted. She was guessing that Sabé was the one she was imitating, it wasn't really a Kit Fisto thing to say.

"So, tell me what's bothering you," Aayla invited, finally opening her eyes, "I can assure you, I won't judge."

"I just—" Talik cut herself off with a sigh. "I just don't feel like I belong, you know? Like…like there's something more I should be doing."

Aayla considered, "You don't consider your life as a Jedi fulfilling?"

"No, it is…it's just…"

"Not fulfilling enough?" Aayla offered with a faint smile. "I thought it might be for you…you and Sabé are too much alike, and that's not a bad thing."

"Everyone makes it seem like a bad thing," Talik muttered.

"Well, the truth is often dependent on our point of view," Aayla shrugged. "Most Jedi don't understand why Sabé did the things she did, so they assume she was weak, that the Dark Side consumed her, spreading and festering like a disease, they assume she was in it for power and ambition, but we both know that she didn't need to turn to the Dark Side for that."

"Uh…she didn't?" Talik was all for speaking for Sabé when she wasn't there to defend herself, or even care to defend herself.

Aayla chuckled. "Sabé's very well-connected. She has friends everywhere, all throughout the galaxy. In high and low places, it was kind of a necessity when she was a Shadow. She can get what she wants through an exchange of favors, that was her currency back when she was one. Ironically, she was probably one of the most powerful Jedi with that influence alone back when she was a Shadow and that had nothing to do with a half-baked prophecy, that was all Sabé, and she didn't need the Dark Side for that."

Talik frowned, thinking on that. "They didn't think she was strong in the Force itself?" She could understand the political side, though she doubted Sabé cared much for it, but she could never understand how Jedi didn't regard her as anything more than a hindrance.

Aayla snorted in amusement, unable to resist the action. "Sabé practically failed her way through Initiate studies in an effort to remain invisible. Yoda saw through her, of course, but even when she was a Padawan…Sabé never wanted to be very remarkable."

"Why not?" Talik had always felt that Aayla understood the most about Sabé, more than even Talik could, even with their master-padawan bond. It had irritated her at first, but it was probably best that Talik didn't know everything about Sabé.

"She's probably told you about the Council keeping an extra close eye on her because she was part of a prophecy?" Talik nodded. "Sabé never liked attention being on her, it's why she made such a good Shadow; they tend to operate unseen."

Pride had never been an issue for Sabé, she'd always called Talik her pride and joy ("You're my pride and joy," Sabé had joked, "I have none for myself.").

Talik blinked furiously and scolded herself with a muffled complaint. "I don't even know why I'm upset!" she exploded, "she's not dead, but—!"

"But she's beyond reach," Aayla smiled in understanding. If there was one thing Aayla Secura was known for it was her understanding nature, "and you miss her, there's nothing wrong with that….and there's absolutely nothing wrong with realizing that your future doesn't lie with the Jedi Order, a lot of Jedi -a lot more than we like to admit- have felt the way you have."

"You're not…" Talik's words felt like ash in her mouth. "You're not disappointed?"

Aayla's eyes softened. "Of course not. We all have paths that we must walk, and often we must walk them alone. Take your master, for instance, she considered herself a Jedi Guardian who was trained to be a Jedi Shadow because they have so much negativity around what they do…and then she realized she needed to be away from the Jedi in order to truly come into her own…am I really surprised that you're no different? No, I'm not."

Talik looked at Aayla, really looked at her, at her kind smile, at her soft eyes, at the circular scar on her cheek that she'd long since learned not to ask about. Talik had never known her mother, but she hoped she would've been like Aayla or like Sabé.

"Life is a sum of choices, some good, some bad, but they always lead you in the direction you're meant to go," Sabé had said once.

"I want you to meditate," Aayla offered, "send your awareness into the Force, look to the past, to the present, to the future…maybe that will give you your answer."

But Talik had doubts.


Talik dragged the flat couch onto the veranda of the 500 Republica apartment that had once belonged to Sabé (it technically still did, but she, obviously, didn't live there or even visit the planet anymore) and Talik probably could've tried to meditate in the Room of a Thousand Foutains, but more Jedi came through there and she didn't want anyone to see her meditating or pick up on how she was questioning her place with the Jedi.

The apartment, at least, was slightly better. There were some plants out on the veranda that were almost taking over the veranda -Talik knew for sure that Kit stopped by to water them every so often- that radiated with the Force. They'd once been one of the few things that could make Sabé stand being on Coruscant.

Talik settled on her cushion, breathing in and out slowly. "I need advice," she murmured into the Force, "please."

The Force hummed in an answer, swirling around her, warm and content.

When she opened her eyes she was somewhere else entirely. She thought it looked a bit like the Works, a burned-out district that had once been a manufacturing powerhouse throughout the galaxy before prices had risen too much on Coruscant. She'd never been there before, but Sabé had, that was where she'd lost her arm, taken by the Sith Obi-Wan had fought on Naboo. She'd never spoken much about that day to Talik except to say "That day marked the point where I questioned everything."

Talik turned around, pausing when she realized she wasn't alone. There was a young girl stepping cautiously around a series of crates. Her hair was bound in dozens of tiny braids, wearing a jumpsuit with goggles on top of her head, looking similar to Aayla's outfit. Two very familiar lightsabers hung from her hips.

"Did you two find anything?" Sabé asked, raising her wrist comm to her mouth.

"There's a big empty box, over here," came a reply, sounding very much like Kit Fisto. "It's got the poison's residue all over it and Aayla's collecting a sample to help identify a cure."

"I thought there wasn't any left?" Sabé responded, clearly confused.

"Barely," came Aayla's familiar voice, "Just a few droplets, Sabé, I think the whole shipment has been used. That's probably why the attacks stopped; they ran out of supply."

Talik watched Sabé then, because the younger version of her master had stiffened suddenly and Talik was close enough to see the goose bumps rise up and she looked to her left, where one of the rundown factories was, dull light shining through the darkness from the opening where there should've been nothing.

She looked back to Sabé's face. There was a sheen of sweat, she realized, accompanying clear fear, the likes of which she'd never seen before on her master's face, then she watched it morph into resignation and determination.

It was the face of a sixteen-year-old half-trained Jedi who knew there was a very real possibility that she might die, and stepped forward anyways.

"When the time comes," a whisper echoed, the words one of the last things Sabé had told her back on Naboo, "you may need to be willing to sacrifice yourself for something greater."

The world tilted and shifted and suddenly Talik was on a dusty planet that made her think of Ryloth.

There were blaster burns in the dune and laser burns from a lightsaber. There was a body missing a head and Sabé was hanging in the air, clutching at her throat, trying to breathe as Master Maw extended a hand, tightening the Force around her throat as the young Initiate that Talik had helped through Niman katas -Caleb Dume- watched in horror.

"The Exile should've never gotten so far, Darth Tyrannus, this failure is on your head," a voice said close to her ear and Talik twisted, but there was nothing there.

When she looked back it had changed again.

It was someone's room now, dimly lit. The child in the bed had gingery hair and brown eyes that were tired as a woman drew up blankets around her.

"Coré," a familiar voice warned, "you were supposed to be asleep hours ago. Your sister said she tucked you in herself!"

"I pretended so Tali would go to sleep," the child, Coré, said, smiling brightly, "I wanted to wait up for Mama, and Papa, and Caleb!"

"Well, your brother's asleep now, and Papa couldn't even make it up the stairs," Sabé said, kissing the brow of the child that could only be her daughter. "It's time to sleep, darling."

"But you've gotta tell me a story!" Coré insisted and Sabé's lips twitched.

"Oh, yeah? And what story does little Coré Amidala want to hear?"

"The Recusal!"

The Force rang in warning and Talik opened her eyes and shot to the ground in time for a dart -undoubtedly laced with a deadly toxin- to lodge in the doorframe. Talik dived inside the apartment in time for another dart to hit the spot where her hand had been just moments ago.

Startled fear flooded through her blood and she made a run for it, slamming the door of her old room shut behind her. Something shattered and Talik tried to regulate her breathing, the stunned shock still freezing her dead in her tracks. Had someone just tried to kill her?

Sure, that would make more sense for Sabé, Sabé had probably pissed a lot of people off over the years, particularly with what she'd done during her time as a Shadow and a Sith, but Talik was fairly unnoticeable. She was a healer for star's sake! She was rarely doing anything outside of hospital!

"Think, think, think," she muttered, but her mind was still scrambled from her visions in the Force. "What would Sabé do? What would Sabé do?"

Sabé would…figure out what was in those darts and where they came from…she'd figure out where they were fired from, if she could…and she wouldn't let it seem like she was rattled. She'd go on acting like everything was fine, but be ready in an instant; Sabé would be subtle.

Talik gulped air greedily trying to regulate her breathing like Sabé had taught her once while her arm hung uselessly at her side, disregarding her own health to make sure Talik was okay.

She wasn't sure how long she stayed in there, waiting for her body to calm, waiting for the would-be assassin to give up.

Talik opened the door, peeking her head out, sensing with the Force, but it didn't answer her this time. This time she was alone.

She couldn't help but sigh in relief, but she also felt uncommonly cold. She picked up one of the darts, careful not to touch its tip, folding it into her hand.

Someone wanted her dead? Wanted her silent? Fat chance of that; it would take more than that to silence Talik Shala.


The dart was no help, it was a common albeit deadly poison that could be bought easily and untraceably on the black market.

But why would anyone want Talik dead? Sabé was the one with all the information…but, she supposed, one way to piss off her master would be to fatally injure or kill Talik. Talik had very rarely seen her lose her temper, but she was sure that would do it.

"Ah, how are you Talik?"

Talik positively yelped, almost startled out of her chair as Maw came up beside her and for an instant she could only think of the image of Maw using the force to choke Sabé…had that even happened yet? Would it ever happen? Or was it just the Force's way of playing tricks on her mind?

"Master Maw!" she managed to force out. "You startled me!"

"I can see that," the Boltrunian seemed vaguely amused by the prospect of such a thing. "My apologies."

Talik waved it off. "It's fine, I'm just a bit jumpy," she assured him, looking around with a grimace as several nearby Jedi scowled to her for the noise she'd made. Madam Nu wouldn't appreciate the noise in the Archives. "Actually, I'm looking for some information on something…could I pick your brain on it?"

He seemed so open but Talik was learning to be careful now. "Of course."

"Have you ever heard of something called the Recusal?"

Maw arched an eyebrow. "That was the Jedi Order's response to the Pius Dea Crusades some eleven thousand years ago, that was back when the Order decided to remove itself from the Republic and from Coruscant."

"What? Really?" Talik couldn't help but be startled and surprised by that. "I'd always figured the Order had been here the whole time."

Maw's lips twisted. "A common misconception…I'm surprised Sabé didn't bring it up. The ancient history of the Jedi was her specialty."

Talik couldn't help but grit her teeth together, a spike of irritation rising inside her. It expanded inside her, growing into annoyance but then she remembered Sabé and her smiles, coasting past people who seemed determine to undermine and anger her; she was a good role model on that side of things.

Talik did her best to take a deep breath and release her thoughts and her anger into the Force. "So, the Jedi left Coruscant?"

"For a time," Maw agreed.

"But…" Talik paused, gathering her thoughts, "where did they go?"

"Ossus," he said, "I believe they stayed there for about eight hundred years until they were convinced to act against the Republic."

"The Jedi? Act against the Republic?" Talik was astounded.

Maw laughed. It was a guttural and raw sound. "Surprising isn't it? But it was a different time. Back then the Pius Dea were in control…I'm not as familiar with the subject as Sabé, though…did she ever tell you about Ossus?"

Talik nodded, remembering how Sabé's eyes had lit up when she talked about it.

"Ossus was actually first called Idux," she'd told Talik, "and it was where the Jedi once resided for twelve thousand years, I believe, it was where the Jedi stored the sum of their knowledge, within the Great Jedi Library…but when the Jedi Knight Exar Kun turned to the Dark Side and became a Sith, he attacked Ossus during the Great Sith War. During the war, another Sith, a sorceress named Aleema Keto, caused the Cron Cluster, a group of ten stars, to detonate in a supernova. It sent a shockwave through the galaxy as well as scorching the surface of Ossus. According to the records it's uninhabitable…though we lost track of the planet from our records some time ago…who knows maybe the Jedi wiped it some time ago because it represented their failure."

"Sabé always loved traveling, even back when she was apprenticed to Master Yoda," Maw said, jerking Talik out of her thoughts, "I think it was more that she was away from Coruscant, she never could stand it here…but she liked the idea of traveling to planets strong in the Force, with ancient temples long forgotten…"

Talik said nothing to that. What could she even say? He wasn't wrong. Sabé had hated it on Coruscant, but there was something a little off about him…the vision of her old master hanging in the air, gasping for air burned through her.

"Thanks, Master Maw," she said quickly, loping over to replace her datapads, "that was really helpful."

"Was it?" he sounded a bit befuddled and Talik laughed to hide the sound of the dart in her pocket clinking against the glass vial she'd shoved it in.

When she was out of sight of him, she booked it back to the room she shared with Aayla, unaware that she was being watched.


It took skill, skill learned from a Shadow, to be as unseen as Talik had managed to be. She'd packed up her life in several short minutes. Her bag was small, full of spare clothes, spare credits -not that Jedi had much of a salary-, her lightsabers, everything that really mattered.

She'd paused at the door, wondering if she should leave something, a note, a message, something for Aayla, something for Anakin (oh, he was going to kill her), maybe even something for Tiplar with the curving way she formed words and laughed, with how her eyes brightened, with how she smiled (stars above, Talik was so gone on her), but there wasn't any time and...

Sabé's eyes were brown and angry, boring into Obi-Wan's "I didn't want to get you involved."

There wasn't any time.

Stealing a small transport from the hangar bay wouldn't have been too difficult, if one she'd picked hadn't already been taken.

"Running off, are you?" Depa Billaba arched an eyebrow, almost uncommonly like Sabé that it was startling. Talik had heard the rumor, just like everyone else, that Depa had run into Sabé on a mission, that she'd saved her life once and then gone back in a second time to save her and Master Windu. Talik really doubted the second one; Sabé really didn't like Windu. But Depa seemed pretty amused. "You won't get anywhere without a guide, I hope you know."

"I-what?" Talik was flummoxed. "Are you -you want to come with me?" Depa was a newly made Master of the High Council…why would she want to up and leave?

Depa's lips twisted, eyes drifting out of focus as she hit the button to close the ramp, leaving it just the two of them. "Sabé," she said, almost as an explanation, "I can sense our paths are intertwined, as is yours, and…with her, it feels right, there's a purpose in being by her side and I sense she's going to need all the friends she can get."

It wasn't the Force that drove Talik to Sabé, it was fear. She felt like a little frightened girl who'd had a terrible nightmare and was running to her mother. There was no denying Sabé was the closest thing to a mother Talik had even had. ("Talik is my pride and joy," she'd told Obi-Wan without any doubt, the words echoing, always, in Talik's head in her time of need)

"Why?" the question sprouted from Talik's lips before it could be silenced and Depa's eyes fixed on hers, brown and so full of wisdom and promise.

"Because there's been a shift in the Force, Talik Shala," she said, looking both like her attention was fixed beyond and being completely and utterly present, "and your master? She's right at the center of it."

AN: We're definitely going to see more of Sabé-Depa and Sabé-Talik interactions :) and it only took us 65 chapters to get the title name drop!

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