Chapter Five: The Councils of Light and Dark
Disclaimer: see chapter 1
Holy moly, I have returned to this story after spending some time away, working on other things. It's good to be back. I will try to get more chapters out quicker, now that I have a bit more time now that I have finished college.
On with the Show:
Caedus walked beside Vader into large chamber that served as the debate room for the Sith Council. Looking around, he saw that everyone had been gathered, as the seats above the thrones were full, except for his seat. Looking at the members who had, in one way or another earned their place to sit on the dark thrones in the center of the room, Sidious with a smaller throne for Vader at his side, Lord Plagueis's throne was also near Sidious, Revan, Bane with Zannah sitting at her master's side, Krayt, Nihilus, Andeddu, Malgus, Marr, Vitiate who currently looked like Valkorian, Exar Kun, and Marka Ragnos. They each gave Caedus a slight nod of their head, or whatever constituted for a head in Nihilus' case, every other notable darksider was sitting up in the stands. Vader announced his arrival "Everyone," in his booming voice, "Lord Caedus has joined us, so now we may resume our discussions." Vader took his seat. Caedus remained standing in the center of the room, with everyone looking at him.
"You have the most opportune timing, Lord Caedus, as we are discussing the events of the past day," Sidious said.
"It is not mere coincidence that I have come to Korriban early, Lord Sidious, but because my journey was expedited due to the situation that befalls us," Caedus told them. He stood before the council, arms in his sleeves, like his grandfather before him in front of the Jedi Council.
"Do you have knowledge that you will share with this council?" Lord Marr asked, hands steepled in front of him.
"I do indeed, Lord Marr, the wormhole is a breach in the very fabric of the universe, more powerful than any Force Storm ever created." Caedus said.
"The Council has already reached that conclusion." Lord Andeddu said, in a somewhat mocking tone. "Do you have any new information?"
"I have more than just information, Lord Andeddu, I have proof." Turning to the doors, "Guards! Bring him in." The doors opened and four Shadow Guards walked in, sabers ignited, in the middle of them, was Kylo Ren.
"I believe this is the beginning of something far worse, for all of us, Jedi and Sith alike." Caedus said, as Kylo joined his counterpart in the center of the room
"Who is this, Lord Caedus?" Exar Kun asked.
"It is my displeasure to introduce to you all, Kylo Ren of the First Order, AKA a copy of myself from a parallel universe," Caedus informed the council.
"Take your place, Lord Caedus, we will take it from here," Marka Ragnos said to him. Jacen bowed before the council and went up to his seat next to his teacher, Lumiya.
Darth Plagueis was first to speak, intrigued by the idea that Caedus said, "Lord Caedus said you are from a parallel universe, meaning that you came through the rift. I would very much like to study you," Kylo was a bit taken back in concern, at whatever the Sith Lord had in mind.
A voice from the stands, from behind Plagueis, "I wouldn't recommend coma-blooming him and keeping him in a bacta tank like you did me, my rival," it was a Bith Sith Lord that spoke.
"Shut up, Venamis," Plagueis said to the Bith, that got some laughter out of some of the other members in the stands. Kylo was now terrified of the Muun.
Lord Nihilus rose from his throne, and everyone went quiet, wondering what he was going to do. Nihilus moved like a wraith, circling Ren a few times, before sitting back down, Kylo would later swear that he heard Nihilus sniff him. All eyes were on the Lord of Hunger, and all was silent before Nihilus spoke in a harsh, raspy voice "I could devour you with minimal effort. Keep that in mind while you are here." That terrified Ren to the bone. "Other than that, my readings on him corroborate with Lord Caedus' description, his force energy is different from everyone else's in this room, and even the entire galaxy." The rest of the council was keen to take Nihilus at his word, even those who could easily resist his drain abilities, still did not want to argue with the Lord of Hunger.
"So, Ren, is it? Tell us your story, your actual history," Vitiate said, leaning forward on his throne.
Realizing what the Sith Lord wanted him to tell, he began his tale, "I was born a year after the battle of Endor, my parents, of course, Han Solo and Leia Organa, my real name is Ben Solo. I was trained a bit by my uncle Luke in the ways of the Jedi. I was contacted through visons and dreams by a being named Snoke, who would be the first Supreme Leader of the First Order, before me. I was awoken one night to the sight of my uncle standing over me with lightsaber ignited, perhaps he sensed the dark side in me, and wanted to kill me. I brought the building down on us, and fled. In my rage, I seemed to have summoned a storm which destroyed the temple, killing most of the rest of the students, which I have to assume was somehow helped by you, Lord Sidious," Palpatine's eyebrows raised in confusion, "I will explain later, so I traveled the galaxy, fell in with the Knights of Ren, a Dark side force group, led by Ren, and eventually I killed Ren, took over the knights, became the apprentice of Snoke, who was a Strand-Cast, created by Palpatine, for a time, and then I met this girl, a scavenger from the planet Jakku, Rey, who is strong in the Force, which makes sense considering who her grandfather was," Kylo looked right at Sidious, who grew even more confused, as did the rest of the council.
Darth Krayt turned to Sidious, "Don't you have a grandson?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Sidious shut it down, knowing what Krayt was getting at, "Continue," he directed Kylo, ignoring the smug look that crossed Darth Krayt's face.
"So, I then killed my father, Han Solo, and nearly killed my mother, soon after that, I killed Snoke, proclaiming myself the new Supreme Leader and took the fight to the Resistance. I…" he paused, unsure how this next part was going to be taken.
"Yes?" Lord Malgus asked.
"I turned back to the light, after meeting with Palpatine reborn, or rather a living corpse or whatever he was, and after a vision of my dead father spoke to me," many of the members recoiled a bit in disgust, "and helped Rey take down Sidious and the Final Order."
"Interesting, and what side is your corporal self on now?" Lord Revan asked.
"Dark, I believe," Kylo shrugged.
"Do you switch between your Jedi and dark side self like Lord Caedus does, or Lords Revan or Krayt?" Lord Valkorian asked, leaning forward in his throne.
"Yes, and No, I suppose, depends, I guess, I spend more time as my dark self then my light self," he answered the question, unsure what the dark lord was asking.
"Lord Caedus," Lord Kun said, directing this line of inquiry back to Jacen, "Do you have any further information on this outsider to share?"
Caedus stood up from his seat and walked down the steps to the center of the room to address the Council. "Other than what has been presented already, not much, besides that he is a copy of me from another world, he is also stealing my cousins name as his real name is Ben Solo, as he said. As well as when he wears his helmet and hood up, he is ripping off Lord Revan's look," Jacen told the Council, eyes shifted to the named Lord for a moment, who was leaning back in his throne, hands steeped in a tent. It was a good thing Revan was wearing his mask, as it made him look intimidating, but they couldn't tell what he was thinking. "From my own interrogation of him, I have learned of his world, or at least the universe that his memories are pulled from. As far as I can tell, the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil War happened relatively similar, with some different minor battles here and there, apparently the Mandalorian Wars happened in some form as he mentioned a Jedi vs Mandalorian War. Ancient history is a little fuzzy for him, perhaps that history is still being written, as it were," Jacen said, acknowledging the unsaid knowledge everyone knew about their realities. "Also, there is a peculiar quirk of his that I find disturbing, he is somewhat obsessed with our Sith grandfather." The Council all seemed disgusted by that, even those that had cults form in their name and worshiped them, and eyes shifted a moment to the dark armored visage of Lord Vader, whose mask was expressionless, but the others could feel his hate radiating off of him. "As I said before, I have a bad feeling about all this and I sense that his arrival here in our world is an omen of doom, for all of us," he said.
Finally, Lord Revan spoke, but not to the matter of the other world that has confused them, "Lord Caedus, will you be staying long, as no doubt, this council would like to further interrogate this counterpart of yours later."
"Personally, I would rather leave him in your hands, but I will be staying until my dark self is satisfied, and unfortunately, when I leave, I must take him with me, as our Jedi counterparts will want to question him as well," Caedus answered the Prodigal Knights question, knowing that Uncle Luke was probably speaking to a gathered special council at the same time as this was going on
Elsewhere, on Coruscant
Luke stood before a mixed Jedi Council comprised of members from his council, the council of the Clone Wars and other councils of the past, to be honest he was a little nervous about this meeting and he did not really know why. "Master Skywalker, you had asked for this special council meeting, did you discover something about the rift?" Grand Master Fae Coven asked from her chair.
"I have indeed, and it was by a very odd encounter I had soon after the rift opened," Luke answered the question.
"An encounter, you say?" Grand Master Yoda asked.
"Yes, Master Yoda, an encounter with my nephew, from a parallel universe, different and yet somewhat similar to my oldest nephew, in many ways," Luke answered, still somewhat confused by the events of the previous few hours.
"Where is he now?" Master Kenobi asked.
"Jacen has hauled him to Korriban to stand before the Sith Council," Luke answered, most of the Jedi Masters slightly recoiled at the mention of their dark counterparts. With nothing else to mention Luke took his seat on this council. A moment of silence fell over the council as everyone was mulling over what Luke had told them.
"Dangerous and disturbing this puzzle is becoming," Master Yoda said, "watch this phenomenon, we must," stating what everyone was thinking. "In contact with Darth Sidious, I will be, discuss this matter, we will," the few of the Jedi from his and Luke's era slightly recoiled at the Galactic Emperor's name.
"No doubt I will be in contact with Lord Vader soon, as well. We will get to the bottom of this, but I don't know how quickly those answers will be coming," Luke said.
Across the room, Grand Master Fae Coven sat in thought for a moment, her whiskers twitched in thought, "If this leads to an invasion from wherever he came from, I don't know if I can keep Lord Hoth and Lord Farfalla from raising their banners once again. Then again, when I was younger, I fought in the New Sith Wars."
"That is an issue, me and you will have to work hard to keep them reigned in," Master Genarra spoke up.
"Yes, we will, your excellency," Fae Coven said, ribbing the other grand master a bit.
"Also, Lord Hoth and Lord Farfalla?" Master Katarn was slightly confused by her use of the title, as the Sith usually used that title. He had only really heard people refer to them with the honorific of Master.
"Not a title we tend to use, but during the New Sith Wars, many Knights and Masters became the stalwart defenders of certain sectors, to a point that they became entrusted with political power and set up dynasties and took up the informal title of Jedi Lord. After the wars came to an end, as grand master, I dismantled most of the lordships, though some, resisted me, the Corellians most notably, and Lord Teepo and his paladins, but then again, I did myself no favors on that one," Coven explained.
"We also never served as Chancellor again after the New Sith Wars," Genarra said.
"True enough," Fae Coven agreed.
"I see I need to spend some time in the archives and research this," Kyle said.
"Though it seems that Lord Teepo got the last laugh, didn't he? Jedi Sentinels are very likely to carry a blaster along with the rest of their gear, and some would choose to train their blaster skills, and their era," Coven pointed to Luke and Kyle Katarn, "it is common enough thing to carry." Both Luke and Kyle Katarn could feel their blasters in their holsters as they sat in their chairs.
Yoda tapped his gimer stick on the floor for attention "Well, meditate on this, we should, and reconvene soon, meeting adjourned," Yoda said, the council dispersed back into their own groups. Luke took a second to speak with Yoda and Obi-Wan.
"Has my father returned to the temple?" Luke asked the other two Masters.
"Yes, him and Ahsoka just returned from a mission, no doubt they will be confused as to what has happened, you may want to go fill him in," Obi-Wan said. Luke left the council chamber.
Taking the turbo lift down, Luke mulled over how he was going to tell his father about the extra grandson he seemingly now had. Reaching the level he had selected, Luke walked the halls of the temple toward his father's quarters, but reached out with the Force to look for him, in case his father was not in his quarters. He sensed Anakin was coming toward him from a different hallway, he sent a wave through the Force to him, letting him know that Luke wanted to speak with him, he sensed that Anakin had picked up his pace toward him. Soon enough, they could lie eyes on each other, though Anakin always stood out with his darker Jedi robes, which he must have just grabbed his cloak, he knew his father didn't wear it much when he was away from the temple unless he was meeting Palpatine. "Father," Luke called out when Anakin was close enough to hear him.
"Luke, it's good to see you," Anakin said to his son.
"How was your mission?" Luke asked.
"Uneventful, don't know why I got sent on it but at least it was quiet, aside from the seeming tear in reality," Anakin said as he crossed his arms, "what did I miss?"
"A lot actually, there is a tear in the fabric in reality that leads to a parallel universe, and someone has come through," Luke told him.
"Really, well that is, something," Anakin didn't really know how to take that.
"Also, there is a new family member, you have a new grandson," Luke told him straight up. Anakin's eyebrow raised in a mix of confusion and accusation, but mostly confusion.
"How? I thought that…" Anakin started before Luke cut him off.
"Not what you are thinking, he is the one that came from a parallel universe, and he is in many ways, similar to but also different than Jacen," Luke said.
"Jedi trained by you turned darksider if not a Sith Lord, who killed a family member as test of loyalty to the dark side?" Anakin asked, considering Luke said he was like Jacen.
"Yup, it was Han in his timeline," Luke answered the question.
"Bad business, what's his name and where is he?" Anakin asked.
"His name is Ben Solo, or Kylo Ren as his dark side name, and is currently on Korriban with Jacen. I wonder how your dark half is dealing with him, as according to Jacen, he is somewhat obsessed with Vader," Luke said.
"Good question, but knowing my dark half, he has no tolerance for such things. I get the feeling that I am going to get a message from him about it," Anakin said, rolling his eyes.
"Jacen thinks this is just a prelude to something worse," Luke said, a bit concerned.
"We will deal with it when it comes," Anakin said.
"May the Force protect us all," Luke said, before turning and walking away as he still had some things he had to do. He could sense that things were in motion that could not be stopped and that a reckoning was coming.
There you have it everyone, chapter four of this tale. I got a bit meta here, I like when I am able to do that. If you are wondering about the Sith Council selections, most of them are among my favorite Sith Lords, also, some others I would consider the Sith's darkest heroes and champions who left their mark on history, so that is why, maybe next chapter there will be an explanation of how each one gained their seat. As for the Jedi council, notable Jedi Masters and Grand Masters.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward to where this story is going, any ideas you may want me to explore, feel free tpo pitch them.
The Emperor of the multiverse is out. Peace.