TAKODANA
Takodana was a lush planet, of green forests covering large islands spread out across vast oceans. Wide rivers flowed from tall mountains and joined with the seas in spectacular deltas. Wildlife was rich and abundant.
One settlement, an impressive castle surrounded by landings-pads and docking-bays and all the facilities that came with a space-port of questionable reputation, truly stood out. Mainly due to the impressive number of flags and banners decorating its walls and towers. Every vessel visiting the port showed signs of battle, had modified engines, overpowered weapons and, without a doubt, hidden compartments to carry illegal goods.
The main hall was a gathering of thieves and cutthroats, pirates and smugglers, marauders and mercenaries. And business was good for everyone. Favors and deals were settled, payments handed out and plans conducted. A haven for criminals and privateers; and those who would hire them.
Maz Kanata, a short figure with orange skin, had made a small fortune providing the spaceport to the citizens of the Republic who had fallen out of favor with the law. And over the centuries, she had become known as the Queen of Pirates; a title she did not mind at all. She had the contacts, she had the charisma and she had the backbone to keep such a unruly clientel civil, to an extent, during their stay at her port.
The hour was late, and Maz climbed the stairs to her private quarters, giving last minute orders to her staff before leaving all responsibility behind. Until tomorrow atleast. Her old bones ached as she climbed the stone steps; she was old, older than most, and she was nearing the end of her life-cycle. Entering her chambers, it was a relief to close the wooden door behind her and slowly woddle her way towards her bed. Halfway through the room, she stopped by the cabinet containing the best strong liqour, the kind saved for the most prominent guests and deal-makings. Grabbing a bottle and a glass, she did not bother turning around.
"It's been three years" she said. "I had hoped it would be longer."
"That was uncalled for" a man said, sitting in a chair hidden in shadow.
"Hardly" Maz said as she turned with a glass of alcohol. "I assume you have already taken the liberty."
Lights turned on in the chamber and revealed a bothan sitting in the chair, along with three other bothans spread out in the room. All of them dressed in fine clothing.
"Indeed I have" Sork San'lya said with a smile, drink in hand.
"So, what is it this time?" Maz inquired. "How can I help the Bothan spy-network?"
Borsk Fey'lyas right-hand man placed the drink to the side. "Kan Tarell" he simply said.
"Long time ago" was the reply from the short-statured female as she slowly made her way to a chair of her own. "Tragic event."
"A large number of pirates died" San'lya stated without any pity. "Along with people willing to aid them in their criminal activities. Murderers, thieves and people supporting them. No great loss."
"Apart from the children" Maz added and sat down, halfway climbing into the chair before settling in.
"Apart" the bothan allowed himself to be corrected. "What do you know of the crash?" he quickly moved on to the subject at hand.
"It caused a large explosion that wiped out the entire colony" Maz Kanata said casually and eventually took a sip of her fine brandy.
"Kan Tarell was a secret port, that had managed to evade detection for quite some time" Sork San'lya explained, knowing fully well that a person like his host was well aware of the fact. "It was only because of its destruction that it was finally discovered. The pirates operating from that port were famous for their massive impact on neimoidian shipping."
"Infamous, I would say" Maz cut in.
The bothan smiled. "Quite" he eventually admitted. "When Kan Tarell was destroyed, fortune would have it that the entire fleet of pirates were annihilated all in one go. A most peculiar stroke of fortune for the neimoidians, wouldn't you say?"
Maz said nothing, she sipped her brandy and kept her eyes locked with the bothan.
"Had it been a deliberate attack by the neimoidians, they would have attacked using their substantial military power" Sork continued. "But, seeing as the end-result favored the neimoidians so incredibly, it is hard to imagine they had no involvement at all."
"And I am not a spy" Maz casually joined in on the conversation. "I have no habit of looking for plots in mundande accidents. I have no clue if the neimoidians attacked Kan Tarell or not."
"But you know who did, don't you?" Sork San'lya then inquired, placing his drink to the side. "A man came asking for information about the pirates attacking neimoidians shipping. No? A man you had provided with similar information in the past."
Maz Kanata frowned. She hated bothans, for no other species could turn so smug when they knew they had access to secrets and lies. "I provide information to many men and women" Maz said.
"You know this man. You remember him, I am sure of it" Sork pushed the issue. "He hunted pirates, not for sport or bounty, but to uphold justice. On his own, he would take on the crew of entire ships. He came to you and wanted to know the location of Kan Tarell, did he not?"
"Spit it out already" Maz Kanata said with a frown. "You bothans just can't cut to the chase, can you?"
Sork San'lya grinned at the short alien and her forwardness. "Dooku Serenno came to you often and you provided him with information about various pirates. He hunted them down, killed many of them and those who lived were handed over to the authoroties. This allowed, in many cases, your friends to move in on new territory. One day, he came here and asked about Kan Tarell."
"He did" Maz admitted, sipped her brandy and aimed her focused eyes on the bothan. "And I told him the truth; that I had no idea where Kan Tarell was located. If I did, I would have sold them out long before Dooku came to me."
"So what did you tell him?" the bothan asked, most intrigued.
Maz Kanata sighed, shook her head and paused briefly before giving her answer. "I arranged a meeting. It allowed Dooku to find the Rancarri." The bothans eyes revealed to the old woman that he had no clue what that meant. "The pirateship that crashed and caused the destruction of the spaceport" she explained with a heavy sigh.
"So Dooku was responsible for the crash?" Sork thought aloud.
"That was my guess as I heard the news" Maz told her uninvited guest. "And it seems as if Dooku died as well, as I never heard from him again after that. Sacrifice has always been a strong part of Jedi doctrine."
Sork did not seem to reflect on Maz Kanatas final words, as he was locked in his own thoughts. Eventually, he got out of the chair and he and his bodyguards headed to leave.
"Always a pleasure" Maz said sarcastically and raised her glas of brandy in a toast.
Before stepping through the door, Sork tossed a comment over his shoulder. "You will be compensated through usual channels."
"Make sure it's high grade spice this time" Maz quickly countered before the door shut. "The last shipment you suggested was barely good enough to be used as nerf-fodder."
"It will be taken into consideration" Sork said and one of his bodyguards shut the door.
Maz Kanata sighed and shook her head. "Bloody bothans" she mumbled as she slid out of the chair and woddled over to the cabinet to return her glas. She sighed anew and gave the matter some thought. "So Dooku is alive" she thought out loud. "It explains much... He has turned to the Dark Side." The old woman, with her wrinkled orange skin, finally headed for her comfortable bed that she had longed for ever since she climbed out of it this morning. She shook her head as she pulled the blankets of the bed out of the way. "I wonder who turned him?" she then said, climbed up into the bed and pushed the button that dimmed the lights.
BASTILLA, JEDI CORVETTE
Grand Master Yoda was joined by Master Windu and Master Theon, the latter a weequay of the Ranger disciplin, aboard Yodas personal vessel, the Bastilla; a Defender-class light corvette named after his own master whom he served as a padawan all those centuries ago. The holographic image of Grand Master Rahm Kota shimmered and flickered infront of them.
"An image of himself, hidden behind a mask, that turned into a young boy armed with a lightsaber" Kota explained. "The vision told him of The One who would bring balance to the Force."
This caused the three jedi watching the holographic transmission to glance at one another, clearly surprised and intrigued in equal measure.
"A mask you say?" Yoda then inquired. "What sort of mask?"
"Metallic, intimidating. Combined with a black robe and hood" Kota explained. "The vision of the masked character appeared to be a trained wielder of the Force."
Yoda grunted and took on a most serious appearance, resting against his cane despite being seated.
Mace Windu did seem skeptical. "The legend of the Midichlorian? Is that what we are talking about?"
"Joruus C'boath believes so" Kota said.
"Contact the High Council, Jedi Joruus, must not" Yoda then said. "This, between us, must stay. For now, at least. Once this vision we understand, then share it we will. Master Kota, see what else our freighter-captain can reveal. Do what you must. More to this, I sense."
"As you wish" Kota said and the transmission was ended.
"The Midichlorian?" Master Theon said. "A myth, surely?"
"Prophecy, foretold of the Midichlorian, has" Yoda pointed out.
"A thousand years ago" Windu said, reminding them that the prophecy of the Midichlorian was an ancient one that had yet been fullfilled. "A Sith prophecy at that."
Yoda grunted and sighed. "Darth Revans quest it may have been" the ancient grand master then said, "but believe in his vision, he did. Believe in the Midichlorian, he did. And a Sith, in Skywalkers vision appeared, of this I am certain."
"The hood and mask?" Theon inquired.
Yoda nodded. "Yes. Respect this vision, we must. Ignore it and suffer we will."
Windu took a deep breath, cleared his mind and focused on the ripples in the Force. "This vision has a strong connection to the Dark Side. I do not trust it. Nor Skywalker for that matter. I knew him once and he was a pirate and a bounty-hunter, guided by greed and self-interest. I did not trust him then and I do not trust him now. At the battle of Whills he betrayed the Republic and joined with the mercenaries."
"Denied, his connection with the Force, can not be" Yoda pointed out. "The Dark Side, ruined his life, has. True this is. But to the Force, a connection there still is. A strong connection, and underestimate it, we should not."
"I never underestimate the Dark Side" Windu countered, being a Watcher after all. "But I still agree with Grand Master Sifo-Dyas, in his assessment that this man, Skywalker, is not a threat. And that his abilities are of no use to the Jedi."
"Yet Billaba and the Mystics believes otherwise" Theon cut in. "They sensed something about this man, and now, he has provided us with this vision."
"Of the Sith and the Midichlorian?" Windu sounded truly sceptical. "The Sith are destroyed" he added, "and the Midichlorian is a legend kept alive by padawans and younglings, at best. It is a myth, and a myth provided by the Sith at that."
"As a Watcher, intrigue you it should, I would think. No?"
Windu sighed and shook his head at Yodas reasoning. "If it was born of the Sith, then we would do best to bury it. The Midichlorian is a thing of the Dark Side, hardly something that would bring balance to anything, least of all to the Force."
"Yet" Theon said, "we come across this vision when a grand master has disapeared. A grand master who has dedicated his life to seek out and subdue the influences of the Dark Side."
Windu did not offer a reply, but his thoughts betrayed him more than enough and his eyes even more so. It was too great a coincidence to be simply ignored as pure chance.
XXX XXX
Grand Master Yoda sat in meditation. The hour was late, and the others aboard the jedi vessel were asleep, as the ship shot through hyperspace on its journey towards Cato Neimoidia in the jedis search for the missing grand master, Sifo-Dyas. The possible vision of a Sith troubled Yoda, even to such a degree that he payed little attention to any prophecy about the Midichlorian or bringing balance to the Force. The Sith. Once a mighty power in the galaxy, a power that waged war on anyone it believed it could conquer. A power fueled by hatred and greed.
"Your focus has strayed, apprentice" a female voice echoed from a realm beyond the material, from a distant place, ethereal and ghostly.
Yoda grunted and nodded, his eyes ever closed in contemplation. "Long it has been, master."
"You still struggle with your pride, even now, after nine hundred years."
"My pride, safe the Republic, it has kept."
"But at what cost, my padawan?"
"What ever the cost, peace it has created. A price worth paying, I should think."
"You have strayed, padawan. You have strayed so very far."
"Sacrifices, a necessity is. Taught me this, you did. My sacrifice, my integrity has been."
There was no reply across the ethereal plane, no echo from the realm beyond, no tremor stirring to send its ripples across the Force. Yoda opened his eyes and with a deep sigh he lowered his head in even deeper thought.