A.N.
Just a quick notification:
This story precedes Council of Love and I will make the necessary adjustments to avoid blatant errors- such as the death of Captain Rex.
Sorry for any confusion.
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Chapter8 – Beneath the Shadow of Knowledge
Ahsoka woke to a beautiful Courascant morning. The excitement of being home hadn't quite sunk in yet, especially after all the recent events- she never thought she'd be able to come back here again, well at least not as a student. Stepping out on to the balcony she put on a soft, brown poncho and took in the refreshing air, allowing the cool morning breeze tickle her skin. She then paced over to the edge and watched the harmony of the passing traffic gleam under the sunlight.
What made it all the more thrilling was the feeling of redemption. Sure it wasn't all her fault anyway, but she did make some mistakes. But, it didn't matter now- she's home and it was more than enough to keep her smiling all day.
Hours later Ahsoka journeyed through the cavernous halls of the Temple, humbly nodding to all the passing students and enjoying the scenic routes that she never gave much time to explore back in the days she took this place for granted. She wondered through the South East corridor on Level 5 then finally entered Hall B and stood, sighing nostalgically as she examined the vast pillar filled chamber she always visited on her way to the Jedi Archives. A faint smile crept across her cheeks- If there was ever one thing she would never learn to detach from it might just be this place and all the wonderful people she got to know here. Sure there were sometimes when she dreaded ever being a Jedi, like yesterday, but today is not this day- today she loved it.
She carried on walking past the archways that lead into the Archives and entered an elevator. When it stopped she stepped out onto a catwalk- still in the same hall except much higher and darker. The short journey across lead her through a doorway out into the clear bright red Courascant sky and onto an empty and wide veranda.
She found Anakin stood to her right tinkering with a datapad, looking very relaxed in his casual clothes- a regular Jedi tunic that flapped with the wind, tight black cargo pants and brown boots.
"Good morning." She smiled as she approached him.
He turned and nodded back at her, "Hello Snips. I trust you slept well?"
"Like a baby." She said, trying to sneak a peek at whatever he was doing, "What's that?"
"This?" He glanced at it and shrugged, "Just a log of a few things…casualty count, mostly."
Her chest tightened as guilt sunk in. She couldn't believe how she almost forgot about Rex, and all the clones that were there, of course…but mostly Rex. Here she is making the most of her second chance at life on Courascant and she couldn't even spare a moment – just a brief moment to recall the countless lives that were lost and might never even be credited nor remembered for what they were really worth, because that was the painful reality all clones were living through out there. Whatever friends or family they had, it most likely died away with them on the same battlefield within the same timeframe- almost instantly.
Anakin frowned at her, "Are you okay?"
She shuddered and looked up at him, "Yeah."
"Good. You wanted to see me, I'm guessing."
"Just bored." She replied, hoping her master wasn't suspecting her of mischief or anything, but instead he turned and looked at the datapad again rather anxiously, she asked, "You're not busy are you?"
"Not at all," he said but his gaze never left the datapad and he continued prodding away on it with his stylus. She waited and rolled her eyes till he finally put the thing back in its pouch on his belt and shifted his gaze to her, "Sorry. Now I'm finished."
Ahsoka crossed her arms and pursed her lips, "Since when did you get so concerned about casualty count anyway?"
"Alright you got me." Anakin sighed and put his hands on his hips as he explained, "It was just a weird Holonet News report I saw this morning, something about it seemed…I don't know- it seemed out of place."
"The Seps up to something again?"
"I wish. If anything, it could be far worse."
Ahsoka's arms dropped, "Worse?"
"Don't dig too much into it now, it might be nothing. But I just like to be safe."
She put her hands on her hips and frowned, "Gee, thanks for brightening up my day, master."
He laughed and nudged her shoulder, "Ahsoka- how about a quick lesson, maybe that'll cheer you up?"
"Well…okay." She chuckled. Of course she was up for it. It was exactly what she's been looking forward to doing all morning.
She unclipped her lightsaber and took a couple of steps to the side, trying to decide what stance her master might take up so that she could better choose a style to counter it with, but Anakin raised a hand in protest and pointed at her lightsaber hilt, "You won't be needing that."
"Why not?"
"I want to teach you some hand-to-hand combat techniques."
She looked at her weapon sadly and hesitated before clipping it back on her belt, "O-kay, I guess. No Force?"
"No Force." Anakin took up a fighting stance, left leg forward but leaning on his back leg with both arms raised like dragon claws, "What can you tell me about the Echani, Snips?"
"Didn't they fight the Mandalorians a long time ago?" she replied while taking up a stance of her own, but with her body sideways, her fists up and her left leg slightly bent forward.
"That's correct, but unlike the Mandalorians they had no armor, little to no weapons and complete reliance on their discipline of martial arts- their bodies were their weapons."
"That…I didn't know." She admitted.
"I'm only going to instruct you on some of their foundation techniques- once you know them it'll be easier for you to progress on to the more advanced ones."
"Right, so…when do we start?"
"First of all, your stance is weak." Anakin walked over to her and twisted her body to face forward, opened her fists into claws and bent her back knee so that she leaned on it, "To obstruct a powerful force you'll need a powerful root, otherwise you'll be knocked back easily- believe me, you don't want a Mandalorian warrior tackling you to the ground, it's all he needs to do to crush you under the weight of his Beskar armor."
She flinched and nodded and he went back to his place, "Now attack me and don't hold back at all."
Ahsoka ran the distance then spun with a clockwise kick, which Anakin easily dodged. She followed it up with a punch that struck air as well and another kick landing straight into Anakin's waiting palm. She gasped and tried to pull out of his grip without avail, then looked up to find his fist coming down on her, but her instincts kicked in and she locked her wrists to block the attack. He raised his fist and pounded her defense again and again, till discipline kicked in and she applied the stance as he instructed- even though her foot was still in his grip, her balance was on her back leg. She outstretched her arm in a claw and grabbed the elbow of the incoming punch then used her fingers to bite on the pressure point there.
Anakin flinched in pain and the reaction caused him to lose grip on her leg. She quickly backflipped and her foot struck his jaw in the process- knocking him to the ground.
Ahsoka grimaced as she watched him stand back up with a grunt and asked, "Are you okay?"
He nodded and rubbed his jaw, "Very impressive. You used the stance well. Now…"
He offered her a smile and took up a new fighting style. This time he put his right leg back and leaned forward on his knee, putting his two arms straight like swords, "This is what Teras Kasi is all about. Using your own force to strike directly and precisely at your enemy's weakness. Your hands become like sharp blades."
Ahsoka took up the same stance, comparing Anakin's to her own and adjusting herself accordingly.
"Wider." Anakin corrected and she separated her legs further.
"We don't need to practice it," He explained while motioning his arms around his body, striking rapid jabs in the air occasionally, "but as long as you can find an opening in your opponent's pressure points- which I'm sure you're familiar with- then it shouldn't be too hard to incapacitate them."
"It sounds easier than the last one." Ahsoka said as she came out of her stance.
"True, but it's also more dangerous." He came out of his as well, seemingly debating with himself over an idea deep within the confines of his mind.
"Is that it, master?"
Finally he sighed, "No. There's one more."
She waited for a response, but instead he walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Promise me you won't tell anyone I taught you this one, Ahsoka."
"Okay."
His grip tightened, "Promise me."
She gulped. There was something rather tempting about forbidden teachings, but she knew these were feelings of the Darkside and she should only desire this for the sake of knowledge or self defense- yet, she didn't quite understand why her master was so keen on keeping this secret, "I promise."
He nodded solemnly, "Good."
"What could be so bad about this one that we have to keep it secret anyway?"
"Because this one comes from the ancient rituals of the Sith."
Ahsoka staggered back a step. She could've sworn her ears were fooling her, but Anakin carried on with a laugh, "Don't panic just yet, I haven't fallen to the Darkside."
"But…are you sure this is safe?"
"Ahsoka, you're a well disciplined Jedi. You trust in the Light and your intentions are good. I'm more than confident that you can safely attain Sith knowledge."
She replied cautiously, "If you say so."
"This time you're going to need the Force, but you're not going to draw on your own energy…you're going to draw on mine."
Anakin stepped in front of her and kneeled to her level, staring her eye to eye, "When you do this you're going to feel a lot of power- don't hesitate to use it."
"But, that sounds…"
"It doesn't matter how it sounds. Just do it!" he commanded, then walked over to his place again.
She let off a nervous sigh, slowly trying to convince herself that it's just a lesson. That a simple technique was not going to taint her Jedi reputation forever…and a part of her still questioned how Anakin came to know this ability. She raised her palms in his direction and closed her eyes. Moments later he began to speak, "Focus harder. Direct all your conscious thought on to mine. Look for my strongest pulses in the Force and grasp them…okay, good…now, embrace them as your own."
A hollow curtain draped itself over her. Ahsoka's heart began racing, she could feel the sweat trickling off her forehead and slowly her mind was fading to the sheer focusing power this ability required. She was like a ghost in a whirlwind of raw energy- finding Anakin wasn't difficult, but grabbing hold of his very Force essence was like fishing a whale from the oceans of Kamino.
The curtain closed in on her and drowned her in the ocean- filled her body with its fluids. She inhaled till her lungs could take no more and her eyes opened wide, filling her vision with shatterpoints in the Force.
"Yes." He whispered, "Very good."
She didn't dare speak- she could barely look at her own hands and recognize them. They felt revitalized, but so foreign to her still.
"Powerful feeling, isn't it?"
"This feels so wrong." She said, with a voice that wasn't hers- too ravenous to be hers.
"Now Ahsoka," He slid back into the Echani form, "Fight me."
"N-n-no…I…"
"You want to fight me- you have the power to fight me." He insisted, "Do it."
She allowed the passion to drive her and made a fluid leap forward, rolled on to the ground and roared as she delivered Anakin a powerful Force-induced punch.
"Yes!" He said as he dodged the blows, "Don't let go of the power. Keep drawing from it- feed your self with it."
She was a blur of energy, stealthily striking at points Anakin least expected, making effective use of his thoughts that leaked into the Force and draining his physical energy to enforce her attacks- it was deadly power. And it was seductive. In real effect, it was a taste of undisciplined Force use- an invitation for Darkside intentions to mold its way into her mind and into her heart and strike her Master down with anger and rage- curiosity in its mightiest form. The desire to understand it she knew would mean further Darkside knowledge. But it was exactly that she tasted now and only that which she began losing herself to.
Anakin took a punch into his palm and nearly lost his balance to it had he not double stepped back, "Let go of it, Ahsoka."
But his demand fell on deaf ears, she was still coming in with blows- faster and more fierce and he commanded again, "I said let it go, Snips. You're losing control!"
The instant disconnection from all that power struck her like death. As though her heart ceased to beat and the pain of losing so much strength- so much life- struck her and immobilized her instantaneously.
She fell to the ground gasping for air. Dizziness brought her hands to her head, "Ugh…my…my head- it's … it's too much… too much energy… it's too strong."
Anakin crouched beside her and put a hand to her forehead, soothing her mind and relaxing her muscles, "Just breathe, you'll be okay."
Her breathing calmed and she opened her eyes to look at him, "What was that?"
"Thousands of years ago the Sith trained legions of their assassins this technique- among others." He explained as he stood and helped her up, "Their primary purpose was to kill and capture Jedi. The more powerful the Jedi was in the Force, the more powerful they became."
"How did the Jedi stop them?"
"They didn't." Anakin replied, "The Sith converted so many to become assassins that their ranks continued to swell…and the Jedi Order slowly collapsed. Eventually it was the Sith themselves that brought their own end and their knowledge died with them."
"And the Jedi?"
"An exiled Jedi helped defeat the Sithlords responsible and restored the Order."
Ahsoka spent a lot of time studying in the Archives, but she could never explore the entire history of the Jedi Order simply because it was so vast. This just happened to be one of those timelines she didn't read up on- and she wasn't quite sure whether she's grateful or regretful of that.
"The technique is not so different from the effects of the Kluurf plant because they both involve wielding a tremendous amount of energy. I taught you it so that you can avoid another incident like Toledo. If you can master this technique, Snips, then you should be able to stop yourself from losing complete control again."
Ahsoka nodded slowly. It was awful to know that there was a means to stop her self from doing what she did, even though she didn't know how at the time. What only duplicated that guilt was realizing who was responsible and not acting upon it. She hoped that she could put that behind her for Anakin's sake, but the more time that passed the more her conscious tormented her over it.
Anakin began walking back inside but stopped and turned when she called him, "Master, you said that this technique was lost when the Sith disappeared. Then, how did you learn it?"
He stared at her motionless for a moment and inhaled deeply before he replied, "For another time, maybe. Let's get inside."
As mysterious as he ever was, that's her master. Ahsoka watched curiously as he disappeared through the door. It wasn't the first time he refused to share knowledge with her. Hopefully one day she could honestly claim to someone that she knew him. But now, she could only hope to be his most humble student and garner the knowledge he's offering her before she could ask for the knowledge he hid from her.
Patience had better prove its worth one day.
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It was a confined, dark, metallic room with a holoprojector in its center. Forn could hardly call it a strategy room, but he didn't quite understand most of Darjeeling's procedures anyway. Despite its size the Rodian's mountain fortress was mostly a factory made up of chemical labs and droid holding bays. He noticed the general spends a lot of time in very small, badly lit and compact places- which probably explains his unhealthy grayish green complexion.
"How long does it normally take?" he asked.
Darjeeling turned to him with a dirty look, "This is my first time speaking to him- how am I supposed to know? Listen Jedi- if you even as much as hiccup during our conversation you can kiss your meeting wit him goodbye!"
"I heard you the first time, general. You don't need to tell me twice."
"Good." A signal on the holoprojector went off and the two exchanged quick glances before the Rodian held his breath and pressed the button.
The holographic image of a cloaked bearded man appeared, his voice instantly recognizable, "Yes general, state your business."
The Rodian bowed and Forn followed suite as soon as he recollected his composure, Darjeeling spoke, "My lord, it is a great honor."
"You may dispense with the pleasantries, general. I'm on a tight schedule, as you know."
"Yes…of course. Uh…" he thumbed a button on the holoprojector, which presented the count with a smaller hologram of the Kluurf leaf, "I have perfected a new chemical weapon derived from the leaves found on Toledo. The chemical as I discovered has a profound impact on Force users, particularly on midichlorians. Count, I have found a way to duplicate the effects ten fold."
Dooku uncloaked his face and analyzed the data appearing in front of him skeptically, then raised his chin, "Intriguing. Have you tested this?"
"Yes, my lord." The Rodian smiled, "The clones and all surrounding life died in under a single breath."
"Is that so?" Dooku's eyes then shifted to Forn, whom quickly lowered his gaze worryingly, but the count's gaze remained affixed on him, "Who's he?"
Darjeeling glanced over to Forn and back to his master, "A Jedi, count."
Dooku's brow flinched and turned to the Rodian but he was quick to respond, "He- he wishes to join our cause, I assure you, my lord. He killed his own padawan to prove his worth."
Forn raised his head to look into the count's eyes and found the Sithlord studying him. For all he knows, he could probably grip his heart from half way across the galaxy and end his life right here, right now- as a Jedi standing before the Sithlord the thought would've most certainly crossed his mind. So much power, so much knowledge- even as a Jedi Master Forn still felt like a mere child before this great man.
Dooku turned his gaze back to Darjeeling, speaking concisely, "I will be visiting you shortly. I wish to see this weapon tested in my presence." His eyes scanned Forn once more then returned to the general, "And I also wish to discuss other matters regarding our affiliates."
"It will be an honor, my lord." The Rodian bowed and Dooku's last gesture was a final glare towards Forn before his hologram disappeared.
The former Jedi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief then turned to find the Rodian leaning against the holoprojector and fixing him an angry look. He would imagine the cause of it were several matters regarding a clash of interests- from not intending to distract the count from the primary reason of this visit to perhaps the count's loss of faith in the general's leadership ability primarily due to his gamble by dealing with a Jedi.
But that didn't matter to Forn. Now he will finally meet the Sithlord and hopefully he might prove his worth and earn a place as a student of the Darkside.
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A.N.
1. The matter with the Holonet report that disturbed Anakin so much will be explored in a later fanfic once I have completed this one and its sequel, Council of Love.
2. The Echani were enemies of the Mandalorians, neither defeated the other- rather it was Darth Revan and his followers who defeated them both. The Echani martial arts were used in training the emperor's royal guard.
3. Teras Kasi was a martial art that was used against Jedi- its curious how some Jedi Masters learned it though, since the teachers stubbornly refused to train Jedi.
4. I didn't make this up, the Sith assassins were the most notorious enemies of the Jedi during the Jedi Civil War and their ability to draw on their opponents Force energy was what gave them their strength- so did their ability to almost hide their presence in the Force and strike from shadows.
5. The exiled Jedi was supposedly the last of the Jedi, she never really had a name, but she was responsible for the defeat of Darth Nihilus, Darth Sion and Darth Traya, also known as Kreia, a very cryptic woman whom I've quoted quite a lot in my profile.
6. Anakin's secret knowledge source will also be explored in a later fanfic.
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