Chapter 6: Histories

The box, the key to the one weapon Viren possessed, was gone. It and its holder had vanished completely from Viren's sight, and no matter how far he extended his mind, he could not find them.

So be it.

For the present, there was nothing more he could do in that field.

Yet much else needed to be done.

There were Jedi here, on this planet.

Not many, not nearly the number Viren had expected, but they were here, not far from the compound that stretched before him. Five hundred maybe, perhaps less, but still a strong presence.

Then Viren was correct.

The events shown in his vision had yet to unfold.

He was still in time to prevent such a gross misbalance of the Force.

But he needed answers, and many of them.

Fortunately, he knew where to look.

o.o.o.o

The Jedi Temple was built primarily of wood, which at first glance seemed a very poor choice, but Viren noticed various devices, shield generators most likely, hidden within crevices of the many arches of the building. The sight was not altogether new, for he had seen it once before.

It was the same temple that had burned and crumbled to ash in his vision.

Viren studied it, but found no secret way in, for it lay on an open plain and commanded a view that stretched for kilometers in any direction.

He would have to enter in plain sight, then.

Fortunately, his robe did not stand out much, and he made it to the temple's base without any suspicion coming on him. Soon he found one young female human, on her own carrying a stack of holobooks.

She will do just fine.

Viren approached her, considering carefully what he was going to say. He would have to word his inquiries just right so as to not arouse suspicion.

The Jedi turned around as she presumably sensed him. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yes," Viren said slowly, as if hesitant. He had worked such deceptions many times before, but this case was of utmost importance, and saying the right things in the right way was crucial. "I have been absent from the Temple for some time and...well, I'm afraid I have quite forgotten my way around. I wish to document the findings of my research mission into the archives, but...I need someone to guide me to them."

The Jedi smiled. "I'll be glad to help. You aren't the first person to need such assistance since we set up here. After all, it's only been a little over a year since the move, so many of our field workers have yet to see the new temple."

Viren followed the Jedi, through the temple, careful not to reveal his intentions to any of the Jedi minds that filled this place. At last, Viren had finally infiltrated the place of greatest danger to a Sith.

Though now, in this mockery of Jedi power, the victory was not so sweet as Viren had imagined it would be.

The Sith were either destroyed or vanished, and the Jedi had deteriorated into this poor likeness of their old Order.

Viren had to discover what has caused this catastrophe, and if he could right the balance before it was too late.

o0o

Despite all the battles she had survived, despite all the testing her reflexes had been put to, at this revelation Hazel simply gaped.

"But...what?...how?...I don't...is this a joke?!"

"I assure you, it is not. I am who you see before you," Darth Vader said to her, betraying no emotion.

"I don't understand," said Hazel, trying to gather herself. "Everyone thinks you're dead, that you died over seventy years ago. You shouldn't be alive anymore."

"There is a great deal one can do with the Force, and with modern technology," Vader said, though he still did not reveal the answer. "Now come inside, this conversation is best had after you have eaten and gotten acquainted with my household."

"Your household?" wondered Hazel but even as she said it two figures emerged from the house. A young man and a young woman, both with black hair and simple, grey robes.

"These are Toran and Taera, my students," introduced Vader, leading Hazel inside.

"Your students? What is it you are teaching them?" asked Hazel, suspicious. Was he training up a new generation of Sith, or was this not the Vader of all the stories?

"Everything. Learning them in the ways of the Jedi, and of the Sith, teaching them in the ways of the Force, and instructing them not to make the same mistakes that I made," the dark Sith Lord (or once-Sith at any rate) explained as he was seated.

"Your mistakes, eh? Like killing off all the old Jedi and blowing up a planet?"

"Do not speak of such things," commanded Vader, and Hazel felt herself being forcibly silenced for a moment. More unsettling powers from this guy.

"Okay then...so, how about a more tame question? More details on how you survived maybe? And why you've been in hiding for so long?"

"At first, my survival was the Will of the Force, for my life support was shattered and my body was broken. Yet I survived, and was taken to a certain bird-doctor who I believe you are familiar with. In time, my functions were restored but both Luke and I knew that letting the greater galaxy know of my survival would lead only to death. So I went into exile, losing much of my previous self and to all eyes fading from history.

"While I remained here in reflection of sorts, Luke rebuilt the Jedi, and he and Aelynn kept my existence a secret to all. Ten years later, Luke returned to me with a child. It was his son, whose mother had been slain. Luke knew that as Grandmaster of the Jedi he could not properly raise the child, Ben, so he gave him over to my keeping, to remain in secret here under my watch. When my son perished, seven years after that, I was left with his heir, and so I took on my duty as the protector of his descendants. I am the Guardian of the Skywalker lineage."

"That's quite a change to go from a Sith Lord to such a noble protector," observed Hazel, skeptical of the Guardian's words.

"Certain realizations can bring about a great turnaround in one's life. And my transformation is not so abrupt as it would seem to you, and it covered many years."

"You make me feel as if it hasn't fully completed yet," said Hazel, feeling herself shy away from him as her back pressed against her chair. "As if you have yet to really shed off your Sithly identity."

"It is possible," whispered Vader. "It is up to you to decide whether my intentions are good or not. For you are free to leave and to face the dangers of the galaxy alone if you choose," he said, though Hazel got the feeling it would be a lot harder than he made it sound. She doubted that Guardian would willingly let her escape his abode.

"I see I have yet to gain your trust," noted Guardian, though he did not seem the least bit concerned by that.

"I don't see how you have earned it," scoffed Hazel. "You cloak yourself in mystery, spin tales that for all I know could be lies, and have offered no real help to me. Why even your apprentices remain silent for fear of you."

"It is not from fear, but out of respect that we are silent," Toran, the male apprentice, spoke up. "It would be rude to interject when this conversation is not one we can contribute to."

"Maybe, but I still don't like the atmosphere of this place. I think Darth Vader here has silently bent you so much to his will that you don't even realize it."

"You do not know him as we do," said Taera, standing beside Guardian. "And you seem to be one who looks at life with a wholly negative outlook."

"Just because I don't trust your lord and master? Ha!"

"You would be surprised how much we can see of you just from your demeanor and how you speak," said Toran.

Hazel took several deep breaths, trying to think of how best to handle the situation. She would have continued the argument, but she was not sure what to say, and so remained in infuriated silence. She trusted Guardian and his apprentices less than ever now, but she doubted she could fight them all at once. She would just have to wait and watch for a weakness. She needed to learn more about these people and where their powers came from. Then she could act.

And by the Force she would act.