Note: Ok, now things start to get exciting. The main purpose of this chapter is for them to do some searching, and to head to where Darth Sidius is hiding. Also decided to have Varus get some lessons in Force Manipulation and Anger. This is crucial to his character development over the long term, and his relationship to Anakin. The two of them are tied together.

In The Force Unleashed, with the story of Starkiller, Vader and Starkiller are tied together by anger and hatred and betrayal. In this story, I want their counterparts of Anakin and Varus to be tied together, but by different traits. Experience in anger being a large part of it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even the clothes on my back.

Episode 3 - Lair of Darkness Part 1/3

Summary:

Starkiller, apprentice to the deceased Darth Nihilus, was tricked by Darth Sidius into becoming a puppet of the Jedi through a force mind-wipe. He was renamed Varus Wynn and assigned to Anakin Skywalker as his second Padawan alongside Ahsoka Tano.

The first few days for Varus were difficult, at best. With no remembered experience with a lightsaber, the force, or any manners to speak of, he has an odd convert. He learned some things about himself, made some friends, made some bad impressions, made some enemies, and generally is trying to assemble himself in his home that has taken him in since his amnesia.

Anakin was assigned a mission to search out Darth Sidius, as the Jedi Master's recall Starkiller had come specifically to hunt him down. They are unsure about the truth of the Sith apprentice's claim, but chose to send a few scouts out. Anakin has put off his mission a short while to help get Varus situated in his new life, and hopefully rush him through basic lightsaber training.

With dinner cleaned up, Tree-Hugger calls all of us together. He has a map out before him. It is covered in a ton of gridlines, holographic buildings, various shadows of color emphasizing different points, and a bunch of complicated nonsense. I can't help yawning. I really couldn't care less about what the thing is he has in front of him. I was asleep on the comfy couch.

It was a really, really, comfy couch.

Ahsoka enters in at a more appropriate manner than myself and sits down in front of him.

"Come, Varus. Sit." He gestures to a chair. The Senator comes out of nowhere and nods her 'hello' to me. I sit.

Anakin flicks the hologram and it transitions wildly. "R2D2, please turn off all surveillance." Some droid in the room beeps acknowledgement. "A couple days ago we were assigned an important mission. With Varus's introduction, I wanted to hold it off, but we still have a deadline to keep. We have reason to believe Darth Sidius may be hiding on Coruscant."

Both of the girls gasp in shock, and the Senator gapes. I don't know what they are talking about, but their reactions tell me I should be paying attention. If only I could stop yawning.

"The Sith Lord?! Here!" Amidala croaks.

My master nods. "We do not know where. All we have is a reasonable idea he is on Coruscant."

"This explains a great deal, then. How the Separatists can keep up with our every move."

"Perhaps." He agrees. "The problem is that: We do not know for sure. If he is so close to our nerve center, his surveillance and cover must be incredible. Only a few Jedi teams, under silence, are searching for active Dark Side signatures. That is our mission. We are not going to strike down the Dark Lord, but we are going to do surveillance and find him."

Ahsoka and I nod. I did some more reading while they were in the smuggler rodeo and before going to sleep on the ladies -very comfy- couch. I want that couch. From my reading I can say the Sith don't exactly sound like they are boy scouts or charity supporters. I sympathize with the Separatists, since their issue is purely political, and I'm sorry, but if they have the right, technically, to separate, then that's the Republic's own problem for making that rule to begin with! You don't want people leaving? Don't make the rule that allows it!

Regardless, if the Separatists are led by a big bad Sith dude, then they probably aren't doing peaceful protests.

Anakin continues, directing his gaze at me, "I am sorry about the timing, Varus. I wanted to give you more time to get properly trained. You have yet to be trained in blaster defense or have the skill in lightsaber combat to compete with… well…"

"I get it." I say quickly. I appreciate the thought, but the sympathy would just tick me off. I can't say I like the idea of sitting back and doing nothing, but a 'Sith lord' doesn't sound like a run of the mill bad guy. This will probably be one of the cases where I prefer sitting in the backseat. Hopefully there won't be a fight until I have an idea what I'm dealing with.

"Again." Tree-Hugger repeats himself, "We are not to engage the Sith Lord. We are to find him, monitor him, and call for backup. If anyone is going to have a go at him, it will be the entire Jedi Council, together. This is beyond us."

Ok, definitely not your run of the mill bad guy.

"How are we going to find him?" Ahsoka asks.

"The first, and most obvious, clue would be active Dark Side signatures."

"He's not that stupid." The Senator argues. "If he was, he would have been caught long ago."

Master nods, "Agreed, but I am not sure what else we have to go on. We could try residual Dark Side signatures, but that would increase the number of locations a thousand fold. The mission, due to uncertainty of our source, is only a week."

"Try comparing it to power usage." I suggest.

Everyone looks at me. I hesitate, but explain, "You say he has surveillance, that takes power. A lot of power. Power, or at least backroom access to servers over a very large area, areas that are crucial for him to be watching. Not to mention power to give off messages, off world. If he is a leader of a big bad nation, his power requirements will be massive."

"Not if he has his own generator." The Senator argues, again. "Padawan Varus is right, his power requirements is huge, but the Dark Lord wouldn't stick out by broadcasting his need for power across the whole sector, nor would he refuse all of it and become a black spot on the power grid. This is a man who can keep up with the best of them. At the same time, if he were to have his surveillance linked directly with anything of importance, he would be too noticeable."

"What do you mean?" Ahsoka asks.

"In order to get information necessary to risk his operation here, he would need information directly from both the Senate building and Jedi Temple, and perhaps the starport. Those are the only locations of value, or at least enough for him to be here. But they also have the tightest security. There is no way to 'backdoor' the servers without someone noticing. That's why he has been known to use the old fashioned 'traitor' gig. It's less risky than hacking."

"At least, not with them noticing." Anakin suddenly speaks up excitedly. He looks like he had an epiphany. "The people best known for hacking are droid makers, it's just part of honest hardware backstory."

"Your point?" She asks.

"There is a way to monitor, hack, and drain power all at the same time. A method almost full proof because no one knows to look for it."

…

"Well, don't just leave us in the dark…" Ahsoka groans.

"The power." He answers.

…

The Senator lady smacks him upside the back of the head playfully. "We already covered that."

"No, you don't understand. All computer language at its core is electricity or energy of some kind. The exact same kind as power. All holonet activity is power patterns. All transmissions, all programs are patterns of electricity. It is possible to gain access to the holonet without paying for extra holonet access by tapping into the power grid itself."

The Senator considered it. "Ok, I see where you're going with this… I think. I'm not a mechanic, but that sounds like he wouldn't be going through conventional backdoor ways."

"Nope. It's a method that is actually illegal because of the difficulty in counter acting it."

"And you happen to know it?"

"Worked as mechanic slave on Tatooine, not much you learn there is legal."

Ahsoka groans and rubs her temples. She looks lost. I don't blame her, I stopped paying attention to the details a long time ago. "So… what do we do? That still leaves us with the problem of the fact that he is even more invisible now than he was two minutes ago, if he is using this method."

"It's just an idea." Tree-Hugger shrugs. "Still, It doesn't hurt to explore multiple methods at once. We have to think like a man with the best toys."

"Or a nutcase." I whisper.

"Regardless of the method he uses, how would you find him?" The Senator asks.

"Well… assuming he is watching these three locations, I can plant a virus into all three, let is loose, and see where it goes. Any points where all three points merge would be likely. If he is watching us through the power grid itself, that would be more tricky… I will need help from you guys for this."

"Great! Now, enough of the technical stuff! What do we do?" Ahsoka slams her fists together.

I wonder if anyone notices me taking a step away from her.

Aaaand yippee, I'm back at the temple.

"Have I ever mentioned how much I miss this place?" I grumble. This place has no comfy couches. They should hire the Senator Lady's interior decorator. This place all of a sudden looks… cold in comparison to her home.

Anakin shakes his head to himself at my remark. He puts his hand to his ear. "Snips, Padme. You two in position?"

Silence is all I got, as well as a lot of head banging from him. "Don't hurt yourself." I suggest.

He glares at me briefly, and I put my hands up defensively. I get it, control your mouth. He returns to his earpiece. "Use your own computer, Padme. I don't know if he would be monitoring a front desk clerk… Yeah… Yeah, just wait for my signal. I don't want to cause too many eyebrows to shoot up by doing it now. The 'package' has a short time to live… thirty thousand nodes… I realize you don't understand that, just… Ok."

I smile nicely to a few Jedi passing by us. Yeah… we are totally inconspicuous crouching against a wall in the middle of nowhere like a couple of weirdos. Either these people genuinely don't care about much, or my master does this kind of stuff on a regular basis.

"Alright, confirm, everyone in position?... Good. In one, two, three, insert!" He snaps into a wall outlet a thin device and it lights green. He quickly moves to pulling out his data pad and watching something. "The 'package' is away and I am recording. Let's see what we got… I'll meet you guys at the 'clubhouse'."

He glances again at his data pad for something and turns it off before sprinting away. I look to the virus device and to him. Am I supposed to just leave it here? Bah!

Who the hell names a penthouse the 'clubhouse' anyway?

We reassemble at the penthouse, aka 'clubhouse' as Tree-Hugger lack of imagination deems it. That is going to cost him a few points.

Not sure what we are supposed to be waiting for now, so I stand to the side and watch. Tree-Hugger and Senator Lady sit at the table going through data they have coming in. Correction, Tree-Hugger does it, and the Lady attempts to appear useful. She doesn't strike me as an engineer or mechanic type. More of a holonet TV or Commercial model.

Ahsoka nudges me and motions for me to follow. I follow with a quick glance back at them. She says, "Don't worry, he likes to quadruple check his findings. He will be a bit."

Ahsoka sits on the ground, not the couch, and motions for me to do the same. I do so. What's wrong with the couch? What's she want?

"I'm not going to give you another lecture on what happened yesterday."

"Good." I snap.

"But, I will say, you probably won't be allowed in more war council meetings until your attitude improves."

Fine, it was boring anyway. But what's wrong with my attitude? I'm fine.

"It's fine." I respond defensively.

"No, not really." She chuckles. "Your aggressive, impatient, and not only open your mouth when you shouldn't be, you say the worst things imaginable."

It's not that bad. I haven't called her a slut in a day!

"You also glare a lot. Your emotions are all over your face. You're not going to make very many friends if you keep doing that." She finishes.

Bullshit. I'm doing fine… of course insulting her at first sight didn't go so well or telling the Jar Jar thing he looks like shit. Or that slug I called… uh…

"What did I call that slug?" I ask.

"A fatass."

Ok… I might have a problem. So far the only ones tolerating me are those technically assigned to me. I can tell they are truly trying, not just doing it grudgingly, but still. If they weren't given a slip of paper with my name on it that told them, 'associate with the asshole' then they probably wouldn't give me the light of day.

"Fine… I'll work on it." I whisper and turn away in embarrassment. But yea, no promises.

"Good!" She says cheerfully. "Now then, to bide the time, I wanted to show you something. With Master Anakin so busy, I thought I might do the first step to keep you busy. You look like you need something to focus on."

Damn right. Guess she knows me better than I thought, or is it just that easy to read? That's not a comforting thought. Uh… I'll go ahead and give her twenty points.

Movement out of the corner of my eye alerts me to a pot that is hovering in the air by my head. It moves through the air slowly to her and it drops into her hand.

Ok, that was cool. Two points.

She has a really smug look as she explains, "This is a basic Force technique to levitate objects. Unfortunately, most things require understanding the science of physics in order to know how to manipulate the physics, but I thought I might show you the first step."

I nod.

"First thing first, tapping into the Force. Most beginners sit in order to not break their concentration."

Sitting, check.

"Now, there are two steps, and both are equally hard. The first is to listen to yourself."

"What?" I blurt out.

I just said, 'what'. So: Sitting, check. Listening, check. I'm on a roll.

"Just… listen. Listen to your body, and with your inner eye peer as deep into yourself as you can. Look and listen past your heartbeat, past your thoughts. Keep listening until you feel a tug. The second half is to latch onto the 'tug', like a rope, and pull it slowly and surely out into your hands."

I have no idea what she is saying, but ok.

"That is basic Force manipulation." She says reassuringly. "It's not that hard once you get used to it, it's just the first few times that are the hardest. It will be easier and easier as you go along until you don't really notice anymore. Ok?"

"Yeah… uh - th-th-th-thanks." I say awkwardly. This is probably the first time I've actually felt like thanking someone. How can people like it so much? It is so meaningless and awkward. I'm probably embarrassed and red now. Great.

She smiles. "You're welcome. Just work on that while we wait."

"We have a hit." Tree-Hugger announces. I stop practicing the manipulation and assemble at the table with the others. He pulls up a map and points to a point on the map. "There are a bunch of spots where all three viruses connect, but only a few that aren't publically walked or closely monitored. This one here I have a good feeling for. It has a constant power input but no outflow, and it is bathed in residual Dark Side."

"What does that matter?" I ask.

"What?"

"Residual Dark Side. How does that matter?"

"We Jedi employ the Light Side of the force. The Dark Side is the opposite. Our insight and perception is blocked inside of them the stronger they are. A place that is too dark cannot be seen into, nor can we sense anything from them."

So, opposites hinder each other? "Same thing the other way around?" I wonder curiously.

"Unfortunately, no. That is something you will come to learn, but the Light Side is partially about clarity. The Dark Side is about keeping things hidden."

Right. I'll take his word for it. Since I don't actually feel Jedi-ish, I can't say for certain that I understand half of this. Guess things like this just come from experience and being around longer. But if it is bathed in 'hiding force side stuff', then that probably means there is something to hide. I think I'm getting this.

The Senator Lady peered closer at the point Tree-Hugger focused on. "I am not familiar with this place."

He pulled up what information he could find on the location. "According to this, it was established a couple years ago during the Sith Lords war. Oh, the locals left claiming it was haunted."

"If it was built before the rise of the Separatists, then Darth Sidius wouldn't have been the one to build it." Ahsoka mused.

"Doesn't mean he didn't beat down the owner's front door and take it for himself." I respond.

"Wouldn't there be a security report of a break in or murder in that case?"

"Plenty, but none from the last ten years." Tree-Hugger lets us both know. "The locals left claiming the place was haunted." He visibly gaped at what he read before grinning like an idiot who found a pot of gold. Something about it told me it was good.

He flipped a page around and showed us. "They claimed people died from blaster wounds every night in their homes one after another, sounds of droids walking the streets, and a massive door that blocked all entrance into it. Security forces found no droids and couldn't get past the door, and the people left. Since then everything quieted down."

"Why hasn't anyone done anything about it then?" I ask.

Tree-Hugger smiles excitedly. "Don't know, but someone is now. Let's move."

He jumps up and leaves. Ahsoka is at his side instantly. I hesitate to look to his Senator Lady friend, but she shoos me on, and I run to catch up. Guess she isn't coming.

We stop for some fast food to eat on the way and arrive at the sector in half an hour. It resides deeper down in the Coruscant sea of buildings. The 'Middle Layer' they call it. We park in a dust covered area with broken boxes, scattered rusted pipes, sparks flying from the walls, and very dim lighting. A lopsided sign reading "Welcome to Sector 7207" hangs over our head held by a single chain. The sign swings in the wind with a loud screeching sound.

Past the gateway, the sector passage is barely visible under the dim lighting. The light fixtures hang off the ceiling similarly to the welcome sign. Pipes extend out of the walls.

The place looks like it was the center of a battlefield.

"Snips, scout the area. See what you can find, and stay out of sight. I'll contact the Council and appraise them of our status. Varus, stay here."

"Yes, Master!" She acknowledges and darts into the shadows. I frown, but reside myself to sitting there and doing nothing while he chats it up with Baldy.

No, wait. Girly gave me something to practice in my free time. I smile in appreciation for her, sit down, and practice drawing on the force. She may be an annoying snot half the time, but she isn't half bad. Not sure how many points that is to me, but it's a good number. I guess two hundred.

I've gotta sit down and actually figure out how the hell these points matter to me.

Despite my initial goodwill, it quickly turns sour. I don't know if I am succeeding or not, and the feeling of failure frightens me for some reason. The fright makes me feel weak, and I get angry, and try harder, only to fail even more. The cycle continues on until I am a bundle of nerves screaming for release. I'm about a half second away from screaming and hitting something when a hand grabs me shoulder comfortingly.

"Varus," Tree-Hugger whispers. "Breathe. You can't focus when your angry."

"Bullshit. Leave me be!" I hiss. I feel my concentration spike with the adrenaline of my anger. It brings me focus.

"Stop and listen." He orders. I shut up. "Anger makes you focus on a single aspect as the expense of all else. Sometimes it's a foe, but in engaging this foe you do it without care for yourself and die. Sometimes the focus is on the mind, at the expense of the body, only to slip up because of the body. Sometimes it's the body, at the expense of the mind. You lose all focus and care only for moving, only to fall because of something you did not see. It is a powerful sword, but it is double edged. It may bring you victory once, even twice, but inevitably it will bring out a weakness at the wrong time."

I frown. "How can you know?"

"Because, Varus… I once let it consume me." He says sadly.

I must admit, that brings my attention. "What happened?" I ask when I'm calmer.

He sits down on the ground by me and looks into the abyss of his memory. His eyes sadden to the point of tears, there is anger, there is love, there is joy, but it all hardens and is swept away under self-control in the end. "I was like you, albeit slightly better mannered. I spoke out of turn daily, always focused on the moment, did things rashly… My faults went on, and they continue this day to go on. I believed myself invincible. In a way, I might have been. But everyone has a weakness. Even if you are invincible, which I don't presume to truly be, other's around us are not. I lost… someone close."

He breathes in deeply and I see he is physically in pain from the memory. I keep my mouth shut to listen. There is something about him that I appreciate. I read what he wanted. The Jedi say a lot of things, but it all is empty. His words are the opposite. He has experience. He understands anger at its darkest core.

For probably the first time, I truly realize that he understands… He understands me. He… Ok, this is getting sappy.

After he pushes through his memories, he continues, "She was tortured for days and days until she died in my arms. An unfortunate side of the Force was that I felt her pain as if it was my own, and that fueled my grief. I lashed out and slew everyone who hurt her. I dealt out angry justice on not just the ones who hurt her, but everyone. The men, the woman, the old and young, dogs, steeds, and I may have burned down everything they owned as well. All I know is that a hundred or so died and the place became a black spot on the planet when I was through with it."

When he was done, all that was left was silence. The world was silent. He was silent. He didn't press further, but instead left me be on the floor nearby.

I just… listened and thought.

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