Note:
Streetsurfer95: I'm glad you like it. I try to have a lot of fun with Varus's inner personality.
I'll tell ya, there will be times he won't be very sarcastic, and times he is VERY sarcastic. It varies on the situation and how serious it is to him, which is just another way of saying he's human.
Before anyone goes into a problem about how I described Anakin Skywalker going into "scholar mode", don't think it's stupid or isn't real. I used to get like that all the time. I literally jump onto the table on all fours and scribble like a madman. I am so drawn into what I am writing that I don't even notice people are staring at me like I'm an idiot.
The dude who invented the light bulb never left his lab to even attend his own wedding!
So yea, I tried to describe it and help people understand what it feels like. It's really incredible. Also leaves you feeling like you've run a marathon.
I guess because you did, in your own head.
Anyway, cookies to anyone who catches a potential enemy put into this chapter (besides everyone else he has managed to piss off so far. :P) I am gonna have so much fun! XD
Also, this is going to be a MUCH longer episode in order to compensate for another plotline I have weaved into it simultaneously. There are TWO plotlines going on at once. It is important I cover them both appropriately.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even the clothes on my back.
Episode 5 - Classified Information Part 1/6
Previously:
Starkiller, seeking vengeance on his master's, Darth Nihilus, death, was tricked by Darth Sidius into being brainwashed by Jedi and was renamed Varus Wynn; but not before clueing them in as to the Dark Lord being on Coruscant.
The Jedi, following this unlikely clue, sent Skywalker and other Jedi on a brief hunt. Darth Sidius was not found, but Skywalker did find and shutdown a new class of droid, find skeletal remains, and find a Sith Holocron. In true Varus Wynn style, Varus had to touch it.
Varus Wynn downloaded the life memories of a Sith into his mind and was immediately hospitalized, and the memories repressed. Meanwhile everything found in the droid facility was taken to some droid researchers to be worked with.
Aaaand, I'm back at the temple. Yippee.
"Have I mentioned how much I hate this place?" I mumble as we walk.
"Yes." Tree-Hugger confirms. Girly rolls her eyes.
"Good, wanted to be sure the point was taken."
"We won't be here too long." He lets us both know. We pass by a group of pre-teens. They look at me curiously, clearly not recognizing me.
I can almost picture what they are thinking.
'Hey, this guy wasn't in our classes, or the classes above us!' 'Ye! Who does he think he is!' 'Jackass' Queue maniacal laughter. I'm better than the lot of them! I got a Master the moment I got here.
"Varus. You shouldn't look down on others just because you are ahead. You could just as easily be one of them." Tree-Hugger's stern voice snaps me out of my thoughts just as I contemplate setting their hair on fire. I turn around to see his gaze and sigh reluctantly as we walk. He looks at me firmly like he knows I'm scheming and he walks slower
until he is beside me.
True… If Fate, or the Force, or God had decided for me to be one of them, I doubt there could be much I could do about it. It's not their total fault they're a bunch of… Tree-Hugger continues looking at me firmly.
"Fine…" I step aside to turn around-
and bump shoulders with someone as we walk and we both fall in varying degrees of embarrassment. My legs tangle and I fall flat on my face, but the strangler just falls to his or her knees.
"Hey! Watch it!" I blurt out angrily as I pick myself back up to face… her. (It's a girl.) The girl is staring at me. Written all over her face is pain, shock, and a hint of anger. I freeze momentary under the heat of her eyes.
Ok, I really got to work on my mouth.
Perhaps I shouldn't have been walking backwards to talk with Tree-Hugger. Perhaps I shouldn't have been snippy and saying the first thing that came to my mind. If she had caught me a few weeks ago, I probably would have bitten her head off, but I don't think I said it as haughtily as I would have prior to today. I'm trying to not get people to hate me everywhere I look! It's just… instinct. So that accounts for something, right?
For a moment we stand there tensely. The girl doesn't stop staring. It's like she can't believe what I said. I stand. How do you apologize without losing your honor in the process? Because, seriously, I have no idea. I'm not used to having to apologize. For anything.
"Sorry, about my Padawan, young Lady." Tree-Hugger puts a hand on my shoulder. "He is kinda a brat at times," and turns me around before pushing me away.
OK, I deserve that.
I give the girl a glance again as I leave and she just continues to watch me with open, gaping shock until we turn a corner and she disappears.
He resumes talking as though nothing happened as we walk, "I have been told the results of our findings are in, and I have scheduled a meeting with a psychologist for you, Varus."
"Yaaaaaaaaaaay." I cheer weakly, dripping in sarcasm. I can't get the girl out of my head. I really should figure out how to apologize before I start making enemies everywhere.
"The point in this meeting will be for you to divulge as much as you know of the Holocron-memories as you feel comfortable with. There should be a large clue as to who this Sith is, and then how we should deal with it."
"What does it matter which Sith it is? Aren't they all evil? Just give empathy and concern and attention, and Varus will recover like a spring chick." Ahsoka looks at me with mischief clear in her eyes. "Hugs work wonders."
"Touch me and I'll throw up on you." I warn her with narrow eyes.
"The point is, Snips, that each Sith works differently. Some hold to the beliefs of Sith while not actually running around on a rampage. Those are easy to deal with. Others like Darth Sion were mass murderers who, in legend, bathed in the blood of their kill. There are also no few number of them in history who have had an addictive habit of… abuse… for their apprentices and prisoners equally. Sometimes you have to respond differently."
"So my situation has happened enough times that you have an idea how to deal with it?" I wonder.
Tree-Hugger shrugs. "I have never heard of it, but in the countless ages where Holocrons have changed hands, there has to be a record somewhere. If we can't find a record, then we have to deal with it as problems arise."
I feel fine. Not like I'm going to laugh manically and set people's hair. On. Fire. Ok, bad example, but I don't feel Sith-y. I don't know what it feels like to be a Jedi despite being a new one. I just feel like me. I don't feel like someone else.
What could go wrong?
"Good news: I don't think he was bathing in blood." I say.
We entered the library and met a collection of clones. Clones, from what I see, is a rare occurrence in the temple. There are exceptions, namely the high ranking ones who attend war meetings, but for the most part the clones avoid the temple. Not one clone is recognized as a Force User, and there is a reverent respect from them toward the temple. They feel like they are intruding.
I don't blame them. A bunch of 'worldly' people being a temple around a couple thousand monks makes you very self-conscious. I would be too if I bothered caring what they thought. Tree-Hugger's impressions are really the only ones I think matter. If the rest got up and disappeared I probably wouldn't even notice or care.
Now enough of that, the clones remove their helmets and bow deeply to us; trying to give some religious respect in this place.
"General Skywalker." The leader of them greets in military fashion rather than bowing. He shook Master's hand.
"Captain." Tree-Hugger returned. The clone's shoulder pads had a blueish color on them and badges on his neck line symbolizing his rank. "May I ask what it is you are here for?"
"We are Maris Brood's personal escort…" The clone captain begins. They ramble on into nonsense.
Something about that name sounds familiar, but I can't put a finger on it. Maris Brood… Maris Brood… Maris… Yeah… I got nothing.
After a few minutes of small talk and greetings and blah, Tree-Hugger wishes them well and we leave. Our destination is a part of the library I have never been to before. Master tells me it has a droid that is many times more responsive than a basic desktop computer and is the one doing the research on our findings in Sector 7207.
Ahsoka frowns the whole way, Tree-Hugger also seems to be in a poor mood. "What got into you?" I ask her.
She shakes her head sadly. "Nothing, just feeling sorry for her."
"Who?"
"Maris. She's a friend of mine. She and her master had been on a two-year expedition to a neutral planet with a small detachment of men. They succeeded in bringing the planet into the Republic, but the clones are concerned for Maris. A Sith riled up the Confederacy, caused them all kinds of problems, captured her, and then killed her master in front of her."
I frown sharply and girly breathes in deeply. "It's just… sad."
"Which part of this has them concerned?" I wonder. I do feel sorry for her, but this sounds like something they would be used to. "Its war. Stuff happens." I comment.
"Perhaps. But isn't there a difference between knowing someone is dying of age or disease and accepting it, and watching them be murdered in front of you while your rendered powerless and forced to watch?"
Ok, that would sound very very aggravating. It would tick me right off. "That is different." I admit.
Tree-hugger comments from the front, "Younger Padawans always take it hardest. My master was a little younger than I am now when he lost his master, and it shook him horribly, but he was able to recover. Any younger and he might not have. It is not an uncommon occurrence now in war, unfortunately. I'm lucky for my Master to have lived this long with the stuff we find ourselves in."
Ahsoka mouths the words 'stuff they put themselves in', and I smirk. The amusement lasts only a few seconds before she is frowning again and I don't like how tense and ominous the mood becomes.
The destination turns out to be an oval room with a huge robot perched in the center. It has dozens of arms from a pole center that are constantly moving and working. It has several scientific projects being conducted around it, and we stand in a space roped in by a fence; clearly reserved for visitors.
"Visitors[]={([ ]='Anakin_Skywalker'), Anakin_ 1, Anakin_ 2}; Greeting("Welcome, Visitors."); Inquiry("What is the nature of your visit?");"
"I am looking for here for the summary results to research on the findings collected from Sector 7207. The mission was about a week ago."
Dang, was it really long? Felt like yesterday.
The robots eyes turned away for a moment before returning. "Confirmation("There are a number of objects tagged with that relative date and location.") Summary("Tag: "Bones", Tag: "Sith Holocron", Tag: "Ballers", Tag: "Rods", Tag: "Wall Powder" Tag: "Snake Baller Hardware"")"
"Those would be it."
"Gentle Request("Please wait.")" The robot turned around and a few seconds later presented a number of clear boxes. Inside of each one was a different object. Specifically there were bones and skulls, some destroyed ballers, a few rods in various conditions, some powder, a hunk of hardware, and the Sith Holocron.
Just so it's clear, I am not inclined to touch it a second time. I learned the first time not to touch creepy things that glow.
Along with each box is a piles of papers with a bunch of… stuff on them. Scientific jargon, binary and hexadecimal notation of the elemental makeup of the contents, and some theories and comparisons of them. Basically a lot of stuff that goes over my head. I think I prefer Tree-Hugger dealing with it.
And that's just the core makeup of elements inside the containers, not to mention their hardware findings and… yeah…
"Are we done yet?"
"No, Varus." Tree-Hugger says with patience that says he is getting used to saying it. He picks up a box and starts stacking them. Then they start floating. I have got to learn how to do that!
We head to the library, grab a table, and… I don't help. Neither does Girly. We just let Tree-Hugger makes heads or tails of the nonsense. I resort to sitting here staring at the ceiling groaning every two minutes about how boring this place is.
God, I hate this place.
At some point a clone walks up to us and stands at attention. I ignore him and continue blowing a leaf into the air above my mouth. It's a rather poorly designed game where the objective to keep the leaf in the air above my face, by blowing. Yeah, I haven't thought it through much more than that. Ahsoka seems a lot more content sitting around doing absolutely NOTHING!
The clone clears his throat. Tree-Hugger looks up to him from the papers and looks clueless.
"General." The clone shakes the man's hand. "Theumas. Psychologist?"
"Oh! Right!" Tree-Hugger jolts in remembrance. He gestures to me and back to the clone. "Varus, meet Theumas. Theumas, meet Varus. Psychologist,"
"Meet demented." Ahsoka inserts.
"Hey!" I snap.
The clone ignores the fight about to break out and takes off his helmet, his gloves, and then the rest of his armor until he is standing before us in casual clothing. His armor is sitting in the chair at our table. The armor itself is a greyish color, not white like the rest I have seen.
"Why the color grey?" I point and ask.
"Signifies I am more of a civilian class soldier, than military class. Still military as all my brothers, but different specialization." He says.
First time I heard a clone say something without it being with oomph and marching sounds in their voice. He seems almost… relaxed.
"General Varus, may I call you Varus?" Theumas asks me.
I shrug. I don't recall anything about being a General. I'm not. He must be assuming I'm a general because I'm a Jedi. Semi.
"Excellent. Would you please follow me to a place more private? I wouldn't want anyone to intrude on you?" He motions to the stairs to the higher levels of the library.
I sigh reluctantly, groan, and generally sound grumpy before I pull the chair back and follow.
Ahsoka amused herself with watching her master tinker with the papers. He was starting to get into a frame of mind she and Senator Amidala had seen on occasions where he was getting deep into his tinkering. Supposedly it was something great minds entered.
She wasn't sure how it worked, completely. Everyone had epiphanies, moments where things clicked, and the realization was exhilarating. She had them plenty of times growing up when a really difficult lesson just… clicked.
But for a scholar of any kind, in every craft, these moments were times where the epiphanies just kept coming. Kind of a cross between massive clarity, massive concentration, nonstop realizations and adrenaline, and dominoes.
And on cue, her master clicked. He jumped to his feet, took all of the papers and summaries and observation and threw them all over the table. He scrambled blindly in his clothes for a pen. When he didn't find one he took his coat off and scrambled through it wildly.
Ahsoka casually took a spare out and tossed it to him. He took it and didn't hesitate to get to work. He separated the molds of paper, ripping a few in the process, and put them down all over the table before drawing on them. He circled words, drew lines between some, jogged around the table without paying attention and nearly tripped over other chairs if Ahsoka didn't move them first.
His eyes stayed locked on his work. His eyes were wide, clear, and moving so frantically Ahsoka Tano could clearly see the wheels in his head turning at the speed of light. Sweat covered him from his sheer pace of thought, but he never slowed. If anything he only sped up.
Suddenly he stopped and started to fall back. Ahsoka had a chair ready and pushed it under him just as he fell into it, gasping for breath and covered in sweat like he had run for miles.
"I take it you found something?" She wondered knowingly.
He could only nod numbly and breathe heavily. The adrenaline shooting through him would take a while to calm down. She was used to him getting like this. He said it was like a detective finding the piece that stuck everything together. He just needed to follow the trail to its conclusion.
Ahsoka chose to let him rest and glanced over what he had found.
Droid codename: 'Ballers'… Every baller has unique wiring… hardware grown… possibly a kind of energy-element conversion (beside which was written in big words "REPLICATION")… Direct interaction between Holocron and hardware… Traces of Force-infused metal… metal compound similar to Holocron and [Classified ID:019375937]… Script on Holocron in [Classified ID:981708]…
Wall powder of common substance… ancient design… rare residue found… information on residue [Classified ID:019375937]…
Bones… ancient… Sign of death: Natural Causes… not murder… no signs of restraint… same base DNA as skulls… Similarity found to races ID: 07A897, 001873, 316909, 208471… 99% match with [Classified ID:981708]…
In addition were scribbles all over the place: Metal compound classification same as rare wall powder residue. Logical as they lived in those walls… also found similar to Holocron, so the metal compounds in the ballers and walls are linked to Holocron metals… interaction unclear… Classification ID for Holocron script same as skull racial ID. Possibly makers of the Holocron… Holocron inventors were the Infinite Empire…
And in big letters: WHY IS IT ALL CLASSIFIED?
Ahsoka didn't think the big scribble was her master being angry, but it was putting a big stomp in his research.
But then… why was it classified? Didn't the Senate know her master had specifically requested this research? "You did request this research, right?" She asked worriedly.
"I was unconscious at the time. Master Windu took it off Kota's hands and had it conducted personally." Anakin looked a lot more refreshed after having a few minutes to cool off, but he looked now just as worried as she felt. He looked into the distance thoughtfully, and not in a good way.
Ahsoka looked back at the writing and wrenched her hands together nervously. Why would the Senate not lift the classification protection on research done with a Jedi Master's wishes?
"What have we come across?" She asked.
"Not sure, not completely." He said distantly. "But I am getting an idea. There are clues in there, in the connection between it all. I want to wait until the psychiatrist returns and Varus tells us a bit of what he knows before I can say for certain if my theory is right."
"Haaa." She tried to cheer, but fell flat and quiet. "Not even the Senate can hold you back, eh?" Normally he would chuckle, but he didn't. He brow only furrowed further. And that worried her.
Chapter Edited by Aeterna Knight: u/4617921/
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