Hi Folks, at first sorry about the long time gone since the publishing of the last chapter so far. :( But I found out recently, that Google Translate has improved tremendously over the years since then. Thus I'm able to translate this my big story much faster than ever before, when I had to translate every sentence on his own, because rectifying the Google translation that time was even more strenuous effort. For the near future I hope to be able to translate and upload the following chapters in a much more reader-friendly interval. :)
And now enjoy:
The planet Kamino – 22 BBY
Shaak Ti watched strainedly as the five clones stood before the citadel wall training simulation, which they had to climb to take the citadel and raise the green torch as a token of their victory. The Siniteen instructor named Bric, a bounty hunter, did not believe Shaak Ti that CT-5555, named Fives, Echo and the three other men of the Domino Unit would pass this test, which the Jedi Master had mercy on them to repeat. At least that's what the strict instructor had told them before the exam. And now it turned out that Bric had hidden the climbing ropes that the Domino Squad desperately needed to scale the wall - the last obstacle that separated the five clones from their success.
Then Shaak Ti, Bric and El-Les, an instructor of the species Ishi-Tib, who was a little more inclined towards the four examinees, heard Echo giving some orders. The five formed a chain, using the ledges set into the wall at regular intervals. The staff continued to wander up the citadel wall, passed from one clone to the next in whatever manner was fastest and most effective. After a few minutes it was done - Fives stood on top of the citadel tower and raised the green torch.
You passed the exam.
Shaak Ti smiled. She herself had advised the five to act as a team rather than as lone fighters. And all members of the domino unit had implemented her recommendation brilliantly!
Shaak Ti now proudly pinned their well-deserved aurodium colored badge to the chest of Fives, Echo, Hevy, Cutup and Droidbait – the proof that the five men of Domino Squad could now be honorably discharged into armed service with the Republic as properly qualified soldiers from Kamino's cloning and training facilities. A spontaneous feeling of happiness spread through her. She had helped her children against all odds. She had taken them further. And she would continue to help them. Just as the clones would continue to help her in her missions in the future. Just as Hego Damask had promised her at the time.
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A day later at Coruscant
The conferring ceremony in the Chancellor's office would begin soon. Now Mace Windu, Luminara Unduli, Kit Fisto, Plo Koon, and Shaak Ti walked with measured steps toward the big door that separated them from the Chancellor's office. The Senate guards, now dressed in red instead of blue, saluted and opened the door to let in the five Jedi. Palpatine stood tall like a black and red pillar in the center of his office. It flashed through Shaak Ti's head that he must have just been sitting on the comfortable armchair facing away from the wide, imposing window front behind his large, brightly polished, tidy desk. Then the Chancellor walked towards the five Jedi with a gracious smile on his thin lips.
When he was about level with Shaak Ti, Palpatine almost imperceptibly turned his head in her direction, surreptitiously eyeing her. It was the first time he had Shaak Ti near him in the flesh. The woman who had been instrumental in getting rid of his master back then... a little over ten years ago.
But now he was thinking of something else in connection with the woman, who was about the same height as he was without her Montrals. Two days before the mission to Geonosis, he had once again been standing at the window of his secret Sith office in the Li Merge building. He had watched the younglings' lightsaber training. And one of the youths had caught his eye. Not only because she wore almost the same tattoos as Shaak Ti, but also because their lekkus had an unusual pattern. The pure white streaks of their lekkus were broken up by streaks that fatally reminded him of his master's bluish-grey complexion. As was the color of her hands, which were also not red like Shaak Ti's.
These hands also had a slightly enlarged index and middle finger. Not quite as long in relation to the ring, little finger and thumb as his master. But still too different from Shaak Ti's hands to be ignored. He would investigate. As soon as a favorable opportunity came. And he would organize this golden opportunity - as Chancellor and as Dark Lord of the Sith. And he would take the first step in confirming or rejecting his suspicions here and now!
Shaak Ti froze for just a moment when the Chancellor looked at her sideways with such obvious interest. The Jedi then lined up to receive awards from the Supreme Chancellor for their successful mission to Geonosis - which, moreover, had been the first test for the Republic's new clone troopers. The words Palpatine addressed to Mace Windu and the others while awarding them the Medal of the Republic for bravery were as empathetic and dignified as one would expect from a seasoned politician like the Chancellor. And would soon be forgotten. When he finally got to Shaak Ti, his blue eyes looked particularly intensely into her violet eyes.
"Master Shaak Ti," Palpatine began, smiling jovially. "I also thank you for your courageous and selfless service on Geonosis. I'm sure the clone army couldn't wish for a better training supervisor, better health inspector on behalf of the Republic than you are, Master Jedi," he finished his praise, the smile that played on his thin mouth just a tad wider than in his praise to the rest of the Jedi.
Shaak Ti smiled back. Praise from the man in whom Hego Damask had placed such high hopes was almost like praise from the deceased Muun himself. Then the chancellor took her hand and shook it. He hadn't done that with the other Jedi. Why was he doing it to her now? Did he really appreciate her that much? Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Mace Windu eyeing her suspiciously.
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On Kamino – two months after the Battle of Geonosis in 22 BBY
Shaak Ti's next mission on Kamino was not like the previous ones. Separatist battle droids had invaded the cloning facilities. They conquered one level after another. Clone troopers had just reported that the clunkers had taken level nine.
"When the droids reach the inner cloning labs, the youngest generation of the clone troopers will be destroyed," said Lama Su, the Prime Minister of Kamino, with a hint of concern in his deep voice.
Shaak Ti was grateful to him and his species that he controlled his emotions as well as she did.
"We haven't lost yet, Prime Minister Lama Su. As long as Jedi breathe, we will defend Kamino. We will never abandon the clones and this planet," she declared solemnly and unwaveringly.
"Then we have one more line of defense," Lama Su said with renewed optimism, leading them to where the Arc-Troopers were stored in stasis tubes, awaiting their deployment.
"Why are they locked up like that?" Shaak Ti asked in surprise.
"They share some of Jango Fett's personality traits that we erased from the other clones. They are very willing to take risks, think highly independently and are one thing above all: stubborn! But only they can save us now with their unconventional creative ways," said the Kaminoan Prime Minister calmly.
"Are they dangerous?"
It seemed to her, that Lama Su thought about that matter only now. "I don't think it's that easy to keep them under control after a mission."
"We Jedi will manage this and tame them if necessary," Shaak Ti declared confidently.
A call for help came from the neighboring hall. Second-generation children had been surrounded by battle droids and two droidekas, with a squad of clone troopers assigned to assist them. Above all, the two droidekas in their spherical protective shields, which made them almost unassailable, gave the soldiers a hard time, who had formed a protective ring around the children dressed in blue. But this white wall of protection was increasingly riddled with the staccato of the droideka's rapid-fire blasters and advancing B1 battle droids. Until Shaak Ti rushed over to help. She activated her blue blade, first to deflect the shots. Incidentally, she gave the order to free the Arc-Troopers from their stasis tubes. The four tubes shut down and the clones inside stepped out to immediately don the white armor and helmets that were ready.
"Arc-Trooper A-17, reporting for duty," the first said while saluting the Jedi and the Prime Minister.
The four activated clones gave Shaak Ti enough cover that the Jedi Master herself was able to sneak under the target line of the two droidekas, who were holding the trapped clone troopers and children at bay - at least until Shaak Ti released the two round brown ball racks with her blue lightsaber - first one, a short time later the other.
New battle droids kept appearing. Shaak Ti and the Prime Minister followed Arc-Trooper A-17's suggestion to evacuate the second generation of clones in order to save the third and youngest. Shaak Ti watched the blue-robed clone children being carried away by their older brothers. Then came the reinforcements that Shaak Ti and Lama Su so desperately needed. Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan Anakin Skywalker had appeared to support Shaak Ti and the clones.
"Obi-Wan… Anakin. Good to see you," Shaak Ti said to Obi-Wan, putting both hands on his shoulders in greeting while his Padawan, Anakin, respectfully stood to one side. He had never met Shaak Ti so directly. It was the first time that he was on a joint mission with the Togruta, who was almost twenty years his senior.
"Likewise," Obi-Wan replied. "I thought you were dead," he added, relieved to see Shaak Ti alive.
"She will be soon if we don't move!" A-17 abruptly interrupted the greeting scene.
"Pretty rude for a clone!" interjected Anakin.
"And you are very smug for someone who might be on the losing side of a battle," countered A-17.
There was no more time for more bantering of this kind. The three Jedi and the Arc Soldier ran across the narrow tunneled bridge to the cloning facilities, where the clones' babies and toddlers were growing in tubes to become Republic soldiers.
In reverent amazement, Shaak Ti and the other two Jedi let their eyes wander around the large dome room to see the many small tubes that covered the walls, densely dotted even just below the large room dome. The Kaminoans really used every possible square centimeter of the room, which was at least thirty standard meters high and twenty meters wide, to ensure the most effective and space-saving clone production possible. Anakin Skywalker was the first to break the awed silence.
"This is the third generation?" he asked incredulously.
"Now snap your jaw up again, Jedi! And cover me!" A-17 barked at him.
"What are you doing?" Obi-Wan asked, alarmed as he saw the bossy clone punching a code into a control panel set into the wall.
"The Self-Destruct Mechanism. It was Jango Fett's will. Either these clones will grow up loyal soldiers of the Republic, or they won't grow up at all," A-17 explained apodictically.
The thought that all these children would die irretrievably plagued the Togruta Master.
"There must be another way!" Shaak Ti urged him.
"There isn't one...unless...you Jedi use the Force to tear down the bridge. And we remain isolated here at the facility until reinforcements arrive," A-17 suggested to the Jedi.
"But then we will all drown," countered Shaak Ti, looking at the tunneled bridge, which, like the entire cloning facility, was located under the ocean of Kamino.
"No, you will use the Force to hold back the tide and close the entrance," A-17 instructed the Jedi.
The Jedi did as ordered. They joined forces. They used the Force. First to rip open the transparisteel wall of the only passage tunnel to the third-generation cloning facility. They saw some battle droids being swept away by the sea water. Then the three Jedi sealed off the entrance to the facility with the transparisteel fragments of the tunnel to prevent seawater from entering this growth room of the clones. It was finally done. The second generation plant that had been evacuated was flooded. Access to Generation Three was closed. Now the three Jedi and A-17 could sit back and wait for relief. Or for the end of the battle. Or for both.
"Thanks for saving us, A-17," Shaak Ti said, touched, to the Arc-Trooper, who was still wearing his helmet.
"Hmm… you're welcome. But I didn't do it for you," the clone explained in the same commanding voice it had barked its orders in before.
Obi-Wan and Shaak Ti looked at him, then at each other, somewhat confused.
"I was just following Jango Fett's orders," A-17 explained dryly while Anakin nervously scratched the back of his head at the explanation.
Shaak Ti could understand Anakin. She, too, had suddenly become extremely uncomfortable after this explanation. If A-17 had at least said he would have done it for the Republic - or for his clone brethren. But for a single person who had also been dead for half a year - that was unsoldiery, unpatriotic! Even if Jango Fett was his genetic father. That didn't give A-17 the right by a long shot... That was indeed an element of uncertainty. No wonder that Prime Minister Lama Su had warned her so emphatically about this clone and his few bred brothers even before the activation of this clone.
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Two years later at the planet Hypori – four months after the battle of Geonosis in 22 BBY
The next mission took Shaak Ti to the planet Hypori. Other Jedi had discovered a droid factory on the planet inhabited only by insectoid Geonosians. So Shaak Ti and five other Jedi set out to put a stop to the Separatists here as well.
The Separatists seemed to have anticipated the Jedi attack. Jedi ships were destroyed as soon as they exited hyperspace. Who had warned the Separatists? And why had no one told the Jedi that General Grievous was on Hypori?
The seven feet tall cyborg had already killed three of the six Jedi when Shaak Ti and Ki-Adi Mundi faced him in battle. Shaak Ti had managed to distract Grievous by using her telekinetic abilities to shoot debris into his durasteel body. But her maneuver had only momentarily distracted the Separatist general. Grievous then activated his second set of arms, drawing two more lightsabers, two of them keeping Cerean Ki-Adi Mundi at bay, while his second pair he attacked Shaak Ti so aggressively, that she was thrown into a debris heap. With her face forward her head hit hard on a piece of permacrete. Her sight went black. She fainted.
She missed Ki-Adi Mundi picking her up to get her to safety after the Arc-Troopers appeared over the battlefield with their LAAT/i gunship to fire wide spread gunfire at Grievous and his super battle droids. But the clones' main target was to take the injured Jedi on board only a short time later, fleeing with them immediately into hyperspace - to safety.
The Coruscant Capital Orb was seen in orbit when Shaak Ti reawakened. Ki-Adi Mundi sat with her and touched her Montrals.
"How are you, Master Ti?" the Cerean asked sympathetically.
"Why don't we have training simulations of - something like that in the Temple?" Shaak Ti's slender red hands mimicked the wide-angle circling motions Grievous had performed with his four mechanical arms complete with lit lightsabers, his arms in positions so unattainable for natural beings and turning and holding unassailable positions that it would probably take four Jedi to keep the General at bay. At least that's how Shaak Ti imagined it. Then she remembered that there had actually been six of them. But Grievous had managed to deftly separate or disperse them. The Togruta mentally reviewed the droid general's strategy and tactics, or at least what she could discern and analyze. She had to admit that Grievous' military actions on Hypori had been ingenious.
"I think four Jedi is overkill after all," said Ki-Adi Mundi, reading her mind.
"One who is determined and well-trained is quite enough. Otherwise we'll just get in each other's way in a fight," he explained his point of view. "And no other battle droids are allowed to join, of course," he added, correctly interpreting Shaak Ti's skeptical look.
"Hopefully I never see that monster again," she said weakly.
"I think we all hope so," the Cerean replied with a wry smile, while the half-length white ponytail that he wore on his long head swayed back and forth.
Shaak Ti briefly closed her eyes. Ki-Adi Mundi now reminded her on someone else who had also had a long head. But she liked Hego Damask much better. He hadn't had as much hair on his head as the Cerean. Especially not so bushy eyebrows. And anyway: Hego's green eyes were much more beautiful than those of the Jedi opposite her. But Hego wasn't here. While Ki-Adi Mundi saved her. How unjust she was! She opened her purple eyes again and gave a weary smile to the worried Jedi Master at her lair.
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22 BBY - Five months after the battle of Geonosis at the planet Brentaal IV
Shaak Ti looked at the woman who had killed her second Padawan, Fe Sun, with a stoic, elevated expression. She knew this thing was closed. It was now important to eliminate the clan leader and warlord Shogar Tok, who was in league with the Separatists and had even used the inmates of the maximum security prison for his purposes in order to become the ruler of the planet Brentaal IV. More than ever, Shaak Ti was sure that it was the right thing to bury her emotions about Fe Sun's death without a word or tears. Because now she needed this cunning Zeltronian named Lyshaa. Lyshaa and her pheromones were the key to overcoming the brutal Shogar Tok and bringing him to Republic jurisdiction as he deserved.
Shaak Ti hated using such sleasious methods. But at least she didn't have to seduce the brutal warlord herself. The Jedi Master had promised Lyshaa freedom if the Zeltronian would help her and take over that part. Even if it didn't look as if the Zeltronian would regret what she did back then. But that was just another challenge for Shaak Ti to overcome. The pink-colored Zeltronian with purple hair and eyes lolled lasciviously in bed. She really seemed to be enjoying the way the athletic, white-haired human with the steel-blue eyes handled her laundry.
Shogar Tok was just cradling Lyshaa's breasts and the opportunity seemed good to Shaak Ti. She darted in the door and was about to ask Shogar Tok to surrender. Then something unexpected happened. A blaster shot hit the Jedi Master - in the stomach, as Shaak Ti recognized immediately as a healer. The Togruta saw the determination but also the fear in Lyshaa's purple eyes. No, the Zeltronian didn't trust her. She had mistaken her peace offer for a ruse. And now she attacked before Shaak Ti would take revenge. So Shaak Ti read it in her mind.
She fell down, hit, slowing her circulation. She had learned that as a healer in order to close her wound and finally heal it. As if from afar, she heard Lyshaa continue in her frenzy with Shogar Tok as if nothing had happened. How shameless and impulsive this Zeltronian was! And that's what she, Shaak Ti, had chosen as an ally! How stupid and naive could a Jedi Master be?
Shogar Tok was about to come. He gazed at his bedfellow's swaying purple hair as his broad, strong hands gripped her hips. Yes, this Zeltronian did a really good job. He could tell that Lyshaa was a professional - in every sense. As if in passing, she had killed the Jedi Master to finally satisfy him, the daring, celebrated warlord. Soon it would be time ... Caught in his ecstasy, he closed his blue eyes except for a small slit and purred happily, while Lyshaa's middle closed further around his best part.
A bright blue glow shredded the comforting darkness behind his almost closed lids. He felt a burning pain in his stomach. Lyshaa's pink, purple-framed face suddenly gave way to the red face of the Togruta from earlier, who looked at him with determination and fierceness. In that moment, Shogar Tok knew he had lost everything. Shaak Ti's lightsaber had pierced his gut. He found it harder and harder to breathe as he felt the life drained out of him. His clouding eyes caught Lyshaa running away like a violet shadow. What a coward...!
Shaak Ti ran after the fugitive Zeltronian, who had already hurt her twice. Soon she would have caught up with Lyshaa and put her back where she belonged, in prison. This time forever - with no chance of active probation and redress! And then she never wanted to see her again!
Headless, the Zeltronian ran away from the angry Togruta without even looking back at her pursuer. Lyshaa knew she had nothing to lose now but her very life. There had to be an exit somewhere ahead, but the vengeful Jedi would surely have caught up with her by then. So she took a detour for another, shorter path. She crossed a short hallway and flipped a switch at the end. With a loud hiss, the double door slid open. Lyshaa pressed a button again and ran to the center of the chamber that opened before her.
Red beams shot out at the Zeltronian from everywhere, piercing her in multiple places at once... For Lyshaa had taken her final refuge in the fortress' electricity chamber - established for the quick execution of particularly dangerous and recalcitrant prisoners – a special measure taken by Shogar Tok to punish his enemies two months ago. Such chambers were actually illegal in the republic - but not in the separatists' sphere of influence.
And she, the Zeltronian Lyshaa, who had always wanted to prove to herself and to the galaxy that Zeltronians could do more than seduce people and throw orgiastic parties, now found herself at the heart of the Separatist realm - inside the red, beating heart of the fortress. But such a death was still better than being judged by Shaak Ti. Her violet eyes widened in terror and pain as the red beams of high energy entered her body, searing and paralyzing it from within. She fell to the ground. Even in her death delirium, she thought she was meeting the calm, yet punishing and devastating gaze of the Jedi Shaak Ti. Then her vision went black.
How could she have even believed that this brutal idiot named Shogar Tok could guarantee her ascension? And perhaps Dooku had lied to her when he explained back at Castle Serenno that, contrary to their sublimely mendacious doctrine, the Jedi would not forgive anything and instead take revenge afterwards - sooner or later. Perhaps Shaak Ti was serious about her offer and truly wanted to forgive her... But Lyshaa knew it was far too late for that. For her it was too late for everything.
Shaak Ti looked at the red laser mesh in the middle of which Lyshaa had fallen. The Jedi Master knew full well that according to the code, she was not allowed to feel any joy at the death of enemies. And yet it was so that she was happy. She would never meet that woman again. No one would ever come to Brentaal IV and free Lyshaa so she could commit more foul deeds. That was finally the end of it. The Force had finally ensured that she, the Jedi Master Shaak Ti, who had always abided by the Jedi Code and endured patiently in adversity, could finally experience the satisfaction of seeing the murderer of her Padawan Fe Sun dead. And she didn't even have to take that revenge herself. 'Was it really forbidden to sit quietly all to oneself in these feelings of triumph and satisfaction of revenge? Even indulge in them?' Shaak Ti thought to herself as she gazed contentedly at the dead, black-branded body of her adversary.
She finished her revenge meditation and looked away from the dead Lyshaa. By the door she saw two buttons, one red and one yellow. She pressed the red button. The laser web went out and retreated. In the distance she heard the thunder of cannons. Republic troops advanced to take the fortress. She felt a presence. Just a moment later, Quinlan Vos stuck his black dreadlock head around the corner.
"Everything worked out from our side," explained the Kiffar Jedi, "The Seps' allies are surrendering in droves. But what about Shogar Tok?"
"He's dead," Shaak Ti said in a solemn voice.
Vos raised thick eyebrows in wonder. "You don't regret that, do you?"
"So many lives snuffed out," she replied regretfully.
They rushed back to the spaceship to fly back to Coruscant. As they zoomed through hyperspace, Shaak Ti wondered if she would ever be able to see Hego Damask's killer dead...
Plo Koon was surprised when Shaak Ti visited him in his chamber back in the temple.
"Please let us meditate together, Master Koon!" the Togruta asked him.
"Did anything happen?" the Kel'Dor asked concerned after closing the door behind her.
"I felt unjedi feelings during the mission on Brentaal IV. Feelings of revenge and satisfaction after Lyshaa burned up in the energy chamber. This war is changing me. He will change us all. I am anxious."
"I could feel it too. Please sit down," said Plo Koon in his deep, friendly voice, which had a soothing and sympathetic effect on many.
For Shaak Ti, Plo Koon's voice sounded almost the same as Hego Damask's back then. She always thought of the Muun whenever she saw Plo Koon with his breathing mask. And she found it better to meditate with Plo Koon on this obvious war-related problem faced by many Jedi than on those un-Jedi feelings she had, especially at night when, unlike that one night, she had to sleep alone again. Now, after this substitute guilt meditation, she felt liberated. That sense of atonement would last for a while. At least for two months, Shaak Ti thought as she left Plo Koon's chamber.
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21 BBY – Coruscant, Building of the Galactic Senate, Office of the Supreme ChancellorAhsoka Tano was incredibly proud. Ever since she became Anakin Skywalker's Padawan, her Master had taught her much and they traveled a lot, just as she had always wished. And today, Skyguy would finally take her to see Chancellor Palpatine for the first time. The now fourteen-year-old orange Togruta had long wondered what Skyguy always discussed alone with the Chancellor while she was either in the temple or waiting in the antechamber of the Chancellor's office for her master until the Chancellor had another appointment. But soon she would be there live. The only downer was that Anakin had insisted they take Ashla with them. So that she, Snips, wouldn't feel so alone with the two men, Anakin had told her. But something wasn't right about this story. Anakin had never been interested in that Togruta, who was four years younger than her. So why was he so keen on Ashla going to the Supreme Chancellor?
Ten years old now, Ashla had become much more intelligent and mature than four years ago. But she was far too calm for a child her age, and seemed far too cool and calculating to Ahsoka to count the other Togruta among her friends. Sure, Barriss Offee was also rather quiet and reserved. But the Mirialan had been there first. Their friendship was formed through joint missions, trials. And two friends like that were just too much effort, even for the lively and curious Ahsoka! But Ashla was very strong in the Force. She could use her skills to lift things that others could not lift until they were fourteen or older. And Ashla was great at making plans. For anything. Master Plo had often praised her for that in Ahsoka's presence. However, Ashla was less helped by her mastery of the Force and more by her mathematical talent. Unlike other youngsters her age, Ashla was able to solve fourth degree equations. Sometimes Ahsoka, who hated math, would envy her this gift dearly.
Now Ashla trailed alongside Ahsoka behind Anakin directly into the Supreme Galactic Chancellor's office. Palpatine was dressed in a blue robe, which was held together at the waist by a blue cummerbund.
"How pleased I am that the four of us are all gathered here now," the Chancellor graciously opened the informal get-together. Immediately, a four-armed silver droid rolled up and served drinks to everyone.
"Anakin told me that you two spend a lot of time together and get along well," Palpatine said gently, turning first to Ahsoka, then to Ashla.
"Yes, Chancellor. We like each other a lot," Ahsoka replied with a forced smile. What else could she have said. Maybe if she were alone with Palpatine ... But why? She didn't even know him - at least not yet.
"Anakin, it seems you two have had many successful missions now. I'm really happy about that", he now turned to his young friend, while the droid dumped the emptied glasses from the armrest tables of those present and immediately exchanged them for new filled ones – no problem with his four arms.
"Ahsoka really is a good Padawan. She's made incredible strides during her training with me," Anakin Skywalker said proudly.
"Hey, that means I used to be lousy then, doesn't it?" Ahsoka objected flippantly while Ashla called her forearm and tugged.
"That's right, or how would you feel if someone said something like that about you, Ashi?" she turned to the four years younger Togruta.
"I would perhaps answer him that we probably grew together then," Ashla explained with a meaningful smile, while her gaze first grazed Ahsoka, then Anakin.
Palpatine spontaneously clapped his hands at Ashla's reply.
"Well done, young lady," he said appreciatively. "I think it won't be long before you too will find a capable master, little Ashi."
"My name is Ashla, Sir," the addressee replied firmly, while Ahsoka gave her a sideways glance.
There was an awkward silence for a moment, during which Palpatine flashed an outwardly apologetic, but inwardly a mean triumphant smile.
"Then, Anakin ... tell us about your last mission on Geonosis," the Chancellor encouraged the tall Jedi to move on to a more harmless topic. Now Anakin told of the fight against the giant mothlike Geonosians. Of how his Padawan had remained trapped in a buried Separatist tank along with Luminara Unduli's Padawan until Ahsoka managed to use a repurposed chip to tell her master that they needed help.
"I got the feeling that Master Unduli wasn't exactly happy to see her Padawan again. She seemed downright chilly. And Barriss felt it. We all felt it. I think Master Unduli was ashamed that she had already given up on Barriss Offee while I believed in Ahsoka to the end. With success, as you can see," Anakin concluded his report smugly.
"What do you think of that, Ahsoka? Surely you're proud to have saved Barriss Offee like that," Palpatine now turned to Ahsoka.
"Of course," Ahsoka confirmed to the Chancellor. "Barriss and some clones were infested with these Geonosian brain parasite worms afterwards on the Jedi cruiser. Unlike the clones, who openly opposed us, Barriss has yet to fight back. 'Kill me, kill me,' she begged me over and over again. That was creepy. And sad. I almost think she didn't just say that because she didn't know a way out again... No, she was... heartbroken back then..." Ahsoka's voice was quiet with these words, the look in her large, clear blue eyes became thoughtful.
An embarrassed silence spread across the room.
"But everything is fine now," Ahsoka explained, suddenly cheerful again, breaking the silence she had caused herself.
"I will never allow anyone to be left behind either," Ashla now intervened.
"That's what I think, too," Palpatine agreed with a jovial smile.
Then the Supreme Chancellor rose to end the small gathering. He said goodbye first to Skywalker, then to Ahsoka, and finally to Ashla.
"I believe you have a great future ahead of you, little Ashla," he said kindly to the younger Togruta, giving her an appreciative smile and brushing her montrals with his right hand. Ashla felt his pressure was a little too much. Was the chancellor always so hands-on?
After the small group had left the Chancellor's office, Ahsoka looked at Ashla suspiciously.
"Why did he say to you that he believes in your great future and not to me that he believes in my great future?" she asked the younger one.
"Maybe because you are already in the middle of your bright future?" Ashla replied with an admiring smile from her black eyes.
Now Ahsoka smiled back. That was exactly the answer she had needed now.
"FourDe, do you have both samples handy?" Palpatine asked his droid 11-4D when they were alone again.
"Yes, Master Palpatine. Master Shaak Ti's sample from one year ago and youngling Ashla's sample just taken are in stock and can be evaluated," the tinny fellow replied obligingly.
"Do you also have a genetic sample of your former master available?" Palpatine came to the third piece of the puzzle he finally wanted to solve.
"Sorry, Sir. But you yourself instructed me to delete the module in question after his death," explained 11-4D.
"Right," Palpatine admitted, slightly bored.
Naturally! How could he have forgotten?! Before organizing a new housing and a new home for the faithful droid after the murder of his master, his first command to 11-4D as its new master, had been to delete immediately the module on which all of Plagueis' medical data, findings and treatment reports were stored for a period of thirty-four years. 'Why waste valuable storage space?' he had said to himself at the time. But that mistake early in his tenure as Dark Lord of the Sith wasn't too bad.
Sidious walked to one of the two tall, black vases that flanked the entrance to his office. Using the Force, he tilted the right vase slightly toward him, then reached inside with his bare other hand. That hand now held out a small pile of ash to 11-4D, which the droid accepted with a slight delay.
"Scan this sample as well. Then analyze all three samples," Sidious ordered 11-4D while using his other hand and again using the Force to place the vase upright and accurately in the exact circle it had been in before. Just as if their position had never changed.
11-4D scanned the ashes. Then three of his four arms dunked all three samples in liquids and finally he spat out some test strips.
"Master Palpatine. I can say with 99.99% certainty that Youngling Ashla is the biological daughter of Jedi Master Shaak Ti and Magister Hego Damask," 11-4D stated after completing his evaluation.
Palpatine's mouth twisted spontaneously. He had always admired his master, but hated and loathed him in equal measure. And now it turned out that Plagueis had not only surpassed him in researching the midichlorians in order to slow down his aging process. Rather, Darth Plagueis had sweetened his already sweet life in the Kaldani Tower in other ways, something he had suspected but had not really wanted to admit with this consequence until the end. But now he had it green on white: his master had fathered a daughter on the penultimate night of his life. Also something that Palpatine hadn't managed to do before. Disgust spontaneously dwelled up in the Sith Lord. But soon this disgust gave way to blatant jealousy and lust.
Author's Note: This chapter contains many of the events from TCW and the Defending Kamino comic that I faithfully reproduced in my story.
By the way, there is a picture in the Wookieepedia entry for Shaak Ti where you can see exactly how Palpatine looks after Shaak Ti. This served as inspiration for part of this chapter.
The mission on Brentaal IV can be read in the comic story: "Shaak Ti" in "Star Wars: Clone Wars Volume 2: Victories and Sacrifices" by Dark Horse (2003).