Chapter 63 - Possessions
Yoda landed his shuttle next to Dooku's craft on the Coruscant landing platform. They were a distance from the Temple, because they'd all agreed that it was too risky to go straight there until they knew for sure their possessed brethren were taken into custody.
"Master Yoda, are you sure we will be able to heal them?" Padawan Kent asked from his seat.
Siri motioned to silence her Padawan, but Yoda answered his inquiry.
"Sure of anything, I am not. But come, worse danger will, if try, we do not."
"I've been thinking, the Code says, 'Do not walk in darkness, for if you do darkness will follow you for the rest of your life.' And, does this not count as walking in darkness. Even if it's not by their own will, they are still doing the walking."
Yoda looked tired. His eyes glanced down at the hangar bay outside the window. "Means more, that passage does. But true, I do not know the effects this will have." Yoda didn't want to think of the possibility of having, not just a former Padawan, but three members of his lineage trapped in darkness forever. Suddenly Dooku's decision to help Asajj and Tol made so much more sense to him.
"We will try, because we must." Siri said, with all the determination Yoda was too tired to put out.
Yoda nodded and went to open the ship's door.
"Master," Dooku greeted him as soon as he opened it with a hand up to block the sun. "I talked to General Sheelal. He's on his way. He and his armies will form a boundary outside the system. They will try to remain unnoticed by Republic authorities, but cannot guarantee it."
He nodded. "Good, that is. A blockade they will form." Truly, Yoda never once imagined he would be using the separatist fleet. And there might be a childish part of him that longed to see what Skywalker would do with an army of droids. He couldn't forget what Anakin had been capable of doing with just that one little astromech that Senator Amidala had gifted him before the war. But if any of the Sith tried to flee from them, there is a lot of damage they could do in the outer rim. Having their allies waiting to lay siege was the best option.
"Uh huh, I sent Tol and Asajj north. There is a tower which I remember has a good view of the Temple. They will be able to…"
"Reconnaissance, they will give us." Dooku's voice trailed off, but Yoda filled in his blanks.
Dooku gave him an odd look. "Grandmaster, you seem very familiar with military terms and strategies. Is there something I need to be aware of?"
"Aware of things, we all must be." Yoda found talking like an Oracle was usually a good way to avoid questions you don't want to answer. Still, though, Dooku scratched his head, resisting it. "Ask that, you do not need to." Yoda added a Force Persuasion on, just for safety.
"I don't need to know that. Did you contact Master Billaba again?"
"Yes. Meet us, she and a team of knights will. To the bridge leading to the Temple, we should go."
"How did she sound?" Dooku asked.
"Nothing unusual, over the comlink, I detected." Yoda reassured, but they both knew that meant very little. The Force didn't work that way.
Dooku nodded, and he ran back to their group. By the time Yoda got there, he had the younglings paired up, and they were instructed to follow, two by two.
"Anakin, where is?" Yoda asked, noticing his absence from the younglings.
"Oh, I sent Anakin with Asajj and Tol, did I not say?" Dooku answered. Then he lowered his voice. "Thought it best to keep our chosen one away from the Sith."
Yoda nodded. He could recognize the man's wisdom, and wished he had followed it the first time around.
"Tol is very skilled, both younglings will be safe with him." Dooku added.
"To our meeting, we should go." Yoda moved his hand indicating Dooku should lead them. He intended to walk behind their group.
"Come everyone, we are going to the first pedestrian bridge leading to the Temple. Follow me." Dooku started walking, and the others began to follow him.
"Taking too long, this is." Yoda stood up and began to pace around the bridge.
"Patience, Master." Dooku chastised again, seeming like the older of the two.
When their group had gotten closer to the meet up point, Dooku sent the younglings away, two by two, to patrol the area. Yoda reluctantly agreed, but he still thought it was risky sending younglings out without supervision, even of an older, teenaged Padawan. Siri and Poison Spitter could only supervise one group a piece, and Dooku had wanted them to go out in smaller groups to avoid being discovered.
Soon, Depa Billaba's figure could be seen walking up the other side of the bridge. That was a convenience to the spot they chose. If anyone approached they could see them coming.
"Oh, Grandmaster! It's so good to see you." Depa was wearing a red robe loosely at her shoulders. Around her were many knights, all had serious faces. "Come this way, we have much to debrief you on."
Yoda turned to look closely at the image in front of him. Something wasn't right. The force drew his attention down to the split in Depa's robe, going down to her chest. His eyes firmed up as he lifted them to her eyes again. This was not Master Billaba. His conservative grand padawan would never go out into public like that. She was letting too much of her breast show.
"No, I think we should debrief here." Dooku said. His hand reached slowly towards his saber. Clearly, he was reaching the same conclusion.
"I don't think they're buying it Zannah," one of the Knights stepped out and drew his saber.
Dooku completed the move and pulled out the sith's former saber he still carried.
"Oh, that's too bad." Depa Zannah replied with a sly smile. She pulled out her saber and turned to Dooku. "Who are you? You're not one of us. Oh, I'm going to enjoy ripping apart your defenses, one by one."
"Master," the young voice of Tol surprised them all. "They aren't going to play nicely. There are more of them than you see. Come this way. quickly." Tol reached out a hand to usher them towards him.
Dooku didn't hesitate a second and Yoda followed right on his heels. The second they stepped off of the bridge its motor began to turn, and the bridge was lifted up. This forced the Jedi Sith on it to run the other way, lest they fall.
"I suppose I have you to thank for that." Dooku said through panted breaths when they were a block or so away.
"Anakin actually." Tol answered. "The office where we were able to watch from, it turns out it's the control tower."
"Hmm." Dooku hummed.
"Actually, you have the others to thank for them not surrounding you on all sides." Tol elaborated. "We were able to use the traffic signs to communicate with the others and point them where to go."
They walked into a skirmish between four younglings and two possessed knights. Dooku and Yoda pulled out their lightsabers and joined the younglings. The Sith possessed knights didn't stand a chance. They were disarmed quickly.
"We should take them up to the tower." Tol suggested. "The men who work there said we could have it for the day."
"They just said that?" Dooku questioned.
"A Force persuasion, you used." Yoda guessed.
"Only a little one," Tol confessed. "And it was Ani's idea."
Dooku sighed, while Yoda chuckled at the youth. "There, we will go. A good idea, it is."
Up in a tower, everyone had gathered in a circle. Worried faces looked up at Yoda, and he bit back his own worry.
"Thinking about this, I have been. Similar to what happened to his old Master, Tol says it is."
"What happened to your old Master?" Anakin turned to Tol and asked.
"Did he recover?" Freya shot out next.
Tol avoided eye contact.
"He's not with him now, is he?" Asajj pointed out. This caused the younglings to look down with disappointment.
Yoda went on, "A gem, Master Vee had become obsessed with. It was leaching darkness into his soul, I felt. In the Jedi archives, it was placed."
"You think they have another piece of the artifact?" Dooku summarized.
"Believe that, I do." Yoda confirmed. "Another artifact in the vaults, it reacted to. Blocks its influence, the Tablet of Malachor III will. Changed its radioactive state, it did." The Grandmaster didn't think it was worth trying to explain how his own soul reacted when he went to see what the archivists were reporting.
"Wait, wait, wait." Dooku interrupted. "This tablet might interfere with their artifact, making it impossible for them to use it on us. Possibly even stop it affecting them at the same time."
"Break the Sith's ties to their souls, it might," Yoda said.
"And without living souls to inhabit, it is logical that the Force would reabsorb the dead Sith." Dooku theorized.
Yoda didn't feel the need to explain the theories regarding souls disintegrating into nothing if not reabsorbed with death. So instead, he nodded. "Affect us no longer, the Sith would."
"But that would involve us pulling off a heist on the Temple itself." Tol laughed at the idea.
Yoda was prepared to let it slide, when Kent raised his hand. "We just need to figure out a way to get back into the Temple. Once we're there Yoda's clearances should still let us open the door to the Archives."
"Talk about impossible. How are we to walk into a Sith infested temple to begin with?" Freya huffed.
"But Master Poison Spitter told us stories about entering and exiting the Temple using secret ways." Anakin drew everyone's attention to the knight.
Poison Spitter's eyes went wide. "Well I… Yes, I do know of ways, but it involves going much deeper into the city than I would bring a youngling. We'd need more knights, or a small army to get down there."
"A small army, really?" Anakin started to smile. Yoda squinted at him trying to figure out what was in his head. "I know who we should call."
After their discussion, Yoda and Dooku gathered to discuss what they should do. The younglings may be decided, but as the Masters of the group, they were responsible.
"A long shot, the boy's idea is. Another plan, if it doesn't work, we will need."
Dooku nodded along. "I suppose it is a good thing that the two Jedi you brought with you are Shadows. With their help, I can instruct the younglings in more advanced shielding."
Yoda took in a sudden breath. Then he nodded, it sounded like a good idea. Though it was surprising coming from his former pupil. The Master had, in his later years, distanced himself from that line. Messages from colleagues whose relationships he'd fostered for years were left unanswered. And Yoda had inquired to the man's padawans. They were entirely untaught in all shadow-work lessons.
"Of course, I can't be sure it will be even a bit more effective than their current shields. Unless we can get them to open up about how the process works." Dooku referenced the two, still unconscious, sith possessed knights they had tied up in a corner.
"But effective, it might be. Teach them this lesson, you should." Yoda encouraged. "In the morrow, if success Anakin does not have, turn myself over, I will. Ways out of even the Jedi prisons, I know. Try to get into the archives, I will."
"B-but Master. That will be very dangerous." Dooku protested.
"Another choice, we will not have," Yoda replied.
"Then let me come with you. Surely the two of us…"
"Another charge, you now have. Protect them, you must."
"B-bu," Dooku stuttered, clearly not wanting to accept defeat, and yet, not having a valuable return.
"Younglings they are. Without a master they will remain, if I fail."
There was a moment, and Dooku nodded. "Yes Master. I may not be a Jedi anymore, but if I have to, I will try to do you and Qui-Gon Proud."
"Qui-Gon's pride, you never lost. And my own, twofold already, You have earned back."
Well, it looks like their warnings went for naught. Well, this would've been a very boring tale if it all went Yoda's way, wouldn't it?
In this chapter I have young Kent quote the code. I am going off of a personal theory that the code is more than the one poem that exists in canon.
Zannah, the Sith in Depa is a real one from the Wiki's. Next chapter you will find out what exactly Anakin means by "Small army."
This Website is currently having a glitch with its stats counter not recording any visits. I was tempted to wait until it resolved itself to publish, but it has been broken since September 15th, and I don't know how much longer it will last. Anyways, until it does get fixed, the only way I will know that you were here and read my story is if you leave a review, so please do. Also this glitch is site-wide, as far as I know, so other fanfics you read this month are probably affected by the same glitch. Please remember to leave them a review too.