Chapter 19 - Mustafar and the Man in Black Armour

Sulani was waiting outside the meditation chamber that Master Yoda, Master Windu, Obi-Wan and Anakin were currently inside of. They were trying to meditate and use the Force to glean anything they could about the children Bane may go after. Sulani wished she could help, but her connection to the Force had been clouded since she had fainted, she knew it was because she was having trouble processing the feelings she had gone through before and after Master Ropal had died. She could feel Ahsoka and Obi-Wan mostly, she could also feel Anakin and her younglings, but everything else just was not there. She worried this would effect her visions in the future, but she knew that until she meditated and let go of what had happened into the Force, she may continue to have foggy vision. So engrossed in her thoughts as she was, she had not noticed when Anakin and Obi-Wan had left the room.

The only reason she came to know they were out was when Anakin had called out to her. She lifted her head from where it had been lowered to watch as the pair of them walked towards her. "How did it go?" she asked them hopefully.

"I'm on my way to Rodia," Obi-Wan says, "Anakin is on his way to Naboo, to a Gungan village."

"So is that where Bane is planning to go, there are children there on the list?" she asks.

"That is what we believe," Obi-Wan replies, "But we don't have time to waste, so I'll see you when I return Su."

"Of course, the both of you should go," she said, watching as they left.

It had become normal for her to tag along with Anakin, and she could see him sending her looks, but she did not think she would be much help given her state. No, she needed to find a quiet place to meditate. So she made her way to the temple gardens, somewhere quiet at all times of the day, definitely somewhere she could meditate. She took her place by the fountain, hoping the flow of the water would help her. She thought of nothing, or at least tried to, but she kept focusing on the feel of Master Ropal's presence in the Force blinking out of existence. She decided she needed to deal with that first.

She allowed herself to remember the pain she had felt coming from him, and then the devastating loss. She allowed them to build inside her like a torrential storm, and when she knew that she had allowed it all in, she let it go. She pushed those feelings off into the Force, they were not hers to feel and she did not need them. When they had all moved off into the Force, she finally felt the weight lift off her shoulders, a weight she had not known she had with her until this moment. She opened her eyes and allowed herself a few deep breaths before closing them again, ready to meditate properly this time.

She drew into herself, trying to find her centre and she finally found a peace she had been lacking for over twenty-four standard hours. There was only the sound of the fountain beside her and the feel of her lungs expanding with air. However, with every peaceful meditation she was able to find, there came the visions she dreaded.

She saw as Anakin and Ahsoka stepped off their ship onto a metal structure requiring a gravity generator to stay level. The terrain around the structure was dark, ashen and lava covered a large part of the surface. Mustafar. Why they were here, she could not say. This vision seemed normal, if anything, it was mundane. However, her vision changed as if reading her thoughts. The planet was the same, it was still Mustafar, but this time she saw her brother fighting an unknown combatant. She could not see their face, but she could certainly feel her brother's anguish as he shouted at this other figure.

Before she could truly learn anything more, it changed yet again, but also, Mustafar had not. This time she was inside a similar metal structure, and she only knew it was still Mustafar because of the view out of the nearest window. Inside the room was a man. This man, or was it even a man, was shrouded heavily in the dark side of the Force. Armour of the darkest black covered his entire body, his helmet was the thing of nightmares and he had an equally black cape billowing behind him. She was just able to make out his laboured breathing before everything went black.

She forced her eyes back open, to find herself to be back inside the temple and most definitely not on Mustafar. She tried to think about her vision over her rapidly beating heart. A three part vision all on Mustafar and she had no way to know what it all meant. She could tell that the first part would be soon based on the fact that neither Ahsoka nor Anakin were aged any more than they were now. She could not tell about the second part, Obi-Wan looked the same as he did now, but they had reached the age where they may not change much for a few years yet. The third part though, that was the part that sent shivers up her spine.

With no knowledge of who this man was, and she could still only think about whether it was truly even a man, she could not say how much further away this part of the vision was. By law of progression, each part would have been shown to her in chronological order, but she could not be certain. She did not know who they were, but her guess was a Sith. That being said, they had not encountered other Sith with the exception of Maul, and now, Count Dooku. Which meant she could not even begin to guess who they were. A Sith or not, they were important or she would not have seen them. This was what concerned her the most.

Several hours later, Sulani was in the meeting room with Master Yoda. Currently present as holograms were Master Windu, Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka. "News, you have?" Master Yoda asked of them.

"Yes Master," Obi-Wan begins, "I was unable to stop Bane from taking the child from Rodia, however, Anakin and Ahsoka were able to save the Gungan child."

"I'm relieved that at least one child is safe, but what shall we do about the other?" Sulani asks.

"Thankfully, Skywalker and his Padawan were able to apprehend Bane," Master Windu continues on, "we're hoping to get the information we need to find the child from him."

"The holocron?" she asks.

"Not with him I'm afraid," Obi-Wan answers, "so we're also hoping he'll give us that as well."

"Continue, you must, if save the children we will," Master Yoda adds.

"Children?" Anakin asks, "He only took one child, didn't he? The one from Rodia."

"See I did, another vision, a Nautolan child taken he has," Master Yoda explains.

"Another reason we must find out what Bane knows," Obi-Wan says.

Anakin had sent word not even two hours after the last communication that he and Ahsoka were on their way back to Coruscant. Bane was now taking Obi-Wan and Master Windu to where he says the children and the holocron are. Every single one of them agreed it was definitely a trap, but that had not stopped them from going along with it. Currently, Anakin was informing the Chancellor about recent developments. She only knew this because she had asked Ahsoka when she saw her outside the Chancellor's office. Ahsoka had been waiting outside for her Master to finish with the Chancellor, very patiently Sulani might add.

She must have been waiting a while though, as Sulani was not waiting with her long before Anakin came back out, leaving the Chancellor at his desk. "Mother?" he says when he notices her, "how long have you been waiting here?"

"Not long Anakin, don't you worry," she says with a smile, "I came looking for you, figured I'd give you a hand."

"Well, we're mostly just waiting for Obi-Wan and Master Windu to return," he says slowly, "but you can come with us back to the Resolute, I was going to have a look at Bane's ship, see if we can find anything."

"Not sure I can be much help there," she chuckles gently, "but I'll come anyway."

"It's always a pleasure having you aboard, Mother, I hope you know that," he says.

"I know Ani," she says, "I know."

In no time, they were back aboard the Resolute, floating through space waiting for further instruction. At the moment, Sulani, Anakin and Ahsoka were checking out Bane's ship. Or more accurately, Anakin and Ahsoka were checking out Bane's ship, Sulani was watching from beside it. Currently, Anakin was in the cockpit, "Well, the piloting systems are clean, check the landing gear?"

This question was directed at Ahsoka who was under the ship, "Double-checked it," she said as she rolled out from under it.

Her tone implied boredom, this would be because they had been at it for a while now. "I have a feeling Master Windu and Obi-Wan could have used our help," Ahsoka continues.

"Look," Anakin says, "I don't like being out of the action either, but somebody's gotta do this job."

"And it always ends up being us, hmm," she adds bitingly, before brushing her fingers along the underside of the ship, "Bane picked up a lot of volcanic ash on his travels."

R2 started moving his plug around and so Ahsoka asks him what he has. R2 started beeping and Anakin spoke for him, "Looks like Bane erased his navigation records, but not his fuel computer."

"So?" Ahsoka asks while sliding up onto the wing of the ship in order to see better.

Sulani herself had stepped closer as well while Anakin explained why that was important, "Well if we cross the planets we know he visited with the distance he travelled…"

"We may be able to calculate where else he went," Ahsoka deduced and continued his train of thought. "That's a new one."

"It's an old Jedi trick we use to track down smugglers," he says, "Okay, let's see. Glee Anselm, Rodia, Mustafar, Naboo."

Sulani felt a sudden shudder go through her when she heard Mustafar, her visions coming back to her. Ahsoka herself noticed something about it, "Wait, Mustafar? There were no children on Mustafar."

"It's a mining world, very remote," Anakin explained, "Probably stopped there to refuel."

Sulani did not think so, because otherwise there would be no reason for her visions of Anakin and Ahsoka going there to be real. "That explains the ash," Ahsoka said slowly, "but it was six systems out of his way. Maybe he met up with whoever he's working for. It's worth a look, isn't it?"

"Well," Anakin says as he jumps out of the cockpit, "anything to get out of this hangar."

Sulani had a really bad feeling about Mustafar and her vague visions did not help to explain it. When Ahsoka and Anakin had started to leave, she had stood still, staring off into space. Both of them noticed she had not moved and turned back around to face her. "Mother?" Anakin calls.

She startled a little bit, and turned to face him, seeing that the pair of them had matching frowns of worry, "Yes?"

"Are you okay?" he asks, "You looked out of sorts."

"I'm okay," she says, making her way to follow them out, "my head is just in the clouds today."

"Well, if you say so."

Ahsoka and Anakin had taken the Twilight to Mustafar, leaving the fleet, and Sulani, right where they were. Anakin had asked if she wanted to tag along, he figured she would want to be involved in something that heavily revolved around saving younglings, which normally, he would not be wrong. However, those visions she had of Mustafar, they made her wary of stepping foot on the planet. No, she did not want to tag along this time and preferred to stay aboard the Resolute, somewhere far away from Mustafar. That being said, she was not going to sit around doing absolutely nothing, and for the first time since having these nightmarish visions, she was going to find one on purpose.

She was in her quarters, where it was peaceful and quiet, the only noise being the gentle hum of the engines. She sat on her floor, legs crossed and searched inside herself for the vision she had of Mustafar. She wanted, no needed, to see more. The Force seemed to agree, because she found it with no trouble at all.

She saw again as Anakin and Ahsoka alighted from the Twilight and made their way for the door. Only this time, she was able to see flashes of them hearing the sound of an infant crying, entering a dark room and fighting off two droids carrying the children. They needed to contend with the building ripping itself apart as the droids had turned off the gravity barrier. She thought she would have a heart attack as one of the infants almost went into the lava below with one of the droids, but thankfully, Anakin was able to use the Force to save the child. The children were safe and at least that meant a positive part to her visions.

Just as she was getting content, the vision changed to the next part, the one where her brother was facing an unknown opponent. She realised this time, that his opponent was another Jedi because they were wielding a blue lightsaber. Still though, she could not make out their features or even what their lightsaber looked like beside the colour. She could not determine who they were, but the very thought of Obi-Wan needing to fight a fellow Jedi only meant bad things. They continued to duel, and Obi-Wan's enemy was clearly skilled as the victor was something she could not even begin to determine.

Then it happened, they had jumped at her brother, but this was a mistake as Obi-Wan was able to remove all their limbs. It was a horrifying vision to behold, as they fell to the ground right next to a pool of lava. Thankfully, her vision changed again before she could watch them slowly burn to death. It was the terrifying man in black again. This time he wielded a red lightsaber against someone, she only saw this person from behind, but she could see it was a Togruta. The difference with the vision this time was that they most certainly were not on Mustafar, the Force was showing her something different as they appeared to be in, dare she think it, a Sith Temple. She focused back on the fight and that's when she got a closer look at the dual white-coloured lightsabers the man's opponent was wielding. White lightsabers, she had never seen such a thing before.

It was in this moment she saw their face, and she had to take a few deep breaths because the Togruta was an older Ahsoka. Much older than she was now and she seemed to be both angry and in anguish. This was making less and less sense as time went on, but before she could even begin to contemplate this vision, she was pulled out by a beeping noise and a voice she recognised.

"Mother?" Anakin calls, "Mother are you there? She's not answering Ahsoka, is she asleep?"

"I'm here Anakin," she finally managed to get out.

"Oh good, but wait, Mother are you okay?" he asks, "You don't sound so good."

"I was just meditating and saw something both confusing and upsetting at the same time," she explained, still trying to process what she had seen.

"I'd ask if you wanted to talk about it, but I know you shouldn't," he says softly.

"Yes, but the thought still counts Ani and I appreciate it."

"Well, we found the children on Mustafar, I don't know what they wanted with them, because the entire facility is now deep under a pool of lava," he explains, "We're on our way back now."

Wait what? They were already on their way back? It should take them at least an hour to reach Mustafar and they appeared to be there for at least another half hour going by what she had seen. How long had she been meditating? She must have been silent longer than necessary because Ahsoka was calling out to her, "Mother are you still there?"

"Yes sorry, I'm just relieved to hear that they are safe," she says, trying to pass off the real issue, "Return quickly so that we might return the children to their families."

"Of course," Anakin says before turning off the call.

When they returned to Coruscant and entered the High Council's chamber, she had been surprised to find that beside, and slightly behind, her brother's chair was a stool. She did not want to assume anything, but her brother gave her a look and nudged her with his head toward it. She was by no means a member of the Council, not by any stretch of the word, but she had been given an honorary place. She was now officially the voice for all her Guardian Mother sisters, even without it being said, she knew. So she walked over to it and sat, the stool itself had a back rest and cushioned seating, it was not the fancy soft chairs the Council members had, but it did her just fine. After she had seated herself, Anakin and Ahsoka walked to the centre and started to explain the situation.

"The base was completely destroyed Master," Anakin said, "and so was any clue who's behind this."

"Hmm, most unfortunate this is," Master Yoda says.

"And we still have Bane," Anakin says, giving a look towards his Master.

The look Obi-Wan shared with both Master Yoda and Master Windu spoke volumes that even Ahsoka could see it, "Uh, he got away again?"

"The important thing is that the children are safe," Obi-Wan says, "and we have recovered the holocron."

"The list is intact," Master Windu continues, "and there is no evidence it was copied."

"Still," Master Yoda says as he folds his hands in his lap, "the future of all Jedi uncertain is. Move forward cautiously we must."

Anakin and Ahsoka bowed towards the Council before leaving. The two holographic images of Master Plo Koon and Master Kit Fisto flickered out, leaving only Obi-Wan, Master Yoda, Master Windu and Sulani in the room. Sulani herself was staring into the ceiling, thinking again on her vision. Master Yoda sensed this, "Trouble you something does, Mother Kenobi."

She was only slightly startled by his voice, but she turned to face him, "Forgive me Master, but I have been plagued by many disturbing visions as of late. My latest one is both confusing and horrifying, but also gives me much thought."

"Hmm, seeing only negative visions, you are?"

"Yes Master, I can't say I've had many positive or even neutral visions in quite some time," she agrees.

"Could it be the influence of the Clone War?" Obi-Wan asks, "Do we know if any other Guardian Mothers are having such visions?"

"I honestly haven't talked to many of the others recently," she admits, "Quite a few are spending more time with their younglings because of the war. Though I have been meaning to ask them."

"Think I do, that the shroud of the Dark Side taking root, effect you it does," Master Yoda adds.

"That is possible," she says slowly, "though I don't remember most of my visions, they do give me much fear in the aftermath, but the most recent one does involve an unknown Sith."

"I have felt her fear from across the galaxy Masters," Obi-Wan adds, "but every time I inquire about her fear, she always says to me that she does not remember the visions, only the feelings she had during them."

"Hmm, a stronger hold the Sith may have than originally we thought," Master Yoda says morosely.

That was something no one in the room wished were true.

A/N: part four of four has arrived, a long arc indeed, but a lot needed to be added to the three episodes in order to make my story flow, but I'd like to think it was worth it. So now, Sulani is having visions pertaining to what happens to Anakin, but she still does not know that it is Anakin that turns to the dark side. It would be too fast if she found out so early in the story, things would also get really awkward between them haha. Most of Sulani's visions, well, the ones she can remember, will be things she can hopefully change without being too in your face about them, being subtle about changing things, but mostly it will be things that effect what happens to Anakin and his feelings of only having the Chancellor as someone he can trust.

I truly am hoping to have Ahsoka stick around if I can and make it so that all the things that make Anakin lose trust in Obi-Wan don't happen the way they originally did or at all if I can. I want to make it so that when the events of ROTS happen, Anakin has more people to confide in than just Palpatine, so that just maybe, he does not feel the need to join the dark side in order to save Padme, because we all know that she only died because she lost the will to fight knowing what he had become, so I'm thinking, if Anakin does not become Sith, Padme does not die and Palpatine does not get his way.

And also, Luke and Leia can actually be raised together. I also have to contend with the fact that if Anakin does not go bad, the Jedi Order sticks around and that means they're all going to eventually find out that he's married and that the kids are his, but that's a bit away yet so I'll think of something.

Okay, I think that's enough word vomit for now, so until the next arc…
Seza, out.