Chapter Fourteen: Last Days of Peace
Disclaimer: See Chapter One
Hey everyone, welcome back to the chaos as I say. I must be a mad man, as I just had an update last weekend too.
Last time, bunch of things, Dooku ordered some new projects and Satine got the Darksaber and her title and everything.
This time, well. I'll let it speak for itself. Enjoy.
Serenno
Dooku sat behind his desk, sipping his favorite Serenno wine. He was planning how the war was going to go. Without Sidious, the Confederacy was off the chain and no longer needed to self sabotage, which is why he reactivated several projects, like the Jedi Hunter droids. The Dark Side had anointed him as sole true Sith Lord after Palpatine's death by firing squad, and yet, things seemed off. Without Palpatine casting such a shadow, the Jedi had more clarity in the Light Side of the Force, even with the Sith shrine under the Temple.
Taking a sip of wine, Dooku realized something, he told Grievous that Mustafar was on the way to the Prism, when it was the other way around. He also figured that dealing with a Gen'Dai would be easier than the Blackguard first. His concentration was broken by the door to his chambers opening, looking up, he saw Grievous. For that he was glad to see him, hoping that it wasn't Gunray who had stuck around.
Grievous walked forward and knelt before his lord. "It is done, Count," the cyborg growled in his vocabulator synthesized voice. "Never make me do that again!"
Dooku smirked a sec, "you did well, General. Now, are you ready to leave?"
"Yes, my lord," Grievous said.
"Good," Dooku stood, clipping his lightsaber to his belt and went and grabbed his cloak and clasped it around his neck. "We are going after Rayvis first."
"I thought Mustafar was first?" Grievous asked in confusion as he followed the Count to his personal hanger.
"Problems of having multiple sections of the Galaxy labeled as Wild Space," Dooku told him. In reality, Dooku had another reason for going for Rayvis first, he knew the stories of the High Republic and who Rayvis served. The two of them boarded Dooku's second solar sail ship, that he had acquired to replace the one that Kenobi and Skywalker shot down above Vanqor. After providing exact coordinates to his droid pilot, both Confederate leaders took their seats and the ship took off from Serenno.
During the trip in hyperspace, Dooku went back to the hold to meditate. Grievous fell asleep in his seat in the cockpit. Grievous didn't get much sleep anymore, but he still needed it for his remaining living organs. It was the last thing from his normal life that he still needed, even if he didn't need to eat. It took them a few days to get there, it was a good thing Dooku kept some supplies on board for himself.
The Prism, Diab System
Dropping out of Hyperspace on the far side of the sixth moon of Diab, Dooku and Grievous saw the space station they were after in the distance. "There it is, the Prism. It was built to house Jedi if any went dark, like the Citadel." Dooku was a bit concerned about this, Gen'Dai were unpredictable at the best of times, and didn't ally with outside species much. As they flew toward the station, Dooku noticed that the ship's sensors went dark, the system's electrical storms made it a perfect place for the station as no communications came in and out.
The ship made a landing on the only pad, and Dooku descended first. He told Grievous to wait a sec, as he was too noticeable, as he popped his hood up. Its a good thing he never embraced the all black looks of Sith preceding him. Wearing the brown robe and cloak, he could still be mistaken as a Jedi Master. Dooku walked up the ramp and was met by a female Jedi Master, who seemed glad to see another person. "Thank the Force, I was beginning to think I was forgotten out here," the Jedi said.
"The Council has forgotten you, Master Jedi," Dooku greeted. He noted the warden droids with her.
"Who are you?" the Jedi was immediately on guard, the voice was familiar. Dooku raised his head for the Jedi to see his face.
"Count Dooku!" Before the Jedi could draw her blade, a crimson blade was run right through her. The warden droids raised their blasters and began to fire on the attacker. Grievous saw everything go down and ran forward, two sabers in hand, cutting down droid after droid to defend his master.
"Good timing, General," Dooku said as the last of the initial security force was dispatched. Dooku returned his weapon to his hip, Grievous kept on saber active and grabbed the blaster he kept for his other hand, in case their were more. More droids came out, firing their blasters at them. Grievous returned fire as Dooku merely sidestepped the shots. He raised his hands, called upon the Dark Side, and let loose a strong blast of Force Lightning from his fingertips that obliterated the squadron of twenty droids. Their way clear for now, both of them proceeded inside.
As they made their way inside toward the control room, Grievous had to deal with the rest of the skeleton crew of a hundred warden droids. Upon reaching the control room, Grievous sliced into the computer system and pulled up the list of inmates, looking for where Rayvis was located. As he searched, both of them recognized a few names of Dark Jedi and Assassins that had been in the Confederacy's service. "I guess I will send Sora over here with a shuttle to get the rest of them out. For now, Rayvis," Dooku told the Cyborg. So, this is where they sent his more dangerous agents that they captured, makes sense.
Grievous found the man they were looking for and they went down to the cells to get him. Upon locating the cell, Dooku used the Force to open the cell, Grievous was on guard, in case the Gen'Dai lashed out as soon as the door opened, thankfully that did not happen. "Rayvis?" Dooku called out into the dark cell.
"Who calls me?" Rayvis' deep voice came back and then he stepped into the light, a bit imposing to Dooku due to his height. Grievous stood to his full height and still Rayvis was a bit taller than him.
"I am Count Dooku, leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, this is General Grievous, Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies," Dooku introduced themselves.
"How long has it been? Time passes differently here," Rayvis asked.
"Couple hundred years or so," Dooku remembered the tales of the High Republic, Master Rancissis had spoken to him of the Nihil attack on Tanalorr and of Dagan Gera defeating and gaining Rayvis' loyalty.
"What do you want with me?" Rayvis asked.
"Your help, the Galaxy is at war, between the Confederacy and the corrupt Republic. I know you are a proficient Jedi killer, and would request your aid in this war."
Rayvis seemed to consider it a second. "First, I must find my master, Dagan Gera, and we will consider it."
"He is still alive?" Dooku was a bit surprised. If he could recruit Dagan to the cause, that would provide a boon to his Dark Jedi forces, especially once he gets the Blackguard in his service.
"Last I knew, he had been imprisoned in a bacta tank, somewhere on Koboh. I just never found where, before I was captured," Rayvis told them.
"Very well, we can stop by Koboh, if you don't mind a stop at Mustafar first. I have business there first to take care of first." Rayvis nodded in agreement, and they began to walk. "I need my weapons, they should be locked up."
"Very well." They walked to the confiscated weapons lock up and Rayvis retrieved his heavy blaster and special flail-mace, as well as the missile launchers that he clipped on the back of his armor.
As they walked toward the landing pad, Rayvis had a question for the Count. "Tell me Count, do you know of another Gen'dai, named Durge?"
"I did, Durge was a prominent Commander of our forces for a time. You knew him well?" Dooku told him.
"Yes, I knew Durge well, before I was imprisoned. He was both a rival and a friend of mine," Rayvis said. He had picked up that Dooku said was and not is a commander, concerning him. "Tell me, Count. What happened to Durge?"
"The Jedi Knight known as Anakin Skywalker sent him into a star in a battle near Maramere. If my sources are true, Durge nearly managed to kill Skywalker's padawan while Master Kenobi was distracted trying to find information on another of my agents," Dooku told the Gen'Dai.
"That is unfortunate, he promised me an honor duel when I got out. He probably didn't know where I was because he would have come to get me so we could duel." Rayvis was a bit saddened by the news of Durge's death. "I guess I will have to finish what he started and avenge him on this padawan of Skywalker." Grievous looked at the other warrior with a jealous look. He wanted to deal with the Togruta personally, after Skytop. The game was on now, and let the better warrior win.
"You will have your chance to avenge him, for now, we have work to do," Dooku said as they boarded his ship and they left for Mustafar.
Mustafar
The way to Mustafar was a bit harder, the Republic had been watching the major trade routes for Separatist movement, but Dooku's little ship managed to slip past most of the Republic's forces. He had sent a message to Sora Bulq to retrieve the others from the Prism and put them back to work.
Arriving on the Molten surface of Mustafar, they landed on a mining platform that the CIS owned. "Grievous, take Rayvis and go inspect the droid foundries, see if Gizor Dellso made it."
"Yes, Count," Grievous said. Rayvis was glad to stretch his legs, and to see the droids he would probably serve with. Dooku left them and took a shielded speeder in search of the Blackguard.
He made his way to an old Jedi Temple in the Southern hemisphere, where the Blackguard were located. Upon his arrival, he was met there by three Ravagers, defenders of the temple. One bore a saberstaff, one a crossguard and one a blaster. Dooku noted that as odd, both ignited sabers bore crimson blades. "Halt, trespasser, you shall go no further," one of the Ravagers said. Dooku showed his own lightsaber on his belt, and seemed to ease up a bit, as they understood that he was a Force-user like them. "State your business, outsider."
"I have come to see your leaders to propose an alliance," Dooku said. He could feel the Dark Side in this place, not just from Mustafar, but the Blackguard as well.
"Who are you?" he was asked by one of them.
"I am Count Dooku, or Darth Tyranus," Dooku knew that the Blackguard was founded by a Sith, so he was okay with using his Sith name with them, not like it wasn't public knowledge at this point, thanks to Sidious.
"A Sith? The Kursk will want to see you," the two lightsaber wielders let him past and the blaster wielder led him into the temple. As Dooku walked among the black robed helmeted members of the Blackguard, he was observing how many were Force-Users and which were not. He surmised that it must be a recent thing to let non-force sensitives into the group. He was lead to the chambers of the leaders.
"Lord Kursk, a visitor to see you," Dooku's guide told the two people in the room.
"I am…" Dooku began to say.
"I know who you are, come and sit." The Kursk offered Dooku a place next to him, across from a female member of the group.
"Welcome, Count Dooku, or should I call you Darth Tyranus?" The leader greeted him.
"Dooku works," he answered, a bit surprised at this meeting. The Kursk offered him tea, which he accepted.
"I am San'sii, The Kursk. I lead the Blackguard, this is Vansk, the other leader of our order." San'sii introduced himself and the woman sitting next to him.
"It is a rare day that a Sith Lord comes walking into our temple, seeking our help," Vansk said, deducing why Dooku was there, before he even said anything.
Unlike before, where he had senses both light and dark in the members of the Blackguard, here he sensed mostly the dark side, also the fact that Vansk's eyes glowed Sith yellow was definitely a tip off, and San'sii's eyes were of an almost red color, definitely a Sith color for a Human. He couldn't tell what Vansk was, only that she was near-human, both were perfect for his Fist of the Empire Sith Order. Perhaps this would be easier than he thought. "I come seeking your help in the Clone Wars, I am recruiting dark force-sensitives to serve in the Confederacy of Independent Systems against the Jedi Order."
San'sii refreshed his own cup of tea. "Long have the Blackguard been associated with the Sith, as our founder once trained in the Brotherhood of Darkness, under Lord Skere Kaan himself, but we believe in trying to balance the light and the dark inside us, and that we seek to use the Force to understand the galaxy. To gain power, one must understand the other Force traditions of the Galaxy." Dooku absorbed the information that he had just heard and started to think this would be a bit difficult. "However, the Jedi themselves have been a bit of a problem for our agents. Our agents have been attacked at every turn whenever they cross a Jedi's path."
"You claim to want to balance the light and the dark inside you, but I only sense the Dark Side in this place, and it is showing what side you all prefer in that every lightsaber I have seen here, bears a crimson blade, like mine. Also, don't think I don't know that both of you have Sith yellow or red eyes, not natural for a human or near human." To show them what he meant, Dooku opened himself up to the Dark Side, and his eyes changed to Sith yellow briefly, before fading back to normal. "I can make you an offer, help me deal with the Jedi, and I will provide you with Jedi and Sith artifacts that you could have never recovered on your own, and I will teach all about the ways of the Sith, so that you can understand them, as well there will be a place for you all in the new galaxy when the Confederacy wins the war." San'sii and Vansk shared a look between them, seemingly communicating through the Force to keep him out of the discussion. "If the Jedi win the war, then this order is in danger of being found and wiped out to the last member." Dooku turned up his charm and used his silver tongue to try to convince them to join him.
"Very well, Count. The Blackguard will aid you." Dooku was pleased at this turn of events. "Just one thing, we know the CIS has droid factories on planet, and that you arrived with General Grievous."
"I did, what do you need?" Dooku asked, wondering where this was going.
"There is a group of criminals that have been harrassing us, the Phantom Bandits. We know where they are based. If you send Grievous with some droids to eliminate them, you will have our help all the sooner," Vansk told him.
Dooku reached into his belt for his comlink, activating it to call Grievous. "Yes, Count?" Grievous asked.
"General, I need you to do something, our new allies require something done to seal our deal. There is a group of bandits nearby that have been a problem for them, take Rayvis and some droids and wipe them out," Dooku ordered and gave Grievous the location for the main base that he got from Vansk.
Droid Factory Overlook,
While Dooku went and recruited the Blackguard, Grievous and Rayvis inspected the droid foundry. Well, Grievous more so than Rayvis, but he was still interested in the droids that he will be serving with. Droidekas held his interest the most. They stepped onto an overlook balcony overlooking a sea of lava.
"Your droids are impressive, General," Rayvis told the cyborg.
"They could be better, their best quality is that we send them out in overwhelming numbers." Grievous growled, he had his own issues with the droids, considering he would bash one's head off if it failed him, or angered him. He leaned on the railing to look out on the sea of lava. "How many Jedi have you killed?"
"Don't remember, it has been a long time, but quite a few. Probably will add a few more in the course of this war," Rayvis said, glad he and Grievous found some common ground. "You?"
"Many," he growled, his cybernetics acting up. "I will not rest until I have killed every one of them."
"Do you take their weapons as trophies?" Rayvis asked. It was a common practice for any so-called Jedi hunters to take a dead Jedi's lightsaber as a trophy, as proof of kill, as everyone was unique to the Jedi that built it.
Grievous opened his cloak to show the sabers on his hip, and the ones in the pockets in his cloak. "I have more back in my castle on Vassek." Rayvis was impressed with the Droid General's collection. "You know, I once fought Durge, it was one of my first tests."
"How did it go?" Rayvis asked.
"Difficult, he also had help from Dooku's favorite assassin, Ventress, who is a traitor in hiding right now," Grievous told him.
"Sounds right. Durge was something else, a monster even among our kind, always pushing the limits of our biology." Rayvis lamented a bit, in memory of a fallen friend.
"He once got exploded, from the inside, by Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, and he survived." Grievous remembered hearing about that.
"Yeah, no wonder he had to get sent into a star. Unfortunately, I could not survive such a thing. Take my head off, and I will die like anyone else," Rayvis told him. Grievous made a note about that, in case he needed to kill the Gen'Dai.
Grievous' comlink beeped, and he answered it. Dooku told them to go wipe out a gang of bandits. Both warriors were glad to have something to kill, for different reasons. They gathered a small force of droids, loaded up a gunship and went to deal with it. It was over in less than an hour. Grievous and Rayvis killed most of them, seemingly enjoying fighting alongside the other warrior. The Phantom Bandits wiped out, down to the last man.
Southern Jedi Temple
Dooku's comlink went off, answering it, "General, you have news?"
"We wiped them out. Also, Dellso is here like you asked," Grievous' voice came back.
"Very good, return to the ship and be ready to leave for Koboh," he ordered. Shutting his comlink down, he turned to his new allies. "It is done."
"We await your command," Vansk told him. Dooku rose and walked out of the temple back to the speeder he used to get there. Returning to the ship, the other two were already waiting for him. Dooku gave the pilot his next order to go to Koboh.
Koboh
Koboh was a world on the Galactic Frontier, not far from Mustafar. The ship came out of hyperspace, all three looked at the ominous cloud in space that they saw. "What is that?" Grievous asked.
"The Koboh Abyss, and on the other side, is Tanalorr. My master Dagan is obsessed with the world, and I have seen why. It is a beautiful world, a perfect place to use as a base for anything," Rayvis informed him. Dooku filed that away for later.
"Where are we headed?" Dooku asked.
"I am reading a small settlement down there. A good place to start the search," Rayvis told them. The droid pilot set the vessel down on the small landing pad.
As they walked down the ramp toward the cantina, Dooku noticed the odd door that had High Republic markings on it. A feeling from the Force told him that this is what he was looking for. He reached out with the Force and tried to open the door, but it would not budge.
"It's no use, Count. You need a special tuner for these kinds of doors, it's what I was searching for before," Rayvis said.
"We don't have time for that, Grievous, you're up." Dooku took a step back and Grievous stepped forward, and unlocked his second pair of arms and grabbed all four sabers on his hip. He activated them and cut a large hole in the door. With a way open, the three of them entered and got on a turbolift pad that descended into a dark chamber. After needing to cut through another door, the trio stood on a platform with no way forward.
"Great, how are we getting across?" Grievous grumbled, it was a bit far for even him to jump it, without needing to climb up afterward.
"Wait here," Dooku said, as he then Force Jumped into the air and flew over the gap.
"Show off," Rayvis remarked. Grievous thought about getting a jetpack modification in his back if he could.
Dooku looked around and took stock of the area. He remembered hearing stories from Master Yoda and Master Rancisis as a padawan about this sort of thing. He noticed two orbs in couplers in different areas. Upon figuring out what to do, he quickly got the second orb out of where it was and put both in the empty couplers. The bridge made of what could only be described as Koboh matter extended and the trio walked across. In the center platform, where a crane had collapsed, they found an old droid of a unique design.
"I know this droid, Jedi Master Santari Khri had it as an aide, name's Zee," Rayvis said, and he knelt down to look closer at what the droid was clutching. It was the tuner he needed to free Dagan. He placed a hand on it, and tried to get it from the droid's hands. Unfortunately, the droid woke up, startling Rayvis a bit.
"Good Day, or is it night?" Zee asked, before having a glitch out. "Something is very wrong," she remarked.
"Are you Zee?" Dooku asked, and the other two wisely let Dooku handle this situation.
"Yes, I am, how did you know?" Zee tried to move and realized she was stuck. "Oh no, I am trapped. How long have I been here?" She asked.
"Probably centuries," Dooku was willing to play along with the droid for the moment, due to once idolizing the time of the High Republic.
"Centuries?" Zee tried to process that information. "I could use a little help, if you don't mind?"
Dooku looked around a second and noticed an overlook that the crane that had fallen on the droid was connected to. He flew up there with the Force. "By the Force, you are a Jedi!" he heard Zee exclaim. If only she knew what he really was. He managed to get the crane to rise up and free the droid, and he jumped back down. Grievous moved the large stone that kept one of Zee's legs pinned.
"Thank You," Zee said as she stood up. "What are your names, my rescuers?"
"I am Count Dooku, this is General Grievous," Dooku introduced themselves, "and this is…" he didn't get to finish it, as the droid recognized the third person.
"Rayvis?" Zee asked in astonishment. "You're still alive?" Zee did not know about Rayvis' murder of Jedi after Dagan was locked away, or that Dagan had turned either.
"I am, Zee. That tuner you have, where were you going to go with that?" Rayvis asked the droid, as if they were still on the same side.
"To open the Forest Array, Master Khri told me to do that before I got trapped here. She said the key to Tanalorr was there," Zee told him.
"Dagan," the name escaped Rayvis' lips. His goal is at last within his grasp.
"Knight Gera?" Zee asked. Santari had wiped Zee's memory of Dagan's betrayal so that she would trust the other jedi when she got to the Array.
"Yes, he is still alive. Give me the tuner, and we will go release him from a bacta tank," Rayvis held out his hands. Zee remembered that both of them fought against the Nihil together with their Jedi masters, and that after Dagan had bested him in combat, he served as an agent of the Jedi. She figured that Rayvis being here in the presence of who she thought was a Jedi was good enough and handed the compass to the Gen'Dai. "Good. Bring the droid, I will present her to Dagan." Grievous grabbed the droid and hoisted her over his shoulder. As they walked out, Zee tried to fight against her captor, but it was futile, having realized that she made a mistake.
Boarding their ship, they took off and flew low and slow over the surface toward the Forest Array, Rayvis knew where it was due to having been around back then. They flew up to the high point of the spire, where they jumped out onto the platform. Rayvis walked up and activated the tuner on the concealed bacta tank, which opened up to reveal it. Rayvis walked over to the controls and activated the release function and Dagan's lightsaber came out of it. Grabbing it for his master, he walked toward the draining tank to greet Dagan.
Dagan fell to the floor, gasping for breath through the mask. Rayvis walked up and helped his master to his feet and helped remove the mask. Once Dagan had his breath back, "You're late."
Rayvis smirked at Dagan's comment, "good to see you too, Dagan." He handed his master his weapon. Dagan activated the blade and its yellow blade sprang to life. He looked at it a bit before shutting it off.
"Who are they?" Dagan asked Rayvis, noticing the others.
"Count Dooku and General Grievous, they freed me from the Prism, and have offered me a place in the war," Rayvis informed the former Jedi Knight.
"War?" Dagan asked, confused.
"The Clone Wars, the Confederacy versus the corrupt Republic and the Jedi Order, we serve the Confederacy," Dooku informed Dagan.
"The Jedi? The Jedi betrayed me, and abandoned Tanalorr! It was my discovery, my home and they wanted me to leave it all behind," Dooku could feel the rage coming from the Jedi. This was going to be easier than he thought. Dagan opened his lightsaber on the console and grabbed his crystal in hand. He channeled his anger, his hate into the crystal, making it bleed, turning it crimson red. Dooku was interested in this, most Sith preferred to create, in defiance of nature, a synthetic red crystal. It was to prove themselves better than the Jedi, and he had provided his Dark Acolytes with synthetic crimson crystals. He had only ever heard of it being possible, but never seen it happen. It was a good first step.
"No, No, that is not right, the Jedi would not have betrayed you," Zee piped up, having not seen Dagan bleed his crystal.
"Zee, is that you?" Dagan recognized the droid's voice, surprised she was still working all this time later.
"Yes, it is. Tell this brute to put me down," Zee said. Grievous growled at her.
"Let me see her," Dagan said. Grievous set her down, and she tried to walk toward Dagan, to find her leg was damaged. "Zee, you're damaged."
"Yes, I got trapped in the Chamber of Duality, and a large stone fell on my leg when the crane fell on me," Zee told him.
"Don't worry, I'll fix you up," he told her, then turned back to the others. "I thank you for releasing me, what do you ask in return?"
"I offer you a chance to get even with the Order. Join my Dark Acolytes, learn to use the dark side of the Force. Help me train my new followers in the ways of the Force, allow the CIS to use Tanalorr as a safe place to train our enforcers and help lead us to victory."
"Don't listen to him, Dagan," Zee said, pleadingly.
Dagan turned to Rayvis, "what do you think, old friend?"
"I can not resist a good fight, and you know what I seek," Rayvis answered.
"Yeah, a warrior's death. So, you want to help them?" Dagan asked, knowing his friend's heart.
"Yes, to avenge Durge, my friend." Rayvis had once told Dagan of the other Gen'Dai.
"Very well, I will aid you. Give us some time, I need to track down the last compass to get back to Tanalorr." Gera told Dooku.
"And there are various groups in this world that I can forge into an army of Raiders to aid the cause," Rayvis told them.
"Good, very good," Dooku said. "We will leave you to it. Contact me when you are ready. I wish to see Tanalorr for myself. Do you need transport?"
"We will manage from here, Count, just give me contact codes and I will call you when we have an army for you." Dooku gave Rayvis the codes needed to contact him, and then they left.
As they left Koboh's atmosphere, Dooku got a call from an unknown caller. Answering it, he was surprised to see the face of a Clone of the Jango Fett calling him. "Who is this?" Dooku asked.
"I am Alpha-02, or Spar. I was to be an ARC trooper, but I left that fate. I have the memories of my gene father, and want to join your cause, Count. I can even get Mandalorian support for the cause," Spar told him.
Dooku considered it, with Duchess Satine making her announcements to support the Republic in the war, having his own Mandos to support the cause would be a good bonus.
"Very well, gather what you can, but remain hidden for the time being. Duchess Satine Kryze leads a reborn warrior Mandalore on the side of the Republic." Dooku warned the clone.
"I understand, I will do what I must," the Clone cut the line. Dooku blew out a breath, things were getting crazy even for him.
Coruscant, Jedi Temple
As Dooku was making moves to rebuild the Confederate command, he was not the only one that was rebuilding. Yoda sat in meditation, and through the Force, he put out a call to all groups of Jedi lineage, or at least served the Light Side, to come to the aid of the Jedi. He got some interesting feedback through the Force, from across the Galaxy. While he felt the presence of Master Altis and his splinter group, who Yoda needed to talk to about reintegration, and the Corellians, who he needed to talk to about being willing to leave the sector to help, he also sensed others. He got feedback all the way from Tund, which was surprising. There were light side members of the Sorcerers of Tund, who considered the Dark Siders sect of them as Apostates, not sure he was willing to work with them, but it was something to note for the future. He felt feedback from Dweem of all places, he also felt feedback from Susevfi which concerned him. He thought that the Jensaari were gone, but felt that whoever it was, wanted to talk. As for those on Dweem, the Iron Knights, he was unsure to bring them in, but knew they needed the help. He also felt he had gotten in contact with the Teepo Paladins, which he will accept the help for now. He even felt feedback from Dathomir, not the Nightsisters, but the Witches of Dathomir.
Apparently Yoda had several people he had to talk to, for one reason or another. There was one other contact he felt in the Force, from far Takodana, but knew she would not fight, but perhaps she would help in other ways.
Also on the grand master's mind was the fact that the Anatarian Rangers were thinning in the course of the war. He felt a bit guilty for the fact that they had to be involved, but he was glad for their assistance, when the war was over, he should officially recognize them as a branch of the Order or something for their service. Yoda had a lot of work to do.
Elsewhere in the Temple
Barriss Offee was walking the temple in thought, she had been trying to work up the courage to talk to Ahsoka about the plan to bomb the temple and frame her for it. It was understandable as to why she was hesitant to do so.
As she walked the temple halls, she saw Ahsoka ahead of her, talking with Anakin and Master Kenobi. As she drew near, she overheard some of the conversation. "I am being relieved of duty for a while, and Obi-Wan and Master Plo Koon will oversee your training until either I am reinstated or you pass the trials."
"I understand, get better, Master. We need you out there," Ahsoka said. She had found out recently about what had happened.
"You are nearly ready to face the trials, and you are a far better Jedi than I could be," Anakin said, his eyes down in shame for what he did.
As a friend and like a family member, Ahsoka hugged her master to support him, who she saw as like a brother to her. Anakin accepted the hug from his little sister. Obi-Wan smirked at the two of them.
"I am headed to Mandalore, to check on how Satine is doing, and I will be back soon, hopefully before Dooku restarts this blasted war," Obi-Wan said, and then left them.
Barriss approached the Master-Student duo, "Master Skywalker, Ahsoka," she greeted them.
"Barriss," Ahsoka greeted her friend.
"Master Skywalker, if you don't mind, I need to talk with Ahsoka alone," Barriss told him.
"Alright, I'll leave you to it, oh Ahsoka, Padme told me to tell you you are invited to dinner tonight," Anakin told her.
"I'll be there," Ahsoka told him, and he walked away, and the two friends were alone. "Somewhere private?"
"Yeah," Barriss agreed. Both of them went to Ahsoka's quarters. Once inside and sitting on the bed, as soon as they were alone, Barriss started to cry.
"What's wrong?" Ahsoka asked her.
Barriss straight up told Ahsoka what had happened, "I nearly bombed the Temple and was going to frame you for it."
"What?" Ahsoka was confused and worried by what Barriss had just told her.
"Darth Sidious got in my head, tried to use me as a tool to remove you as a thorn in his plans, cause he wanted your master as his apprentice," Tears were coming down her face. Ahsoka lowered Barriss' hood and let her raven hair loose. She held her friend as she worked through this.
"Well, you didn't, and that is what matters," Ahsoka said, as she held her friend.
"I told Master Yoda, and he forgave me for wanting to do this, and told me to come tell you," Barriss told her.
"I forgive you too," Ahsoka told her, and held her friend until she had calmed down. Inside Barriss, a feeling started to arise, but she couldn't identify how she felt toward Ahsoka at that moment. Ahsoka herself was feeling something similar.
Mandalore
A day later, Obi-Wan had arrived above Mandalore, having brought his Venator Capital ship, as the Twilight was destroyed the last time he was here. Taking a shuttle down to the planet, he was met by Axe Wolves on the landing pad.
"Master Jedi, the Mand'alor is expecting you," Axe told Kenobi, who noted the new title that Satine had been addressed with. He took a flat speeder to the palace.
Upon arriving, Kenobi noted the dichotomy of Royal Guard and Mandalorian warrior standing guard outside the palace. The new era, he thought.
Upon entering the throne room, he noticed the change in the place, with multiple armored Mandalorians in the room. Upon the throne was a female armored warrior, now with painted armor, a mix of various colors. On a chair close to the foot of the steps to the throne, was a blue painted armored female Mandalorian warrior. He knew it was Satine and Bo-Katan. As he approached, Satine stood and removed her helmet and held it under her arm. "Duchess," Kenobi greeted formally, "I see you have painted your armor, and have claimed the traditional title."
"I have indeed, Obi-Wan. There is no need for formality with me any more, especially if we are on the battlefield together," Satine said, as she descended the steps to greet him. As she approached him, he noticed the Darksaber on her hip.
"You are gonna have to teach me how to use this thing," Satine smirked at him, in reference to the black lightsaber.
"Of course, Satine. Tell me, what colors did you use?" He asked about her armor.
"A little of everything, red to honor my father's wishes, Black for a dedication to Justice, Gold for vengeance, how I will deal with those that betray me. Green and blue for duty and reliability, some orange for my love of life. Most importantly, white means a new beginning for me, and a little pink as that is my favorite color," Satine explained the colors on her armor
"It looks good on you," Kenobi told her. He was unsure how to handle what he was really there to do. To tell her that the Order was to start to allow relationships, and that he was interested in pursuing one with her if she was still for it. "Can we talk? Privately?" He asked her.
"Sure, follow me," she led him into the private quarters of the royal palace that she only used when need be.
Once they were alone, and Satine had set her helmet down on a table that sat around, she asked him what was up. "What is bothering you, Obi-Wan?"
"In the wake of Anakin's trial before the council, Master Yoda made the decision to allow Jedi to start relationships if they want to." Obi-Wan told her "I came to see if you were still interested in trying to pursue one?"
Satine stood up and walked over to him and leaned down so that her face was close to his, and laid a kiss on his lips. Satine had been waiting for those words for a long time. When she had professed her love for him on the Coronet, he admitted that had she said it sooner, he would have left the Jedi Order for her. Now, they could have both. When she broke the kiss, she took his hand in hers, she leaned in and whispered something in his ear, in Mando'a.
"Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde," Satine said. Obi-Wan's eyes went wide in recognition of what those words were, those were the Mandalorian marriage vows. Translated to Galactic Standard Basic as We are one when together, we are one when parted. We will share all, we will raise warriors. To Obi-Wan, it seemed a little fast for him, but then again, he and Satine had decades of unfulfilled love between them, as they had stayed separate for decades. Although, Anakin and Padme had a whirlwind romance as well, and Mandalorians, when they are warriors, tend to live by a live fast, die young idea. "If you agree, repeat it, Obi-Wan."
Obi-Wan took a moment to think about it, and made his decision."Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde." There it was, officially. In the eyes of Mandalore, The Jedi and the Duchess were married now.
"Is that it?" Obi-Wan asked, as Satine let his hand go.
"Yes, officially you are now the Duke of Mandalore. We can have a ceremony later if you want," Satine said.
"No, that is fine, Satine. We don't need to be fancy, also, I don't think Master Yoda has talked with Chancellor Organa about this, so it doesn't need to be public right now," Kenobi said, informing her to keep in on the subtle side for now.
"Alright, first thing in the morning, you are getting fitted for some armor that will protect you far better than clone armor," Satine said, not allowing her new husband to go without proper protection in battle.
"I don't need a helmet," Kenobi said, slightly protesting.
"Fine, but everything else," Satine insisted.
Throne Room
After her sister left the room with the Jedi, Bo-Katan got out of her chair and ascended to Satine's throne. That was the agreement between Sisters, so that at least one of them was taking care of things if someone showed up to talk with them.
Korkie walked up next to the throne, seeing his aunt's face. "What are you thinking, Aunt Bo-Katan?"
"I am thinking that you are about to have a new Jedi father," Bo-katan said. The way Kenobi was acting earlier, made her think that he was there to profess his feelings for her sister.
"Excuse me?" Korkie asked, wanting Bo to swing that one by him again.
"You heard me. I bet you five credits that next we see them, Kenobi is your father by marriage." Bo had a grin on her face.
"You really think so?" Korkie asked.
"Yeah, I am sure," Bo told her nephew.
Next morning
Obi-Wan was awoken from sleep by his comlink going off, he was a bit disoriented on where he was for the moment, but recalled what had happened the previous day. He saw Duchess Satine, no, his wife Satine in bed with him. He found his comlink on a bed stand. Answering it, "hello?"
"Master," Anakin's voice came through. "Just checking in with you, you said you would check in when you got there and you never did."
"Right, well, I have been busy. I got married," Obi-Wan told him.
"That was fast, faster than me and Padme," Anakin commented.
"I'll tell you about when I return," Obi-Wan shut the comlink off, and shifted back into bed and Satine snuggled into him, still asleep.
Once both had woken up a little later, and Satine and Bo had taken a run around the palace with Korkie, getting his drills in. Korkie owed Bo five credits. Satine and Obi-Wan went to the Great Forge to get Obi-Wan an armor set, befitting the new Duke of Mandalore. Ever since the day when Satine had restarted some mining, all beskar was sent to the forge to be made into armor. The smiths couldn't be happier, working on new armor for a reborn Mandalore, the air rang with the sound of hundreds of hammer strikes every minute.
After getting his armor, the new Kenobi-Kryze family had a family meal together, with Korkie asking about his new father's adventures. It was a learning experience for Kenobi to say the least.
As for the Galaxy, it waited with bated breath, waiting to see which side would make the next move to reignite the Galactic Civil War. While the main two sides of the war were continuing to build their forces, the war would begin again before they were ready, but it was not by either of them. The Hutts had made their involvement in the war known to the Galaxy, and were making the first moves to the north.
Holy Crap, that was something, wasn't it. I am definitely a mad man. This morning I had a couple of lines of dialogue and that's it, I punched out about 30 pages, double spaced of course in a day.
Anyway, So, Bedlam Raiders incoming, The Blackguard have joined the CIS, Yoda is trying to reach out to various groups, have fun with figuring all that out, and above all, Obi-Wan got married!
I know I mentioned it last time, but this is the last chapter for a while. I am rotating this out of my main focus now that that the War is ready to begin again. I have a lot of other projects in the works, either posted in some form or not yet seen that I want to get work done on. This probably will not be the last time I do this kind of thing, as we are in for the long haul with this one. I do promise, however, it will be in rotation, where every project I have to work on gets a chapter than I will do a chapter of this fic, just to keep things fresh.
Next time, the war begins again at last, and perhaps our favorite pirate captain shows up. See you all next time. Peace.