Chapter 70
My armor's internal alarm went off, telling me I had been stuck in a near-sleep state for almost five hours.
My bladder also decided to remind me to attend to it. I was so annoyed at this point that I just let my armor's internal functions take care of it right there.
I threw off the thin blanket with a grunt and got up, my eyes were caught on the view afforded by the circular windows. It was full daylight and the outside landscape was once again filled with beautiful exotic plant life as far as the eye could see.
My stomach decided to voice its displeasure at my impromptu fasting. I hadn't eaten anything last night. The passage of time and environment in Mortis was screwing with my body clock.
Therefore I belatedly approached what passed for a kitchenette in the small apartment that Bendu had given to me for the night.
There was no stove, cooker, oven or anything conventional. It was merely a large table, one seat and a large enclosed pantry with a wooden door. It was the first thing made of wood I had seen in the entire monastery. Inside the pantry, I was immediately assaulted by the most divine and heart achingly nostalgic smells I could experience. My eyes widened as I took in the sight of freshly baked bread, but with a distinct shape that told me it had been made in a flat bottomed cast iron pot.
Practically entranced at the sight of a traditional food from my past life, I touched one of the loaves and it had the exact, perfectly crispy exterior that characterized this style of bread. On another shelf, was a collection of jam bottles, filled with a variety of fruit preservatives. They were even labeled in frakking English! How in the universe did this happen or how did Bendu know?!
I grabbed a loaf of bread, the blueberry jam and rushed back to the table.
From my utility belt I pulled out my own design of a basic multitool, folded out the long knife and began cutting, then used it to heap and spread generous lumps of the jam.
I hesitated for only a moment, as my senses through the Force took in the fact that I was just about to eat food generated from within a Force Nexus. Food that shouldn't exist in this universe. Made with no fire or cast iron pot in sight, from wheat that hadn't grown here. There was also the little matter that I had not the first clue how my current biology would react to this food.
"Screw it."
My mouth took a generous bite and I was pretty sure this feeling was a slight physical embodiment of what true nirvana felt like.
Every taste bud and my brain was screaming with satisfaction.
I chewed and chewed, savoring every moment, wishing it could go on and on.
Eventually I had to swallow.
"Oh frak yeah."
I took another bite of the blueberry sweetened bread that was still hot enough to be lightly steaming around my fingers. It should've lost that heat at this point, but the bread just kept emitting it and retaining the perfection of being 'fresh out of the pot'. By rights, it should've also been burning my fingers, yet it didn't.
After two large slices of this, I was pleasantly full and searching for something to drink. There was no fridge, but the pantry had a number of large pots with spigots that I sensed were quite cold. My armor had an internal water capacity that I could drink from, this system borrowed elements of a stillsuit. It wasn't a perfect replication of the capabilities of a dedicated stillsuit, but it would keep me going in a desert world for at least three weeks.
I found a large stone cup patiently waiting next to the pots and started testing what each pot contained.
The first one was just plain water, the next was a fruit juice that reminded me of mango, another tomato and the last one was a semi-sweet wine.
I resisted the temptation of the last one and stuck with a full 'glass' of the water first, then the mango-like juice.
"I trust the meal was to your satisfaction?"
My hand put down the cup and I turned around to see Bendu sitting down in a chair at the table that hadn't been there before.
"It certainly was, thank you," I said as I sat down opposite him. "Though I'm also tempted to curse you. The only way you could get details like that was by poking around in here," I tapped my skull.
"Your mind is your own. Whilst you are tethered to a physical mortal shell, you are in the Force and trained. You would know if it had happened."
I didn't know why he was being so forthcoming or even nice. A Celestial was to me, as I was to a mouse. Yet it seemed that this Celestial was being kind to the mouse.
"So if you didn't get it from my mind, then the details of the food… actually came from me?"
"Close," Bendu nodded serenely. "In terms you could understand, I simply created a malleable matter with no defined purpose from the Force, but which would gain purpose as soon as you came close to it. It reacted to your thoughts of hunger and became that which you ate."
"Simply," I giggled with a bit of incredulity.
"So you dealt with my son, what do you think?"
I stared at him incredulously for a moment, given the open ended, probing nature of that question. "Well, where to begin? He's definitely quite close to letting the dark side cloud his judgment completely. It's one thing to be a Sith, to use the Dark and power it affords, but when it starts corroding common sense and rationality, then you are no more than an instinctual animal, lusting after desires and satisfaction. Serving only yourself at all times, even at the expense of others and those closest to you."
He nodded, "I sense it as well. My bringing you here has only hastened the process. He considers himself imprisoned here and reacts accordingly."
"Is he not imprisoned by you?"
"All of us entered Mortis with the understanding that we could not remain in the normal universe."
"Yet it seems he's changed his mind on that."
"It is a quandary that I would ask your aid in solving."
I shook my head incredulously, "What could I possibly achieve that you couldn't in thousands of years of time?"
"His mind and attention will be focused on you and your master. Simply keep it. That will in turn allow me and Daughter to move while he is distracted."
I felt intrigued despite myself, what was going on in that ancient mind? "Is it even possible for him to be deceived in the Force Nexus? Isn't he too powerful?"
"Normally, the answer would be no. The presence of the Chosen One, however, changes things."
"Oh, so now you are satisfied that Anakin is the Chosen One?"
"Daughter spent a reasonable amount of time with your master and she is satisfied. It would've been prudent to test my way, but as you've pointed out, it is not wise."
"So have you come up with a plan for dealing with Mother?"
"That will require much more time. The nature of her prison means that we can't reach her, not without either dying to the black holes or getting stuck in the prison ourselves. We must be ready for her when she emerges."
"I'm curious, given the history of the galaxy, surely there's been enough conflict in the past for her to emerge, especially three thousand years ago."
"Our vigil on the Maw has ensured that she doesn't even try," Father pointed out. "She knows that we will be waiting and we have defeated her in the past, that is how she was imprisoned in the first place. If your 'prophecy' of our death comes true it will mean that when this newest conflict causes a shift in the Force, that she will emerge with no opposition into the galaxy. Even if we circumvent it, I'm also reaching a point when I will pass into the Force. It means that the future battle will be much more uncertain with only Son and Daughter to carry the fight. The Mother will perceive this. We will talk more about this later though, your two companions are nearing the monastery."
He stood and gestured for me to follow.
We returned to the large central platform in front of the huge statues of the favored alternate forms of the Son and Daughter.
He knelt into his customary pose of meditation.
"Do you wish to join me?" he gestured just a few feet to his left side.
Where before there had been nothing, now there was a flat cushion. Not that I really needed it with the armor, but I suppose it was the thought that counted.
"Some meditation couldn't hurt at this point, I suppose."
I sat down into my own crossed legs style, with my open palms facing upward on my knees.
Bendu was also clearly using this as a way to demonstrate that I wasn't being kept against my will, since the last time Anakin had seen me, I had been kidnapped.
I began my meditation and as was typical lately, out of sheer habit at this point, I began practicing Kina Ha's pointers on Force Stealth.
Maybe it was because I was in a Force Nexus where the light itself that reached my eyes and was reflected by my body was actually a product of the Force… but wait a second?!
In that moment I felt my entire form shimmer, my will successfully latched onto light itself!
It took every ounce of self control to keep my emotional equilibrium and not screw up my control at that point. Had I been in any other moment or place, I would want to jump, dance and shout with victory!
Even as it happened though I could immediately tell my control was sloppy and imperfect.
Anyone looking at me would see my random parts of my body blink in and out of invisibility.
Bendu laying his hand on my shoulder disrupted my meditation and focus.
I was immediately annoyed, a scathing sarcastic 'thank you' on my lips, until I saw him holding out his large left hand in front of me.
Even as I watched, that hand seemed to smoothly shimmer out of visibility then return.
"Observe," he instructed.
I did, focusing every esoteric sense I had in the Force on his hand.
It shimmered in and out of view. His control of light was absolutely perfect, as expected of a Celestial and his mastery, but it was not the only piece to the puzzle. Thus far I had always shaped my attempts at light mastery into a general ovoid shape held as tightly as possible around my body. What Bendu was showing to me here was his control held like a second skin around his hand.
The sheer complexity of that boggled my mind. A person did not often think of all the contours and angles that every square centimeter of their body possessed. Yet it seemed that would have to be taken into account, since of course, reflected light hit every angle and contour.
I nodded in thanks and contented myself that I had taken the first most difficult step on the journey, now it was just a matter of continuing along it.
The distant doors of the monastery began grinding apart.
The moment Anakin and Obi-Wan entered the threshold, I got a clear sense of them and it confirmed for me that this entire place definitely had its own shielding or shrouding effect in play.
Daughter or Ashla led the way and I could immediately tell Anakin was very annoyed with her serene, unhurried pace.
'Ahsoka! Are you okay?' Anakin's thoughts were worried, tinged with understandable anger.
'Fine, Skyguy. Only got some nasty bruising from Bogan's little kidnap attempt. Already healed up.'
'Bogan? Is that his actual name?'
'More like my own name for him, based on ancient history and the huge symbols above me. This Son, Daughter, Father stuff is just… no. Too much potential confusion."
When they finally stopped in front of us, Ashla took the lead.
"May I present, Father."
"Welcome to my home, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi," Bendu opened his eyes. "Your young apprentice has named me Bendu. We have little use for proper naming as you know it here, but in the interest of custom and communication, it is something we will use."
"Oh, then that means I am to be Ashla then, Father?" she asked.
Bendu just nodded, then gestured a few meters in front of him, where two cushions popped into existence. "Please, have a seat, there is much to discuss."
The two Jedi looked at each other for a moment before Obi-Wan nodded and they sat down. "Thank you."
Ashla walked over to stand at Bendu's right side.
"As you've no doubt surmised by now, it was indeed I who sent out the old Jedi distress call," he began. "Done with the purpose of luring you, Skywalker, to this place so I could determine whether you are indeed the Chosen One of the prophecy uttered by a Jedi Mystic. Naturally, you would not come alone, so your apprentice would be with you and the Jedi Council would also send another more senior Jedi. Enough for my plan to work."
"What plan?" Anakin asked with suspicion.
"A simple test, but one used even by the ancient Jedi Order, though it's lost to the mists of time even from your Archives. You weren't even called 'Jedi' then. It involved a deception of the supplicant, to strip away and reach the core of the person. To bring their true self to the surface and judge whether they were worthy. This would involve imperiling either one of more of their loved ones or close friends. The supplicant is given a choice on which of them would 'survive' and the other's life sacrificed."
"Barbaric," Obi-Wan scoffed.
"Yes, but effective and conditions were created to make the supplicant believe wholeheartedly that the decision has to be made."
"Given that you're talking about it, are we to assume you have reconsidered this approach?"
"Correct, Ashla has been observing and she is satisfied."
"I'm the Chosen One, hooray," Anakin said with dripping sarcasm. "Now get to the point."
"Before I can do that, another relevant to the discussion must be here," Bendu gestured to his left. For a moment, I thought he was pointing at me, but when the Force twisted a meter to my left I realized who must be coming.
Bogan burst into existence with a rather sinister flame effect that had to be a showy move on his part. He was in his native humanoid male form this time, thank goodness. Him showing up in my Dark Side form would be utterly embarrassing.
This form was tall, utterly white skin, with two blood red tattoos drawing sharp lines over his eyes that extended up and over his bald head and down his cheeks.. His eyes were also glowing red and he had a lean, muscular build, encased in dark and red exotic leathers. His presence in the Force was just awful, a miasma of darkness concentrated around him and radiating outward like a caustic gas.
He gave me a leering smirk immediately, which I returned with a contemptuous roll of my eyes.
Obi-Wan and Anakin's reaction was naturally more dramatic.
Both blurred with movement and had lit lightsabers raised in defense and the Force was positively holding its figurative breath as power was gathered by both Jedi. Anakin especially felt like he was a massive dam holding back a sea.
Bogan smirked lazily at the two standing Jedi and just gave a negligent gesture.
The blue lightsabers just simply retreated into their hilts with a feat of overwhelming control that I immediately made note of.
"Enough," Bendu said and with that single word of command, a note was struck through the Force that practically flatlined the gathering power around us. As if a giant had slammed his hammer down to flatten a molten piece of steel. "No harm will befall you from him here."
"Forgive me if I'm rather skeptical of that," Obi-Wan said, clipping his lightsaber hilt back to his belt.
Anakin almost looked ready to physically assault Bogan, but settled for simply glaring at the Celestial.
Everyone now took a seat, with Ashla also seating herself on a cushion. Whilst Bogan promptly created a dark stone throne for himself, that somewhat unsettlingly reminded me of another jagged throne. He lounged back in it, already looking bored.
"To get to the true reason for our presence here and now, I must explain a bit of history," Bendu said, giving a mild glare to Bogan. "If you've not already guessed, we are of the race you would call Celestials, though it would be more accurate to say we are the Celestials."
"Sorry, I'm not following the distinction," Anakin said, after removing the astonishment from his face.
"Once our race was much like your own, composed of many individuals. Our power, knowledge and technology grew to the point where we strode across the stars and engaged in feats of what you would call celestial engineering. To us it was merely, to use an apt metaphor, rearranging the furniture to better suit our needs or desires."
"Quite," Obi-Wan said mildly, looking rather stunned at the sheer idea.
"It quickly became apparent after quite a few disasters, that having so many of us in the galaxy was becoming quite stifling and much like you, we also had those who would let their darker sides reign. Therefore many decided to leave, but those who stayed were still too numerous. We therefore devised a solution - the coalescence. All individuals would become One, a singular Celestial who could reside in this galaxy and look over the young races."
"I wouldn't even pretend to understand the probable mechanics behind that," Obi-Wan shook his head incredulously. "But ethically, that implies a monstrous loss of personality and mind, how could such a gestalt be stable?"
"It can't, in our hubris we had made the most fundamental mistake and error, that we could deny the very foundations of existence. The One was very unstable, and almost took us to our deaths, a mass collective suicide, but in that infinitesimal moment, time was stopped and a solution devised. The solution you see sitting before you. The One became Three. Myself, who become balance. Ashla, who took on our knowledge and aspects of selflessness, compassion, serenity, love. Bogan, our power, desires, ego, vanity and so on.
"We Three emerged into the galaxy and for a time, things were stable. I kept both of them in check. Unfortunately, that was not to last. Whilst I was distracted with the many affairs of the galaxy, maintaining the many works my kind had left behind and so many of the young races depended on. Both Ashla and Bogan disobeyed me. She bathed in the Pool of Knowledge, whilst Bogan drank from the Font of Power, as their natures dictated. Both locations are powerful Force Nexi, much like this place but infinitely stronger and represent fundamental sources in the Force itself. With their newfound power they immediately attacked each other and it was left to me to keep them in check, a task that continues to this day."
"We retreated at first to another world, into an exile of sorts. The job of keeping the peace became full time, so I enlisted the aid of a species you might know of, the Kiliks."
"They're very obscure," Obi-Wan nodded, stroking his beard in thought. "An insectoid race active during the Old Republic, but they were driven to extinction on Alderaan after they became entangled in that old war against the Sith."
"At that point they were a mere shadow of what they were," Bendu continued. "They were once capable of great works and with little guidance from me were able to keep many Celestial structures running and in good repair. Many species in the galaxy owe their continued existence to the Kiliks. So this new equilibrium was kept for quite a while, until one day a stranger came to our world. A human woman, who was fair, beautiful and pure of heart, she offered her services selflessly and became of great aid to me."
Bendu, for the slightest of moments, looked pained and his eyes brimmed with regret. "She became the Servant to our family and eventually even captured my own heart."
"Wow, Celestial and a woman, that something like that can even happen is unreal. Aren't we a bit beneath you?" Anakin asked with amazed eyes.
"You forget, we are those who chose to stay in the galaxy. We didn't consider the young beneath us or unworthy. We remembered well what it was like to be young. So one day I found myself confessing my love for the Servant and from that point, she became the Mother. She has another true name, but it must never be spoken, especially in any place strong with the Force.
"A new, better equilibrium was established. She proved she could keep the peace between Ashla and Bogan. Therefore, I could at last leave our home for short periods to give greater aid to the Kiliks. I was so happy that I was utterly blinded to the creeping danger of the one thing that had attracted me to Mother in the first place - her humanity. She was still mortal and her fear of death due to old age overrode her judgment. She didn't want her death to disturb the equilibrium, so like my children she journeyed to the Pool of Knowledge and Font of Power - bathing and drinking from both respectively.
"As a result, she regained her youth, became immortal and gained great power and knowledge, but this process completely corrupted her. She lost everything that made her who she was. Now she was the self-titled, Beloved Queen of the Stars, but to the rest of the galaxy, she became the Bringer of Chaos."
"We Three had to leave our planet to fight her and stop her idealistic rampage across the stars. Many races were utterly extinguished because of her, either because she simply didn't like the way they looked or because they were too violent or pacifist. There was very little rhyme or reason to her actions. We eventually cornered her, leading her into a trap of sorts, constructed by the Kiliks over fifty years. This trap, you call today, the Maw."
Anakin and Obi-Wan had a slight blue screen moment before recovering.
"Excuse me, sorry, just to clarify, The Maw black hole cluster was actually built?" Anakin asked, his voice even slightly cracking.
"From a certain point of view, yes," Bendu chuckled. "The black holes existed naturally, we just simply moved them into position."
"Simply he says," Anakin muttered incredulously.
"With Mother now imprisoned and beholding the damage she had caused, it became clear to me that our very presence in the galaxy was a destabilizing factor. Even if I perfectly kept Ashla and Bogan in balance, the other races were resentful of the damage caused. It was clear that we needed to withdraw from easy reach, so we left the normal universe, coming to reside here. As my daughter said, our role is now to guard the power of the Force and watch over the galaxy for any sign that the Mother may emerge once again," Bendu glanced at me briefly. "Such a sign has been received."
Bogan, who had been lazily lounging all through his father's explanation abruptly sat up, his eyes flashing red with power, "What?!"
"You heard me, son."
Ashla for her part, simply bowed her head and closed her eyes, her face twisting with an internal pain.
"What sign has been given?" demanded Bogan, his voice eerily distorting with anger and rage.
Bendu looked at me pointedly with kind eyes.
Anakin groaned, "Snips, please tell me you're mistaken."
Obi-Wan frowned and looked between me and Anakin with confusion, yet I also saw a hint of suspicion, as if his clever mind was quickly piecing things together.
I shook my head, "Sorry, master. As of the current trajectory of events, the probability line indicates that the Mother will emerge from her prison within the next 45 standard years, 60 years at the most extreme, depending on certain events we could influence to postpone it."
"Anakin," Obi-Wan said in a flat tone. "Your padawan is seemingly gifted with Prophecy and Foresight and you didn't think to inform the Council?"
"He kept it a secret on my behalf, Master Kenobi and because I showed him what a monumental mistake it would be to do otherwise," I said with steel in my voice, staring at Obi-Wan with hard eyes. "The Grandmaster also knows and has not shared it with the Council. Can you imagine why?"
Obi-Wan stared at me thoughtfully, clearly sensing and judging whether I was telling the truth. "Either there is a traitor on the Council that has managed to elude all our sight or… Are you suggesting the Dark Lord can even spy on the most confidential meetings?"
"The entire bloody Temple is an open book to Darth Sidious," I couldn't help the snappish tone in my voice. "A Sith with a gift of Foresight different to my own but no less potent. If he should ever truly perceive me, I will be dead and you can say goodbye to the Jedi Order." I took a breath, letting my anger pass through me, understanding its path. "I'm sorry, master. The frustration of it all can sometimes be hard to bear. Sidious is an entire topic all on his own, but he is a factor in this. This war he instigated is but the beginning of an entire era of conflict, even as the Separatist War would end, it will lead to another within less than twenty years. The eventual effect this will have on the Force is what causes the Mother to escape."
Bendu waved a hand above his head and an image somehow appeared, set inside a swirling tunnel of energy.
Inside it showed an impressive view of the Maw cluster.
Seven black holes in an intricate orbital dance, their sheer gravitational pull swallowing light, dust, gas, everything. There was a subtle interaction and the intersecting matter streams and discs around each hole made a beautiful pattern of orange on the outer edges, which turned to white closer to the event horizon, then in some cases even turning blue at the very inner edge.
"Tell me, Master Kenobi, have you ever been to the Maw?" Bendu asked.
"No."
"Have you heard or read accounts of any Jedi who were there?"
"Yes, but it was during my own days as a padawan, let me think. Oh, something about how the Force is channeled through the Maw was odd. I can't remember more, it was just incidental reading."
"The best analogy I can use in your language is to imagine Mother's prison as standing under a waterfall. The Force is pulled in and precisely amplified and accelerated through the Maw cluster, which intersects in space-time with the planet on which she is trapped."
"There's a planet in that mess?" Anakin asked.
"Yes, within a zone where the gravitational pulls are in equilibrium. It was the old home where we once lived. The Force itself is that which keeps her down, however, should something happen to the Force, such as sustained prolonged conflict or perhaps even someone in ignorance damages the stations you call Centerpoint and Sinkhole, she would escape."
"You built Centerpoint and Sinkhole?" Obi-Wan asked with fascination in his eyes.
"The Kiliks did, under my guidance, yes."
Both stations were some of the largest artificial constructs known to exist in the galaxy. They were larger than the future Death Stars, with a length of 350 kilometers by 100 in width, consisting of a large central sphere, through which a colossal cylindrical structure was threaded.
Sinkhole Station orbited the Maw Cluster and was also in some way responsible for the black holes keeping their perfect dance going around Abeloth's prison.
Centerpoint on the other hand was a similar station in size, but whose function had been to build the Maw Cluster itself, by literally towing the black holes through hyperspace with tractor beams of stupendous power and sophistication.
My brain boggled just thinking about it. The Celestials truly deserved their place on the old Kardashev scale as a high Type 3 civilization; those who left were probably nearing Type 4 by now.
"As fascinating as this is, I think we can get to the point of calling me here," Anakin's shoulders slumped somewhat. "Though I can guess. You think I have some part to play fighting against the Mother as the Chosen One."
Bogan visibly sneered at Anakin with contempt.
"Perhaps," Bendu combed his long beard. "The issue is, I know I will pass into the Force before Mother arrives. Without me, these two will run out of control as they follow their respective natures. I had initially interpreted the Prophecy of the Chosen One to mean that you would take my place in maintaining balance. Your apprentice was quick to point out the error I had made."
Anakin gave Bendu an unimpressed look. "Not happening."
"Clearly then a new solution must be found. It is something I will be working on for many years of your time. The first idea I've had is to offer you training and knowledge, so that you will be ready to meet the threat when the time comes and if necessary even subdue my children."
"That you feel you can speak about 'subduing' them in their presence is disturbing," Anakin folded his arms.
"It is the truth. I would have them see you and understand that even if I'm gone, that you are ready and out there should they decide to become… unruly in the galaxy."
"How will I even know-"
Bendu held up a hand to interrupt him, "The particulars will be revealed in due time. I will give you a means by which I can contact you directly and securely. In the same way, you can contact me. That is how you will know where and when to come. The Chrelythiumn system is not the only place you can enter Mortis."
'Snips, what do you think?'
'Training from Bendu? I'd jump at the chance, Master. Fighting against the being that we're calling Mother, there's no better teacher in the galaxy you can ask for. Not to mention the help it would be in the fight against Sidious.'
"How much time do I have to think about it?" Anakin asked.
"As much as you need," Bendu waved his hand and the image of the Maw disappeared. "Here on Mortis, time relative to the universe is a nebulous thing. From our perspective, we could spend months here and yet when you leave, no time will have passed to the rest of the galaxy."
'Skyguy, that alone is an extremely valuable chance. Think of how much we could get done, with regards to training that won't be interrupted by yet another crisis in the war.'
"Very well, is there any place with some privacy here?"
"Your apprentice can show you."
"At last," Bogan grumbled, his throne vanished and he too vanished a moment later in a flash of flame.
"Come daughter, we have much to discuss."
"Yes, father."
Anakin and I were both seated in the quarters I had spent the night in, whilst Obi-Wan leaned against the window sill listening to us and staring out at the fantastic landscape of Mortis, as we explained most of what he needed to know.
We were essentially inducting him into Fulcrum at this point, it was unavoidable given what he now knew. It also couldn't happen in a more secure location, so I decided to jump in it with both feet.
Seeing the normally unflappable Jedi Master go from his usual self to a grim, understandably angry man, with an invisible weight on his shoulders was not a pleasant sight.
"How could we have been so blind?" he asked distantly. "The Shroud may explain the mechanics of it, but it is still inexcusable, Ahsoka. The Jedi Council is responsible for thousands of Jedi across the galaxy, our work goes on to impact billions, the destiny of entire star systems and individuals. Now we have been reduced… to mere puppets being led on strings by Sidious! Who sits in the Chancellorship as the Senate heaps more and more 'emergency powers' onto him!"
Yeah, Obi-Wan was not taking it well at all. He clearly felt partially responsible.
"Dooku even told me the truth straight to my face and I didn't believe him."
"When was this?" Anakin asked with astonishment.
"When I was held captive in the arena on Geonosis," Obi-Wan answered. "Of course, he didn't say a thing about Palpatine and Darth Sidious being one and the same. Merely that the entire Senate had fallen under the influence of Sidious. I retorted that it was impossible. He in turn pointed out that the Dark Side had clouded our vision. Even saying that the Viceroy of the Trade Federation had come to him for help against the Dark Lord."
"All of which are perfectly true, master. Yet as you can see context is everything," I said with a sigh.
"Quite, I only saw Dooku as the traitor, a fallen Jedi who was trying to manipulate me. I thought I had resisted the attempt, only I walked right into the trap stupidly. The rest of the Order, the Council in all its wisdom, was led into this war."
"Being deceived is terrible, master. Especially in this manner, but you are in quite illustrious company, along with the majority of the Republic at this point."
Obi-Wan wearily rubbed his own face, took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes.
We watched as the man showed us one of the reasons why he had reached the rank of master.
Anger at himself, Palpatine, even his fellow Jedi, soon washed off him like water. Resentment that we had not come to him earlier, banished. In this way, he soon returned to what he considered his own 'normal'.
"Am I then also to assume that you two have started to do something about this with Yoda?"
I couldn't help but laugh, "Yes, Master Kenobi, we have. Let me get something from the pantry and we can talk over a very long brunch. Good food will be just the thing to sooth our spirits at this point."
By the time evening fell again on Mortis for a third time, Anakin left to speak to Bendu about his decision.
My armor's clock registered thirteen hours of standard time since Anakin and Obi-Wan had arrived at the monastery, making it immediately apparent that the day-night cycle of Mortis was not governed by any orbital mechanics but rather the competing forces and emotional state of Ashla and Bogan.
Obi-Wan was as 'on-board' with Fulcrum as I was comfortable with. I had exercised a judicious amount of compartmentalization though. As prominent as he was and it was brilliant to have an actual serving Council member, I had to assume that the possibility was there that he could be captured and tortured for information, therefore he could only do a limited amount of damage.
He was in a much needed meditation to further regain equilibrium, facing the window of the small apartment.
I raised my arm and regarded it as it rippled and vanished imperfectly under my control of the reflected light.
This is going to take years, I bemoaned inwardly. The amount of focus and concentration needed was staggering. It was a fancy party trick at best at the moment.
My control slipped and floundered. I looked up at the darkness and lightning raging outside through the window.
"Is the monastery even an actual impediment to you?"
"Of course not," Bogan replied, stepping into view from directly behind me and leaned casually against the table. "Father is the problem."
"And since his attention is currently on Anakin, you can 'sneak in' as it were."
He just tilted his head in acknowledgement with a sinister smile. "It's actually quite amazing, meeting someone like you, I've never met a mortal with such a level of self-awareness."
"Appealing to my vanity now, are we?" I chuckled and rolled my eyes. "No, Bogan, say what you want to say, do what you aim to do."
"Since you extended such a kind invitation," he smiled and placed a hand on my shoulder.
The world around me vanished and washed into a mass of flame that didn't burn, then just as quickly vanished again.
I was now in a large room in what was probably Bogan's home on Mortis. Everything was dark, sinister, edgy, lots of sharp angles, triangular motifs, with everything lit by red light that came from the walls. It had an open balcony at one end that looked out over the dark landscape, prominent in that view, was a river of lava flowing from a nearby volcano.
He had deposited me seated in front of another table, but this one was made of dark stone, with odd petrified wood snaking off the edges and curling around the supports.
"Nice place," I said sarcastically with a mild smile.
Bogan walked away from me and began muttering furiously to himself. "What is he playing at? That was too easy. He should've intervened but he didn't."
"Do you really have to teleport with the flame effect?" I asked curiously.
"You know the answer already," Bogan waved negligently at me, as if shooing away my question like an annoying fly.
"So, how are you going to try to turn me to the Dark Side?" I folded my arms and stared at him. I was somewhat amazed at how calm I was. The Dark Side of the Force was so thick around me that I might as well have been standing in metaphysical jello. Yes, the fear was definitely there… fear of Bogan, of the Dark Side, but it was tempered, understood and passed through me with no issues. "Essence infection is an old Sith classic."
He waved that off too, "No, I suspect that won't work on you. We'd just be wasting time."
"Why even try, Bogan? What are you hoping to accomplish in the long run with this?" He didn't answer and just kept ambling around in deep thought. It didn't take me long to come to a reasonable conclusion, it was something actually that I suspected would happen as a consequence. "Do you seriously think you can actually win against Mother alone?"
"I am much stronger than I was before and with you properly by my side, so helpfully showing me every move she will make in advance… Why wait forty years? Let's get it over with now! Think of how many precious lives it will save."
"There's the small matter of getting through the black holes, which I don't have to tell you will require you to do something which will cause Bendu to slap you down."
It meant the destruction of Centerpoint Station, which was currently in a distant orbit of the Corellian star. The station was colonized by hundreds of thousands and it was a major tourist attraction of the system.
"He'll be so busy with his precious Chosen One, by the time he realizes, it will be too late."
"You're deluding yourself. Celestial you may be, but even you must obey the laws of space and time to a degree. It will take fourteen days to reach Centerpoint if you use the Emissary. There's also the matter of getting out of Mortis."
"Bah, I can alter that primitive ship of yours to do the journey in half the time and you will be the key to leaving this infernal prison, my dear Ahsoka," he turned to me with a hungry stare.
I couldn't help but shudder at the affectionate tone as he said my name.
He gestured with his right hand and a pillar of dark red flames burst forth from the floor, Dark Ahsoka in all her skimpy glory walked out of it.
She sashayed with a sexy hip rolling strut that would put any supermodel to shame and hung off Bogan's shoulder, before practically smooching his neck and ear. Her right hand came forward to caress his chest and abdomen.
I struggled to cast off the revulsion I felt. Technically, Bogan was… I didn't even want to think about it.
There was loving and being happy with yourself, but this was its dark twin taken to the ugly extreme.
Bogan even joined in on the fun, his right hand coming around to caress Dark Ahsoka's butt.
The show thankfully didn't last long as he gently pushed her off, taking the opportunity to fondle in other places. "Now's not the time for that, dear. You have a job to do."
My dark twin pouted playfully before facing me with a steadily growing smile and eager dark yellow eyes. She wasn't wearing the mask this time and the Dark Side corruption spread from her eyes in angry blue veins.
"Ah, this strategy," I said, realizing where this was going. It was simple and Bogan clearly thought it would work.
I mentally dubbed her Bohsoka as she steadily strutted towards me, her hands going to her hips and unclipping two lightsabers - their hilts were only superficially like my own, but seemed to be made of aurodium and crested decoratively with akul teeth.
The blades ignited with a screaming, violent snap-hiss and the typical red blades of a Sith burst forth. I could even sense that the kyber crystals in those hilts had been corrupted in a monstrous manner.
She came ever closer, now twirling her blades in both hands elaborately.
What a show off.
She blurred with speed, both blades swinging straight for my neck as I remained seated.
Both blades stopped dead as I dropped my trap of a metric fuckton of telekinesis going in the other direction. I followed it up by punching through her defenses, my Control wrapping around the hilts and her arms.
I stood and made a slight pushing gesture as we fought a war of control.
She was powerful, as expected. She was technically an aspect of Bogan after all, but he was pulling on my Dark Side to empower this mirror.
I gave a slight push and Bohsoka stumbled backward a few meters as I won the tug of war.
The Darksaber was lit in my right hand the next moment and my green blades leapt from my hips to hover at my side.
I blurred with speed and she was forced to stop both Darksaber and my right blade with only her own left blade, twirling them and shifting into the riposte. My left blade she had to block low and to her right.
She surprised me though by abandoning the final part of the riposte.
The Force surged around us, gathered, then unleashed into a Force Push that she blasted onto me.
I marveled a bit at the sheer speed, even as I was blasted backward with such strength that that room around me turned into a blur.
She had even offset the Force Push in such a way with the angle, that it threw me straight out of the room, out the balcony, the castle and now I was streaking out over the lava field like a frakking meteor.
'I'll definitely remember that trick, if I survive this,' I thought absently.
I poured my control and strength against the momentum, pulling liberally from the ambient Force energy to aid me.
With barely seconds before I slammed into the river of lava, I managed to throw off her control and ignite my boot jets.
I flipped and twisted my body, reorienting my feet against the pull of gravity, throwing minor Force Pushes radiating outward to further counter the forces acting on me.
"Shiiiit!"
My fall stopped a mere meter from the frothing super hot surface.
I shot myself upward and came to a hover at twenty meters. My armor could handle the radiant temp easily but I didn't want to make it easier for my dark half to blast me into the lava.
A had barely a few moments to get my bearings before I had to swing my blades and release a Force Push to counter her follow up attacks.
Bohsoka was blasted backward into the air with speed but it wasn't long before she countered and regained control as well, coming to a hover of her own, because of course she also had squeezed in flight jets into those high heeled boots.
"Figures," I shook my head.
"Did you seriously think I would give up flight, just to look ravishingly hot?" she asked with a huge mad grin, as she lazily hovered closer, again idly twirling her red blades.
"Given what the Dark Side does to intelligence and common sense, it's a fair assumption to make."
"If I were amateur hour, sure," she said.
Both of us blurred at the same time, boot jets and the Force working in tandem to power our movements.
Our blades slammed together and screamed as the competing energies fought.
This time she caught my right blade with sheer telekinetic strength, whilst parrying the Darksaber I brought down towards her chest with both hands and riposting the remaining blade.
She seemed to have the answer in fighting against three blades with only two of her own.
Our blades became a flurry of blows as we fought in mid-air, testing and probing each other's defenses.
I went high for her face, she batted it away.
I attacked high and low, she blocked, riposted and threw a Force Push.
In turn she battered me with slashes and stabs high and low. I had to control the range, hovering backwards slightly, fending her strikes off and pushing forwards into range again.
She tried to unleash an off center Force Push from above to shoot me into the lava flow below.
I defended at first with a Force Push upward, but shaped it like a blade, whilst blurring right with speed to get out of the way.
The lava below was smashed with the combined effect of the competing telekinesis, looking like a titan's fist had come down.
The sound, concussion and lava splash radiated outward.
I flew with max speed away from the lava river and only stopped when ashen black earth was below me.
She shot at me like a missile, her blades held back, building up momentum for what had to be the mother of all Falling Avalanche attacks.
I hovered there, pretending to have been caught completely flatfooted and surprised.
At the last possible moment, I blurred above her angle of attack, using only a simple Force jump straight off the air below my feet.
In the instant I was above her head, my hands came down and I unleashed a Push with as much strength as I could quickly gather and release.
I only heard her faint scream briefly as she plowed into the earth below at a speed that had to be nearly 200 kph.
The black earth erupted upward in a geyser of ash as if an artillery shell had hit it.
I turned and engaged my boot jets to get altitude and distance, waiting for the result.
It was devilishly hard to sense anything in the miasma of the ambient Force energy and darkness. She was either dead, wounded or totally unharmed and I had to be ready. I knew how to survive such an event, so she would too. The only question was whether she had reacted in time.
There was no wind and so it took a long few seconds for me to make out anything.
Bohsoka stood up from the lopsided crater and I was gratified to note that she was looking slightly worse for wear from that hit. I had only a theory on how doing any damage would register on her being.
She was born from Bogan, we were in the middle of his domain.
By all rights she should either be tanking anything I could do or just regenerate.
There were clearly metaphysics at play here that I had no clue about.
She was gritting her teeth with a face twisted in pain. Under her skimpy brassiere a large bloody gash leaked blood near her lower left rib cage.
My mind flashed back to Luke Skywalker walking into a cave on Dagobah, facing off his own Dark Mirror, thinking at first it was Darth Vader, then after a brief battle, chopping its head off, only to reveal that his own face was under that helmet.
The problem was, that was in the normal universe, in a minor Dark Side nexus that leaked out into the galaxy. This was Mortis. We were in a real sense, in the Force itself.
I moved and twisted my feet, adjusting my orientation bringing myself into an adapted Ataru stance for sustained aerial combat with a lightsaber. If I got out of this, perhaps I could write a manual for it.
I looked down on her and made a come hither gesture.
"You gonna stay down there all day?"
Her face twisted into a sneer.
She didn't even bend her knees or some fancy bullshit.
Her boot jets and the Force practically exploded from underneath her, propelling her into the air towards me with a mad scream.
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