"I'm really not sure this is a good idea, Ame," Cortana said. "What happened to avoiding the notice of the Jedi?"
"Nothing. I will still be doing that within the bounds set by our present circumstances," I replied.
It was late in the evening, and I was back on my ship, the two Stamped Jedi in tow. Triple-checking that they'd stay unconscious for the next three days, I stashed them both in the cargo hold. Cortana felt I was taking an unnecessary risk by keeping Aayla, which in truth I was. It just happened to be one worth taking.
"You say that after attacking two of them, and planning to have one join your harem?"
"Is it really a harem if it only has one member? Soon to be two, I guess. Anyway, I have to take the opportunities I've given Cortana, not the ones I want to be given."
"You don't have to do anything, Ame. For all your careful planning so far, this seems awfully impulsive of you."
"Well, this is what I used to be like, back when I wasn't called Amedeus. I acted on my whims, not on plans. That's since changed, thanks to the influence of Ahriman and his scheming nature, but those impulses haven't gone away. I just haven't acted on them until now. Besides, I'm not just keeping Aayla to get myself off. I do plan to learn the Jedi arts at some point, and having one with me will help facilitate that."
Cortana looked at me, frowning, clearly still unconvinced. "So how exactly are you going to keep the Jedi from getting suspicious?"
"In a stroke of luck – or maybe just the tides of the Warp turning in my favour – they were planning to head to Tatooine to infiltrate the entourage of Jabba the Hutt. Quinlan will still go to Tatooine as planned. When he returns to the Jedi temple on Coruscant, he will tell his colleagues that his young, attractive twi'lek padawan was accosted by some thugs looking to take advantage of her. Things turned violent when she rejected their advances, which led to an altercation. One which led to the thugs' deaths, but not before one of them got a lucky shot at her back, which she would die from. Then, around the time that this supposedly happened, I will tweak Information defence to hide Aayla's presence in the Warp."
"How likely are they to believe that? And would it potentially mess up the timeline?"
"The other Jedi aren't going to doubt the word of a Master, especially if they notice Aayla disappear from the Warp. Besides, their own bias means they already think every world outside the Republic is a lawless shithole, and Quinlan's story will just validate that belief. As for the timeline… I don't think it should make any difference. Padme and co will arrive on Tatooine before Quinlan leaves."
"I still think it's a risk," Cortana replied, though I could tell she was coming around.
"Of course it is, that doesn't mean I shouldn't take it. For what it's worth, while I will be Stamping Padme, she will not be joining my harem. At least, not for the time being. That really would mess up the timeline, not to mention it would attract way more attention than a single missing padawan."
"Well, I guess you've convinced me," Cortana said. "I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were doing, I guess. Even still, maybe you should think about ways to build up your power base, so you'll be safe if you do mess up in the future."
"Yes, I will at some point soon," I replied. Obviously, Cortana wouldn't have objected, even I hadn't tried to justify my decision, but in my experience, dissenting opinions were far more valuable than agreeing ones. They forced me to think carefully about what I was doing and whether it was a good idea. And Cortana had a point about my power base, or current lack thereof. Something else to go on my to-do list.
-x-x-x-x-
Since we had three days to kill, Kelly and I spent the next day shopping. Besides the important stuff like food, toiletries and other general supplies, we decided it was time to buy some actual clothes. That actually wasn't as difficult as I thought it'd be; with many different species of varying shapes and sizes in the galaxy, the shops we visited had ways of adjusting them on the fly to meet the needs of any customers, including me. We mostly bought casual clothes, but we did get a formal outfit each as well… not that I was sure when we'd wear them.
Beyond that, I had purchased some iron from a metal dealer, as well as some silver from a jeweller, both of which would allow me to create some psychic wards for Kelly's Mjolnir suit. With kyber crystals being Jedha's main export, I was also able to find some force-reactive cables and circuitry; I wasn't sure what their normal use was, but they would be critical components in Kelly's psychic hood and Force Staff. Having already disassembled and examined Aayla's lightsaber, I also bought the materials needed to create two more.
Sadly, with Jedha's status as a holy site, it didn't have a sex shop anywhere. At least I was able to buy some rope, leather, wood, metal, and the tools to work them, so I could make everything I needed myself.
The day after that, I felt it was time to introduce Kelly to the art of creating Warp-infused artefacts.
"Now that we have the materials, it's time we added some proper wards to your armour," I said. "To be clear, these won't be the highest quality wards ever; creating those would take far more exotic materials than iron and silver. Still, considering that neither the Jedi, nor Darth Sidious, have any wards at all, you'll still come out far ahead of them. Combined with the protection offered by a psychic hood, you'll be highly resilient to any kind of direct Warp-based attack."
"I'm guessing they won't help if someone uses the Warp to throw rocks at me," Kelly replied. "Though that's what my shields are for."
"Exactly. Now look at these runes; what do they mean?"
I had etched hundreds of rune patterns into the inside of the titanium-alloy plates that made up the main protective layer of Kelly's Mjolnir suit. They were there purely as a guide to ensure I didn't make any mistakes when inserting the fine, filigree-like metal that would make up the wards themselves.
"They mean… protect, defend, shield, and other synonyms. However, some of them say things like repel, and disrupt."
"Very good. As you've no doubt noticed, symbols and patterns hold great meaning within the Warp. Yet even as calm as it is here, the Warp is, by its very nature, chaotic. Thus, to use it to do anything useful, you must form the Warp energy into a particular pattern, causing it to crystallise in the materium and become, say, a fireball, or a lightning bolt. That isn't something that any psyker ever does consciously, but with practice, you'll get better and better at forming it into the patterns you want, which is why a more experienced psyker will get more bang for their buck than a novice, even if their power levels are the same."
Kelly nodded. "So how does that relate to wards?"
"Quite simply, the wards will distort the patterns of any Warp-based attacks sent your way, making them weaker. Theoretically, just those etchings I've made in your armour would do that, though their effect would be so weak only the most Warp-attuned psykers would ever notice the difference. To increase their potency, I will be inlaying them with a Warp-resonant alloy, which in this case consists of iron, silver, and your blood."
"My blood?" Kelly replied with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, technically it could be anyone's blood. But remember, symbolism matters in the Warp. Wards made with your blood will be more effective at disrupting attacks aimed specifically at you, than they would at disrupting attacks aimed at me, and vice versa. The effect is pretty minor, we could use anyone's blood and they'd still work, but using yours will make them… I don't know, maybe a few percent better?"
"And my psychic hood, when you eventually make it, will do the same?"
I nodded. "The kyber crystals in your hood will serve two purposes; for any incoming psychic attacks, they will disrupt the pattern. For any of your psychic attacks, however, they will do the opposite; they will help to stabilise the pattern of Warp energy.
"Of course, it just doesn't affect attacks; any patterns of Warp energy with positive effects, such as healing spells, will also be disrupted. This is where the psyker's intent matters; the wards and hood are designed to protect, but of course you wouldn't need protection against a healing spell, so they won't disrupt the patterns as much."
"Who knew magic was so complicated?" Kelly said playfully.
"I know, right? This is why practice is so important for psykery; you'll learn far more from doing than you ever will from listening to me. If you ever feel you want better wards in the future, you'll be the one making them. For now, just watch, and feel the patterns in the Warp as I form them."
I placed the silver and iron into a ceramic crucible I'd bought, then began heating it up with pyromancy. Before long the metal was glowing red, then white, then turned liquid. Kelly then took her combat knife and gave herself a strategically placed cut, allowing the blood to fall into the molten metal. It hissed and spattered as the water in the blood immediately boiled, but I channelled the Warp into stirring the mixture, and keeping any molten metal from spraying out. At the same time, I pumped Warp energy into the metal itself, shaping it with my intent for the metal to protect.
Eventually, I felt a shift in the metal radiate through the Warp, the Warp energy having changed its properties. At that point, I signalled to Kelly to heal her wound.
"Who knew silver, iron and blood would form a viable metal alloy?" Kelly said. "I suppose they wouldn't under ordinary circumstances."
"Of course. The Warp energy has changed its molecular structure to something that will stay structurally sound once it cools."
Satisfied with the glowing metal mixture, I levitated it out of the crucible, pushing it into the etchings I'd made in Kelly's armour, shaping it with my intent just as the etchings shaped the metal physically. Double-checking the molten metal to make sure there was no defects, I cooled the runes, locking the metal – and Warp energy that had changed it – in place.
"Remarkable… the metal in the runes had turned black. The Warp energy has clearly altered it… I guess this is similar to what happened to the blood you used to make the teleportation beacon?"
"Pretty much, though this is permanent, as evidenced by the lack of energy being given off."
Well, that was one task taken care of. Kelly should now be relatively safe from any hostile Force users.
I spent the rest of the day continuing Kelly's lessons, though with less intensity than the previous week – we were supposed to be taking a break, after all. At this point, I felt she could manipulate the Warp well enough for us to branch out into other areas, so I started teaching her telekinesis. The Jedi had their Force pushes and pulls, the Sith their Force chokes, so it seemed fitting for Kelly to learn it as well. She picked up the basic pushes and pulls quickly, though she had more trouble with using it to launch projectiles. Still, with Soul talent, it would only be a matter of time before she could use it to crush things, and people, to dust.
-x-x-x-x-
It was now the third day since I Stamped the Jedi, and their Stamps would finish this evening. Wanting to do something that would be new to me as well as Kelly, we decided to try our hands at lightsaber combat.
In truth, I wasn't much of a swordsman. Sure, I had Ahriman's memories, but he was more of a spellcaster, and only engaged in melee when he absolutely had to. Even the memories of the original Amedeus barely helped; his preferred weapon of choice was a thunder hammer.
Of course, I didn't have to be good, per se. I just had to be good enough to overwhelm any Jedi I came across with my superior strength and speed. I had Martial talent, but Kelly unfortunately didn't. I wouldn't be able to afford Talent share either; once the Jedi's Stamps had finished and I'd bought Corruption defence, I would have 7 Credits left. It would have to wait until Padme and co arrived on Tatooine… Now that I thought about it, once I'd Stamped Darth Maul he could become mine and my retinue's lightsaber instructor. I wasn't sure how competent he was, given that he was cut in half by a padawan, but he would surely know Juyo, the seventh lightsaber form and the one I intended to specialise in. Juyo was an incredibly aggressive style, but was lacking in defence… a problem which my Terminator armour, and its in-built wards and psychic hood, basically solved.
First, we had to actually make our lightsabers. I had all the necessary materials, and having disassembled and studied Aayla's lightsaber, I knew how they all fit together. The most important part was bringing the kyber crystals in line with our own nature. Kelly was currently meditating with the crystal that had chosen her. I suspected her crystal would turn blue; her background as a soldier, and her desire to use her powers for good, meant she was spiritually most similar to the Jedi guardians.
As for myself, none of the crystals had chosen me – not that I expected them to – so I would have to resort to the Sith's method. Taking the biggest crystal from my pocket storage, I levitated it in front of me as I began bending it to my will. I couldn't help but feel a perverse thrill as I gradually forced the crystal to submit to me, another trait I had inherited from Ahriman, not that he ever would've admitted it. It wasn't long before the kyber crystal's will to resist was broken, turning a deep red colour, like an uncut ruby.
Satisfied with the state of my kyber, I went to check up on Kelly – quietly, as I didn't want to disturb her meditation. I felt the eddies of the Warp flow through her, and her crystal, in perfect harmony. A couple of minutes after I entered, she was rewarded with the sight of her kyber turning a sapphire blue.
"I did it!", she exclaimed happily.
"Well done. I didn't want to disturb you, but I managed to get my crystal to be… compliant as well," I replied, holding up my red crystal.
"It wouldn't bond with you?"
"None of them would," I said, shrugging. "But, well, clearly they didn't need to."
"So much for keeping the Jedi from thinking you're a Sith," Kelly replied.
"Whatever. I'll probably end up using my staff most of the time anyway. But who wouldn't want a lightsaber after ending up in Star Wars?" I grinned. "Speaking of, we should actually put them together."
Kelly nodded, as we headed into the cargo bay. Being the largest room on the ship, it was where I'd chosen to put my new workbench. We sat at it as we spent the next half-hour constructing our lightsabers. Between examining the hilt of Aayla's weapon, and looking at schematics on the Company Device that Cortana had found somewhere through the Holonet, we were able to put them together without too much trouble. Kelly's lightsaber was fairly standard, having a blade a bit longer than average due to her greater-than-average height. The hilt was also longer, to accommodate the fact that it would be held by armoured hands that took up more space. The same was true for my weapon, only even more extreme, with the hilt being around twice the length and diameter of a normal lightsaber hilt, with a similarly large blade. Because of its increased size, I was able to fit in a more potent power cell, which should make it even better at cutting things.
With our new weapons built, Kelly and I stood opposite each other as we ignited our lightsabers for the first time.
"Now, before we begin, I should ask; did your Spartan training ever tell you how to use a melee weapon larger than a combat knife?" I asked.
Kelly shook her head. "The closest equivalent would be a Sangheili energy sword, but obviously we never received any actual training for that. Not that that's much like a lightsaber anyway."
"Well, I'll start from the beginning, then. When using a lightsaber – or any other melee weapon really – defending is more important than attacking. It's very common for novice swordsmen to score mutual hits on each other, because they get so focused on ending their opponent that they never notice the opponent doing the same to them. With a blade made of superheated plasma, this is even more important, since even a glancing blow could be fatal. We have the luxury of possessing armour capable of stopping a lightsaber, but the principle still applies – you never know when an opponent is going to hit a weak spot, for example. As you get more experienced, you'll naturally become more aggressive, but that isn't because you'll stop defending; it's because you'll learn ways to attack and defend simultaneously."
"If defence is so important…" Kelly trailed off, looking thoughtful. "Actually, don't you have a shield in your pocket storage?"
"Yes, I do. I wasn't going to give it to you yet, but I suppose if you plan to use it regularly, you should really learn how from the beginning," I said as I reached into my pocket storage and pulled out my Storm shield. It resembled a large kite shield, black and grey in colour, with a gold double-headed eagle adorning the front.
"Obviously it was designed for a Son of Antaeus, so it might be a bit big for you, but just take it and see what you think."
"The weight is fine," Kelly said as she manoeuvred the shield with her left arm. "It's more the bulk that's the problem. Still, if I want defence, I don't think it'll get much better than this." She wasn't kidding, it was big enough to cover most of her body.
"Well, yeah. I have never seen any Jedi or Sith pair a lightsaber with a shield, despite the existence of lightsaber-resistant materials. Even a small shield is a huge advantage against an opponent without one; with a shield as big as that… you'd really have to go out of your way to lose.
"Of course, even with a shield, you could still be caught off-guard if facing multiple opponents. That is why positioning and footwork are so important, as you'll soon see."
For the rest of the afternoon, I taught Kelly the basics of how to fight with a sword. There were a few adjustments to be made to my style; obviously edge alignment didn't matter with a lightsaber, and the fact that, unlike regular sword blades, two lightsaber blades couldn't slide along one another, due to interactions between the magnetic fields confining the plasma. Most of it was still applicable though; I figured that once Aayla awoke, her input would help with any subtleties that might escape us at the moment.
It was also during our sparring that I truly realised just what an enormous physical advantage I had over my opponents. Even with Kelly's own augmentations, the strength and speed advantages provided by her Mjolnir suit, and her use of biomancy to boost her physicals even further, she couldn't even come close to overpowering me. I guess in future I should forego my Terminator armour when we sparred… it was a good job lightsabers had a low-power setting. It did make me wonder how much this training actually mattered though; I figured that if I died in Star Wars, it would be from being blown up by a hostile ship, rather than because someone beat me in a lightsaber duel.
It was getting close to dinner time when I heard my Company Device vibrate; walking over to it, I saw that Aayla's and Quinlan's Stamps had finished. Without even thinking, I used the Credits I'd earned to buy Corruption defence.
"Now that we have Corruption defence, has it made any difference to the state of my soul?" I asked Kelly.
"No, not really," she replied, as she examined me with her Warp-sight. "I suppose it only makes it harder to actually fall to the Dark side, not undo any changes that might have been made."
"That's fine, I was just curious. Anyone I haven't Stamped won't notice the corruption anyway, and I can think of a couple of situations where showing certain people the true state of my soul might actually be helpful."
Figuring there was no reason to keep them unconscious any longer, I pushed the Jedi back to alertness.
"I apologise for attacking you, but I'm afraid you were both far too valuable for me to just let you go," I said to them.
"You…," Quinlan trailed off as Aayla audibly gasped, them seeing the state of my soul for the first time. "By the Force, I didn't know it was even possible to be so strong in the Dark side. Why am I not surprised to learn you're a Sith?"
"Sith? I am no mere Sith, my friend. I am nothing less than the galaxy's number one Chaos sorcerer," I replied, grinning ear to ear.
"He's also the galaxy's only Chaos sorcerer," Kelly interjected. "One that hasn't done any actual sorcery yet."
"Well, you know, there's no need to think about irrelevant details like that. I promise, neither of you will be harmed in any way, and as you'll soon see, working for me is far more advantageous than working for Yoda."
"And why is that?" Aayla asked, clearly sceptical.
"Isn't it obvious? Just look at your connection to the Force. Now, it'll be almost impossible for either of you to fall to the Dark side, no matter how much you draw upon it."
I felt feelings of amazement emanate from both Jedi, as they saw what I was saying was true.
"How is this possible?" Quinlan asked. "I've had to ignore the temptations of the Dark side my entire life… I'm sure every Jedi has felt the same, yet now it's just… gone. Not completely, but I can only see it on the periphery of my Force-sight."
"The organisation I work for has power beyond even the Force itself," I replied. "When I Stamped the two of you, they gave me the means to tap into a tiny portion of that power, in such a way that renders any spiritually corrupting effects of the Force much weaker."
The two Jedi looked at each other as if trying to work out whether I was lying, before they eventually nodded. I guess being Stamped gave them a subconscious understanding of the Company and its machinations, even if they didn't know any specifics.
"Who are they?" Aayla asked, gesturing towards the caged slavers. "And why do they seem… frozen?"
"Don't worry about them," I said dismissively. "They are this ship's former owners, criminals who would no doubt be executed if they set foot anywhere in the Republic."
Aayla nodded. "And my second question?"
"Well, this is one way in which the Jedi Order's highly conservative nature has bitten it on the arse. They almost never try to figure out new ways to use the Force, so they clearly have no idea it's possible to use it to manipulate time."
"What!?" Aayla gasped, feeling shock emanate from both her and Quinlan through the Warp. "You must be mistaken. Time travel with the Force? Impossible."
"Well then, how else do you explain this bubble of slowed time?" I asked, smirking.
"Clearly, there's far more to the Force than we ever realised," Quinlan said, regaining his composure. "I never thought I knew everything, but to see the true extent of my ignorance shoved in my face… It's humbling."
"Yes, well, if my plans come to fruition, I'll be perfectly positioned to explore the mysteries of the Force to their fullest, along with my followers."
"What plans?" Quinlan asked, eyes narrowing.
"While you were unconscious, I had a good look around inside your head, so I know that you and Aayla were going to Tatooine. You will still be going there, Quinlan, but Aayla will stay with me. When you eventually return to the Jedi temple, you will tell your colleagues that Aayla was harassed by some thugs looking to take advantage of your young, naïve, attractive twi'lek padawan. You will also tell them that this turned violent when Aayla rejected them, leading to a fight which ended with the thugs' deaths, but not before one of them got a lucky shot at her spine, killing her. At the time that this supposedly happened, I will hide Aayla's presence in the Force."
"And… what about me?" Aayla asked apprehensively.
"Despite what you may think of my use of the Dark side, I will not be teaching you any of that unless you actually want me to, which you probably won't. What I will do is teach you many other techniques that the Jedi don't know about, none of which involve the Dark side at all."
Not that either would have gone along with such a plan normally, but that was what the Stamp was for. As it was, they just nodded in approval.
After I gave them a few moments to say their goodbyes, I teleported Quinlan back onto his ship. A few minutes later, I saw it start to move before it abruptly entered hyperspace. Having achieved everything I'd wanted on Jedha, and then some, we did the same, Cortana piloting the ship towards Tatooine. Thanks to our upgraded hyperdive, we would get there before Quinlan. No doubt the Trade Federation would invade Naboo some time this week, kicking off the events of The Phantom Menace. Then the real fun would begin.
AN:
So this chapter took longer than expected. Mainly because I had to totally rewrite the first half, as the original involved Amedeus acting massively out of character. It's fine though, the end result is a superior end product.
The bit about psykery/Force powers involving patterns in the Warp/Force isn't canon, but the canon material leaves enough wiggle room to do some worldbuilding of my own.
I've already started on the next chapter, but some IRL stuff will prevent me from doing any writing next week, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish it before then. If not I'll just post it the week after.