-8-
The freighter Zhosa was just leaving Naboo, carrying a shipment of high-energy, high-quality plasma. It was on a freight run to several parts of the Mid to Inner Core of the galaxy. It made several dropouts when a distress call was received by a space station near Muunilist. They reported being attacked by an alien vessel, describing it as spherically shaped. Then the call was cut off abruptly, and search teams went to the last location…but they found nothing.
-8-
The planet Abafar, in the Outer Rim territories, Sprizen sector, inhabited by various beings from all around the galaxy, rich in deposits of rhydonium, a scarce but volatile fuel source was one of many desert worlds in the galaxy. Thanks to the planet's atmosphere and surface regions, it was a desert. Granted, by this time much of the interest in the planet was dried up, and the rhydonium had been depleted, but there were still people here. When the Jedi in the Outer Rim territories, who were trying to find any information on the Separatists, and those Masters on the council, suddenly felt a disturbance in the Force, they arrived and found a glassed planet where Abafar used to be.
Everyone and everything was completely destroyed.
-8-
The Atterra system's main planets, Atterra Alpha and Atterra Beta, suddenly went dark.
-8-
A patrol ship, just leaving the planet Eriadu, vanished. They sent a distress call, but it was garbled. Rescue teams discovered nothing but a small debris field.
-8-
The Senate and the Jedi Council were stunned when a distress call came from Eufonis Major, of something invisible, something just about tangible, firing strange energy beams which were not conventional lasers or plasma bolts, and definitely nothing on record, and some strange missiles that were like nothing recorded in all of galactic history.
By the time the attack was over, half of the planet was destroyed. But the cost was enormous; there was some kind of plague or viruses which caused sicknesses, but many died. Medical transports and teams from the Republic travelled there, but Darth Sidious used his networks to sabotage as much as he could in the hopes of pushing Eufonis into the arms of the Separatists, and it worked marvellously.
But all of this was only a sample of what was happening in the galaxy.
-8-
Grand Master Yoda and the rest of the Jedi Council were submerged into the depths of the Force. The recent crises and the Separatists had drowned them with more questions than they would have preferred, and the Force was not yielding on any of the mysteries. And there were so many; all of the Masters in the council chamber had encountered many strange mysteries and moments in their careers as Jedi, but with the number of mysteries, the council had all agreed to this, hoping they could finally get some answers.
They didn't know why Count Dooku had just…mysteriously turned against the Council, against the Jedi, although they were more than aware of his disillusionment towards the Republic.
They were not making any impression on any of the worlds leaving the Republic, and they were being overstretched.
And now these mysterious attacks and disappearances.
The Council had a dark, dirty secret; they were losing their awareness and skill with the Force, they just didn't want anyone to know.
But Yoda had organised a full council meeting where they would immerse themselves into the Force, and hopefully pierce the weird veil which was preventing them from gaining the answers they needed, and to try to find some clarity. Yoda, like many Jedi who were dedicated to the understanding of the mysteries of the Force, meditated whenever they could, every day. But Yoda was hopeful that with the help of the rest of the Council, they could finally get some answers.
What they saw was mystifying and worrying.
Unknown to the Jedi Masters, they witnessed what Darth Sidious had watched after he had peered deeply into the Dark Side; they observed mysterious aliens, spherical warships, enormous war machines that they knew were not connected to the Separatists, or the Republic, or any known design. The Jedi Masters witnessed for themselves these events took place alongside battles against the familiar battle droids of the Separatists, but the Separatists themselves were attacked, so these aliens weren't allies. They watched the attacks that had yet to happen, but they recognised several worlds, including Coruscant. Unlike Sidious, however, the Jedi witnessed something that horrified them.
The Jedi Temple was attacked. Mysterious invaders laughing and howling with strange guttural, metallic grating voices, strange weapons slaughtering Jedi left and right. The Council tried to deny it, but they knew it was the truth, a ghostly vision that would come to pass.
But, one word, chanted over and over again, yelled, shrieked, laughed by the aliens filtered its way through, to the combined minds of the Jedi Masters, a word that chilled them when they saw the unfettered glee they shrieked as they killed everyone around them.
"Exterminate! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"
Shaken, the Jedi Council came out of their meditation, and for a moment none of the Masters spoke.
"I've….never felt a vision that vivid before," Master Kolar broke the silence, looking shaken.
"I didn't see much, but I think we should double our preparations for a war, not just with the Separatists, but with these aliens, too," Master Gallia announced.
The Jedi Masters glanced at each other, nervous. They had been quietly preparing as the prospect of war grew. The Jedi had never fought a massive galactic war for a thousand years. To do so now was one they did not like.
"I think we should also look into moving some Jedi off-world, maybe to Tython or Ach-To," Shaak Ti said finally.
"If we do that, wouldn't we merely be accelerating the vision of the Temple attack?" Ki-Adi asked, his scepticism clear.
Shaak Ti scowled and folded her arms. "I would rather do that, than live with the knowledge we had seen a potential vision of the Temple under attack, and our brothers and sisters being slaughtered; we might be taught to let go of the dead, but witnessing it beforehand is horrifying. If we can set up small outposts, and save even a few of the next generation, so much the better."
Mace Windu spoke up. "That's enough. When I became Master of the Order, I vowed to defend the Jedi. To do so would go against everything I had learnt, all I believed in. I refuse to allow the Temple to be attacked, our younglings and knights slaughtered by an unknown enemy."
Yoda who had been silent for the duration spoke up, "Agree with Master Shaak Ti and Master Windu, I do," he looked up, his large ears plastered back against his head, "At the same time, look we shall for other worlds to look into. Remote worlds."
Mace Windu accepted the decision since as it fit in with his own views. "I'll begin looking at the star charts later, Master," he promised.
"Did anyone see the aliens besides their ghostly shadows?" Depa Billaba asked, looking around the room.
"No," Adi sighed.
"They're massive, they've got war machines like enormous battle droids; why they need to be so big, I don't know," Oppo said.
"'Exterminate,"' Shaak Ti quoted, shuddering at the very way the word trickled from her mouth. "But do you think we can reason with them?"
Nobody spoke as the question filtered around the room.
Plo Koon, who was usually silent during meetings as he preferred letting the Force flow until he had something to say, spoke, "Masters, did any of you notice these aliens' weapons? We barely saw them in use."
"More unknowns," Mace sighed.
"Many of the Senators are pressing their contacts, hoping to discover who these aliens are," Adi said.
"Did your networks give you any more insight?" Saesee asked.
Adi sighed. "No. Too many people are mystified. Samples of the viruses dropped on Eufonis have been examined, but they are too adaptable. Scientists haven't seen anything like them, and there are questions about if they're even natural. I recommend we send some Jedi Healers to help, we might discover something that the scientists haven't," she added.
"I agree," Master Koon said.
"As do I," Kolar added.
"Send healers, we shall. Encounter something like this again, we probably will, and the more insight we have, the greater our chances of understanding this new enemy, we will," Yoda said.
Meanwhile, Oppo Rancis shook his head, "I keep thinking of what happened on Eufonis," he grumbled, "Did any of you notice how convenient it was there were so many sabotage attempts?"
"Done that, the Separatists would have done, for more alliances," Yoda agreed, but then he shook his head, "However, off, the timing is."
Yoda remembered the events of a decade ago. "The Sith Master, responsible he is."
Silence.
"So," Master Piell rubbed the scarring over his former eye thoughtfully, "we're positive the Sith apprentice was who murdered Qui-Gon Jinn on Naboo."
"Positive I was when reviewing the security footage. Powerful, the Zabrak was. But risk his life, the Master would not."
Mace shook his head, looking slightly overwhelmed. "We've got enough problems with the Senate, the Separatist crisis, the Order, and now we're about to fight an enemy we don't even know."
Yoda settled himself down in his chair, trying valiantly not to look smaller than he felt. He had faced many critical crises in his time as Grand Master, and Master of the Order, on multiple occasions. But he had to admit he was out of his depth, and he hated it. He did. Yoda remembered how Dooku and Qui-Gon, two of many Jedi approached and kept saying the system did not work, now it looked as if they were right. But Yoda was old. He was set in his ways, and he had refused to listen.
Was it all his fault?
Yoda reflected on Qui-Gon Jinn, a maverick, someone who had never failed to speak his mind, and someone who had seen the corruption of the Republic, and the foolishness of the Order, for just following the Senate's mandates despite decades of experience teaching them, politicians could not be trusted.
But when Qui-Gon revealed he had been attacked by a Sith Lord on Tatooine, Yoda was one of the few members who had believed it, remembering the words of Kibh Jeen, after that mess where the troubled padawan turned and became a Dark Jedi who later became insane, jabbering, laughing insanely the Sith had survived, and now they were two, a Master and an apprentice. Where others dismissed it, Yoda hadn't, and when, decades later, a small hole was torn into the fabric of the Force, Jedi such as himself, and Yaddle (Yoda still wished he knew what happened to her) and many others, sensed it, and realised the horrifying truth; the Dark Side was returning.
Yoda had been watching out for any signs of the Sith's return, but there was only a handful of incidents before the encounter Qui-Gon had with that lightsaber-wielding attacker on Tatooine. If the Sith had followed through with their typical pattern, he would have expected a darkening in the Force, multiple Sith appearing despite Jeen's word, since the Sith historically lied, but there was nothing. And now this. Yoda was truly out of his depth as he wasn't sure they could stop the Separatists, and it looked as if war was inevitable, despite whatever Palpatine said. Yoda wasn't sure he even trusted the man.
Yes, Senator Amidala had reached Coruscant in one peace without being killed, especially after what happened on the landing platform earlier this very day. But Yoda no longer held out hope against the Military Creation Act. It was looking incredibly likely a war was coming, whether they wanted it or not, and he didn't know if he had the nerve to see it through.
As if he had been following through with the same thought process, Plo Koon spoke again, "Masters, I believe the precautions of opening up different outposts to be wise. But we should also begin increasing the number of Jedi Guardians and Sentinels. We will need their strength."
Some of the council members didn't like the sound of that, but before they could protest, Mace Windu got there first. "I don't believe we have any choice. But if we started now, how many Guardians and Sentinels could find their way out into the galaxy?"
"I don't know, however I feel if we begin now, we'll be in a far better position to protect the galaxy, and the Order," Plo replied.
"Do you believe that could help us with these aliens?" Depa asked.
Oppo interrupted, "Masters, any action we take to protect the Order and the Republic could see these visions in the Force come to pass. That's one of the reasons why we Jedi have historically banned any such action. The temptation is too great."
Yoda grunted in approval with Oppo's words, knowing of the number of times unwise Jedi, Masters, and apprentices, tried to manipulate the future…only to make their visions come to pass. "Yes, yes, strong, temptation is," he replied, "Nevertheless, see any possible way of stopping this, I do not."
"Could it be possible these aliens could be hiding in the Unknown Regions?" Master Ti asked.
"Mm, possible it is, many rumoured hostile races, there are in the Unknown Regions," Yoda reminded her.
"I was thinking if we send Jedi out into the galaxy, we might discover rumours of some unknown power, and investigate them," Shaak Ti told them. "If we send Jedi out there quietly, then their activities would remain secret."
Yoda nodded approvingly. "A good suggestion, that is, Master Ti." He turned to Mace. "Prepare a list of Knights who have experience with the core, the mid-core, and the Outer Rim territories."
Mace nodded, "Yes, Master Yoda."
"Do you think the Military Creation Act will force us to recruit Force sensitives as we did in the last Sith War, where we had to recruit Force-sensitives who were too old?" Depa asked, looking around in concern.
Yoda frowned instantly. The Jedi had needed to relax some if not many of their procedures to have powerful Force sensitives on the front lines against the Sith. While many of them had died, some of them had found a niche in the Order, despite either being too old, or too unstable, and they found some stability in the Order. Unfortunately, too many had fallen prey to the Dark Side, and even now, it had been left unsaid but known throughout the various generations of the Council, many of which Yoda himself had sat on over his many centuries of service to the Order, that Set Harth, a powerful Dark Jedi, was still out there despite it being impossible, but Sith essence transfer knowledge still lingered, somewhere.
"Worry about that, we shall not, for now, Master Billaba," Yoda said firmly, but now he wondered if the upcoming war would force them to reconsider those past policies.
The rest of the Council were just as uneasy.