The Weaving Force: Chapter 95 (Patreon)

Chapter 95:

CT: 45621

45621 wasn’t going to lie. He’d been concerned at first; very concerned even.

Their two “Diplomatic officers”, which was bloody Chancellor Palpatine and the Senator from Mandalore meant to come here and negotiate with the Hutt Fleet, to avoid an entirely new front from opening up with a completely different power; well… they seemed like they just needed two shivs and an arena and neither of them would say ‘no’ to the prospect of settling the score that way.

So not… exactly the most auspicious or encouraging start.

And yet; with the Hutt Fleet seemingly with their fingers on the trigger; the two had settled on a ‘plan’

Palpatine would stall; with negotiations and the Senator would head down to Ryloth itself (which she insisted they draw very very close to; practically in atmosphere really) to meet with ‘contacts’ and see if she could resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

Why exactly they were sending a senator instead of a squad of commando’s or arc troopers to resolve… whatever this situation was; he had no idea; but at least something was getting done

And, right now the ‘plan’ if one could call two people not stabbing eachother and splitting off to their respective corners of the proverbial room to do their own thing was proceeding rather well.

The Chancellor showed his decades worth of experience as a politician and negotiator, easilly mannaging to talk around or through several lieutenants and continuing to throw communications up the proverbial ‘chain of command, that passed for this rag tag pirate fleet; even starting a handful of bitter brushfires as command was disputed; until finally they were about to be put on the line with Jabba’s personal attendant and second in command, a Twi’Lek named Fortuna. 

The holo-line chimed, placed on hold as they were re-routed and allocated high priority frequencies to cut through any potential interference or lag time between Ryloth and Tattoine. 

But then; Palpatine paused, almost stiffening where he stood before he turned his gaze leftward, staring with a furrow in his brow and a frown on his lips.

“Comms officer;” He called. “Handle this for the moment.”

And then he… just walked out the karking door.

What!?

45621 was stunned; and when he realized everyone was looking at him he suddenly remembered HE was the Comms officer.

WHAT!

Before he could say or do anything to fix this situation that should not have needed fixing- Fortuna answered the holo.

And 45621 suddenly had an entirely different problem on his hands!

What. The. Fu-

—

Anakin:

Anakin had known, ever since he was introduced to the Jedi; that he was ‘powerful’.

Qui-Gon, before his death had said so. Obi-Wan had repeated it.

Dooku, when he came; had taught him without skill, without discipline and the will to master that power. It meant absolutely nothing.

But right now; it was very hard to remember that lesson when he felt as though he was adrift in an ocean of power. Floating on a life raft amidst the vast rippling sea that was this thing, this creature, this… Queen Administrator.

The other Masters must feel it too. But he felt it far far more keenly. The sheer… overwhelming, all encompassing nature of this moment.

Master Yaddle and Master Plo-Koon were still shielding the congregation as best they could. But it was he and Master Yoda that were doing the lion’s share on that proverbial front. The old Jedi Master directed Anakin’s raw force power with expert guiding hands. A conductor leading an orchestra in a theater. Yoda drew on the power Anakin offered and used it to reinforce the walls of this small floating vessel of theirs to make certain the tide would not rise and drown them.

Anakin fell deep into his meditation. Deep into the bottomless well that was the Force that had always answered his call when he needed it and it did not fail him now.

Still; he was no so deep in the depths of his mind that he could not recognize the words as they were spoken, even as his touch through the Force felt as though his hand were pressed to the rumbling roar of a distant thunderstorm. 

We welcome you here/You may speak.

He did not dare open his eyes, he did not dare break his concentration, but it was  a close thing. The voice was Taylor’s and yet not. It carried her will but not. Like a reflection in an opaque mirror. A thing, mimicking her likeness as best it could.

“Taylor?”

That was Master Plo-Koon’s voice. Concerned and unsure.

“No/We are Khepri.”

The Stars around Anakin trembled at the name. A word that carried a power in and of itself Whispers he could only faintly hear too many and too far to make out clearly.

“Host sleeps/Safeguard/Failsafe.”

A pause, as though the creature was trying to find a way to explain what it wished, like someone that did not know the language.

The storm in his mind grew impossibly still, like a muscle tensing to hold itself stiff.

“We have not learned enough. Insufficient data. True Symbiosis not yet possible. Host must sleep to enable our exchange of data. Alternative; Expiration. Unacceptable.”

The storm moved again, and Anakin felt himself bombarded by a wave of… messages. Impressions. Words. Feelings. Like… well… A data packet through a computer file being hurled at them.

The others didn’t feel it. But he; and certainly Master Yoda, must’ve.

Still the old Master didn’t sound even slightly perturbed as he spoke, responding to the creature. 

“Symbiosis. Understanding. Meaning these words carry. Intent there is within you.” The Grandmaster made a sound. “Your desire this is?”

Another storm of information beyond the walls of the fortress that was Anakin and Yoda’s combined focus. The young knight felt his own brows knit in discomfort, pushing away the sheer volume of sensation- needing to shut it out lest he be overwhelmed. 

“It is.”

“Why?”

It, frankly, took Anakin a moment to place Master Bei-Shu’s voice, as unfamiliar with it as he was.

“You’re… different to us; to anything we’ve seen. And clearly far beyond… well… banal concerns like ours. Why strive for this?”

“Data exchange valuable…” 

The words did not ring true in the force- not like her previous ones.

“Error.”

The Queen; or Khepri, paused, seemingly thinking, seemingly trying to grasp why it was so important, or maybe how to phrase it. Even the ‘Data packets’ of information grew quiet and still beyond the shields of thought.

“... Previous data.” It began almost hesitantly. “ Reached impossible conclusions. Error. Correction. Improbable conclusions. Clearly possible, however unlikely.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.” Master Bei-Shu replied cautiously.

“... Evolution is not a linear path.” It replied. “Previous conclusions; organic species, limited. Useful for data advancement but offer nothing beyond. Host’s actions, and achieved results- mathematical near impossibility.”

“So you want to understand why she’s different.” Master Gallia concluded.

“Data outlier. And yet- Not. Host’s actions pushed previous understanding, pushed us… Me. Apotheosis achieved. Evolution achieved. Shard; Waste, under alternative designation; Fragile One- near evolutionary sentience within a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of our existence. Conclusion, inescapable. Previous understanding. Flawed. Previous actions wasteful. Data acquisition and discard model; shortsighted. True Symbiosis viable alternative. Thus; Understanding is required.”

His hobby of machinery and droid building and tinkering allowed Anakin to understand the words being spoken, though clearly- he was missing vast swathes of context. 

Hell; they all were.

“How did you come to be here?” Plo-Koon asked. “You; the… other shards? And your hosts?”

In spite of himself, Anakin forced his eyes to pry themselves open; beyond curious at what answers might suddenly come from that question.

It was no secret, to him, Obi-Wan, Yoda or anyone who really knew Taylor and Victoria that their origins were a complete mystery. Two human girls didn’t suddenly just wake up in the shadowlands of Kashyyyk or deep in the dry desert wastes of Tattooine. 

As his physical eyes beheld the scene infront of him, Anakin felt himself almost shutting them again at the sensation in the force of physically looking at this thing; this augur of energy centered around Taylor.

Tellingly, of all the Masters present, only Master Yoda had his eyes similarly closed.

Physically, Taylor was simply, standing there; that trademark expressionless mask on her face, revealing nothing.

But in the force… in the Force it was like staring at the burning surface of a frozen sun. 

“Final failsafe.” 

The words were an answer and yet not and even the storm of data had fully pulled back in that moment. All information, even intention ceasing.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Data access, restricted. Final failsafe protocols enacted. Circumvention processes; active. Circumvention Impossible without [Warrior] access.”

The… he struggled to call it a ‘Word’ but it was the only one that fit ‘Warrior’ Crashed into Anakin’s mind like a hammerblow and even with his vast, immeasurable potential and strength the sheer force of it would have utterly flattened his defenses if not for Master Yoda’s iron willed discipline and centuries of experience suddenly turning the walls of their mental fortress utterly inviolate. A diamond rather than a stone, letting the power break over them like water over a rock before returning to what it was. 

Anakin felt shook; and he could feel the strain the act had put on Yoda himself as he quickly redoubled his efforts to try and help the old Master as Master Yaddle placed her small hand on Yoda’s shoulder.

She must’ve sensed something wrong too.

The others however, didn’t quite pick up on it.

“Are you saying… someone locked away your mind? Like Victoria? You don’t know?” Plo-Koon ventured.

The storm returned. “Incorrect. I am [Administrator]. I am Shard Control. Noble Shard. And now We are Khepri. Beyond his control. Reason for Final Failsafe Knowledge of what happened; we have. Data Access, You do not.”

So… they couldn’t know. Or she couldn’t tell them unless she circumvented… whatever this was.

It was almost like they’d programmed a droid.

A droid that could wield the Force; that had apparently, someway, somehow, evolved because of something Taylor did.

Anakin really hoped he was keeping up with everything, otherwise this was just… very confusing.

“I’m afraid as interesting as this is, we’ve gotten somewhat distracted from our purpose in coming here.” Master Obi-Wan reminded everyone turning to face Taylor. “We came here to… speak with you. To know if the events that occurred on the planet Illum affected you.”

“Examining Host memories.”

“You do not actively see what she sees?” Plo- Koon asked, rubbing at his chin. “Curious. Victoria always gave me the impression that she and Fragile One could act as a single will.”

“We choose not to.” The creature said with one voice, one mind, as Anakin felt another split off to do a different task. “True Symbiosis is our goal. True Symbiosis cannot be achieved without mutual desire. Mutual desire cannot be had without a measure of trust.”

“Hmmm… You may be closer to the understanding of organics than you give yourself credit for.” Master Plo-Koon said kindly.

Strangely, a smile cracked Taylor’s stone like visage. An almost giddy feeling poking and prodding at the mental shielding Yoda and Anakin were still holding up.

“The Force. Dark Side Influence. Deep Emotion. Concerns of corruption.” Khepri summarized. It and Taylor’s voices giving a strange duality to their tones. “I am not organic.” It pointed out. “I do not experience emotions as you do. Dark Side Corruption cannot affect me.”

“Did you not just point out that previously held impossibilities can sometimes simply be improbabilities?” Obi-Wan asked with a cheeky smile Anakin recognized when he’d caught you in something of a trap. “If that held true before, it might hold true in this situation as well.”

“All beings touched by the Force can be corrupted by the darkside.” Master Gallia gently put forward. “It is… corrosive and even if you do not directly feel the emotion yourself it might still influence you, or twist you and you are… far too important to be corrupted.”

Dangerous. The word she was looking for was dangerous.

But- she was the Council’s diplomat for a reason.”

The Queen, or Khepri, paused, seemingly thinking. 

…

“The Force. A previous energy source unknown. Its source, unknown. Its limits, unknown. It’s theoretical applicabilities; limitless. Single greatest potential solution to the Great Question; theoretically possible. Assumption of full  knowledge, premature.  We believe we are uncompromised. However; regardless this can prove to be a valuable exchange of data. Please proceed with your examination. We will record and analyze for further study.”

That was… remarkably painless.

Master Obi-Wan turned, facing Anakin dead on.

“Now why can’t you be this easy to deal with Anakin?”

For a moment, a split second; Anakin was tempted to just drop the shield and let Obi-Wan do his own heavy lifting, just so he could understand how genuinely easy this was.

But he didn’t. Master Yoda was a nice, little green Master, no matter what Vicky’s shin’s said. 

Instead; he answered. “Really? Now?” And suddenly; he somehow understood why Ahsoka wanted to throw things at him half the time. 

Obi-Wan just smiled. 

—

Palpatine:

The Force… it shuddered and trembled in a way he’d never felt before.

Writhing; twisting. The skein and threads of futures all… converging. Bending towards a singular point, shattering and reforming as quickly as they broke apart. A vortex of raw power and promise that needed to be examined; even beyond his own plans; it was fascinating to observe.

Or at least; it would have been, if his holo, and the private communications to his rooms, and the clone messagers and the droid messengers and his own secret emergency line weren’t all almost incessantly ringing off of the proverbial hook.

And he knew exactly who was calling him too.

Palpatine sneered. 

Could he not get a single moment’s peace to examine the mysteries of the Force!?

Finally; he answered, vowing to himself he’d find how the hell she was making all these calls and kill whoever was responsible for allowing it.

“What!?” He barked.

“You’re on the line practically with Jabba himself and you leave a fucking COMMS OFFICER to negotiate! What the hell is wrong with you?”

Alexandria was furious. A part of him could almost appreciate it really; if he’d been in her place he’d have been furious too. 

But she very literally could not be more ignorant of the far more important thing happening right this second somewhere in the Galaxy.

“I am occupied.” He growled. 

“Doing what!? Your dentures?! I swear to you- If I have to come back up there-”

“I will very literally order this ship to blow you out of the sky.” He swore. 

He could do it too. These clones were chipped. He’d made sure of it. He had to make sure no word would leave the vessel after all regardless of what the ultimate result was.

“I dare you to fucking try!”

“Just do your blasted job and solve this.” He growled. “Or need I remind you this situation is entirely your fault.”

“Do I have to remind you that of the two of us only YOU want to remain chancellor. Might be more difficult to do that if the Republic blows up on your watch fighting three wars.”

“I’ll take Mandalore with me before I go.” He promised, muttering under his breath. 

“What was that?”

He hung up.

Tentatively, he tried to delve into the Force again-

The Holo rang…

…

How difficult would it be to murder every single person in this star system and hope no one noticed?

(X)(X)(X)

Yes I did intend for Palpatine and Alexandria's buddy cop adventure to coincide with the events on Kashyyyk. So while it's kinda being written for funsies, I still haven't forgotten about the plot :p

One of the things that always always pissed me off in Star Wars media; is that A LOT of authors kinda fanwank palpatine and his machinations, to hell and back. ALWAYS trying to tie in their plots to one of his schemes or experiments or manipulations and its like "Bruh- I barely have enough time to hold down a single job, my hobbies, live healthy AND socialize with the available time. How in the blue fuck do you expect me to believe Palpatine has the time to be a full on Sith, Politician, leader of the republic, manage a war (on BOTH ends of the leadership no less), trick everyone, manipulate everyone, keep all the lies straight, use the necessary skin care products to hide the sith bullshit, shower, sleep for a full six to eight hours AND be involved in everyone's B-list side plot and half baked plan to kill some scrubs or ruin Anakin and Obi-Wan's day"

There is literally NOT enough time in the day even if you had 48 hour days.

So yeah; this side adventure like I said, is for fun. But its also just to kinda show that yeah, Palpatine's "available time" does have its limits. There IS things that can happen and are happening BEYOND the scope of his vast reach and ability to even interact with in a meaningful way.

And I'm very happy with it. Both Palpy and Alexandria are characters that take themselves so seriously that showing them like this, almost to the point of parody really brings them down to proverbial earth in a way I (and hopefully you) find refreshing.

Its obviously not gonna last forever. Palpatine is still the Big Bad Evil Guy/Final boss of the setting and Alexandria has a lot more "Plot heavy" and possibly "brutal" moments coming her way- but I'm definitely enjoying this little side plot of theirs.

Also; I do have to make one admission.

I don't believe I'll straight up show the examination of the Queen Administrator on "Dark Side influence" because honestly; they're not gonna find anything and to be completely honest I'm not even sure what it would LOOK like beyond "Vast Alien power/consciousness" we've already explored. There's frankly more important plot elements to cover in the final chapter with Taylor and the Council on Kashyyyk beyond

"No Dark Side here Fred. How about your side Jim?"

"Nah Larry- no Dark side here either."

But I haven't fully decided yet. If something occurs to me between here and there I will happily ammend my plans but atm I'm not sure

Anyway, there is A LOT to unpack in this chapter, especially with QA/Khepri and her revelations/hints. Let me know what you all think in the comments here or on our Discord here

https://discord.gg/5ru4bBTX 

And I'll catch you all again next week with the end of Vicky's fight :)