The Weaving Force: Chapter 55 (Patreon)

Chapter 55:

Taylor:

I felt the impact of Tapal’s saber strike run up my arm; not a painful sensation, a welcome one.

Tapal always pushed, always came at me better than he’d been before and I did the same in kind.

I saw him smirking, “You’re eager.” He noted; and I felt the subtle touch of his mind over mine, a needle point, slipping through the tiniest crack in my shields; telling me it was there so I could fix it. He knew he couldn’t read my face, or my body language, so he’d found a way to strike through the last avenue available to him- I was grateful… and irritated.

My mental shields reinforced, slammed down on the weak point with crude, blunt force. It wasn’t perfect but it’ll do for now; a patch job.

The needlepoint of Tapal’s attack snapped off, as a deft parry shunted his swing up and over my head.

He recovered fast- faster than I thought he would, rolling with the momentum to deliver a kick that  caught me on the side of my knee. Tapal hit hard- hard enough to rob the limb of its strength for a brief, critical moment.

I fell, my leg almost numb as Tapal kept moving with the momentum to spin his saber staff into place and bring it down over my head.

Time to show him what I’d been so eager to test.

With a thought, I reached out, another hand subtly joining mine.

Oxygen moved and scraped together unnaturally, sparking in the space between us before suddenly fire burst infront of Tapal’s face, tongues of flame licking at his face fur and beard as he yelped, reeling back.

The fire grew, fueled through manipulations in the force, lighting the air like tallow.

As I moved ignoring the numbness in my leg to capitalize on the opening, I felt Tapal rally, trying to use his own strength in the Force to smother my manipulations, to douse the flames.

But that same blunt force strength that had reinforced my mind came down again, the hammerblow smashing aside his hasty, attempted counter, still backpedaling as his wide eyes told me exactly how frantically he was trying to decide on what to do.

I walked forward quickly, blade extended, fire obscuring my movements- Tapal swung through fire, stinging heat and blinding flare.

My sword wasn’t there anymore.

His swing made him overextend, he was open.

He tried to move to fix his mistake only to yelp when he felt the sharp sting of my weapon, even on its lowest setting brush across his cheek. Stunned stillness falling over him at the realization.

I won.

My leg was still smarting, my breathing was heavy, and my headache was beginning to pound… but I did it.

I’d won.

With nothing but my strength in the force, without my bugs, or any of the Parahuman benefits they brought to the table…

I won.

The feeling of triumph suffused me, and I felt a foreign, pleased thrum at the back of my mind, an excited joy at possibilities that wasn’t wholly mine.

Tapal’s wide, surprised eyes gave way to a delighted laugh of his own as he realized what had happened too.

“Master!” Cal rushed forward, into the ring, his eyes as large as dinner plates and filled with worry at Tapal’s singed beard hairs “Master are you alright!?”

“Perfectly fine Cal.” Tapal chuckled, the blades of his saberstaff retracting as he hooked the long haft onto his belt. “Master Hebert was simply reminding me that just because a technique isn’t widely used doesn’t mean it stopped existing.”

The Lasat shook his head. “Force Pyromancy-” He nodded. “It’s a rare skill. I don’t believe anyone has truly attempted to use it offensively in centuries. In fact, I believe Master Poof is the order’s only practitioner today.”

“He is.” I nodded. “Gave me the idea at least- but he only uses it to light candles on occasion.”

“And from Candles you leapt to…” He gestured to the air around us, still dry and hot. “This?”

I shrugged. “Like you said- it's rare. Surprise carries its own advantage, clearly. The Jedi prefer simple Telekinesis. Grab Item, throw item. Not much to think there. Sith, from what I’ve read, prefer Force Lightning. Pouring out their anger and hatred into offense. Actively manipulating millions of air particles to form a large enough fire is no one’s cup of tea.”

The Lasat rubbed at his chin. “It would be extremely difficult to maintain that active focus in combat.” He commented. “I’d ask if you were sure you could concentrate on such complexities in the middle of the fight if you didn’t just demonstrate that you very much can.”

“I can multitask.” I answered with a careless glibness; downplaying the extent as to how much that was true. It was unavoidable that after so many years the Jedi were aware of what I could do in a general sense; but like Alexandria on Mandalore, the less specifics they had about the extent of my capabilities; the more comfortable I felt. “Unless the person can simply brute force overwhelm my control like Yoda or Mace can; it won’t be much of a problem.”

Then, a thought. “Besides-” I shrugged. “Unlike back home, few people seem to be fireproof in this galaxy.”

He raised a bemused eyebrow, but his smile didn’t dim at what must’ve been a strange comment on my part. “I’ll have to practice up then. Hahaha.” His laugh was almost infectious and I could feel, to my surprise pride- actual genuine pride filling his being.

He was proud of me for beating him.

That’s… not the response I expected honestly…

“You’ll have time.” I assured, shifting a bit from foot to foot. “When are you and Cal heading off to your next mission?”

That was one thing about Tapal. He was always on assignment. Always doing something. He was not a Master that could simply sit in one place forever like Yoda, or some of the other high Council members.

I’d heard he’d been offered a seat on the Council, more than once, and had always turned it down.

He stayed in the temple for a few days, or at most a few weeks, and then it was off to the next mission.

So it was safe to assume he would do so again here.

And yet, it seems I had another surprise in store for me.

“I actually wished to discuss that very thing with you.” He said, gesturing towards the nearby gardens. “Might we walk and talk?”

I blinked, confused but Tapal was a friend and so my agreement came easily. “Sure.”

We started walking, our boots and Cal’s following behind us, making crunches and crackles along the path, the tiny little rocks shifting under our weight. There were a few dozen earthworms along the garden, letting me know the movements of several other Jedi- and that let me lead us through more private paths. Because I sensed Tapal wanted this to be a semi-private conversation.

So I would oblige him

“The Conclave.” He finally began as we reached the shade of trees, walking beside me, back straight, arms clasped behind him. “It is in just a few days time.”

“You’re planning on attending?” That wasn’t much of a surprise. While the Jedi weren’t forcing attendance; it was an open secret that the Green Jedi of Corellia, the oldest satellite temple across the Order’s entire history, dating back to nearly the founding of the Jedi order itself several thousand years ago- would be playing host for the Masters in a symbolic gesture to help the high Council decide who should be the leaders entrusted with the future of the individual Enclaves now dotting the galaxy.

The final step into acknowledging them as full and stable temples in their own right where they will each be ‘given’ Masters and Grandmasters of their own to serve out decade long terms, semi-independent of the Jedi High Council here on Coruscant.

Naturally many Jedi Masters across the order were interested in going. Either to receive promotion or simply to volunteer their services to any temple that interested them or they felt might need the extra helping hand.

Tapal going wasn’t something I expected necessarily, it still didn’t seem like his scene given his wandering nature; but I could still see why he might.

The man nodded “I will be doing more than attend. I will be petitioning the Council to make me Master of the Temple on Kashyyyk.”

Wait, what?

“Wait, what?” I said my head whipping in his direction. “You’ve never stayed in the temple for a whole month without feeling like you were going to climb the walls.” I answered bluntly. “Now you want to run a temple?”

“Hah!” He barked out a laugh. “Its true. Still- I pray you’ll hear me out.”

“It better be good-” I was half teasing, half serious.

“The Kashyyyk enclave has become known, well known in fact- for being the place where Jedi go to train themselves on combating the Sith we’re currently hunting.” He explained. “Sith that have seemingly expanded now to political assassinations  and are making active moves across the galaxy; given the recent fiasco on Mandalore”

Yeah- that hadn’t remained a secret in the temple for very long, particularly among high ranking Masters and proficient combat practitioners like Tapal. It was like the Council wanted everyone to think an army of Sith ninja might jump out of the curtains at any moment and so they had to be ready to face them at the drop of a hat.

And then they wondered why their secrets kept getting out…

My own little tangent aside, Tapal nodded. “We must be ready and I believe I can help the order get ready in that position.”

The Masters of the Kashyyyk enclave right now were Billaba and Piel, neither of them were slouches when it came to combat or tactics.

Still… Tapal was better than them in my opinion. Or Piel at least. Billaba for all of her quiet serenity could be downright devilish, with a mean streak when she got it in her mind to go after someone.

Alright.” I hedged carefully. “I can understand that- but why tell me?”

“Well it's simple.” He replied. “I’d like you to join me in those efforts as the permanent head of the Kashyyyk  Shadowlands training program.”

My mind stuttered over itself. “What?”

Tapal nodded, utterly sure of what he’d just said. “You have a drive about you, a desire to win that’s rare in Jedi, but valuable for training. I myself have benefited tremendously just from a desire to stay ahead of you, and you are now my equal. Imagine the net benefits that could bring- the exponential increase in skill across all the ranks of the Jedi if you applied that same ethic more permanently on Kashyyyk as a dedicated instructor.”

I understood what he was saying, and to a degree I agreed. Helping individual Masters was one thing; to date only Yoda, Windu and Mundi had ever gone back for multiple “rounds” of training in the shadowlands, but-

“I can’t just leave, I have-” I stopped myself from saying Victoria’s name, immediately pivoting towards the second thought “-my kids.” I almost winced at that slip, knowing I should have just called it a creche. Distance and detachment would sway a Jedi, regardless of how thinly veiled that lie was.

Tapal’s eyes turned sympathetic, and when he spoke, there was understanding there, but firmness as well. “We Jedi preach to let go of our attachments; because oftentimes they can prevent us from doing the most good in service to them.”

I didn’t answer, continuing to walk beside him. “It’s a fairly big decision. I need time to think.”

“I understand. While I’m clearly biased towards a specific choice; I will not begrudge your choosing differently should it happen; and my offer remains open- indefinitely.”

“If you become Headmaster of the Kashyyyk enclave.” I noted.

He huffed out an embarrassed laugh. “Yes- I suppose I am allowing pride to get the better of me in my presumptions aren’t I?”

I let myself smirk just a bit. Though admittedly; I couldn’t really think of a better candidate for the temple that was dedicating itself to combat training more than the others. Maybe Windu, but he was being slotted into leading the Order here on Coruscant.

I tossed a look over my shoulder towards Cal, still following obediently behind us, listening to our conversation. The boy started when I looked at him.

“And what about you Cal?” I asked. “Do you think you’d enjoy training on Kashyyyk?”

The boy looked down, too shy by half to hold my gaze. “I- um- A Jedi is expected to-”

“I can’t keep him from climbing or jumping stunts if I tried.” Tapal said flatly. “Frankly, I’m likely to become an acrobat trying to keep him from breaking something on a planet full of trees.”

“Master!” Cal’s shout of horrified betrayal was enough to make Tapal laugh.

“No.” I teased, my own smile tugging at the corner of my lips- remembering the many many times I’d had to signal Crechemaster Ungor with my butterflies that Cal was climbing something again, just a few short years ago. “Not our perfect little Jedi in training.”

“I’m not little!”

“Oh, but you are a perfect Jedi then?” Tapal teased exploiting that lack of protest.

As Cal looked increasingly tempted to chuck his saber at his Master’s head- a sudden turn in the conversation in the Council Chamber, far above us, caught my attention.

“Masters- we’ve received word from Padawan Skywalker on Naboo, the Sith Master has attacked him and Senator Amidalla-”

(X)(X)(X)

Mace Windu:

As the message spilled out of the Knight’s lips, each of the Masters, present or in Holo, went still in their seats.

“Skywalker is certain of this?” It was Piell who asked, his holo leaning forward.

“He is on the line-” The Knight answered hastily. “He can be patched through on your request.”

“Do so immediately.” Windu demanded.

The messenger knight offered a hasty bow, retreating to go open the commlink.

After a few moments, the flickering blue holo of Padawan Skywalker emerged in the center of the Council room.

Immediately; it was obvious boy had been in a fight, and not one that necessarily went in his favor.

His arm was in a splint, the opposite hand bandaged; bags were under his eyes and the youth was favoring one side.

“Masters-” He went to bow, but he arrested the movement with a grimace of pain he couldn’t fully hide or control.

“Skywalker.” Windu greeted back. “You encountered the Sith?”

The boy straightened with a deep breath. “I did, Master. He attacked Senator Amidala’s summer home, likely looking to kill her.” He leaned out of view of the holo for a moment, fiddling with something offscreen. “I’m transmitting video-footage to you now. It was taken by Naboolian security forces as they arrived on scene.”

The data transmitted easily after a few minutes; and a few minutes after that subsequent downloads to distant Masters on other planets followed, allowing them all to view the footage.

It was body cam footage, and there, clear and unmistakable was the image of a man, standing over the downed Skywalker, red blade in hand. Even through this -an echo of an echo- Windu could feel a sickening, nausea in his gut at the sight of him, a tendril of putrid darkside energy coiling around the man like a rotting vine

“Safe, you are now?” Yoda prodded, small claw cupping his chin.

“As safe as we can be-” The boy admitted candidly. “Senator Amidala and I are now staying inside the Nabolian security guard-house, surrounded at all times by soldiers and guardsmen. Even so, I sustained injuries, if the Sith returns I may not be able to fight him off again. And, even if I weren’t injured, I’m not sure how to kill him.”

Master Piell huffed out a breath. “The fact that you fought him at all and lived is remarkable Padawan. We do not expect you to kill him”

“N-no Master-” Skywalker shook his head rapidly. “You misunderstand. I don’t know how to kill him. Because I’m almost certain I broke his neck during our duel and he didn’t exactly seem to mind overmuch when he followed up by swinging his saber at my head.”

That made them all do something of a double take, incredulous eyebrows rising and disbelieving murmurs breaking out amongst the council members.

But Windu could not detect a hint of deception or bragging in the boy.

As far as Skywalker knew at least, he was telling the truth. He had broken the Sith’s neck.

“Certain you are?” Master Yoda pressed.

“How could it be possible?’ Billaba questioned, eying the video on her pad. “It looks like a human, or near human.”

“A pathway to unnatural powers; the Darkside is.” Yoda cautioned. “Possible, what Skywalker says, could be.”

“It's not the best quality, but I believe bodycam four, at around two minutes and seventeen seconds- perhaps our technicians can clear up the image -but I’m fairly sure you can see the vertebrae broken under the flesh of his neck there as he turns and runs away.”

Immediately every Master began moving through the recordings, Windu included.

Reaching the aforementioned time- Windu could admit that it was a poor quality image, blurred and dark, but there was certainly something odd about the back of the man’s neck.

But if it was a trick of the light, damaged armor, or something else that was not a shattered vertebrae he couldn’t rightly say.

If it was a broken neck… there were species that could survive such a thing. Gendai; creatures with redundant nervous systems like Trandoshans, but not easily; and as Billaba said, this looked human

The Council room fell into silence, he looked to Master Yoda, who stared back at him with calm placidity that told Mace that the old Master was letting him take the lead on this-

As Master of the Order, Mace needed to learn.

He took a breath. “We will discuss how to proceed from here young Skywalker. In the meanwhile keep the Senator safe and you are to report to us every galactic standard hour on the hour from now, until your reinforcements arrive. Use the priority frequency.”

“I understand Master Windu.” the boy bowed and hesitated for a moment. “Should I… contact Master Obi-Wan? Tell him what happened? He entrusted me with this assignment.”

“I will do so” Billaba volunteered. “Kashyyyk isn’t too far from Mandalore, communication will be easier and faster from here.”

“Thank you, Master Billaba.” Anakin sighed, relief clear in his voice and tone.

“May the force be with you, Young Skywalker.” Yoda nodded.

“And with you Master Yoda. I’ll contact the council again in one standard hour as requested.”

The holo image flickered off.

“Another apprentice?” Piell asked, features scrunching up, dread and anger warring within the small Master.

“The Doctrine of the Sith dictates that there would be only two.” Master Koth answered.

“Doctrines, evidently- change”  Master Tinn sneered somewhat pointedly.

“This could be the Master” Galia put forward.

“Fought off by Skywalker alone?” Piell shook his head. “The boy is strong, but even I can still give him a good smack or two in the arena and the Sith Master made me look like a crecheling. There is no way Skywalker fought the Sith that killed Master Dooku!”

“And yet, it's the only other Sith we know of. And Male to boot, unlike the human female encountered by Obi-Wan, Hebert, Dallon and Skywalker” Master Trebor pointed out. “So, either it is a new apprentice or it is the Sith Master. Either way, the danger is real and we must act; A padawan, regardless of how strong or skilled should not be left to face such a thing.”

“Agreed.” Windu nodded, the wheels of his mind still turning;

Before he could open his mouth to declare his decision- another voice spoke up.

“It doesn’t make sense.”

All eyes turned, rounding on Ki-Adi Mundi.

“Master Mundi?” Gallia asked. “What’s wrong?”

The Cerean Jedi shook his large head eyes closed in thought- the prodigious processing power of his species being bent to its full capability. “Assassinating Amidala or Organa or even the Duchess on Mandalore made sense. It would fracture the coalition, leave Mandalore without allies, spiral quickly into war with the Hutts- perhaps affect the Jedi enclave on that world as well, dragging us into the conflict. It would incite chaos, and violence, and feed the dark side.”

His eyes opened. “But on Naboo? It does nothing. It achieves nothing. And both times the target is Amidala, why her? Bail would have been the more valuable target on Mandalore and yet it was Amidalla’s double who was killed. Satine would have been a good secondary target and yet they again target her. She has no, great legislation? She pushes no significant agenda in the republic that I’m aware of. And yet he is consistently targeting her- why?”

“Perhaps she has some specific knowledge?” Master Koth guessed. “Something even she might not be fully aware of?”

“On asteroid 13611 he lured Master Dooku to his death because he was close to discovering his identity.” Plo-Koon reminded. “If Amidala is investigating a private citizen, or a group, the Sith might believe she’s close to stumbling on his activities. He might be trying to silence her.”

“As Master Trebor said, we must act-” Windu declared. “Master Yoda and I will travel towards Naboo to secure Senator Amidala and link up with Skywalker. If the Sith attacks again we will be ready-”

“We must move in secret then.” Master Poof added, raising one long limb. “If the Sith catches wind of the both of you leaving for Naboo, he will surely try to leave the planet immediately.”

“Secret and swift we must be.” Yoda affirmed. “Kronos, both of these things- he can do. Contact him we must”

All valid points.

“Then here is how we will move.” Mace cut in; the plan forming “We will publicly leave for Corellia tomorrow. Nominally this will be to better coordinate with our Green Jedi allies for the coming conclave. We will, infact meet up in secret with Kronos at a midway point between here and Kamino. From there, in secret we will move in all haste towards Naboo.”

“Both of you?” Master Koth questioned.

“If it is the Sith Master, dangerous he is.” Yoda said. “Underestimate him again- we must not. We will not”

“But surely one of you, with a few Masters will suffice- why risk both of you?” The Zabrak pressed.

“Transporting Many Masters will be impossible to hide.” Master Rancissis pointed out. “Especially on such short notice. If the Sith truly has spies watching the order, he will know. It will be a flare firing off in the night. We have to assume at the very least he has spies in Amidala’s staff for him to have followed her to Naboo even after her double was killed and her survival kept secret.”

The serpentine Master rubbed at his beard. “We can obfuscate Master Windu and Master Yoda’s movements by sending a few smaller groups of knights and Masters to Corellia ‘early’ along with them and inform Skywalker that we are diverting Master’s from Zygerria to Naboo to help him. Whatever spies the sith have- by the time they sift through all the white noise, hopefully Masters Yoda and Windu will already have arrived on Naboo. By then, it’ll be too late and the Masters can find and neutralize him forever if he’s still on the planet.

“We can obfuscate even further with the clones.” Piell suddenly said.

Master Koth turned to the smaller Jedi. “The clones.”

Piell shrugged. “The first Batallions were to be sent to us when the conclave concluded. Send one battalion, or a smaller regiment to us to meet us on Corellia early. For ceremonial purposes we can say. Its just more white noise to throw into the air, as Master Rancisis put it”

Not a bad idea either. And the sooner the Jedi could get to know the clones, the better perhaps.

Master Poof suddenly stood up. “I will contact Kronos and Kamino immediately. Regardless of who we send, these messages will need to be sent now if we want either the clones or Kronos to move as quickly as we need them.” The long limbed, long necked Master began to march out.

“Is this wise?” Plo-Koon cautioned. “While I have no doubt the Sith is no match for you in open battle he will not face you in open battle. If, Force forbid, we lose both of you as we did Master Dooku, the order will be left leaderless.”

“It will not.” Mace declared, staring pointedly at the Kel-Dor Master.

It took Plo-Koon a second to realize what wasn’t being said, very loudly.

It was hard to tell with his mask, but Mace was fairly sure his old friend balked. “What?”

Mace straightened, hands folding into his sleeves as he stared at Plo. “In our absence, or, in the event of our deaths, Master Yoda and I have agreed that you were to be named Master of the Order, Master Plo.” Mace confessed. “We were to discuss this formally, and publicly in the conclave, but it seems circumstances have forced our hand.”

The Kel-Dor stiffened in his seat, back ramrod straight and body, utterly still.

“I… I’m unsure what to say.”

“Dead yet, we are not.” Yoda chuckled. “And intending to fail, we are not. Even so, a fitting Master you are. Rise to the occasion, you will.”

The silence across the council chamber was a mixture of stunned, and uncomfortable at the sudden turn, but soon enough Master Galia was the one who broke it.

“I concur.” The tholothian Jedi declared, offering a small smile Plo-Koon’s way. “It is a fine choice.”

Soon enough, other Masters began to voice their support as well, and Plo Koon’s head lowered in humbled embarrassment.

“Then- I accept Masters.”

Mace nodded. “As Master Yoda said, we do not intend to fail, and if time allows, we will reach the Conclave with Skywalker long before you would need to assume the duties during said conclave. But… It is good to know the Order is under your fine guidance in such an eventuality.”

…

“Thank you- Master Windu… You do me a tremendous honor.”

(X)(X)(X)

And so- the last cards are played. The last pieces, moved on the board :3

As a reminder there is a discord server here:

https://discord.gg/BB7qsUZf

Where everyone can speculate on how fine and dandy everything is going to be in the coming updates; because my readers radiate positivity and optimism! :D