Yoda smiled internally as climbed to his feet looking at the youngling who Yoda had allowed to push him off the small bar where he, like the others of the class scattered around the room had been training in the game of push-and-pull. It was a game where two students balanced on polls laid out on the ground and pulled or pushed at one another. Students learned both balance body control and it was one of many exercises designed to teach the students how to predict the ebb and flow of battle via the Force. This was why the activity would stop every 10 minutes while the teacher walked them through meditation designed to teach younglings to open their mind to the Force.
As Grand Master of the Order Yoda of course was not a normal teacher in any sense of the word. But he routinely took part in the beginner's courses, getting a feel for the younglings, sometimes helping with a particularly recalcitrant young one, or helping others build their confidence as he had just now. He had taken part in practically every class for the past two days however because he had wanted to make certain that the younglings were getting back into a normal routine after the attack on the Temple several nights past. Young ones could bounce back from quite a bit, but it was always good to get them back into a routine after such a tragedy.
He nodded to the teacher of this class a human male named Master Kusai. Kusai nodded back before quickly reforming the class around him in a semi-circle to go through the next round of meditation. Yoda waited a few more moments, making certain the students were fully involved in the meditation, before turning and quietly leaving the classroom.
Making his slow way through the environs of the temple Yoda let his mind wander back to the events of the evening before: the Yinchorri attack on the temple and the reverberation in the Force that had followed closely on its heels. That echo in the Force had not been connected to the attack, but to something that had occurred elsewhere, and it had felt wonderful to the aged Master, despite how light a touch it had been in his mind.
Depressing it is to contemplate only felt the like before have I. Sad it is to think moments of joy, happiness, so few, so far between. For that was what it was, a feeling of joy through the Force as something changed. Something that had been practically sat in the stone of the future, a certainty had changed abruptly. In this case, a light which should've been snuffed out by death now continued to burn, but not just one, several. And Yoda somehow knew that not only did it have something to do with Master Windu's mission, but also his former apprentice and his new secret.
Only twice before have I felt the like in my life, changed an event long set in motion. The future was not always immutable, changing. There was no such thing as a destiny for everyone, but there were certain events that when you tried to peel back the skein of the future you learned were unchangeable for various reasons, momentum of prior events, size of the event in question, the reasons were numerous. But occasionally even those events could be changed, and this was what had happened, setting a small but noticeable, at least to Yoda, reverberation through the Force.
Yoda frowned as he continued to walk through the Temple, nodding at the Knights and Masters as he passed them by, rolling his eyes and harrumphing loudly as learners or Knights made to bow to him. Respect of course was one thing, veneration was another. Too often youngsters these days saw him as some kind of infallible oracle, the repository of all knowledge of Jedi life rather than simply the most learned among many. Old am I, too old, yet in these Dark times, my burden share with another I cannot. Dark times we are in, Darker they may yet become.
That was true, far truer than most of Yoda's fellow Jedi could sense. Indeed, until that reverberation of Light through the force, even Yoda had been unaware of it. Now he was, but even with nearly a thousand years of skill behind him, Yoda could only discern the what, not the why: The Dark Side of the Force was rising, a miasma occluding everything it touched. And it was powerful, so powerful!
Worse was Yoda couldn't discern any reason behind it. It was as if the Force itself was slowly changing from Light to Dark, as if it was simply the sign of a natural cycle of some kind. But the Yinchorri attack on the temple was a clue that something else might be going on.
He stopped walking suddenly, turning around and making for the temple's gardens. Not the ones where the temple grew its own food, but the gardens designed for meditation. There were several dozen varieites of such, ranging from carefully cultivated beauty spots to rock gardens while others were designed to look like wild forests or the plains of various planets. Right now, Yoda had a wish to meditate in an area like that, the better to allow the Living Force of the plants to calm him.
Surprisingly the garden he had chosen was already in use. Yoda stopped his walk, smiling faintly as he looked at the Togrutan female sitting there. Young knight Shaak Ti, expected this I should have. Here all the time she is, these days like the temple entire she does not. Shaking his head Yoda made for a patch of grass a few feet in front of the Togrutan, knowing what she was meditating on and wondering if she would benefit from some advice.
Shaak Ti had risen to knighthood at a younger age than most, but she was well deserving of it. Yoda had been one of those who had actually pushed for her to take the test early feeling she was ready, and in the months since Shaak Ti had proven that assumption correct. She was humble, not a false humility but true humbleness, with a level of empathy that was among the greatest in the temple at present. She was also thoughtful, insightful, well learned, an excellent duelist for her age and experience, as well as being a halfway decent pilot.
She had proven all these points on over a dozen missions alone and with her previous master in the past few months. Two times Shaak Ti had aided diplomatic missions to come to a successful conclusion, and five times she had brought in wanted criminals, alive and with no one else having been injured or killed in her pursuit of them, while at other times she had protected senators from assassination attempts. All in all Shaak Ti was one of the best well-rounded knights currently here in the Temple, but that very nature was undoubtedly what Shaak Ti was currently meditating on.
After several moments of silently meditating, the ancient Grand Master of the order spoke his voice soft and somehow blending into the peace of the garden rather than shattering it. "Troubled are you, worried about which order calls to you. Not reached a conclusion yet have you."
Shaak Ti had of course felt his arrival and had not come out of her meditation, knowing Yoda was somewhat disdainful of over-zealous shows of respect, and cutting off her meditation would have fallen under that heading. Now she opened her eyes, and shook her head, trying to match his tone. "I have not Master Yoda. I thought at first that the Consular Order was the obvious choice. But… I feel the universe is changing, and, if it does not sound too prideful, I feel we may need more Guardians among our ranks in the future."
"Alone in this thought you are not, prideful your comment was not." Yoda said heavily, opening his eyes to look at her. "Violent outbreaks, more there have been in the past six months than 60 years prior. The order in its current form, not ready for this upswing we are."
Shaak Ti nodded, having heard that before but she sensed something in the ancient Master that she had not before. Regret perhaps, or could that even be worry? Before she could probe deeper Yoda stood up, with some difficulty given his advanced age even for his people, and leaning on his cane began to make his way out of the garden. "Time you have, time to think. Make decision you will, but base it not on desires or thoughts of what need the Order has, but what you are. Decision, shape your life from now on it will. Make the right one you must."
For a moment Shaak Ti wanted to reach out, to ask the ancient Grand Master what burden had brought him down here to mediate. But knowing how junior she was to him she refrained for a brief second. Then the ancient Master was gone, slipping away as quietly as he had come. Shaking her head Shaak Ti sighed before closing her eyes and slipping into meditation again.
OOOOOOO
Ranma leaned against a wall as he watched Mace and the others questioning the leader of the Yinchorri closely. There was something going on that he hadn't been told about the Devaronian prisoner which the Jedi hadn't shared with him which bothered the Jedi. But they weren't apparently getting any leads from their questioning judging by the frowns on their faces.
Eventually Mace and the Zabrak, the one Ranma simply could not think of as anything more than a jackass given his 'face your fears' crack about Ranma's fear of being raped in his female form, came away moving over to talk to Dooku, who had been talking to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. "Our prisoner was a mercenary," Mace said bluntly as he walked up to them. "He apparently made a fortune selling weapons to the Yinchorri at first before they could build their own, then even more aiding them in planning out some of their attacks in some fashion. Why he came to them is still unknown but the why of it seems clear."
Dooku frowned. "I do not believe money alone could be behind this. We know about the attack on the Temple, which could point to this entire conflict, not just the Devaronian's involvement, being something more than it first appears. There is no advantage for the Yinchorri to attack the Temple as they did, none that I can see at any rate. Could this have been an attempt to bleed the Jedi Order? Cost us a few of our members for some reason?"
"We don't have enough evidence to support that, nor could any group be manipulating things like this behind the scene without us knowing about it. No if this conflict was the start of something bigger it was possibly some kind of power grab in the Senate perhaps or something similar to the Stark Hyperspace War, nothing that was directly set against us. We must focus our efforts on figuring out who would gain from Yinchorri expansion, that is the key here." Master Gallia said, frowning.
"The attack on the Temple was most likely a feint," said Koth, agreeing with Gallia. "Or perhaps a target of opportunity. I have no doubt that when we get back to Coruscant we will find that there were other attacks that night."
"The moment you think you know everything is the moment you prove you know nothing," said Ranma smirking as he interrupted the conversation. All of the Jedi turned to look at him in surprise at that comment and he shrugged. "Sun Tzu said that I think, but whatever. You're too certain you know enough to dismiss Dooku's concerns. The more you convince yourself of how infallible you are, the worse you're making it for yourselves."
"My friend's words are harsh but true I think. I cannot describe it better, but I think this and others such flare ups point to something larger, something unseen. It is not a mere power grab, but something aimed at us." Dooku said frowning thoughtfully.
The others frowned as well, but before they could argue back Ranma interrupted again. "You lot keep debating. I'm going to go scavenge."
"Scavenge, whatever for?" said Obi-Wan, frowning censoriously. He had not gotten over his initial bad impression yet, and the idea of someone scavenging the battlefield seemed to only add to it.
"Heh, you'll see eventually." Ranma said, waving the slightly older but still young man off. Damn, guy can't be more than 25 or so, but he acts like he's thirty something. I mean he's nice and all, at least from what little I've seen, but the dude needs to lighten the bleep up.
"And there goes an even larger mystery," said Master Koth shaking his head and frowning at Ranma's retreating back. "Where did you find him Dooku? His attitude is worrisome, and though I haven't felt anything Dark from him, his insolence and his emotions tell me he could all too easily slip into it."
"As I've said before, that is a conversation I will have with Master Yoda and the rest of the Council all at once." Dooku said serenely, though his eyes flashed at the other Master's tone. "And I will remind you once again, just because he is different does not mean he is dark. Or have we Jedi become so insular that we must see everything different as an enemy?"
"None of that," said Master Giiett, shaking his head with a faint smile. "Master Dooku is right, as is Master Koth. He does espouse views which would put him at odds with the Jedi Order, or at least the majority of it. But we as an Order do not jump to conclusions based simply on differences of opinion." He laughed suddenly. "We would be very poor diplomats if we did."
Somewhat chastened Master Koth nodded his head slightly while Dooku did the same. Giiett went on. "As for our young ally, I will see why you place so much faith in him for myself Master Dooku."
"And how are you going to do that?" Dooku asked calmly, one wintry eyebrow raised.
"He is a combative young man, and I think that area is the best place for such a discussion." With that Giiett waved his hand at them all, and walked off in the same direction Ranma had gone.
It took him some time to find the youth, Ranma having covered quite a bit of distance, and when Master Giiett did find him he stopped abruptly. Ranma was standing in an area that looked like an industrial holding area, with several machines scattered around them and hundreds of heavy crates stacked everywhere.
In one hand he was holding up one of the Yinchorri in an easy grip on his belt buckle as the Yinchorri frantically pointed at one of the crates. Ranma reached forward and touched it, then looked up at the warrior who nodded his head frantically. In reply Ranma tossed him aside casually before reaching over to rip open the crate. Reaching in his arms came out with a piece of metallic ore around four times as thick as his arm and just as long.
Shaking his head at the youth's interrogation Giiett made to step forward only to stop and stare as the giant piece of ore suddenly disappeared, seemingly up the youth's sleeve. Good grief, I'm beginning to understand why Dooku thinks young Ranma is such a find, above and beyond his skills in combat.
He paused a second then moved forward anyway, smiling as the youth turned to him. "The other Masters are a bit busy, they tend to handle the diplomacy and strategy side of things, while I handled the technical. As such I find myself at a bit of a loose end of the moment. I was wondering if you would be up to a spar."
Ranma smirked. "Always, man."
The two of them made their way back towards the observation deck where their ship had first crashed. There they found several of the other Masters. Now that the questioning of the prisoners was over, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had joined the others, while Dooku, Gallia, Windu and Koth began to talk to the admirals of the occupation fleets.
The apprentices all looked up, as did Lilit and Giiett smiled affably at them, before pulling off his Jedi robe and setting it aside, pulling out his two lightsabers, both of which were of the short bladed variety called shoto. He activated them on the low setting saying that aloud and then getting into a ready stance taken from Jar'kai, a lightsaber form based entirely around twin swords, of which he was the acknowledged master within the Order. "Whenever you're ready?"
No sooner had he said that then Ranma was on him, hands and feet flashing out. For a moment Giiett frowned, parrying with his blades, watching as Ranma conjured up some kind of Force-based shield around his limbs batting his lightsabers aside. "Interesting technique, though I have to ask, why didn't you use it in the battle on the planet against the Yinchorri?"
"Had to come up with something, those lightsabers of yours can overcome even my body's durability, which is why I didn't use it in the battle. Regular blasters can't overcome my durability, but I'd've lost limbs to Dooku if I haven't figured this trick out."
"And how long did that take you?" asked Giiett, calmly making conversation even as his shotos and Ranma's hands flared back and forth. Good grief this lad is fast, still, he seems more at home in the air given how he stayed airborne for so long during the battle. If I can keep him on the ground I might be able to give him a bit of a fight despite the differences in our strength and speed thanks to my battle precognition.
Giiett knew himself too well to have any illusions as to who would win a real battle between the two of them, but at the moment in a spar he might have a chance of winning this. Especially since the youth isn't moving faster than I can match, however difficult it might be. Interesting, and a good training tool, but I wonder if it is ingrained from his own training to not overwhelm his opponents, or an actual decision on his part?
"About 5 seconds or so, tryin' to recreate it later under non-combat conditions was much harder." Ranma replied dryly. "I'm much better at improvising in battle than I am at figuring out how I do it later on."
"Interesting, it shows a certain flexibility of mind that must serve you well. But how much actual combat have you seen?"
"Depends on what you mean by combat. Lots and lots of one-on-one sparrin' and fights and that kind of thing, a lot of group combat, but..." Ranma frowned shaking his head and moving back in the face of a sudden offense from Giiett, lifting up his leg slightly to allow one of his lightsabers to pass before snap kicking out catching the short and almost rotund Jedi Master in the chest slightly, even though the Jedi had already moved to dodge the blow coming around high with his other shoto slashing towards Ranma's face.
Ranma dodged in turn, muttering. "But if you mean real life or death combat, only a few times before Dooku and I arrived here."
Giiett paused at that, staring into Ranma's face for any sign of deception. There was none, as Giiett somehow knew there wouldn't. While Ranma could be guileful in combat, the youth wore his emotions on his sleeve in a way that Giiett had never seen in any other Jedi beyond the youngest younglings. "Then I am doubly sorry. Sorry you had to face that, and sorry for I doubt your mind will ever be the same again. Taking life like that, it marks you."
"I know." Ranma said quietly, before smirking and launching into a new attack that nearly caught Giiett by surprise. "But my Code always had a position there for fighting like that, fer, for taking life. I'll deal with it."
"Your Code, your code of honor I suppose? Tell me more about that, and who trained you? Not to inflate your ego too much, but your hand-to-hand skills are incredible."
"They should be I sacrificed a lot of other stuff in my life to get as good as I am. My old man, my father trained me for the most part, mostly on a training trip. We also stopped at various dojos, I suppose you'd call them different schools where specific styles were taught. We…"
From there the conversation continued as the two warriors moved back and forth across the open area and even out over the overlooking hanger for a time when Ranma tricked them into the air. For a time Giiett was hard pressed, his Force telekinesis against Ranma's mid-air ability, before he brought them both back down to the ground of the observation deck.
Giiett asked about Ranma's family and about how many styles he knew, becoming astonished at the total before Ranma explained that all of that went to simply adding new techniques or specific moves into a single style which he called Anything Goes. That was a particularly interesting name, filled with very odd connotations in Giiett mind.
But for the most part Giiett asked about other things, family as has been mentioned, friends, loved ones, the society Ranma was a part of, what his home planet was like, and other things. Anything and everything he could ask to get a better feel for the young man's personality. Giiett came away with an appreciation for the youth's father as a trainer, yet also a sharp desire to stab him at least once somewhere not immediately fatal for some of the training techniques he apparently used.
It was obvious Genma had never been satisfied with human limitations and because of that he pushed Ranma well beyond the norm. What should have broken Ranma however had only made him stronger, stronger than any human should have been in terms of speed and power. But in Giiett's mind, the training itself was a perfect example of the end not justifying the means.
Giiett was not the only Jedi Master thinking about Ranma, studying him as the spar continued. Plo Koon and Tiin were both watching, their thoughts going along very different lines. Plo's were following an old line, wondering if the youth's skills were hidden among the forbidden knowledge kept sequestered in the Jedi library, or if they were actually entirely new, an astonishing thought given how long Jedi had been using the Force. He was also smiling behind his mask, seeing that his initial impression had been correct.
His fellow council member Tiin was wondering something far more specific: whether or not he could learn to control his body's Living Force as the youth obviously did. The implications to a person's combat ability was obvious to a Guardian like him.
Qui-Gon was watching the spar thoughtfully, his eyes narrowed despite not being able to overhear their conversation. Such a strange youth so wild and uncontrolled, this one could never be a Jedi. In fact I doubt he would have become a Jedi even if we had found him when he was young enough to be taken in. Yet his odd connection to the Force, the amount of the Living Force within him he is so massive! But does that mean that he is the Chosen One, or a simple anomaly?
After a moment he shook his head, feeling or so he thought the rightness of his decision through the Force. No, he is not the chosen one, the one who would restore balance to the Force. That person, male or female, is still out there regardless of Ranma's sudden appearance. And I will be the one to find him! Still, since that is the case, for what reason was Ranma brought here by the Force?
For just a moment Qui-Gon felt what might have been an answer, a stranger mix of a light going off in a dark room and a faint, distant laugh. Then it was gone, and he was left with his own thoughts none the wiser.
OOOOOOO
While this was going on Mace and the others were conferencing via com with the two admirals, hammering out the details of the occupation force. This hadn't been done previously as no one had any way of knowing what was going on in the Yinchorri system before they arrived, how large a force would be needed and many other contributing factors such as the industrial capacity that would need to be dismantled and other things of that nature.
It was decided that Sluisi would leave a semi-permanent occupation garrison based off of the asteroid fortress that had previously hidden the Yinchorri's rulers. It wouldn't be a heavy one, but it would be large enough to make certain that the Yinchorri did not go back to their warlike, expansionistic ways, as well as defending the system from exterior incursion.
This second consideration was a bigger one than Dooku or the Jedi had thought it would be. Always mercantile minded, the Sluisi and the Mon Calamari fleets had both sent several corvettes out into the systems large asteroid belt to survey it. They had found several deposits of high-end metals there, as well as trace elements that were needed in spaceship drives, which were rare enough to be worth emplacing a permanent mining industry into the system.
The Sluisi, being the closer of the two powers could more easily emplace such an industry and guard it. But Admiral Sitoris was forced to concede that they would share the profits of the endeavor for twelve local years with the Mon Calamari due to their part in the occupation. The Mon Calamari would in turn try to rehabilitate the Yinchorri, something they had attempted, with some success with the Quarren after their war with them centuries ago.
There would of course be no occupation of the planets themselves, which would've been impossible given the size of the Yinchorri population. However the Yinchorri were still under the control of their intelligentsia caste even when that caste had been captured. As long as the aliens kept out of sight, the population on the planets would remain under control. So the Mon Calamari would use this caste system against them. They would take the children of the intelligentsia caste and teach them different ways of learning and living, as they had the Quarren.
Writing up a formal agreement with the two admirals' lawyers took the Jedi masters several hours, but after that they rounded up the rest of the Jedi and Ranma on the Consular class ship they hadn't used to crash land in the asteroid base, that one not being space-worthy anymore. They did however leave behind Master Choi and his padawan to help the two admirals for a time in keeping order and to deal with any inter-fleet issues that arose. Master Windu shared a final farewell with his fellow master, and then the ship jumped to hyperspace, leaving behind the two fleets and a system in turmoil.
The use of hyperspace lanes allowed for far faster travel than was possible in normal hyperspace, hence why control of them was so important in terms of commerce and defense. With the aid of the Perliman Trade route the trip from the Yinchorri system to Coruscant only took six days, with two of those days taken getting to the Trade Route in the first place.
During this trip Ranma's time was taken up with training with the padawans and getting to know them, working on his skill in standard. By the time they reached Coruscant his ability to speak it like a native had grown exponentially, he only had problems leaving the first words off of sentences occasionally, and a few issues with vocabulary. He still sounded like a Corellian though.
He also spent time learning the basics of piloting from Masters Tiin and Koon. Both pilots felt this was a good way to repay the young man's aid, and they had both come to like him in their own ways. While he had no technical experience to call upon, Ranma's instincts for midair combat served him well in the tests they set up for him, though it would take some time before he was anywhere near actually piloting a ship on his own.
For the most part, Koth, Gallia, and Windu left Ranma alone, letting him to the other masters and padawans, who had befriended him though in very different manners. Windu found himself among these not because of anything Ranma had done or said but because, for the first time since becoming a master, Mace had embarrassed himself badly thanks to the youth:
Not having seen the curse before, Windu had been astonished when Ranma had changed into his female form in front of him due to the water squirting practice sphere nailing him after he had thought it had been turned off. While the other masters seemed to take it in stride, Mace, astonished beyond anytime he could remember, strode up to the redhead, and poked her in one of her breasts. "Those cannot be… what in the name of the Force, where, how…"
At that point his musings, each word having been accompanied by a poke to a breast, was interrupted. Ranma laid him out with a single punch to the jaw, sending the Jedi Blade Master into blissful unconsciousness. After he woke up Ranma explained his curse and that he did not like being poked or prodded, and Windu, embarrassed for the first time ever, apologized profusely but found himself unable to come to terms with the sheer oddness of the transformation, or the accompanying feeling in the Force.
Beyond that however, only two instances stood out to the others as examples of Ranma's inherent otherness in comparison to Jedi:
"I understand from Giiett some of the training you have gone through, yet I still don't understand how you're strong enough to rip apart tanks with your bare hands as you did." Master Tiin asked, sitting across from Ranma as Koth took his turn in the cockpit. "How did that come about? Obviously it's a Force trick, the Force Warriors learned many ways to enhance their physical bodies, many of which all Jedi routinely learn today. But, I've never read of anything in the holocrons that said they could do so to the extent you showed. Wouldn't the Force in your muscles rip them apart before you could use them to such an extent?"
"I was trained to go beyond the human norm. Trained to be stronger, faster from a young age. What you think of as normal limit, can be broken through with enough training. As to how it works, I've got some theories, but not any certainties. I will say though that it ain't a 'Force trick'. I don't use my ki," Ranma stopped watching as Tiin tried to not scowl and laughed in reply.
"You lot can see 'the Force' the way ya want to, and in some ways I can see your point given what I've felt a time or two in the Chi of this universe. But I'll still call my internal energy the name I was taught to use it. Now, are you going to keep sneering at my terminate, or are you going to listen."
"That's terminology, I think, and I'll listen. It's not my place to try and correct your impression of the Force, I'll leave that to older and more patient heads than mine." That Ranma would need such was something Tiin assumed, whatever his little tricks and oddities the Jedi Order of course would know better than this young man, or at least would know how such things worked here in their own dimension, wherever Ranma had come from.
Ranma didn't hear that in Tiin's tone however, since the demonic-looking alien's tone was always even, gravely and deep, with little inflection. So he simply nodded and went back to the original topic. "I don't use my ki to heighten my strength all the time, I have to will my ki to backup either my strength or my speed beyond the norm. My base strength is simply way beyond anything you lot can do."
"I don't believe you." Tiin said bluntly. "Jedi are routinely stronger and faster than normal people of similar build, but we could not do what you did, not even the old Force Warrior Sect could have done that. No, you might not be aware of it, but the Living Force within you must be automatically adding to your natural strength somehow."
"Perhaps an example is in order," Dooku said smiling faintly as he looked up from yet another game of holochess with Qui-Gon while his opponent did the same. "Would you like to show us an example Ranma? A few of us can watch and see if we can sense any movement in your reserves of Living Force that could back up your strength." For his part Dooku knew Ranma was telling the truth, and had his own idea on how the young man was so strong.
"Aboard ship there's nothing big enough to matter!" Ranma laughed then he smirked, placing his forearm on the table between him and Tiin, flexing his hand. "Unless you all want to try your luck at once?"
"All of us?" Asked K'kruhk from nearby, shaking his head. "I think your letting your ego do your talking for you Ranma. You might have been able to rip apart those tanks using the Force, but surely you don't really think…"
"Not think, I know. I don't use the Force to enhance my strength normally, I'm just that strong. Try me."
Not able to turn down the challenge Tiin reached forward and began to grapple with Ranma's arm, trying to push it down to the table with no success. At a nod from his master K'kruhk moved over and began to aid Tiin, with no success. Obi-Wan joined in then, as did Qui-Gon, Koth and Giiett.
Mace, Gallia, and Dooku remained watching but they didn't detect even a hint of movement in Ranma's massive reservoir of Living Force power. After a few moments of grunting and straining from their fellows they looked at one another, and Gallia asked, "I don't see any change, do you?"
Dooku shook his head with a smile, while the others replied similarly. "No, not at all. The Living Force inside him might still be aiding him, but if it is, it's something as normal as breathing to him by this point, and I can't tell one way or another." Mace replied aloud.
After a moment Ranma laughed, and before the straining Jedi could set themselves, threw his hand to the right, throwing them all to the floor and pinning Tiin's hands between his own and the table. He stood up, moving to help the others to their feet. "Believe me now?"
The other example of Ranma's weirdness came about when they were almost ready to drop out of hyperspace into the Coruscant system Ranma's showing off his speed and teaching the two padawans some dodging skills when they couldn't concentrate enough to use the Force to protect themselves in various way.
This segued into a debate on which style was better, lightsaber and Force powers or simply dodging which Ranma interrupted by showing his Katchu Tenshin Amiguriken technique. This astonished all the watchers save Dooku, and there were many interested murmurs from Mace and Koth who could immediately see the utility of such a technique in lightsaber combat.
But then Obi-Wan, both in an attempt to prove that Force telekinesis was better and to make a joke having been the butt of many from Ranma, moved behind Ranma toward a small water decanter, which he promptly splashed toward Ranma before he could react.
"You're so fast, yet you can't dodge water?" Obi-wan laughed, shaking his head with a smile until he felt two toothpicks slam into his forehead with enough power to actually flip him head over heels, yet oddly not enough to penetrate his skin. "Oww, why?! Master Gallia and Master Twoseas have both done that kind of thing, why do you only attack me!?"
Ranma smirked, kneeling down next to the young man, reaching forward and grabbing Obi-Wan's head, turning his face to look at Ranma. "Do ya want me ta kiss it and make it all better?"
"Gah, um uh…." Obi-Wan stammered, completely floored, yet blushing, his self-control gone under this new and very strange assault. He never even saw the fist coming which smashed into his stomach, knocking all the air out of his lungs.
"That's why, pervert," Ranma muttered, turning away "Just remember whatever I look like I'm a guy underneath it, and I was born a guy. Keep that in mind when yer next blinded by my bits."
"The answer to your original question is simple padawan." said Master Twoseas, patting the downed apprentice on his shoulder. "The two of us are women, we were doing it in the interest of science and, it must be admitted, personal interest. You are male and did it for a joke. And whenever Ranma's been in his female form you've stared at his chest before getting control of yourself."
Obi-wan blushed looking away, still trying to get his breath back. He had hoped that no one had noticed his lack of control there, but should have known better and in fact now that it was pointed out by both Ranma and Master Twoseas felt somewhat embarrassed about his lack of control. And disgusted, there was that in there too given Ranma's reminder of his underlying gender.
But still, Obi-Wan could easily remember several missions where he had seen far more scantily dressed women, and they hadn't affected him this way. It's simply that first time I saw her, him, her gah, Ranma in his female form, it was, not overtly sexual but still alluring in some fashion. I must get control of this strange new interest.
Centering himself, Obi-Wan stood and bowed towards the diminutive Twoseas. "You are right master, I, I let my desire to make a joke and, um, my own base interests push me into an action that is beneath a Jedi. I will meditate on this."
"I am not the one you should apologize to padawan." Lilit said with a faint smile. "Although I will admit that the curse and the feeling of it in the Force is something I'm nowhere near used to either."
"Excuse me, experience? Weird word choice for something you're watching." Ranma said, looking over at Lillit, then at Dooku.
Adi Gallia looked at him curiously then over at Dooku. "You didn't tell him?"
"Tell me what?"
Dooku smiled at him blandly. "Oh nothing important, just the feel of your change through our Force-based perceptions."
"Why do I think I'm not going to like this? What exactly does my curse feel like?"
"Like the universe is laughing at the greatest joke it's ever heard." said Lilit, smirking up at the taller (by a full 2 inches) and younger woman. Gallia glanced at her questioningly but Lillit ignored the other master's gaze, it wasn't like she was irritable because the redhead was taller than her, Jedi were above such things. Oh, who am I kidding, look at her face, hah, that will teach you to make fun of others!
A few hours after that incident the ship came out of hyperspace, and after talking to Coruscant's Space Control they were allowed into its airspace and down toward the temple. Ranma had moved up with Dooku to join the two pilots in the cockpit, and as the planet came into view, he stared through the forward canopy at the planet in shock and growing horror. "Blessed Amaterasu, it really is all just one giant city! That's so, so wrong! You guys go on and on about balance, about the two sides of the Force, where's the balance here?"
"The balance between Light and Dark is always in flux and I think you are confusing that kind of balance with the balance between nature and industry." said Master Koth shaking his head, "Still, there at least I will agree that too much of one thing is never a good idea."
Master Gallia nodded. "You have no idea how much money it takes to bring in enough food for the masses of people who live on Coruscant. It only grows about .029% of its own food, and can only store enough food for the most part for a few days. It doesn't really produce much of anything, and most of what it does produce it uses itself. Corsucant's only real export is government."
"I'm really disturbed now." Ranma said shaking his head.
Ranma had never really liked cities anyway, being very much a country boy at heart. Oh sure he liked to have access to cities, but actually living in them no. Nerima had been sort of a gray area there, a suburb that wasn't actually named that and which had rather old fashioned architecture and lots of wide open places. But Ranma much preferred to be out and about moving over the land. This place bothered him, deeply. Worse, was yet to come however.
The closer they got to landing the more Ranma's initial impression was shown to be accurate. Miles upon miles of concrete and steel buildings piled upon buildings. As the ship circled in to land there were places where Ranma could look down until the light of the sun disappeared and still see only more buildings in the darkness below. I'm all for depths and heights, but this is ridiculous!
Soon enough they landed on the temple's private landing pad. Outside the ship's ramp waited several of the Council's members including Yoda. He had convinced the Chancellor to let them debrief with their fellow Jedi before letting them speak to the senate and public. That would occur later that day; such things could not be postponed for long without accusations of interference growing. But they had to speak alone first.
Trying hard to ignore what his sixth sense was telling him Ranma followed the others out. No matter how much he tried to clamp down on it though his sixth sense, that danger/environment sense which Genma had trained into him he couldn't do it.
So many people, so many thousands and millions of people without so much as a single tree in sight! Ranma didn't think it in the terms of Light and Dark sides. He thought in terms of ki and chi, about nature versus man and he couldn't see how this planet had any chi worth mentioning. It was so out of balance it was disturbing as all hell to him.
Yoda looked up at Master Windu and Master Dooku smiling slightly. "Speak we must."
"Yes," said both of them as one, bowing formally. Yoda nodded, and turned to the redhead who had followed the others out and was now looking around her as if waiting for an enemy to jump out at her. "This young redhead, your secret she is, hrhrm?"
For a moment, just a moment looking at the redhead the Living Force of the young human burned like a pillar in his senses, blasting away the encroaching Veil of the Dark. Interesting.
Hearing someone talk about her broke Ranma out of his paralysis temporarily, and he turned around only to stare in shock. "What's up with the Imp? Man I want to check to see if there's any wires! I know aliens can come in all shapes and sizes but come on!"
But his looks and size weren't the only problem Ranma had with Yoda. After all, he had met two garden gnomes before in the persons of Cologne and Happosai. It was the second comparison which made Ranma automatically wary of the green-skinned imp. And despite the amount of growth Ranma had gone through since coming here, he still had an issue with speaking before thinking.
While the other Masters, even a few who had arrived with Dooku and generally come to like Ranma responded with frowns at his disrespect Yoda merely chuckled. He had dealt with people outside the Order who had responded to him in similar manners many times, and such names mattered not at all to him. "Spirited young one you are, amused I am. Yoda I am, Jedi Grand Master."
Needless to say hearing the imp call himself grand master did nothing for the comparison Ranma's brain had begun to make. "Great, so does mean you're also pervert? Only your size and that title's making me have flashbacks, and I gotta say Baldy and Obi ain't exactly givin' me a…OWWW!"
The 'OWW' was caused by Yoda smacking his walking stick into Ranma's shin, having covered the distance between them in a bare blink of the eye. "Spirited, hrhrm, only excuse disrespect so far it can." Yoda replied, before looking over at Obi-Wan and Mace. The younger man winced and bowed his head in apology while Mace rubbed his jaw, remembering how Ranma had laid him out with decidedly mixed feelings.
"Why you!" Ranma growled, and ignoring Qui-Gon and Master Koth's attempt to stop her, Ranma swung at Yoda, only to watch the little green bastard dodge to one side with far more alacrity than his wrinkled form would suggest. Narrowing her eyes Ranma got more serious, moving in to a full on assault on Yoda.
Yoda responded with seeming ease using his diminutive size and Force precognition to dodge her punches and kicks. But whatever it looked like it was not easy, Yoda in fact was astonished at how hard it was, the redhead's punches coming in at him faster with every passing second.
The other masters made to grab their lightsabers and defend the Grand Master save Dooku, who was watching this with an amused smile on his face. Before anyone had even finished grabbing their lightsabers however, Yoda's voice lashed out like a whip. "Think you I need defenders? Grand Master I have been for many decades, protection I need not."
With that he raced forward, leaping up and dodging a kick from Ranma to smack her upside the head with his staff. His ancient eyes widened in shock when instead of trying to dodge Ranma reared back slightly and then drove his head forward, shattering his staff.
Yoda blinked, staring at the end of his broken staff. "On the other hand, most helpful a new staff would be."
In midair Yoda tried to dodge again only for Ranma, who was shaking her head groggily at the same time, to nearly grab him by his robes and toss him, her attempt just a bit too slow thanks to her disorientation. In response Yoda arrested his momentum, almost clinging to Ranma's hand then leaping up over his head. To Yoda's surprise, Ranma was able to turn around before Yoda finished his leap, and Yoda was forced to block a snap kick that sent him backward, but he had used the Force to pull himself backwards enough to avoid any injury.
The ancient Grand master blinked at the amount of Force he'd had to use for it and landed well out of Ranma's range, staring at the redhead thoughtfully. "Hrhrm, interesting this has been, but end games must. More serious things, we must talk about."
Ranma continued to glare at him for a moment before subsiding. "Just tell me ya ain't a pervert and I'll call it quits for now." Then she smiled widely. "Though a full on spar with ya might be interesting green guy."
"Pervert?" Yoda asked chuckling. "Word nothing means to my race, reproduce through intercourse we do not, personal choice gender is, made when young. Disturbed and rather appalled are we by humans and others such infatuation with oddities like that."
To one side Yaddle nodded in agreement, though she did not turn her eyes away from the pillar of Living Force that was encapsulated by the young redhead, having never seen or dreamed of anything like it. Check the Holocron archives I must, fascinating this is!
Ranma translated this in her head then added it to Yoda's position as well as the responses he/she had gotten from the majority of the Jedi. Despite his teasing, Ranma knew Mace hadn't seen her as a girl, only responding in shock to his change while Obi-Wan was young and frankly his self-control was incredible whatever Ranma had insinuated a time or two. Hmm… okay so maybe there are more reasons than just following stupid ass oaths that the Jedi have slowly begun to become sociopaths. Not good, but it might be easier to turn them around anyway.
Out loud he said, "Okay, yeah I guess that goes with the whole warrior monk theme, but pushin' that kind of thing aside ain't exactly healthy for humans and I guess a lot of other races to do ya know."
Yoda looked over at Micah Giiett, who smiled in a way as if to imply butter would not melt in his mouth. "Heard this before from others we have, not the time for such a discussion again this is."
Looking back at Ranma Yoda frowned slightly. Now that their brief spat was over, the young woman was looking around tensely, her hands clenching and unclenching. "Nervous you need not be. Within our walls enemy you will not find."
Right I'll believe that when I see it, Ranma thought to himself, wondering what the council would determine about him. He didn't really think Dooku and the others who had met him already would be a party to any attempt to get rid of him as some kind of anomaly. But what he had seen and read about the Jedi Order as a whole did not make him very happy about trying to predict how they, as a group, would react to someone like him, or even the idea that maybe they didn't know anything about 'the Force'.
Still, that had nothing to do with his nervousness now, "It isn't like that, it's this planet. I mean, there are so many people here, and I've never really been a fan of cities and there's no plant life or anything. It's bothering me."
Yoda nodded, relaxing slightly in turn. He was tempted to reach out through the Force and try a calming trick on the young man, but decided that doing so without his permission might not be welcomed, certainly it wouldn't be to another Jedi. "Many people, problems have with Coruscant, overwhelming it can be. Within the temple you will find, easier to ignore it is."
"Temple, riiiggght." Ranma said smirking slightly now, shaking his head as he stared up, and up, and up some more at the mass of the Jedi Temple. Sheltered monk types, and they've got a central temple that huge? Someone is overcompensating. "Well lead the way then Imp."
Yoda moved to smack the haft of his shoto, which he had not used in their recent altercation, on Ranma's leg causing her to jump backwards. "Yoda I am, respect you will." The diminutive master said, chuckling. It had been many decades since he'd dealt with a young being like this, but some things were just like riding a hover capsule, and just as amusing. "Respect one way or respect another."
Scowling, Ranma glared at the little dwarf. "All right, Yoda, lead the way."
Yoda waved his hand, and the newcomers and the members of the council who had come out with Yoda began to move towards the temple's entrance, shaking their heads and glaring at Ranma for his treatment of Yoda. Yoda however moved over to Dooku, murmuring. "Found you have a fascinating young secret my old padawan. Interesting attitude, even more interesting impact on the Force, the young woman has."
"Man." Dooku replied blandly. "I realize this might sound odd right now, but Ranma insists he is a man, whatever he looks like at any given moment. Or even acts like at times." Dooku had honestly hoped for more fireworks between his new acquaintance and his former master, but Yoda had responded to Ranma's attitude far better than Dooku would have believed. Maybe his curse will give me the reaction I want?
"Man? Like the rest of me, old my eyes may be but blind I am not, nor senile." Yoda said staring at Dooku as if he thought his old apprentice was trying to make a joke. Which he was, or rather trying to set up a little play for his own amusement.
"Trust us Master Yoda," said Master Gallia from nearby, shaking her head. "You won't believe it if you don't see it for yourself. It's one of many things we have to talk about."
OOOOOOO
From his hidden throne room Sidious watched Mace and the other Jedi who had dealt with the Yinchorri Uprising arrive, alone at present. Maul was too disruptive an influence and besides, Sidious knew he would be called upon to join the delegation of senators thanking the Jedi for their recent actions. Thus Maul's time was better spent training in their main base than here.
Odd, that young woman radiates in the Living Force, and her presence is the same as the chaotic vortex that has plagued my attempts to read the future around Dooku of late. Worse, that effect was spreading, not far just yet, but it was worrisome. Yet all of my perception up to this point said that individual was male.
Though there was that strange report from one of my agents, some young woman who out arm-wrestled not only a Wookie but a fully enhanced cyborg? Sidious had initially taken that report with a grain of salt, and indeed had made plans to liquidate that agent if it turned out that he had been lying or making things up. Sidious demanded loyalty and competence in his followers, even those second-hand agents he employed. But now he realized there might indeed be some truth to those rumors.
Hmm… until I get to the bottom of this, I will assume the redhead is some kind of disguise and that he is a he underneath. That Ranma could be a woman impersonating a man did not occur to Sidious, since besides being a fascist, he was also a misogynist. Or perhaps he is a shape-changer, like the bounty hunterWesell.They are rare, but not unknown.
Sidious had not felt the laughing ripple in the Force that signified Ranma's recent change from male to female, and indeed could not discern it. He was a true sociopath. He could not feel happiness, he could not feel joy, he could not feel love. All Sidious felt was hate and a lust for power, a great vaunted ambition which drowned out everything else. Any other emotion was simply like a mask he could put on as easy as his clothes.
Still for all of that, I was able to influence his mind somewhat. Not much, I had to be subtle about it given the Jedi around him, but that was not very difficult. Heh, even Yoda, that senile old fool, only has the vaguest idea of how much their senses have begun to be blinded by the Veil of the Dark. Truly it is Plagueis' crowning achievement, whatever he thinks of his little experiments.
Still, the Living Force in the youth's body also acted as a defense, I could barely find any way into his mind. But I was able to instill a bit of dislike, even loathing for Coruscant. That will make him edgy, and that may make him more controllable down the line.
Actually Sidious had initially attempted to read the youth's mind, only to be thwarted by his mental defenses, something he was not happy about. The feeling of unease he had instilled in Ranma was the best he could do, and it was very much below what he had wanted to do.
Still, his sheer presence is very different, and the Jedi do not react to that which is different very well these days. I wonder… Leaning back in his throne Sidious thought hard about how the Jedi would react to such a strange individual who radiated such power. After some time spent on the problem, going through his mental list of the masters on the council and others who were important in terms of policy, Sidious decided they would react in one of four ways. And the Council in particular Yoda and Windu would be the deciding factor.
One, they might come up with a way to keep the youth locked away in the Temple. Unlikely, the Order is not that reactionary, not yet. But if they attempt it I might be able to later aid his escape and thus put the youth in my debt.
Two, they could decide he's too dangerous to live and simply kill him. Sidious knew at least a few of the more hidebound Jedi Masters might see that as a solution, but only two of them were on the Council itself. Still, if it proved necessary a quiet word in one or two receptive ears could set all such reactionaries against the youth. And then there were other Jedi who had exploitable weaknesses which could be directed at the youth just in case.
Best to wait on that for now though. He is chaotic and unpredictable, yet useful especially if this recent agreement between Dooku and his two catspaws can be made to serve our purposes as I believe it can. If it can, the next round of escalating violence will come far quicker, and the war beyond that even faster. I have to admit that in some ways it would be even more satisfying to use such a cause to rise to power, even more so than the original plan. But as to the youth himself, he could be a good distraction from our own activities, and more besides.
Shaking those thoughts off Sidious turned his mind back to what the Jedi could possibly do.
Three, and by far the least likely, they will find some way to induct the youth into the Order. That would fly in the face of all of their rules and traditions, and because the youth himself would have to be willing to do so. Given his rather amusing interaction with Yoda, and his age, I would estimate that is even less likely than the Council quietly making him disappear.
Fourth and most likely, they will find some way to tie him to the Order. Overt or covert surveillance, overt or covert fiscal ties, ties of friendship perhaps, worthless though they are. Would they be ruthless enough to use a honey trap on him? Given his youth and the fact he is a male that would possibly be the best idea, though I don't think any of them would be willing to do so at least not purposefully. Hmmm, though I might wish to think about something along those lines myself. Setting it up would be difficult to mesh with my need to keep the hint of Sith involvement hidden, but it might be possible…
Shaking his head Sidious set aside the problem of the young man and his odd impact on the Force for now, glancing up at the clock and only now realizing more than two hours had passed. He had to be at the reception within another hour and he needed to get ready. He sent out a few orders to some of his secondhand agents to watch the Jedi Temple for anything unusual going on. Then he contacted a few slicers he knew.
He wanted to know more about the agreement between the Jedi and the two admirals Sitoris and Baraka in terms of the Yinchorri system, and the agreement Dooku had reached with their governments. Sidious wanted to know the wording of the initial agreement, as well as anything about the actual military presence that would remain in the Yinchorri system. All of that would be fuel for his own plans later on.
Information is power that at least the Jedi know all too well, but they ignore the caveat: that too much 'knowledge' can blind you to your own ignorance about what is really important, and that knowledge itself isn't worth anything unless you know how to use it.
Ten minutes later he walked out of his quarters in his senatorial dress, nodding slightly at the two men waiting for him dressed as the Senators guards. They weren't of course, they were his men who he had molded since their birth to serve him in all things, practically mindless pawns, but still good enough at their job.
Then he moved forward moving down the corridor toward several other senators greeting the crowd with a smile of genuine delight. "Gentlemen, are we all readyto welcome back our conquering heroes?"
OOOOOOO
Leaving Ranma outside the council room for the moment in a plush, comfortable chair and watched by Obi-Wan and K'kruhk, Yoda and the other councilmen entered before ushering Dooku, Lilit, Qui-Gon and Koth inside. Once all of the Council had sat in their chairs or cushions in the circle around the room and Dooku and the other witnesses who weren't part of the Council had taken their own chairs Yoda began. "Before we discuss the young chaotic fulcrum get the political and military discussion out of the way now we should, limited time we have at present."
"The what?" said one of the Masters looking at him in shock while others murmured, many in horror at the connotation of that name. Chaos of course was never a good thing. Yaddle however was humming thoughtfully, and Ranicisiswas also nodding from side to side in the manner of his people.
"A label it is for one whose actions, cause great ripples they will. Several there have been in Jedi history, many named in the Holocrons, the label not known save to most learned." Yoda looked around, and feeling somewhat mischievous decided to drop a minor thermal detonator into the council. "Most famous perhaps, Revan would be."
For a moment there was shocked silence at his using that particular name, a dark spot on the Jedi Order's history, their brightest light who had become one of their most implacable enemies. "In that case we should stop him now," said Master Tiin, though he did not sound as sure of himself as he would normally. He liked the youth and his aggressive, independent nature.
"Agreed," said Piell much more firmly than his fellow. "A threat of such magnitude needs to be contained immediately!" Several others agreed, indeed all the masters who hadn't gone on the mission against the Yinchorri did.
"Threat I did not say he was." Yoda said, his voice still serene but something in it causing the other Masters' mouths to shut abruptly. "Chaotic he is, chaotic his effect on the Force. Chaos dangerous at times true, but change good or bad can be. Both most likely."
"Thus far it has proven good." said Lilit, touching her stomach gingerly where she had thought she would be stabbed before Ranma intervened.
"You are not the only one." said Masters Giiett quietly, causing all eyes turned to him where he sat among the rest of the council. "I knew I would die on this mission, though not when. My clairvoyance has never been that good. But I knew I would die, the future beyond this mission was simply blank for me. Until young Ranma and Master Dooku arrived." He went on into the silence, nodding to the tall saturnine Jedi Master who nodded back gravely, while Plo reached out a tendril of the Force to give his friend a squeeze on one shoulder. "Now my future is wide open, though as I said I cannot see all of it."
"Set this aside for now we will," said Yoda seriously, staring at them all. "Talk now we must of politics and impressions I will have from you of this latest conflict."
"Agreed." said Master Gallia. "We have to talk about the political ramifications of what Dooku has promised to get the Sluisi and Mon Calamari's backing. Surely something cheaper would've been better."
"Which is cheaper: Jedi lives or political capital?" Dooku asked coldly. "In terms of lives this mission could have cost us at least three dead if Ranma and I did not intervene. As for the combined fleets, they lost twenty dead spread out over their ships, mostly fighter pilots, and without them we would have faced far greater opposition. They have upheld their end of the agreement, now it is time for us to uphold ours."
"While I am pleased with your personal aid Master Dooku this is not as easy as you seem to think." Master Gallia said firmly. "I work with the Senate closely as you all know, I know the factions there. And when we try to extend the Arming Rights Lawswe will run into severe opposition. In particular…"
That discussion went on for some time, with many of the other masters speaking up against the agreement Dooku had forged for various reasons. One that many believed was that this would be seen as an escalation in tensions, and a slap in the face of the Senate as a whole, implying the Republic navy was unable to protect the merchant ships of its constituent species.
Koth felt it would lead to an arms race as different sectors felt threatened by ships from other sectors moving through their space armed. Master Yaddle felt the Trade Federation would respond with its normal strong arm tactics, resulting in outright war between the Trade Federation and the armed ships of the groups who were also included in the new amendment.
This conversation ended more than an hour later when Dooku laid down the law. "I understand your arguments masters, moreover I respect your expertize in this area. I fully understand that this will be difficult, but understand this. I gave my personal word I would see to it that the Sluisi and Mon Calamari would be able to guard their own ships outside their sectors. If the Jedi Council decides not to aid me in this endeavor, I will go it alone! I gave my word, and that is the end of it as far as I am concerned."
"Enough." said Oppo Ranicisis, who had been silent up to this point, halting any response Gallia, Koth or the others could have made. "I personally agree with Master Dooku, you all know I've never been happy with the idea of the Trade Federation being the only merchant power to be allowed to arm its vessels. I should not have to point out why we all should be unhappy about that."
That was putting it mildly, and more than one Jedi Master frowned at the reminder that they had lost one of their own to Trade Federation duplicity, with no one being punished for it. Master Koon in particular shook his head at the mention of Tyvokka, his own master, who had sat on this council before being killed by attack droids guarding Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation, who he had just defended in a gunfight against Iaco Stark.
"I also agree. Dooku is correct, without their aid we might still have lost many of our brothers during this mission." Mace said firmly, speaking up at least having sat out the political discussion. But he felt firmly on this issue, and rather guilty at the same time, since it had been his leadership that could have led to those deaths.
With Mace's backing the discussion ended with the council now agreeing to back Dooku's plan, and Oppo turned to the tall Blade Master. "As for you Master Dooku, I recall a conversation I had with you as a padawan about misplaced arrogance. Your word of honor is important, but do not fall into the trap of putting it and your own personal beliefs ahead of the Jedi Order as a whole."
His old rheumy eyes held Dooku's for a time until the Blade Master nodded his head contritely. The older master nodded in return, and then went on briskly. "We must think more on the ramifications of this conflict in particular the direct attack against us."
That conversation too went on for some time, as one after another of the Jedi Masters who had gone to the Yinchorri system first described the mission then put forth ideas as to why the Yinchorri had attacked the Temple, what they had thought to gain from it, and indeed who else could gain anything from it. But they reached no conclusions. It could be anything from a political agenda to a personal vendetta, and there were far too many suspects and far too little clues to point them in any direction.
Because of the lack of information, this discussion went on for only a few minutes before it was decided that several Sentinels would be tasked the job of hunting down the Devaronian on the other end of the communication their prisoner had been having when Master Choi had interrupted him. This task would be given to Master Tholme and his former padawan, knight Quinlan Vos.
They were two of the best the Jedi had in terms of understanding and being able to navigate the criminal element, and Quinlan was in the temple presently recovering from injuries taken in a recent mission he had undertaken with his own padawan. That padawan had also been sent on a solo mission since his injury, which left him free for a moment to take on this new task with his former master.
"And now finally we come to what Master Yoda called the chaotic fulcrum, Ranma, is that his name?" asked Master Piell. "What have you found out about him Dooku?"
Dooku looked at the other Master coldly for a moment, until the other Master added "Master Dooku" rather grudgingly. He was one of those who believed that being on the council accorded him slightly above equal status though he would never come out and say it. Worse he had disliked Dooku since Dooku had started to speak out against what he called the 'stasis' of the Jedi Order.
Putting his irritation aside with the ease of long practice Dooku described how he had met Ranma. He described what he had seen of Ranma's abilities, something many of the masters on the Yinchorri mission could corroborate and did so. But when Dooku got to what he knew of Ranma's origins he was greeted with what in any other group would have been called shock.
"That's insane!" scoffed Mace, shaking his head, not having heard that tale before this. "The lad is obviously depraved."
"Yet he can change forms, a Force phenomenon well outside anything the Jedi Order has ever seen before." said Master Koon, shrugging his shoulders, smiling inside his mask as Mace twitched slightly remembering his response to said, while the other masters tried and failed to hide their own skepticism, unwilling to call their fellow masters liars, but unable to truly believe in such a thing either.
Micah chimed in quickly. "That's true, and we have seen no evidence to eliminate the idea that Ranma comes from another dimension. We might think of it as bizarre, but we must also admit it could be true. It is a wide, vast galaxy after all."
"How powerful is he?" said one of the other Masters frowning thoughtfully, not having tested the youth's Force power with his own earlier and now regretting that fact. "Have you tested his Midi-Chlorian level?"
"No I have not, I don't think it would be worth it frankly." Dooku replied honestly. "The device would either break, unable to handle how powerful he is or simply not work at all. It's one of the other, I doubt there would be any middle ground there."
The Midi-Chlorian scale was not, as many outsiders or even younglings thought, how someone could determine how strong a Jedi was, that would be rather foolish. Jedi in and of themselves were rarely powerful in the manner Ranma was. Rather, Jedi acted as conduits for the Force, like stones in a stream changing the nature of the stream around them just slightly. The level they could do so varied wildly, but the base level for that could be discerned through a scale the ancient Jed'ai had come up with long before the Jedi Order came into being.
"How dangerous is he in terms of combat?" asked Piell leaning forward intently. "How dangerous could he be if he goes rogue?"
"In the strictest sense he's already rogue. He's… not… part… of… the… Order," Dooku said coolly, enunciating each word carefully. "Yes he uses the Force, but I've never seen him use anything I could point to as coming from the Dark Side. As Master Koth stated he feels anger and other emotions, but they do not affect his abilities, and indeed even there he forced me to acknowledge a valuable piece of insight that I had not thought of previously." Indeed, despite all the abilities he hoped to learn from Ranma, Dooku felt that it would be in the realm of other areas, in ways of thinking and his attitude that made Ranma a real find.
"You're dodging the question, how dangerous is he in terms of combat?"
Dooku and Giiett exchanged a glance, and Micah shrugged his shoulders gesturing at Dooku to reply. "I doubt I could take Ranma on if he went all out," Dooku said bluntly shaking his head. "He was merely playing with Master Yoda earlier, trust me, I've seen some of his Force enhanced skills, and they are beyond what any master could handle unless they knew of them before hand, and even then keeping up with some of them is incredibly difficult, his base strength and speed are beyond anything you can imagine."
It galled Dooku a little to realize that, but he was willing to call a sarlaac a sarlaac as it were. "Luckily Ranma doesn't seem to go all out often, he seems to use the minimum amount of skill needed to defeat his opponent rather than use everything he can. I think it's a holdover from his own training, but it makes Ranma even more dangerous simply because you're never certain if you've seen all his tricks."
"Ranma can be dangerous yes but not to us unless we make ourselves his enemy." Said Giiett firmly. "And I for one would argue against anything I think could do that." From there Giiett and the others shared what they had seen of Ranma's combat abilities in the battle against the Yinchorri in further detail, causing many of the other masters to frown or shake their heads, unable to believe yet unwilling to disbelieve their fellow council members.
"He is opinionated and closed to the Unifying Force." Master Koth said, shaking his head. "I'll admit his skills are incredible, but his attitude is disruptive and arrogant. I do not think trying to emulate his abilities would be worth the effect he would have among our ranks, no matter how we try to ease them in. And worse, he bluntly told you Master Dooku that he wouldn't teach anyone he personally didn't think was honorable. We would have to follow his decisions on that, and who is to say we would approve of his choices?"
"And you master Giiett cannot be trusted on this, nor can you master Koon. Your thoughts on emotions and teaching control rather than abstaining from them and the Order's relationship with the Senate are well known." Added Piell.
Several of the other masters nodded at that, causing both masters to stiffen, but Koth spoke again. "His emotions, his lack of control, his apparent desire to form attachments, all of this point to an individual who is dangerously unstable, without any of the training we Jedi must go through to not fall to the Dark Side. I will admit that his emotions don't seem to impact the Living Force inside of him, but what if that changes? What might happen if his anger gets out of control and effects the Force within him, what then?"
He waited a moment to let that sink in, and saw Gallia nodding faintly, understanding how dangerous Ranma could be if he fell to the allure of the Dark Side. "It is my opinion that Ranma must be contained, kept away from the majority of the Order, and indeed the universe until he learns the proper way to control the Force within him."
Throughout all this discussion Yoda had sat silent since his initial pronunciation of Ranma as the chaotic fulcrum. Dooku was now watching him whenever he wasn't speaking to one of the others that very silence drawing attention to the ancient Grand Master. Eventually his curiosity got the better of him, and Dooku reached out with his own senses, sending tendrils of Force sense towards his former master.
He quickly realized that Yoda was delving into the Force, the skein of the future and the present, feeling out the Force around him and out beyond. He was doing it deeper and more powerfully than anyone else could even dream of doing, calling on his centuries of experience to try and understand the mystery that was Ranma, trying to pierce the Veil of the Dark that was slowly growing in strength, for all that few masters were willing to face that fact head on.
Yet even so Dooku felt that Yoda did not find what he was searching for before he came back to his own merely mortal senses. Indeed, Yoda had found nothing conclusive, the Veil of the Dark Side was too deep for him to see anything clearly. But whatever else Ranma certainly wasn't of the Dark, which was enough for now. Everything else he could answer later, because other portions of the future had come through clearly in type if not in specifics.
So when he did come out of his trance, Yoda's words were crisp and clear. "Plans we must make for the Order, above and beyond deciding about what to do with young Ranma. Start a discussion on this now we will."
"Could he be a plant?" said one of the Masters, unwilling to change the subject just yet. "Someone to get close to us, yet not be part of the Order itself?"
Giiett barked a laugh at the very idea. "Ranma wears his emotions on his sleeve, he could never be a spy like that, trust me, there's no disassembly in him outside of combat. What were these plans you wished us to consider Master Yoda?"
"Not consider" said Yoda firmly. "Do this we will."
All of the council members even Windu started at that, staring at him in shock. Yoda rarely invoked his status as Grand Master, indeed he routinely allowed discussions to be dominated by Mace or one of the others, feeling that consensus was vastly more important than him simply laying down the law.
But now he was doing just that, and he spoke swiftly. "Too many conflicts there have been, coincidence it might be, sign of corruption it might be. Regardless, admit it we must and plan for further occurrences, seen many such in the future I have, if not enough to know where they would come from."
At that every Master stiffened, nodding their heads in agreement. If Yoda had seen that, as little as it was, they had to act on it. The ability to see the future had faded in the past several years to nearly nothing, so seeing anything like that was a sign that could not be ignored.
Yoda went on. "Too many there are Knights and Masters both who have neglected their martial training. Stop this will for all orders, refreshers there will be for those already in the temple. Slowly recalled others will be to be re-taught in turn."
"Dangerous missions, set aside they will be save for Sentinels and Guardians, assigned to them no Consulars beyond those who have proven ability with the lightsaber will be. Teams of three or four on those missions there will be if arranged it can be. Single only Jedi will be sent on diplomatic missions, and then only rarely. Push for more upcoming padawans to join the Sentinels and Guardians we will amongst upcoming padawans."
"That's easy to say but very hard to do." said Mace frowning and wondering the specifics of Yoda had sensed as he meditated. "There are scant numbers of us as there are for the number of missions the Senate sends our way, and you know that many Jedi's missions are issues we simply stumble across as the Force guides us. How are we going to be able to divvy out missions like that?"
Master Plo Koon nodded, his voice coming through his mask clearly. "I agree with the necessity of bringing the Sentinels and Guardians back to equal pairing with the Consulars master Yoda. Indeed, I would take it a step further and say we might benefit from reactivating the Jedi Shadows."
There were some raised eyebrows at that, but after a moment's thought many of the councilors realized it might indeed be a good idea. Plo went on. "But it will not be easy. Our training has changed over the decades, with many teachers subtly influencing the younglings towards the Consular order. Look at the makeup of this very council as an example, only two Guardians and a single Sentinel, and it is even worse on the other four councils."
"Impossible it might be, but strength in numbers there are, trust the Jedi in turn we will to deal with any such surprises." Yoda replied to Mace, before turning to Plo Koon. "Idea on the Shadows, merit it has, will need to think on who to put in charge of them we will. And hard it might be, to reverse the trend of a millennia, but necessary."
Yoda took a deep breath staring around at the Masters, all of whom looked a little confused and, though they would never admit it, worried. "Darker times are coming, dark times already here there are. Must be ready, whatever happens." Visions unclear they are, on all but that. The Dark Side is rising.
"That's all very well and good, and I even agree that it is necessary, given how many of our brothers and sisters have died on missions in the past three years." Dooku stiffened, irritated at the reminder of the Mandalore Debacle, but Piell went on not noticing how his words had been taken. "But what are we to do about the chaotic fulcrum?"
"Question Ranma I will. About his dreams, his hopes, what he wants in turn. After all, agreement only for Dooku it was." Yoda looked at them all, his eyes hard and filled with a power he rarely let out these days. "But understand this you will. Judges we are not. Executioners, blindly lashing out against that which is different, we will never be so long as I am Grand Master. If a threat he proves himself, dealt with he will be. But not before."
At that point the discussion was interrupted by an outside source.
OOOOOOO
Outside the council chamber Ranma had waited for about five minutes before shaking her head, jumping to her feet. "I'm gonna go and look around a bit, see if I can find some food or something interesting." Something to take my mind off this planet's effect on my mind, being inside like this does make it a little easier to deal with, but not that much easier.
K'kruhk smiled slightly, his small fangs gleaming in the light of the waiting area. "I believe I know the source of your nerves my friend. Given everything else the council needs to talk about I think they won't miss you for a while, so why don't you avail yourself of some of the natural meditation rooms? Many of them have trees and other plants as part of their designs."
To one side Obi-Wan nodded, though his thoughts weren't nearly as charitable as his fellow padawan's. No, Obi-Wan was afraid what a nervous, bored Ranma would take it in his mind to do if they tried to keep him here. Yes, best to get him-heh-her away from us right now. Being remonstrated by the council for allowing such is a much softer option than dealing with it myself, as non-Jedi a thought that might be.
After following some precise directions Ranma found himself moving through the overcompensating temple descending several levels in relative quiet. There were some people around, but never many in the actual corridors as he passed. Those she did pass looked at her strangely, her odd garb marking him out as a non-Jedi.
What is with those robes of theirs anyway? Is it just some kind of monk thing, disdaining all material wealth and all that rot? I've seen the clothing that Dooku and the others wear underneath them, good quality and probably more durable than the robes, so again, what's with that, that non-fashion statement? Is it one of those one size fits all things, like not allowing their members to grow attached to other people, or just a way to set them apart from normal people?
Yet despite Ranma obviously not being a Jedi not even a single one of them tried to stop her, which was amusing. These guys are a little too trusting, though I guess I did spot a few of them on watch outside the temple, so there's that.
With no one looking at her suspiciously Ranma felt safe enough to stop occasionally to stand in doorways and watch some of the lessons going on, smiling at some and frowning thoughtfully at others trying to discern their purpose given what he knew about Jedi training. Some of it was nonsensical, breaking up one-on-one training sessions for rounds of meditation was one, andone where they sat and stared at pebbles of various sizes was another.
Until she remembered something Dooku had told him once: that all Jedi were trained to reach out to the Force. Of course, it comes back to how we see ki and chi! Hell, I think he said they get their powers from being able to become 'conduits' for the Force. But my ki is internal, I only needed ta start meditating after I'd built up enough ki to be able to use it consciously.
Ranma shuddered a little, that idea adding to the anxiety she was feeling and hastening her steps. He (she at present) was still coming to terms with the idea that the belief in the Jedi's Unifying Force might have some reality to it, rather than be the silly quasi-religious teaching he had thought it might be at first. He'd known there some kind of energy out there, crackling and filling the ether with its potential from the very beginning. But even knowing that and coming to feel it might have, have some kind of presence to it, was a far cry from believing it was directing anyone's actions, or that such a thing was a good idea.
She certainly wasn't looking forward to trying to open his/herself up to the Force as Dooku put it. Ranma had felt his emotions affecting the chi around him before when he was trying to regain control of his emotions after first arriving in this universe. That had been scary, and Ranma wasn't willing to experiment with it further, at least not unless she desperately needed to.
Especially given what I'm feeling now, no way should this planet's balance, at least my idea of balance, being out of whack be making me so damn nervous! That's gotta be coming at me from the Force somehow, need to get a handle on it. That this was some kind of mental attack which had gotten past his/her defenses did not occur to Ranma.
Still following K'kruhk's directions Ranma eventually found a garden which seemed to take up a goodly portion of the next level of the temple. She moved into it, smiling faintly as she felt the rays of the sun through the glass at the end of the room, and kicked off her shoes, luxuriating in the feel of the grass underneath her feet, already feeling somewhat calmer. This place is great, gotta find out if it's based off an actual planet or someone's idea of one. But that's not important right now, right now I need to center myself and get over whatever the hell is affecting me.
With that thought Ranma sat down in front of a large tree, one that looked like a cross between a baobab tree and a redwood. Closing her eyes, she began to meditate, sending her thoughts inward, cleansing her spirit in a way. As he did, the irrational anxiety he had felt left him and he sighed faintly, not opening his eyes. Ahh, much better.
With the swift success of that bit of mental judo Ranma felt emboldened enough to experiment slightly, if very carefully. Reaching out with his senses, he touched the chi, or the Living Force, of the tree in front of him.
It was like touching a string of electrical current among thousands. What Dooku called the Unifying Force roared and crackled around the Living Force of the tree, the same power but a different color to his sense, though Ranma knew that was his mind trying to make sense of input it wasn't really designed for. Nonetheless Ranma smiled slightly at the feel of it, shaking his head as he thought about how Gallia and the others had described the way the splash of his curse felt to them
So, you think my curse is funny huh? Well I suppose I'm used to it by now, and I bet you don't have much to laugh at most of the time anyway. The Jedi sound a little too emotionally stunted as a group to be funny, and don't get me started on the Sith, angst and rage filled berserkers the lot of them. As he thought that Ranma felt something at the edge of his senses, like faint laughter on the wind, but he couldn't be sure.
Feeling strangely drained yet upbeat from the experience Ranma cut her connection to the Force off for now. Chuckling she stood up and began to move into one of his martial arts techniques, closing his eyes as he did so. She had no idea how long she moved through her katas one after another before someone clapping interrupted her semi-trance, causing her to turn coming out of her last kata quickly and opening her eyes.