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Complete Detachment (Star Wars Prequel SI)

Reader mode
9adam4 said:
Does that mean that people wouldn't be in favor of killing Partha?
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I did NOT think you were actually seriously considering this, at all.

9adam4 said:
Do I need to address this further in the narrative for it to make sense?
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9adam4 said:
Consider his internal monologue at the beginning of Chapter 16.

Obi-wan's instinct on encountering threats to Anakin, Olana, or Shmi is going to be quite extreme. It's because Partha targeted Olana that the "obvious" response is to remove the threat.

There's not much more to it than that; I hope that was helpful.
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I don't follow the SI's logic regarding murdering a child at all. Reprimanding her, bringing her actions to the attentions of her teachers, doing a convoluted plot with a moral lesson at the end. These are the more or less acceptable solution to the problem because at the end you might still have a functional initiate for the Order ,or will have removed her in a way in keeping with Jedi moral standards. You are dealing repeatedly in cold calculated maneuvers that scream of the kind of shit a patient Sith would do. Your justification of it being a visceral reaction to the harm caused to someone you are attached to screams of hypocrisy in regards to your stance on the Dark Side. Your desire to murder a threat is the exact knee jerk response a Sith would have. Reacting from emotional distress instead of calming yourself and reasoning out a solution as a Knight should. I'd be rethinking the promotion and handing over of an apprentice if I were Yoda. Better to create an exile and temporarily crush an initiates dream than allow some one showing clear sociopathic tendencies and worse the moral pragmatism to do any deed so long as it achieves his goals on his self appointed crusade.

9adam4 said:
Grinzel is a planet on the near side of Unknown Space. The Grinzellians are a small pre-industrial species that primarily inhabit lowlands and swamps on account of being prey for much larger carnivore species.

Two space-faring cultures in Wild Space occassionally hunt the larger carnivore species for sport. Because Grinzellians are compulsively curious climbers and burrowers, one has occasionally made its way onto a landed craft and inadvertantly been taken on departure. They are viewed as great curiosities, and since they have naturally long lifespans, a handful have made their way across Wild Space into the Republic.

The neat thing about nothing official having ever be said about Yoda's planet and species - including it never having been said in-universe that his species is unknown or mysterious - is that I can make up whatever I want and have it be common knowledge.
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This is neat and as good an explanation as any. It is better than that species thats gender hate each other so much they only interact for the sake of mating. Honestly how does that work?
 
Silverbullet said:
I don't follow the SI's logic regarding murdering a child at all. Reprimanding her, bringing her actions to the attentions of her teachers, doing a convoluted plot with a moral lesson at the end. These are the more or less acceptable solution to the problem because at the end you might still have a functional initiate for the Order ,or will have removed her in a way in keeping with Jedi moral standards. You are dealing repeatedly in cold calculated maneuvers that scream of the kind of shit a patient Sith would do. Your justification of it being a visceral reaction to the harm caused to someone you are attached to screams of hypocrisy in regards to your stance on the Dark Side. Your desire to murder a threat is the exact knee jerk response a Sith would have. Reacting from emotional distress instead of calming yourself and reasoning out a solution as a Knight should. I'd be rethinking the promotion and handing over of an apprentice if I were Yoda. Better to create an exile and temporarily crush an initiates dream than allow some one showing clear sociopathic tendencies and worse the moral pragmatism to do any deed so long as it achieves his goals on his self appointed crusade.
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Yoda apparently agrees with you, and you're both right.

Silverbullet said:
This is neat and as good an explanation as any. It is better than that species thats gender hate each other so much they only interact for the sake of mating. Honestly how does that work?
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Badly? IIRC, there are some solitary species on Earth in real life that avoid each other and are violent toward others of the same species outside of mating season, but I'm having difficulty thinking of examples, and I think they're generally hostile to everyone, not just the opposite sex.
 
Prince Charon said:
Badly? IIRC, there are some solitary species on Earth in real life that avoid each other and are violent toward others of the same species outside of mating season, but I'm having difficulty thinking of examples, and I think they're generally hostile to everyone, not just the opposite sex.
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The combination of solitary + territorial + sexual reproduction isn't *that* rare. Bears, koalas, wolverines, spiders, moles...
 
seeing_octarine said:
The combination of solitary + territorial + sexual reproduction isn't *that* rare. Bears, koalas, wolverines, spiders, moles...
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Yeah, but the implication of Silverbullet's comment was that both genders were social with the same gender, but extremely hostile with the other outside of mating. That's kind of unusual.
 
I have had very limited interaction with people with emotive and disassociation issues so I guess I subconsciously assumed the SI's moral frame of mind based on values I was raised with and values we see Obi-Wan have in his movie and show appearances. I will never again confuse the SI's morals again, of course now I want him as far from any position of authority as soon as possible until someone ironclads the rules to him to interact with other sentient. Detachment indeed *shudders.
 
Silverbullet said:
I will never again confuse the SI's morals again,
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It seems like you still are.

I'd recommend you pay a bit more attention to Yoda's response here, and the SI's reflection on that response. You are coming very close to making the same mistake the SI is making, writing off an entire individual because of one particular bad thing you find unacceptable.

Then again, it's possible I'm just taking your comments a little bit personally. Just because I would make certian moral judgements that most people would disagree with, doesn't actually make me a bad person or incapable of regular interaction. Quite the opposite, in fact: sociopaths are often in highly trusted positions because we can make detached moral judgments without the emotional hang-ups that bother others.
 
I am being hypocritical considering my knee jerk reaction to the situation, and Yoda did reprimand him and change his rationale of events. I guess I'm jumping to conclusions out of my own emotional shock of someone threatening to kill a child. It seemed an excessive reaction to the situation.

That's not to say that I cannot see situations where a child might have to be harmed. A friend of mine had an Older brother who was in Afghanistan. While we were drinking at his place one night we asked him about how things were over there and he told us a story of having to shoot a young teenage boy because he was running at his squad with a grenade. He said the kid couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen. Again the point I'm trying to convey is I can logically see the circumstances where you might have to hurt children, but didn't see the situation with Partha as one and judged the SI unfairly. I apologize.
 
So just binged the whole story great stuff I'm really enjoying it.

Where did you get the lightsaber crystal color thing from is that new Disney lore?

I prefer the old sith alchemy lore for the sith crystals.
 
9adam4 said:
Quite the opposite, in fact: sociopaths are often in highly trusted positions because we can make detached moral judgments without the emotional hang-ups that bother others.
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Counter-argument: sociopaths are often in formerly highly trusted positions, that while still influential* are losing that high regard because of their (sociopaths) inability to correctly make judgements that require empathy et al to produce a favorable outcome for the people who trusted them, and are often in prison because they can't make the empathic moral judgements that others can.

There is an orthogonal difference between sociopathic behavior (in significant part, a partial or complete inability to empathize) and compartmentalization skill (the ability to usefully and deliberately separate values, cognitions, emotions, beliefs, etc, when those come into conflict).

Note that orthogonal means I'm not saying sociopaths can't develop compartmentalization skill; the difference is that "empathy" is unlikely to be in any of their "compartments" (though it can also be argued that some forms of sociopathy may be or are the result of involuntary compartmentalization). Thus, the lack of empathy is easily mistakable for the ability to temporarily suppress its influence on the decision-making process. Indeed, one could certainly argue that they're better at compartmentalization because they don't have to waste processing power on "boxing" empathy - right up until they hit any of the situations where empathy would be advantageous.

*There's a difference between "influential" and "trusted". For example, the positions of corporate executive and janitor both function better when they can be trusted, but sociopaths are much more likely to be the former than the latter.

I can only imagine that it must be very much an uphill slog to be a "good" sociopath; it's easier (which is not the same as easy) to be good when your brain comes with a fully functional "hint system" (empathy) rather than an alignment system where some or all of the boxes are labelled "guess".
 
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Amrynel said:
I can only imagine that it must be very much an uphill slog to be a "good" sociopath; it's easier (which is not the same as easy) to be good when your brain comes with a fully functional "hint system" (empathy) rather than an alignment system where some or all of the boxes are labelled "guess".
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A very good point.

Hella easier if you're a telepath, though.
 
Just read this. I know there were going to be arguments about your criticisms of the order. Was part of them the Si embodying seemingly everyone of them to the nines, while also tripping on Anakin fuck ups.

I mean wow.

Like murdering the diplomats. You have the dosh to spend hiring Jango to murder the diplomats. Why not spend that getting incontrovertible proof those monsters are people eaters in need of a cultural cleansing and slavers and getting the order member to go bash brothers with Grievous. Or getting Grievous to talk.

If you forget them and they are bad as they are sith.
 
Larekko12 said:
You have the dosh to spend hiring Jango to murder the diplomats.
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This may not come up in-universe, but Ben isn't actually paying anywhere near the market rate for that many assassinations.

Thing is, Jango sees what the Yam'rii were going to do (enlisting the Republic and Jedi to attack the Kaleesh) as being the same as what the Death Watch did to the True Mandalorians. So the amount he's charging - while still enough that Ben doesn't recognize the difference - is closer to the cost of four hits rather than forty.

The larger answer (why isn't Ben involving himself more directly) is that there just isn't enough time. Ben is at the point now where he knows about far more planet-level problems and events that it is conceivably possible to fix, and he's still operating under the belief that the more widely he spreads knowledge of his "visions," the more likely the Sith will learn and start adapting to undermine their accuracy (this is already happening, but I digress).

Plus, he still has to do the individual intense training to become a (nearly) peerless swordsman, master telepath, and decent tech engineer. It is, to be frank, already stretching the narrative for me to let him have done as many things as he has, which is part of why I gave him seven years of off-screen background time to play with.

Still, I really do appreciate people's thought on what else Ben should be spending his time on. There are a lot of possibilities coming up, like interacting with the Jensaarai before they fell.
 
I am actually put off by both sides responses going to the extreme. Obi lacking compassion for a child that is not directly his responsibility is okay though pushing anywhere near the idea of killing a child seems fairly evil. Yoda and Qui-Gon not only establish this kind of situation as common along side implying they specifically knew Partha was an issue but then kind of critize Obi for not directly talking to the trainers that already failed to deal with the problem. Overally it feels like the scene was meant to not make anyside necessarily bad guys or good guys merely intelligent beings discussing the situation except to me it came across like both sides were idiots.
 
Eh. Saying they have failed to deal with it assumes that they are done with dealing and part of their waiting is selecting for self awareness and iniative. To ask for help on Olana part instead of internalizing failure, to notice on behalf on the people around her, or to feel guilt and repent unprompted on Partha.


Also this sort of thing is exactly what the force shroud that skull fucked the mc so hard he doesnt instinctively trill in horror at palpitine pushing their metric for stepping in when they are already overstaurated for potential compared to knights probabably aint that hard given what it did to mc memories.
 
Ch. 25 - Dooku vs Fett
I braced inwardly as the emptiness of space gave way to the fullness of the planetary Force surrounding the planet Kamino. It was my first time here; each world's flow of Force energy was subtly different, making it impossible that I could ever confuse one planet for another as long as my senses remained intact.

Kamino felt… cold. The yearning for connection that was the birthright of all life was muted here, as though the world were sufficient in itself. As I steered our ship around severe weather systems to our landing point, it made me anxious. It was uncomfortable to be on a planet that, in contrast to most, seemed entirely neutral as to whether I came or went. It was somehow more uncanny than either the hot hunger of some worlds or the bristling hostility of others. This planet was just… alien, and content to remain so.

I maneuvered around a large electrical storm to arrive at the marked landing pad. The small metallic island stood above the constant motion of the planetary waves. Without any land to provide a reference, the roiling waters gave the illusion that the artificial structure was moving, adrift.

As I helped my passengers disembark, I nodded to Master Plo Koon as he closed up and secured that hatch on his craft. They had already landed with the other half of the delegation, apparently within minutes of our own arrival despite having taken vastly different jumps into the dwarf galaxy.

The functionary who greeted us in the salt spray of the surface spoke no words, merely gesturing toward a lift to descend into the complex. Her mind was a tight, dense ball of the sort I associated with reserved professionals of marked self-control. But as we passed other Kaminoans in the hallways of the oddly lit complex, the same mental structure was repeated; I came to the provisional conclusion that this was a common mental state for this race (or at least the ones hired to work on cloning projects).

It wasn't until we passed through our third identical unmarked doorway that I remembered to take out my eyewear. The electronics automatically activated as I slipped the wide glasses over my eyes, overlaying a range of colors and symbols on different surfaces that had appeared blank before.

"Why the goggles?" It was Koon who sped up to walk next to me with the question.

"Kaminoan visual frequencies are higher than humans," I explained. "The walls and panels look blank to us."

The Master tapped his own eyewear. "Yes, these provide a similar purpose by filtering out some of the blue-green light when on nitrogen-oxygen worlds. Otherwise the visual environment becomes quite painful after a little while." He looked around. "My spectrum must be broader than yours; I see the colors and markings without difficulty."

I was pleased to see that everything was labeled in Galactic Standard, and so I could tell when we moved past "Adjunct Hallway F" and into "Meeting Room 3."

The room was quite large, an oval with fifty seats deployed in an arc reminiscent of the Council Chamber. One Kaminoan was seated, speaking with Masters Windu, Fisto, and Sifu-Diyas. Other Kaminoans, their tall graceful bearings the very picture of quiet deference, stood nearby.

The last figure in the room stood off by himself, casually facing the door. Waiting for us… or, more specifically, for my Master's Master. I had not forgotten that Dooku had personally fought and killed several of Jango Fett's people in an ill-fated Republic intervention more than a decade ago. Fett had not forgotten, either. The seated Kaminoan rose toward us in greeting, but the Mandalorian was faster and stepped in front of us.

"Jedi Master Dooku," he began, "do you know who I am?" There was pain and anger under the surface of his mind, but it was held in tight control. This was not a man given to unplanned outburst.

"Jango Fett," came Dooku's reply. "A survivor of the Mandalorian Civil War."

"Yes." The fire burned hot but stayed tightly controlled. "You killed my men at Galidraan, and saw me sold as a slave."

"And you killed eleven Jedi that day," Dooku noted. I felt a sudden surge of anger there, but it was tinged with… not aggression, but guilt. "We both did what our duties required of us."

"Your duties were supposed to be the preservation of peace," Jango spat. "Not as the blade of revenge in the hand of the Death Watch. Those were good men you slaughtered for false accusations." He was wearing a flight suit rather than his armor, but his hand jerked as though moving to a holstered weapon.

Dooku neither cowed nor blustered, but kept his composure, clamping down on his own anger. "Which you would have had a chance to prove, had you submitted to arrest."

The mercenary shook his head. "No, there was no chance for a fair trial with the governor in Tor Vizsla's pocket. It was a set up, from start to finish." He sneered, "And now you tell me you would do it again."

"No." The word boomed from Dooku, and I felt the sincere truth behind it. Frustration, and regret. "I would not see innocent men killed as a ploy of vengeance. Nor justify it later with political evaluations and tricks."

The Master glanced just briefly at Yoda, and his flash of anger had a much clearer target than before - the Jedi Council. But even this did not spur any other individual in the room to talk or act; all were frozen save Fett and Dooku.

Jango bared his teeth, then, and I felt a rush of savage anger stoke him further, almost compromising his control. "You yield your cause, then, Jedi Master Dooku? You were in the wrong?"

Dooku's own mind took on an anguished despair then, but before he could respond, a smaller presence inserted itself between them. "At peace, should you be, young Fett," came Yoda's soothing reply. "The Jedi Council's the decision was, not Dooku's. A Knight he was when on Galidraan you fought; our orders did he carry out."

"You're Yoda?" Jango asked. His anger had simmered back to a more manageable level. "Head of the Council?"

"Misinformed, we were," the small Master said, his face upturned to meet Jango's. "A tragic day it was, yes. Many destroyed by deception have been."

Jango blinked, but then turned back to Dooku. The human Master's features were the same, but there was a growing relief in his mind, and something resembling surprise. He was not expecting Yoda to speak in such terms about the Jedi, that was clear. Jango asked, "Do you yield your cause, Dooku?" He stepped up close enough to the other human that their height disparity was clear, with the Jedi behind a whole head taller. "Do you yield?"

What followed was the stiffest, most formal bow I have ever seen. Dooku's eyes never left Jango's as the Master pushed his Jedi cloak from his shoulders, spread his arms out with palms up, and inclined from the waist. "I yield."

Jango nodded without another word, turned his back on the man, and left the room through a different door.

Silence reigned for several moments as the Count-to-be collected his robe from the floor and everyone looked at each other in consternation.

FInally, it was the Kaminoan who broke the silence. "I apologize for that. And for this improper welcome. I'm afraid we had not been expecting you… not for some years, in fact. Master Diyas," he inclined his head to the still-seated human, "had led us to believe we should operate autonomously during the early stages of development."

"Think nothing of it," Mace Windu replied, "as long as you can accommodate our visit and input."

"Of course," the Kaminoan nodded. "I am Prime Minister Lama Su, and am personally in charge of managing the overall clone program. We are still templating and correcting Mister Fett's genome, at which point the first batches will begin growing. But since the development cycle is only accelerated to double human norms, we still have several months before the early stage educational programming will begin."

"And each batch will receive the same programming?" I confirmed.

"At Stages 2 and 3, certainly. Mister Fett is working with our experts to craft an advanced combat curriculum which may include different specializations at the later stages." He gestured towards the back door that Fett had exited, and we all began moving in that direction. "Let me show you around the facility, and then we will give an overview of the entire growth process. I'm sure you'll have many questions by then."

Of that I had little doubt.
 
"Oh by the way, looking over the orders. 66 in particular, a plot of treason certainly deserves a punishment, but execution without a trial is highly illegal. Could we make a few tweaks to ensure that due process, and a fair trial will be ensured should whatever fools the republic recruits as generals? The politicians in the senate would certainly love the spectacle if nothing else."
 
Ch. 26 - Following Orders
"Retirement? Doesn't that just increase the overall cost?" As usual, Mace Windu's demeanor towards my suggestions was skeptical at best. I had brought him and Dooku, along with a Kaminoan doctor named Pell, to speak with me and R2 on some of the programming and logistical changes the two of us had worked out over the last few hours.

"it certainly is a cost increase, yes," I acknowledged, "but not just that. It provides these men with the foothold to start lives for themselves outside of the Grand Army, when they're ready to do so."

"Along with the salaries during service, and the occupational training programs you're proposing," Windu mused, "it certainly would have that effect."

"Where," Dooku began, "are you expecting these men to settle to have their civilian lives?"

I smiled. "Serenno, for one." I hurried on at his alarmed expression. "Your planet is one of many with a population replacement problem. More people, especially young men, are leaving for other worlds than are arriving. The result is that Serenno already pays exorbitantly for off-world security forces."

"And your solution," Dooku followed, "is to allow these soldiers to retire to Serenno and other worlds."

"Yes, on whatever basis each world wants to allow them." I selected another panel readout for visual display. "To really cement the difference between the Separatist Droid Army and the Republic Clone Army, ours needs to be made up of citizens with full rights."

"Sorry, the what?" Doctor Pell's graceful grey features were agog. "Who are the Separatists?"

"The other side of the war these soldiers will be fighting," I answered, but moved on. "By having the Galactic Republic paying the soldiers' salaries, we can have payroll taxes going to whichever planets they claim citizenship on. And it's up to those planets under what conditions to offer citizenship."

Dooku caught on immediately. "So different worlds are in competition for the present revenue, and future labor, of these men."

I nodded. "Some states like Serenno might provide good benefits but require a period of local military service. Others, like Corellia, might have no conditions for citizenship other than the soldier's income being deposited and taxed locally. Clones can choose a planet of citizenship before they leave Kamino."

Dooku nodded thoughtfully. "This will require careful handling in the Senate," he pointed out. "But you've provided exactly the sort of incentives that bait them into action."

"I can count on your support, then?"

"I'll need to consult with the other Counts on the details, but I have little doubt they will jump at this," he assented.

I later found Sifo-Dyas in discussion with Yoda and Qui-Gon over some of the mid-stage educational programming.

"Masters," I addressed, "could I ask for your thoughts on a different matter?" They turned their placid gazes on me. "Follow me, please."

I led them to a console in a chamber removed from the main work areas. The work consoles faced a large clear barrier that led into a smaller chamber, a clean room, in which could be seen micro-etching equipment and a small electro-impulse conveyor.

I had specifically chosen a time after hours; no Kaminoan shared the chamber with us as I accessed the schematics in the work console. A holo-diagram of a printed circuit appeared, rotating slowly.

"Master Dyas," I asked, "you authorized the inclusion of a bio-mimetic inhibitor chip in each of the clones, yes?"

The seer nodded. "As a safeguard against units being corrupted by Dark Jedi or bribed to turn against the Republic. Jedi commanders could trigger one of several hardwired orders programmed into the chip, and a clone would have no choice but to obey."

"I see." I turned to Qui-Gon. "Your thoughts, Master?"

"I know you won't like my phrasing, Obi-wan… but, these are supposed to be human beings, not droids," my Master explained, looking at Sifo-Dyas critically. "We should allow them their own choices, even if some of them may turn their back on the Republic."

"Young Kenobi, see these chips in your visions, did you?" Yoda asked.

"No, Master Yoda. I don't recall any such thing being a part of the Clone Army. Which, in my mind, suggests two possibilities." I ticked them off my fingers. "One, the Sith arranged to have the chip implantation cancelled, so they could corrupt the Army exactly as Master Dyas fears. Or, two, the chips are themselves part of a Sith plot already underway."

"A third option," Sifo-Dyas added, "is that the chips simply didn't appear in what you saw. I don't mean to be critical, Obi-wan, but Force Visions aren't like watching a holo-drama. They aren't complete; they don't show every detail."

I nodded grudgingly. "I will keep that in mind, Master." Mine were very much like a holo-drama, but I was not in any position to contest the point. "Regardless, I recommend we cancel this element of the cloning process altogether. I agree with Qui-Gon: the soldiers should not be treated as automata. Not even in a seeming emergency."

"Keep in mind, we should," Yoda agreed, "the visions of a coming Galactic Empire. If tyranny we confront, this tool of great aid to them would be."

"I… yes. I concur." Master Dyas' agreement was hesitant, but I sensed his sincerity.

I nodded, and quickly touched a series of relays on the console. The machinery inside came to life. A small metal disk was floated down to under the etching equipment, and after a small flash, it continued onto an open compartment and the next identical disk followed.

"What did you do?" Qui-Gon asked.

"I had already programmed the laser etching equipment to slice the chips into useless pieces," I explained. "I just didn't want to carry out the process without some consensus."

That earned me some scolding looks, but nobody made any move to stop the machinery.

By the time the next regular shift started, there wasn't a single inhibitor chip left intact.
 
I find it funny that usually fanfiction describes the jedi as emotionless drones, truly detached. Yet here you portray the protagonist as that while the jedi are still normal people, for the majority of their parts.
I like it, quite a lot. Especially since they criticize him for it. xD
 
Ch. 27 - Thirteen Years Later
"Cannon ahead," I announced, and the tall woman turned even as the first bolt hit her in the chest, dissipating harmlessly across her cortosis armor. She raised her hand, and the plasma cannon's second bolt froze in mid-air. She flicked her fingers and the air around the bolt warped until, with a second flick, the coherent plasma flew back at its source, melting the gun that birthed it.

I would have praised the elegance of my former Padawan's moves had there been time, but Olana was already turning her attention to the rest of the clone squadron as Anakin closed to engage them in melee. It was odd, to fight against men wearing the same uniform that had always meant support and rescue over the years of the Clone Wars. But there was no question where their loyalty was, now.

The two Jedi Knights, my former students, the Guardian and the Consular, fought bravely as we cleared the corridor. As we advanced, I kept my defensive sword stance, subtly drawing their fire with mental suggestions and then returning each bolt swiftly to its source. Any one of us was the match for the forces we had faced, let alone all three together. Obi-wan, Anakin, and Olana: the three heroes of the Republic.

And now... the three enemies of the Empire.

"That's the third squadron," Anakin pointed out as we dispatched the last soldier. I could swear he looked no different than Hayden Christensen, although I had two decades clouding those old memories. "The Emperor must be here."

"I don't sense him; do you?" Olana asked. We both shook our heads no.

"I don't even sense a conspicuous absence, like we did on Rethicus," I admitted. "Still, a fully staffed modern outpost built over the ruins of a Jedi Temple? I think our intel is good. I think he's here."

"Let's hope so," Anakin added, thumbing his saber off as he moved down the hallway. "Vrogas Vas is our very last lead. If he's not here, we've lost him." Nobody needed to say how unacceptable that would be.

In the next hallways, the four masked men who stood guard at the door drew weapons that we knew well: the yellow-bladed saber spears of Temple Guards. I holstered my sword and drew my own unusual weapon. Activated, the chrome hilt projected the serpentine blade of a light whip, almost ten feet long and glowing a menacing orange.

Olana and Anakin took one each, and I engaged the other pair. My battle was short - since I had mastered the art of creating false ripples in the Force to fool precognition, any battle with an unprepared Force-user was an easy slaughter. My whip shorted their blades quickly, and left them unconscious with cauterized and survivable injuries.

The massive chamber that we entered was distinctly Imperial. Its vaulted ceilings were a ridiculous waste of space; the dim lighting leading up to the dais was similarly impractical. The Emperor sat on his oversized throne behind his concealing hood, the very image of devoted malice. There was no one else in the room, and the cloaked figure stood at our approach.

"This ends here!" Anakin announced, his blade unsheathed as we came within ten feet of the imperial throne.

Our foe threw his hood back, revealing the sneer of the man we had once known as Mace Windu. "Thank you so much for coming," the Sith Lord spat. "It will save me the trouble of tracking you down."

Anakin raised his weapon, preparing a charge, but Olana's raised hand stilled him. "Why, Master Windu?" She asked, pleading. "What led you to do such monstrous things, to betray the Republic so?"

"The Republic," Windu rejoined. "Was corrupt. Rotten to the core. Something stronger was needed, and if the Order would not provide it…"

"Enough!" Anakin shouted. "So much destruction, so much misery! You will answer for your crimes."

"No," Windu said, his violet blade emerging from its hilt. "I don't believe I will."

Anakin and Windu each struck the other at the same moment, impossibly swift, their blades bouncing off with the full force of their blows. A second exchange followed, and a third, each with more slices, more rapid. Olana was looking for an opening, a way to provide Anakin support against the former Council member and greatest living swordsman.

My blue blade pierced through Anakin's throat just as he backed away from their third exchange. I sliced to the side to free the blade, and a second swift stroke saw his head removed entirely from his body.

Emperor Windu nodded in satisfaction, sheathing his own blade, even, as Olana turned to me in horror. "Master, no! What… why…?"

I allowed my cold gaze to regard the Knight. Her eyes were wide, refusing to accept what she saw. My own blade - its blue color still pure, not a hint of red - continued to burn bright as I spoke. "Darth Malleus is right, Olana. The Republic and the Order did more harm than good. We can build a better galaxy, now."

Tears filled her eyes as she sobbed, sinking to the body of her fallen companion. "No, Master." She kept her head down in sadness and shock. "No! Not you, Obi-wan. Anyone but you. Please, no! Obi-wan! Obi-wan."

"Obi-wan," Qui-gon's voice replaced Olana's as I opened my eyes. "Obi-wan, wake up, please. Wake up!"

"Sorry, Master," I apologized, rising as quickly as I could. "I had the same dream again."

"Yes, the Force Vision with Master Windu as the Sith Lord. That was rather obvious from your state of mind." My former Master sat on the edge of my bed, looking at me with his customary concern. The rooms in Kamino were larger than Jedi Temple quarters but just as sparsely furnished.

This had been my second night sleeping on Kamino, and my second time having this same dream. I didn't want to call it a Vision, although that is definitely what it was: the previous night it had been Sifo-Dyas who had sensed my distress and entered my room, and he had assured me that all the signs were there.

What Sifo-Dyas had no knowledge of, but I was pretty sure was possible, is that the source of the Vision could be the Sith rather than the movement of the Force. And that possibility made me want nothing more than to discard the whole thing as a ruse.

"Thank you for waking me," I offered. "I'm glad we are returning to Coruscant today. My sleep is seldom troubled there."

"There is another matter that I wished to discuss with you," Qui-Gon admitted. "It concerns Olana."

"You don't believe I handled the matter with Partha correctly?" I guessed.

Qui-Gon shook his head. "No, my concern has to do with her feelings for you."

I nodded. "Yes, I'm aware she's been shielding her mind from me so that I wouldn't notice her romantic aspirations. I had planned to address it once I had helped her complete her final Initiate Trial, and before she gives me her Oath as a Padawan."

"Have you heard her Oath?" Qui-Gon asked.

"No," I admitted warily. "Why is there…?" I shook my head. "No matter. I'll address the issue head-on, and soon."

As Qui-Gon looked at me, I sensed his concern growing further. "I don't believe you should," he opined softly.

"You… don't believe I should talk to her?" I was perplexed; Olana's 'crush' was exactly the sort of thing we were taught to avoid.

My Master shook his head. "I have some experience with this, Obi-wan. I would strongly suggest that you let it be."

"Lead her on? That's would be quite destructive."

"Not as destructive as extinguishing what she is feeling." He cleared his throat, and I could sense his discomfort. "I'm not saying you should do anything to encourage her feelings, and certainly not that you should reciprocate them. But as long as she keeps them from you - I would let her have her personal fantasies, her private illusions. They harm no one else, and I believe quashing them would hurt her bond to you."

I wondered how personally Qui-Gon's own experiences with this went. Did Dooku crush his own heart, years ago? Or did he have to crush some other initiate's?

"Thank you," I finally concluded. "I'll… think about it."

"Good," my Master nodded. "Oh, but do have her share with you her Oath. See if maybe she'll modify it to something less… obsessive. At least in front of others?"

I agreed. As we made our way to Meeting Room C in order to give parting words to the Kaminoans, I again found myself intensely appreciative of Qui-Gon's support and guidance.
 
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