Chapter 109: Onderon

Chapter 109: Onderon

- Onderon – 245 Days into the Hutt Crusade-

The air in the private meeting room, deep within the royal palace of the city of Iziz, wasn’t nearly as festive as the city itself had been. The locals of Onderon might not be all that big on outsiders, but their position in The Slice had always seen them dealing with issues caused by the Hutts. As an Inner Rim world, it hadn’t been a truly serious issue. Yet the Hutts had still been the major criminal threat to the locals, and everyone had known it. This made the League of Free Stars quite popular with the common Onderonian, and the reception of their party in the city had been quite positive as a result.

Now, however, it had clearly come time for more serious business. Izuku, Aayla, and Shaak Ti could all sense a certain tension between Mina Bonteri and King Ramsis Dendup. A tension that they also sensed seem to outright alarm Padmé, who clearly hadn’t been aware that such a thing existed between the Senator and her monarch. Aside from a pair of Royal Guards at the door, watching but separated from the discussion by a privacy field, no others were currently present. Not even Sabé had been invited to attend, and Shaak Ti was here as a representative of the Jedi Order, seated on the other side of Padmé rather than with Izuku and Aayla.

None of them were delusional enough to think that such a seating arrangement, centered on a three-sided table as it was, was anything other than intentional. Bonteri and Dendup were clearly representing Onderon, Shaak Ti and Padmé the Republic, and Izuku and Aayla the League. The entire thing spoke of a much more serious discussion than had been expected. Onderon wasn’t particularly close to the League, with there being multiple Republic-controlled sectors between current League borders and the Japrael system. Something which had previously led them all to assume this was mostly a meeting arranged by Mina Bonteri for reasons of their respective positions in the Republic Senate. Yet, it had been the King who issued the invitations, the Senator who seemed unhappy about that, and now it was the elderly monarch who spoke to take control of the meeting’s direction.

“The Republic is corrupt. Horribly corrupt. Nearly as much so as the Hutts were. It didn’t happen overnight, nor am I willing to point a finger at a single responsible party. The truth, however, is that the Republic is in the late stages of political decay and a galactic-scale war is already brewing.”

Padmé, bless her poor innocent and peaceful soul, seemed to be the only one in the room shocked by the King’s statement. She clearly made to speak, only for eye contact and a quick headshake from her former mentor to silence her for the time being. The King was pinning his gaze on Izuku, clearly wanting to see his reaction to the statement. One that Izuku made carefully…but without pulling any punches in the end.

“I don’t pretend to be an expert on the state of the Republic. I was not born within its borders and am, in almost every way, an outsider looking in. Yet, to be honest, I’m shocked it hasn’t already collapsed. More of the Republic Senate is controlled by corporate interests than general democracy, and corporations have never been known to play nice with each other. The fact I know for certain both the Trade Federation and Kuat Drive Yards are busily arming to the teeth, and that the two bitterly despise each other, doesn’t bode well either. There are at least some signs the Techno Union is doing the same.”

Now Padmé was staring at him in dismay. She’d known about the Trade Federation, of course, but apparently she’d been unaware of Kuat’s own buildup. At least, not from the surprise and alarm she was now radiating. The King and Senator Bonteri, on the other hand, only grimaced. The pair felt, to the Force Sensitives present, as if Izuku’s statement was merely confirmation of something they’d already suspected. The King nodded and spoke again.

“You have the right of it, though perhaps not the full scope. If one looks carefully at the political lines, both those that were forming before your own Crusade and those that immediately began to re-form after the splash you made disrupted things, there are wider signs. The Banking Clan, Commerce Guild, Techno Union, and Trade Federation are all working more and more tightly with each other. With the former Jedi Master, Count Dooku, seemingly the central figure behind their creation of an ‘Outer Rim Faction,’ of sorts.”

Izuku blinked, frowning at that revelation. LIS wasn’t focused on spying within the Republic. They did have operatives throughout Republic space, of course, but the vast majority of their focus had been turned against the Hutts. As such, he wasn’t too surprised his own briefings and knowledge had fallen short of the scope involved, though the King’s knowledge did beg the question of how he knew.

“Is the connection that obvious? Or has their ‘alliance’ been fishing for recruitment?”

The King’s tight smile was approving, even as Padmé made a distressed noise.

“Very good. I thought there was likely a sharp mind behind what entirely too many of those in the Core want to see as the actions of an Outer Rim Warlord. Too many foolish idiots dismiss the fact you built a business empire somehow capable of funding your Crusade before launching it. Still others, including Count Dooku I suspect, are still trying to look behind you for some hidden backer. But there isn’t anyone of the sort, is there?”

The question was as much a statement as an actual question, nearly rhetorical but still clearly seeking a direct answer. One Izuku had no issue giving.

“Of course not. The Hutt Crusade would never have worked with some sort of external backer. They had their grubby, flabby fists stuck too deeply into the Republic’s innards for that. They’d have been warned and the fight much worse, if it had even gotten off the ground at all instead of being sabotaged early.”

Senator Bonteri suddenly looked to have bitten into a lemon at the utterly flat and matter-of-fact way that Izuku had stated that. An expression that only got sourer as Shaak Ti leaned forward and spoke for the first time.

“I, as well as many other Jedi, can attest to seeing no signs of any external backing. The Jedi Order has neither seen nor sensed such…but is sadly aware of the growing tensions and the potential for a war to occur. There is a reason the Order has suddenly grown more active, attempting to root out enough of the corruption to put some manner of brake on the disaster. Even if it might be too little, too late, the hope is that signs of improvement to the general level of corruption within the Senate may ease tensions.”

The King turned to her and smiled much more kindly, this time.

“I’ve noticed. As have others. While I could have wished the Jedi had acted a bit sooner, I also recognized that your Order is in a horrible position. After the Ruusan Reformation, you tied yourselves too tightly to the rebuilding of the Republic, giving up too much of your previous independence. Even now, as you try to avert disaster, you are hamstrung by the very Republic you are trying to save. In part, of course, because neither side at all appreciates your attempts to ‘save’ them. Those attempts are for the people, after all, not for the people in power. A rather critical difference, I’m afraid.”

Shaak Ti nodded acknowledgement of that, rather than protesting, which seemed to cause confusion in Mina Bonteri. Less so her in her King, who Izuku suspected had a much better grounding in the Jedi Order’s history than the Senator did. Onderon had crossed paths with that history more than once, often times with great violence involved. Even now, the moon Dxun practically screamed of the Dark Side, to the point that passing it by had itched at Izuku’s senses and he’d been mentally juggling a possible visit to see if anything could be done about it.

With that in mind, the idea that the King had taken time to study the Jedi and what any layman realistically could of the Force, spoke well of his general intelligence. Meanwhile the Senator seemed stuck in an all-to-common mental trap of associating the Jedi with the Senate, rather than as an independent entity. Admittedly, that was somewhat truer now than it every had been in the past, yet still not actually an accurate view of the Order.

Jedi, at least in theory, served the Force. Political allegiance was a distant second. Their historical alliance with the Republic had originally come about only because the Republic had historically been the best avenue to encourage peace and discourage the sort of chaos and warfare that the Dark Side thrived on. Up until the Ruusan Reformation, they hadn’t even been part of the Republic’s judiciary at all, having only what authority they could arrange with each individual leader of said Republic. The smarter ones had worked with the Jedi closely. The stupider ones had pushed them away and generally suffered for it. Beyond that, it had often been up to individual sectors or star systems to choose how they interacted with the Jedi Order. The Reformation had changed that by giving some official authority to the Jedi, but in doing so tied to Jedi to the official halls of power as a part of the Republic, instead of merely an ally to it.

History was, at the moment, beside the point however. The King clearly had more to say, but Padmé was unable to contain herself any longer, one too many additional hits having built up against her own view of the situation. As soon as Shaak Ti withdrew herself, she spoke, attempting to keep her voice level but not entirely succeeding, despite all her training. She was, at core and despite considerable martial talents, a pacifist and idealist. A passionate one who couldn’t always reign that passion in.

“Surely the situation isn’t so bad as that! I know several of the Republic’s power blocs have been working to try and find solutions, including my own. Senator Bonteri has worked extensively with the Peace Party to keep things from turning violent.”

Padmé’s statement, including a gesture of the hand towards said Senator, was met with a grimace from the other woman that clearly caught her off guard. The King chuckled. Not maliciously so much as sadly, as he spoke in correction to Padmé’s statement.

“I’m afraid, Senator, that Mina does not agree with you. She has quietly, against my own advice, drifted into Count Dooku’s camp. A camp that increasingly believes there is no possible resolution to be had short of outright succession from the Republic. That it would be better to flee the sinking ship before it flounders entirely, as it were. Sadly, the ship she seems to be pinning her own hopes on is made up of some of the most utterly corrupt members of the Republic in the first place. She would have Onderon jump off the back of the drexl it at least knows, straight into the gullet of a drexl just as vile but completely unpredictable.”

Padmé looked utterly betrayed, and her fellow senator couldn’t quite look at her, even as she attempted to make her own counterpoint.

“Even if Count Dooku’s movement includes the like of the Trade Federation for practical, financial reasons, the truth stands that it is at least allied with the Rim’s needs. That’s the whole point, in fact. To unite the Rim so that the Core Worlds can no longer bleed it dry. It need not come to war, if the Republic is only willing to be reasonable and meet some basic demands. The concept of unionization to fight back against corruption is hardly new or evil, Padmé.”

Aayla was the one to snort at that, injecting herself into the discussion for the first time.

“Except that those you are getting in bed with are literally the galaxy’s worst offenders when it comes to Union Busting. Even Megacorps like KDY don’t engage in a fraction of the strong-arm tactics the Trade Federation does in the Outer Rim, or even the Mid Rim, given what they tried with Naboo. Which is doubly ironic, really, given that the Trade Federation started out as a group opposing those same tactics.”

Senator Bonteri winced at that, not seeming able to deny the accusation, and the King spoke up again before she could find another point to fire back with.

“Enough. It is a debate neither side can truly win, as both sides are equally problematic. That is, in fact, my point. I will never willingly place Onderon in such a position, yet I understand that the overall galactic situation is degrading. Slowly, for now. The Senate does not shift quickly and the Jedi have succeeded in slowing things down, as did the Hutt Crusade. Yet, as Master Ti has indicated, it is likely to be too little and too late. The Jedi simply don’t have a big enough lever to move the galaxy. Not when the opposition is made up of all the heaviest weights in it, split into multiple camps and pressing against each other.”

The King’s brusque delivery of that statement silenced Padmé and Senator Bonteri both. Neither of them looked happy, and Izuku was certain they would be having more words with each other in an attempt to win the other to their own side. Yet it was clear that neither of the women were ignorant of the copious ammunition they could level against one another, and the ways in in which the mere fact that said ammunition existed made the King’s statement true. Neither side could truly ‘win’ an argument in which both sides could present equally valid and truthful points. Besides, it was very clear from the King’s focus that his interest of the moment was mostly with Izuku.

“That, Sovereign Midoriya, leaves the wildcard in play that neither side expected. The League of Free Stars now presses right up against the heart of Count Dooku’s own growing influence to the Galactic North, has unknowingly converted multiple sectors leaning his way to the Galactic South, and has gained a great deal of influence heading Coreward from the old Hutt boarders. Tell me, how much greater is interest Coreward, into the Republic, than you expected it to be?”

Izuku did his best to keep his face blank at that, even as his thoughts raced. The elderly King couldn’t possibly know just how many planets had been approaching the League from The Slice region, yet he radiated utter confidence in his supposition. He didn’t know, he’d just analyzed, and very possibly gotten it right. Not even Esu and Esa had been able to explain just why so many Republic worlds they hadn’t expected to express interest were reaching out. More often for trade agreements than offers to switch proverbial teams, admittedly. But, in light of what the King was implying, those agreements were abruptly recontextualizing in Izuku’s brain as he connected bits of data.

Those worlds might not be looking to switch sides yet, but they were looking to establish a connection in case the worst happened and the League proved to be the better option. An option that might let them get out from between two clashing giants that could run them over without noticing. He nearly lost control and grimaced as he felt satisfaction flow back from the Force. Another realization struck him as he realized that The Force had been dipping its finger into his and Aayla’s efforts from the beginning. Had it intended for this to happen? If so, why in the galaxy would the normally detached entity that was the Force put its finger on the scale in such a fashion?

He forcefully pushed that horrifying thought, along with reminders of what he’d been shown clear back on Tatooine. He wasn’t at all prepared to follow it down to its conclusion right this moment. All in all, he managed to be only slightly slow in his response to the King, who didn’t even blink as he’d allowed Izuku to gather his thoughts. The delay had likely only confirmed things for the man, but that was almost meaningless at this point anyway.

“Considerably greater interest. Including at least one Sector Capital that outright wants to shift sides under the existing treaties.”

Padmé and Senator Bonteri looked stunned, King Dendup only nodded grimly.

“Bimmisaari, I’m sure. They’d been horribly done by the Republic for centuries. Particularly regarding the Hutts’ constant threat. Worse, they are pacifistic and practically in the Hutt’s former back yard as it is.”

Izuku inclined his head in acknowledgement, though not confirmation, and the King’s lips twitched into a wry smile.

“Regardless. While I understand that Onderon is a bit far from League space, I find myself desiring the sort of economic and military development that will allow me to keep my world neutral, should what I fear come to pass. I believe much of this can be accomplished entirely by your personal holdings in Republic space, but I would very much prefer it if we could come to some agreement with the League. Trade for some of the corvettes and frigates you’ve been selling to allied parts of the Outer and Mid Rim, for example. Whatever Mina may end up doing for the Sector as a whole, Onderon itself will not be joining in either side of this mess. No good will come of it, regardless of who supposedly ‘wins,’ in the end.”

From the way she flinched, Izuku could tell that Mina Bonteri was very unhappy with that statement. From the far more active distress in her emotions, he thought she might not agree it was possible or wise. Given that she might well know things the King did not, Izuku made it a personal note to make sure LIS pushed to get some agents onto Onderon and into the Japrael Sector as a whole. For the moment, however, it appeared he had more immediate tasks to see to, leaning forward as the negotiations began with the King whose sharp mind had opened his own thoughts up to some disturbing possibilities…

… … …

- Dxun – 250 Days into the Hutt Crusade-

Shaak Ti, Aayla, Zavra and Izuku were the only ones to step off the Wandering Fate and onto the soil of Dxun. Even getting permission to visit the moon had only happened due to the presence of two known Jedi and had required concessions to be made during negotiations. Not that Izuku had really minded. The negotiations had gone well enough to turn a modest profit even with the concessions, and he was currently more interested in the connections and intelligence that could be gathered from Onderon than pure profit anyway.

As for Dxun…the weight of the Dark Side here was horrifying.

It was older and more pervasive on the moon than what they’d encountered on Tython, yet even denser and more potent than the more active and amplified vileness encountered in the assault on Tisht. Even Zavra, herself far more neutral and fully capable of using the Dark Side, even if she wasn’t a creature of it, recoiled and lost her smile as she made contact with the surface of the jungle moon. The very soil of the moon, the bones of the earth, was soiled with the Dark Side in a profound and ancient way. Perhaps because she’d felt something closer to it before, it was Zavra who spoke up first.

“Oh, ew. This place is almost as bad as Korriban! Actually, hmmm, kinda reminds me of the Dark Temple on Dromund Kaas? Ohhhh, bet there’s a tomb with some old Sithy fucker’s spirit hanging around or something! Those old dead Sithy dudes be like that, you know? Just can’t kick it without sticking around to haunt the fuck out of some place for a few millennia! Gotta say, having sorta-kinda done something a little like it when I was stuck in stasis? Do not recommend. Two point three five out of ten, at best. Huh, maybe I should look into that whole ‘becoming one with the Force’ on death thing the Jedi were always yammering on about?”

All three of her companions ended up staring at Zavra before she got even halfway through her ramble-rant. There had been a lot to unpack there. Sighing, Izuku shook his head and raised his hand, summoning Force Light. It was…more of an effort then it should have been, more than it ever had been before, but it still came all the same. Two more channelings of it came from Aayla and Shaak Ti, both of whom had found the technique coming easily to them after the potently Light-Aligned mass gestalt during the Assault of Tisht. Shaak Ti’s, in particular, now radiated with a gold-that-wasn’t gold. Just as her lightsaber’s hue had shifted from pure blue, to blue with a golden core that was, inexplicably, visible only to those that could actively use the Force.

The Force shuddered around them as their little bubble of Light pressed back against the darkness…and a roar was heard in the distance. Zavra, again, was somehow the first to speak.

“Uh-oh, maybe you shouldn’t have done that? Then again, this trip will likely be way more fun now! Aren’t you glad I insisted we all wear the sexy, sexy armor?!”

Shaak Ti’s lips curled up, despite the circumstances, as she nonchalantly answered.

“I do believe it was wise, yes. Even if my Padawan is gloating slightly about having seen the utility first.”

Said Padawan was, even now, aboard the Wandering Fate, which was starting to lift off as they moved away from it. Asajj had wanted to come along, but the feel of the near planet-sized moon even from a distance had caused Shaak Ti to instead assign her as a pilot for the ship. Since she would still be providing close air support, and thus not entirely sidelined, Asajj had eventually accepted the assignment.

As for the armor, Shaak Ti had ordered a set similar to her apprentice’s after returning from their trip to scout Geonosis. Like Asajj’s, it was based on the bunny-armor they’d originally used to prank Padmé with, but streamlined for practicality. No bunny ears, for one thing, and the addition of a tactical cloak for another. It wasn’t quite up to the sheer protective ability of the armor Izuku and Aayla wore, since both of them had personalized sets based on the original phrik-heavy commando armor of the early Shattered Shackle. Reflecting on that, Izuku mentally made a note to have Mei redo another set of the armor with phrik, possibly including a new set for Aayla since the newer armor had some tricks hers didn’t.

Somehow, he was disturbingly sure it would be a good investment.

That might just be the Dark Side that was surrounding them all talking. Izuku certainly hoped that was the case. Yet, as five lightsabers activated at the same time, in response to a four-meter long quadrupedal monster made of Spikes and Hate barreling into the clearing, he was very much afraid it wasn’t an overreaction at all…

… … …

Given the long rent in Shaak Ti’s new armor, where some Dark Side infected beast even bigger than the first had attacked them and nearly penetrated it, Izuku was absolutely ordering her a fully-phrik version of the armor. Even the current version had saved Shaak’s life when the gigantic creature had barreled through their path as they traveled, the Togrutan not able to fully dodge due to the sheer size of the monster and the narrowness of the path they’d been on at the time. They’d eventually needed to lure the thing into a clearing and let the Wandering Fate’s guns weaken it, and they’d still had to fight in close to finish it off. Now, they were all a little weary as they stared at the roughly pyramidal edifice that was the heart of the Dark Side well they’d found as they did their best to get to the heart of the Dark Side corruption.

“Is that…is that entire fortress made out of beskar?”

The sheer disbelief in Aayla’s voice was understandable. The fortress was not small, and was studded with enough still working anti-air canons that Asajj and the Wandering Fate had been forced away from the general area. Perhaps only one-in-five of the canons seemed to still function, but that had still left enough of them operational to drive off even their heavily-shielded personal ship. The beskar likely explained why Asajj’s attempts at return fire hadn’t done anything to the remaining emplacements, too. The remainder must have fallen to time, not assault, or so it would seem.

“It is. Which means it’s likely thousands of years old at least. It’s been that long, minimum, since Mandalorian Iron was common enough to waste on something of this scale. On the other hand, it likely means that whoever built it wasn’t screwing around, and I get the impression that it wasn’t the original occupant who emplaced everything. It feels…wrong for that.”

Shaak Ti got more than one nod at that comment. There was a Dark Side well here, but it seemed oddly like it was fading. Like it had been fading for centuries at minimum. Yet, the whole planet being so horribly corrupted was slowing or preventing that fade. After a moment or two of simply staring, Aayla raised a hand and pointed.

“There, at the base, is that an opening?”

Izuku frowned, activating the magnification from his helmet. Which is undoubtedly what Aayla herself had done to spot it in the first place. Sure enough, he found what she’d seen after a few moments of zooming in, and on the closest examination he could make from here…

“Yes. Looks like it was made with a lightsaber, too. Which would have taken a horrific amount of time and effort given how resistance beskar is. I suppose that is our obvious path forward, even if I’m not at all sure I like this.”

Surprisingly, it was Zavra that had something positive to say.

“Nah, we’re good! I totally recognize this place, now! Didn’t make the connection before, since I only ever heard about it from this super boring zero that hung around Darth Nox! Talo Dracolicker or something? Force, I only remember the description of this place because I thought I was going to die of boredom listening to that guy! This has got to be Freedon Nadd’s tomb. The second one, after that Super Jedi or whatever moved the original off Onderon. Waaayy before my time, Dracolicker was all sad and whiney that someone had raided the place and killed the ancient fucker a second time. We should totally be good!”

They were all staring at Zavra again. This time, it was Shaak Ti who groaned rather than being amused. She explained her own reaction a few heartbeats later, at least.

“Freedon Nadd was a powerful ancient Sith, one who conquered and ruled Onderon, and whose teachings would later twist and empower Exar Kun. The Order barely retains knowledge of the high points of that period, but Freedon Nadd’s name is still marked as one of the most dangerous Dark Siders to have ever lived. Less because of his actual deeds, more because of the knowledge he left behind ending up in hands like Exar Kun’s, who did a lot more damage with it. Nadd was incredibly well versed in Sith Alchemy, from what little we knowledge we retain. Which, come to think of it, probably explains a lot about Onderon and Dxun’s history as a Dark Side nexus.”

Izuku pursed his lips. Something about that was not adding up to him.

“If his ghost was banished before even Zavra’s original time, why does it feel like the Dark Side here has only been fading for centuries, maybe a millennia at most? Certainly, the overall Dark Side power of the moon might have slowed the decay, with the corruption becoming somewhat self-sustaining by the point of his second death. But…you can feel it, can’t you? The Dark Side here is fading, somewhat, yet not enough to have been fading for that long.”

Aayla and Shaak Ti frowned, closing their eyes for focus as they reached out with the Force, while Zavra just shrugged. When the two women opened their eyes again, they both nodded and looked thoughtful, though it was Aayla that spoke first.

“I don’t think I’d have been able to tell without your own weirdness being so close by, Izu. But I can tell it is fading. I can’t get a good enough feel to say the timeline like you seem to be able to, though.”

Shaak Ti frowned and added her own two credits.

“I can, a little bit, though only because you pointed it out in the first place. Without a reference point, I’d have only been able to tell it was fading, not get a general idea how long it had been doing so for. Even with that, my guess is less accurate than yours, mostly likely.”

Izuku considered that for a moment, then shook his head, as it didn’t really matter.

“One way or another, something is odd, and this close something other than the Dark Side seems to be drawing me towards the place. So I suppose it’s time to check it out.”

That got quick agreements from all three women, and they started to pick their way down into the valley that held the tomb…

… … …

To all of their surprise, they hadn’t run into any traps that hadn’t already been triggered long ago. They had run into an entire colony of some sort of armored beetle-like creature that were extremely resistant to lightsabers. Izuku had ended up holding them all at bay with a telekinetic sphere until Shaak Ti had discovered that they died outright when exposed to Force Light. That had let them clear the way through the Fortress quite easily, though they had found little at first. Clearly, whoever had been here previously had done a good job of their tomb raiding.

It wasn’t until they found some damage that looked more recent than the rest, if still quite old, that they started piecing things together. The chamber that a ripped-off beskar door had been securing looked to have been hidden before it was opened in the most brute-force manner possible. Inside was a pillar of a type commonly used for holding holocrons. It also appeared to have been the original nesting place of the beetle-creatures, though the fact it was virtually free of Dark Side energies made them investigate those creatures more closely.

“I almost don’t believe it, but I think these things feed on the Dark Side specifically without really being corrupted by it. The Light is toxic to them as a result, though. Possibly an old experiment by some Sith intending to use them on his enemies?”

More specifically, as the only one of them with the required sorts of knowledge, Zavra was examining a handful that they’d captured.

“The rate they do so isn’t all that special, but they are sort of accidentally cleansing the Dark Side. We should definitely take some of them for study. It also probably explains why this place is clearer of Dark Side energy than it should be, though I’d place a bet that the holocron that was on that pedestal being removed is the bulk of the reason no new Dark Side energy is being generated. These suckers were probably feeding off the energy it put out. Hehe, suckers. They literally suck up the Dark Side, get it?”

Aayla groaned, even as Izuku and Shaak’s lips twitched at the last comment. It was sometimes easy to forget with how she acted, but Zavra was blisteringly intelligent. Not to mention experienced with entire fields of the Force that none of them had touched on. Yet, despite the interest they all had in the creatures now that they knew what they did, Izuku sighed a moment later, having gotten a solid idea of what he needed to do.

“I’m thinking I was brought here to use post-cognition, for some reason. At least this particular spot is less tainted than the rest of the planet, but this likely still won’t be pleasant. Aayla, Shaak, if you two would maintain Force Light to push things back a bit more as I take a look?”

Grimacing, both women nodded and quickly summoned up pulsing auras of Force Light. Taking a deep breath…Izuku reached out to touch the pedestal and sent his mind out into the Force, asking to see what of importance had happened here.

What he was supposed to see.

To his surprise, while the vision started with seeing a Dark Side corrupted human male kneeling with a holocron in the same room…it didn’t stay there. Instead, he was whisked both backwards and forwards at once, brain aching as he saw flashes of the life of the man, Darth Bane as the memories in the vision declared him. Born Dessel, a poor miner from the outer Rim. Joined the Brothers of Darkness in the New Sith Wars, a mere foot solider in the Gloom Walkers unit. Trained at the final Sith Academy on Korriban. Becoming Darth Bane, a Sith'ari and Dark Lord of the Sith.

Bane deserting that Order.

Bane studying one of Darth Revan’s holocrons in the Lehon system.

CREATING THE THOUGHT BOMB THAT WIPED OUT BOTH SIDES AT RUUSAN.

Doing so not as a Brother of Darkness, but as a Traitor, who intended to wipe out both sides. All so that he could hide and create a new Sith order. Surviving Ruusan, taking an apprentice Darth Zannah. Creating ‘The Rule of Two,’ a new path forward for the Sith. Only two at a time, never more, never less. Master and Apprentice working in the shadows. Bane coming to Dxun looking for more knowledge…

…and the other part of Izuku’s mind was sent spinning forward from the same point. Snippets of Bane on other worlds, gathering more secrets of the Sith, including the fortress they’d seen on Tython. Eventually being killed by his own Apprentice, as he’d meant for it to be. It was with a last view of that Apprentice, throwing off his attempt to possess her and declaring herself the new Dark Lord of the Sith, that the vision cut off. Izuku was left with only the lingering knowledge that, beyond that moment, Zannah had taken Bane’s holocron and continued his Rule of Two. No more could he get so indirectly, having followed Bane’s life to its end and having no more to pull on.

Izuku gasped as he pulled out of the vision, shaking, his head pounding from the dual directions of thought that had been forced on him through the vision. Red hands, Zavra’s not Shaak’s, were quickly around his head as a very basic healing technique was pulsed through him. It was enough to get himself jumpstarted on a more complex method, and his head quickly cleared. He staggered to his feet, unsure how he’d gotten to his knees in the first place. A glance at the room showed that hours must have passed, Shaak Ti and Aayla sweating now, shaking with the effort of keeping Force Light going so long.

Forcing himself to reach out to them, he pulsed thankfulness and the knowledge they could rest now. Both of them slumped, nearly passing out as they released the technique. Bleary, he forced himself to assess the situation. Thankfully, Zavra still appeared fresh and quickly pushed him down to rest against the pedestal.

“Rest for now, Master. Regain some strength. I will keep watch, and we can all leave when the three of you have recovered. Then you can tell us what you saw, or not, as you see fit.”

Izuku barely managed to nod as his eyes grew heavy, the last thing he saw Zavra’s most excellent posterior as she stood to take a guard position at the entrance of the room…

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A/N 1: Here's where the real 'politicking' of this release took place. Onderon was an odd case at the start of the Clone Wars as the King DIDN'T want to enter the CIS. Reading between the lines, Mina Bonteri effectively helped backstab him and place a CIS puppet on the throne. Mostly because she was a Count Dooku fangirl who bought into his rhetoric hook, line, and sinker. Here, the King served as a veteran politician who could bring up some issues, while he almost accidentally makes it much harder for the senator to pull something like that.

A/N 2: Poor Padmé's world view is really taking a beating. To be blunt, though, it sort of needs to. She caused, in her own way, just as many problems as Anakin did with her refusal to face reality.

A/N 3: Dxun is a weird, weird bit of lore. It also happens to be one of the few firm locations where we know Darth Bane stopped and spent time, though. Meaning it was a chance for Izuku's weird connection with the Force to help them get some Deep Background on the current Sith Order. Nothing immediately helpful to them, but which will help them build a better understanding of how the modern Sith work and came to be.