Chapter 66: Unadulterated Loathing

Summary: Some more views of events from other perspectives!

Chapter 66: Unadulterated Loathing

- Hidden Sith Temple - Coruscant –

Darth Sidious was a firm step beyond rage.

Rage was what he had felt as he ripped apart every training droid in the hidden Sith Temple, his heavy use of the Dark Side shielded from the accursed Jedi by the Temple's own powers. Rage was what had fueled his killing of three separate courier droids, his primary tactical droid, and that one stupid cleaner bot that had previously gained immunity from his wrath by being extra good at getting bloodstains out of robes.

No. Rage had passed an hour ago, when he'd coldly given the order to bring the next tactical droid online to comb over the stored data from its predecessor and figure out how said predecessor had missed so much. The droids were custom models, not the trash the separatist movement would be using when the time came. His droids were loaded with the records of the various Sith Wars, preserved by the Sith Order in far more complete form than the Jedi had managed with their own copies. Of course, he had enough traitors in among the Jedi and Jedi support staff that he also had their copies. Which were loaded into the droids as well, just for good measure. Each successive tactical droid used by the Baneite Sith had been farther allowed to refine their tactical analysis via deliberately triggered wars and conflicts like the Stark Hyperspace War and Yinchorri Uprising.

The droids weren't flawless, of course. But, in combination with the Sith intelligence apparatus, they were supposed to be good enough to help him track the overall movements and shifts of military power in the galaxy. Now, as he moved on from mere rage to hate and unadulterated loathing, simmering in both, he looked over the exploded view of The Slice region of the Galaxy. Included in the display was Hutt Space, of course. Though even his sources there were less helpful there, for the moment, than he'd like. The Hutts had been well and truly caught off guard, and he'd relied mostly on taps into their own considerable intelligence networks within their space. The region just wasn't important enough to his plans for him to have bothered building a deeper network of his own. Doubly so when so many individual networks already crisscrossed the region, and he'd penetrated all of them.

Also included on the regional map, beyond the known conflict points in Hutt Space, was a tentative mapping of alliances and influence his agents had been doing regarding this unexpected new player. He had, in his great foresight, moved assets into the region around Tythe and Hutt Space, even when he'd expected the fools to quickly lose. Now that an increasingly dire flow of information was coming back from his taps into the various Hutt networks, revealing just how completely this new threat had brutally upended the table in their backyard, he was glad that he'd done it. His own people were only just starting to report, of course, but they were at least starting to get in place to get him greater objective information. Right now, what he had from the Hutt networks was…unfortunate.

The Hutt's massive mothball fleets were gone.

All of the major mothball fleet depot systems, thousands of ships from dozens of eras, had been somehow infiltrated before the fighting had kicked off. This League of Free Worlds weren't the fools he'd thought them to be initially. Instead, they were a genuinely, dangerously, competent group that had mapped out a legitimately viable plan to take on the Hutts in their own space. A plan that extended well outside Hutt Space and took advantages of some of Sidious's own efforts.

Ruthlessly grinding down the renewed spike of rage, he forced himself to analyze what his agents were finding. Someone, whether it be this Izuku Midoriya or his Jedi allies, had made use of the numerous cracks in the Outer Rim that he and a half dozen Sith before him had carefully crafted. Worlds like Abrion Major and Ukio had been intentionally marginalized for decades, in some cases centuries, as part of the plan to fracture the Outer Rim. The entire Abrion Sector was one that was supposed to go over to the Separatists in time, specifically as a threat to nearby Kamino. Which, while technically in Wild Space and virtually extra-galactic due to the Rishi Maze, was also technically within the boundaries of the Abrion Sector.

Now, Abrion Major and most of the major worlds of its sector were in the next best thing to an open alliance with the League of Free Worlds.

Even more aggravating than some of his and the Sith's own efforts having been co-opted, was the fact that the League of Free Worlds had gone and done the exact same thing to some critical supporters within the loyalist side of the Senate. Orn Free Taa of Ryloth was one of his Palpatine persona's own political faction's more critical members. Incredibly well connected in the Outer Rim, and decently so in the Mid Rim, Palpatine had been previously nothing but pleased with the man shoring up Ryloth. Yes, there were some downsides to a stronger Ryloth. But, on the whole, it had only made someone already loyal to him more useful.

Now, his agents had discovered that Ryloth's renewal was largely the work of Izuku Midoriya's own business dealings. Meaning that Orn Free Taa was on extremely positive terms with the very businesses that were funneling so much wealth to the League. The fat fool had been one of the first in the Senate to piously defend his world's new ally…and he'd jumped before Sidious had even possessed enough information to know to stop him. Nor was he the only one. That aggravating little bitch Amidala had once again proven too irritatingly good at the political game for his liking. Naboo should have been taking it on the chin in the Senate for their relationship with Tythe. Instead, the little chit had managed to spin the entire thing into a new power block by making herself the primary contact point for the Republic with this new, extra-Republic power.

He couldn't even do anything about that, since Naboo was his homeworld too, and it would reflect badly on him if he cut her off at the knees!

Add in the wildly divergent reactions all across the Republic, and the Senate was currently a complete mess. The lines he'd been carefully drawing, the conflict blocks of power between Loyalist and Separatists, had been scrambled and blurred with the injection of an entire different type of conflict. No one liked the Hutts. Thousands of worlds had axes to grind with them, and the League had gotten enough people to shout quickly enough in their defense, that corporate interests were slamming into old hatreds and making the entire wild beast impossible to guide. It wasn't even close to irrecoverable, thankfully. But it was going to take time to reign both sides in and get them focused back where he needed them to focus.

Still. It wasn't all bad.

Sidious found his seething hatred cooling somewhat as he finally acknowledged that point. His own quick actions to make use of the crisis point, as a means to forward a few useful measures, had found fertile ground. The motion to revitalized ORD nodal defense fleets with new Venators that KDY just 'happened' to have for sale, had gone through quickly. The anti-militarists were, quite frankly, distracted by an actual war going on at their borders. Amidala's own actions in negotiating with the League had taken virtually their entire attention, and he'd managed to slip the modification to the ORD Systems bill through almost unopposed.

Hardening those nodal defenses would, in turn, allow him to make the coming war bloodier and flashier right from the start. That would not only feed the Dark Side and create more vicious battles for Jedi to die in, but would help suck the entire Republic more firmly into the war. Emergency powers would be even easier to acquire, the need for more troops even greater and more obvious. There were potential problems with that, of course, since Kamino would need time to expand production. But he still had that time. There had been at least three years yet before he'd planned for the war to start, and the confusion in the Senate was likely to delay his original timeline by at least six months. Possibly as much as a year if the League was more successful than he'd like. That was enough time to order the Kamionians to increase the batch sizes for the army, allowing him to keep the Clone Trooper to regular troop ratio he'd been aiming for.

As always, the Dark Side would be the winner in the end, and as its destined Master, he would benefit most from that fact. No matter what these other fools thought. Now, what assets could he activate to deal with one Izuku Midoriya? As far as he could tell, the foolish idealist was the primary driving force of the war in Hutt Space. Without him, his movement would collapse quickly and he could put the Senate back into order faster. He would win either way, but the disorder of the current tribulation in the Senate annoyed Sidious greatly…

... ...

- Orbit of Tythe–

Shaak Ti had to admit that the orbitals of Tythe were equally disquieting and enthralling. Tythe Central was an impressive and beautiful space station, even if she felt it would probably be much more so when not in 'defense mode.' The military hardware all around the planet was far more concerning, particularly the power readings from those Orbital Defense Platforms, which told her in no uncertain terms anyone attempting to attack the planet would be in for a world of hurt. Add in the many ships zipping around, both military vessels on patrol and numerous cargo ships moving in and out of the system, and the orbitals of the planet were far busier than anything this far out on the Rim really should be.

For that matter, even Tythe itself was of considerable interest. Much to her surprise, a stop at the Jedi Archives actually had turned up quite a bit of recent data about the system. Not about its economy or military, but about its ecology. Master T'ra Saa, a name Shaak Ti knew and respected even if she'd rarely encountered the Neti in person, had filed a quite extensive review of the world's ecosystem. An ecosystem that had been busily collapsing just a few years ago, but which Master Saa had reported on serious efforts to repair. Now, Shaak Ti could certainly see that the locals hadn't been joking about that effort. While parts of the world still looked…rough…for lack of a better word, the majority of it was visibly thriving.

Passive scans of the surface while she awaited permission and directions to land had shown some fairly obvious uniformity in places. Signs, for those that knew to look for them, that terraforming droids had likely been used. If, however, they were working to the plan Master Saa had written up herself? Then it was likely that those droids were revitalizing existing ecology rather than replacing it. At least where possible. As someone who had always felt more at home and at peace in nature than on city worlds like Coruscant, Shaak Ti could appreciate that someone cared deeply enough to make that effort. It potentially spoke well of the man likely responsible for it all, even if there was some small chance he was only doing it to win points.

Shaak Ti didn't think such was likely the case.

If for no other reason than that there were far easier ways to do so.

Not only had she met the man several times when dealing with mess of the Kazarak system, but she also knew Aayla'Secura somewhat well. They hadn't spent a great deal of time together since the younger Knight became a Padawan, but they had spent quite a bit of time together when they were both younger. Back when Shaak Ti had been a young Padawan herself, and Aayla still an older initiate. There was only four years between them, age wise, and Shaak had mentored the younger woman in several ways. Being a less traditional Jedi and thus a helpful sounding board for a preteen empath who was having a lot of issues with emotional control as the Order typically taught it. As a result of that mentoring, Aayla was among the few Knights within the order who Shaak thought of as a genuine friend, rather than just an acquaintance.

Also, the fact that the younger girl had possessed a clear crush on her had been both flattering and amusing.

"Wandering Cavalier, this is Tythe Central Control. Your identification has been verified, and you're cleared to land in Bay 223. You and your companions will be met by a guide. Sending beacon data now."

Shaak Ti was quick to dispel her wandering thoughts and key the comm to respond, acting on the flight instructions absentmindedly even as she did so.

"Copy Tythe Central. Beacon data received, proceeding to Bay 223."

As the controller for system traffic responded with polite niceties, Shaak Ti noted that the bay in question was on the diplomatic arm of the massive station. Clearly, despite herself and the other four Jedi accompanying her having handed in their Jedi Credentials, they had been identified. Not unexpected, but it did make her wonder just who their 'guide' would be, and what sort of welcome they could expect. The Force didn't seem to be giving off any warnings. So it was unlikely to be a hostile welcome, at the very least…

... ...

-Junkfort System-

Aayla smiled widely at the assembled group that had filtered off a trio of freighters now resting in her flagship's hangar. Two of those three freighters would be leaving again shortly, with official thanks of the League of Free Stars, not to mention a free refuel and restock of premium consumables. One of them had even accepted a fairly lucrative courier job that needed doing, though the other had turned a similar job down saying that it wouldn't be right to accept such an obvious kickback for doing an old friend a favor.

As for who they'd dropped off…Aayla recognized many of them, either personally or professionally. It was one of those she recognized on a personal level that she went too first, despite Knight Xiaan'Amersu being one of the more junior among those present. Her fellow Twi'lek spotted her coming and braced, laughing lightly as Aayla hugged her without care for what the other Jedi saw.

"Xiaan! I'd hoped you might come! I didn't want to assume, but…"

Her fellow Twi'lek Knight…or possibly former Knight depending on how things went…pushed her away with a gentle smile.

"Of course I was going to come, Aayla. Not just because of you, either. I know you and the League had something to do with the changes to Ryloth recently. And you know I've always hated how little we could do about even the legal slavery there. Let alone the illegal slavery coming out of Hutt Space!"

There was a wet chuckle that came from just behind them, and Aayla turned to see Jedi Master Bant Eerin standing beside Ash Jarvee, who had come down to greet their guests with Aayla. Considering that Jarvee was a member of Altisian Jedi, her presence was a bit of a litmus test for the group of recent arrivals. The fact that one of only two Jedi Masters that Aayla had spotted in the group of twenty-three arrivals appeared to be unbothered by Jarvee's presence was hopeful. It was also a major surprise to see Master Eerin in the group, however. Given the circumstances, she figured she could get away with a slightly blunt question about that.

"Master Eerin. I'm quite happy you're here, but I admit I hadn't expected to see a Master of the Healing Halls filtering in with our many ah…former Knights?"

She made the statement a question with a subtle lilt to the words, and thankfully the Mon Calamari woman didn't seem to take the slightest bit of offense, smiling cheerfully at the question.

"Former Master, for now, miss former Knight! Or at least taking a vacation, as it were, for now. As for seeing those of the Healing Halls out here…whyever would you have expected otherwise? After all, if there's anyone who will be needed to help right the wrongs done to those in Hutt Space, it is healers. Though I must admit, I'm not quite looking forward to Obi-Wan's next message. He's going to have a hell of a time keeping his Padawan out of this. Assuming he even tries. One of Obi-Wan's friends going over to your little rebellion-that-isn't will only make that harder."

Aayla's lips twitched, trying not to outright laugh. Obi-Wan was the oddest mix of maverick and straightlaced traditional Jedi. She honestly didn't know how he was going to be reacting to all of this, but she certainly knew his Padawan would be giving him an earful on the topic. Particularly given said Padawan's mother technically worked for the clandestine ops side of the League. Even if in a non-combat role.

"Yes, well…I'm sure he'll manage. Even if he might end up with a few early grey hairs as a result." Stifling another laugh at Bant's own mischievous grin, Aayla continued quickly for the sake of both of them retaining a professional expression. "Now, I don't suppose you and perhaps not-so-former Master Ven'nari could enlighten me who all is with you and for what reasons?"

The Bothan Jedi Master, who had approached while they were talking, snorted at that. She was, like Master Fay, one of the 'nomadic' Jedi of the Order. Those who infamously gave not even lip-service to the Council and simply went where the Force told them to go. She'd also earned her appellation of 'Fire Eater' from her fellow Bothans for more than one reason.

"I admit, I'm impressed so many Coruscant Jedi bothered to move themselves out of the ivory tower to come help. The legal fiction is ridiculous, but I won't say it isn't a pleasant surprise despite that."

A few of the younger Knights that had clearly heard her shifted, not quite sure if they had just been insulted or praised. Aayla knew it was genuinely the latter, though. The infamous woman was among the more…insultingly dismissive…of the nomadic Jedi when it came to the various Councils. Aayla had researched as many of the nomads as she could in the archives, knowing there was a good chance they'd be drawn to the conflict. With an equally good chance they'd just do their own thing rather than connecting to the League. Possibly causing chaos in the process.

The fact she'd felt a burst of pride and approval from the Bothan toward the crowd of 'on vacation' Jedi told Aayla a lot. The woman was just shy of outright giddy that so many Jedi were jumping off the Council's bandwagon to openly do the right thing, rather than the Senate's thing. She had no idea what that would lead to, if anything, but determined it would probably be a good idea to keep an eye on whatever the Master got up to among the group.

"I admit I'm pleased by how many have been trickling in myself. I had been prepared to ride out the course alone, if need be. But many have seen fit to join, both before and after we went public with our goals. Indeed, another group roughly this size recently arrived on Tythe, led by Knight Ti."

That group, from what Aayla had heard from Knight Agai'i, had been somewhat more organized. A near delegation-like arrival, instead of the hodgepodge of mixed Jedi she was meeting here, just off Junkfort Station. This group, as far as she could tell, were more the type that had just 'followed their feelings.' Though she suspected Bant of having acted to corral a few of them into acting in the same direction instead of wandering off in smaller groups. It was certainly she who spoke up again to start describing just who had come and why.

"I suspect still more will be trickling in, Aayla. Those who are already here are mostly those who reacted the most strongly or decisively. Knights Elaiza and Tarados, for example."

Bant pointed the two out, and one of them immediately made sense to Aayla. He was a Klatooninian, after all.

"Tarados Gon is from Klatoonine, so you can imagine he is a bit concerned about what you've done there. Though I hasten to assure you he isn't upset about it. Far from it, in fact. He's long been an advocate for trying to free his species from the Hutts. He might well have some contacts you can use to get things moving there, beyond just quarantining the planet. Similarly, Elaiza is actually from Nar Shaddaa, originally. She's quite interested in events out this way for some fairly obvious reasons."

Aayla wanted to snort at the sheer understatement of that. She was honestly amazed any Jedi was from that moon. So far, they hadn't had much trouble with the locals there, but any information she might be able to provide them about her home would likely be invaluable. Bant moved on before she could say so, pointing not at a Jedi, but at the Captain of the final freighter. The one that hadn't left and apparently wasn't intending to.

"And there are one or two odder additions. Captain Kirthos here is a member of a group you've likely never heard of. Indeed, it's a bit difficult to call them an organized group at all, really. Yet, I think he and a couple of his fellow Wardens of the Sky will be quite useful, given their specialization…"

Aayla blinked, then gaped for a moment as that specialization was briefly highlighted for her. Well, this was an unexpected surprise. Quite possibly one that could be very important in the hopefully not-to-distant future…

... ...

-Planet of Ylesia-

Jedi Master Ky Narec groaned, old and ill-treated injuries protesting as he settled down into the hiding spot he and his Padawan had secured among the slave colony of Ylesia. They had landed there two days ago, having stowed away aboard a heavy freighter that had visited Rattatak looking for disposable soldiers on behalf of the Hutts. A part of him had been loathe to leave the world when he and Asajj had been making progress against the warlords there, but the truth was that he'd realized they might never get another chance to return to the Republic.

While that wouldn't have bothered him all that much if it was only him, he truly wanted his Padawan to have a chance to do more than fight over a single world of warlords. She was closing in on nineteen now, and immensely talented. With just a little bit of access to better teaching materials, he was pretty sure she'd make Knight by 21. At least, assuming that the Council didn't make issue out of her being trained almost entirely outside the Order.

He didn't think they would. Such things had happened quite a few times before, and he'd gotten to her when she was only five. Not particularly old for such circumstances. The fact she was so well centered despite all that had happened so far should go a long way to easing any misgivings, too. Which, unfortunately, was also only true if he brought her back. Rather than having her turn up a decade from now with nothing but a message from a long-thought-dead Knight. He wasn't exactly young any longer, and if they'd kept up the fighting on Rattatak, he'd have gotten done in sooner or later. He'd been able to feel that certainty in the Force, and that little detail had pushed him to take the chance to get off world while they could. For his Padawan's sake far more than his own.

Given that something like half of all the troublesome elements had been recruited away from the world for some massive FUBAR situation the Hutts were screaming about? Well, it hadn't been all that hard to stow away on the freighter that had brought them here. Of course, finding out more about that situation had also led to him getting them off said freighter before it got any deeper into Hutt Space. It was taking the mercenaries the Warlords had been generously compensated for into some sort of massive war against the Hutts that he didn't know nearly enough about. Someone was certainly causing the Hutts to panic and spend credits like they were going out of style, and he needed more information before he could decide if that was a good thing or not.

A minute or two later, as he was sorting through what he'd learned on his own expedition away from the slave colony, he felt his Padawan arrive.

"Ah, Asajj dear, I sense you've had more luck than I. I found plenty of information circling among the slaves, but little of it could be verified. What have you discovered?"

Asajj smiled at him, bright eyed and eager feeling in the Force as she happily began relaying what she'd discovered while spying on the Spaceport. The information was useful, he had to admit. Though the cheerfulness she radiated as she described all the interesting things she'd seen in the process was something he valued even more. Yes, it had been the right decision to get them off that hell world. Even if they ended up in another, bigger war, the lightness he could feel practically pouring off of her as the sense of adventure took hold on his Padawan reassured him. Getting her some exposure to the greater galaxy could only be a good thing…

... ... ... ... ...

AN 1: Completely unimportant, but the Chapter is titled after a song from Wicked. Why? Because I got a vinyl of the soundtrack for Christmas and was listening to it at the time. The idea of applying the song to Palpatine amused me too greatly to resist.

AN 2: I was hit by a bit of a shock when I recognized Ylesia! One of the first Star Wars EU books I ever read was Paradise Snare. Part of a terrific Han Solo prequel trilogy by A.C. Crispin. Some of the best books in the EU, though not overly relevant here, as none of what's in the novels would have happened yet.

AN 3: A wild Asajj Ventress has appeared! A couple of notes on her and her Master. First, her age. The Canon versus EU/Legends data bits for her age are very different. And, in this case, the Legends date makes FAR more sense. Even just looking at her, both appearance and actions, in the actual canon content of The Clones Wars, the Legends date makes WAY more sense.

If we took the canon birthdate, she'd be almost 30 during the Clone Wars. She doesn't remotely look or act like that, which makes me scratch my head WHY that's apparently her canon age? So...heck with that. Legends places her between 17 and 22 during the Clone Wars. Which fits a LOT better. I placed her at the older end of that, at 18 now (so she'd be 21 by the canon Clone Wars start). Which suited me just fine and fits a lot better than her weird 'canon' age.

Second, Ventress didn't go Dark Side until Ky Narec's death, which we don't have an exact date for. Only that it happened before 22 BBY. Since they are still three years prior to that date, I decided it would be more interesting to show a Ventress who's actually still an outright light side version of herself. Chaotic, raised outside the temple on a war-torn world, but still grounded in the Light and open to seeing the Jedi as heroic rather than as people who abandoned her Master to his death...