This place wasn't so much hidden as simply unknown. From the exterior of the building it looked like any other portion of the senatorial sector of the giant city that sprawled across the entire planet of Coruscant. Anyone who saw it from the outside would simply see a portion of the Banking Clan's suites, and would see the windows that such men demanded to stare out across the cityscape.
The interior was very different. The windows, which were supposed to look down onto a highway far below, were in fact blacked out. Another portion of the room was dominated by its real windows, which allowed the people within to stare out and across at the Jedi Temple with no one seeing them in turn. This was not a view most Senators or their functionaries would've found agreeable, especially in this day and age, where the Jedi were often seen as nuisances, outsiders or meddlers.
But the owners of this particular suite very much preferred it this way. After all, keeping their eyes on their enemies was a necessity. Especially now, when events had been set in motion to trap some of them.
Two men stood there, the two men known as Sidious and Maul. As before the apprentice was barely able to contain his anger, his all-consuming fury a volcano constantly threatening to erupt. After only a few brief moments of staring at the Temple he asked, "what will the Jedi do now, master?"
"Do? What else can they do, but my bidding?" Sidious moved away, moving towards a chair that made no bones about being a throne. Though far simpler than most such, it seemed to somehow convey a sense of dark power that the other possible throne hidden far below the surface level of Coruscant had. "There will be much discussion of course but for all their talk there is only one conclusion at which they can arrive at: they must confront the Yinchorri. The loss of two of their own and the threat the Yinchorri pose will force them to do so."
Sidious sat down in the chair, turning to address Maul as his hands rested on the armrests. "From this will result one of two things, either of which will benefit our plans. Either the very stubborn and warlike Yinchorri, whose inconvenient resistance to mind control could present a problem in the future will be brought low or…" And here he smiled, and never was there a smile more sinister. "Jedi will die."
"Master, send me, I…"
"No the time is not yet come to reveal our presence. Get me the Devaronian. I want to make certain he is prepared."
"Yes master." Bowing his head lightly, the Zabrak moved away from the throne.
A moment later a small hologram appeared on a portable hologram device. As soon as the image of the bowing Devaronian appeared, the human male spoke again. "The Jedi will be coming soon. Are you certain that you're ready for them?"
"The Yinchorri are hot for blood they are prepared you bet." The Devaronian said his voice almost jovial. Though whether or not that was an act or his accent in Basic was not clear. "But what of Vilmarh's fee? Vilmarh is to be trusting you, but you are not trusting Vilmarh to even see your face? What is with that?"
"It is better that you don't know my identity." Sidious said coldly. "It is better still that you don't fail me. Do I make myself clear?"
The alien demon could not keep a small shudder from showing and he bowed even more deeply. Even so, his voice came across again as jovial. "Yeah, yeah, clear as ice crystals. Vilmarh was meaning no offense. Don't you worry boss, Jedi will be dead quick-quick."
"Very well, we will speak again afterward."
"Please master!" Said that the Zabrak as soon as the transmission cut off. "Let me go to Yinchorr, I…"
"Patience, my apprentice. Distasteful as it may be we must let intermediaries like Vilmarh be our hands for now. Our time will come, but it is not yet."
With that Sidious leaned back for a moment, thinking. The Jedi were almost certain to ask for Senate aid in blockading the Yinchorri, which would cost Chancellor Valorum much of his political clout to achieve. That would be the first step to his own eventual rise, as Plagueis had planned. Yet for some reason, his mind kept going back to the ripples surrounding Dooku. A few of them showed glimpses of others interceding before the Chancellor could waste his political capital to send in the Republic Fleet.
That would mean that the Chancellor would retain much of his influence which would push back his own ascension to that seat. Yet try as he might, he could not see a point where that future, once set in motion completely, could be derailed. So, how best to turn it to my advantage? Best to wait and see what races in fact take part in such a move, if it occurs at all. And possibly set in motion events on Malastare to keep Dooku's attention closer to home? No, I'd have to use outsiders or risk revealing my contacts in the Gran government. Dooku is too smart for me to risk that, though I could simply contact him myself if he does not contact me to aid in whatever he has planned… hmm…
On the other hand, the Yinchorri could be useful to us in the future. They are strong, determined, and their ability to ignore Jedi mind tricks and manipulation is admirable in a slave race. They could be enhanced further. And using bands of them elsewhere, even after someone else intervenes, could be used to show both the Chancellor's ineptitude. After all, if he had acted quickly, the Yinchorri could've been contained much more easily. And it would also distance the races involved from those who continue to face Yinchorri pirate raids.
After a moment he spoke again. "I have a task for you apprentice, contact the Teeth of the Krayt. I have a task for those slavers."
OOOOOOO
Looking up from going through some more history videos on different Jedi lightsaber weapons, Ranma cocked his head looking at Dooku who had just walked into the sitting area. "You look…" he frowned, thinking of the word he wanted in Basic. Despite all his progress, it still wasn't an automatic thing with him. "worried, irritated?"
Dooku smiled briefly, but it didn't stay on his face for long. He had just gotten off the Hypercom with Master Yoda, asking about the news broadcasts which had been dispersed all over the galaxy. "If you can read that in my face, it's obvious I need to practice my control more. Still, I would like to talk, if that is alright?"
Ranma stood up resolutely, moving over and grabbing the training lightsabers from where they hung nearby. "No. We fight, you vent then we talk." He shook his head. "You Jedi, you not have much control over emotions. It all pile up inside, stupid, but if you vent it much easier to deal with."
"You need to work on keeping control of your voice when you are excited." Dooku sent a faint smile. "But I do need to get control of my emotions." Since meeting Ranma he had learned enough about what Ranma called the corrupting effect of anger to no longer be interested in the Dark Side, and he had no wish to fall into it accidentally now.
Ranma shook his head. "Control yes, not forcing away. Forcing away all it does is come back." Ranma grimaced. "I learned that hard way."
"There's a story there that you haven't shared yet." Dooku murmured.
Ranma looked at him his eyes narrowed. "Not one I want to share, not with Jedi. You lot too against emotions already, don't want to share that one."
Dooku's eyebrows rose, but he didn't question it simply taking his position across from Ranma and bringing up the training saber into a guard position.
Hours later, Dooku sagged against the bulkhead for a moment breathing deeply. Ranma had actually taken it easily on him now, knowing that Dooku couldn't use any of his Force tricks on the interior of the training area and had stayed mostly on the defense for the entire fight. It wasn't Ranma's normal method, but it had allowed Dooku to gain control of himself, and to, in Ranma's words, vent.
"Thank you." he said sighing deeply as he found himself once more centered. He reached out for the Force, feeling it flow into him in a steady, uninterrupted and calm stream.
Ranma nodded in response. "You still want to talk?"
"I am afraid I have to." Dooku sighed. He gestured Ranma to punch the button that would raise the sitting area up once more, noticing with something far too close to envy for his state of mind that Ranma wasn't even sweating after their exercise. Of course I wasn't using any of my Force abilities, but still that is a little humbling. And it shows he has become more used to my abilities than I am to his.
Ranma look up to from him from where he sat as Dooku sat down across from him, striking before Dooku could speak. "We've talked before, but we haven't talked about why you're so welcoming to me. Think that is mixed up with all of your questions about ki techniques, but I need to know why."
"That wasn't what I wanted to talk about, but I suppose it's a good starting point." Dooku sighed again. "Have you come to an opinion about the Jedi Order?"
"Beyond my opinion about you not teaching control rather abstaining from emotions you mean?" Rama asked dryly, having concentrated to get that sentence out properly. "I admit that the Sith, they sound like, well like one of my old acquaintances but with actual skill behind the anger and a lot of nasty techniques besides. And I even understand why you guys think that abstaining might be a good idea, but it's a very stupid, short-sighted solution."
And it wasn't even worth thinking about in Ranma's opinion. He had already decided he would never share what his father had done to him with the Jedi or with anyone else in this galaxy. He didn't know if the Youthful Mind or Imperial Favor technique would work on other races, but he wasn't willing to find out.
"I am slowly coming to agree with you about that, your arguments about it are valid at least for humans on a psychological level, though why it had never occurred to us to look up the long term effects of enforced apathy and emotional dissonance is beyond me. I am uncertain if they would be valid for other races, I haven't studied the psychology of every other race that has representatives among the Jedi of course. Abstaining from emotions might be easier for them. But that is not what I meant. I meant about the Jedi Order as a whole."
Ranma paused pulling in his ponytail. "I am not a political person or an… analyst." He had to search for that word for a moment looking at Dooku when he said it and smiling when the older man nodded indicating he had remembered the right word.
"I understand that Ranma, but you mentioned several points that caught my attention in our earlier discussions, your point about the Hypercom, where you wondered if a bug could be placed in the base program to let others overhear any messages sent, it was well-founded. What did you say at the time, the outsider sees most of the game? That is what I want from you."
Ranma frowned. "What are you asking exactly?"
Dooku frowned as well looking down at his hands. What am I asking exactly? When he spoke it was low, almost a whisper, and he didn't look away from his hands. "I have questioned the role of the Jedi Order in the galaxy for several years, our direction within the Republic. For too long the Republic has been in stasis, and corruption has set in. The Jedi Order is slowly becoming a part of that corruption, if we are not already a part of it. I have seen the corruption in the Senate. I have seen the corruption of the guilds, the clans, the corporations, the factions. I have seen the growing anger in some systems, even entire sectors, against the Senate and against the Jedi, who they see as the face of the Republic."
"Worst of all, I have felt the stagnation within the Order, that we are becoming as hidebound and separate from the general populace as many accuse us of. I have asked the Force often for some sign to tell me if there was a solution to that problem, if I should keep following the Order or, or do something else with my life."
Dooku did not want to come out and admit that he had been possibly two or three more weeks away from deciding to search out the Jedi's natural enemies the Sith. He had believed that their presence would either make the Jedi order grow again, or Force the Republic as a whole to grow, much like competition did on the economic level. Now however, he did not believe that any longer, or rather he hoped that Ranma represented something that could kick-start that growth without the death and destruction the Sith might cause if they returned.
"The last time I searched the Force for an answer I felt your presence. That was why I found you and the miners. I believe that your being here in this galaxy serves some kind of higher purpose, and I want to know what you think I should do." Dooku laughed ruefully. "Talking to you has already convinced me that one of my choices going forward would never have worked out, and you've opened up several avenues of research into the Force and the Living Force inside of us all in particular that I never even contemplated. But those do not answer my big questions."
Ranma stayed silent for a moment staring at the older man. Okay, I did not expect that! The idea I'm here to serve some Force-given higher purpose gives me the heebie-jeebies. Still, I sure as hell am not gonna do anything I wouldn't do otherwise, and it makes me even more leery of teaching anyone else my ki techniques. But, but if all I'm here for, if all Dooku wants from me is my thoughts on the system, that at least I can do with a clear conscience.
When he spoke he reiterated what he had said before, each sentence coming out carefully constructed. "I am not a political analyst, nor am I a Jedi. I barely have enough understanding of the galaxy to understand what you're talking about when you say the Senate or the Republic. But I will say what I think if that is what you want."
Dooku nodded. "That is indeed what I want."
"Okay. One, the bigger a government is the bigger a bureaucracy is the more corrupt it will become. That something lots of empires and countries learn back home." Ranma started without further preamble, thinking of China, Rome, the Mongol Empire, even the Persian Empire. "The Republic is huge, too big, too old, corruption is simply part of it now. It's made worse by the fact that the central government doesn't actually have much power that isn't tied into that corruption. It relies on the Jedi for its strength. It makes you the face of its laws and its wars, and when things go bad or even when they go good for those in power, it is you who take the blame."
Dooku nodded having come to that conclusion himself since this mission began and he had talked to some of the locals as he had said to the Jedi Council several days ago. He sighed, closing his eyes. So we truly have become part of the problem.
"However, that not your place." Dooku's eyes shot open and he stared at Ranma who laughed cynically. "You're not an elected official, you not a part of the Senate, trying to reform it from within, that not your place. You as individual need to think only of the Jedi's part of the system. Need to…"
Ranma paused gathering his thoughts before going on, his words once more controlled. "You need to start to act separately from the Senate. Start to get to know the common people, live among them, not separate yourselves. Something separate, something foreign like that, it, will simply allow distrust, even hate, to fester."
"But that goes back to the Senate." Dooku protested. "It is too often the Senate that tells the Jedi where to go. If we can but reform the Senate, or…"
"But it is the Jedi who listen to those orders." Ranma cut him off quickly. "They can keep telling you, but you can stop listening. You all need to take a stance of your own, figure out individually or as a group a view of what is right and wrong. Take a stance of your own or you're just following someone else's view and they control you like that." He frowned angrily. "I am not getting this across well, my emotions get in the way of my converting my words to Basic." He said enunciating the words clearly. "But I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. It is not your place to reform the whole thing, you may be a Jedi master, but you're not a God. You can maybe help reform of the Order itself though."
Dooku sigh. "Only if it is wishful to be reformed."
"Then you do what you can as an individual, you make a stand for yourself as what is right and wrong. I never said it was easy, I just said it needed to be done. If you lot think that the Force is supposed to guide you, you listen to it, you go where this Force Wants you, no longer accept simple jobs from the Senate, just, just do what is right, not what is easy!"
Ranma rubbed one hand through his hair knowing that he wasn't getting the ideas across that he wanted to, and inwardly really wondering how anyone could think that that chi could have a will like that… although Ranma was starting to feel something in the air of this dimension.
Dooku frowned. "So where would you begin?"
"Training in emotional control, and getting rid of this no attachments, no passion crap, makes you into fucking robots." Ranma said bluntly.
"You really have a problem with that don't you?"
"People with no attachments to people or places are outsiders, outsiders are never trusted, not really. Worse, if you have no real stake in anything but the Order then you are not a part of the Republic, merely set to the side. People need to see you as force for good, not force for same-old, same-old." Ranma replied, using a phrase that at least got the meaning of 'stasis' across.
For a moment the two of them were silent contemplating what had been said. "I am not certain I can agree with that." Dooku said at last. "I might've come into the order late, but I'm not… is that really the source of the Order's apathy? Because we don't care enough, we don't have a large enough, large enough stake in the Republic?"
It was a disturbing thought on many levels. Such a simple concept, yet the ramifications were so huge. "Reforming the Jedi could take centuries." He said aloud not really addressing Ranma at the moment, but simply speaking his thoughts. "We seem to have slipped into this apathetic stagnation over thousands of years. It could take that long to bring us out of it."
"Remember, I said it not be easy, it just needs be done." Ranma said with a shrug.
Dooku laughed quietly. "I suppose so." He looked at the youth. "That of course means you would not be willing to join the order even if I could try somehow to get you in?"
Ranma laughed wildly. "Hell no. I'm willing to work with Jedi, but I want to explore the galaxy, want to do it on my own terms. I have my Code, I not bow to yours."
And despite me turning down that Twi'lek girl, I really would like a girlfriend eventually. Don't know about the whole marriage thing, my Nerima experience sort of killed my interest in that. But a stable relationship in the long term would be nice, and sure as hell can't happen if I agree to that whole 'no attachment' thing.
Dooku nodded then looked up as the captain Michael came in. "Yes, Captain?"
"Sorry to interrupt master Dooku, but some news just came in over the Hypercom. The alien Yinchorri have attacked a planet, we're so close we're probably one of the first systems to pick it up. I thought you'd want to know."
A moment later Ranma and Dooku both stood in the command deck, watching the news. It showed the Yinchorri attacking several peaceful planets, the attacks covered by news crews on the ground and defenders themselves trying to get messages out to the Republic as a whole before the videos went blank. The fact the newscaster then went on to some bland news from some other planet with as much interest and energy as the previous one, a Chandra-fan, had covered the news about the Yinchorri was both jarring and damning in Dooku's mind.
Dooku looked up over at Ranma watching his hands clench and unclench. "Calm yourself Ranma, remember our conversations on anger."
Ranma whirled to him, one finger raised in Dooku's face. "That is part of the problem with you Jedi! There are different types anger!" Ranma paused gathering himself. "There are different types of anger, different types of love and different types of people too! You try to make one size, abstaining from all of emotions, fit all! Stupid! Righteous anger is in not dark or evil! Anger at person if he has done evil is no evil! Hate is curse, hate and anger sometimes together, but not always. I feel righteous anger when I see that, there nothing wrong with that! If you feel nothing when you see that, you sick in head, not living, but already dead!"
Dooku looked down at the finger in his face and then up at Ranma one eyebrow raised until Ranma moved it away. Then he nodded. "I suppose I can understand your point, but I am uncertain that most Jedi would, or even if they did could keep themselves from not falling to the Dark Side."
"I'm not most Force users, I'm not a Force user at all, least not the way you people think about it." Ranma growled. "So…" he said looking over at the picture still playing "what are you going to do about this?"
"What am I going to do about it?" Dooku asked. "I still have my mission here. The Jedi Council will probably send in a small group to try and deal with this, though what that will entail I don't know."
"Not what I was asking. I was asking what you as a person, was going to do. These Jedi the council send, they your friends they your allies, what are you as a person as an individual going to do? 'For evil to triumph good men must do nothing', that a saying from my world. Who cares if the Jedi Council sends others! You are here, you are a good fighter you go do what you can as a person!"
"We are about two hours away from the Yinchorri system my Lord, but it's not on a hyperspace lane. That's probably why it wasn't discovered centuries ago, but it's actually pretty close." Michael said his tone neutral. He served the diplomatic corps, and the Jedi in particular, if Dooku said to go he'd go but he wasn't about to give his own opinion unless he was asked for it, whatever that opinion might be.
Dooku turned back to Ranma staring into his blue eyes, seeing the challenge in them. The words Ranma had spoken reverberated in his mind, and he suddenly had a Force vision, of Jedi he knew cut down, dying, not so much overmatched then brought down by sheer numbers. With that vision came certainty. I can stop this, and I will. Yes, this was why he had thought the Force had led him to Ranma, this, the ability to change things even in a small way for now, showed that he was on the right path.
"Captain, how long would it take to rig this ship for battle?" He asked, turning back to Michael.
Michael shrugged, looking slightly shifty. "We took on some small turbolasers from the Alderaan Rangers when we met with them sir. It would take us about 45 minutes or so to set them up, the ships has control and energy runs we can change to suit weapons. But we'd have to do it here on the ground we couldn't do it while we were moving."
He turned to Ranma shrugged his shoulders as Ranma's looked as if he was about to volunteer. "It's not just about lifting heavy objects or anything, and it'd be exterior work for the most part kid, sorry but I'm not going to put my people in harm's way like that. "
"That's fine captain," Dooku said before Ranma could replied though he looked more understanding then he had a moment ago. "That will allow me to get in touch with some friends. You said yourself Ranma, for evil to succeed good people must do nothing. If that is the case, then perhaps I can get some other good people to realize that this problem with Yinchorri is one they need to step up and deal with now rather than later, and possibly more."
Ranma cocked his head not understanding and Dooku waved him away, not wanting to share more than that for now since he wasn't certain this part of the aspect would work. "I'll be in my quarters Captain. Do what you can to prepare the ship for combat."