Obviously, she couldn't perfectly replicate her former teacher's style, but two lifetimes of report writing and the reassurance of Master Sturn had convinced her that it was an engaging read, one that concisely summarized the Great Hyperspace War. Or at least, it summarized what little could really be proven about the war.
So much of it just didn't seem to make sense to Tan'ya, to the point where she just wasn't sure if what was recorded really was true.
...
Why had the Sith Empire gone to war with the Republic? She didn't know if she really believed they thought they could conquer a state that was dozens of times larger than their own. The Sith Empire at that point had existed for at least two and a half thousand years in the -at the time- unexplored regions of the Outer Rim, and they seemed to have done a fairly good job governing. They lived in an extremely hostile region of space, beset by Mandalorians, Hutts, and countless other brutal cultures. Low level raiding and piracy just seemed to be a fact of life in that area.
In the face of such an existence, a warrior culture of local lords with their own personal armies developed. Each Sith Lord ruled over their own world or worlds as an absolute monarch, carrying the title Darth. The ruler of this fractious alliance of independent states was translated to Emperor in basic, but his official title was Sith'ari. The exact scope of this emperor's power wasn't clear, with lesser Darth's constantly betraying their ruler for their own benefit and feuding with each other over seemingly petty concerns.
Under such circumstances, was it really true that the Sith Empire had gone to war with the Republic? Was it even possible that such a fractured and feudal state could fight as a unified front?
It was a contradiction in the historical accounts that Tan'ya found herself increasingly irked by. She had no first hand Sith accounts of the war, and no way to prove they had really considered themselves to be in a state of total war. Even the Jedi accounts she had were fractured and incomplete, with many of the Temple's ancient records being destroyed during the Sacking of Coruscant three and a half millennia ago.
The only full manuscript she had access to was the Qel Droma epic, which though the people of Empress Teta thought of it as pure history, to Tan'ya it seemed more like a work of historical fiction. Certainly, the Qel Droma Epic was inspired by true history, maybe even based on it, but Tan'ya was fairly certain it was written for entertainment, not education, hundreds of years after the fact.
Talking to Sifo Dyas's holocron had only gotten her access to one additional source, being Mandalorian battle poetry from the era. Rather than looking at the war as a whole, the Mandalorians focussed on the Sith in individual battles, their tactics and weapons, how to defeat them and what to be wary of. It seemed like it was written to educate future generations of Mandalorians on what to expect when they faced Sith in battle.
Tan'ya now had a very complete perspective on the Siege of Ziost, who the leaders in the battle were and how the Sith were gradually defeated in a grinding attritional campaign that lasted years, but no good idea of what the events leading up to the battle were and what effect it had on the outcome of the war. All Tan'ya could really assume was that it came near the end of the war, and it was the same Siege of Ziost that the scholar Jedi Master Gnost-Dural briefly referenced.
It was frustrating. The Sith had clearly played a major role in much of Galactic history, shaping countless other cultures, but very little was said about them as a people on their own terms. There was a gaping hole in the Galaxy's history where it seemed like the Sith should be.
Of course, Tan'ya was reluctant to speak with any Jedi about this. The fear and hatred of the Sith ran deep within the Order, and any attempt from her to mention this would only upset them.
So Volume Four had languished on her hard drive. It had been weeks since she touched it, and it felt like a shame for so much work to go to waste, but she couldn't see any way to continue. In the meantime she continued collecting sources, creating notes and preparing to start work on Volume Five.
With that on the backburner for now, most of Tan'ya's time was currently being taken up by a mixture of administrative concerns and Jedi training. As the Advisor to the Defence, she had a direct role in Serenno's governance and policy for the Planetary Defence Force was set by her.
For now, Serenno had its own officer school, and a million part time personnel, serving in a mix of administrative and combat roles. Most of her weekend warriors were young men recruited from the lumber yards, contributing their wages directly to their home villages. They'd work in the yards on weekdays, and learn soldiering on the weekends; how to shoot, march, navigate, follow orders and all the other business of men in uniform.
Some had been recruited as full time sailors, for her small but growing navy. A number of officers from the defunct Outer Rim Defence force were running the training programs for that, having proven their competence at the battle of Naboo serving under her father.
Finally, the House Guard was now ten thousand strong. Tan'ya was confident calling them a professional, elite fighting force that would be ready to go toe to toe with any other comparable army the Galaxy had to offer if they could just sort out the equipment issues. Soon the sacanium mines would be opened up, and each man could be issued a set of blaster resistant armor that would give them a major edge on the battlefield.
Tan'ya was proud to say that all of this was delivered under budget as well.
Once they had the rest of the Hammerheads available, Tan'ya was thinking it might be time for some Serennoan warriors to make for the stars as a private security firm. They could get some experience on the battlefields of the Galaxy, as well as make a lot of money.
Already the offices of the Advisory were receiving complaints from the Lumber Yards, about men who refused to do dangerous work anymore, unwilling to risk their weekend pay. Tan'ya sympathized with their struggles as businessmen, but ultimately the logging industry was something that she aimed to vastly reduce in the long run. It had been a stop gap measure, something the population had been forced to turn to after the droid based agricultural revolution forced them off their farms during Gora's reign. Now that Serenno was in good hands again, it was time for people to learn how to survive as mechanics, bricklayers, tilers, carpenters, technicians, pilots, weaponsmiths, media personalities, bankers, and all the other countless roles of a varied and vibrant economy.
Ah, glorious competition.
That was for the future, though. For now, it was almost a relief for Tan'ya to know that the future was looking bright. No one could solve all the problems of the Galaxy, but maybe she could set the people of her homeworld on the path to do it themselves.
She earnestly wished she could spend more time at the Advisory then she did, but she had Jedi lessons to focus on.
Her teacher was the Green Jedi, Master Sturn, and he was a decent and understanding man. He seemed a little softhearted to Tan'ya, but that same compassion and flexibility was probably why he was willing to teach her on Serenno, rather than demanding she attend her classes on Indinoor.
Her father had wanted her to have a private tutor, but apparently Master Narec had insisted there just weren't enough Masters for that to be at all fair. As a result, the Palace now had one extra permanent guest in addition to her teacher, another supposed child prodigy named Vai.
There really wasn't much Tan'ya could say about Youngling Vai. The former child of the Mandalorians was smaller than her, despite being the same age. Pale from a lack of sunlight, with straight black hair down to her ears and emerald green eyes. She was quiet, and seemed to avoid conversation with Tan'ya, shying away and answering any question with just a single word and a bowed head, hands gripping her shirt uncomfortably. Tan'ya was much more powerful in the force, but Vai had an amazing level of control for someone her age.
Tan'ya's mother had encouraged her to try and make friends with the girl, but so far there had been no opportunity. After each lesson in the garden with Sturn, Vai would rush away to hide in her room. The only one she spoke to at all was Athemeene herself, who had made sure that the girl had a seat at the dinner table each night, though Vai only spoke when engaged in conversation. After each meal, Vai would thank Athemeene and run away to her room.
Perhaps the biggest change in the palace, was Tan'ya little sister becoming a toddler. Madale was a polite, well behaved child, who always said please and thank you, and followed Tan'ya around constantly. Some days Tan'ya would spend an hour tapping away at her computer only to look back and find Madale laying on her bed, watching her sister working. Sometimes while Sturn was meditating with his students in the garden, Madale would waddle over and sit down to start picking at the grass right next to them.
At first Tan'ya had thought she just wanted attention, but then Athemeene had explained, "She wants a girl closer to her own age to copy. She's trying to learn to be more like you."
Initially, Tan'ya thought nothing of it. Then after a little while she started to become worried. Tan'ya wasn't exactly a normal child, or even a good role model for girly conduct.
"Is there… someone else, Madalee could learn from?"
Athemeene smiled at her daughter gently. "Does she have any other older sisters?"
"...But I'm not…" Tan'ya trailed off, hesitating.
Athemeene crouched down to look Tan'ya in the eyes. "You're not what, sweet child?"
"I'm not someone she should copy." Tan'ya finally said, surprising herself at how bitter she sounded. "I'm not normal." And she wasn't. Tan'ya was a forty year old Japanese businessman, trapped in the body of a young girl. She was a war veteran. If Madale was to grow into a healthy young woman, she needed a role model who was a healthy young woman.
Athemeene pulled Tan'ya into a hug. "Who said that to you, Tan'ya? You are normal."
"No, I'm not." Tan'ya disagreed firmly, pulling away and looking into her mother's eyes. "We both know that I'm not someone Madalee can emulate."
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Apparently, chapters write themselves faster when Power Stones are involved. Who knew? Feel free to test the theory go ahead, toss a few my way.
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