Master Plo finished listening to the message and immediately called his apprentice over so that he could take a look at it too.
"Look here, Phil, do you recognise this code?" he asked his apprentice, wanting to confirm his guess or, more precisely, to make sure he was wrong — it was clearly not Republican.
Eleot looked closely at the intertwining letters and numbers on the dashboard screen. Some strange meaning could be discerned between the lines, looking like an encrypted message that hadn't been used for decades. He assumed that those who had created it had long since been defeated...
"Teacher, you know, I'm not sure, but I think... — Eleot hesitated for a moment before finally voicing his guess, and once spoken, it seemed even more terrible to him — It looks a lot like Sith code. It's as if one of them is communicating with us.
"That's right, and now they want to intercept us at Utapau. Let's get there before them," said the teacher calmly, even with a touch of irony, and immediately changed course. Eleot returned to the cabin and warned Asoka that they would have to make a small detour. The girl did not object; her mind was elsewhere.
"Poor 3RO, I won't be able to work on him anymore," she thought as the ship turned and hovered over the landing platform of an unknown planet. But what did she see through the window? Standing on the platform was a tall, sturdy figure, almost completely covered by a black cloak. The Master descended onto the platform, while Eleot remained on the ship to watch over Asoka, who could not be put in danger, and both began to observe this unusual encounter. Seeing that he was no longer alone, the mysterious creature threw back its hood, revealing a tall, fairly young Zurak with red skin almost completely covered in black tattoos. His eyes, huge and even eerie from a distance, were amber in colour, and when they glanced towards the window where Asoka was standing, she instantly felt sick. She could physically feel the hatred emanating from him, and it became difficult to breathe. Tano even raised her hand to her throat to slip her finger under the invisible rope that was squeezing her windpipe.
"I was right," muttered Phil, who was sitting next to her. "It really is a Sith. But why is there only one?"
"Shouldn't there be more of them?" asked Asoka, who was used to evil always coming in numbers. For example, the Tuskens, a desert people from her homeland, famous for their banditry, always travelled in tribes, never alone. What's more, they walked one behind the other, almost in single file, to hide the exact number of their people.
"The thing is, Asoka," Eleot began to explain to her, "there is an unspoken rule in the Sith Order: there must always be only two. A master and a student. Never more. Later, you will learn about Darth Bane, who invented this rule.
Ahsoka listened and watched with interest what was happening on the platform. Zabrak turned to the Master, and after looking at each other for a second, they activated their swords almost simultaneously. The Master's was quite ordinary, neon blue in colour, but the Sith's was special, unlike any Ahsoka had ever seen before — two bright red blades protruded from a black, elongated hilt on either side. This type was called a staff sword, as Eleot immediately explained to her. She thought it must be very uncomfortable to fight with, but no, the Sith wielded it so skillfully, depriving his opponent of any opportunity to get close. However, he did not defend himself at all, but instead attacked, but the Master was not inferior to him, parrying his attacks one after another. An upper block, a lower block, a clear and sharp but at the same time smooth diagonal strike. Asoka immediately noticed how different the fighting styles were. The Sith's style was sharp, with quick movements and sweeping strikes, as if aimed at killing, while the Jedi's style was more defensive. The movements were also quite fast, but the scale was not as great, and the strikes were mostly short and sharp, or smooth and slow, forcing the enemy to become nervous and lose, directing his anger against himself. This was the case this time, when he threw the Master to the edge of the platform and hung over him in triumph, ready to throw him down, confident that he would succeed. Anger and a willingness to kill played a cruel joke on the Sith, dulling his vigilance. Plo took advantage of this, straightening up sharply and knocking his opponent where he intended him to go — down, off the edge of the platform. Zabrak did not die; this was clear from the ship below, where he was immediately picked up, while the Master climbed onto his own ship and, breathing heavily, sank into the pilot's seat.
"How are you, teacher?" Phil asked, coming over to him.
"We were right," said the Kel Dor, catching his breath. "It really is a Sith. His energy is unmistakable. But who was it, teacher or apprentice?
"We will report this to the Council, without fail," Phil said firmly, but added no less significantly, "But first, let's introduce him to Asoka. You know, even though I can see that you want to teach her yourself, I think she might be given to someone else.
By "someone else," he obviously meant himself, and the teacher couldn't help but understand that.
"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you," Plow gently rebuked him. "Or that we won't have to argue with our colleagues for the very right of Asoka to be among us.
"Is that possible?" Eleot was genuinely surprised that anyone could be against Asoka's presence; she was such a lovely girl.
"You'll see," replied the Master evasively, and said nothing more on the subject for the rest of the journey. However, that was enough. He really did see what the Council's opinion might be about prospective students of such an age. Asoka also saw it when she stepped off the ship and found herself in a world completely different from the one that had surrounded her before. For if Tatooine was essentially a vast desert with no end in sight, with rare patches of open space and small houses, Coruscant was simply stunning at first glance with its abundance of noise, bright colours and enormous variety of both architecture and nature. The centre of the Republic was like a never-ending celebration. To those who had lived there since birth, it seemed familiar and no longer surprising, but when you arrived here for the first time, you were simply stunned and blinded. The same thing happened to the girl. She descended the gangway and turned her head in all directions, believing and not believing that this was all real and not just another dream inspired by reading the Galactic Chronicles. But no, it was all true, and even the Jedi Temple, where she entered accompanied by her companions, looked exactly the same as in the pictures, and inside... The technical equipment of this building seemed so strange and unfamiliar to her, a little savage who had grown up on the backward Tatooine. Dear Phil explained to her that the Jedi Council was a kind of asset of the Order. Its elite, so to speak, twelve of the best adepts, holding the title of Master and having rendered great services to the Order. Places on the Council were sought long and hard, as it was considered a great honour, for it was the members of the Council who made the most important decisions in the life of the Order. One such decision was now before him: to determine whether Ahsoka was worthy of becoming a student of the Temple. She was visibly nervous as she stood at the door of the Hall, but Master Plo looked at her calmly and put his arm gently around her shoulders:
"Don't worry, Asoka, whatever the Council decides, we will take care of your training.
This Master had always been renowned for his ability to connect with any living creature, especially those as small and nervous as her. He had not changed, and Tano fearlessly followed him into the Hall, with Phil close behind. No one was surprised by the girl's appearance. Master Plo had managed to warn his companions while still in flight that he had found an unusual child and wanted them to test her. As expected, many greeted the news with scepticism, especially when they learned that Ahsoka was already ten years old, almost half of which she had spent as a slave. This scepticism was still evident on the faces of many of the eleven Masters sitting in a semicircle on small chairs in the middle of the hall. Master Plo took the previously vacant chair on the left side of the semicircle, greeting his companions with a bow. Phil followed his example, and Asoka did the same. Next to him sat a large, dark-skinned, completely bald man of middle age, looking decidedly displeased and stern. Next to him was a smaller chair than the others, on which sat a strange creature, no more than a metre tall, light green in colour, its entire body covered with a light white down, and its head adorned with elongated ears sticking out to the sides. It was impossible to tell from his expression how he felt about the situation; he simply looked pensive and serious. Behind him sat a tall, thin old man with a strangely shaped head, resembling an uneven oval, and a thick white beard. His face expressed something more kind than the opposite, but his neighbour, a large man of the Iktochi race with long horns growing downwards, stared intently at Asoka with a searching gaze. However, there was nothing negative in the face of another small green creature, the same as the first, only female, as evidenced by the long, heavy dark braid behind her back, only curiosity. The same as that of a small one-eyed lannik, with a long scar in place of the second eye. Then came a short Tisspias, whose face was almost indistinguishable due to the long white hair covering his body, a slender, dark-skinned Talotian woman in a national headdress with hanging tentacles, a long-necked Kvermians, and a tall Zabrak, completely unlike the one Asoka had seen today. he had no tattoos on his face and his horns were much smaller, and long, thick black hair grew on his head. On the other side of the semicircle was a rather pretty Chalactant woman with two piercings on her eyebrows. She looked adoringly at the bald, dark-skinned man sitting directly opposite her, from which one could conclude that they had a special relationship. However, Asoka did not notice this at the moment; she was trying not to look at anyone, but to stand in the middle of the hall with her head bowed, waiting for what they would say and ask her. She did not have to wait long:
"We welcome you, young adept of the Great Force. Answer our questions," said the green creature, the one that was male. Asoka looked up at him and met his large, attentive eyes.
"Greetings, Master Yoda," she said as kindly as possible, because it is always important to be liked, regardless of whether you are accepted or not. Besides, after talking with Phil during the flight, the girl had learned and remembered their names and hastened to show off her knowledge. "And you too, Masters Windu, Mundi, Cat, Puff, Ratzinzis, Allie, Yaddle, Bilaba, Piel, Yoda, Yaddle. I am very happy to see you all. I have already met Master Plo, but I am always ready to greet him again.
Asoka's excitement suddenly subsided and was replaced by determination and a strange talkativeness that was not characteristic of her nature. She also remembered that strangers tend to think better of you if you say something nice to them, so she glanced briefly but attentively at the members of the Council and, a moment later, smiled broadly and spoke again:
"Master Ratzinz, you have a very nice hairstyle and your beard is nice too, you must use good shampoo. You are lucky, we on Tatooine often couldn't even wash with water. Master Yoda, your height does not spoil you at all, it even makes you look cuter. We had little furry creatures like you in the rocks, exactly like you. They sniffed each other so funny! Master Windu, you shaved your head so smoothly that the sun can look into it like a mirror. Master Alie, your hat is the latest fashion, can you tell me where you bought it?
This remark made Yoda fall silent, and then he spoke just as seriously:
"Where did you come from?
"I flew here from Tatooine," the girl confessed sincerely, wanting everyone to see how honest she was and that she was hiding nothing about herself. "My father and I were slaves, we worked in a spare parts shop owned by Watto, a Teetorian, or rather, the nastiest of them all. He has a huge belly, a broken fang, and limp wings that are clearly broken under his weight. And how nasty he is! I wanted to chop him up so many times, but I didn't have a sword, and now I will, won't I?
Yoda did not react to these words, while the other Masters frowned sternly, and some of them barely suppressed their laughter, but remained silent, not daring to speak until the head of the Council, Master Yoda himself, gave them permission.
"Do you miss your father very much? Are you afraid you will never see him again?" he asked the next question.
"Very much, I only left him this afternoon, and I already miss him. My dad is so nice, the best in the galaxy. I don't know how I'll manage here without him," Asoka said, so moved that she almost shed a tear. However, soon she thought that it would only work to her advantage. The Council would clearly like that she was a good daughter and honoured her family.
"Yes, I sense a great fear within you, you fear loss in your life," Yoda said with a strange expression, and then added, "The Council is finished, leave the Hall, we will give you our verdict later."
With that, he waved his three-fingered hand towards the door, indicating that Ahsoka was no longer needed and that the conversation would continue without her. Torguta obediently left, hoping that even though she was not needed in the Council Chamber now, in a few minutes she would be needed by the Order. But was she rushing to rejoice?
***
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