AN :
If we hit 200 power stones in 24h, there will be an extra chapter.
...
Asajj had decided she didn't like Coruscant. To her it reeked with the smell of burning dust mites. Humans couldn't really smell it, and neither could the other zabrak she met, but to her it was ever present on the city world.
She wondered if her nose was just unusually sensitive, or if other Dathomiri had a similar sense of smell? Even in the heart of the Jedi Temple, Asajj couldn't get the taste out of her mouth, and feared that even after she left the planet she'd have to replace her robes to get rid of the stench.
Not to mention the planet's presence in the force. The nexus that surrounded Coruscant was drawn from the countless thoughts and feelings of the teeming swarms of sentients that infested every crack and crevice of this miserable world, with the overriding emotions being ambition and anxiety.
Here in the heart of the Order, the Jedi radiated peace and confidence, which mingled with the feelings of those outside, leaving the force gritty with an unresolved mix of warring emotions. Asajj wasn't sure how to describe it. It wasn't quite cold like the Dark Side, but it was still foul in its own way.
Asajj would prefer a jungle of trees over one of duracrete. Even having someone merely explain to her the nature of Coruscant's undercity left her feeling unsettled. Any beast that crawled out from under a rock on Serenno wouldn't be half as translucently pale and sadistically cruel as a deranged gangster that slunk up from the tunnels of this world.
What were the Jedi even doing here? If the filth of the undercity were to ever try and force their way to the surface, to plunder the towers raised above their heads, there'd be nothing anyone could do to stop them. This world was like a thin coating of glamor and wealth painted over a foundation of misery and helplessness, perched precariously over a sucking pit of outright chaos. No one even seemed to notice or care, too caught up in their desperate daily scramble.
She couldn't wait to leave this place. Being here had only taught her to be glad to be accepted by the New Temple and rejected by the old. She was reminded of that particularly whenever any of the Jedi here stopped to watch the 'night sister' as she passed, like she had any real connection to that cult.
Following the example set by her current master, Asajj pretended not to notice, with her shoulders back and her chest puffed out, she stalked through the corridors like she owned the place, and found its upkeep lacking; the latter being hardly an exaggeration at all.
Dooku was right to leave this accursed world, and should have done so sooner.
One could say what they pleased about the mud of Indinor, but at least it was peaceful. The New Temple was growing there, and attracting settlers to seek security in its shadow. More and and more farms were springing up in view of the Temple Garden, spreading cultivated rows of green shoots and grazing herd animals.
There was even a fishing trawler that started to cast nets in the slurry flats, dragging in hauls of those strange native crustaceans that thrived in the oceans of muck. They even tasted okay too, once the cooks figured out the trick of running cold water over their backs for a few hours to get them to pass out the mud inside them. A little bit of a cheesy aftertaste, but that wasn't so bad with the right peppers.
Not to mention she actually knew her way around the New Temple.
"Going somewhere?" A man suddenly asked her from behind, voice a rough growl that nearly made her jump.
She turned to regard the speaker, and scowled immediately upon recognising him, though she took a moment to remember his name. Vos. He was that thuggish Jedi that grilled everyone at the Palace on Serenno for days, including her. Particularly her.
After they left, the Royal Guards had even reported that Vos and his padawan had gone as far to try and talk to poor little Tan'ya unaccompanied! Thankfully the clever girl had sensibly sent them away without saying anything, but that this fool would even try to speak to a child who had just lost a mentor and close friend really spoke ill of Coruscant Temple's tolerance to the conduct of its Knights.
"I can go where I please." Asajj answered, primly. "Even the council chambers are not off limits to me." There were a few places where padawans weren't allowed to visit at will, like the holocron vault, but she wasn't anywhere near those. At least she didn't think she was. This place didn't have any blasted signs.
Vos nodded, regarding her with a lip quirked in amusement. Asajj glanced past him, and realized his padawan wasn't with him.
"What do you want?" She asked, suddenly suspicious.
"Help. From you."
She narrowed her eyes disbelievingly. "Why would I help you?"
"Because you're going to do what's right."
She scoffed. "You think helping you is the right thing?"
"Not always. This time though, yeah." He smirked. "Walk with me? You were lost anyway."
Asajj opened her mouth to deny it, but stopped herself because of how obviously true it was. Anything she said would just be an excuse that made her sound like a fool.
He didn't wait for her answer, striding away towards a set of doors, and after a moment of hesitation Asajj walked after him, frustrated but curious. What was his game?
"What do you think of Sifo's assassination?" He asked her. "Have you read the files?"
"I'm a padawan." She didn't have access to those.
"Fair enough." Vos then explained the circumstances around the Jedi Master's death. His strange presence on a dangerous force nexus due to Dooku's private affairs, the premeditated nature of the attack and how Sifo seemingly had no warning, and the fact that before he died he was attacked by a yellowed eyed Dark Sider with a lightsaber. "What do you think?" He asked at the end.
"...You're searching for a Dark Jedi hiding in the New Temple. They would have access to Sifo's schedule so they would know when he was heading for Prime, they could plant the bomb on his ship when it was parked on Indinor, and they have lightsabers." She paused, and shot an annoyed look at the man. "And it explains why you're so interested in me, the Dathomiri."
"Does it?"
"The Night Sisters are a well known Dark Side cult." Asajj scowled. "You're trying to pin this on me."
"I'm trying to catch a murderer." Vos replied. "If it's you, then I want you, but if it's not you, I want your help."
They walked in silence for a few moments, as she turned the story about in her head.
"Let me ask you this." Vos looked back at Asajj. "Would an assassin attack Sifo, then set off the bomb? You're assuming that the assassin planted the bomb, and that Sifo had no warning he was coming."
Asajj kept her mouth shut, not saying anything at all.
"What if Sifo had plenty of warning about the assassin, and he was the one who planted the bomb?" Vos paused then added. "He was a seer."
Her brows came together, and she considered his theory. "It fits. It wasn't that Sifo was lured to Prime, but that Sifo lured the assassin there. If I wanted to attack a Jedi Master, I wouldn't want to do it when he's protected by other Jedi, especially not Dooku."
"The assassin followed Sifo, waiting for the chance to strike, and chased him from Serenno to Prime."
Asajj smirked. "Meaning my master had nothing to do with it."
Vos shrugged. "Maybe."
"So what did you want my help with?" Asajj asked. "Or did you really want a Padawan to hear you speculate without evidence?"
"I want you to help me find evidence."
"You want a spy." Asajj sneered at the man. "You want me to betray my Master, and the New Temple for you? The whole funeral you were giving us all stink eye."
"Why was Sifo killed, Asajj? We need to know." He looked at her. "If there's a Dark Sider in the New Temple, corrupting it, then it could be another Galactic war."
"They could just as easily be here, in the Grand Temple."
"They could be, which is why I'll search for them here myself." Vos replied. "But I'm not part of the New Temple. I don't have access to it, like you do."
"Well, I won't help you." Asajj declared, firmly. "Find another knight to do your dirty work."
"What are the chances of finding a lone, Force Sensitive Night Sister slave on a world without hyperdrives?"
The change in topic was so sudden it took a moment for Asajj to understand what he was referring to. "What?"
Vos said, folding his arms. "How does a Dathomiri from Dathomir get to another world?"
"A ship, obviously." Asajj snapped back, sarcastically.
"But I thought Rattatak didn't have access to hyperdrives?"
Asajj opened her mouth and closed it, feeling a strange pit opening up in her stomach. Frozen on the spot, she tried to think of an excuse, but couldn't find any. If it was impossible to leave Rattatak due to its isolation from Hyperdrives, how could she even have been traded there in the first place?
Vos smirked. "Narec is full of it. How could he, a Jedi, possibly be stranded just because his ship wasn't working? His story doesn't add up, he's lying."
"He's not!" Asajj growled, clenching her fists. "He can't be!"
"Search your feelings." He reached behind himself, and took out a holocom before pressing it into Asajj's hands. "It's prepaid. My number is saved on this." He turned and strode away, saying over his shoulder. "Message me when you find answers."
After he was gone, Asajj looked at the device in her hands. Vos was clearly a nasty piece of work, and he was trying to manipulate her. The thug wanted to hurt the New Temple, and Ky. The only reason he approached her and not one of the others was because he thought he had strings to tie around her. She was a padawan, and so of course he thought she would be much easier to control for her age.
If she had any sense she'd throw the bloody thing away right now. She knew it.
But just having it didn't mean she had to use it, did it?
Asajj grit her teeth before stuffing the comm into her belt pouch and hurrying away. She'd think about it later - she was too hungry to focus on it now.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, a silent, long suppressed voice snickered.
...
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