"Rumor is that you might have some competition, Admiral."
Pyrl paused in her walk through the halls of the Avenger, their Star Destroyer modified into a grounded base. She coolly looked over her shoulder at another woman, leaning against the edge of a hallway with arms crossed and an amused smirk about her.
"Palawa," Pyrl greeted neutrally.
"Please, I'm hardly in the field right now. Just Arden or Lynn," she requested dismissively as she leaned off the wall to join the Admiral. "I assume you're going to inform Lord Vader of the estimated needs for repairing the Executor?"
"If he requests them. I have other matters to speak with him about," Pyrl answered with a slight scowl. "But you appear to be apprised of that already."
Lynn chuckled. "Oh, Tandra. Are you worried that Lord Vader is going to replace you with that Piett fellow?" she asked, getting narrowed eyes but no other reaction. "I feel rather fortunate that I was brought into this when I was. I've heard that your precious would-be Empire was less than interested in having women in the military. And I've heard you had to make some examples of men who didn't exactly celebrate Vader making you the admiral of all his forces."
Pyrl snorted. "Vader chose me because I proved myself capable. Despite the unspoken policies, men like him and Tarkin always cared more about someone's competency than their groin's equipment."
"That still doesn't stop people from wondering, for right and wrong reasons," Lynn continued. "After all, Captain Piett kept the Executor from being lost entirely for all this time. Not to mention the large influxes of personnel brought in, the crew of the Executor. They know Piett; they didn't know you."
Pyrl tilted her head. "If you're offering to assassinate Piett on my behalf, I'll have to refuse."
Lynn chuckled. "Oh, Pyrl. I like you, but not that much. I wouldn't dare risk causing that much trouble for Vader. But I kind of like watching you squirm."
"I'm so thrilled to entertain you between assignments," Pyrl retorted with barely contained sarcasm. "Why are you really here, Arden?"
The woman from the distant past lost her mirth, dark curiosity coming over her. "What happened on that ship, really? This infighting, I understand, but I've sensed these nutters. And the ship itself. You are untrained, but you are sensitive to the Force. I know you must have felt it too."
Pyrl's facial muscle twitched, discreetly glancing around.
"None are near. You can speak freely, if you wish," Lynn assured with deep interest.
"I haven't the slightest idea," Pyrl admitted with a sigh. "Some of them went insane. Possibly from time traveling. Which raises many questions for me personally. Many of our AWOL cases may have involved individuals suffering from a similar condition. But I'm not sure what we can even do for them, besides handing them over to Plagueis."
"Yes, I'm sure he'll have a wonderful time testing their condition," Lynn remarked, grim and knowing. On the bright side, it wouldn't be her on the scientist's table.
"But..." Pyrl glanced away with an uncertain frown. "Yes, I sensed it. Something about that ship is different now. Maybe it's just that a miniature civil war happened on it? I've overheard Lord Vader's conversations with you and others enough to know events like that can leave a...mark in the Force."
"I'd say impression or echo, but mark works just as well," Lynn agreed. "But no, it's definitely more than that. It is something else."
"Something dangerous?" Pyrl asked, anticipating and dreading the answer.
"I don't know," Lynn admitted with a troubled look. "Which seems to be our answer to many things as of late. I've already heard the stories, though. This...trap or whatever it was, set up by these nutters? That is what brought you to Albingi?"
"Even if I didn't believe in the Force, that is too much of a coincidence," Pyrl remarked with a headshake. "I would prefer it when occurrences stick to military matters that I can handle and deal with. This is beyond my depth and skills."
"Don't feel bad, the same would be true for even most Jedi," Lynn assured half-heartedly.
"Be honest with me? Do you think that ship might be more trouble than it's worth?" Pyrl asked carefully.
"Only time will show that. Vader is mighty in the Force, mightier than can be believed on occasion. If anyone can tame this unknown factor into a boon or non-issue, it'll be him," Lynn said, tilting her head to the side. "Come, I sense that they're about done training. You might not catch Vader before he's off on another strange adventure."
"This is all one strange adventure for him, we're all just along for the ride," Pyrl retorted wryly, following after Lynn all the same.
They reached the training room and entered, a perk of their ranks amongst Vader's forces. Tanda Pryl kept her demeanor ever professional, her hands folded behind her back, while Ardern Lynn took on a more relaxed stance, leaning over the railing with her chin resting in one hand.
They had arrived just in time to see T'lanan trying to rise from her position on the floor. She was battered and bruised, some bones likely broken, and blood covered her a bit too generously.
Vader towered over her, unscathed and absolutely in his power, like a monster of primitive legends, a creature that would drag her into the torments of some terrible afterlife.
"She's finished by the looks of it," Pyrl mused as she stared at the Twi'lek.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Lynn said with an interested look.
With a shuddering breath, T'lanan forced herself to her knees-
And then she lunged at Vader, her lightsaber struck out in one hand, the tip aimed at his lenses.
Vader caught her by the wrist, his grip harsh and unyielding. T'lanan gasped in pain as Vader slowly twisted her wrist until she dropped her lightsaber, unigniting as it fell into Vader's hand.
"Your training ends for today," Vader warned ominously.
With a sickening crack, the Twi'lek screamed as the Sith Lord broke her wrist with the slightest effort. Vader released her, T'lanan falling to her knees as her exhaustion caught up with her.
"Now she is finished," Lynn said as she pushed off the railing.
Vader was already walking to them, handing the training lightsaber off to a practice droid to store away. "Lynn, take her to the medical bay. They have my permission to use a bacta tank if needed," he instructed without missing a beat.
"As you wish. I only had questions you likely wouldn't answer anyway," Lynn said as she walked past the Dark Lord to go help the Twi'lek get to her feet. "Come, let's make sure you don't bleed out too much or you'll definitely need a stay in the bacta tank."
T'lanan smiled gratefully at her, but was too weak to speak. She limped as best she could, Adren close to dragging her at this point.
Vader turned his attention fully to Pyrl. "Anything urgent to report, Admiral?"
"Nothing we didn't already know or predict, mostly. The amount of food and other resources for keeping our people alive has increased considerably. We will need an enormous amount of material to repair the Executor, even before considering the specialized personnel that would be needed for such an endeavor. We are tending to the injured and burying the dead- and there were a great deal of dead aboard that ship. They're lucky diseases didn't get to them. Cleaning out the executor will be an entirely different obstacle to tackle, albeit less difficult."
This was all indeed expected consequences of retrieving the Executor, especially knowing the infighting that happened aboard the ship. "Did Captain Piett relay my instructions about the Nutters?"
Pyrl tried not to stiffen. "He has not."
"I suppose he must still be dealing with Farmile," he mused before his helm tilted in the slightest way that gave him an air of knowingness about him. "There is already grumbling over who should be the superior between you and Piett."
Pyrl almost gave a dry smile, almost. "I don't think it has really dawned on them, those amongst Piett's men, that the rest of the Death Squadron has had its own issues to face since our separation. They seem to think that, as the crew of your flagship, they'll instantly return to being central to our operations here."
"I do not intend to get involved with petty squabbles, unless they grow to be more than that," Vader warned pointedly. "What do you know of Piett?"
"Just that he's competent enough to rise through the ranks under your command without getting killed," Pyrl admitted.
"You are both pragmatic. He will not try for such a move now when it would cause only further division," Vader answered, more fact than assurance.
There was a heavy pause as Vader glanced ahead, beyond Pyrl.
She knew what he was doing. She had seen and felt it many times by now. Vader was checking for any that were attempting to spy on them.
She could tell by how he continued that there were none.
"Regardless, there is one reason I foresee giving him your position, your untimely demise excluded," Vader remarked.
Pyrl furrowed her brow. Vader's planning for her replacement was not at all comforting, but he wouldn't have told her if it was just that. "And what reason will that be, My Lord?"
"Your seniority in the current state of things," Vader answered, getting a confused look from her. "Assuming we do not abandon this planet, there will come a time when we will need both someone as the Admiral that commands the Death Squadron, and another to watch over and command this base."
"I see. Not a demotion, but a lateral reassignment," Pyrl summarized in understanding. She understood the logic and even the wisdom of it. Granted, she was a bit attached to the title of admiral by now. "I believe you mentioned something about the Nutters, my lord?"
Meanwhile
"Vader has a massive warship."
That was the troubling key takeaway of Qui-Gon's report for many on the council. Not least of all Windu. It was true that the conspiracy on Albingi was a great concern as well. One of many, the pile stacking ever higher as the corrupt and ambitious grew more emboldened and brazen while faith in the Republic deteriorated.
"It is most unwelcome new."
Mace Windu turned fully to the Jedi Master he was speaking with: Rancisis. The thisspiasian carried many scars from the battle with Sidious. Two of his four arms, both on the right side, were replaced by cybernetic replacements. If one studied the snake-like tail, they'd see that the faded burn marks were where lightsaber and Force Lightning had left their marks.
Windu nodded absently to him, folding his arms as he looked out the window of the council tower. "Most were certain that either he already possessed an army, or was building one," he said with a scowl. "But this ship they saw, so colossal in scale?"
That news had brought no small amount of shock through the council. Some had trouble just imagining such a craft existing, the implications of it not only having been constructed in secret, but the damage Qui-Gon and Skywalker had reported it sustained.
"I'm more concerned about what or who he could have been fighting. We would have been aware of any battle if he were invading a planet in the Republic. Unless the Sith can coordinate the Unknown Region freely, it is likely infighting among the Sith," Windu said with a frown.
"Or, worse, both statements are true," Rancisis remarked as he shook his bearded head. "To think, there may be another Sith Empire, and we know only the surface of it."
Mace Windu couldn't feel grimmer about that if he tried. "Even with this information, the Chancellor or Senate likely will not act against him. To them, he is two things; He is one of the many who are raising military forces across the galaxy, but he is also the man who exposed Palpatine's plot as Darth Sidious."
"Which, unfortunately, buys him some favor outside the order," Rancisis remarked, eyes narrowing. "And within it, evidently."
Windu looked to his fellow Jedi master with a touch of concern on his face. "This may aggravate the growing divide amongst the Jedi."
"There is no 'may' about it, my friend," Rancisis refuted gravely. "When word spreads of Vader's forces, it will only escalate the disagreements between those that wish to maintain this so-called peace with the Sith, and those like us that know it is a lie."
"Then perhaps we should switch targets."
Windu looked over, and the barest of smiles formed on his normally unreadable face. "Master Depa."
The Jedi Master and former Padawan of Windu nodded to both of her seniors. "Master Rancisis, Master Windu. I had a feeling you both might meet after the council meeting ended for the day."
None of them refuted. They were each survivors of what happened years ago, of Sidious's storm, and all of varying but similar stances on the current state of things. "You have thoughts on this, Master Depa?" Windu prompted.
Depa hummed. "It might seem unwise, but despite this new information, it might be better not to focus on Vader."
"Unwise? It sounds almost disastrous when we know he possesses such forces at his command," Rancisis retorted with a scowl.
"And I don't disagree, Rancisis," Depa assured, briefly raising a hand of agreement. "Vader is a threat, yes, but even among those who believe it, not all of us believe he is the immediate concern. Those wary of Vader are wary of Plagueis by default. But those who are willing to believe in Vader's peace do not inherently trust that Plagueis has the same intention as Vader."
Windu raised his chin slightly in thought. "You believe it might be best for the Order, a reuniting effort, if we focus our efforts on discovering Plagueis's identity and current motive."
Depa nodded. "We know that Sidious was Plagueis's student, both of the Order of Bane. Vader is the anomaly, possibly a different or new Order of Sith. But Sidious's plot was also Plagueis's. To some of us, he is the true enemy at the moment, hiding behind Vader. After all, if we take Vader's word at face value, he might have been trying to destroy the Order of Bane entirely."
Windu frowned. "We know even less about Plagueis than about Vader. And what little we know points to them being allies to some degree."
"What a sorry time this is," Rancisis remarked with a sigh as he looked out over the cityscape. "When uniting the Jedi Order against our ancient enemies would prove so difficult."
"I believe it is merely a difference in perception, Master Rancisis," Depa said in assurance as she looked at Windu. "Master, I have spoken to many on both sides of this growing divide, and those who fall in the middle. And there is a notion among those against provoking the Sith, one that when I heard it, I found myself thinking of you."
Windu looked surprised, a rare event on most days for the stoic master. "And what would that be, Master Depa?"
"The People of the Republic," Depa answered softly. "The events of that battle years ago shook the views of many. Not to the Dark Side, but to where our focus should be. On an enemy that has declared a desire to end the ancient conflict between our orders, and unveiled a great plot against the Republic and Us? Or, instead, should it be on the republic? On the people of this galaxy?"
Windu dipped his head in understanding. He had long viewed the Republic as something essential, something to help protect and unite the galaxy into something better, an instrument of peace and order. Despite his weariness of the more corrupt politicians, his belief in what the Republic represented and could be was not destroyed, for galaxy-wide anarchy would only prove worse than current conditions.
Rancisis hesitated before speaking. "I have heard such things as well. Some of us have grown despondent about the Republic's immediate future, either from cynicism or realism. Even if the Republic survives, it will undoubtedly go through a time of great, perhaps painful change."
"And thus, the people become a more immediate concern for many, rather than the looming threat either or both Sith Lords present to the Galaxy," Windu concluded. He paused in consideration. "There is a greater wisdom to this. Vader's forces are known now. And an army like that is not easy to hide, considering the resources needed to sustain it. Plagueis, however, we still chase scraps of information."
"We do, but do others?" Depa questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Ones like, per se, Master Poof?"
The two male Jedi shared a look. Poof was a respected member of the council, but he was one of the masters most openly and blatantly in favor of maintaining peace with Vader unless struck first.
"Perhaps it is time we mend some bridges and reach out across this growing schism," Rancisis remarked solemnly.
Windu looked to the seat where Poof normally sat. Yes, it might be time to remind the other Jedi that disagreement did not have to mean being in opposition, to be enemies.
Meanwhile
"So, you've never seen a doctor before in your entire life?" Tolxe asked in skeptical concern.
Farmile tilted his head as he sat on an examination table in the medical ward. "I don't think so. Why, is that strange?"
"Regular wellness examinations are a normal facet of an advanced and stable society," a medical droid opined as it floated towards Farmile. "Patient Farmile, your body is suffering from malnutrition, and your immune system requires a variety of boosters."
"Boosters?" Farmile asked in confusion. "What does that mean? Am I too short?"
"Negative. It means you require medical injections," the droid answered, holding up one of its arms with a syringe attached.
"...Mr. Machine, if you try to stab me, I will be taking your arm off," Farmile warned honestly, eyeing the needle.
"Threat received and aversion to injections noted. Liquid and pill forms of medicine will be provided," the droid acknowledged before turning to Tolxe. "Are you acting as his guardian?"
"Umm, no. I think that would be...Lord Vader, if anyone?" Tolxe answered carefully.
"I see," the droid said, almost hesitantly.
Farmile raised an eyebrow. Even the machines were scared of Vader then. He didn't even know machines could be scared.
"I will obtain the necessary treatment and calculate proper instructions for patient Farmile," the droid said before floating away.
"...So, people regularly let machines stab them, and that makes them more healthy?" Farmile asked skeptically.
Tolxe had the feeling that Farmile was going to need a lot of explanations about everyday things.