"I'd say Vader was doing everything to put you right at the edge of needing a trip to the bacta tanks," Arden Lynn remarked, leaning against the wall next to T'lanan's medical bed.
The white Twi'lek smiled despite the pain, her bruised and bloody body covered in bandages, given the necessary drugs to quicken her recovery. "Sarhoha is very thorough in his training."
Arden snorted, knowing that to be an understatement. There was more than once she had nearly lost a limb in fighting the Dark Lord. "Still, that's a rather unique way to tap into the Dark Side. Despair is common enough, but despair at being useless to your master?"
T'lanan looked at her curiously. "...I can sense a similar despair in you, Lady Lyn."
Lyn grew silent, but she wasn't particularly angry. No matter how much she moved on, there would always be a despair in being so far removed from the era she knew, the war she had helped lead and eventually lost. "Do you know how all of this foolishness started, with the Jedi and the Sith?"
T'lanan shook her head. "It feels like something so ancient that no one can truly know for certain."
Lyn smiled as she looked down in thought. "Perhaps you're right. But perhaps, I might tell you what I know, someday," she mused before taking on a sterner look. "That said, I have my doubts about you. You might prove useful to Vader, but that kind of bond likely means you will never rise to become his apprentice."
"Because one who is so desperate to prove her use is unlikely to ever possess the will to surpass and take her master's place," T'lanan said, as if she long already knew that. "Tell me, Lady Lyn, did your devotion hinder or hold you back?"
Lyn leaned down to her eye level. "Careful where you prod, Little Twi'lek, or I might be the reason you need the bacta tanks," she warned coolly before standing back up. T'lanan was unfazed, but didn't speak further. "...My devotion was different from yours. We were lovers and equals as leaders of our cause. Granted, he was the more charismatic one."
"Equals?" T'lanan repeated in surprise. "The concept...is almost foreign to me. My only equals were other slaves. And the Dark Side thrives on so many dark emotions, I didn't think 'equals' was something that could truly exist in the Dark Side, not without attempting to rise over each other."
"Don't believe all you hear. The Sith and the Jedi are far from the only paths in the Force," Lyn said idly, a whimsical look in her eye. "Both alive and in death, my devotion has been my fuel, part of my power. Tell me, as hard as it would be to imagine, what would you do if your master died?"
T'lanan's smile was hollow and empty. "Lady Lyn, I wouldn't do anything. I would have already died before that could happen."
Lyn gave her a small hollow smile. "We often like to believe that, until you find yourself amongst their broken legacy, knowing no one else can hope to continue and save it from his enemies."
T'lanan hummed to herself, as if considering that possibility, a dark cloak settling around her being.
"T'lanan?"
Both of them turned to see the approach of another Twi'lek. "Tolxe?" T'lanan recognized. "What are you doing here?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Tolxe said in concern, looking the pale Twi'lek over carefully. "Were these from training or punishment?"
"The two are often the same when training in the Dark Side," Lyn remarked levelly.
T'lanan smiled at Tolxe. "Don't worry, Tolxe. Sarhoha did his best to minimize my injuries."
Tolxe looked skeptically. Lyn considered the answer privately, deciding it was neither a lie nor the truth, and that it ultimately didn't concern Tolxe.
"But why are you here?" T'lanan asked curiously. "Did you or one of the others have a problem?"
There was a hint of darkness in the air to Lyn's senses, the trauma of their pasts lingering like wounds upon their souls. The Twi'leks and other former slaves who had remained with the Death Squadron had been given dignified jobs. None seemed the soldierly type, but the fleet had other uses for them.
From what Lyn learned of this would-be Empire in the future, it was very human-centric and not all that welcoming to females. The former was a common trait of Sith Empires for some reason, as mentioned by both Vader and Plagueis. However, Vader was clearly less picky in his allies and underlings. She wondered if that would cause any long-term conflict among this army of time travelers.
"I was escorting...someone to the Medical bay. He's new here," Tolxe explained vaguely.
Lyn narrowed her eyes. There was no possible way, right? The Force didn't have that kind of sense of humor, right?
"Ah. He must have come with Saroha's flagship," T'lanan mused. "I hope he isn't giving you any kind of trouble?
"No, but he is rather...interesting," Tolxe answered evasively.
Lyn scanned the room. The Force did have that kind of sense of humor, didn't it?
"Patient Farmile, please return to your medical bed. The medicine will make you unsteady and sleepy soon," a medical droid warned as it floated along with a rather short, young patient towards them.
"Then why did you give it to me if it's going to make me sick?" Farmile asked skeptically. "Tolxe, this medicine stuff is sounding more and more like poison with extra steps."
Lyn shook her head as Farmile came around the side and into view. "Farmile," she greeted. "I see you are adapting."
"Oh, you, the woman who says she doesn't sleep with Vader," Farmile recognized.
Both Twi'leks instantly looked at Lyn with curious, shocked expressions. If she were a woman of lesser confidence, she'd be annoyed by the rumors such a statement might cause. But there were already people wondering about that subject, so she just shrugged it off. "And you're the child that shoots stray cats and tries to eat them."
Both Twi'leks looked back at Farmile again, who looked between the three women in confusion. "What, am I not supposed to eat them? Are they poisonous?"
Tolxe's concern grew while T'lanan merely cocked her head. "I wouldn't know. I've lived mostly on ships my whole life. I don't think I've ever seen a cat."
"Neither had I. My planet didn't have any. Or we might have eaten them all, I'm not sure," Farmile answered, tilting his head at the white, four-tendriled Twi'lek. "Did you get hurt? Was it the people-eating plants?"
"T'lanan here was training rather extensively with Lord Vader," Lyn summarized before this conversation got too derailed.
"Training?" Farmile repeated, studying T'lanana's injuries. "Are you a bad student or is he a bad teacher?"
Lyn almost snorted as she held back a laugh. This child's blunt, strange questions were truly amusing in their unexpectedness.
"Drewmar!" Tolxe scolded, as if she had adopted this strange child.
"No, no, it is a fair question," T'lanan answered. "I just started, so I hope I am not a failure as a student."
"Oh, yeah, the first time doing anything usually goes bad. Like trying to open cans without can-openers," Farmile agreed with a strangely sage nod.
T'lanan smiled at the comment. "So, may I ask, why are you here, Drewmar? Are you Lord Vader's child?"
"I don't think so," Farmile answered thoughtfully. "And seeing as my mother probably wanted to eat me, I'm not exactly eager to meet my father."
Lyn raised an eyebrow at that before clearing her throat. "Lord Vader found this child on one of his missions. Why he allowed him to journey with him, I do not presume to guess."
T'lanan looked at Farmile curiously. "Perhaps he wishes to train you, too?"
Farmile shrugged, but didn't comment on that.
With that, T'lanan gingerly rose to her feet. "I shall return to my quarters for now. Lady Lyn, thank you for the assistance. Tolxe, I'm glad to see you are faring well here. Drewmar? It was pleasant to meet you."
With that, she slowly left, and Farmile watched her go curiously, staring even after she left the medical wing.
"Farmile? Are you okay?" Tolxe asked in concern.
"Something wrong, child?" Lyn asked, trying to read this child through the Force. It would normally be easy, but Farmile's traumatized mind was rather strange, making it difficult to get a lock on his mood and feelings.
"Huh," Farmile said absently. "So, she's what beautiful is."
Tolxe started in surprise while Lyn watched curiously. Two of the potentially most mentally scarred persons in Vader's forces, and one of them might have just developed a crush on the other.
The Force really did enjoy a strange sense of humor.
Meanwhile
Windu frowned in confusion as he entered the meditation room with Depa and Rancisis. "Master Poof was supposed to be here."
"Perhaps he is playing some mischief on the young ones, or on the other masters," Rancisis mused to himself. Tensions aside, Poof hadn't really changed much, still ever willing to lighten the mood of others in his own ways with his illusionary pranks.
"You want me to check where, Master Windu?" Depa asked, sudden and confused.
"Hmm?" Windu looked at her with a frown. His former Padawan was looking in his direction, but her eyes weren't looking in the right direction.
"Very well, Master, I'll check in with you later," Depa said as she turned and left the room.
Windu shared a look with Rancisis, who mirrored his expression. "Perhaps the mischief is on us," Windu said as they turned around and found their quarry.
Master Poof smiled at them with a friendly, casual wave. "Hello, my friends! Apologies for that little trick, but needs must."
"And for what needs do you find that you must use such a trick on a fellow master, if not your own amusement?" Rancisis, equal parts concerned and disapproving.
"The same reason you have come here: Plagueis," Poof admitted openly, waving to the meditation seat. "Please, sit, we have much to discuss."
The two did so, Windu crossing his legs on his seat while Rancisis's serpent tail curled around it as comfortably as he could. "What does excluding Master Depa have to do with Darth Plagueis?" Windu started.
"Because there is a chance your former student is compromised," Poof answered honestly.
Both masters started at that. Windu narrowed his eyes. "You think Depa-"
"Has turned to the Dark Side?" Poof predicted knowingly. "No, nothing so dramatic. Depa, to my knowledge, has in no way fallen. No, when Plagueis is involved, things are not so simple."
Rancisis hummed. "You believe this Sith Lord has some sort of hold on her, a Jedi Master?"
"Less a hold and more is using her as one might a holocam," Poof answered simply. "I sent her to Master Yoda to determine if she is."
"Master Yoda knows of this?" Windu asked in surprise. "How did you both even come to this suspicion?"
"Because Plagueis told me as much, or implied at least," Poof explained bluntly.
Rancisis shifted. "You have...been in contact with Darth Plagueis?"
"Our illusions have been," Poof answered, rubbing his long neck. "Do not mistake me, my fellow masters. I only trust each Sith Lord to act as they have shown us. Vader is direct, and I doubt he would lose any sleep if our order were destroyed. But Plagueis? I find that I trust him exclusively to be untrustworthy. Every encounter is a puzzle- illusions, words, anything is just as likely to be a hint as it is to be a misdirection in my experience with him."
"And he implied to you that he had ...compromised some of the Jedi Masters?" Windu asked pointedly.
"Specifically, some of us who faced and survived his student years ago," Poof explained. "Master Yoda and I have been slowly checking through various members. So far, we have found nothing."
"Why were none of us told of this?" Rancisis all but demanded. "Or have we not been 'cleared' by you and the Grandmaster?"
Poof looked pointedly to Windu with an expected look.
Windu sighed. "Calm yourself, Master Rancisis. They were suspecting that, if Palgeuis was lying, he was trying to further stir the division forming in the Order.""
Rancisis stiffened at that, disliking the suspicion but also admitting that this might indeed have been the intention of their enemies.
"We had every intention of telling you all, I assure you," Poof promised. "Master Depa is one of the last for us to check."
"That is good to know at least," Windu agreed stoically. "You've been hunting Plagueis in your own way all these years."
It wasn't a question, but Poof nodded. "If I am honest, it's more using myself as bait. I follow where the Force takes me, and Plagueis inevitably "reveals" himself, as much as he is willing. I've inconvenienced him on several occasions, though to what his ends are, I rarely know for certain."
"What do you know for certain then?" Rancisis asked curiously.
"Various things. Little things that he lets slip," Poof mused with something approaching a smirk. "For all his mastery of illusions and senses, there are certain...tells he has, these slight sows and pulses of annoyance he can't hide when he realizes I caught onto something he didn't want me to know."
Windu raised an eyebrow. "You sound almost like you admire him."
Poof snorted. "As we are not trying to openly kill one another yet, we have gained a cordial respect as fellow masters of illusion. But every time I meet him, I'm expecting that "yet" to expire."
Rancisis hummed. "And again, what do you know?"
"He's not human. Which rules out a good quarter of the galaxy," Poof began, stroking his chin. "Judging by the way he talks and acts, I would say he interacts with high society on the regular. Either as an official, some manner of nobility, or someone of business. To that end, he has some form of public identity to maintain. Of what importance, I'm not sure, but he is unwilling or unable to discard it for some reason. Judging by some of his more idle musings, he has or had some kind of disdain for us "mystics" and our view on the force."
"Mystics?" Windu questioned with a frown. "I normally hear that word from those who don't believe in the Force, but a Sith?"
"It's hard for me to pin down, but he favors some sort of rational or scientific approach to the Force," Poof mused. "And then there is one subject I don't touch without caution: Sidious."
"I'm guessing that is when annoyance turns to rage," Rancisis mused.
"And sorrow, or as much as he can feel such a thing. I'm beginning to think that he is reluctant to take a new apprentice," Poof looked to the side with a frown.
Windu hummed idly without disagreeing. "This schism is helping no one. To that end, I want the hunt for Plagueis to be a united effort."
"He is the one thing most of us agree on. Even the most optimistic of us see him as someone to be wary of," Poof mused. "The trick is Vader."
"We know they are in some form of alliance. Do you know more, Master Poof?" Rancisis questioned with interest.
"Know for certain or in detail, no. From what I've gleaned, I believe "business partners" is a more apt term for the two of them, some mutual exchange between the Siths," Poof speculated. "I can say this much, Vader's intent is to NOT be the one to break the truce between us."
Windu scowled as his eyes met Poof's. "You believe that those of us who pursue Vader are walking into a trap?"
"Trap might be too strong a word. It would be better to say that Vader has likely planned extensively for us to be the aggressors against him," Poof said before smiling coolly. "Which is a benefit for us. If, for whatever reason, Plagueis did act openly against the order? I don't believe Vader would come to his defense, not openly or in full. Assuming we were only going after Plagueis and not the Sith as a whole."
Rancisis stroked his beard. "You are suggesting we play the Sith at their own game."
"An honest version of it," Poof said with a shrug. "I have a theory. If we discover Plagueis's identity, he will become hostile and attempt to eliminate any that know his secret. Assuming we survive such an encounter-"
"We force Vader to choose between abandoning Plagueis to fend for himself or to join him openly against us," Windu concluded, getting a slow and pleased nod from Poof. "May I ask, Master Poof, how long were you intending to keep this to yourself?"
"How long did you intend to wait before asking me for aid?" Poof retorted meaningfully. "I don't want the Order to have another schism, Master of the Order. But many of us have made plans, just in case. I have faith in the Light and faith in the Way of the Jedi still, but one should never have absolute faith in any organization. Even the Jedi Order. We are, after all, mortal at the end of the day. Just as the Republic will need to adapt and change if it is to survive, so might we require as much."
Windu kept an even but thoughtful look on his face. "Perhaps we have all prepared a bit too much on that notion, treating that possibility of a split within our order as an inevitability," Windu acknowledged. Years ago, in any situation remotely similar to this, most on the council wouldn't have hesitated to seek out Master Poof for aid. "Very well. Master Poof? I request your aid in this mission: To discover the identity of Darth Plagueis."
"I accept, of course," Poof answered with a smile. "To that extent, I will tell you of the Jedi we are still investigating about being potentially compromised by Plagueis."
"Yes, I was beginning to wonder who we should be concerned about discussing this with," Rancisis acknowledged with a hum.
"Before that," Windu said as something occurred to him. "If this is truly possible, for Darth Plagueis to use some of our own as unwitting spies on the order, there is someone I doubt you have checked."
Poof tilted his head. "Ahh. You mean him. I have had no time to cross paths with him since this suspicion came to light."
Rancisis frowned as he looked between the two. "Forgive me, my fellow masters, but I am afraid I am lost. Whom do you both speak of?"
"Count Dooku," Windu answered boldly. "He has left the order, true, but if the main suspected victims are those from the battle with Sidious, he should be a prime concern, being one to converse the most with that Sith Lord that day."
Rancisis's eyes widened before he grew troubled. "Disillusioned our old friend might be with the Jedi, I would not wish to leave him unknowingly under the sway of the Sith. And as not only a Jedi Master, but one of such public resources and respect as him, I fear he might be the most enticing one for this Plagueis to ensnare."
That grim thought hung over them for a moment.
"It's just as likely that this is all one wild goose chase, I admit," Poof said with a rare scowl. "I have been fooled by him about as many times as I have outsmarted him and gained a glimmer of information. But caution is best when dealing with matters such as these. Isn't that right, Madam?"
Rancisis and Windu raised an eyebrow at that coy question until a small, female chuckle reached their ears as a woman walked between their seats, seemingly from nowhere.
Windu raised an eyebrow. "Dark Woman?"
The white-haired Jedi smirked at the Master of the Order. "You didn't think Sith hunting would be involved without me, did you?"
Windu almost smiled. He supposed he should have expected that.