Star Wars: The Way of the Grey

Chapter 91: 91. Chapter (Shared universe 36.)


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-From the perspective of Nizzal.-

The observation Yoda made took me completely off guard. It seems that his force vision was much more advanced than I initially anticipated. He was on a different level than the other jedi masters. Very clear and precise technique indeed, frighteningly so, especially if you take into account that he reached that level in one single lifespan. Well, one that is quite long, all things considered... Still, he had such a talent for foresight as to be able to see behind my shields and protective techniques to this extent.

He spoke sensing my discomfort.

-Did I say something uncomfortable, Master Gray? Hmm?

I could almost see his smirk under that expressionless, facade.

Luckily, he could not understand the importance of what he just saw. That they were glimpses from the past, from the other holders of the archive. Without the necessary knowledge, it is very unlikely for anybody to figure out the actual truth. Since it is quite unbelievable in itself, most people would unconsciously go for a more logical explanation, without even thinking about it.

My surprise was, however already seen by the grandmaster. He at least realized that what he saw was important. Not that it matters much.

I smiled confidently and decided to praise his insight.

-Oh, my… I must take back my earlier words. Grandmaster Yoda, you are a natural. I could hardly remember when was the last time someone slipped through my mental defenses, and in a way that I didn’t even notice. To answer your other question, there are many ways to hide from such spying. The dark side is admittedly more suitable for creating a proper defense in this regard.

Windu couldn’t hold back his grunt and stated.

-You speak of such things in front of the highest ranked jedi masters of the council, yet your voice does not waver in the slightest. As if you had nothing to fear from the possible repercussions…

I smirked.

-How sweet of you, Master Windu. Allow me to tell you something. I might not look like much of an opponent to you. That said, you would be wise to not underestimate my power. 

This time, I felt three pairs of eyes narrow on my form. Even Obi’Wan’s expression became somewhat colder in the wake of my words. 

It is what it is. I have tried to work it out nicely with them, but I am not going to make that mistake once more. I have understood why the Immortal Council forced me to train with the jedi while doing my Grandmaster Trials. They wanted me to experience the internal workings of the Jedi Council, to know what I must aim to never become, hypocrisy is a plague. One that often nests behind good intentions and half truths. 

I am strong enough to put up a fight and get away if the need arises, even if it's three against one.

If they try to control me again, I will show them. I am much more than what they think of me. I am a Grandmaster myself.

There was an already tense atmosphere in the restaurant since our conversation started, one that caused literally all the customers to leave slowly, in a strangely systematic panic. Now that tension had reached a new height.

I was starting to get excited. Will they attack me? I would like to test the new extent of my power against these three… that would be a phenomenal fight! I could feel my blood starting to boil as the adrenaline was pumping into my bloodstream.

There was a dry cough, one that disrupted our concentration.

We looked towards the sound and saw Kate bringing a few plates of delicious food, placing it on the table with shivering hands. She whispered into my right ear-protrusion.

-H-H-H-Hava says that… that if you start another f-fight in the restau-r-rant, she will k-kick you out, and never talk to you again…

Her voice was shrill from the fright she endured from our intense aura. Because of that, her attempts at whispering were easily heard by everyone sitting at the table, especially since they were highly trained force users. Kate probably didn't know of the Jedi's unnaturally keen senses.

-…

That didn't make my situation better though, as I knew that the others heard the private message that was only meant for me. 

Suddenly I felt speechless and awkward.

With that, she put down the last plate and ran away. I looked after her until her body disappeared beyond the corner.

I sighed. That suddenly killed the mood, somehow.

Then I heard a chuckle coming from my side. It was Obi’Wan.

-Haha! Your boss seems pretty tough to keep such a dreadful warrior as you, on such a short leash. Turns out that she might be the real threat here… The saying proves true, a master and an apprentice indeed! Hahaha!

-Ugh…

-Sigh…

I groaned, annoyed by Obi’Wan's idiocy, and at the same time Windu also sighed tiredly. Realizing what we did, both of us looked up, glaring at one another, then we looked to the side, again at the same time, with annoyance.

Before we realized, most of the heavy tension which was surrounding us dissipated.

I guess it is better to not fight for stupid reasons. I would normally avoid such a confrontation, it's just... these idiots have managed to anger me and seemingly dared to come here with the only intention of annoying me even further.

With that thought in mind, I reached for the knife and fork and started eating the steak with an angry momentum. My anger however slowly began to dissipate, the food was just perfect, nobody could stay angry while eating such a treat. It seems one more valuable information has been added to the archive. 

-A few minutes later.-

We were eating for some time now in complete silence. Then Windu spoke up, while looking at me across the table.

-Anakin told us a few interesting things, and one particularly humorous one was that you had been chosen as the Grandmaster of your sect. Is that actually true, would you share your insight on this matter, Master Nizzal. Oh, or should I say Grandmaster Nizzal?

I ignored him completely, and focused on the still half eaten steak in front of me.

Being outright ignored, by a child none the less, seemed to greatly wound Master Windu's already crumbling ego. He started to rant on me after half a minute of silent treatment.

-An annoying child, one that works in a restaurant as a server calls herself a Grandmaster of an Order of Force Sensitives. Anakin expects me to believe such nonsense! Just look at her! She is eating that steak as if she was starved for days!

I coughed, and coughed again a few more times, while a strong blush began to appear on my face. These were the moments I genuinely envied red twi'leks, you could never see if one of them blushed from embarrassment. Quite the opposite of a light gray one... 

I looked up at him, saw him smirk after seeing my shame, and I became annoyed with seeing his satisfied grin. Fucker, I almost choked because of him just now! I will show you, so I shouted at him with dripping sarcasm.

-Are you seriously job shaming me? What are you, a bum!?

That destroyed his annoying grin right away.

-What?!… So you are telling me that this is how your Order makes money? Is this the secret to your galaxy wide expansion?

-Pfff…. Eh!? Ah… M-Maybe! You know… not everyone is in a position to become a lifelong leech on the republic's finances while even being proud of it! Unfortunately others need to actually work outside your temple walls.

-We are the defenders of peace…

-In which universe? Since I don’t see your peace, only war, a war which you have lost!

Windu hit the table in a fit of anger while shouting. 

-We did not lose!

I looked up at the bastard, and told him some raw facts. 

-Oh really? The clones run off with most of your battleships, and the only reason you are not massacred already is because the Sith Master is too occupied raining in the separatists leaders, killing those who would dare to oppose him, and probably preparing to do the same with the others too. They don't like to share their power after all.

-We did not lose the war just yet.

Stated Obi’Wan with surprising confidence. Sensing that my attention was on him, he continued.

-Half of our military might is still present, only the clones left.

-Yes… but they did not just leave… they joined the opposing side! All that while leaving devastating damage in the trail of their desertion. Did you think I didn't see the news? Half of the republic's infrastructure is basically destroyed the other half is still burning. That means you have half the soldiers, against an enemy force that is grown with that exact half! Also, most of the experienced jedi fighters are dead. How are you expecting to make a comeback?

My voice seemed to fill up the empty room. There was no answer from the other side, so I continued my rant after a little pause.

-To answer your earlier question, I have told you multiple times, that I am one of the masters of my order. Yet you repeatedly seem to ignore that statement. I have long since grown tired of your cluelessness, for that reason I chose to go with your delusions, instead trying to prove my position. However, if you ask the question with sincere curiosity, I will still answer it. Yes, I have been chosen as the new grandmaster of our order, but that is not the highest of the ranks. Still, you can think of me as the one who represents the decisions of the true masters of the force. My main job is to serve them, as a bridge between those who have detached themselves from worldy desires and those who still live as part of this existence. To resolve arguments and remind one or the other of the basic differences, that they tend to forget. So tell me, what do you want? If it is help, you will better be ready to pay for it, we are not a charity.

With that said I leaned back into my seat while angrily crossing my arms over my chest breathing a bit faster then normally from the temper that I worked up at the end of my speech. A few minutes went by, then my expression paled slightly seeing as the others exchanged thoughtful looks among themselves.

Yoda spoke up with a sense of calmness.

-We did not expect you to offer us your help, even if we did, we would naturally not ask for it without reasonable compensation. I believe that our overal situation is not as bad, as you might think. It is true, that we have suffered terrible losses, but so did the Separatists. 

Stated Yoda, but his tone was not as sure as it used to be. 

-What do you mean? 

I asked, suddenly intrigued by his words. Yoda soon continued his explanation.

-Our spies report, that the change has brought mayhem not just to the republic, but to the separatists as well. The separatists forces seemed to separate even further. This meant that they broke up in two major coalitions. One that seemed to be led by this so called Darth Sidious, and one that stood up against his treachery. 

My eyes widened in surprise, I felt the need to interject. 

-Do you mean, that they broke apart and started a war between each other? Haha! This is laughable, but so typical at the same time. So, what is your plan now? Are you going to join forces with the broken off separatist party? 

Yoda didn't answer my question, but I never really expected him to do so. He had no reason to trust me with such information. Just as I finished that thought he carefully sidestepped from my question. 

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-That remains to be seen. We did not come here to argue about such things right now. 

Good to know, I can only hope that the green little imp will eventually tell me the actual reason they visited me. They most likely want me to get Ahsoka back, that is the main reason why I was still around, well that and Hava's food. 

Yoda seemed to carefully think through his next choice of words. Then, at last, he looked up at me and said.

-From what Anakin, told us, we can surmise, that your order, has traveled far and wide in the universe, reaching other galaxies beyond our current reach, all thanks to that teleportation technology you have attained.

I nodded, Anakin likely told them everything he knew, but it didn't matter. It's not like it changes anything we were planning to open up towards the world anyway. They probably didn't believe half of what he said, I can't even blame them. Anakin was not a very trusted information source at the moment from the jedi's perspective, now that his womanizing and lying nature came to light.

Yoda continued.

-We would like to ask you, if you ever heard of a race, called zerg?

My eyes grow into large saucers from the very mention of the hateful word. Those blasted bugs have foiled a bunch of exploring attempts and even destroyed a settler convoy. One of the worst failures of the last three hundred years of deep space exploration. We had to completely stop expanding towards a series of galaxies as the pests were present everywhere.

What we know of them is more then enough for me to avoid their kind by a large margin. The worst is, that most of the creatures are relentless killing machines without any sense of self. Only a few are properly intelligent to start a reasonable conversation. One that will still turn into a blood bath in the end. We miraculously managed to communicate with one such example while intentionally emitting our thoughts into the force. They only communicate through telepathy. 

Anyway… how do these guys know about such creatures? Don't tell me, did they appear here as well, no that is unlikely, if they did, then the jedi wouldn't ask such innocent questions about them.

-Unfortunately yes, those creatures are a spacepest, a race that has consumed multiple galaxies. They are relentless, waves upon waves of deadly spacebugs, doing anything to bring you down. Most similar to an invasion of locusts, except they consume everything instead of just crops. Its already hard to kill them. The real problem is however their number, there is no end to it. You cannot hope to eliminate all of them with any known weapon, they also grow quite resistent to the same type of attacks in mere weeks. So the best course of action is to turn around and escape immediately after they are spotted in a certain number.

A strange hesitant silence filled the room slowly. The masters were glancing at one another feeling quite disturbed by my words.

Obi’Wan was the first to speak up, and he did it in a forceful jovial tone.

-Surely you jest, you said that they are an intelligent race. If they are capable of communication, then diplomacy is not out of the question, right?

-Did you managed to achieve anything meaningful with the hutts through your diplomacy?

I asked sarcastically.

Obi'Wan looked to the side, and mumbled.

-If you put it like that... I guess I see your point.

I laughed, lightly seeing his stupid reaction.

Then I took a short pause, straightened my features and said in a more serious tone.

-Come now... Yes, they are intelligent, but its not the sort of intelligence you are looking for. More like the one, that will analyze you and use every bit of information to destroy and assimilate you with the highest efficiency. These creatures can even infest and take control over the bodies of other races that have the same carbonic base structure as they have. I have seen videos about it, people infested become half crazed and start to attack their own people, well for a short time anyway. 

Obi'Wan asked with morbid curiosity. 

-Only for a short time? What happenes after that?

I looked him in the eye, and said.

-They blow up in a cloud of blood and gore. The strange neurovirus some of them carry, luckily not every single one... anyway if it gets into the blood circulation of a carbon based life form it will start rapid mutations inside the body of the infested, these changes will quickly result in the victim's death. As their body will rip itself apart growing in abnormal ways in the matter of minutes.

The jedi masters sitting at the table suddenly seemed even paler. Oh, my bad, I shouldn't have spoken about this stuff at the table... 

Eh, but since I've already got this far, I might as well finish it.

-Believe me Obi’Wan… I know what I am talking about we lost thousands of lives because our deep space caravans bumped into those bastards. They destroy everything that crosses their paths and couldn't escape in time. From our experience, these creatures have an extremely territorial nature. Swarming at anything and everything instinctively if it crosses their yards. Some of them can even bend the force to their own will, at least to a certain extent, so... do not underestimate them.

There was a few seconds of silence. Then Yoda spoke up again.

-Is it possible, that your view on this race, is somehow misguided? 

I did not understand what was the point of their questions... And I didn't enjoy being in the dark about that. 

I frowned and asked them. 

-Allow me to ask, masters, but why is the sudden interest? 

Master Windu said slowly. 

-Answer the question first, then we might decide to share some of the details.

 I rolled my eyes... did he not realize that I could also say the same thing, just to annoy him... bah, I am getting tired of this... better finish it sooner.

I released a heavy sigh, then continued.

-Okay, fine! It is naturally possible, but I would be very surprised seeing the captured videos from their attacks. Those that were brought back by the lucky survivers who managed to escape. They are like an army created by Sith Alchemy, a force of nature. Truly. Now, its your turn to answer my question.

The masters glanced at one another once again. Then Yoda turned back to me and asked. 

-Earlier you stated that you expected us to come here and ask for your help. I wonder, what kind of help could you... and your people offer that could help to resolve this unfortunate war.

I nodded slowly sensing the sudden change in the direction of our conversation.

-Yeah, right, but what about my answe-...

I was interrupted again, as Obi'Wan asked with a meaningful smile. 

-As we said earlier, we would naturally compensate you for the effort. 

I raised one of my eyebrows.

-Depends on what you need... but at least now we speak the same language. Still my question was no-...

Windu interrupted my words, again.

-You should tell us, what you can offer, we have no insight upon the dealings of this mystical order of yours.

I swallowed my words, I was feeling annoyed by the many interruptions.

I could see where this was going... Bastards didn't intend to give me an answer in the first place. But you have made a mistake masters.

Oh, it was time to release some of the pent up frustration which had accumulated over time. I almost pity them, since this will be quite a pricy endeavor for them that is.

It seemed that my pause was longer then I initially intended, and the masters decided to still give me some suggestions of what they needed. One that was mostly obvious, as Yoda worded it.

-Can you offer us soldiers to replace the clones?

My smile froze. What the fuck... its not like I can pull out a few billion troops on the level of clones just like that... Our cities might spam across mulitple galaxies, but most of the time, there is a single city and a few rural settlements around it in one galaxy. They are spread out like that, since there is no reason to be near one another if they are eternally connected through warp gates. We first and foremost rely on being hidden from sight. We don't have an army of that number to spare. There is no way I would leave our cities open to potential danger just to send all of our forces to back up the Republic. I shook my head and said.

-Impossible, we cannot spare such amounts of troops like that... but, we might be able to help, in a different way. The question is, if you are willing to pay the price. 

Windu seemed to be on edge hearing my suggestive words. So he asked.

-Which is?

-The solution I offer, is to try and assassinate the very reason that causes your troubles. Killing the Sith, would solve your problems, no? Normally I would not offer such a solution, but since they already tried to assassinate me, I guess it is only fair.

The Jedi masters seemed to nod silently.

-Of course I would have to propose the idea to our council before I could agree to anything. Then we could argue about the price, and naturally I can't garante that it will be a success. The good thing is, that we have a variety of assassin droids at hand, some of them aren't even tested yet. While others, I have tested personally...

Obi'Wan was clearly surprised by my last statement. He decided to ask me, funnily.

-You tested them personally? How did that happen?

I looked at him, feeling a spike of discomfort, and anger. It seems that my tongue slipped up once more. With a cold glare I looked at Obi'Wan and only said.

-You don't want to know.

-...

-...

-...

 

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