#the jedi get swapped and their so busy trying to figure stuff out they never notice

[gaeasun]

Alternate Universe Prompts

After my follower count acting like a cosine curve for a while, I have passed a threshold for 400 followers. hurrah? So because I’m bored and like aus im making a list of aus i like for prompt reasons.

Modern

College

Mythology Kreachur transformation

Non-mythology Kreachur transformation

Role Swap

Age Reverse

Star Trek

Other movie verse that isn’t star trek (can’t promise I’ve seen it though. marvel maybe.)

Crossover (same problems as previously apply)

Superpowers

Medieval/Fantasy

Pirates

De-Aged (hah get smoll)

Body swap

Road Trip

Apocalypse

Happy Ending

Different Species

Time Travel

Somehow (X) has returned. No Explanation required

Give me Character(s) and prompt

[mando-chicken]

Mental Occupation | Chapter 3.

“When Fives is killed, his essence refuses to become one with the force, instead, searching out the easiest sentient being to attach itself to. After years working beneath Palpatine, Fox has had his mental shields completely eroded and his defences completely shattered, making him the perfect person for Fives’ essence to transfer into. The two of them must figure out how all this strange ‘jedi stuff’ works and how they can both coexist long enough to save their brothers and if they’re lucky, perhaps the rest of the galaxy too.”

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Thire tried not to frown as he watched Fox silently eat his morning meal, listening to his fellow commanders as they playfully teased one another and swapped gossip, while keeping an eye on his older brother for any signs of distress. While it was quite common for Fox to stay relatively quiet first thing in the morning, especially before his first cup of caff for the day, he seemed to be even more withdrawn than usual. In truth, Thire had wanted to let him sleep for a little longer as he was certain that the other commander had barely slept, but the mess hall didn’t wait around for anyone, and he wanted to be sure that Fox got a decent serve of rations before he would no doubt sneak away to hide in his office under a pile of datapads.  

When Fox was stressed, he tended to push his brothers away and throw himself into his work. He could detach himself from the world with the cold, hard logic of forms and reports, refusing to accept comfort or express any of the emotions swirling around in his mind. They would give him space for a while and allow him to work his way through whatever was weighing on his mind, and he would always come back to them in the end. He just needed them nearby to offer their support in the form of silent companionship and reassurances.  

But this situation was unlike anything they had faced before, and Thire wasn’t sure that Fox’s usual method of dealing with trauma would help him to move on from the horrifying situation he had just been through. While the exact details surrounding what happened were rather vague at best, one thing was blaringly obvious. Fox had killed a brother.  

The very thought made Thire’s insides squirm in discontent, and he was unable to stop the slightly ill look from claiming his features as he rolled the concept around in his head. It truly made no sense as to why Fox would allow such a thing to happen – he was practically the king of preaching about how important the stun setting of their weapons were when dealing with their targets – so for him to then turn around and shoot one of their own brothers was unspeakable. There was no doubt that it had to have been an accident, but Fox didn’t make mistakes. Alpha-17 didn’t raise some rookie amateur who went into every situation guns blazing, he raised a calm, confident commander, who always managed to get the job done efficiently and competently.  

He didn’t know what had happened to Fox, and for the sake of preserving what was left of the man’s sanity, Thire would give him some time to process it, but he was going to get to the bottom of it, one way or another. He just hoped that Cody was able to keep his younger brother, Rex, at bay long enough for him to do so. To say that the Captain had been mad would have been a massive understatement – the man was seeing red and looked about a second away from trying to return the favour – it was lucky that Thire had managed to turn up when he did, because even General Skywalker seemed to be having trouble keeping him calm.  

From the corner of his eye he could see that despite the fact Thorn was happily ribbing Stone for something that had happened on one of the missions overnight, the other Commander kept subtly glancing at Fox. He was trying to act as normal as possible, but the curiosity burning in his eyes was more than obvious. It made sense – Thorn had been in a completely different sector when everything had gone down, only hearing about what had happened over comms and during the debrief afterwards while Fox slept in the medbay – he was closer to Fox than any of them, had known him longer, and worried for him like an anxious mother nexu. Thorn was clearly struggling not to just grab his brother by the shoulders and shake the information out of him, but if there was one thing all members of the Guard had to learn, it was patience.  

Stone was perhaps the most collected of them all, but that was only to be expected. He had always been able to practically ooze calm from his very pores, and this situation was no different. He wasn’t uncaring, of course, simply able to remain confident and collected – perhaps that was why he kept getting assigned to working with Senator Binks, much to Stone’s eternal agony – but it was easy to see how he was unnerved from the way his brow was constantly furrowed and he kept getting lost in his thoughts.  

“How are you feeling this morning, Fox?” Of course Hound would be the one to speak to the Commander so bluntly. The kid was only a sergeant, technically not high ranking enough that he should be addressing a commanding officer so casually, yet they’d admittedly taught him a couple of bad habits over the years. Thorn had taken the younger clone under his wing when he was fresh off Kamino, teaching him how to survive in the treacherous landscape that was Coruscant. They’d brought him to their table, allowed him to work closely with them, and inevitably brought him into their inner circle.  

Fox jerked after a moment, seeming to suddenly realise that he was the one being addressed, blinking owlishly at Hound, “fine.” His response drew a disbelieving scoff from Stone, who offered a raised eyebrow. “I’m a little tired if you must know,” he continued slowly, sensing that his answer was not exactly what they’d been looking for, “nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix.”

That got a genuine laugh from the table. A good night’s sleep? Unheard of. But Thire was pleased to see that at least some of Fox’s cynical humour remained.  

“Seriously though, what did happen last night?” Hound managed to ask after quieting his amused chuckles, “there’s some real strange rumours floating around the barracks, and I thought that maybe you could give us a little info-”

“Quit digging for gossip, Hound, before we chuck you back to the CT table,” Thorn growled, wrapping an arm around Hound’s neck and dragging him into a firm headlock, “never should have let you hang out with us, you’re too nosy for your own good, kid. You’ll find out when the info gets declassified, just like everyone else.”

Hound pulled an admirable attempt at making sad tooka eyes, but Thorn simply tightened his hold until the younger clone was forced to slap at the commander’s arm, needing breath. “Should’ve left me where you found me,” he grinned after finally being freed from Thorn’s hold, “besides, you love me too much to send me back now.”

Thorn simply glowered at him, stealing a tuber from his brother’s plate in retaliation, “perhaps,” he nodded, “or perhaps I just knew you’d never make it on your own, especially not with the way you keep poking your nose into everyone else’s business.”  

Hound made an indignant squawking sound, puffing up like an offended bird. He tried to reach out with his own fork to steal back a tuber from Thorn’s plate, but the older brother was too swift, too used to dealing with vengeful little brothers, and slid the plate out of Hound’s reach. He ensured to shove another tuber in his mouth, just for spite.  

When Thire looked to Fox, he didn’t have that disapproving scowl on his face, or the amusement that twinkled deep within his eyes, giving away his true feelings. Instead, he seemed almost nervous, like he was intruding on something not meant for him to see. While his brothers played and joked and tried to keep the atmosphere as normal as possible, Fox seemed to keep looking away, distracted by something only he could see. His fork moved around and around his plate, but barely any of the food had been disturbed. Most worryingly, the cup of caff that should have already been downed, sat untouched before him, no longer steaming as the commander preferred.  

Before Thire could mention it, however, his wrist comm chimed at him, signalling an end to their morning meal and a need to return to duty. “Alrighty boys, that’s our cue to head out,” he sighed, taking the last sip of his own caff, scowling at the bitter taste of the now cool dregs. His words were met with a chorus of groans as the rest of the table rushed to stuff their faces with the rest of their meal.  

Thorn was the first to stand, his stance already shifting into his usual command stance, “You heard Thire boys, and you all know your designated duties for this morning, so I’d suggest you all get to it.” He was answered by a mix of affirmatives as the other commanders and their sergeant gathered up their now empty plates and mugs, breaking apart to return them to the serving area to be cleaned in time for mid-meal.  

Thire, as agreed with Thorn last night while Fox had slept, stayed behind to wait as Fox too returned his items (a still full caff cup among them) to the servers. He moved to walk in step with his fellow commander, leading their way through the bustling hallways and towards the offices. There were men running in all directions – officers barking orders at squads as they raced towards their destinations, and soft-shells sprinting down the corridors, arms piled high with datapads and flimsi sheets – it made navigating the base a challenge at best, and a nightmare at worst.  

Eventually, they managed to reach Fox’s office and Thire was quick to type in the access code, sliding inside and out of the steady stream of brothers. Fox is swift to lock the door behind them, glancing around the room briefly, before wandering over to his desk and taking a long look at the rather intimidating pile of datapads. He places his helmet down at the foot of the desk, and Thire is glad that Fox is at least feeling well enough to keep the bucket off his head to look his brother in the eyes.  

“I know it’s not much,” Thire begins, clearing his throat, “but like I said, we were able to get you the first few hours off this morning, so you can focus on dealing with that monster,” he gestures at the unsigned pads, “or you could, y’know, actually relax for a few minutes.” He expects Fox to offer him his usual deadpan expression, but the man just nods slowly, seemingly unsure what to say in response.  

He continues, saving his brother from having to come up with something, “I should be heading off though, I’ve got chancellor sitting duty,” he huffs, the irritation in his tone completely genuine. Fox makes an odd expression, caught somewhere between looking like he’d tasted something sour, and horror. A reasonable enough response, given the shadiness of the man’s character, and, of course, the fact that he always seemed to enjoy using the Guard as his personal servants.  

“Yep, I understand that look,” he grinned, hoisting up his bucket and placing it over his head, clicking it into place. He took a step to the door before pausing, “just make sure you comm me, or Thorn if you’d prefer, if you need anything. And I mean it, anything, Fox.” He waits until his brother gives a nod, before heading back out the door and merging with the stream of brothers heading toward the exit. He didn’t like Fox’s behaviour, but there was little he could do about it. He could, however, think of someone who would know exactly what to do with him.  

Thire pulled up his wrist comm, beginning to type out a new message to Commander Cody.

-----

Fives is quiet when Commander Thire leaves the office, taking a moment to ensure he was completely alone, before huffing out a deep breath. He swayed slightly on his feet with the force of it, bringing a hand up to his head to begin massaging his aching temple. He could already tell that a nasty headache was brewing from the stress alone. Yet another problem to add to his steadily growing list.  

It had been particularly painful to sit through morning meal with the other commanders of the Coruscant Guard, trying his best to pretend he did not see the way they were all eyeing him, clearly dying to interrogate him for answers he simply did not possess. He had been especially startled when the lone sergeant, Hound, his mind supplied, had spoken to him, and he regretted not having been paying full attention.  

Rather, Fives had been entirely absorbed by his own thoughts. Something did not sit right with the way his brain seemed to be randomly supplying him with information he was certain he did not have previously. The names of all the commanders came to him as easily as the names of his own batchmates, as if he’d known them all along, despite the fact he had only met half of them before and even then it was only a mere glance in passing.  

Yet somehow he felt as though he already knew their tells. He knew how Thire constantly worked hard to prove that it was the right decision to promote him to the rank of commander. He knew how Thorn had a particular soft spot for the shinies that came to join the Guard, and would defend them to his final breath if it came down to it. He knew how Stone preferred to hang back from the others, but loved them no less fiercely. And he even knew that despite all his bravado, Hound was a soft man at heart and always carried candies in his belt pockets for children he came across on patrol.  

But Fives didn’t know them, not really, they were strangers.  

He had always been good at reading people. It was a skill he had possessed since he was a child – to look at one of his brothers or one of the trainers and near enough feel their emotions echoed back at him as clearly as words printed on piece of flimsi – and he had always assumed that it was a natural ability. But this seemed too much, even for his natural aptitude for noticing subtle cues.  

There were so much unexplained knowledge suddenly bombarding Fives’ thoughts, and his head only pounded louder as he tried to figure out why he seemed to already know how to navigate the base with his eyes closed. The layout of the base seemed to suddenly click in his mind, like he had forgotten it briefly, but had always known it seep down. It was as though his mind was clouded, something blocking him from accessing all of the thoughts he could feel buried somewhere deep within his head, only the occasional thought drifting through the fog and to the forefront of his mind.  

Fives sunk down into the rather uncomfortable seat across from the lone desk, the crimson of his borrowed armour catching his attention. He knew that he was most certainly not in his own body, and so wondered if he had somehow, accidentally, acquired some of the commander’s lingering thoughts. As far as Fives’ knowledge of the situation went, it seemed as reasonable an explanation as he would be able to come up with.  

It made him feel dirty. He had no idea what had happened to himself, or to Commander Fox, but it felt downright voyeuristic to be partial to the random raw thoughts that came from whatever remained of the Commander’s mind. But he had no idea how to find out what had happened to either of them, or how to rectify their rather precarious situation. If Commander Fox’s thoughts were still able to linger, then was he too present somewhere, locked deep within Fives’ consciousness? Or had Fox somehow traded places with him and now inhabited a cold corpse? Fives certainly hoped not.  

For a moment he closed his eyes, thinking hard on the foreign mass of thoughts plaguing his mind, deciding that he might as well try to figure out a few things while he had a few hours to himself. He deeply regretted not paying Commander Tano more attention when she had described Jedi meditation to him, but found that it wasn’t too difficult to try and isolate the foggy area from the rest of his mind. He recalled her talking about being able to create shields around a mind, to keep out the thoughts of others, something that all sentients could achieve (albeit not to the degree of a force sensitive).  

He was no doubt clumsy with his method of ‘shielding’, and it was significantly more work than Fives had been expecting, but in the end he felt satisfied with his attempt. He was pretty certain that he had managed to corral all of the rogue thoughts into the one area, away from his actual thoughts so that he could tell which one of them was thinking what, rather than having a jumble of random sensations and thoughts mixing together.  

His head seemed to burn whenever he disturbed the other mind lingering in his head, but Fives pushed determinedly onward. Poking and prodding at it like an overexcited child, desperate to find even the slightest sign that there could be even a spark of life. It was a tedious process but finally, after what felt like agonising hours of work, Fives felt a sharp feeling of surprise stab back at him.

The mass of fog seemed to shudder and shift, rearranging itself until it formed a slightly more coherent shape that Fives usually associated with the feeling of another person’s mind when he tried to get a grasp on their emotions, only amplified tenfold. He could feel Fox, if only vaguely. He seemed groggy, as though just waking up from a long sleep, and Fives was a little unnerved by the unnatural feeling of someone else’s emotions flickering through his mind. He silently prayed that the Commander wouldn’t be too angry, but it seemed his hope was in vain, for the first clear emotion Fives felt was irritation at a level commanders usually reserved for the poor shiny tasked with waking them from a pleasant nap. His fears were confirmed when a thought came thundering across his mind.

“What the kriff just happened!?”

[spectraspecs-writes]

Korriban - Chapter 84

Link to the masterpost. Chapter 83. Chapter 85.

@averruncusho @ceruleanrainblues @chubbsmomma thank you for reading, you get a tag. @skelelexiunderlord thank you for support, you get a tag.

A/N: Well, that’s the end of one notebook. On to the next one.

——————

Now that we’re actually in the colony of Dreshdae, it’s clear that the government power structure here is “Sith Sith Sith Sith and Czerka.” Most places with Czerka shops are “Czerka Czerka Czerka and whoever else.” Everything is Czerka. Your damn underwear is Czerka. But here Czerka is more of an afterthought.

There are a bunch of Sith students wandering around, and a bunch of hopefuls. It’s easy to tell them apart - the students, like Shaardan and Lashowe, all wear a gold-plated medallion around their necks. And all the hopefuls stare at it, conniving to figure out how to get their hands on one. “Carth, you see anyone here who looks like Dustil?” I ask him.

He scans the faces. “No,” he says, “but he’s been gone for so long, he’s grown up. What if I don’t recognize him?”

I look at him. “Trust me,” I say, “You’ll recognize him. Maybe not with your eyes, but with your heart, your soul. He’s your son, you’ll always know him.”

He stops and looks at me, actually looks at me. “Okay, Bastila,” he teases, “What, did you eat a Jedi tome for breakfast this morning?”

Jolee chuckles. “You wear the robe for long enough, the wisdom just diffuses in,” he says.

Ooh. “Hey, you know what, I just had an idea,” I say, “Cover me.” I pull off the Jedi robe, leaving me in an average tunic, and I hand the robe bundle to Jolee. “If the Sith manage the computer system, then they should keep a census, right? Keep track of everyone on the planet.” I pull out my tools and go over to a panel on the wall. “Let me see if I can pull it up, it’ll just look like I’m making repairs.”

“What if you get caught?” Carth asks.

“You let me worry about that.”

The display on the computer screen is just generic Sith. A hospitality-tourism service. I hand Carth my tool pack and grab my panel tool. “I think I remember - I met a Sith droid tech once on one of my scouting jobs and we swapped tricks. Don’t worry, I didn’t sleep with him or anything -” I say, because Carth starts to object a bit, I can see his mouth hanging open, “- we just talked shop. And he told me that all Sith systems have a programmer override code built in, for troubleshooting. It’s a universal code.”

“Did he tell you what it was?”

“Sure did, but I had to get him drunk first.” Alpha, alpha, double-bar, beta, sigma, little red star - the only way he could remember it was that rhyme. With the code in, the screen goes dark, and I open up a panel to get into the circuits. “Like taking candy from a gizka.”

“You there!” Sith trooper coming over to us.

“Just relax,” I whisper to Carth and Jolee, “I’ve got this.”

“What are you doing? Show me your work orders.”

“I don’t have any. Master Edoch here,” I say, indicating Jolee, “he just flagged me down in the hall. I’m fixing his computer access. He said all his readings were coming up in Rodian.”

“I’m not familiar with a Master Edoch,” the trooper says.

“He’s a guest of the Academy, I guess,” I say, “I don’t know, I’m just here to fix things.”

For some reason he doesn’t think to talk to Jolee. Maybe Jolee used the Force on him, I don’t know. “Come to think of it, I don’t recognize you, either.”

“No, I’m new around here,” I say, “I was serving in the fleet, but they transferred me.”

“Is that so?” he says skeptically, “I’ll have to verify that with my commander.”

“Go ahead,” I say, turning around and putting my tool back, “I’m sure your commander would love to be bothered about a simple tech just trying to fix something for a Sith master. Yeah, that’ll definitely reflect well on you.”

“You’ve got quite a mouth on you, girl,” the trooper says. But he pauses. “I’m going to let you off with a warning this time. Next time be sure to get proper work orders before you start working.” 

“I’ll do that.” And he just leaves. 

Carth releases the biggest sigh of relief I’ve ever heard. “I can’t believe that worked,” he says, “I thought we were going to get arrested.”

“The key is just enough confidence to make the other guy doubt himself.”

Now that I’m not being bothered by a Sith trooper anymore, getting into the Academy records is relatively easy. I don’t have complete and total access - like I can’t read files from Master Uthar’s personal database, he’s the head of the Academy - but I can get into basic stuff like the library catalog, employment records, and a school roster. The student list is long, and almost everyone has at least one symbol next to it. Some of the symbols are listed on a key - new initiate, second year, honor roll, stuff like that - but others aren’t, and I can only assume that’s information for Master Uthar and the other instructors. So it doesn’t matter to me. I search for the name Dustil Onasi. There’s only one. “There he is,” I say to Carth, and he looks at the screen, “He’s in his third year, high Force sensitivity marks, fair combat marks. Looks like he’s well-liked.”

“He’s in the Academy, then?” he says, “We have to get in there.”

“Carth, calm down,” I say softly, “Look, let me get the system back to rights, we’ll go into the cantina and we can talk about it. I don’t want to attract anymore attention, else we might get asked a question I can’t lie my way out of.” He takes a couple breaths and nods, and I set the system back to normal. Roll up my tools, take my robe back from Jolee, and we go into the cantina.

Pfft. “The Drunk Side,” what a great name.

Carth sits down at a corner table, facing the door. If Dustil walks in, I guess he doesn’t want to miss him. “Carth,” I say to him, sitting opposite him, “I want to find Dustil as much as you do, but our primary concern is the Star Map.”

“I know, I know,” he says with a sigh, “It’s just -- you can’t blame a guy for being preoccupied.”

“Never said I did.”

“You and Bastila were getting dreams about where they are, right?” he asks, “What do you know about this one?”

I shrug. “They’re never exactly clear,” I say, “This one felt… underground, sort of? But not in a natural cave, the walls were too smooth… And it was cold. And it… smelled. Musty.” I shake my head a bit - my focus started to drift a little. “Bastila thinks it’s in some kind of tomb.”

Carth looks off into the middle distance, tapping his fingers on the table. Then, “I’ve got an idea.” He stands up.

“What are you thinking?”

“You talk to droids,” he says, “Well, I talk to pilots.” And he just walks over to a couple of older guys. They start talking, he smiles, they each say a couple short words and numbers and suddenly they act like old friends. Then Carth looks over at me. “Rena, come on over,” he says. So I go, what the hell. He introduces me to the two, one is older and one is younger. “This is Kell and Owen,” he says, “They’re pilots.”

“Freighter pilots,” Owen, the older one, corrects, “Nothing like the Ebon Hawk.”

“Yeah,” Kell, the younger one, nods, “I’d love to fly something with a bit of thrust for once.”

“Wow, first the dockmaster, now you guys,” I say, “Does everyone know about the Hawk here?”

“In a small colony like this, everyone knows everyone's business,” Owen says.

“It's better than thinking too much about all the Sith lurking about, here,” Kell scoffs a bit, “The Hawk's been in and out of here for ages. An out-of-the-way starport is a good place for, uh, privateers… Not saying you are one.”

No, but Davik apparently was. “Did the Sith call you in?” Owen asks, “They’ve got a lot of stuff going out. Work’s been pretty steady since the Sith started their excavations up on the surface.”

“In case you're forgetting, partner,” Kell says to Owen, “they don't exactly want us talking about their business.”

“Ah, who cares about them?” Owen says, obviously not giving a damn, “I've seen some of those things they're digging up in those ruins in the valley. Pretty creepy, if you ask me.”

Ruins? The Star Map on Dantooine was in ruins. “What exactly are they digging up?” Carth’s grinning a bit - his grin is so sexy. Focus, Rena.

“Weird artifacts,” Owen says, “Looks like alien stuff. Maybe aliens lived on Korriban a long time ago, who knows?”

“Don’t be stupid,” Kell says, “I was talking to one of those Sith and he said there are tombs there dating back to when the Sith were here in ancient times.”

“There were Sith here in ancient times?” Owen repeats, then he scoffs. “Sounds like he was feeding you a line. Korriban's only been settled for a short time.”

“So says you,” Kell retorts, “He said that the planet was settled by the Sith a long time ago, and then they all left or something. Those tombs are really important to them.”

Tombs. That’s what Bastila thought. I look back at Carth, still grinning. Oh, you smart, sexy man, I could kiss you. “Tombs, hey?” Owen says, “That makes the stuff they send us even creepier. Wish I didn't have to haul it around.”

“How would one get to these excavations, exactly?” I ask.

“It's in a valley on the surface,” Kell says, “beyond some mountains to the east. No land route - that's why they have us fly in.”

“Shows what you know,” Owen says, “The academy has a route through the mountain -  that's how all their students get to the excavation site.”

“Well, regardless,” Kell says to him and me, “the Sith don't let anybody near that valley.” He scoffs. “Even when we land, they watch us like a Drayberian hawk and want us gone quickly.”

Carth leans over my shoulder and whispers into my ear, “Sounds like we’ve both got reasons to get into the Academy.” He thanks the pilots, and we go.

I wonder where Jolee went. Oh, wait, there he is, he was buying supplies from the Czerka office, watching Czerka staff taking the stuff back to the Hawk. He looks at us as we walk over to him. “You can never have enough spare parts and medpacs, right?” he asks rhetorically, “I also got sold some local ale and actual food. After twenty years of living off the land, synthesized food tastes like tach droppings.” He shudders in disgust, then asks, “So, what have you two been up to?”

“Oh, just learning where the Star Map is,” I say casually, “Roughly.”

He looks at me skeptically. ‘I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“No, and neither do I,” I say with a sigh, “but it’s what we have to do. We have to find a way into the Sith Academy.”

[greyias]

I figure you have already talked about it, but who do you think Valss was, exactly? Do you think he was a Jedi, a Sith, a renegade Zakuul Knight, a member of the Cult of Zildrog or something else?

Ah, Valss. My mysterious little Valss… I was just thinking about him the other day, and once again was puzzling over the great mysteries he left behind, including:

Exactly where the heck does he fall on the lovely scale above???

And the reason I ask that, is it was still a little unclear to me after re-examining the canon, and playing through Copero and the final boss fight several times, what were Valss’s true motivations.

Thanks to 5.9, we do now have a slightly clearer picture of the order of events and who the true mastermind is (spoiler: it’s GEMINI 16 aka, our little explorer bot we got a mail about after KotFE Chapter 16), and as far as I can tell, the Chiss explicitly became involved in the Order’s plans after Umbara, after they got their Adegan crystals for… yeah, I still haven’t parsed that one. There’s a lot of dangling plot threads I’m still trying to puzzle out.

But in the short story on the dev blogs, Chasing Copero, Theron meets with a contact in an alley who got her info on the location of Valky’s starmap from her spy girlfriend who’s grandad was part of the team that did a little raid on Sith assets for a little insurance.

(As an aside, I love that in the KotFE+ stuff they are taking such care to try and fill the galaxy with LGBT folks ♥ even with the background characters. It’s a subtle, but nice touch.)

There’s a bunch of Chiss politics going on:

“Works for me. Files say the Mitth family runs things on Copero. Is that right?”

Pova shook her head again. “Their shipbuilding business has hit some hard times. House Inrokini bailed them out with a huge investment, so they’re the real power these days. Not that Mitth advertises the fact, of course.”

“Sounds like I need to make some friends from Inrokini, then.”

Most of what I know of the Chiss politics and the cultural structure comes from @andveryginger​, so feel free to take what I say with a grain of salt because I’ve probably misunderstood a few things here and there and could be wiiiildly off-base.

There are several ruling houses in the Ascendancy, and Mitth I think was supposed to be one of the more powerful ones in this time. They’re big on chess games and maintaining appearances, so it’s possible there’s always something just a little more than meets the eye initially when it comes to dealing with the Chiss society (I think?).

But the gist is, Theron decides he needs to make some friends within House Inrokini, and so he sells some “Alliance secrets” (which I bet was some intel that looked interesting on the surface but was mostly harmless) to Zenta, the Syndic of House Inrokini. Ambient dialogue from Saganu (that you hear during one of the bonus missions) indicates she’s been collecting both Alliance and Ascendancy secrets for “some time”, something Theron likely knew about and exploited to get in. This also indicates Zenta’s power play and rogue status within the Ascendancy is not a new thing, it just finally caught up to her here. Which also brings us to Valss.

Valss:

Aristocra Saganu - Commander, I must warn you: years ago, Zenta risked her status to adopt a powerful Force-sensitive into her family.

Aristocra Saganu - The Chiss consider Force-users to be contaminated, impure. Without Zenta’s support, Valss would be banished–or worse.

Player - You know how to make me feel welcome. / Player - So he’ll protect her to the end.

Aristocra Saganu - You’re an exception, Commander. You’ve made the Chiss proud. But Valss is dangerous–expect a formidable enemy. / Aristocra Saganu - Valss is unstable, and fights to the death for what he believes in. Expect a formidable enemy.

It looked like Valss was originally written as Zenta’s biological brother, but at launch this was changed for Valss to be a merit adoptive. So, the question of Valss’s birth origin, as well as how Saganu knows just how unstable and fanatical he is is an interesting question, which I’ll float an interesting theory @andveryginger came up with in a bit.

But it looks like the gist is, once Valss’s Force Sensitivity was discovered, he was about to be banished or killed, when Zenta swooped in to bring him into her fold. Considering all of her actions so far have been shown to be a clever calculation and part of some larger chess game to “protect her people and keep House Inrokini safe”, indicates she saw some use in him (and is probably less driven out of a sense of compassion for someone who is on the verge of losing everything).

He clearly has very advanced Force training, and is extremely strong in the Force, and seems to also have Force visions which I’m guessing lends into his fanaticism. My best guess is that Zenta earns Valss’s fanatical loyalty by taking him in and giving him a place when he feels like he’s been cast out, and then likely finds a way to get him trained so he can use his natural talents for her when the time comes. 

I suspect that whatever training Valss went through it was not through the normal channels of Jedi/Sith, or even Zakuul. He demonstrates a lot of raw power and mastery in his fight, but not necessarily a lot of discipline, and swaps between Force powers and regular weapons throughout the fight. It’s also indicated that Zenta’s top people put a great amount of stock in whatever vision Valss had, which indicates to me that even as Chiss they had some amount of trust in him despite him being an ickle impure Force Sensitive.

So what the heck was up with Valss’s “vision” anyway? Like, I was confused when the Copero flashpoint first dropped, because the more I looked at everything, the more vague everything was. Valss’s vision is never actually stated outright. Zenta says that he had a vision of “Shan’s victory”, and this is what Valss himself has to say:

So on the surface this seems to indicate that Valss and Theron are total bros and are saving the galaxy together, right? That Valss is just wanting to stop the apocalypse as well? Except… Theron’s body language and facial expressions during the first scene seem to indicate otherwise.

He breaks character when Valss can’t see his face, his expression drops, and he looks torn and scared. But exactly what about? Failing and the vision not being true? Or the visions coming true? Because whatever it is, he doesn’t want to share that with Valss. His tr8r mask slides back in place before he turns back to face our Force!Chiss and he makes a vague statement that he hopes Valss’s vision is true “for all our sakes”. I mean, that could seriously be taken either way.

Theron stated in Nathema Conspiracy that he’s trying to stall the Order’s plan and get the Alliance intel at this point, and it’s also heavily implied that his every word and move is being monitored by GEMINI 16. Does her surveillance powers extend to the Chiss Ascendancy? 

If they do, then she’s listening to every word being said, and he’s not going to risk his ability to get intel back to the Alliance by going “YEAH FUCK ZILDROG LET’S TAKE HIM DOWN” if Valss’s vision was about Theron’s success in saving the galaxy from Zildrog. If that’s the case, then that would mean that Valss is pro-apocalypse and his fanaticism is about striking back at something, possibly the Ascendancy for casting him out. This means Theron’s “I hope that’s true” is part of his tr8r schtick.

However if GEMINI 16 isn’t monitoring Theron while he’s on Copero, does that mean Valss got this intense Force vision of Theron saving the galaxy and he’s ultimately a good guy who’s just like really intense and maybe vaguely creepy/flirty in the way he stares at his fellow galactic saviors? Then it means he’s actually not vaguely double-speaking here and is truly hoping that Valss’s vision of victory means that everyone doesn’t die horribly.

Like seriously WHAT IS THIS VISION and how does Valss explain it to everyone around him so they’re all “yeah, let’s just leave Zenta to rot, sounds awesome! Escape!helicopter tiiiiiime!”

Look I know it’s a shuttle but I need someone in Star Wars at some point to say “GET TO THE CHOPPA NOW!” let me have this plz

But, there’s some cut dialogue that wasn’t used (meaning it’s technically not canon), that honestly clears absolutely nothing up:

Like seriously, I read it once and I’m like “Oh, that indicates Valss is coo coo for cocoa puffs” and wants to set everything ablaze, but then I read it again and I’m like “Wait, Zenta indicates that Valss doesn’t understand the danger they’re in”, but then Valss is like “Why are you hesitating Shaaaaan?” and we know Theron is on the anti-apocalypse end of the spectrum so why would he be hesitating in front of someone that fanatically believes in him because a Force vision said that everything would be hunky dory?

(I mean, beyond Theron’s “who needs the Force?” hangups.)

His boss barks too are something of note (the white text I’m less sure of is in the game… but hey, I’ll share anyway), and while they are still ambiguous “he”, “we”, I’m taking this to mean someone’s drunk the Zildrog Culty Kool-Aid:

(”He” could be Theron – but it could also be Zildrog.)

Like, honestly, you could pick just about any headcanon for Valss’s motivations and there’s enough canonical evidence we have in hand at the moment to back it up. In other words:

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Personally, I’m going to take Saganu at his word that Valss is completely unhinged, and I suspect that he lies closer to the Zildrog end of the apocalypse spectrum. Saganu’s dialogue seems to indicate that Valss is fanatical about causes, not people, which explains his kind of creepy lingering stares at Theron during the holomap scene are motivated more by his glee at seeing his plans realized – and less because he wants to get into Theron’s pants because jfc fandom not everything is about sex

And for what it’s worth, Wookieepedia seems to think he’s part of the Order of Zildrog too. 

Feel free to pick your own motivation and interpretation of him, because unless Charles Boyd, Timothy Zahn, or any of the other writers clarify, it’s going to remain a mystery.

Oh, and speaking of that… ;)

Valss’s Origins

Let’s circle back to the mystery of Valss’s origins, because it seemed fairly straight-forward, that is, until the livestream with the devs and Zahn from earlier this year. Now again, I’m not really all that hip to the nuance of Chiss stuff, but even I got a little confused that when the question came up about Zenta, Valss, and Saganu’s full names, they declined to answer that question on the grounds that their complete names could be revealed in the future.

I was chatting with @andveryginger​ at the time, and she’s a big Saganu fan and was like “Wait… we know Saganu’s name!” and when I asked if it was stated in canon (because again, I still need to finish the IA storyline), she said no, but that it should have been easily inferred from his background revealed in the Vanilla!IA storyline and the composition of Chiss names.

So in theory, Saganu’s full Chiss name should be: Miurani'saga'nuruodo – but why is that a mystery? Why is Zenta’s a mystery? And why is Valss’s one?

There’s apparently this obscure concept that’s been used maybe once or twice in Legends regarding Chiss society, and that’s the concept of a Shadow Child. An extra child or heir born into important families as a “spare” to keep family bloodlines from being wiped out by rivals. That means there’s a small possibility that revealing the full name of Valss (and Zenta by extension) would reveal that he might be a blood relation of Saganu’s. Because remember Saganu’s description of him?

Sure that intel could have come from intel of spying on rival families or just ordinary Chiss prejudice against Force users, but man, that almost sounds like personal knowledge/experience speaking to me. 

If Valss was Saganu’s biological relative (possibly brother), considering all of the twisty and entangled web of Chiss politics that I can barely begin to really comprehend, their society’s disdain for the “impurity” of Force Sensitives (to the point of exiling or “worse”), and the fact that Zenta goes out of her way to bring him into her fold for mysterious, likely political reasons – it would be a recipe for political disaster – especially if this rogue family member went off and did something stupid like join an Apocalypse cult and risk all of the Ascendancy dying in flames.

However, the livestream indicated that there might be more Chiss-centric stuff coming in the future. My best guess is likely not in the upcoming expansion, since they’ve stated over and over the focus is Republic vs Empire (and not focused on a third party, ie: the Chiss), and after the events of of Copero no matter what happens, the Chiss political arena gets a little heated and they have to withdraw from Alliance stuff. 

So it’s likely the mystery of Valss, his stupid vague vision, and his origins will not be answered for some time.

[commanderbengiskywalker]

Fordo just smacking Plo for making Kit fret it’s hilarious. Plus being the only other person who understands that Kit and Nautalons mate for life.

*Smack.*

Plo: Ow! What did I do?

Fordo: For making sweet and caring person fret about you. *Smacks him again.*

Plo to Kit: I am terribly sorry for making you fret.

Fordo: And?

Plo: You the best husband in the galaxy.

Kit: Aww...

Fordo: And?

Plo: What else did I miss?

Fordo: Tell him you love him, of course.

Plo: He already knows and we really don’t do that sort of thing as Jed—OW! *Rubs the back his head.*

Kit: I mean he’s right, we really don’t do that in public.

Fordo: I ain’t no karking Jedi. *Turns to Plo.* Say it.

Plo: *Softly.* I love you, Kit.

Fordo: *Raising his hand.* I can’t hear you...

Plo: *Normal volume.* I love you.

Kit: Aww....

Fordo: LOUDER!!!

Plo:

Plo: I LOVE YOU, KIT FISTO!!!

-Kids off to the side.-

Boost: Aren’t you going to do something, Wolffe?

Wolffe:

Wolffe: He’s Ori’vod’s problem.

Fordo is just not here for the Jedi stuff. Clearly it was somewhat of a problem with how most of them are messes. When he finds out about Obi-Wan and how his life was a wreck because of Plo’s ex-best friend. It gets worse when Yoda accidentally lets it slip that he planned for Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan to be Master-Padawan to help fix Qui-Gon as he lost two Padawan already. Yoda also made Fordo’s hit list seeing as he just nothing but nuisance. He’s going to War with Yoda, Palpatine and Dooku. Until he debates as Yoda never listened to Sifo-Dyas to avoid problems. This green goblin is so dead. He assessed that it’s these old leaders of these institutions that are the problem.

Fordo: He seems polite. I’ll take him.

-A few days in.-

Plo: I’m sorry...do you want me to get that?

Plo: Allow me. *Grabs the nearest caf and pours.*

Plo: How are you? Are you ok?

Plo: I am sorry...

Plo: Thank you, but I am fine.

Fordo:

Fordo: He’s too polite. No wonder he doesn’t have any kriffing confidence.

Fordo becaomes the new Tyvokka even if he questions Tyvokka’s teaching methods. He will give him back his confidence and won’t down trough his self esteem. He is making a list of Jedi to take on next, sometimes two at time. He sometimes goes back for Plo as he checks on him as he is too busy checking on his sons and the younger Jedi. He routinely checks on Voolvif as he doesn’t interact much outside of Plo, Agen and Aayla. He starts off slowly with small things to get him warmed up before having a full blown discussion. He wonders if he should keep him permanently as joint thing with the 104th. It is heartbreaking when thinking of WOWMF AU, and how Voolvif just tears through them. It makes me sad. Fordo always comms Cody to make sure Obi-Wan’s ok once month. Same with Ponds and Thire for Mace and Fox. He needs to know if they’re sleeping or else he’s coming. If the trial is ever canon in this timeline, Plo and Obi-Wan aren’t having it. Heck, Mace isn’t having it. They ain’t having their best Padawan be tried for this. Ahsoka is happy for their trust and belief in her. If ever goes down like in canon, Plo feeling his guilty self would go to Fordo or try to figure out how get through it himself. Then finds that Obi-Wan and Mace did the same.

He also routinely does shift swaps and takes Fox. He notices how jumpy he and nervous he is, thus being down right concerned. He takes him for what was supposed to be a few hours, becomes a few weeks. Fox tries to do any work, he’s just dragged back to bed, or Fordo talks to him about it. Fox gets a taste of what his brothers face and one of them gets a taste of what he faces. Probably Wolffe as Fordo is coordinating with Plo on this. When they get back, like with Voolvif, the 104th look after Fox on shore leave or Plo just drops by to make sure he’s ok.

4. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them?

[sweats nervously] I have a lot of ideas atm like. a lot. 

One that I don’t have anything but the general premise is called “More than Numbers To Turn the Tide” and basically, it’s a turn left after the Malevolence where Plo refuses to take a whole battalion but the GAR is insistent he leads more than just three survivors and try and force a brand new, never seen battle before, and not really ready to leave Kamino, battalion onto him. Thankfully a certain Red Alpha ARC takes some matters into his own hands.

And one that has some more built into it is called “Fall from Grace” and its a Good Omens and Fate Grand Order crossover where Crowley runs into Fujimaru and Shuten Doji in Aziraphale’s bookstore and has a small freak out:

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