Chapter 215: V.3-C.13│Negotiations I│
"What do you mean?" Qui-Gon was confused. "How did you know-" Qui-Gon was interrupted however, by another person that had walked through some side doors into the throne room.
"I'm back." A voice said, and it was masculine in nature.
Qui-Gon looked over and saw the person who had come through the door to be Anakin. "Anakin?"
"That is me." Anakin replied as he stepped forward, coming closer to where Shmi and Qui-Gon was located. Qui-Gon was getting on in years, however he still looked younger than what his actual age would suggest.
In fact, for most Force-sensitive beings they could live longer because the Force would enable and keep them alive.
"But-When-How...?" Qui-Gon was quite confused.
"No need to get confused now. I was just out for a small while and that is why my mother was here in place of me." Anakin said, seeing the confusion on Qui-Gon's face. "Well, it wasn't only me but the other girls as well..."
"Where did you go?" Qui-Gon asked, having gotten over his confusion and deciding that being confused right now wouldn't be for the best.
"No where important. What is important however is why did you come here?" Anakin replied and asked his question, having an idea of why Qui-Gon would be here.
"Well... You have surely heard of the reports about the Galactic Republic now, haven't you?" Qui-Gon asked with an unsure tone.
"Yes, I have." Anakin was always connected to the giant network and systems in place for the Empyrean to thrive. Of course, he didn't need to operate the entirety of the systems in place himself and had the help of the artificial intelligence, Siri.
Siri was kind of a godsend, at least to Anakin for she had the capabilities to operate many things without him. He was still within the system of course, however Siri was becoming more and more capable in being able to do things.
Specifically in regards to any inherent systems in place within the Empyrean. The many offices of government relied on Siri, and the many logistic problems were also handled by Siri.
Many of the things done by Siri was in a way a staple within the Empyrean's infrastructure. Without Siri, Anakin would have less freedom to do things and because of this Anakin was able to have more and more fun or spend time with his family and friends.
"I am aware of the things happening within the galaxy." Anakin was also aware of other things taking place as well, in particular that the Empyrean had to continually enforce its rulership within Hutt space.
There were many within that area that got in the way of Anakin and the Empyrean's hold of such a space. Criminal activity was still rampant, but alot of the main bases for criminal stunts was taken care of, and while Hutt space is kind of a puppet state right now, it would take time to fully reform the place.
Or more specifically reform the current leadership of Hutt space, that being the Hutts. Anakin wasn't going to just slaughter and annihilate all of the Hutts simply because they inherited a system that incentivized them to continue doing it.
Genocide really wasn't his thing but he was prepared for the worst scenarios and sometimes 'evil' acts must be committed for the growth of the people or anyone really. Without adversity, the Hutts would continue to stay as they are.
Now with Anakin and the Empyrean as their adversity, they would try and do things and not be content anymore.
"I have come here to speak on behalf of the Jedi Order. I request of you, Emperor Skywalker that the Jedi Order be allowed to stay here on Tatooine, or somewhere within the Empyrean, for they are being hunted by the new Galactic Empire under the rule of the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious." Qui-Gon spoke.
"The Jedi wish to seek refuge?" Shmi asked, as while she was against the Jedi, she also didn't like to turn down others when they are in need of help. A lot of things may have changed, however Shmi was still the same kind and loving person that she is.
"Yes. The Jedi have escaped, and most of the transport ships they have used has already escaped the Galactic Empire. While everything is going crazy within Coruscant, the Jedi had made the split decision to leave immediately." Qui-Gon said.
"It would seem that the gift I left behind helped them out then." Anakin said.
"Gift?" Qui-Gon questioned, as he was unaware and so to was everyone else unaware that Anakin had in some way helped the Jedi out.
"Yeah. While you were still with them, didn't you notice that your foresight abilities have seemed to become better again?" Anakin asked.
"I did notice something like that, and I am pretty sure alot of the others did as well... No one knew why it started but it does coincide with your departure from the Jedi Order." Qui-Gon replied thinking back and remembering the strangeness that surrounded that time in particular.
"It was because of the nexus hidden underneath the temple, and I am unsure if you guys figured it out but I took care of the problem then. It was clouded the vision of the Jedi and because of this, it got in the way of your abilities, especially since you all were mostly aligned with the light side of the Force. The Force Nexus there was aligned with the dark side, as the Jedi temple was built on the temple of the Sith." Anakin said.
"Something hidden underneath, a Sith temple that the Jedi decided to cap off through their own construction of the Jedi temple. It is quite silly of the past Jedi to think covering the problem would get rid of it." Anakin continued.
"Well... that is interesting..." Qui-Gon didn't have any rebuttal at that and instead internally agreed with what Anakin had said. He was unaware of the Nexus and so was the rest of the current Jedi as well.
Completely unaware and even if they were aware of this dark side Force Nexus, they still wouldn't have a way to combat this.
"Anyway. The Jedi Order can stay here, of course I wouldn't just turn them away even if I disagree." Anakin said before continuing. "However. I would like for them to not do things that I do not want them to be doing, as while freedom is something important, their actions would go against laws within the Empyrean. If the Jedi are to try and still recruit the people from the Empyrean, they will no longer have my permission to stay within the Empyrean."
"There are consequences to ones actions, and the Jedi taking children, babies of a young age is something I disagree with. The Jedi will be doing none of that. The Jedi will have to follow my rules, and follow the laws of the Empyrean." Anakin continued. "Is that acceptable?"
"I am sure that the Jedi will comply with these requests." Qui-Gon said.
"They are not requests. These are demands and if the Jedi cannot respect this, then I'm afraid that I cannot allow them to stay." Anakin replied.
"Ok, ok. I will relay this information to them and I am sure that they would be happy to accept the offer." Qui-Gon accepted what Anakin said and decided that it was his time to leave the throne room, as it seemed like the mother and son duo wanted to talk about something.
[]
Later on in the day, Anakin had received a communication request from Dooku.
The relationship between Dooku and Anakin was a strange one, as Anakin is the student of Dooku's student. Not only that, they also kept minimal contact over things that related to alliances, trade agreements, sanctions and anything related to governmental bodies.
Dooku was the leader or head of the Separatist faction and because of this and their closeness with the Empyrean, not relations closeness but instead distance closeness, the two governmental bodies would have some talks.
Usually with some small things here and there, and nothing to important as in relation to the greater scheme of things. Anakin however had set up some secret and hidden communications between himself and Dooku, where the two of them would talk on a great many things.
Especially to do with the Force and the nature of the people, their wants, their desires and Anakin's outlook on many things. Dooku was of course intrigued and readily wanted to continue stuff like this with Anakin, especially since Anakin was another high level figure within the Jedi Order that had left.
Dooku kind of connected with Anakin on another level, where Dooku and Anakin were sort of the same or alike. Because of this, Anakin had a big influence on the way Dooku looked at things, and Dooku's planning to eventually take down Sidious only became more and more pronounced.
Anakin shared information with Dooku on many things however Anakin would also advise Dooku to not go around killing people as well. Anakin disliked that Dooku would turn into a Dumbledore like figure, for the 'greater good' doesn't necessarily mean it is actually good.
The path to hell is paved with good intentions after and and Dooku had some time to reflect on many things. Anakin knew that some Jedi dying was just going to be the norm within the galaxy as the Force was out of balance, however Anakin still wanted to save as many as he could.
The only way he knew of how to do this is to either go to the Sith and try and create more and more Sith. Or, Anakin would create an Academy or Order of his own like the one that he has now and start the process of conversion.
Converting both dark side and light side users to an ideology and system that enforces balance within the Force and allows for people to be free in their exploration of the Force. Of course, there will always be outliers wanting to go outside of the balanced way of things, so Anakin modified the old system in place by the Je'daii and made it so even the extremes are taken into account.
Sometimes, when one goes to one extreme, they would go so far they would become the extreme of the other end without even realizing it.
"Greetings." Anakin said as he saw Dooku appear before him through the communication device.
"Greetings, Emperor Skywalker." While the two of them could be considered friendly they were still not exactly friends. It is better to say the two of them maintained a relationship that was like business partners instead of actual friends.
It was best this way, but now that things have changed especially Dooku and his build up to what had happened, everything would start to change.
"I have heard a great many things has happened and I am seeing the changes happen live." Anakin said as he got some reports and reviews from multiple sources, whilst also making use of some droids within multiple areas to record things as well.
Specifically droids within the Jedi temple to record the tragedy of the Jedi and evilness of Emperor Palpatine, with what he is willing to do.
"Well... yes. A great many things have changed and because of this I had to use the device you had given me. I thank you for it." Dooku said in a grateful tone.
"I foresaw that you would be needing it, so of course I had to hand it out. It isn't complete anyway and just a small prototype version of what I wanted to create anyway." Anakin left out that it would probably never be able to be precise because it was too small and compact.
The level of technology either had to increase and something revolutionary needed to appear within the field of technology related to teleportation.
"Yes. I am thankful for that. However, I would like to request of your assistance once again, for I have been stranded on a planet that I believe to be called Lotho Minor." Dooku responded.
"Lotho Minor, eh?" Anakin remembered that Maul should be here and the only real reason Anakin hadn't done anything to save the guy was because it was not his place. He would get nothing out of it, and the guy was someone that had gone through things without Anakin helping.
Maul would continue to survive ever after as well, and with Anakin's interference that would place a bad taste in his mouth. Anakin didn't want to help someone like Maul, as he was also someone that had done evil.
Rehabilitation is what Anakin would have tried to do if he got his hands on the man.
"Yes, and I am with someone else that I do not know if you would recognize-" Dooku continued only to be interrupted by Anakin.
"Is it Maul? Darth Maul?" Anakin asked, already knowing that Dooku had probably come across Maul. "Never mind that. I will send a ship there to pick you up, and maybe you can come to the Empyrean to meet up with your old friends within the Jedi."
"The Jedi are coming to the Empyrean to seek shelter?" Dooku was not surprised that the Jedi would try and rely on Anakin.
"Yes. I will send a ship straight away, and if you really want to, you can also bring with you Darth Maul as well." Anakin stated.
"Yes. I think I will take you up on your offer..." Dooku replied.
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