"What is it?" Max Vizsla asked with a smile. "Worried the blade might be red? Worried I might be a Sith?"
"Who can say?"
Ky Narec was smiling too, though only barely. But his body had already gone taut, clearly poised to strike at a moment's notice.
Max's smile only widened.
"Master Narec, true wisdom lies in seeing through a thing without forcing it into the open. Even the battle-tested Master Qui-Gon Jinn fell to Darth Maul. And you—a Jedi who has spent fifteen years playing war games against bandits and militias on a backwater world—do you really believe you could best a Sith Lord?"
"Who can say? Draw your blade."
You say "draw," and I draw? What kind of dignity would that leave me with?
The teasing remark rose to Max's lips—then he swallowed it.
Ky Narec's gifts and power were, in truth, unremarkable. He would one day fall not to a Force-user, but to the long-range rifle shot of a Weequay raider, and even in death he would fail to become a Jedi spirit. He was not a powerful Jedi.
But no one could deny that he was a great one.
For a Jedi who had given the best years of his life to the people of Rattatak, Max felt genuine respect.
"...Then watch closely."
Snap-hiss.
Max ignited his yellow lightsaber, offered Ky Narec a formal Makashi salute, then deactivated the blade and clipped it back to his belt.
As soon as he felt the resonance between Max and the weapon, Ky Narec relaxed—if only slightly.
"Form II, Makashi. Did you once study under Count Dooku?"
(I didn't. In the original timeline, your beloved apprentice ended up studying under him later.)
"Master Narec, you have been stranded on Rattatak for fifteen years." Max fixed him with a steady gaze. "Fifteen years is a long time—long enough for a little Zabrak girl to grow into an excellent Jedi, and long enough for an idealist you once knew to become an extremist you would scarcely recognize."
"What do you mean?"
"The former Jedi Master Dooku is now the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus."
The Mandalorian wore no Force shield. Through the Force, Ky Narec knew the man before him was not lying.
And yet he still could not believe it.
"No. No, no, no. That's impossible. Absolutely impossible!"
"There's no need to rush." Max smiled and waved a hand. "Count Dooku will come looking for you. When he does, you'll know for yourself whether it's possible."
"Count Dooku will come looking for me?" Ky Narec frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Count Dooku is determined to overthrow the decaying Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order alike. Since leaving the Order, he has spent his time crossing the galaxy, weaving together every anti-Republic force within the Republic system and every independent world or organization outside it. A non-member world like Rattatak—with a population in the billions—is not the sort of prize he would overlook."
"Does the Jedi Order know any of this?"
"If a thing is done, word of it always leaks sooner or later. The Jedi Order has heard rumors of Count Dooku's activities, one way or another. Unfortunately, the Masters on Coruscant are much like you—they do not believe those rumors."
At that, Ky Narec's brow tightened further.
"If Count Dooku is not stopped soon, then a galaxy-spanning war may be just over the horizon."
"Master Narec, forgive me for speaking plainly, but a man who has spent fifteen years failing to unify even a 'primitive' world should not burden himself with the fate of the galaxy. That lies well beyond your reach."
Ky Narec did not take offense. Instead, he nodded in rueful agreement and murmured to himself with a troubled expression, "Yes... yes. Then what course is left for Rattatak?"
"Armed neutrality," Max suggested. "I have an idea for a non-aligned movement. Would you like to hear it?"
"Please."
...
"Master, look."
Snap-hiss.
Asajj Ventress pressed the activator, and two orange blades sprang from the hilts in her hands.
"Beautiful, aren't they, Master?" Asajj cried out, bright with excitement.
"Beautiful. Very beautiful." Ky Narec looked at the apprentice he had raised with his own hands, his eyes full of affection.
"Master, now look at this."
As she spoke, Asajj pressed another switch. With a flick of her wrists, the two lightsabers instantly transformed into a pair of serpent-like lightwhips.
"I told you," Max said, lifting a brow at Ky Narec, "Asajj is a daughter of Dathomir."
"Asajj's heart is full of light." Ky Narec turned to Max. "She is unquestionably a Jedi—not a Nightsister, nor any other sort of Dathomiri witch."
"Of course." Max smiled and nodded in agreement. "That is a credit to your teaching."
Turning his gaze back to Asajj Ventress as she moved through her drills, Ky Narec asked in puzzlement, "Why do I have the feeling there is something strange about the crystals in those weapons as well?"
"Trust your instincts. You're right." Max explained, "The crystals in those lightsabers are not the kyber crystals you're familiar with. They're a special kind of crystal known as Kohlen crystal."
"I see." Ky Narec nodded first, then shook his head. "The galaxy has changed so much. I'll have to start learning fast."
Then his pupils contracted sharply.
Kohlen crystals... not kyber crystals?!
In an instant, another mystical prophecy once shared with him by his old friend detonated in his mind:
"When kyber that is not kyber shines, the hour of prophecy is near at hand."
Kyber that is not kyber... and now it shines before me.
A Chosen One shall come, born of no father. Could it be not "he," but "she"? In a matriarchal society, with the father unknown—could Asajj not also be understood as one born without a father?!
Ky Narec turned to look at Asajj Ventress as she whirled and struck with flashing steps, his eyes burning with hope and expectation.
Begin here, Asajj. From Rattatak, bring balance to the Force... and peace to the galaxy.
PS: In the original timeline, in 23 BBY—six years after the events of this chapter, and one year before the outbreak of the Clone Wars—Ky Narec was assassinated by Weequay raiders. He was shot at long range by a sniper rifle and died in Asajj Ventress's arms.
Driven by overwhelming grief and rage, Asajj Ventress fell to the dark side. After that, she inherited her late master's cause, led her followers in crushing the last of Rattatak's warlords, and unified the planet.
That same year, Count Dooku arrived on Rattatak with his own forces, hoping to bring the world into the Confederacy of Independent Systems. During his time there, he was deeply impressed by the methods and power Asajj Ventress displayed, and he decided he wanted to take the former Jedi as his Sith apprentice.
Asajj Ventress, for her part, deeply resented the Jedi Order for abandoning Ky Narec on Rattatak for twenty-one years without aid or contact. In her eyes, the Jedi Order were the true killers of her master. And so, in order to take revenge on the Jedi, she gladly accepted Count Dooku's invitation.
What followed is the story everyone already knows.
PPS: It was not only the Nightsisters who used lightwhips. Both Jedi and Sith are recorded as wielding them as well. The dual-form lightsaber/lightwhip weapon was invented by the High Republic Jedi Vernestra Rwoh.
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