"Let's negotiate." I said, grinning like a used car salesman who just sold a 2001 Chevy to a 16 year old.
"I want three things from you." I continued, holding up three fingers.
"First of all. You will compile all your knowledge of the force and it's mechanics into a holocron for us.
Secondly, Daughter will take these three to the Font Of Power so they may drink from it and increase their power and longevity.
As for my third request, we can discuss that in a more .... private setting." I added, gesturing at Offee, who nodded understanding.
"That is ....all?" The father asked surprised.
"Mostly yes." I replied.
"Then why threaten us? Why the extreme measures? If you had just aske-"
"If I had just asked? What a joke!
To make it simple, I don't trust you.
You have more power than sense and for all your immortality, you are little more than adult children.
I didn't always think that though." I said, pulling up the bullshit 'research' I had made up, just to avoid Anakin and Ahsoka's suspicions.
"You know at first, when I found out about Mortis, I was excited. Excited to meet you, the veritable gods of the force, who seeded life into the galaxy.
I wanted to learn from you. Learn about creating life, perhaps even drink from the Font myself and learn to use the force. But the more I dug into your legends, the more disturbing things I uncovered. The more questions I asked.
One mural of the three of you wrote of you as the immortal guardians of the balance of the force. But surely that couldn't have been true? There was a time after all, when Revan found and led sith far outnumbering the jedi, the dark side dwarfing the light. There was no balance. And that went on for millenia! If you truly were the guardians of balance, you would have never allowed such a thing to happen.
Then that fact certainly meant you were dead.
But then my swarms found mortis, hidden. Actively hidden. So I became a bit more suspicious.
If that mural hadn't been true, what else was a lie?
And so I dug even deeper. Deep in the unknown regions. And I found her. Abeloth. I learnt what you did to her. I learnt about the Mnggal-Mnggal. And slowly, I began to realise. You cannot be trusted.
I didn't want to believe it, but I had to be prepared. And so prepare I did.
And thank goodness I did, because what do you know, the first thing you guys do is kidnap my wife and friends from my ship. That right there verified my suspicions.
You could not be trusted. For all I knew, you could have been holding them hostage!
So I came in guns blazing. To make certain where we stand. To show you your place in this conversation. You will not threaten me and my friends. Or there will be consequences.
And look at you now!
Wasn't I right? Look how quickly you learnt some common courtesy when I pulled you down to our level.
Now you know. We are not your inferiors, we are your equals. And you will treat us as such." I said, "Now chop chop. Clock's a ticking. I have an election to attend."
".....I shall create the holocron first. Son, with me. Daughter, lead them to the Font Of Power. And once it is all done, I hope you will leave us alone. I do not wish to interact with your kind anymore." He hissed with barely contained rage.
"Neither do I." I replied, and walked back to Offee, caressing her face, running my hand on her bruised neck.
"You'll be okay won't you?" I asked, leaning on her forehead.
"Uhun." She intoned, keeping an eye on the Daughter.
"Get some water from the Font for me while you're there. And let Anakin drink it first. If everything looks fine, then and only then consume it. He is the chosen one, so he'll be fine. But I can't bear to lose you, got it?"
Offee preened and nodded.
"What about you?" Anakin asked from the side.
"I will make sure they hold up their end of the bargain. And while I am at it, I will deal with the dark side problem once and for all." I whispered, gesturing at the antimatter gun in my hand.
Anakin nodded and Ahsoka just stared at the Father ascending the stairs.
"Did you need to be so ....." She asked.
"I wasn't going to do anything Ahsoka. They were just empty threats to ensure our safety. The Son is mercurial on the best of days. I couldn't afford him gutting us in some flight of fancy. Remember, they might look like adults but they are driven by their whimsy like children. The only way we can deal with them safely is through fear and mutual respect. And look, I'm sorry it had to be this way. If they hadn't kidnapped you guys, I wouldn't have even pulled out the gun.
I would have gone through this as peacefully as possible. But they showed you too, didn't they? They can't be trusted."
"I know.....but it feels wrong." She said, shaking her head.
"I know. But trust me, it'll pass. And hey, look on the bright side. You get to learn all about the force, grow stronger, and explore a whole new world. Cheer up. Have some fun!" I patted her shoulders.
Ahsoka sighed and nodded.
"I suppose you are right." She said, and stretched a bit, before turning to the Daughter.
"Let's go."
Once they had left for the Font Of Power, I climbed up the stairs, and into the monastery.
"Father." I called out, and he appeared out from behind a pillar, followed by the Son.
"It is time for you to fulfill the third request." I said, and shot the Son with the antimatter gun.
He crumpled to the floor in agony, clutching his stomach, transforming into a gryphon, then a snake, the a bat and a lion only to return writhing in pain back to his human form.
"I can't...heal!" He cried.
"No shit sherlock. It's an antimatter gun. Matter cannot heal from it. It will only spread, slowly consuming you whole." I explained, turning to the Father.
"Why?" He asked.
"I would say it's because he has poisoned the Font Of Power with the darkside and I would rather not have my friends go mad upon drinking it.
But really? It's my wife.
See I don't appreciate people threatening my wife. I'm kinda protective of her. And your daughter...tsk tsk tsk!" I wagged my finger.
"....bad choice, she made. But here's the bright side to this. Now with him gone, there will be no will of the dark side controlling the sith, and the dark side of the force itself will be diminished, bringing balance to the force. Just as you wanted. You should be thanking me."
"You expect me to thank you for killing my son?" He snarled, only to see the hyperspace lane trigger in my hands and piped down.
"Do not be deluded by your preconceptions. The light side of the force becoming more powerful will still cause imbalance." He added.
"Oh, no need to worry about that. I have a solution for that as well." I said, opening a a portal.
Floating out from with came my nano swarm swaddling a little baby.
Starkiller. Or as we named him, Galen Marek-Walker.
"That's where my third request comes into play. Once your daughter returns, you will transfer her and your own life force into my son, Star here. Make him into a half celestial. Make sure it assimilates into him. Gives him a nice long life full of health and happiness. Fitting use of your powers, wouldn't you think? It's not like you have been using them any better."
The Father clenched his fists and shook with rage.
"Why must you do this?" He asked.
"What?" I asked.
"Why do you hate us so?" He clarified.
"That's where you are wrong buddy. I don't hate you. Not one bit. Your daughter, maybe. Just a little. She did try to prep my wife like a chicken just moments earlier, so I'm kinda justified in that.
But the thing is, you guys have some really great powers. And I would really like to have me a nice thick slice of that pie. Nothing personal though. It's just business." I said, patting his shoulder, when the world behind him twisted.
"Where did Jay go?" I heard Ahsoka ask outside.
"Well then, it's showtime. Come on." I said, walking out.
"You won't get away with this." The Father growled.
"Watch me." I said, with a toothy grin, "Now pick up the pace buster. We don't have all day. And play along will you."
We walked out, with Star in my hands, as Father called the Daughter over, and explaiend everything to her.
She teared up for a moment before trying to giev me a hate filled glare only to fail.
Guess being of the light side, she is literally unable to hate huh?
Nice to know.
"Remove the wound from him." The Father said, "We can't do it if you still have the wound shrouding him."
"Sure. But if anything, and I meam anything goes sideways, it's your ass, you know that right?" I warned.
The Father gulped and looked away.
This motherfucker!
He was planning something!
"If he so much as squeaks, I will make you wish you had died with your son." I added, slowly removing the nano shroud from Star.
"What are they doing? And is that Star?" Ahsoka asked.
"Yeah. I asked the Father to teleport him here so he could be blessed by the daughter. It's my third request." I explained.
"Did you get me some Font water?"
Offee nodded, holding up a clear bag of water, that seemed to glow with an opal black and ruby red from time to time, thrumming with power.
"Yeah. Looks about right. How are you guys feeling now? More poweful? Healthier?"
"I feel like I am six again. There's so much energy in my body, it's overflowing." Ahsoka replied, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.
"Yeah. It's hard to stop myself from running around like a tuskan massiff." Anakin said, his hands twitching ever so slightly.
I looked to Offee and spotted no such thing.
"You didn't drink?" I asked.
"I don't need to." She said, holding my hand, her fingers twining with mine, "I have everything I ever wanted. I am satisfied with my life. And if I ever feel like it, we do have this bag full." She said.
"Okay then. If you think so. I still think it's better that you have a sip. But we can talk about this back home." I said, just as the Daughter fell to her knees, pale and sickly.
"Is it done?" I asked.
"Yes. Now leave." He said, grinding his teeth, as he handed me a holocron from within his sleeve.
"And remember, if anything happens....."
"I know!" He said, trying to swipe us away, but nothing happened.
That's when he noticed the nano swarm bucking at his robes.
"Don't bother. I'm calling my ship." I said, pressing a button on my glove. My ship came rumbling out of the sky and stopped behind us, while I took Star out of the daughter's hands, carrying him over.
"Goodbye. Hope you never see me again. It won't fare well for you, if it comes to that." I warned one last time, handing Star over to Offee, and the holocron to Anakin.
"Check it out." I whispered.
"You won't." The Father answered, turning his back to me as he helped his daughter to her feet.
I climbed into the driver's seat and tinted the back windows, before opening a portal on the glove box, leading right beside the two remaining celestials.
Immediately, I pulled out the antimatter gun and let loose two more shots, killing them too.
I know full well they could have placed one of those witchy force magic curses on Star wothout me knowing, like those Nightsisters on Dathomir.
But I also knew that the only way to activate those curses is to do it manually.
So just to be safe, I eliminated the last two as well.
No one to activate the curse means no curse affects Star. And once he has grown up, he can slowly get rid of the curse from within him, if there was any to begin with.
Simple sample. With that dealt with, I turned to my passengers.
"So, how was the trip for you guys? Enjoy it? Did you take notes?" I asked, as we drove away, leaving my nano swarm to store Mortis into the colony ship microverse inventory.
"On what?" Anakin asked, lifting the holocron ad if to say, 'these are the notes'.
"On how to deal with gods!"