5 Geonosis: Nighttime Conversations.

"It's already late," the Sith interrupted the prolonged silence, "you need to get some sleep."

Shaak Ti looked at the night sky. It was indeed later, and she felt tired, but there were reasons why she wasn't going to sleep. It wasn't about her limbs going numb or the place to sleep. She just wanted to think things through. She turned to Hassan, who was absentmindedly playing with bits of trash over his open palm, seemingly entertaining himself or perhaps focusing on something.

Once again, she observed him from head to toe. Short blondish hair and pointed ears, hidden under the hood, clearly indicated that he was not human. Beneath the cloak, he also concealed dark, formidable armor made of an unfamiliar material. Judging by his appearance alone, one might assume that the stranger before her was a Sith, but at the same time, he was different from them. Personally, she hadn't encountered the archetypal Sith Lords, who could be labeled as the true masters of the Dark Side, but she had read much about them in the Jedi Temple's library. In the texts, they were depicted as true inhuman tyrants, and it was doubtful that Dooku differed greatly from them, but Hassan was clearly not as simple.

Captors were known for their arrogance, but at the same time, he did not strike her as a monster. It was an odd representative of the Sith Lords who had taken her prisoner. She glanced at his belt, where, theoretically, lightsabers should be stored, but they were not there, which, of course, surprised the Togruta.

"Where is my lightsaber?"

In any other situation, a Jedi would most likely remain silent while in captivity, but for some reason, Darth responded to almost all her questions. In another scenario, she would somehow lead the conversation back to her previous question, but now she decided to ask directly and see his reaction.

Instead of a reply, the sharp-eared Sith reached deep into the pile of metal he was sitting on, then retrieved her lightsaber from it. Shaak Ti was bewildered by the young man's actions. So, her lightsaber just fell out of his belt, and he decided to fetch it only after she asked?

"And your vibroblades?" she asked cautiously.

Hassan began to rummage through the pile of trash again, then pulled out the first blade, followed by the second. Shaak Ti had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, the Sith had acted very recklessly by tossing the weapons into the garbage, but on the other hand, maybe he intentionally hid them there to set up a surprise for his enemies. She leaned toward the latter option, but such behavior from a Sith Lord still puzzled her.

The Togruta carefully examined the captor's lightsabers, which now rested on his knees. He seemed to admire them as if seeing them for the first time. He gently stroked the weapons along the blade, took one of them, checked for defects, and then with his free hand, tossed a piece of metal he picked up from the ground into the air, slicing it with a swing, vividly demonstrating the sharpness of the weapon to the Jedi.

"Did you learn for a long time?" Shaak Ti asked, fully aware of the absurdity of the question.

"We learn all our lives," he cryptically replied.

"Quite wise," the Togruta responded with a nod.

Once again, an awkward silence hung in the air. The night had long taken hold, but Shaak Ti wasn't in a hurry to sleep, unlike Boba, who seemed to have already drifted off. She genuinely felt sorry for the boy. Losing his father, killed right before his eyes, and then having to bury him with his own hands—clearly, these were not experiences a child his age should be going through. Perhaps, when they left this planet, she could persuade Hassan to release Boba on Coruscant, where someone might be looking for him?

She furrowed her brow. What if Django Fett's son was already being hunted? Could the Republic have offered a reward for capturing Boba? Did the son of the renowned bounty hunter pose any danger to the Republic? Unlikely.

Suddenly, she remembered Darth's prediction. According to him, Boba would grow up to be a strong man, but that wasn't the point. How could he have seen his and Boba's futures? Was it possible that he was talking about his own destiny, where he found young Boba on the Arena, and then in their next meeting, he was already that strong man? What would happen to her in that case? Did Darth personally witness her death on Coruscant, as his prediction implied? In other words, did he kill her, or was Hassan trying to save her?

She could have asked him about it, but if it were indeed him who would kill her in the future, then Darth would probably lie. Shaak Ti shook her head. All of this was in the distant future. There was no point in thinking about it now. She needed to stay true to herself, her ideals, and trust in the Force.

"Rest, Shaak Ti," the Sith broke the silence.

"What will you do?" she asked.

"Guard us," he replied.

Shaak Ti rested her head on the droid's chassis and tried to sleep. Her hands and feet ached from the ropes, so sleep eluded her. It seemed like she was about to doze off, but then the ropes made themselves felt. Moreover, the position in which she was tied behind her back wasn't very comfortable, and the droid's chassis was too rigid. However, the Togruta didn't complain. As strange as it may sound, she was lucky that Darth Hassan wasn't a bloodthirsty Sith; otherwise, she would already be dead.

"Can't sleep?" the captor asked.

"Everything's fine," she replied.

"You understand that I can't untie you, right?" he inquired.

"Yes," she acknowledged.

"Alright."

"Darth Hassan," Shaak Ti addressed him, "you mentioned seeing the future and Mace Windu. Is there anything else you know?"

It was unlikely, but since the Sith had mentioned the Jedi Master, she decided to inquire further.

"It's hard to say," he lifted his hand in front of him so the captive could clearly see his palm, "but I know one thing for sure—he will die a gruesome death," then he clenched his fist, and sparks of lightning appeared.

Now Shaak Ti was genuinely nervous. She remembered the intense hatred in Boba's eyes when he asked about his father's killer, and now the Sith was claiming that Mace's end would be gruesome. She pushed these thoughts away again. Predictions could be quite vague, and not all of them came true. It was all up to the will of the Force.

Hassan stood up, holding the lightsabers in his hands, and moved away from the pile of debris. He found a relatively clean patch of ground and activated the Jedi lightsabers that belonged to her comrades, whom the Sith had easily defeated. Shaak Ti narrowed her eyes to observe each of his movements closely. She initially thought it was just a warm-up, but after about ten minutes, she realized that Darth was merely fooling around. He was aimlessly swinging the lightsabers in front of him. However, what else did she expect? Shaak Ti had briefly hoped that he would start training so she could study his combat technique up close.

Although she couldn't say he didn't show her his power. What about the so-called "dragon lightning"? It clearly required impressive control over the Force. She couldn't imagine Count Dooku doing something like that. Her inner sense told her that Darth Hassan was much stronger than Tyranus, and she was inclined to trust that feeling.

The Sith deactivated the lightsabers and looked at his captive.

"I must be disturbing your sleep," he said as he approached her and settled back into his spot.

"Are you bored?" Shaak Ti asked, the most logical question.

"Bored," Hassan lowered his head.

"How old are you?" she blurted out without much thought.

"Me?" It seemed like he was also somewhat shocked by that question. "Twenty-three."

"Twenty-three?" she skeptically repeated.

Shaak Ti had thought he might be around forty or fifty, but certainly not younger than thirty. Now Darth claimed to be only twenty-three years old?! If he wasn't lying, then he must have been training in the Force relentlessly since childhood. Only training, only practice, to reach such a high level.

"What? Too young?" the young man scoffed. "I've been working my entire life... since I was a child."

Hassan stood up again and walked away ahead of them. Shaak Ti didn't follow him; instead, she deepened her thoughts. Could it be that his master found Hassan in his early childhood and began teaching him? Relentlessly, without breaks. Was she right in her assumptions? The Togruta looked at the kidnapper, who was currently using telekinesis to construct something out of the debris. She even felt sorry for this young man. Whoever his master was, he had definitely deprived him of his childhood.