3/8

Realizing he didn't know the words for curse or magic Ranma frowned tugging at his pigtail as he began to think how to explain. He decided he couldn't explain the actual magic of it, but maybe he could explain how it happened. "We go to training ground, it have lot of poles stuck in water. Job was to fight one another on the poles, not get wet follow?"

"Pretty much." Michael said with a grimace. 'But you seriously need to work on your grammar before you talk to anyone important. I know that they're not supposed to, but I think even Jedi Council at least make first impressions on how people talk."

"Jedi." Ranma said. He had made the connection that the Jedi were an order of ki users, who served this universe in some fashion as a police force or diplomats, though what the Force was and why he was getting quasi-religious overtones when hearing about the Order eluded him. "Have lots of questions about them. I explain first then you explain Jedi?"

Michael looked around at the others, who all nodded. "We won't answer any questions that we don't want to, but yes, we can talk about the Jedi."

"Okay. Anyway, my father big time idiot! He not listen to a warning about the training ground. Training ground each pool have something different …" Ranma frowned, realizing he didn't have the right word, substituting "died from water?"

The Mon Calamari frowned. "'Drown'?"

Ranma nodded. "Drown in them. Weird forms, weird creatures, small creatures, large, not matter, all die in water. Anyone else falls in water take on form of what die there. I start winning against father, smack him into pool of drown…" Ranma frowned again, thinking of how to explain, then brightened, smacking one fist against his palm as he pointed at the hologram thing. "This have picture of animals?"

Fascinated and wondering where this story was going and frankly thinking most of it was made up Michael nodded, and showed Ranma how to work the controls. Eventually Ranma found something that looked sort of like a bear. "I knock my father into a pool, and he came out looking like this creature."

"That was a much better sentence." Michael said nodding his head. "You're learning quick! Quick question though, how big was your father before?"

"Come to think of it, where does the mass go when Ranma changes forms? Ranma's what, four, six inches taller in his male form?" The Mon Calamari asked.

"Oh that's easy," Duncan, the helmsman said. "It goes straight to his tits!"

"I've talked to you about that kind of language before on the clock Duncan." Said Michael glaring over at the man, while Ranma looked as if he was trying to work out what the guy had said. "You're just lucky Ranma didn't understand what you just said, or else he'd probably kill you right now."

"Oh come on you know it's true!"

"Doesn't matter if it's true or not, we're a diplomatic corps crew, not some low life pirates. When you're on duty you watch your language!"

"Or?" Ranma said, having finally worked out what Duncan said, reaching out with two fingers again to bend the separating rail out of shape once more. "I watch it for you, yes? As for father, he big fat man, but mostly muscle." Ranma said rather grudgingly.

"But still there must've been some kind of mass conversion correct?" said them on Mon Calamari.

"I don't know what that is." Ranma said with a shrug.

"Now there your grammar was much better." Michael said with a faint grin. He could also tell that the boy's accent was beginning to resemble that of a Corellian. Not that Michael had any problems with that of course. He frowned for a moment thinking how to explain what the problem was from their perspective, then nodded. "Duncan, stand up for second."

Duncan groaned, but stood up. He was a larger man, very much given over to fat, the only one among the crew who was really overweight. "He weighs more than I am understand? His mass is more." Michael said pointing first at Pearson then himself.

Then Ranma understood, and he laughed. "It magic, it doesn't have to care about mass. Who knows where it goes." Ranma shrugged, using the Japanese term for magic since he didn't know the word in Basic.

Even so, the meaning of the word came through and once the crew took his meaning they all shivered a little. "That is honestly terrifying." Said the Mon Calamari, who doubled as the ship's second engineer. He knew what kind of energy was created by that kind of matter conversion.

Ranma shrugged. "It's just the way it is. Now…" he grinned. "You answer my questions yes? Republic, what is it? How many planets, how many people?"

"Species again, and thousands, hundreds of thousands." Michael said with a shrug. "Can you read our language yet?"

Ranma shook his head but the Mon Calamari raised his own hand. "We can set him up on the hologram device in the sitting room. That's easy enough he can watch some of the history vids and get some more info that way."

"That work." Ranma nodded, having gotten the word video, and hologram device.

"We'll set that up down in the lounge then, and either of us, Master Dooku or 25 will be available to answer your questions, okay?" Master Dooku had after all said that they were supposed to go out of their way to help Ranma understand Basic, and this seemed to be part and parcel of that.

Ranma nodded. "There anything I can do for you guys? Lift stuff?"

They all shook their heads and Ranma shrugged. "All right, I owe you a flavor, okay?" Michael nodded, understanding Ranma meant 'favor', and Ranma left the bridge.

OOOOOOO

Several hours after he had left the bridge Ranma leaned back rubbing at his forehead thoughtfully. The historical videos that the crew had set up for him were very informative. They were also bizarre. Ranma was no politician, nor was he a history expert or anything like that, but there were several themes that he noticed throughout the videos. One was the sheer, ever-growing size of the Republic. Ranma didn't know a word even in Japanese to describe how monstrously huge it was. So many damn races and worlds, Blessed Amaterasu, I never imagined anything like this!

Anyone else would have been intimidated by the size of the universe he had suddenly found himself in, but Ranma frankly did not think like other people. He saw all of these different races as opportunities, opportunities to find new martial arts and figure out a way to integrate them into his own style. But the history of this Republic, all of the wars and all of the collapses followed by it coming back and the place of the Jedi in it, all of this was strange. The videos made assumptions of what its watchers would know and Ranma didn't know those things, or at least that was what he hoped.

As he was about to get up and head to the training area to work out, mainly to clear his mind, the hatch to the lounge opened and Master Dooku walked in. "Ranma." he said with a nod. "I understand from the crew that you are able to communicate well enough that we can understand one another now?"

"Understanding you is easy, getting grammar and words right hard, harder?"

"The second one yes," Dooku said with a nod. "Even so, remarkable progress for under a local week. Still, I did not come here just to congratulate you on your progress. I have some questions for you, and I imagine you have some for me."

"I do, but you go first." Ranma laughed, picking up his glass of water and miming pouring it over his head. "Age before beauty."

Dooku smiled politely, shaking his head internally at the youth's odd sense of humor, a sign of his wild nature. A Jedi he could never be, yet with my own reservations of the order these days, that's probably a good thing. "My first question I suppose is a series of small interconnected ones. I use the Force. When you made those shields of yours against my lightsaber, what was that?"

Ranma held up a hand, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them with a smile. Rather than one large ball of ki, which he could've created easily these days, several small lights appeared at his fingertips, and he began to juggle them from one finger to another. "This is ki. My life energy, my power, like a robot? If a human, or alien I suppose…"

He stumbled a little there before going on. "If someone can learn how to use, it they can… use… it, gah." He frowned, having wanted to say 'someone learned how to call it up they could manipulate it'. "Trouble is I know how to explain it, but I don't quite have the words yet."

"Eventually however your vocabulary will be large enough." Dooku said with a nod, reining his curiosity with all the skill of a Jedi Master, having already learned something, perhaps. "This is only our first discussion trust me. But you call it ki, life energy? Can anyone learn to use it or is it only available to a few?"

"Ki what it is in my first language, life energy what it translates to in Basic." Or English too I suppose, but meh. "Learning about it hard, but no special skill needed save being fit and spending time."

For a moment Dooku was silent, taking in the idea that Ranma had not been born with the ability he showed. After a moment Dooku changed the subject, wondering if the boy knew of the connection between the Living Force which was found in all living beings, and the Unifying Force which resided the rest of the universe around him, the Force of star, rock, and the galaxy as a whole. "And would you label that the same energy that is all around us?"

"That what I call chi." Ranma said with a nod. "I not use it."

"Why not?" Dooku asked intently, leaning forward at this sudden observation.

"Several reasons." Ranma said with a shrug. "First, back home, if do that hurt the… the area… I think, around me. For another, here the feel of the chi here different, more…" Ranma frowned again slapping one hand on his thigh angrily. "I not know… er…My feelings, it change it, yes?"

Throughout this bit of frustrated discourse Dooku was watching Ranma for any sign that the Living Force in the boy was responding to his emotions, but was astonished to see that it was not, not even a flicker of it. Either he has incredible control, or his emotions are completely disconnected from the Living Force within him! Fascinating. "Yes, that is normal here. Are you saying it is not normal at home?"

"Yep. Is that why you not react when I change to female? Need to keep emotions under control?"

Dooku recited. "There is no emotion, there is peace. Also, ew." He smirked at the last words, watching as Ranma laughed.

Then moved by a Force led instinct, Dooku recited the Oath that all Jedi vowed to follow when they made the change from padawan to Jedi. "There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. That is the oath of the Jedi. It keeps us from the Dark Side, from falling into dark emotions and letting our emotions affect our actions and the Force."

"That sound stupid." Ranma said bluntly, having sat silent as Dooku recited the lines from memory. "Emotions part of life. Teach control and understanding, teach venting possibly, but not allowing to feel, not allowing to understand? Stupid."

Dooku frowned. Of all the things about the Jedi, the way they dealt with emotions was not one of the things he had questioned about the Order. "Perhaps you'll change your mind when I tell you about the Force?"

"I open to listening." Ranma said with a laugh. "But I know about emotions affecting ki."

"How so?" Dooku asked, leaning forward intently, his eyes narrowing.

"It my turn to answer questions." Ranma said firmly smirking at the old man. "You've asked several."

"I recall that you asked a few yourself Ranma." Dooku said with a smirk, "But ask away."

Ranma laughed. "Same question back at you. What do you call chi, what do you call ki? What do you use? You made those things fly apart, attack me! No martial artist could do that, could create wind and then throw them maybe, but, but will them to attack? Strange."

Dooku nodded then it moved his head hands and feet into what Ranma thought of as the lotus position. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them, his hands beginning to glow green. "This is the Force. You seem to separate the Force into two categories, your own and that around you. That is not the case. Or rather it is the case and it's not. The Living Force is within all living creatures, but it is but a small sample of the total Force the total Force is woven through everything in this universe. Do you follow?"

Running his finger along his pigtail Ranma frowned in thought. "Think so, not getting all the words, but enough. This Force, tell me about what you believe."

Dooku nodded and went on to describe how the Jedi saw the Force. He could tell that some of the information was disturbing Ranma, though not why, and vowed to question the boy could much more closely when he was fully up to snuff on Basic.

After he finished Dooku asked, "Now, you tell me. What do you know about emotions affecting your ki?" Dooku was almost desperate to learn the techniques the boy obviously knew with the Force, but he had to make certain, had to know where the boy's knowledge came from first. Or else any chance my sharing them with anyone else from the Order will die stillborn.

"Using emotions to power ki easy yes?" Dooku nodded. It was a fact that strong emotions could allow someone to connect to the Force easier than quiet contemplation or control. It was one of the reasons why the Dark Side was so insidious or at least it was supposed to be according to all of the records.

"But the more you use a single emotion to call on your ki, the more that emotion controls you. Eventually, it starts to… to wipe out all other emotions. I knew a girl…" Ranma frowned, looking away for a moment, his hands clenching with remembered anger for a moment before he shook it off. "I knew a girl who was falling into that trap and a boy who already had. He used depression to power his attacks."

"Depression?" Dooku asked, astonished. "I have never heard of such a thing!"

Ranma shrugged. "Self… hmm self-killing?" Dooku frowned, making a go ahead gesture, not certain what word Ranma was trying for there. "It took him over even more than anger did the girl and faster. Some days depression all he could feel. Make his attacks powerful, but him predictable. He was a… Friend, enemy rolled into one?"

"'Rival' I believe, and that first would be self-'destructive' …"Dooku mused. "We might have to come back to that point."

"I thought of him as rival." Ranma said with a shrug. "But he go behind my back and…" Ranma frowned waving that off. "Anyway, girl was having same trouble. First time I met her, she was quick to anger, but also had some nice moments, could control herself. Two years later, she stronger, she able to call emotion attack into being far faster, stronger attacks. But no longer in control, anger slowly controlling her."

Dooku frowned thoughtfully. "Do you think with anger there could ever be any kind of control? Or do you think it would dominate anyone?"

Ranma cocked his head frowning at the question. "If by control you mean control of emotion, if it all you use to power ki eventually no. Hate all you feel eventually. It is a corrupting effect. Besides, anger make, makes you a better warrior maybe, but not better fighter."

"Your grammar in particular is all over the place, present and past definitive is definitely in need of work." Dooku mused. "Still, you've given me a lot of food for thought already but I have one last question."

"My turn again." Ranma said with a smile.

Dooku frowned but nodded. He wanted to simply ask his questions and have the youth answer them, but he knew this had to be a two-way street. Ranma was not a Jedi, and did not respect him automatically as Dooku had gotten used to, and Dooku could not afford to alienate him. The Force sent me to him for a reason, I cannot simply demand answers from him, or else I might push him away. "Ask away."

Ranma shrugged, martialing his words and making an effort to get them all out correctly. "I suppose both questions tie into same things. One, I want to know more about the Jedi Order, its place in the galaxy. And want to know why the Republic not have a real galactic police force. I looked at those words up on purpose, it is very strange to me that the 'government' doesn't have some kind of military force to keep the peace. There have been wars lately?"

"The Stark-Hyperspace war and a few other violent conflicts yes." Dooku winced remembering the role he had played in one such. Dozens of Jedi had died then, and many more Mandalorians. "And that question my young friend, is one I have often wondered."

Ramos shook his head. "You Jedi being police Force, it doesn't make sense. Martial artist not police force, never enough of us, and you be diplomats too, why? Need bigger forces unless they are one of you for every hundred? Or if every government works well with you?"

Dooku barked a laugh that had absolutely no humor in it. "I understand your point, but that one is one I cannot answer, at least not without sounding like one of the video documentaries you have been watching. Again I think that will have to wait until you familiarize yourself more with this universe. Still, for first talk I believe we've gotten quite a ways. Now would you be willing to answer my question?"

Deliberately using the same words Dooku had a moment ago, Ranma nodded. "Ask away."

Smiling at the jibe, if jibe it was, Dooku asked, "How long would it take you to teach me some of your ki techniques? You're stronger, faster, your reaction time's the only thing that I can keep up with. I think all of that can be attributed to your ki techniques, but if the Force is the same as ki, then it is possible I could learn them."

Ranma frowned pulling it his ponytail thoughtfully, again putting his words together carefully. "Some techniques are easy to learn once you know how to use ki, but I'm not certain how that reacts to you and your use of the Force. They could help, or could hinder. How did you first learn to connect to Force?"

"Through meditation, through thoughts of clearing the mind feeling the Force around you and letting it fill you. Meditation is the very start of the process. Concentrating and directing the Force comes later."

Ranma frowned. "That sounds more like a monk than martial artist. Not know any monks who use ki, will have to think about it. You have any videos that show start of training?"

"No, I don't have anything like that on this ship, all such training videos are kept in the Jedi archives. There are some books about it, but you can't read Basic can you?"

"25 and I am concentrating on how to speak it. Then I learn reading, so can translate some of my own books." Ranma smirked, reaching into his ki space pocket and pulling out a book, watching as Dooku's eyes widened. "That a ki technique too." he explained, and watched as the old man's eyes lit up with knowledge-lust. "That one easy enough to understand, difficult to do first time though."

Dooku nodded, trying not to show his astonishment too openly as he looked at the book which should never have fit into the pocket that Ranma had just pulled it out of. He thought at first that that was the 'magic' Ranma had mentioned about to explain his 'curse', but no the boy said it was a ki technique, which meant it might be learnable by Force users! That alone would be a major help. "And these are?"

"Medical books." Ranma said, bringing out a second book, followed by a third, and comics. "Art of War. Comic books, other things."

Dooku nodded staring at the books then at the ki pocket then at Ranma, making a note of the one called Art of War, assuming that it was a book on the youth's martial arts, or perhaps the thinking behind the multiple styles the youth used. "Let us make a deal my young friend. You will remain with me for as long as it takes you to learn the local language and to read it, during which you and I will continue our discussions about this. I will teach you about the Jedi, about the Force, and about the galaxy as a whole if you have any questions beyond what our videos can show you. And you will teach me about ki."

Ranma cocked his head thinking hard. "I teach you some ki, but not until I learn about Jedi. You good, but oath bothering me, and government too."

"Trust me my young friend you're not the only one bothered by that one." Dooku said with a laugh. "I will take an oath to never abuse your teachings if that is what it takes."

"That a start but wait for next time yes, give me another few days to learn the language at least, to better figure out the oath." Ranma nodded.

"You'll have all the time in the world alas." Dooku said with a laugh. "I will have other duties once we exit hyperspace. I have a corrupt government to bring to heel, with the aid of the testimonies of the miners you saved and the ship you helped them take."

Ranma laughed evilly. "Have fun."

"It's not my idea of fun." Dooku said with a laugh, "but I will get some satisfaction nonetheless."

OOOOOOO

Dooku was unfortunately correct. Upon exiting hyperspace into the Malastare system, the Jedi master went on a diplomatic offensive that left the Gran Protectorate's government reeling. After two weeks of hammering them, the Senator of the sector, which had been chosen from Malastare, had been forced to step down due to public disapproval for his actions and for his personally having a connection to a slave ring, which was proven by the captain's files.

The planet's government as a whole had also been implicated, and to keep that from getting out agreed to sharply curtail their expansionist policy. They also had to agree to Senate oversight of any further expansion plans, and a Senate backed teams of investigators would be going through all of the government-owned mines and other industrial assets. Dooku doubted they would find anything though, since by the time the investigation team could be put together, any slaves would have been removed. After all, there were still the 'protected' Dugs.

Dooku's heavy-handed pressing for more and more concessions angered many of the Gran government officials, but there was nothing they could do. Dooku had already sent off a copy of the evidence against the Senator, along with a copy of the captain's personal logs, which constituted the majority of his evidence save for the miners themselves, to the Senate. The miners had begun to go public with their story on the HoloNet with the Alderaanian government's tacit backing. It was a major scandal, one the Senate could not sweep under the rug like it had so many others thanks to Alderaan's King and Senator pushing it as hard as they could.

But the Protectorate itself would remain in power, and at least half of those involved in this scheme would continue to retain their power base despite the loss of face. The evidence against them from the former captain's files was nowhere near as solid as it was against the Senator. Worse, I doubt we will be able to save very many personal slaves as Twila used to be. Those kinds of slaves will slip through the cracks no matter what we do. Slavery might be outlawed by the Galactic Republic as a whole, but there are glaring holes in that law, starting with Ryloth itself.

The Twi'leks had no other major export that could bring otherworldly interest to their planet and had never developed the ability to make their own ships or even hyperdrive ships. Slavery was their primary export long before the planet joined the Republic. While the Republic itself outlawed slavery, it looked the other way if Ryloth dealt with the other galactic powers out there, such as the Hutts, the Outer Rim territories, the small but growing Corporate Sector, and the Hapes Consortium.

Worse in my opinion is that slavery isn't as uncommon as people think even in the Republic itself! Oh, it's illegal to buy or sell slaves in practically every Republic system, but actually owning them isn't illegal. So you can just buy one elsewhere, bring him or her in like an indentured servant and you're protected by the law, as if people are property! The Gran and others are especially guilty of this.

And of course even if the Republic tried to crack down on that, we'd run into horrendous opposition. Too many senators, corporate leaders and other influential people 'know someone' who has a slave, and the slave is perfectly happy under their care of course! The Senate lacks the will to do change its own laws, let alone try to help the Twi'leks figure out some other export.

Dooku saw this as a sign of the Republic's deep and almost institutional corruption, which brought to mind the Jedi Order's place in it, and the fact that the Order had begun to run into the fact that enforcing the Republic's laws was not the same as upholding justice dozens of times over the past few years, and that the Order itself was seen as interfering outsiders. Such opinions were getting louder as the Senate began to become more and more openly corrupt and factional.

Enough, Dooku thought to himself pushing away from his recorder where he had just written up another report for the Jedi Council on his mission. He wasn't done his mission, not yet, the droids were still pulling more and more information off of the captain's logs every day, and that was allowing him to continue to hammer the Gran government.

Until that flow stopped, Dooku would continue to drop tiny little bombshells into the halls of power here on a day to day basis. Time for my daily exercise with young Ranma. Every night Dooku returned to his ship, where he remained despite the government's protests that they could have put him up in a hotel or villa to talk or train with Ranma for at least an hour or so every evening.

Training with Ranma was very much a mixed bag for the just past middle-aged (and let no one tell you different) Jedi master.

While he couldn't truly add any new skills to his lightsaber abilities, or use his Force abilities given the fact they were sparring in an enclosed area keeping up with Ranma's speed and the strength of his blows, even when he wasn't going all out was proving a tremendously difficult exercise for Dooku. And though Dooku would not admit it, he needed the physical exercise, and the outlet for his irritation after hours upon hours of deliberating and pontificating and talking endlessly with the government officials, the news reporters covering the story and the public.

Ranma too seemed to get quite a bit out of their spars and began to anticipate Dooku attacks, in particular coming to understand the different styles of lightsaber dueling to a degree, their strengths and weaknesses, which was astonishing to the white-haired Jedi. Dooku had never seen anyone with a learning curve for combat like Ranma. Indeed, it dwarfed the youth's ability with languages, which itself was astonishing.

But it was the discussions with Ranma which Dooku came to enjoy the most. Sometimes these were simply the exchanges of stories. Ranma would tell of some of his adventures in his old dimension, while Dooku would do the same, covering his years as a padawan, his exploits and his mistakes both. The two of them had talked about Ranma's origins, and had come to the conclusion that Ranma had indeed somehow jumped dimensions. While mathematically conceivable, this of course wasn't something Dooku had ever heard of before yet it was the only possible explanation.

Some of the adventures Ranma shared were equally beyond Dooku's comprehension. He didn't know how people could act like Ranma described he and his fellows sometimes did and get away with it. The curses however worried much more, so much that it was visible on his face despite his Jedi self-control, a human teenager turning into a small black pig, or a young woman turning into some other kind of little creature, which for some reason Ranma had trouble describing. The idea of that much mass somehow disappearing with the application of water was surreal to the Jedi master, and very worrying too.

The martial arts techniques on the other hand, those were not only impressive but verifiable. Ranma demonstrated a few of them for Dooku, not just the enlarged ki space, which in itself was quite simply a game changer if the Jedi could learn to use it. But also the Breaking Point technique, and his own durability, the real reason behind that particular Amazon training regimen.

That durability had startled Dooku immensely when he came upon Ranma testing it against blasters.

Flashback:

"Are you certain you want to do this?" Michael asked looking askance at Ranma who was holding his hand out to one side in the small mechanics room onboard the Kaiseki. "I mean, I get that you think your body's durable and all, but blasters aren't toys."

"I am." Ranma said. "Better know quick before later."