7/7

Is the only recourse for me to search out the Sith? For all their use of the Dark Sid and their evil deeds, they continued to change, to adapt and to grow. And they sometimes forced the Jedi, and the galaxy as a whole, to do the same. It was only after they were vanquished that the Jedi pruned themselves back in fear of the temptations of the Dark Side. We need to expand again, to start to grow if we wish to change the Republic as a whole.

Just then something niggled at the Jedi Master's senses, causing Dooku to come out of his thoughts with a start. What… some kind of odd ripple in the Force, but what, and where? For a moment he stretched out his senses, feeling through the force around him out into space. After a moment he found it, small and at the edge of his senses yet so odd, so strange, so new!

It was very hard to put it into words, but it was as if the Force itself was, was almost giggling at a joke, specifically a joke at someone's expense? That was the impression he got from the force ripple, which was simply bizarre! The Force should never be able to feel like that, it wasn't a living thing after all. Yet after a few moments, there were other ripples, the Force not so much laughing now but joyful, surging in a way that Dooku had never felt or even read about.

Swiftly coming out of his meditation Dooku moved over to his room's intercom speaking crisply into it. "Captain Rocol, please take us out of hyperspace now. I realize that we are not yet at our destination, but something has come up. The moment we exit hyperspace do a full system scan. Something unusual is going on nearby, and I wish to know what."

It was readily apparent the moment the moment the cruiser left hyperspace that Dooku had a grasp of the understatement. This was part of the Hydian Way, but in this area there shouldn't have been any ships stopped going from up one place to the other. This system was a nothing system, a brown dwarf with only a single tiny planet at the outskirts of its gravitational field, a luckless capture from some neighboring star system at one point in its past with no exploitable resources.

However, now this system held not only the Consular class-cruiser but another ship. It was a freighter of Gran design ship of a classification that was three times heavier than the Jedi cruiser, though not as heavily armored. "It's a retrofitted heavy hauler master, the kind used to move large groups of people in not a lot of comfort, master Jedi." said the captain, Michael Rocol, when Dooku arrived on the bridge. "Our sensor readings indicate that it dropped out of hyperspace due to some kind of malfunction in its hyperdrive."

"Correct me if I'm wrong Captain but wouldn't that sort of malfunction have completely destroyed their hyperdrive?" Said Dooku smiling slightly at the younger man, a Corellian by his accent. The Corellia system was home to quite a few of the crew members on Jedi cruisers, despite having a somewhat more independent streak when it came to Republic politics than most. Corellia as a whole was known to produce incredibly gifted sailors and pilots, along with rogues, smugglers, and any other kind of spacer imaginable.

"Most hyperdrives have an emergency cutoff switch my Lord. If you're very lucky or very good at your job you can possibly survive a malfunction of the core." Michael's tone seemed to indicate which he thought it had been in this case. Scuttlebutt had done its work, and everyone in the small crew of seven knew about Dooku's mission. Corellians as a whole were death on slavery, whatever its official label, and the captain's disdain for the Garn of Malastare was palpable.

"Could it have been sabotaged?" Dooku asked.

"Possibly if you knew what you were doing sir." The younger man replied. "Or, as I said before, get incredibly lucky."

"Are they radioing any kind of distress signal?"

"No my Lord, we're getting readings signifying a lot of inter-ship chatter, but nothing we can pick up from this range."

"Bring us in closer captain, but keep the shields up just in case." Dooku ordered. The captain nodded, and the ship immediately began to move forward. By that point the captain had pulled up the ships registry. It was a Garm Protectorate ship owned by the government under the name that translated into common asPower's Delights.

Soon enough they were alongside the other ship and the communications specialist easily broke the inter-ship communications protocols. After listening to the garbled reports the man, a Mon Calimari, began to chuckle in the wet hacking way of his people. "It seems as if the ship is having internal problems, a 'slave' revolt. They even call them 'slaves' on their inter-ship transmissions."

Dooku smiled somewhat evilly. "Methinks my upcoming meeting with the Protectorate's governor has just become much simpler."

"There is some talk about a young human man or woman starting the trouble, but it is so garbled and laced with what is clearly attempts to cover their own rear quadrants that I can't say anything more than that I'm afraid. But it does appear as if the so-called slaves, all former miners, are wining." The Mon Calimari male, whose name was Ocko, shrugged his shoulders in one of those human gestures that had jumped to practically every species in the Republic which had shoulders.

"Do you think we could access the docking bay remotely?" By that Dooku meant it if they would be able to access the other ships computer to turn on the magnetic field that would keep in the air while simultaneously opening the docking bays doors for them to enter.

"We should be able to do it sir. Most ships' hangars can be remote accessed on a reserve frequency in case of onboard disasters, but it will take several minutes to set up. And after we'll have to pilot in ourselves." The captain reported.

"Of course." Dooku smiled faintly. "In that case captain, bring us in closer, and send the signal when ready. I believe I need to investigate this personally."

Is this the Force's response to my question? Is whatever over there going to help answer my questions about my path and about the Order as a whole? For the first time in several years Dooku found himself faced with a mystery, a mystery of the Force and he was surprised to find that he was actually eager to solve it whatever the outcome might be.

OOOOOO

The slavers had soon realized that the battle was a hopeless one. Outnumbered, and thanks to Ranma stealing every weapon in their armory, outgunned the only two places on the ship that were still under the slaver's control was the bridge and the captain's quarters directly adjacent to it. The corridor that led to the bridge was guarded by four gun emplacements stuck on the walls that ran off independent power sources, and the miners had no wish to tangle with them.

However the bridge was now cut off from communications, sensors, even power, thanks to a few of the miners slicing into the bulkheads and cutting out routers for the ship's internal energy. Every other part of the ship had been overrun by the miners. Though Ranma didn't know it, the bridge crew couldn't even self-destruct the ship now, not with the miners in command of the engine room and the damage they and Ranma had done already.

The last battle came when a dozen orcs and three of the orange scaled aliens gathered in the docking bay before trying to push down the corridor towards the women's side to take them hostage against the rest of the miners. But they ran into the miners that were on guard duty as well as Ranma, who had come back after he realized that the miners had the rest of the battle well in hand.

Well that and he began to be irritated when all of the miners in the engine room had begun to shout at him the moment they saw what he had done to the engine. One of the weird little aliens had apparently seen him on the pipe before he fired off his Moko Takabashi. Ranma didn't understand a word of what they were shouting, but it certainly didn't sound like compliments.

After the battle Ranma escorted the single girls and the families out from that area and into the docking bay, trying to ignore the looks he was getting from a few of them, including the green-skinned one with the head tentacles. From there they began to spread out, going through the cargo stacked there looking for anything they could use. For a moment Ranma was at a loss as to what to do with himself. After all, he still couldn't understand what anyone else was saying, he didn't have any technical knowledge of the ship to help the women and men here or anywhere else on the ship.

He wasn't the only one who seemed to at a loss as to what to do though. The green skinned woman with the head tentacles was looking rather lost as well. Yet every time he looked in her direction, the alien woman was looking at him, her head cocked to one side as if she was trying to work out a puzzle. Ranma saw her face firm for a moment, then twitched when she began to move toward him.

Just then some kind of announcement went on over the ships broadcast system. "Warning incoming shuttle, warning incoming shuttle."

Ranma felt some one's hand land on his shoulder and was pulled back towards one of the walls. Looking up he noticed it was one of the women, thankfully not one of the ones that looks like a human crossed with a furry devil. She said something to him, but Ranma shrugged incomprehension and the woman sighed before nudging him into position against the wall.

Moments later Ranma watched in shock and as the outer bay doors opened, but none of the air was sucked out into space. I thought that space was a vacuum,ain't it supposed to suck stuff out? Ranma's thoughts paused as he noticed some kind of blue shimmering screen covering the bay doors, spreading from one edge of the opening to the other. Some kind of shield to keep in the air? That is so cool!

Slowly a ship came into view coming from what Ranma estimated was the front of the slaving vessel, moving along its side until it was right outside the docking area. Then the main engine cutoff and smaller ventral thrusters began to fire, pushing it sideways into the hangar Bay. Then those too cut off, and something else on its bottom began to allow it to hover in place slowly coming to a rest on the floor of the hangar bay. As soon as the new ship was inside the hangar bay the doors began to close.

The moment they closed the door alongside the new ship's side opened, and Ranma stared seeing the first human he had seen since coming to this galaxy or whatever. He was a tall man, extremely tall in fact, and he looked elderly, just out of middle-aged or so, but fit, limber and wide-shouldered. His hair was going gray where it was cropped short on his head, and his aquiline features were stern yet inquisitive as he looked around. He was garbed simply, and he didn't seem to have any visible blasters on him or anything of that nature. On his waist he carried a long slim cylinder of some kind with a slightly hooked end to it, but if it was a weapon it was a type Ranma hadn't seen yet.

Yet even without a visible weapon, Ranma knew this man would be dangerous. He moved with all the confidence of a martial arts master, and his body was in complete and total control as he moved forward lightly on his feet. Ranma couldn't tell what kind of style he practiced, he wasn't close enough to see any of the telltale clues in the man's eyes or body language for that, but the confidence the man carried himself was the tried and tested sort.

And Ranma ki sense was telling him that the man had a major reservoir to him. But for some reason it was also entirely connected to the chi all around them. So much so that Ranma could barely tell where one ended and the other began.

While Ranma was making these observations the man was doing the same looking all around him, taking in everything. As he moved forward a few of the miners moved forward to talk to him. They were interrupted however as one of the women rushed forward shouting angrily.

Dooku had taken in what had obviously occurred here in a glance, a ship crewed by Garn and Gamorreans had for some reason taken several dozen miners of various races captive. Yet they had seemingly bitten off more than they could chew in some fashion, which matched with what his crewmen had taken from the internal ship coms.

While his eyes were flicking here and there a delegation of what were obviously miners walked towards him. At the same time Dooku began to expand his senses outward, trying to pin down the disturbance in the Force he had sensed. He had barely begun and had already gotten a sense of the individual he was here to see being nearby when his concentration was interrupted. "You, Jedi! Child kidnappers!"

One of the women, a by her looks had raced forward, pushing aside two miners who tried to stop her, and was now in Dooku's face, pushing at him and shouting angrily in his face. "My son, where is my son! You took him, you took him away! His father should never have let you do it, my baby!"

Dooku winced internally. This wasn't the first time he had met someone who had a child that had been taken up into the order, but it was never easy to deal with. Medical hospitals the galaxy over routinely checked babies and toddlers for force potential and if the potential was high enough to warrant interest the order routinely sent a Jedi to look into it. If true, the same Jedi would convince the parents to give the child up. He knew that in his own case that had been a very uphill battle given his age, but for the most part the parents were happy to send the child to where they would get training in their unique abilities. Or at least that was what everyone was told. Dooku had never been sent on such a mission, so didn't know the truth of it.

"Madam, I…" Dooku began.

His calm words however were interrupted by the woman actually pushing him physically. "Where is my son?!"

Frowning Dooku held up a hand waving it briefly as he sent out a pulse of Force into the woman's mind trying to calm her down. The next second however he was forced to dodge backward as a foot flashed through where his head had recently been.

Ranma glared at the old man, pushing the woman back behind him, fists clenched. Ranma didn't know what he had been doing, but Ranma had seen the old man send out his ki to interact with the woman somehow via his ki sense. It almost looked like some of the healing techniques that Dr. Tofu had used in the past, but not quite, having something in common with Hinako's ability to drain someone's energy of someone else as well.

Whatever the case, even if it might have been more along the lines of Tofu's rather than Hinako's technique, Ranma was unwilling to let him complete it. "I don't know what you're doing to her, but where I come from you have to ask for permission to do something like that."

It was him! Dooku stared at the young man in front of him. He looked possibly eighteen, maybe younger, and he stood like a warrior, his body tensed, ready for anything. But that wasn't the reason Dooku was staring at him, no that was what his Force sense was telling him. The boy was a fountain of the Living Force, more Force power then Dooku had seen in anyone before, save perhaps Yoda and some of the other Masters of the order. It was wild and untamed, yet it all came from him, and not from his connection to the Force around him!

The young man dropped into what Dooku easily recognized as a unarmed combat stance. Reflexively Dooku began to use Force Control, trying to calm the youth down as he had tried the woman, only to break off in surprise as the boy rocketed forward faster than anyone not Force-assisted should've been able to do. He blocked a punch that would've impacted his chin, wincing in pain at the strength, calling on the Force quickly to reinforce his body then ducked to one side to get away from a kick and punch combo before the young man landed, kicking out to try to sweep Dooku off his feet. Dooku jumped over the kick, thrusting out with one hand in a Force Push to send his opponent away hoping that he would calm down.

Ranma grunted as the wave of almost invisible ki slammed into them. But he kept his footing, rushing forward.

"Calmly young man, please I come in peace!" Dooku barked then watched in surprise as the young man made no sign of having understood his words. A bare second later Dooku was forced to dodge several different punches and kicks moving faster and with greater accuracy that few non-Force users could've kept up with. Dooku jumped away, putting more distance between him and the young man, activating his lightsaber so automatically he didn't even think about it first.

Unfortunately rather than backing off the young man took Dooku's activating the weapon as a further challenge. He grinned and kept on coming, seemingly without any recognition of what the lightsaber meant. Though that was interesting, Dooku had to concentrate on the here and now.

The young man was fast Dooku thought, moving his head fractionally to dodge a kick. His free hand reached out to grab attacker's arm, but he was already out of the way of the grab, his hand chopping out so fast that Dooku barely pulled his own arm back in time, only his battle precognition allowing him to do so. Very fast! And I am no master of unarmed combat.

Dooku had long looked down his aquiline nose on unarmed combat, thinking it brutish and inelegant in comparison to lightsaber combat. Still, there are ways about that. He jumped back, Force pushing the pigtailed youth away from him for a moment, having to fight his own instincts as his blood rose at the bare challenge the young man posed. Somehow the Force was telling him that this fight needed to happen, the young man was simply too combative to listen until he was beaten down a bit.

Somewhat like the Mandalorians in that aspect. He mused, while flicking his thumb on the setting control of his lightsaber for a moment. Dooku was about to lower its settings when the young man was on him again. He dodged several kicks and punches, reposting so automatically he couldn't stop himself. Dooku then watched astonished as the young man dodged, his fist flashing out to almost catch Dooku in the throat. The young man doesn't have any kind of survival instinct! Or simply doesn't understand what a lightsaber can do!

Dooku swayed to one side, now taking part of the battle in earnest, his sword flashing here there and everywhere. Unfortunately his Makashi, his favored style, was a from based entirely towards lightsaber duels rather than towards an unarmed combatant. Some of the parry's and swings in particular had to be regulated, changed to allow him to face his current opponent's unarmed style rather than use the actions of his opponent's lightsaber against him in a variety of ways, particular changing the momentum of his own blows.

The Jedi master's surprises did not stop there. They continued when Dooku thrust swirly at the youth's chest, pulling back just enough so that the blow wouldn't penetrate, instead only burning away a bit of the young man's clothing. But the young man blocked it before Dooku could pull back! And instead of the young man's hand either being cored through or at the very least burned badly, he simply batted it aside, with a hand was glowing with blue gold with Force Energy, though the energy faded quickly at the point of impact.

Dooku's eyes widened at that sight but he backpedaled quickly deterring or blocking the young man's assault automatically with his blade, while trying to make sense of what he just saw. Calling upon the Living Force like that, actually bending the Force around you enough to make it visible, I've never heard of anything like that except possibly Sith Lightning. Wasn't there another kind of lightning, something Light based? Dooku wondered. He'd never gone into that area of research unfortunately, but even so this was something else entirely.

Still, if this mystery youth can do that, it means I no longer have to hold back so much. With a small smirk on his face Dooku stopped falling back, his blade swinging much more purposefully as he now began to push the young man back in turn.

Ranma grinned, matching the old man blow for blow, dodging what assaults he could. I've got a major speed advantage over him, and I'd bet strength too. But that powersword of his, damn that thing ate through my ki shielding technique like nothing else! That was a technique Ranma had developed after fighting Saffron, a sort of extension of the body strengthening technique. Instead of keeping your ki flowing in your skin, which was easy and became automatic after the Bakutsai Tenketsu training, you covered your skin with it, creating a sort of cushion. It was hard as hell, but was the start of shape manipulation, an area Ranma was anxious to get into. But that blade, it nearly cut through my ki even in that bare second of contact!

Even strangers he's somehow anticipating all of my own attacks! That's damn amazing, since I know I don't have any tells. Could he be reading my mind just enough to keep ahead of me somehow? Whatever he tried to do to that woman was centered on her mind… Damn, I don't have any defense against that kind of thing, time to switch styles.

With that in mind Ranma began to modify his style. He added more wildness to it, some uncontrolled movements here and there. He also opened up some holes in his own defense, thinking to lure the old man into a trap.

Dooku didn't fall for it, though his eyes did widen appreciatively at the young man's attempts. But then he frowned as one punch got through his own defense, impacting his upper arm with numbing force even though it was a glancing blow. Strong too, and adaptable, able to use more than one style at will, a sign of a true master. I wonder where he learned how to fight, some of his moves look similar to the Echani style, but also perhaps the Palawa, but the totality is something I've never seen before.

Yet he isn't the only one who can change styles. With that Dooku changed to Ataru. This was the lightsaber form favored by his master, Yoda, which was centered on acrobatics and mobility. Dooku used a Force Jump to get above the young man, slicing downward quickly as he twirled in the air, before righting himself right before he landed, coming back quickly, moving and jinking from side to side.

Ranma laughed wildly, matching the old man still. So he knows more than one style too. Well I can adapt! With that thought he began to utilize more kicks and the occasional attempt at a false grapple into his assault, which caught the old man off-balance slightly.

A kick caught the old man in the shin rather than the stomach Dooku thought the youth was aiming for, causing him to stumble slightly. But even so he used that stumble to roll, bringing his lightsaber around in an arc that would've bisected Ranma if he hadn't jumped away quickly. Swiftly Dooku pressed his advantage, reaching out with the Force.

As Ranma was in midair he felt himself being buffeted by something, some kind of ki technique from the old man, not quite the same as the first one he'd tried. Instead of pushing this one grabbed Ranma, flinging him further down the cargo bay. Before he could right himself Ranma slammed into one of the crates there with enough force to leave a dent in its side. But Ranma flipped himself up over it, grabbing it by the top and hurling the large crate at the old man.

Somewhat astonished at his opponent's strength Dooku raced forward, his lightsaber out. Slicing through the container entirely he jumped up into the air to meet the young man, who had leapt into the air after his projectile. Dooku used some of the small white boxes that the crate had contained, jumping here and there and meeting the young man punch for slash.

He also used the force to grab at the small white boxes, attacking Ranma from every angle he could. He also tried to move them out from underneath the youth's feet as he used them to stay in the air. Yet even so as the battle continued Dooku was amazed at how good the young man was in midair, seemingly able to change direction and move with an ease that was astonishing despite this interference.

Seeing a chance Ranma suddenly grinned, and instead of blocking or trying to get out of the way of a blow from the old man's weird powersword grabbed the blade of it his fist in blue and gold ki. The ki shield began to dissolve swiftly from whatever power was in the thing almost faster than Ranma could renew it, but he was undaunted. His other hand disappeared into the speed assault of the Katchu Tenshin Amiguriken.

With his battle precognition screaming danger Dooku swiftly turned his lightsaber off, the blade disappearing from his opponent's grip. He quickly activated it once more allowing him to block a few of the punches the young man was throwing so fast he couldn't follow the movement. But several of them got through, the young man was so blindingly fast! The Jedi Master's own reflexes couldn't keep up despite his battle precognition.

One blow smacked him in the ribs, and he felt something give way, despite his Force assisted durability, a technique most Guardians learned first developed by the old Force Warriors sect. Even so his lightsaber bit into the young man's thigh, though not nearly as far as Dooku had thought it would. Another blow caught Dooku's shoulder, and he could feel his shoulder break. Wincing Dooku Force Grabbed the young man again, flinging him away as hard as possible knowing the young man was now much more durable than his being human suggested.

Ranma grimaced as he slammed back first into another crate of a different variety, smashing through its side with a splash. The container had obviously been some kind of water tub, and Ranma groaned as he felt the change happen.

Across from him Dooku gaped, his lightsaber turning off as he stared at the young redheaded woman who had just been a young black haired man. And for just a moment there he had felt the Force shiver a little in that odd amused laugh sort of feeling. "What," he gaped "What just happened?"

Dooku wasn't the only one staring astonished at the young man-turned girl. Many of the miners hadn't made the connection between the buxom redhead and the young man who had suddenly appeared to aid their bid for freedom. Some of the women had suspicions, but no one had figured it out, the most anyone had thought was they were siblings, and since the ship was so large, not seeing them together didn't really register to anyone. After all, the idea someone could change gender on the drop of a hat like that was so bizarre it would never occur to anyone.

Now that they saw it however, many of them began to mutter amongst themselves. While male Ranma had been in the doghouse for his destruction of the hyperdrive, female Ranma was lauded as the one to really start the ball rolling in their escape. The women were smiling at seeing the young woman who had rescued them, and the green-skinned girl with the head tentacles in particular was staring at her avidly.

Ranma pushed herself out of the container, wringing out her shirt in such a way that caused almost every male within the hanger to blush, smirk appreciatively, or outright leer before being smacked upside their heads by nearby women. Finished with his shirt as much as he could, Ranma stared across at the old man who that was now staring at him/her, obviously not ready to continue the fight. "What, never seen a cursed person before?" Ranma laughed. That had been the best fight she'd had in ages.

Even if that powersword was able to get through my body's natural toughness, she thought wincing a little as her injured leg took some of her weight after she stepped out of the ruined crate. She grinned suddenly, wondering if this form would give her an advantage if the fight continued. Heh, even the guys who knew about my curse never wanted ta fight me in this form when I was wearin' t-shirts. She shuddered, and not from the cold. Um, on second thought, nah. Ergh, let's not go there. The idea of any guy touchin' me is just… brrrr, and the idea of 'em leerin' at me ain't much better.

The fight had taken only about 5 to 10 minutes, during which all of the miners and their families had watched in astonishment then for some in amusement. Now seeing their savior and realizing her and the young man who'd destroyed the engines were one and the same, one of one of them made to stand forward. "Master Jedi, the young woman, she doesn't seem to understand Galactic Standard or any other language that we know, but he was the one that helped free us! He, she, um, whichever, showed very strange powers doing so. We thought he was a Jedi youth of some kind." The man then went on somewhat querulously. "Though we have no idea about his odd changing gender at the touch of water thing."

"I don't know what he is." said Dooku calmly, letting none of his pain show. "Other than a rambunctious young man who enjoys fighting a little too much for even my tastes." Watching the youth he could tell that the young man had listened, and was now looking between the miners and the woman who had accosted Dooku about her son in confusion.

For his part Ranma really was confused. He had thought that the old man was some kind of detective or something, the miners were very respectful of him, and seemed to think he was on their side. But then the woman had charged forward and gotten into his face. Even then Ranma wouldn't have attacked him but the old man had tried to do something to her and then Ranma when he interrupted the attempt. Now though the miners had calmed the woman down and were still talking in respectful tones to the old man. Who, now that they had paused their battler seemed in no hurry to resume it.

After a moment Ranma sighed, holding up her hands and sitting down in a lotus position staring at the old man. Her intent was clear, and the old man smiled back at her. Ranma was both relieved and confused when the older man kept his eyes on Ranma's face, not even glancing down at her chest in the nearly see-through t-shirt she was wearing.

Dooku actually chuckled a little, having watched the young man/woman whichever, regain control of herself. Deciding to address him as male until proven otherwise, he said, "Your attempt to defend that woman from what you might have seen as an attack was admirable young man, as is your self-control and combat abilities." Wincing slightly Dooku pulled a nearby crate toward him with the Force and then sat on top of it, taking up the same position as the redhead, his hands held up in token of peace.

After the redhead nodded at him and lowered her arms, Dooku tapped his communicator to send a message to the captain of his ship. "Captain, I believe we have a protocol droid aboard. Could you send it out please? I have a task for it." then looked back up at Ranma, who was still watching him intently. "I believe young man, that when we are able to the two of us will have much to discuss."

End chapter

As you can see, this is close to where Dooku fell in with Palpatine, but not quite. His initial reasons for searching out the Sith was his concern on the way the Jedi were becoming mere tools of the corrupt Senate. Now it's questionable if he ever will fall to the Sith, though he still has a Bleeping ton of reservations about the Jedi Order. Ranma will understand that, and what he thinks of their Code is unprintable. This story is more comedy and combat based, with some world building and romance thrown in. The main girl will be Shaak Ti, who Ranma would meet in a traditional Ranma way, and maybe two others. Possibly not as well, and possibly not Aayla, as much as I love her looks and some of her character, I am going to be pairing her with Harry in my other SW cross, so having her in both might not happen.