Chapter 23: Time Spent

Plo Koon was shocked at his padawan's suggestion, but the more he thought about it the more I made sense. Connor could not handle the bureaucratic process of getting Rattatak a petition to be added to the Republic. Plo Koon however, as a member of the Jedi Council was much more familiar and had more pull and with an extra pair of hands to help Ky Narec, the process would be much faster.

"Well, I can't say I agree with having my padawan separated from me but I think this is the best course of action", Plo Koon said, "But are you sure Connor, you'll probably be stuck here for a couple months?". "Yes, master this is the best course of action so it must be done", Connor replied. "We are forgetting that we can't even leave because our ships haven't been outfitted to withstand this planet's magnetic pull", Plo Koon mentioned. "Let me handle this", Ky butted in, "I have good relations with some local mechanics so I should be able to get at least Plo Koon's ship ready and capable and later on I should be able to do the same with Conner's ship". The four Jedi all agreed on the plan of action.

The next few days consisted of waiting for Plo Koon's ship to ready for the trip back to Coruscant. Connor continued to spar with Ventress at her request. During their sparring sessions, Ventress borrowed her master's lightsaber to test Connor's suggestion of utilizing two lightsabers. Connor also knew that in the cinematic universe Ventress practiced a double-bladed version of Form II but nobody present had any experience with Makashi so that would have to wait until they got back to Coruscant. Connor's main goal in staying her was actually to make sure that Ventress wouldn't fall to the dark side in this life. Connor felt that she could become a great Jedi if he helped her to resist the temptation that the dark side had.

Time passed in the blink of an eye and Plo Koon left and made his way to the Jedi Temple. Connor stayed behind to help Ky Narec, but the process turned out to be a lot more paperwork then he had anticipated after all they were practically creating a ruling authority from scratch. Ky Narec already had an idea of the person that he wanted to take over as king temporarily until such a time that he could be brought into the republic as a Senator. The man's name was Ginzech. He was a Rattataki and a warlord but unlike other warlords, he desired for peace and prosperity over his planet. Ginzech had inherited the position from his father when he passed away and tried his best to make the area, he ruled over into a more civilized place rather than a warring country.

And just that that three months went by. Occasionally Ky would require Connor's skills as a warrior. The warlords were still set in their ways and were very prideful and did not want to be ruled by somebody else. So, while Ky always tried a diplomatic solution first, there was sometimes a need for aggressive negotiations. Through these various battles, Connor had gained 300 exp towards his next level and he had also kept up his meditation adding another 30 exp bringing his total to 602 out of the 700 needed for his next level up. Connor realized that leveling up while consistent was much too slow of a growth rate.

Each level up only rewarded him with a single force point and skill point and the requirements to reach the next level was always increasing. The only other ways to increase his strength was to complete quests and absorb holocrons. The quest that F.U.S.S gave out were sporadic and untrustworthy while holocrons were difficult to find. Slowly, an idea appeared in Connor's head to gain even more power.

"Kksssshhhh", Connor and Ventress were currently sparring. Ventress had switched to two lightsabers and had become somewhat proficient in their use. Connor then spun one lightsaber out of her hand causing it to land several meters away. With only one lightsaber, Ventress was quickly overpowered and the match ended in Connor's victory. "Don't worry about it, the score is only 84 – 0", Connor stated. Ventress rolled her eyes then laughed. Connor was quite happy he got to see this side of Ventress without her turning without her turning to the dark side. She was much happier and carefree without the death of her master weighing on her unlike the version of her Connor was familiar with who only cared about killing and gaining power.

Just as Connor was heading back inside to see if Ky Narec needed anything from him, He spotted a spaceship landing nearby. He recognized this ship, it belonged to the Galactic Republic. Connor decided to instead head towards the Spaceport. When he arrived, he saw his master along with a couple of other Jedi he did not recognize as well as a few diplomats from the republic.

"Hello, master", Connor stepped forward to greet his master. "Greetings, padawan. How are things here on you end?", Plo Koon asked. "Very well, these past three months we have made great progress and we feel that it is safe for the republic to take over", Connor replied. "Good, let me discuss these things further with Ky Narec and we will reach a decision together".

Connor and Plo Koon made their way back over to Ky's residence and meet up with the Jedi Knight and his apprentice. After talking and debating for quite some time, it was decided that the jedi and diplomats that arrived with Plo Koon would oversee the annexation of Rattatak into the Republic while Ky Narec, Ventress, Connor and Plo Koon would head back to the Jedi Temple to be debrief and wait for another assignment. Ky Narec was not thrilled about this decision, he wanted to stay for the entirety of the liberation of Rattatak, but he had to settle with the fact that someone else would oversee it. Connor was actually relieved to be leaving; the time he had spent here was a major step in changing the events as they played out in the movies, but Connor now had other things he wanted to accomplish.