A few days had passed since Anakin and Padmé's secret wedding. The quiet moments of peace were fleeting, as the galaxy once again demanded their attention. The war had escalated, and the Republic was mobilizing its forces for another series of crucial battles.
Lelouch, now officially recognized as High General, had spent the last few days buried in strategy meetings, briefings, and tactical preparations. The weight of his new position was immense, but Lelouch bore it with the same calm determination that had carried him through the events on Geonosis.
"Master Yoda, thank you for accepting this meeting. I know you are preparing the Jedi on your side so I won't hold you for long."
"Trouble... it is not..."
"Thank you. I was made aware the Jedi have extensive record regarding our galaxy, some going so far as to the last conflict the republic itself faced with another galactic civilization, records they have full right to not share with any outsiders."
"Dangerous... some of this information is... uncertain about your request... I am"
"I understand your hesitance, however I do not intend to ask any information regarding the events between the Jedi and their enemies, merely geological information. The CIS has an advantage in numbers that is expanding by the minute. Any advantage, no matter how small, I cannot afford to give up... and this is no small advantage."
"... Understand... I do... Basic information... It's within my power to share... anymore.... I cannot give." The old Jedi master almost looked ashamed at that admission as he understood that the galaxy was at stake.
"That will be sufficient, thank you Master Yoda... forgive me for this inconvenience... I won't presume to know how difficult it is on you."
"Difficult... it is... necessary... it might also be."
"Then I better put it to good use."
As Master Yoda nodded, the transmission ended.
'You played to the old goblin's fears... now if only you could manage that reckless idiot you are trying to recruit this well... maybe we could get him on our side before he loses any more appendages.'
'Based on what you said, it shouldn't matter much whether he loses one or all appendages. '
'To some extent. For mortals, midichlorians are what determines the magnitude at which you can wield the force before the Force exerts the consequences on your body.'
As he sensed the subject of the conversation approach Lelouch asked the all-important question.
'And a mere sword, especially one comparable to me in power, doesn't need to know such matters, does it?'
'Not before you overcome your ...mortal limitations.'
"Lelouch... I heard you depart today."
"In a few hours. I've heard you'll be heading towards the outer rim any day now as well."
"Anywhere close?"
"Should be. By my calculations it'll be impossible to get you anywhere that is very far from Naboo in a week or so... at least based on the clone intelligence on CIS movements and latest reports from our informants."
"And you?"
Anakin gesture back at Lelouch, who was scrolling through the terminal at rather impressive speeds, the holographic map changing rapidly.
"I'll be on the other side of the galaxy, setting up defenses to slow down their offensives along the hyperlanes running from the outer rim. As long as I can properly fortify the Hydian Way hyperlane from that side and hopefully completely cut off the Perlemian Trade Route at Centares. It's unlikely but I'm hoping that the CIS will be lazy. If not... I'll just do it the hard way."
"Never even heard of Centares. Why is it so important?"
"It's not. In peace times its worth dirt. But it has 2 other planets stacked right behind it in the hyperlane. We take it, fortify all three planets, and we can hold the CIS offensive for years on that front."
Suddenly a hologram came to life on the table.
"General, I've been authorized to give you access to the temple archives. A lot of information will be redacted though we hope you find it useful."
"Thank you."
Anakin turned his head at that.
"Temple archives? What are you searching for?"
"Geological information. Planetary bodies that may serve as forward operating bases, others as intelligence gathering outposts. Basically, anything to give me an edge."
Lelouch's frown deepened as he sighed rather loudly.
"Nothing good come up?"
"Plenty good, nothing specific and worthwhile though. It's all redacted. I can only take my guesses so far."
"Can I help?"
"Not unless you somehow got Jedi Knight clearance and just so happens to not mind breaking some rules."
"Actually..." Anakin said while looking a little too pleased with himself.
"You got promoted... you have to be kidding me."
With a self-satisfied smile Anakin moved in front of the console and inputted his credentials.
"Thanks..."
"It's nothing. We are at war after all. If this can help us win it I'm all for it." Anakin said as he soon got bored and left.
'That cuts our work down somewhat.'
Lelouch turned back at the terminal as he filtered through the newly available planets.
'I need any additions during the conflict of the Galactic Republic with the Sith Empire, give or take 2-3 decades... that gives us about 200 potential targets, now cross-reference with any that shows up in Anakin's terminal... and he has 15 more results that don't appear here. Safe to say those are our potential gold mines.'
As he was about to close his terminal the resident Lord of Chaos suddenly stopped him. 'Don't be so hasty... Those you've found are the ones Jedi's presume to hold any value or danger... just because they think so does not make it so. This would be a good time for you to try and feel the flow of the Force itself.'
Lelouch opened to look through the list of planets carefully once again.
'You're doing it wrong. Don't try and think this through logically. Pull up the map. Feel through the force where you will find what you seek.'
Lelouch narrowed his eyes rather skeptically, but relented. He was not the expert when it came to the mystic and he knew that much.
Pulling up the galactic map, closing his eyes, Lelouch's hand hovered over the map.
'How sure are you this is going to work?'
'Given how the dark side is basically jumping with joy every time you wave your hand, I'd say pretty high.'
'I don't think I've done anything to merit that.'
'Not yet... but it sees what you are brewing, even clearer than me. It can feel it coming and it's just dying for a taste... and it gets that taste at each person you subjugate. Of course, should you fail... well let's just say you shouldn't.'
Lelouch merely listened... though subtly he could feel something agreeing with
'Then the light side doesn't bother to interfere, because it feels the order you are going to place, the peace you are going to restore. It's a contradiction to be sure but I think we both know that IT IS going to work. Thats why this will also work, why... oh... you should probably hurry... we kind of ripped visions of the future from the force on Geonosis.'
Lelouch hand slowly moved as he felt a pull reaching over as he followed until slowly came to a stop...
Seeing where his hand stopped... 'Thats a rather large territory... though only 3 planets on our list of 215 can be found there. First up and most famous, Korriban.'
'Home world of the Sith, plenty of information here. Safe to say anything of worth has been picked up or destroyed long ago.'
'Next up is Dromund Kaas, also plenty of information... massive staging ground for Sith of old but if anything exists hat they haven't found yet, we'll have to wait till we have the luxury to dig the planet to its bones...'
'Lastly, Malachor V...' Thats as far as the Lord of Change went as Lelouch's eyes opened wide.
'THATS IT!'
"Thats it!" He said with a shout, or at least such a shout in his mind that it came out in words. His heart was trembling, his hand was shaking and the dark side was almost to the surface of his facade, threatening to rush out and crush the very city he was standing on.
'Calm down... By your reaction it seems we have stumbled upon something much more powerful than a simple Sith Holocron... or it could be something using whatever is on Malachor V as a conduit and therefore there will almost certainly be a Holocron or artifact of similar function we can extract knowledge we require from.'
'Isn't that lucky.' Lelouch scoffed.
'I'm afraid it has nothing to do with luck as you'll soon come to realize. However, a worrying concern remains. You are now in a position of heavy scrutiny. It will be years before you even have a chance to privacy. How exactly do you plan to reach Malachor under these conditions?'
'Like most people in stature. By proxy. If there is something there that does require my personal attention, I will then find a way to make my way there... but not before.'
'It's the safe route... but i agree. We don't know what the dark side considers useful and powerful. If it's just an experimental weapon it won't be of much use to our current plans.'
'But who will you send? Your right hand in training is a long way from following orders without question. And clones are not exactly non-descript. I'm sure separatists have their one face plastered all over the place.'
Lelouch thought for a moment before he relayed his thoughts.
'I actually had a candidate in mind. While you ripped the future from the force... I ripped the past from Count Dooku. '
A.N: Lelouch and Tzeentch are searching for Sith Holocrons, ones focused in Sith Alchemy/Rituals, which are rather rare. This is so Tzeentch can glimpse into how they work, from artifacts to rituals and reverse engineer them so he can find ways to apply his knowledge and mastery while using the force as a substitute power source.