Chapter 54: Chapter 54

A Young Girl’s War Between the Stars

Ilum, 39 BBY/961 GSC.

Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi sat in meditation in the icy temple of Ilum, floating an inch above the ground as he attuned himself to the energies flowing through the temple. He breathed deeply and easily as the power rolled over and through him, flowing freely and easily. His body, filled with the Living Force, did not feel the cold, nor hunger, nor thirst. His heart beat slowly, perhaps once a minute, and his breaths came at about the same rate. He felt stronger and more deeply connected to the Force than he ever had before.

When he had first been stranded—no, stationed here as punishment meted out by his old Master Yoda, he had been resentful. Irate, even, at being scolded like some fresh Padawan child. It was an affront to his status. Being in the temple only made it worse.

It had started slowly at first, as a faint irritation that built over the course of weeks. Then, it had seemed to hit all at once, one day. The light flowing up from the nexus below had burned at him, leaving his senses blinded and strained, his body aching and trembling, begging for relief as a fire lit within him. It was like coming out of a dark room into the hot summer sun, then standing under it naked until his skin burned and he grew sick inside as the light clawed its way inside and burned away the impurities. It wasn’t until days into the worst of the punishment, when the burning began to ease somewhat and he could think clearly, that he realized that something was deeply wrong with him.

Since that moment, he’d had much time to reflect on his actions, his thoughts, and those of the Jedi around him. Though it pained him to admit, he had come to realize, as the veil over his senses began to lift like a heavy fog burned away in the morning sun, that Padawan Mereel’s warning about the temple on Coruscant being on top of a dark side nexus and influencing all those atop it had merit to it.

With the partial lifting of the veil, he saw the truth now. Saw how much his senses had been dulled. And how far he still had to go, to fully cleanse himself of the taint of the dark side. How far the rest of the Order, who had spent their lives on Coruscant in the Temple just as he had, would need to go to purge themselves of it. Even now, the burn lingered within him—much less painful than it had been before, but it was still a reminder of his state.

He wasn’t certain that many of the other Jedi could bear the pain of what was to come, for long enough to heal themselves. It would be a trial they would need to complete, however. If necessary, they may need help those who were too weak to bear it. It would bring him no joy to see them suffer as the darkness was burned out of them, but that was better than letting the rot fester.

The question was, where to start. The logical place was with the other Masters—those highest within the Order first, then move lower. However, given how long it was taking to fully cleanse himself, it may take years to cleanse someone like Plo, while someone of Master Yoda’s advanced age could take decades of dedicated meditation within the light to heal. Mace, who actively used the dark side to fight may suffer the worst out of the younger Masters.

It stood to reason then that those who had spent the least time in the Temple at Coruscant would recover the fastest. They could work through the younglings and unattached youths, then the Padawans, and potentially clear them out in batches.

And the best place to start there is the most egregious example, he mused, the face of Dooku’s newest pupil coming to mind as his lip twitched in amusement at the thought of dragging her into the light kicking and screaming…

Footsteps sounded in the hall and he felt the presence of an approaching Jedi. The presence felt fairly young and vaguely familiar. She stopped nearby and bowed her head. He opened his eyes, taking the mirialan young woman in. “Master Mundi, I am Knight Luminara Unduli,” she identified herself. “The High Council has sent for you.”

“Have they?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, Master Mundi. Master Yoda and Master Mace asked for you specifically. They sent me to come retrieve you from your survey mission and asked me to let you know they have another mission for you, but they didn’t tell me what it was. Just that it was of great importance to the Order,” she nodded.

So, they have not made the details of this punishment assignment public.

That was good. As humiliating and humbling as it had been, Mundi could admit that it had been necessary—he saw that now. Felt it in the Force. But having it be publicly known that he was given a punishment detail like an unruly Padawan would destroy his credibility, so he was grateful for that much.

“I see.” Unfolding his legs, he stretched as he stood. Gesturing, he pulled the few things he needed towards him with the Force—his clothes, lightsaber, and a data pad with planetary survey data on it.

Despite it being a punishment, he had taken the duty seriously and had investigated the area in and around the temple. Doing so had only confirmed what they already knew. The planet was barely habitable and entirely inhospitable. It was cold year round, with minimal food resources, no way to grow crops without bringing in extensive equipment to build sealed and heated greenhouses, and just enough large predators to pose a risk to the unwary.

The green skinned young woman turned and hurried from the temple, Master Mundi following. Outside, he took in the small ship she had been issued for this—a civilian light freighter of some kind. It looked small, but serviceable for their needs. As long as it got him off of Ilum, he wouldn’t complain.

“Where are we going?” Mundi asked out of curiosity as they hurried up the ramp and sealed the ship.

Knight Unduli took her seat in the pilot’s chair and began the sequence for takeoff. “Jedha, Master. The Jedi High Council decided to move the main Temple from Coruscant, leaving behind only a small group of dedicated Jedi to guard the library while they copy the data and build a new library in the Kyber Temple at Jedha, and a few Jedi on planet to deal with the Senate in person.”

“Is that so?” Mundi murmured, considering what he knew of Jedha.

Yes, I see. The Mirrors there amplify the light side of the Force. That would be an excellent choice to begin purging the darkness from our ranks.

“Have you been there?” he asked, and she nodded.

“I have. It was a little uncomfortable,” she admitted. “The younglings weren’t affected, but it seems the older Jedi all report symptoms if they stay in the temple too long. It’s like… stepping out of the dark and into the high noon sun.”

“Yes, I imagine. Bear with it and the feelings will fade in time.”

Knight Unduli sighed and nodded. “That is what Master Yoda said.”

The ship broke atmosphere and turned, before dropping into hyperspace. Mundi spent a moment looking at the familiar sight of hyperspace, before standing.

“Please excuse me. I need to make some calls.”

“Of course, Master. There’s a holocom in the rec area,” the woman nodded as she stood as well. “I’ll be in my quarters meditating if you need me for anything.”

Mundi nodded, making his way back to the small rec area and finding the holocom. He sat down in front of it, considering who to call first. There was much to catch up on, from his year of forced absence. He should make contact with those in his faction, to see what they had been up to in the last year. He considered calling his old Master to ask what the new assignment was, but knowing Yoda he would want to speak in person about it. Then, of course, he needed to make contact with his friends in the Senate.

But on the thought of friends, he knew who he wanted to call first. Someone who was both a trusted friend and a valued contact, with his ear to the ground in the Senate and Corporate Sector. Largely disconnected from the politics of the Senate, he was the closest thing to a neutral third party Mundi could speak to for a quick update on the goings on of the last year. So, he dialed the number from memory and waited.

A few moments later, the line picked up and produced a hologram of the munn’s familiar features from the chest up, seated at a desk as he appeared to be. The bald man smiled. “Ah, Ki-Adi! It’s good to see you again, my friend.”

“You as well, Hego,” Mundi nodded.

“I see you’ve escaped your incarceration on Ilum in one piece,” the munn chuckled, and Mundi allowed himself a rueful laugh as well.

“Yes. My time there was quite enlightening.”

The munn hummed quietly, studying Mundi for a moment. “You seem different.”

Mundi nodded. “The Force nexus beneath the Temple is strong in the light side. But enough about me. Tell me, what has happened in the last year? Anything of interest?”

“Mm. Well, that really depends on what you consider interesting,” Hego said. Considering for a moment, he began, “The Jedi have moved away from Coruscant, for the most part.”

“Yes, I had heard,” Mundi confirmed.

“The Senate doesn’t like it. They also don’t like not knowing where the Jedi went. They’ve been very secretive about it, and it deeply concerns those senators with a vested interest in making sure the Jedi aren’t left unsupervised.”

Interesting. I hadn’t realized they would keep the location of the new Temple secret even from the Senate, Mundi mused, nodding along. “Yes, well, that decision is up to the Jedi High Council. If I recall correctly, there is no actual legal requirement to disclose the location of our Temple to the Senate.”

“Quite. I’m sure that will go over well with them,” the munn smirked. “What else… Ah. There have been some mutterings, some rumors—entirely unsubstantiated, mind you—of unrest in the Mid- and Outer-rim.”

“There is always unrest outside the core. That isn’t news, Hego.”

“No, Ki-Adi. This is different. I’ve heard rumors of Trade Federation blockades and actions just shy of piracy, buildup of Trade Federation forces. It is my opinion, as a businessman, that now is the time to invest in certain stocks and start dumping others, because this is surely a prelude to… something. I hesitate to say ‘war,’ but perhaps some sort ofsecession. I’ve heard rumors of secession from not less than five sources in the last month. And not just from the Trade Federation. There seems to be a growing group of planets who are aligning themselves out there. It all seems to be centered around your old friend, Master Dooku.”

Mundi frowned at that, reaching up to stroke his beard. After a moment, he said, “Let us not be hasty. Perhaps he is simply negotiating better trade deals for Serenno and attempting to cut out the Trade Federation.”

Though he said that, he couldn’t help but feel that there was more to it. It wasn’t simply intuition or the guiding hand of the Force, but everything he knew about Dooku and the events leading up to his own assignment to Ilum—and Dooku’s ‘resignation’ from the Council and Order. Dooku was the sort of idealist who would see what the Republic were doing, drawing resources from outside the Core and failing in their duties to those other sectors, as fraud or even theft. Mundi wouldn’t put it past him to orchestrate some sort of secession if it meant being able to protect the Mid- and Outer-rim from pirates and other threats where the Republic failed to do so.

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And while he couldn’t blame Dooku for wanting to, and even somewhat agreed with him, it was still a matter of what was best for the greater good of the universe. Having the Republic fracture would be terrible, because it would lead to war and loss of life. It was better for everyone if the Mid- and Outer-rim citizens just accepted their lot in life. Certainly there was some economic disparity, and they were being exploited by the Republic, but they weren’t slaves—and it was better than a war, which was where any actual secession movement would go.

“Speaking of Dooku,” Hego continued, drawing Mundi from his thoughts. “There was an incident on Naboo just last week.”

“An incident?” Mundi repeated, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, involving the head of the Trade Federation, Dooku, and his Padawan.”

Mundi felt his eye twitch. “Who died.”

Hego blinked, looking momentarily surprised. “How did you know someone died?”

“Mereel was involved. She has been nothing but a thorn in the side of the High Council since Dooku brought her to the Temple,” Mundi answered. “She is a cold blooded killer, who feels no remorse for taking lives and will not hesitate to do so if it is required to achieve her goals. Tell me what happened.”

“Ah, well, it may please you to know that she actually saved the life of Viceroy Nute Gunray by killing the assassin who was apparently sent to eliminate him,” Hego smiled, nodding. “Yes, it was all quite heroic, or so I’ve heard.”

“‘Heroic?’ She’s dark as they come—!” Mundi cut off his response, taking a breath and forcing his righteous anger down.

Hego sent Mundi a concerned look. “Dark? Surely not?”

Taking another deep breath and letting it out slowly, Mundi explained. “Padawan Mereel is just a symptom of a larger infestation of rot within the Order. The most recent and most egregious example of Jedi corrupted by the dark. Except she doesn’t have the excuse of being tainted by living on a dark side nexus.”

Hego raised an eyebrow, before quietly asking, “Is that why they moved the Temple off of Coruscant?”

Mundi was hesitant to answer, but after a moment nodded. He didn’t see any harm in confirming it. “Yes. Ironically, it was Mereel who discovered it and warned the High Council.”

“Would that not mean that she sees the threat for what it is?” Hego posed, playing devil’s advocate.

Loathe as he was to admit it, Mundi agreed. “Possibly. It doesn’t change the fact that she is a sign of a greater problem within the Order, and something must be done about it.”

“Still, this business of… dark Jedi,” the munn visibly shivered. “It sounds dangerous.”

“If the Senate caught wind of it…”

Mundi nodded. “It would be bad.”

Sighing, Hego shrugged. “What can you do? It isn’t as though you can simply turn on the lights and banish the dark, or drag them into it.”

No. No, perhaps we can do just that. And those who are too far gone…

Mundi had studied the historical records. The information was restricted to all but those of Master rank, and select few outside of that—and even within the Masters, typically only those on one of the various Councils. Mundi was one of the Order’s most intelligent, rational, and learned Jedi. So of course, he had been granted access. And he had studied everything he could.

He knew about dark Jedi, and what had happened the last time they were allowed to fester within their ranks. It had led to the creation of the Sith—a secret the High Council didn’t want known, given the damage it would do to their reputation.

A new Sith order arising within our ranks would see the Republic turn against the Jedi and likely the Order banned entirely. Jedi hunted down and killed like animals. No, we must eradicate the threat before it gets to that point.

Shaking his head, Mundi put that thought aside for now. There was nothing he could do, except prepare. Gather allies and information. Test the Mirrors to see how effective they were. Form a plan to save the Order from the corruption in its ranks. Then, when the time was right, enact his plan.

Perhaps a group within the Order, to investigate and deal with such issues.

“Let us speak of something else,” Mundi shook his head.

Hego nodded, and they moved on to other topics. As they did, the problem of the dark festering within the Order remained at the back of his mind and slowly, he became more and more certain that certain Jedi would be beyond saving. That eventually, when all of those who could be turned back to the light had been, the rest would have to be purged from their ranks. They couldn’t simply be released into the wider universe, however—for risk of creating a new Sith order.

They will need to be eliminated. As many as we can get in one fell swoop, to prevent them from scattering to the corners of the universe and hiding away, only to return and trouble us later. And we must make sure to get the worst of them first.

His mind made up, Mundi began planning who he needed to recruit to his side in order to eliminate the greatest threat to the Jedi Order since the last Sith was killed.

Jedha, 39 BBY/961 GSC.

Taria stood and stretched, hissing at the burning pain as she finished her mandatory meditation time in the mirror chamber within the Kyber Temple. The walk out of the chamber to the mess hall was painful for the first few steps, until she turned her focus inwards and blocked out the pain. Unfortunately, that didn’t do as much as she would have liked. There was still a dull ache in her body and the beginnings of a throbbing headache behind her eyes—though at least it wasn’t as bad now as it was in the first few days since moving to Jedha.

I’m a Shadow. We’re allowed to use the dark side, she grumbled within the confines of her own mind, but even as she did, she understood why it was being done. It hadn’t taken long to start seeing results, after all. She had heard Tanya’s explanation about the Temple on Coruscant messing with people’s Force senses, and now she had seen the proof for herself—by having the dark side veil over her senses burned off, a little at a time. It hurt, but it was worth it to see her senses sharper than they ever had been.

Not that she was the only one complaining. The process was painful for just about everyone, save for the youngest. The Masters had it the worst.

Looking around the mess hall as she arrived, she saw other Jedi in various states of distress. Ignoring them, she quickly grabbed a tray and put together a meal. She sat and ate, barely tasting anything. Heading to the public shower on her level when she was finished, she got cleaned up, then made her way to her quarters.

Seeing a light on her datapad blinking, she picked it up and sat down on her bed, scrolling through it to see she had a message. Checking the sender, she raised an eyebrow.

“Now, what have you been up to, Tanya?” she asked quietly, quickly looking over the message. It was a report of events that transpired on Alaris Prime. The details were sparse and intentionally vague, but she got the gist of it.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had found a dark side cult’s old temple while exploring during an unrelated mission. Tanya arrived on site to help with their mission. Obi-Wan had shown her the site. After encountering a cache of dangerous dark side artifacts, Tanya had destroyed the site—method not mentioned, but the underlined terms total destruction and crater were telling of just how much force she deemed necessary to bring to bear.

Moreover, that she destroyed the site and the artifacts involved, and later mentioned passing her Trial of Spirit in the report held some implications. Taria’s first thought was that she had encountered some sort of Sith Force Ghost, potentially tied to an artifact, fought it off when it likely tried to possess her, then destroyed the site. It happened more often than anyone liked to admit, especially among the Shadows, who spent more time than any other branch of the Order delving into old relics and potential Sith temples.

When she reached the end, she sighed. She deleted the message then considered what to say in a reply. Tanya had gone radio silent after the issue with Simpla-12 and the mad scientist, so it was good to know she was still out there, doing the job Taria had recruited her into the Shadows for.

There were also some concerning rumors that had begun to circulate among her contacts and those she kept an ear on, about her Master’s movements and the potential for secession. She had begun to worry that perhaps Master Dooku had it in mind to start a separate Jedi Order of his own—much like the Green Jedi. It was a good sign that that probably wasn’t the case, if she was still sending in reports and keeping in contact, even if it was sporadically.

Maybe I was worried for nothing. It’s not uncommon for Shadows to go dark for years at a time, according to Master.

Putting that out of her mind, she thought over what missions were in need of the sort of solution Tanya represented at the moment, before coming up blank. It wasn’t that everything was all clear—there was always something coming up, when it came to old Sith junk floating around. But as far as she knew, everything was fairly well covered for the time being.

Good work on Alaris Prime. No requests at the moment. Enjoy your free time. I’ll call when I have something for you.

“That ought to do it,” she nodded and sent the message off. Putting the tablet aside, she turned off the light and collapsed back onto her bed with a gusty sigh. Closing her eyes, Taria let her mind wander as she fell into meditation.

She’ll be up for Knighthood with this. The High Council are going to reject it on principle. And knowing Tanya, she’s already read through the relevant books, so if Master Dooku doesn’t knight her in defiance of the Council, she’ll just declare herself a knight and there’s not much they can do about it.

Either way, I can help us both out and go ahead and get the paperwork filed to get her acknowledged as a Sentinel as soon as she has the rank of Knight. That’ll give her more room to act independently and make her more useful as a Shadow. Much easier to disappear on Shadow missions for long periods when she’s not having to deal with the Senate, or guard some politician.

Corulag Military Academy, 39 BBY/961 GSC.

“What the fuck is this? The Republic is letting kids join now?”

I spared a glance for the taller human man looking at me with incredulity as I stepped onto the training ground for morning exercise, joining the forming group. To be fair to the man, the rest of those standing in front of the obstacle course were thinking the same thing, he had just beaten them to it.

The group of fifty men and women were majority human—over thirty at my count. The rest were a mix of near-humans like myself, and a smattering of non-humans such as twi’leks, togruta, a wookiee, and some short, hairy, four-armed race I had never seen before.

When I didn’t answer, the man stepped up to tower over me. “I asked you a question.”

Nearby, one of the men I recognized from the spar the previous afternoon chuckled. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Kin.” The man grinned, before adding, “She’s at just the right height for a punch to put you on the ground.” He was speaking from personal experience, given the shot to the testicles I’d handed him to lay him out flat first in that little spar.

“Fuck off. She’s probably some ROTC cadet who snuck in thinking nobody would notice,” Kin shook his head, before reaching down and grabbing my upper arm. “Come on—oof!”

The ground, which had turned to a thin mud overnight after a rain, made a loud splat as the man landed on his back. I planted my boot on his throat the moment he started to move and looked up, meeting the eyes of every other cadet there. A burst of fear made them take a collective step back.

After taking a moment to make sure no one was going to do anything stupid, I spoke up. “Let me make this incredibly clear. I am here because I belong here. I am not, as Pvt. Kin suggested, a lost child or a member of some junior program attempting to sneak my way in. If anyone has any issue with my presence, please say so, and we can address it here and now.” I paused, sweeping my gaze across them again. “Any takers? No?”

There were none. I looked down at Kin and raised an eyebrow, before lifting my boot off of his throat. “Do we have a problem, Private?”

I glared and tilted my head to show the two yellow pips marking me as a lieutenant (junior grade)—an acknowledgement Col. Cagilo had made, due to my status as a Jedi Padawan. While we weren’t in the same chain of command, as a Jedi even a Padawan would outrank even the highest ranked person on this base in certain circumstances—the same way medical personnel could technically give orders to a superior officer if the situation called for it.

We weren’t actively hiding what I was, but we weren’t advertising it either. I felt this was a fair compromise. It wouldn’t put me above any of the instructors, but it did put me a step above the rank and file in my own class.

“No, lieutenant,” he corrected himself.

I offered a hand up and he accepted it. I felt when he tried to pull me down with his greater mass and suppressed a smile when I easily yanked the man to his feet with enough force to make him stumble. “Good. See that it doesn’t happen again.”

Looking around, I asked, “What are we waiting for?”

“The instructor, ma’am,” the girl I’d sparred with the day before answered. “He’s always a few minutes late for morning practice.”

Blinking, I reached up and rubbed at my forehead. “And none of you ever thought to show some initiative and start before he arrived?” I asked, and from their looks, it was clear they hadn’t.

Suppressing a sigh, I grabbed the pack I’d brought with me and slung it on—a rucksack sized properly for my body, filled with ninety pounds of weight, just to prove to the good colonel that the day before wasn’t a fluke if he happened to show up to observe. Moving to the head of the line, I turned back to demand, “What are you waiting for? Fall in!” They fell in and I started running, keeping to a pace they could follow.

We made it a full lap with no incidents and were nearly to the obstacle course again when a fresh second lieutenant—judging by the pips and the meticulous everything about him one tended to see with freshly promoted officers—came storming up from the direction of the cafeteria. I peeled off and waved the others on, intercepting him before he could make it to them. He was red faced and angry as he watched the men ostensibly under his charge keep going, ignoring his presence.

“Who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing on my training field?!” the man practically screamed.

I smiled, and for some reason, the man’s red face quickly paled. Spinning up a public address formula, I answered him back at a perfectly normal volume—amplified to double the volume he had used. “Lieutenant Tanya Mereel, sir. Transferred in last night. I found these men outside waiting for instruction. They claimed their lieutenant was late, so as the highest ranking officer present, I assumed command and began conducting them on morning training.”

He winced at the volume, eyes narrowing. “I wasn’t informed of your transfer.”

I shut off the PA formula, seeing as he was now speaking at a reasonable volume. “I arrived late. I would be happy to accompany you to confirm my assignment with Col. Cagilo.” Reaching out with the Force, I leaned on him a bit with Mind Trick. I wasn’t about to let some freshly elevated officer attempt to flex his power by dragging me away from training to waste my time complaining to his superior about me. If he wanted to do that, he could do it on his own time. “After morning training. Sir.”

He considered for a moment, before nodding and turning for the course. “Alright, let’s go.”

“Certainly. If you’ll excuse me, now that you’re here to supervise the others, I’ll be taking the course at my own pace.”

The man jogging beside me frowned. “And what pace is that, lieutenant?”

“The kind you won’t be able to keep up with.” Chuckling, I broke into a run and left him behind.

As I ran, I considered how the next likely few years were going to go. I was entirely too accustomed to the respect and privileges that came with rank to allow myself to be talked down to in the manner the butter bar secondlieutenant in charge of our unit was clearly intending to. I had buttstroked and threatened to shoot people for less.

Normally, that sort of thing would cause problems. However, as luck would have it, I was a Jedi and the Force was very versatile.

I have a feeling I’m going to be getting a lot of use out of Mind Trick… I should do something to make it up to Obi for thinking poorly of her the first time I saw her use it. It’s just too useful a skill not to use to my advantage! Latest content publıshed on novel·fıre·net