A New Jedi in an Old Republic

Guest Chambers, JediTemple

Nejaa Halcyon led thesmall contingent of Corellian Jedi that had broken with their orderin order to defend more than just Corellia during its time ofintrospection (also known in less polite circles as 'staying out ofthe war like the cowards they are'). There were only a couple dozenof them, but it was enough to make their contribution known withoutweakening their home system.

Their arrival wasunexpected, and in the confusion, they were shown to guest chamberswhere they could repose and meditate. Some had already removed theirgreen cloaks, while others had set out to get food for the rest ofthem.

Nejaa was one of the oneswho was meditating. The future of the Force was still a dark coveredsky, without the lights of the stars to shine through. Even thegreat release of energy was slowly fading away, though he suspectedit would be years before it was gone entirely.

The doors opened, and thetwo Jedi who had gone out to get food returned with their prize. "Master Nejaa?" one said. Her name was Cylot, and she had comewith her Master, Rahjmart. "I heard on the way back that theCoruscantii Council was sending a representative right away to meetwith us."

Nejaa doubted she hadoverheard it, and was simply passing along a message obliquely. "Very well. Everyone, we will be having visitors shortly. Pleasetry not to embarrass us." He added the last with a smile, withcaused a few others to laugh.

"They think we'reembarrassment enough already, Nejaa!" A certain Jedi made thecomment before grabbing something to eat.

"I am well aware ofthat," he replied. "So let's make a mess of their heads by notbeing their worst imaginings, shall we?"

Soon, everyone was eating,with Nejaa and a few others keeping their senses tuned for theirhandler. Everyone here was a volunteer, and everyone had experiencewith the Security Forces, for what good that would do.

They sensed the approachof a wild existence in the force long before it arrived. Aware thatthey were now expecting company sooner rather than later, the GreenJedi made sure they were presentable to their Coruscantii cousins.

"Doesn't this personfeel... odd?" Rahjmart asked aloud. "It is not the same aseveryone else."

"Perhaps it's anotherforeign Jedi?" Nejaa thought aloud. "We can't be the only groupto part ways with the Coruscant Order."

"Probably. Thought Iwould be very interested in meeting this person."

"You'll get yourchance." Nejaa raised his voice to be heard through the door justas the other arrived in front of it. "Come in!"

The door opened, andwhatever expectations they may have had regarding their visitor fellflat. A farmer walked in, brown shirt, brown pants and a raggedbeard all gave off the impression that this person was not a Jedi atall. Only the lightsaber at his hip and the force swirling aroundhim gave the impression that he was anything more.

In other words, theperfect undercover agent.

"Hello," Nejaa said. "I am Nejaa Halcyon, leader of this contingent of the Jedi ofCorellia. I welcome you. And you are?"

"Oh, hey." The manlooked up from the dataslate he had in his hand. "I'm KyleKatarn." He offered his hand and Nejaa shook it, a far morepersonable gesture than what he expected. "Nice to meet you."

"And you. Katarn? Imust say you are not what I expected."

Kyle looked down at hisclothes. "I get that a lot. So, um, Corellian, right?" He leta grin play on his face. "Oh, this is good. I've worked with someof you before, so that's a good start."

"You have? And what areyou doing here, Master Katarn?"

"Oh, I'm no Master. Name's Kyle. And alright, let me explain. You see, the Jedi here, Ishowed up a couple weeks ago to offer my services with the Warstarting, and they didn't know what to do with me, given I was fromoutside their Order." He gestured at the two dozen men and womenin the chamber. "Like you guys."

"I understand that." Nejaa said.

"Good. Well, because mytraining wasn't officially recognized by them, like yours is, I hadto pass some Tests, and be given the rank of Knight-Errant in theprocess." Kyle shrugged, not letting the politics get to him. "And because I showed up first, they put me in charge of all theother non-mainstream Jedi that show up to help the Republic. Including you guys."

Nejaa let that thoughtturn over in his head. It was something they would do. Compartmentalize a problem to deal with it. Then something else Kylesaid caught his attention. "You said you've worked with otherslike us before. Who?"

Kyle caught himself fromanswering directly, and the hesitation was noted. "Horn," hereplied. "He said his name was Horn."

"Rostek?"

"No, Corran."

Nejaa didn't know thewhole lineage of his friend, so he supposed it was possible thatthere was a Corran in there somewhere. He could send a message laterto check on that. "Well then, it's good to know you, Kyle. Wouldyou like some food?"

"Please!" Kyle saidwith a grin, putting the dataslate away. "It's been a long day,and I could use some good company."

Nejaa laughed. "Oh, tohear such words! Come, you have us at a disadvantage. You know ofus, but we don't know of you. If we are to follow your lead, we mustlearn more!"

"Oh don't get me wrong,"Kyle said in response. "I may be in charge, but that's less 'giveyou orders' and more 'keep the Council off your back while youwork'."

Nejaa approved. This manknow how to deal with people.

Security andIntelligence Council

Armand Isard paused after leaving themeeting with the Supreme Chancellor and the other members of theSecurity Council. His suggestion for a Crypto-analysis departmentwas met with a warm reception, but the lack of offencive efforts bythe Separatists at this time made his proposal a low priority whencompared to the need to create and organize both an Army and a Navy.

It was an understandable priority. Hecould perform work along those lines in the Senate Bureau ofIntelligence before properly spinning them off into their own polityunder his control. In the mean time, he would move ahead with layingthe groundwork on his own, using his established discretionarybudget.

But first, he had a meeting withSenator Mon Mothma. The senatorial supporter of Palpatine had beenacting strangely as of late, according to the people who knew her, sohe had arranged for a meeting with her to follow up on the best-guesssource of her odd behavior - the mysterious Jedi who had arrived atthe Senate building just after the war's start. If he was an agent ofDooku, then he would find out about it, and deal with him and allaffiliated with him as he would any who attacked a supporter ofPalaptine.

He would see to it personally.

He nodded at the Chancellor as he leftthe meeting hall. "Have a good day, Sir." he said to the agedman.

Palpatine's eyes twinkledas he saw Isard. "Ah! I am sorry we couldn't give you what youwanted, my dear Armand. Terrible, terrible business this all is."

"I understand,Chancellor." Isard bowed politely. "The needs of the Republicare many. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have another meeting to attendto."

"Of course!" Palpatine dismissed his loyal agent with a wave. "See to it. Andgive my regards to your daughter."

"I will, Chancellor. And thank you." Isard bowed, and left the man to do his ownduties.

Office of Senator MonMothma

Once her assistant hadleft the room, Mon Mothma gestured for the head of SenateIntelligence to have a seat.

"Forgive me for takingup your time, Senator," Isard said. "This is just a follow up tothe unusual delivery made to you a couple weeks back.

Only the fact that sheknew this was coming prevented the young Senator from reactingpoorly. "Ah, I suppose you would."

Isard was apologetic. "Ifwe were not at war, then a Jedi making such a delivery would havegone unremarked," save for the improper flight path, and no properID. "But the circumstances require that we take no chance."

"I understandcompletely." Mon Mothma agreed. "I did have a talk with thedelivery woman and the Jedi who accompanied her about the properorder of such things. Though, like many people, the war caught themoff guard."

"That's good to hear. Ihave it that the ship they arrived on has received properregistration now, so that is one less issue to deal with."

"Although I mustwonder," Mon Motha took a small step forward into the pit. "Whyis it that his particular action has attracted your attention?"

Isard deflected theawkward probe with ease. "Normally, it would not. But this ismore of an informal closure to the event, and if I deal with itdirectly, that cuts down on some of the paperwork. As well, anythingthat happens within the Senate Building is technically myresponsibility." He shrugged. "But honestly? I could use thefifteen minute relaxation in my day to come down here and ask you ifeverything went well when it obviously has."

Mon Mothma relaxed alittle herself. She could see that. "I could use a littlebreather myself." She poured herself and the head of Intelligencea drink of water. "Actually, while I have you here, I do have onequestion."

"Oh?"

"The Jedi who deliveredthe package to me indicated that he was from a sect of the Jedi notnormally affiliated with the proper Jedi based in the Temple here onCoruscant. How will the Republic handle such fringe groups coming toaid us?"

Armand leaned back in hischair. Truth be told, the Chancellor had already given him hisinstructions in that regard, but it would not be improper to disguisethat fact in totality from the Senator. "The Chancellor hasdirected that anyone honestly wishing to lend support to the Republicbe treated fairly and with all the respect and support we can muster. The specifics will obviously depend on who is offering, and whatthey are capable of doing. As for groups of Force users, with theJedi taking command of our armies, then it would only be proper thatthey take care of such groups themselves."

That the delivery was madeby a non-Jedi Jedi meant something to Isard, but what, he couldn'tquite delve into yet. "Does that answer your question?"

"Yes, it does. Thankyou. I should let you know though, I have retained the pilot forfuture deliveries and as such, I will be issuing her, Jan Ors, andher ship, the Raven's Claw with the appropriate passes oncethe paperwork is complete."

Isard nodded. "Thankyou for staying above the board with this, Senator. So many times, Ihave had to deal with those who think their status means they canflaunt the rules laid down to protect them. Your example warms myheart." It didn't, but so far, aside from her interactions withthe Senators from Rodia, Naboo and Alderaan and their generalanti-war stance, she had nothing about her to consider her a threatto the Chancellor, or to be invited into his inner circle ofadvisers.

Not yet anyways.

"Well, thank you foryour time," Isard said, standing up. The motion was echoed by theSenator. "As long as this sort of thing doesn't happen again?"

"It won't. And I doapologize for the inconvenience that was caused to you."

"Think nothing of it." Isard waved off the problem. "There are other, more importantthings to deal with now."

Ruusan

Ventress fumed, slashingat an innocent bolder with one of her lightsabres to vent some of herfrustrations. She had been wandering in circles for ages now! Mostof the other seekers where dead, or had fled, or given up already.

The Dathomirian would notbe so foolish. The power was here! Ready for the taking!

But it defended itselfwell, with tricks and eddies in the Force to distract and repulse theunwary.

She was just strong enoughto recognize what was happening to her, but not strong enough toovercome it. And that weakness was enough to cause her to scream atherself and rage against the force that kept her from what was hers!

"Enjoying yourself?"The feminine voice spoke from the shadows of the growing morning,causing Ventress to curse her laxness in not sensing that person'sapproach. She snapped on her other light sabre, the blue bladejoining the green one as she raised a guard.

Reaching out with hersenses, she found no one. This place dampened such efforts topreserve itself, and it meant that she couldn't feel the stranger.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" theself-proclaimed Sith demanded. "You are very brave to approachme!"

"Such rage," a femaleZabrak emerged into Ventress' sight. The woman oriented on her foe,but did not attack as she saw the unignited lightsaber in her hands. "I am Kadrian Sey. I am a Dark Acolyte in the service of DarthTyranus." She made a show of putting away her weapon. "And itseems we are here for the same thing."

Ventress glowered, butdeactivated her own weapons as well. The intruder wanted peacefuldiscussions? She could accommodate that. "I've never heard ofthis... Tyranus, or your Dark Acolytes."

Sey's eyes flashed red atthe ignorance of her Master put in display like that before reigningin her anger. "I'm sure a meeting can be arranged. But first, itseems like this place has rejected you as well." She indicated thesurrounding canyon walls. "Something here, something powerful. Full of the Dark Side. You want it. So does my Master."

"Your Master isn'there," Ventress noted with a sneer. "And therefore obviouslydoesn't want it enough."

"Perhaps. Or perhaps heknows that I can be trusted with this mission. My Master is verypowerful. But perhaps before we speak more, you can tell me yourname? That way I don't have to refer to you as 'Witch' in my head."

After a momentsconsideration, her decision was made by this Acolyte's offer of hername freely. "I am Asajj Ventress, Sith. What do you propose,Acolyte?"

Jedi Temple,Coruscant

"And that's when Solocame in, dripping blue milk, his towel around his waist, glaringdeath at Luke and Leia! He said 'Tell Chewie that I forgive him.'then stomped off to take his shower!"

The other Jedi in the roomlaughed as Kyle related the fully story to them. It was so easy toget involved with the Corellians after dealing with the CoruscantiiJedi for so much time. These people were much more laid back, and hewas glad that Horn's perceptions of his Order had influenced Luke. He would have quit even sooner had he had to put up with somethinginspired by the locals.

Once they had all settleddown, the ice was well and truly broken. "So," Nejaa said as hetook a drink to deal with his dry throat, "What do you think theCouncil is going to do with us?"

Kyle had thought thatover. "Blue milk runs mostly," he conjectured. "We haveskills and biases that they don't, so they can't predict how we'llact. They'll want to know they can trust us before they assign us toanything important."

Nejaa agreed. "Yes, Ican see that. But there has to be something we can do. I'd hate tohave come all this way just to get sidelined."

"Well," Kyle said,thinking over a couple options. "Do you have a couple here who aregood with machines? Or with guns and blasters in general? And a fewwho are good at diplomacy?"

Nejaa looked around. "Yes. To both. Why?"

"Jan," Kyle started toexplain, "has a nice gun she wants to use for some intelligencework. I can't stay with her all the time, but the Jedi in thistemple just don't have the background or concepts to help her. Theyhave their love affair with their lightsabers just a little too muchif you ask me."

"You sound like a TeepoPaladin," Nejaa observed.

"The who now?" Kylethought he recognized the name, but couldn't quite place it.

"They believed that theJedi should train to use Blasters as much as Lightsabers, and gotkicked out of the Order for it a few centuries ago." The GreenJedi explained.

"Oh... I can see that. I use plenty of gun myself, but it all depends on what needs to bedone at the moment." Kyle felt the weight of his pistol under hisjacket, and was comforted by it. It had seen him through even whenhis lightsaber couldn't, or even before.

He knew so little aboutwhat happened before the Empire came to power. The New Jedi Orderwas formed pretty much in a vacuum, and the ignorance he had pickedup from Luke and everyone else – including himself – was bitinghim in the rear again.

"So, I'm thinking thatwhile the Jedi Council fails to do anything useful with us, we shouldtake in on ourselves to prove we can be useful," Kyle said,returning the subject to where they had started. "As I was saying,Jan has a counter-intelligence op in mind, and having a couple of youguys helping her out would take a load off my mind."

Nejaa leaned back in hischair. "Shoja! Maris! Could you come here for a moment?"

Two Jedi disengagedthemselves from their conversations and came over to Kyle and Nejaa. "These are two of our apprentices, Shoja and Maris." Heintroduced the two to Kyle more directly that the generalmeet-and-greet earlier. "They're the best I have who aremechanics. Will they do?"

"Not for me to decide." Kyle said as he looked at them in the Force and with his eyes. "Here's the thing," he quickly explained how Jan could usetechnical help, and having Jedi working with her would sell theoperation better. "Now, she's in charge of this little thing, soif you're willing to help – and I can't order you to – then headon down to the Claw in the shuttle bay and talk to her. I'lllet her know you're coming."

The two Apprentices lookedto each other, then Nejaa, obviously wishing for approval orinstructions from their leader. Nejaa nodded, and they agreed. "Weshall," Shoja said. "Though I don't know how much of a help wecan be."

"Don't worry, it'll beenough." Kyle said as he searched his pockets for the Comlink. "Jan? You awake?"

A moment later, Jan'svoice came back over the device. "Kyle? What is it? Are thingsgoing alright?"

"Oh, better thanalright! Guess what? The Council has me working with some CorellianJedi for now."

"You mean, like Corran?" Jan interrupted.

"Yep, like him." Kyleconfirmed. "As I was saying, I'm sending two of them down your wayto help with your little project you want to talk to the Senator fromChandrila about. Their names are Maris and Shoja."

Jan was silent for aminute, thinking. "You sure, Kyle?"

"As I ever am. They'vegot some technical know-how, so they won't be dead weight, and havingthem along will give your plan some weight."

"Alright. Send them myway. But I reserve the right to kick them out if they turn out to beuseless." The two Corellian Jedi didn't respond well to the ideathat they wouldn't be a help, but looks from Kyle and Nejaa made surethat they didn't express themselves out loud. "And Kyle?"

"Yeah Jan?"

"If you're with someJedi from Corellia, could you see if they have some Corellian Appleswith them? I think some fresh ones will go nice with suppertonight."

Kyle stared at the Comlinkin stupefied shock as Nejaa very carefully hid his grin behind acough. "I'll see what I can do," he replied before turning offthe device. He looked embarrassed at his Green counterpart. "Don'tlaugh. Seriously, don't."

"I refuse to," Nejaasaid. "After all, I'm married as well!"

"Jan," Kyle saidflatly, "is not my wife. I've proposed in the past, but we simplyhaven't had the time for it."

Nejaa frowned. "Youhave my condolences on that, Kyle. A good relationship is a joy forall involved."

Kyle shook his head as hewatched the two apprentices leave quickly, both to go to their newassignment and to get away from the two men's more privatediscussion. "It's not that," he said, careful to not over commithimself. "We've been together for years, and it's always been onething or another."

"Why don't you come byCorellia," Nejaa offered in all seriousness. "I'll get one ofthe Enclave Grand Masters to officiate."

"Oh, that's never been aproblem. It's just that the two of us aren't quite yet ready tosettle down just yet. Until then though..."

"I understand fully,"Nejaa agreed. He knew better than to push things. "So, what elsecan we do for you?"

"Well, there's someplaces I would like to visit, or better yet, delegate to you guys nowthat there's more than just Jan and I."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Have you heard ofthe Iron Knights of Dweem?" Kyle pulled the most obvious candidatefor his other plan to the front of his mind.

"No, I haven't." Nejaa admitted.

"Well, you see, theCouncil, in their infinite wisdom," the sarcasm was so thick, evena lightsaber couldn't cut it, "decided that only organic life couldwield the force. The Iron Knights are silicon and crystalline lifeforms that are attuned to the Force, and they use Droid-like bodiesto interact with the rest of the Galaxy."

Nejaa saw where this wasgoing. "You want to invite them to aid the Republic, join ourmerry band," he indicated Kyle and the Corellians, "and if theyhave droid-bodies, they could infiltrate the armies of theConfederacy..."

"That's one plan."Kyle admitted. "But we would have to ask them first. Andmake sure that it's the Republic asking, not the Jedi. I know acouple other groups that we may be able to ask, but they are allgroups that have no love for the residents of this Temple, so a lotof polite diplomacy will go a long way."

"And because we areCorellian, and not officially aligned with the Coruscantii Order, weare better representatives." Nejaa could approve of that. "Youdo realize this will mean more work for you in your officialcapacity, right?"

"Eh," Kyle shruggedhis shoulders. "It's something I can live with if it means givingthe Republic any small advantage that I can."

"Get me a list of placesand groups," Nejaa said. "And I'll take care of it from there."

Droid MaintenanceFacility

Obi-wan didn't come downhere often, but after the elevation of Katarn to Knight-Errant, aplace between a proper Knight and a full Master, he had sought outthe master of this domain, Master Paratus.

He didn't know why, butthe Force guided him here in his wanderings through the temple. Hefound the diminutive Master working at his bench beneath a brightlight, the artificial limbs helping him reconstruct a damagedtraining droid.

Obi-wan recognized it asthe one that Katarn had shot at the start of that fight. "MasterParatus?" he announced his presence with proper deference to theAleena. "May I have a moment of your time?"

"Of course. You mustbe... Obi-wan? Yes, Obi-wan." Kazdan put down his equipment andwiped the sweat from his brow. "What brings you down here? Needsomething from me?"

"Not quite," Obi-wanadmitted. "Were you informed..?"

"That Kyle Katarn hasbeen given official sanction by the Council? Yes. A wise decision,"Kazdan said as he looked at the damaged droid. "His combat skillsare far more than what was realized."

"What do you mean?"Obi-wan prodded.

"He shot the droid. Like those who fell on Geonosis," Obi-wan suppressed the poormemories. "who were killed by Blaster fire, he revealed a weaknessin our ability to fight in this war, or so I have concluded."

Obi-wan tried to see thelogic, but failed. "You mean we should focus more on Soresutraining?"

"No. Yes! Yes, propertraining would have helped many of our fallen brothers and sisters,"Kazdan agreed with Obi-wan. "But not the point. Even with theForce, we are alone and vulnerable on the battleground," Kazdanbegan to pace back and forth, finally having an outlet for thisthoughts. Obi-wan suspected now that he was here less for his ownbenefit and more for Master Paratus'.

"No, given armies weshall, but so much can go wrong. So much confusion in battle, thatForce cannot protect us always. We must take our protection into ourown hands. Droid bodyguards can be subborned, but there has to be away to protect us from luck and skill..." He looked up at Obi-wan,expecting an answer. "Well, Obi-wan? What do you have to say?"

"Blasters are...inelegant," he had to admit, having seen first hand what they coulddo en-mass, even to Jedi. "But War is not elegant either. May Isuggest instead of seeking a solution that is whole and complete,when we do not have all the answers, that you start by designing atraining droid that uses blasters in a multitude, to better allow ourpeople to train against the Battledroids of the Separatists? If wecan prepare ourselves to deal with them, we can develop a bettersolution in time."

"Yes," Kazdan agreedunder his breath. "Think and act like the enemy, to betterunderstand them and their motives. I will do as you say, Obi-wan,and hope you help in the future as well."

"We shall see," Kenobiavoided outright agreement, instead focusing on what just transpired.

He was still confused whenhe returned to the Halls of Healing to find Anakin missing.