"I suppose the Council should decide," said Master Melias, catching his lightsabre. "Now, you will come with me to the Jedi Temple."
"I suppose there's not much else I could do at this point," said Elonia, following him out of the cavern. She squinted in the bright sunlight after spending so long in the shadows of the cave. Tython was unlike anything she had ever seen. Certainly, the terrain was nothing unusual, but everywhere Elonia spotted strange flora and fauna. She jumped as a large, winged beast leaped at her, lightsabre immediately in hand. Before she could spear it through, the Jedi Master raised a hand and the beast promptly fell asleep.
"What is that thing?" asked Elonia, glancing at the dozing creature.
"You've never seen a wingmaw before?" said Master Melias, surprised.
"Look, I come from a different universe, alright? I don't know how it happened, but here I am."
"Yet you seem to know plenty about here. What planets do you know of?"
"Yeah, that is kind of strange. Um... In detail? Tython, Coruscant, Dromund Kaas, Korriban, Balmorra, Taris, Nar Shadda, Ord Mantell, Hutta, Tatooine, Alderaan, Quesh, Hoth, Belsavis, Voss, Corellia... I think that's all."
"A strange selection," noted Master Melias. "Which are you most familiar with?"
"Alderaan," said Elonia, and her voice got a bit dreamy. "It's so beautiful there, all mountains and forests and fantastic architecture. It snows, too, which makes its climate like where I live - in my home universe, I mean. I've never been there, of course, but I would like to go. Tython never really attracted me."
Elonia wasn't sure if Master Melias entirely believed her, but the Jedi didn't press the matter. They continued down the narrow path until they came to a paved road.
"Can you sense it?" said Master Melias.
"Sense what?"
"You truly cannot?"
"Sense what?"
"The Jedi Temple. The presence of all the Force-sensitive Jedi here leaves a strong imprint on the Force."
"What is this Force thing, exactly? I mean, I kinda figure it's an energy of sorts since we're using it to push stuff around, but I'm not familiar with it."
Master Melias stopped and looked at Elonia in disbelief.
"How could you not know?"
"As I told you..." began Elonia.
"You're not kidding about not being from here."
"Why would I?"
"The Force is an energy that connects all living things, spread out across the universe. Since you must be Force-sensitive to demonstrate some of the abilities you used, you should be able to feel it, at least to a basic degree."
Elonia tried searching with her senses for a moment to detect the Force, but couldn't feel anything specific. There was something different here, almost like something in the air, but she couldn't get a lock on the phenomenon.
They walked in silence for the rest of the way to the Jedi Temple, footsteps crunching softly in the sandy dirt. Elonia watched in amazement as the Temple came into view. Of course, she knew what it looked like, but seeing it in a game was very different from actually seeing it in the light of the setting sun. The structure wasn't particularly impressive by itself, but against a backdrop of forest and mountains, it stood out tall and proud. Jedi, perhaps hundreds of them, trained and meditated in the large clearing around the Temple. Elonia realized that she could sense something about them, perhaps the Force presence Master Melias had told her about. Elonia turned to see the Jedi Master watching her reaction.
"It's beautiful," she said, feeling that the sight warranted a comment. "Very impressive. And I can feel the Jedi's presence. Nothing really specific though."
Master Melias nodded, but he seemed thoughtful.
"Come," he said, starting towards the Temple. "The Council is in session, but it's nothing vital. I think they will see you."
Elonia hesitated. "What do you think they'll do with me?"
"The Jedi are a reasonable people, child. We don't judge people harshly with no reason. You'll be safe here, Jedi's word."
Elonia nodded, swallowing her sudden anxiety, and followed Master Melias toward the Temple entrance. Several Jedi turned to watch the teenager, with apparently no Force signature, and the Jedi Master - battered and bloodied - walk into the Temple. Elonia could feel their gazes and Force auras behind her. The inside of the Temple was open and spacious. Immediately, Master Melias headed for one of the curving staircases in the centre of the largest room. On the second floor, Elonia knew, were the training rooms and the room of the Jedi Council. The two guards at the door of the Council chamber stopped them.
"We need the audience of the Council," said Master Melias.
"We understand," said one of the guards, "but the girl doesn't have clearance to access the Council. You may enter if you like."
"The Council is in no danger."
"Protocols..."
"The Jedi Council is composed of trained and powerful members of the Jedi Order. Do you really think a half-trained child could pose a threat to them?"
Perhaps that wasn't the wisest thing for Master Melias to say, because it gave Elonia the idea she had been looking for. Despite his bravado, Elonia knew that Master Melias wasn't unconcerned. Of course she could pose a threat to the Council. She could probably take them all out at once with a good enough plan. She wasn't ready now, perhaps, but soon she could be. She would need to do it off-world, however, on a planet not entirely under Republic control, so that the security forces wouldn't destroy her before she got two steps, but she was reasonably sure that she could succeed. The Jedi Council wasn't chosen for their strength in combat, unlike the Kenilath leader. However, she would need permission to leave Tython, and that required her to be on good terms with the Jedi.
If you can't beat them - at least immediately - join them, thought Elonia as she stepped into the room.
Time to woo them into letting her become a Jedi.
The Council chamber wasn't large, but it was impressive enough despite its simplicity. Elonia made the long walk past the statues of legendary Jedi with a sense of foreboding. At the end of the passage, the Jedi Council was seated around a circular table with what she assumed was an inactive holocommunicator in its centre. Most were physically present, but several appeared here only as holographic images. Elonia realized that she would have trouble getting them all in one place for her plan, but she decided it would have to do. She wasn't really trying to take down the entire Republic from within, after all, but simply to draw the Sith's attention and convince them that she was on their side.
"What is the meaning of this, Master Melias? Where is Padawan Plerr?" said a delicate woman Elonia recognized as Satele Shan, the Grand Master of the Jedi Order (she had always wondered why the Jedi Grand Master wore that black lipstick, though).
"Dead," said Master Melias, "by the hand of this young Force user."
"Why have you brought her here?"
Elonia was amazed by how calm and collected Master Satele was as she took in this news.
"I believe she could become a Jedi," said Master Melias.
Protests rose up all around the Council chamber but quickly ceased as Master Melias continued.
"We'll discuss this later."
"What is your name, then, child?" asked Master Satele.
"Hey, stop calling me that," protested Elonia. "I'm not as young as I look."
"What is your name?" repeated Master Satele, but she looked mildly amused.
"Elonia Moonbeam."
Of course, they would be no record for her name nor her DNA sequence in any Republic or Imperial files. She had simply poofed into existence.
"You say you have no allegiance to the Empire?" said one of the holocall Council members.
Elonia realized that she was speaking like she was from England again, and gave up on reclaiming her Canadian accent.
"No. Why does everyone think I'm Imperial?"
"There is a sort of common Imperial look and accent, and you fit the bill."
"Now, Elonia, we are aware that you are not unknowingly blocking your Force signature," said a Jedi that Elonia recognized as Master Orgus. "Unblock it."
Elonia hesitated. She was unusually precise with her control over the Core's mind-blocking abilities, but she wasn't sure how well that translated to this universe. Even more importantly, she had never tried to block of only certain thoughts in her mind, a very complicated manoeuvre. Still, she clamped her mind-block over the thoughts of betrayal in the core of her mind, and released the rest of the Force trick. Instantly, she was aware of Master Satele scoping her Force signature and thoughts, but Elonia wasn't about to sit still while someone looked through her mind.
She sent out her newfound sense of the Force at the bright point of the Jedi Grand Master's Force aura and gathered all the information she could find, which was a surprising amount. While she was examining Elonia's mind, Master Satele had left her own wide open, and Elonia had gotten what she wanted: the hyperspace coordinates of Dromund Kaas, and information to use as bargaining chips for when she arrived in the Imperial capital world. All that was left was to get off-world to execute her plan.
Even as Elonia was gleaning whatever information she could from Master Satele's memories, the Jedi Council examined Elonia's Force signature as one. It was immediately clear that she was Force-sensitive - and very strongly so. Her Force aura was brilliantly powerful enough that it broke several of them out of their heightened state of awareness, yet it had no discernible alignment. There was certainly darkness inside the powerful young Force-user, enough that she would never have been accepted into training for the Jedi Order - regardless of age - but also plenty of light. Emotions rolled through her mind: confusion, smugness, fear, awe - but they were not focused into hatred in the way of the Sith. And she was definitely not from the known galaxy, Master Satele quickly discovered in her thoughts, but the Imperial loyalty was definitely there. Somehow, this Elonia knew and loved the Empire.
It didn't take any discussion for the Council to agree not to trust her, but the Jedi Code called for giving her a chance, a perhaps dangerous policy but one that separated them from the Dark Side and the Sith. They couldn't even find a reason not to train her to become a Jedi because, coming from another universe, Elonia's age and loyalties couldn't be factored into the decision. While she probably had attachments to people in her universe, none of it applied here.
After dismissing Elonia, they decided on what to be done, but it was a short discussion as Master Satele would not reveal the reasons for her decision. "I will take the child as my Padawan," she said with no elaboration. She was well aware that the Council would debate the decision if she revealed her motives. The simple fact was that the Republic needed every advantage it could get in the war, and this new Padawan could be the hope they needed. The point wasn't to trust her as a Jedi, but to shape her into a weapon and set the prodigious warrior on the Empire. Wherever Elonia's true allegiances lay, she would be made into a hero for the Republic and be manipulated into helping them win the war. If she could truly be turned, then all the better, but Master Satele wasn't aiming for this, which the Council would certainly disapprove of. She knew where her true aims lay. It was a greater violation of the Jedi Code to let the Empire win and ensure so much destruction than to train a Jedi only for the purpose of war.
As she left the Council room, though, Master Melias passed her.
"Be careful," he said. "I don't know what you're trying to accomplish, but you can't trust her."
"I'm not planning to," said Master Satele confidently. But suddenly she wasn't so certain of her plan.