Unlike all of the other buildings on the planet-city of Coruscant, the Jedi Temple stood alone. It was a colossal structure with four spires rising into the sky from its flat top. It was far from everything and towered over everything, appearing to be bulkier with sharper edged towers.
The Jedi Council room dominated a portion of the top of one of the spires. The Council itself was in session, the doors sealed, and the proceedings hidden from the eyes and ears of all but a few select people.
Some human, some nonhuman, but they all comprised the Council. A diverse and seasoned group who gravitated to the order from both ends of the galaxy and the far reaches of the galaxy.
The room was circular and domed, with graceful pillars spaced between broad windows which opened a view to the city-scape and the light of the horizon.
The shape of the room and the Council seating reflected the Jedi belief in equality and interconnection between all living things.
Obi Wan studied the faces of those gathered as he gave his full report of the battle, fighting off vestiges of sleep and exhaustion the longer he spoke.
All those gathered were Jedi Masters like himself, among them Yoda and Mace Windu, seniors in rank among those seated. They were more versed in the ways of the Jedi Order than just about everyone gathered within the room, including himself.
He stood in the center of the circle as he gave his report. His strong stance and calm voice eased the attention his way from all of those gathered, and his blue eyes fixed them steadily with each word, searching them as much as they searched him with each word.
They watched him speak each word carefully.
The ever pragmatic and level headed Ki-Adi-Mundi.
The calm Plo Koon.
Young and beautiful Aalya Secura who sat in through holo-projection.
Slender and serene Luminari Unduli who sat in through holo-projection.
Crested and marble-faced Even Piell.
The graceful and mild mannered Shaak Ti.
Each were different and unique in appearance, each unique in personality, and each with something vital to offer in all of the Council meetings.
Obi Wan brought his focus back to Windu and Yoda, the ones who carried the most weight.
"I think it could all possibly be a smoke screen, something to divert our attention. It could be a diversion that is meant to get us to react a certain way. Every reaction we make is a part of a greater plan, aimed at us, and not necessarily the Republic."
The silence that followed was deafening.
"The battle of Utapau and the battle of Rhen var...Are you telling me they were just diversions?" Mace Windu nearly growled, leaning forward.
"This whole war?" Plo Koon didn't dare venture fully.
"Impossible!" Ki-Adi-Mundi snapped, not bothering to hide his dismay at the suggestion.
"For what purpose would those battles, any of these battles, and this war itself serve as a diversion?" Aalya asked, genuinely uneasy.
Yoda shifted slightly in his chair, a small and wise presence in the company of much larger beings, his eyes narrowed for a few moments, and then he turned to look Obi Wan with a deep thoughtfulness.
"Threatened, the Jedi are, if this is true." He said in a sad, grim voice.
The others began to mutter among themselves.
Obi Wan didn't make a sound, he just let it run its course. They had believed fighting the war was the best thing to do. The only thing to do. They had believed the CIS had to be done away with.
He could feel Shaak Ti shifting uncomfortably in her seat, maintaining her silence as he would expect from the graceful Togruta.
Windu leaned back, his brow furrowing.
"I am having difficulty accepting this, Masters. If we follow our line of thought to the end, we will conclude that this war has been a diversion to distract us. Every last move we make and will make could be our very last." Ki Adi Mundi said.
"The dark side clouds everything...Cornered we were, back then, during Naboo." Yoda said with a small shake of his head.
"We should discover if there is any validity to all of this." Even Piell said at last.
"How would we do that?" Shaak Ti asked, genuinely at a loss.
It's not like one could dissect a war.
"Perhaps we need to focus on the one who has contact with the person controlling things behind the scenes." Plo Koon suggested with a nod to Obi Wan.
"The source..." Even Piell leaned back.
"Yes, the one called Sidious. If we route out the source, we will trace it back to him, he is the one we are after anyways." Aalya said, her lekku gently moving.
Windu nodded, meeting the gaze of everyone gathered. "The Jedi are targets, our existence is threatened right now as we speak, and that much is clear. The war may have been a smokescreen, but there might be one silver lining that we can seize. It could be our saving grace."
"Or our turbulent end, Master Windu." Shaak Ti reminded.
"She is right." Ki Adi Mundi added.
Yoda lifted one skinny arm, and pointed at Obi Wan. "Master Obi Wan, who do you say is most in contact with Sidious?"
"I would say Count Dooku because he is head of state, but he is in our custody...It could be Greivous, but I think Sidious would not be so fond of his...Tunnel vision. With that process of elimination, it would have to be the Viceroy of the Trade Federation. Nute Gunray. The very same Nute Gunray that blockaded Naboo."
Everyone murmured their approval, voicing their confidence in Obi Wan's deduction.
"How sure are you?" Luminari asked, tone serene.
Obi Wan furrowed his brow. "Not entirely sure if I am even sure...There is going to be a network of species, factions, corporations, worlds, factories, smugglers, people, and who knows what else that will make it almost impossible to trace anything back to Sidous with pure certainty without drawing up a dead end along the way."
Windu furrowed his brow. "Are any of the CIS delegates still on world?"
Yoda waved his hand in dismissal. "Useless that is. Count Dooku is the one who controls them, Sidious is the one who controls Count Dooku."
"We could have interrogated Nute Gunray-"
"No. Fuss greatly, that being will. More chaos, that will only breed." Yoda raised his hand, dismissing Windu and forcing him to drop it.
"Is Dooku being captured also a smoke screen and something meant to distract us? Is it a greater move in a greater picture against us?" Luminari echoed the concerns.
Obi Wan thought about it.
Dooku being captured was counterproductive, but if there was a plan of some sort to use that to an advantage...When the high birth status and wealth of Dooku wasn't binding the CIS together...If Grievous and anyone else trained in the dark side, light-saber arts, or anything remotely close to those things went world by world, laying waste to them, wiping out entire populations...
The ranks of the Jedi, GAR, and Republic Army were going to be spread beyond thin.
They were going to need to put the Padawans who weren't even chosen yet on the battlefields, with no battle experience. They were going to have to enlist teenagers, and kids no older than a Padawan into the Republic military.
There would be hundreds of funerals every single day, all of them too young.
Really, they couldn't afford the war to magnify.
Yoda sighed softly, sensing the brooding thought circulating around the room.
"The hand of the Jedi, forced it will be and has been, already. Loved or despised, we will be, faster than a heartbeat."
Again, there was silence as the members of the Council exchanged glances, communicating without words.
"The whole galaxy could turn against us." Aalya said the fear out loud.
"We become the enemies of peace and justice..." Shaak Ti echoed her deduction.
If we aren't already...
Yoda looked back to Obi Wan, nodding at Aalya and Shaak Ti to echo their sentiments. "Believe do you, find the link to trace back to Sidious?"
"It will take time..." Obi Wan thought about it. "A long time, but there is a way to trace it back."
"There is always one mistake." Even Piell said.
"Even those most careful eventually mess up, even minutely." Plo Koon echoed.
"It could be something as simple as the chair the Viceroy sits in or his personal starship." Luminari said in her serene calm, nodding her agreement.
Ki Adi Mundi moved closer to Yoda, passing a report. "Just came in, Master."
Yoda looked at them through the shimmer of the holo-projected report on the recent riots in the latest session in the Senate, the passing of Statute 312b, otherwise called the Fourth Amendment, and a few others things.
His eyes were anything but calm.
They grew cold.
His ears flattened back.
"This report..."
"Most recent report from the Holonet." Ki Adi Mundi replied.
"This amendment, passed it has been?"
Windu nodded, eyes gaining a dark glint. "Overwhelmingly. It has effectively ousted and silenced anyone on the side of the CIS, their delegates, and the outlying systems. It has been done since before the vote of no confidence took the whole chamber by storm and nearly caused a riot."
"The goal in this...Unclear to me it is." Yoda said slowly.
Obi Wan cleared his throat. "I do not get involved in matters of politics, but Bail said something about this allowing the CIS to rally even more systems."
"Senator Organa might just be right. With this new amendment the Core Worlds, Colonies, and Inner Rim Territories now have more voting power than planets beyond them. It will accelerate the secession of outlying worlds into the CIS." Windu remarked, tone strong.
"Surely that cannot be the intention..." Even Piell trailed off.
Mace's expression darkened and his brow furrowed.
"The sith lord has both the Republic and CIS in a strangle hold. The Jedi Order is the only thing that stands between him and galactic domination. If we become targets and are made out to be the enemies of peace and justice..."
"Besmirch the Jedi, the galaxy would not."
"It happened this afternoon."
"The implications of the amendment being passed, they do not comprehend. If only the close worlds remain safe, no more, the Republic will be. A concentrated monopoly it will be, based on hubris and greed-not cooperation between species. An Empire, favoring few, power in one, that would be."
Windu's eyes narrowed. "What they can, do, can't, won't, and don't comprehend no longer matters anymore. They know where the power is and they know they have more of it now."
"If the worlds closest to the Core have so much power, the CIS could take control of the rest of the galaxy without much problem. They would then be able to lead a direct attack and close in from every possible direction and parsec near the core." Shaak Ti added in, massaging her montral gently.
"A direct attack on Coruscant or even the Deep Core." Aalya seconded, nodding in Shaak Ti's direction.
"But, the Hutts and other criminals..." Plo Koon ventured.
"Natural selection, it becomes. Power nestled in all but one, and no one else has power. A means to an end, in such a galaxy, where and what place, do the Jedi have? What place do the Hutts have? What place do the Zabrak have?"
"None." Shaak Ti replied grimly. She bowed her head when Yoda's gaze filled with sorrow and even regret.
"Master Yoda, the days of natural order taking hold grow closer and closer. That day may be today. If we don't take a stand that is what it will be, and what Shaak Ti said will be correct. What you said will become a reality. The Jedi will no longer have a place anywhere in the galaxy. The only people who will live will be favored by the supreme power." Windu continued.
Shaak Ti gave Obi Wan a pleading look. "What are your thoughts, Master Kenobi?"
"If it is not his intention to target the Jedi Order, then perhaps we are missing something. If it is his intention to target the Jedi Order, this is a plan that has to do with attrition and whittling us down."
"This is the next step, aimed to rip our heart. This is a move toward our destruction."
Obi-Wan stroked his beard for a second, then stopped. He turned to Windu. "This whole war could be a plot by the sith to destroy the Jedi Order."
"Speculation!" Yoda jabbed his gimer stick at Obi Wan and Windu. "No theories! Needed proof is!"
"We have to consider every possibility, Master. Proof is something that may not be available to us because of how vast Sidious's network may be. If it spans the entire galaxy, technically speaking, proof may be something we don't have." Obi Wan furrowed his brows a little.
"If we do move forward with our plan to route the source, we will have to consider everything...Even if it just speculation." Luminari added in, tone firm.
Obi-Wan firmed his jaw a little.
"We cannot allow this war to be prolonged needlessly. Too many Jedi have died already. The galaxy itself is shattering from the core to the last reaches. Whatever we do, we have to do it soon, and we all have to agree on the course of action. We cannot allow internal strife to take hold."
Plo Koon's grim tone brought the focus to the heart. "If this war magnifies, we will be forced to send our youngest and brightest into war...Teenagers in the Republic will have to enlist."
"Our brightest will not be snuffed out." Yoda's tone gave no argument or compromise on the matter.
"On that note." Mace Windu held up one hand, bringing the current session to a close.
Luminari finally spoke on two, very keen, and very much absent men.
"Where are Master Cadus and young Anakin?"
Obi Wan sighed softly, remembering how snappish Cadus had gotten and how Anakin didn't even bother to listen to him, even slightly. Those two were well beyond reason after being smothered while they were starving hungry and weary from battle.
"They're...Recovering."
Yoda nodded, closing his eyes.
"Are they in the Halls of Healing?" Ki Adi Mundi ventured.
"No...They're at Master Cadus's residence in the city."
Windu's brows drew together.
Yoda smiled softly for a moment. "Contact Master Cadus and young Skywalker. Value Cadus's input I do, and most interested am I in Anakin's report. A united front we need. Move ahead with this plan we will, to find the source that will lead us to Sidious. Speak to the Chancellor we must, as soon as we can, for our fellow Jedi, and our troopers. Time to return, it is. Rest, we all must."
"I will do that right away." Windu nearly bit out.
The audacity of those three to just blow the meeting off, not even leave a message, and to not even acknowledge them at all...
Anakin Skywalker.
Cadus.
Quinlan Vos.
Windu had enough.
News that Anakin, Obi Wan, and Cadus returned spread quickly through Coruscant and even faster through the Jedi Temple.
Holonet reports were flashing on every single screen, giant, huge, big, small, and every size in between.
Many of them were of the most recent speech and the arrest of Dooku. Others screens showcased Dooku being escorted and hauled away to a prison being specially made. More were replaying Bail and Sio Bibble voting no confidence in Palpatine.
And, there were some showing him and Cadus trying to avoid the limelight.
There were a few showing the near riot that almost broke out, security forces were moving all over the screens and as fast as mouths moved, it was like blades being carved through the air.
Anakin had never been so hungry in his life. His stomach twisted into knots, causing him to hunch over as he got to the door.
Unlike all of the Jedi, Cadus didn't reside in the Jedi Temple. Of course, he did have a room within the Temple, but he didn't live there like everyone else.
Cadus owned a home far from any of the spotlights, holonet groups, the Jedi Temple, the Senate Hall, and anything that could gravitate any attention to him.
It wasn't 500 Republica by any stretch of the imagination. It was rustic and humble, a given since he was a Jedi Master. There was a deck off to the right side that got a nice view of the horizon. There was a landing deck on the left side that could fit a gunship.
Other than that, there was nothing notable about it.
Being a Jedi Sentinel like Cadus was rare.
Anakin took the time to think about it.
Cadus was every bit of a warrior and fighter. He was very knowledgeable when it came to the nuances of the force. He, and everyone with the Sentinel title didn't sequester themselves in the Jedi Temple away from all civilization, but they lived among the general populace and didn't detach themselves from anything at large.
They sought a balance of force abilities, saber skills, and their own ingenuity. In the fields of medicine, repair, demolition, sabotage, computers, astrocartography, starship repair, security, hyperspace coordinating, stealth techniques, and even more talents.
A Jedi Guardian would bash down a locked door, A Jedi Consular would knock on the door, but A Jedi Sentinel would use the equipment they had available or ingenuity to pick the lock, may even bypass the door completely, or they could knock and bash it down.
Jedi Sentinels were more service oriented as well.
They built a stronger connection to and with the galactic public whom the Order swore to protect. They seek out cities rather than temples and crowds over solitude. They could pursue a specific field of study as a specialization of their specific discipline, in the same way a Consular aspires to be a healer, and as a Guardian aspires to be a peacekeeper.
Sentinels were a jack of all trades, a master of none, balanced, excelling in all areas, and amplified these abilities with a wide range of non-force, and even non-saber skills.
Oddly, Anakin found himself wanting to change to a Sentinel in a heartbeat.
That freedom called him.
He too, could be a Sentinel like Cadus and just a few others in the Order.
He could make the choice, and the Council would accept it.
They had no reason not to.
Being a Jedi Guardian had always been his goal when he was younger because it was straightforward and he could make a difference, the most difference in his opinion, by being able to fight directly in matters that affected the whole galaxy.
Recently the position was just filling with politics and double deck dealing by everyone, including the esteemed Jedi Masters, and Palpatine himself.
A Sentinel shared the duties of both a Consular and Guardian, so it's not like he would really have to sacrifice anything. He would just need to find a balance with all of his talents, strengths, expertise, weaknesses, and know how to use all of them effectively.
Most of all, Anakin could have his own home.
He could have friends.
He could have a lover if he so chose, because he would not live under the Temple roof and have to sneak around like a teenager in a sappy romance novel.
The inside of Cadus's home was just as sparse as the outside was rustic, but there was a wide viewscreen on the front wall in the living room. There were couches, chairs, recliners, and small mats where one would sit in the seiza or agura position.
The recent Holonet report was playing on the huge screen, the volume muted to cut out whoever was making a fuss.
Anakin watched the footage of Plo Koon flanked by Clone Troopers, Palpatine and Dooku being swarmed on all sides along with Padme, Bail Organa and Fang Zar shouting, Nute Gunray shouting at them with San Hill, and Obi Wan nearly dragging him and Cadus so they weren't lost in the melee of the whole thing...
It was pure chaos.
His stomach began grumbling.
Anakin spotted two fridges off in a corner in the kitchen.
The whole house was surprisingly carpeted, not bare with intricate or exotic designs that seemed to be the norm for even the most basic of houses on Coruscant. The kitchen floor was just a plain wood, nothing special, no designs, no stones, no exquisite carvings, and it was all just so plain.
As a given, Anakin took off his boots at the door and tread in carefully, noting that there were two bathrooms deeper in the house, and three bedrooms as well.
Yoda's room at the Temple was something of serene calm and tranquility.
Cadus's home felt like freedom. There was an easiness of movement and feeling. Anakin couldn't quite describe it better than that, and he wasn't sure what to use other than freedom and the easiness of being able to feel.
He didn't feel so uneasy like he had been with Yoda, despite the short being's room's peaceful atmosphere, it was all a facade, and that peace was a prodding and incessant scrutiny.
It started when he was ten years old, upon first meeting them. Yoda had looked deep into his heart, seen the worm of dread, knew he missed his mother, knew he wanted to see her, knew he loved her more than anything in the galaxy, and he pointed his wrinkled finger at him...
And dug into his heart, pulled out the insides of it, and put it on display for everyone to see.
Anakin could remember that finger turning into a dagger.
Yoda's brow deepened with a strain of worry, but to Anakin, it had been the wrinkles of a slumbering anger.
The whole thing made Anakin want to clench his jaw.
Even Obi Wan still gave him a hard time.
The only people to accept him for who he was had been Kitster, Qui Gon, Cadus, Palpatine, and Padme.
But, in Cadus's home, he didn't feel that or even get the...Hunch there was something like that going on even a little bit. There was no prodding or scrutiny. There was no watchful presence that licked the undercurrents of his being and wormed into his heart.
This man never looked through him. Cadus simply accepted him for who he truly was, like he accepted everyone else in the same way.
Here Anakin knew he could laugh, talk about romance, speak on love, talk about starships, drink himself silly, or he could just relax.
He found Cadus moving around in the kitchen, dressed in a pair of blue hakama, a black kosode, a white obi, and a black haori. He moved about with swift precision, from years of experience, cooking several things at once and monitoring all of them.
Anakin wondered what he would look like in such formal attire. It wasn't as bad as some of the uniforms he seen species and delegates wearing.
It wasn't even as bad as the Jedi's stupid brown robes and tunics.
He took the time to examine the furniture in front on the viewscreen again.
Their material was of a rustic nature, as was their design. They didn't have the long sweeping sides like in the Senate Hall, and they didn't curve intricately like many Senators' couches, and they didn't have expensive cushions or stitching.
There were a few cabinets against the walls, all triple stacked and triple filled with rare, limited edition, special edition, and expensive bottles of spirits.
There was a cabinet displaying dozens, if not hundreds of light-sabers and all of their variations-even the light-saber pike, long handle light-saber, and even the saber-cane were all proudly displayed. The shine of the electrum finish of some caught Anakin's eye right away, just as the long hilt of a double bladed light-saber made him arch his brow.
There was a cabinet displaying what Anakin guessed had to be something Cadus had worn during a war at some point in the past. A helmet with a great gash in the middle was the center piece. The plated armor that would cover his chest, back, legs, arms, and shoulders was the next thing to catch his eyes in the display, and then the chain-mail.
Anakin knew it wasn't basic armor.
It was probably song steel, or a crazy combination of near indestructible metals and steels forged together. Corotsis could only compliment phrik and tydirium. Song steel complimented all three of those, and if Mandalorian Iron was somehow in combination within the armor...
Cadus would be a walking tank.
Cadus really was a Jedi with this lifestyle, but Anakin suspected that this was just how Cadus was in general as a person. He only cared for simple things. The basic things. Freedom. Silence. Good food. Good drink. Good company to enjoy both.
He also seemed to be sentimental as he kept past light-sabers, perhaps of old friends, old enemies, Padawans, and even his own that he made over the long course of his life.
He was also fond of spirits.
Jedi weren't forbidden to drink or smoke, but it wasn't exactly smiled upon and accepted.
Cadus and Quinlan Vos did both of those things regularly, but they never strayed down an extreme path with either of them.
Anakin found a grand bed in the master bedroom, with huge pillars to support it all created from wood of the native Wroshyr trees of Kashyyk, a gift from their Chieftans for Cadus's service in helping the Wookiees remain free at some point in time in the past.
Other than the giant bed which Cadus did need to sleep comfortably, his abode was rather...
Humble.
Anakin found himself appreciating it more and more.