Atton was terrified, as the situation was way worse than he had expected. Palpatine was supposed to be dead, Anakin killed him on the second Death Star, and even if he had survived, it was blown up. The Gray Council was discussing the threat and how they should proceed. Derek and Jaqen were part of it, though most of the council were holograms. Each had schools hidden on planets across the galaxy in order to protect the younglings and their families as well as preventing the fall of the Gray Jedi if any singular temple was destroyed. Most of the council was made up of those who trained under survivors of Order 66, or those who escaped the destruction of Luke's temple. Atton, as an ex Knight of Ren, was brought in to give intel about Kylo's inner circle. Finn was brought to the same Council shortly after agreeing to be trained as a Jedi.
"There was no way he could have escaped." he thought.
"Even if he had, there should have been traces of him."
Suddenly he remembered something. He had felt a dark presence the night the Jedi Temple was destroyed, but he had just thought it was Kylo Ren. He had been surrounded by that presence for a while, but that night was when it was strongest. Still, the thought that everything he and the other Knights of Ren had been convinced to do was the machinations of a man who wanted to watch the galaxy burn, not free it from the corruption of the Jedi as Ben had promised so long ago. Every speech he made, every planet he had them assimilate, was to push the agenda of a madman. And that wasn't even including the destruction of the Hosnian system or the countless children the First Order stole.
"What do you think Atton?" asked Derek, snapping him out of his thought process.
"Whatever Palpatine is doing, he has been scheming for decades. Snoke, Kylo, The First Order, they've all been pawns in his plans. He's trying to take over the galaxy again, but we need to find out what exactly his plans are or else we may be falling right into his hands. We need to find out where he is and stop him." He said.
The others nodded. After a few moments female Togruta then spoke up.
"He must be hiding in the Unknown Regions, it's the only way he could have hidden for so long without being detected."
"She's right, but that's a lot of poorly charted territory. Finding him will be nearly impossible, especially without some kind of map." said a human Mandalorian. A coo came off from the background of his call.
"Then we find a map. We can't just sit here and do nothing!" she exclaimed.
"How do we know such a map exists?" said a Mon Calamari.
There was more arguing and after an hour or so, then The Council was dismissed. Atton went to the training grounds. Discussions would continue the next day, and there would be more planning, but his attendance would still be mandatory considering the information he had. Rey and Finn were practicing fighting with lightsabers in front of a group of younglings. Rey's blade was unique among the others he had seen. It had a golden kyber crystal, which was rare, even for yellow crystals. Yellow kyber crystals were the most common ones that weren't green or blue, as they were traditionally used by Sentinels, though having one did not necessarily indicate they were one. Her saber itself looked to be the remains of a quarterstaff, which would match Kylo Ren's initial description of her. Finn's lightsaber was purple, which was also pretty rare. He wasn't sure of the significance of a purple crystal, but there were rumors that those who fell to the Dark Side then returned to the light had that color. Considering Atton's own crystal and Mace Windu was not reported to have fallen to the dark side, he doubted these claims. Finn's lightsaber was made out of old Stormtrooper armor. It had apparently taken a while to refit, but it worked well. What were once his shackles was now a weapon that destroyed them.
As he continued watching their match, Atton felt his pocket where his Kyber crystal was and remembered he still needed to craft his new lightsaber. He had to find the right materials, which was proving more challenging than he thought. He had tried more traditional metals and even certain types of wood, but nothing felt right to him. He tried picturing the lightsaber in his mind, but none of the materials looked the same. He had even tried materials taken from Hosnian Prime before it was destroyed, but there was too much pain related to it. It was a new graveyard of debris, one that should never have existed.
"Not that the first one should have existed either." he thought. What remained of Alderaan was the same as the Hosnian system, a mess of debris floating in space, haunted by the screams of those who died there. It, like the Hosnian system, was a wound that was impossible to heal. Despite or maybe because of this, survivors of Alderaan and their descendants were essential in helping Hosnian refugees relocate. Atton was not surprised, trauma, especially shared trauma, unites people. Alderaanians were at the front of the Resistance as well, and because of recent events Atton wouldn't be surprised if survivors of the Hosnian system joined en mass.
As he thought of this he remembered the holodisk his family gave him all those years ago. Shortly before he arrived at Ossus, he had given it and the crystal to Master Hawk in order to make sure they were not being used to track them. There was no way they could have been, but he wanted to make absolutely sure they weren't. Hawk confirmed they weren't, and after Atton complained of lightsaber materials not fitting correctly, had gently suggested he watch it.
"Perhaps now is the time." he thought.
He left the training grounds and found a place to watch it where he would not be disturbed by anyone.