The Jedi Temple was a massive structure, thousands of centuries old, well and beautifully made, but like much on Coruscant, the exterior had suffered from neglect in recent years.

Below the five spotless and gleaming spires, at the level of the dormitories and the staff entrances, paint flaked off and bronze gutters fought with long green streaks reaching down broad curved roofs, struggling to keep themselves from being torn away.

Molded metal sheets lost their buffers of insulation and were beginning to electrically corrode, creating fantastic rainbow patterns on their surfaces where they touched.

Within the Temple, the chambers were cool, with lighting at a minimum, except in the private quarters, which were spare enough, but provided with glow lamps for reading the texts taken from the huge library. Each private quarter was also equipped with a computer and holoprojector for accessing the later works of science, math, politics, history, and philosophy.

The Temple was a center of learning, mediation, and moderation unlike anything else in the known galaxy. It was a place of peace, serenity, meditation and reflection, commingled with long periods of rigorous and spirited training as well as severe studying.

However, within the last one hundred decades the Jedi Council devoted its time to troublesome matters of politics, the whims and worries of senators, and the large-scale repercussions of a three year long war and an even longer total economic collapse that had its roots in the Ruusan Reformations.

No one could give too much to reflection, and focused their energy by studying. This was an age of decisiveness, action, strife, war, and counteraction, with many forces wishing to take away the freedom and the principles that had guided the Jedi in their zealous guardianship of the Senate, the Republic, and making their own freedom.

That explained why so many of the Jedi were away from the Temple, killed in battle, or scattered around the crumbling fringes of the Republic.

Conflicting currents of energy swirled and clashed in the Council Chamber. Traditionally, decisions of the Council were reached by quiet, mutual contemplation of just not the flow of the force, but ideals, opinions, and reasoning, until all the Council was of a single mind on the matter.

Cadus knew of this tradition through first hand experience, though younger Jedi only knew it by reputation, from tales in the archives and stories told by Masters whose tenure on the Council predated the return of the Sith and the later backlash of the Ruusan Reformations.

Argument in the Chamber was more the rule than the exception.

Yoda was unreadable as always, his rumpled features composed in a mask of serene contemplation.

Windu could have been carved from stone.

Cadus's eyes were intense and flinty, calmed in serene thought.

"Master Cadus. Master Yoda."

Windu's tone was so severe that the fumes of fury inside Cadus flexed instinctively.

"Palpatine has decided to comply with our suggestion, and with the instructions of the Senate that give him the unprecedented authority to command, all Jedi Knights, Padawans, Jedi Masters, and the GAR off world, on planets not threatened by war or a breach of security have been commanded to return to the Temple and Coruscant. More to the point, once the peace talks and negotiations go into effect, all of the Jedi and GAR who are on worlds loyal to the CIS will return."

Cadus stood very still for a long moment, until he was sure he had heard what he thought he'd heard Windu proclaim.

Palpatine was moving forward with peace talks. He seemed to be amicable and moving right along, but there was something off.

The fact Palpatine and Sidious were the same person, he couldn't help but feel a single instance when the Supreme Chancellor hadn't shown his true self. He always kept it under wraps. Finally, it began to sink in, and he gradually allowed himself to come back to the muddled reality where there were hearts that had desires, and the drive to be recognized by accomplishments overpowered everything.

Dedication.

Power.

Cadus took a slow, deep breath, and slowly opened his eyes. "That is most relieving to hear. With Count Dooku indefinitely imprisoned, it would have been folly for Palpatine to persist with the war instead of suing for peace."

"Allow this, Palpatine has. Lightly, we should not take this. Chancellor Palpatine and his reasoning, disturbing it is. Some things, he has said, done he has, threatening it all is." Yoda's ears curled down like a growing scowl on the lips.

Is Palpatine's attack aimed at just the Jedi or is it aimed at all of those who are attuned or sensitive to the force...Any organization or even species that has the propensity to achieve something similar? If they even study it...What is he after exactly...

Cadus didn't speak his thoughts out loud, only inclining his head by a fraction. "I understand why you are so wary, Master Yoda."

"I'm not sure you do." Windu leaned forward, staring into Cadus's eyes with a measuring squint.

Cadus couldn't even pay any attention to Windu. He was already focused on leaving, riding the turbo-lift to the main hangar, meeting Aola and Talisibeth, before finally taking a cruiser to his home to pick his finest bottle of liquor for his meeting with Quinlan Vos.

"The dark side of the force surrounds Chancellor Palpatine. On the surface, he would appear to be ignorant of the force, but his claims gleam something different. I say this because you have a firm grasp on politics, you have been in that arena...You come from a line of Jedi that could play both sides and did."

"You want me to...Spy on Palpatine?"

It was a simple question, a recoil from the ludicrous suggestion that felt like a slash, like hot iron being stabbed through his chest.

He could only remember how Kolar doggedly held Windu's line, leaving things to descend like they did.

His tone, gaze, and expression were stony, darker, and flinty. The sound resonating from the depths of his rage and fury.

He smoked with measured, controlled fury, and his tone dropped several octaves.

"How dare you, Windu! How dare you ever think to go so far! How dare you send Shaak Ti to do the same exact thing before me! How dare you send Agen Kolar after me to kill me, knowing he would doggedly hold to your orders! How dare you! The sheer hubris that you are suffering from astounds me as much as it worries me!"

Cadus sat in seiza frozen on the floor, like a statue, not blinking or even appearing to breathe.

"How dare you Master Yoda, for you to be so hubris as to go along with this foolish notion is even more sickening. How dare you fall so low at just eight hundred and seventy seven years old, just twenty years shy of turning nine hundred years old that you forget humility and fall prey to hubris and avarice! You think you are going to pit me against Palpatine? You think you are going to pit me against fellow Jedi?"

"The Council, you are on. More important your duty is, as Jedi Master. Sit in this Chamber you have for long, but even I must follow the duty of Jedi. The Chancellor's views, concern they are, if we unravel more than what is on surface, yes, his wishes, his ideals, his amendments, his laws, and his directives."

Up from the depths of his supernova heart came an answer so far transcending fury that it sounded cold as ice. "This is ridiculous. It is an insult to me. It is an insult to the Jedi Order. It is an insult to the Chancellor. Do not imagine that I will tolerate it. You both sinking this far clearly shows how low the Jedi have fallen and how your perception of the force is drastically diminishing."

Mace Windu's eyes were as cold as the frigid tone from Cadus's mouth. "You have a duty, Master Cadus. A duty to the Jedi Order and Republic."

Cadus's eyes shifted, glinting, turning ghastly and piercing. "You think you can take control of the Senate if Palpatine refuses to give up power? You are fools! You believe you can force me to do this? You think you can make me spy on Palpatine? You know good and well your puerile Vaapad will never be able to touch me, you will not exercise high handed power."

He remained on his meditation mat. He didn't even move a fraction. His position was exactly the same as it had been when the ludicrous suggestion had been thrown out. It appeared that both Windu and Yoda wanted to claim ownership of the Jedi Order's accomplishments, and claim ownership of the Republic itself.

"There is something else as well." Windu continued, interrupting Cadus's thoughts. "You must limit your study of the restricted archives."

"Why would I even consider doing that? The manuscripts, tomes, and holocrons contain the wisdom of the ancients. I have learned much about the nuances of the force from them." Cadus almost snarled, more angry than he was surprised.

"The restricted part of the archives are relics of the past. They are from a time that has long since vanished. The Jedi Order has changed since those old days. We have evolved for one thousand years, beyond what is in those musty scrolls, tomes, and dark side ridden holocrons. You understand this, but you were always studying and rushing off on your own path like all those who lived back then."

Cadus scowled. "The Sith have changed over the last one thousand years, we should be building on the knowledge of those who came before us, and studying it earnestly. Surely you both understand this, more so you understand it, Master Yoda. Why else would you both send me to Korriban and Lehon to find certain holocrons belonging to Malak, Nihilus, and Revan?"

There was a flash of anger in the Windu's eyes. He never did like being challenged by rebellious Jedi, as he always put it.

However, Cadus was strong willed, and his view of morals and righteousness, his commitment to freedom, made it so neither of them could give nor concede.

Windu's tone was cold and menacing.

"The dark side is strong on Korriban, anything found there will bring us insight. Lehon is where everything was supposed to begin and end nearly four thousand years ago, anything found there would have brought us insight. It is rumored there are still many Sith Holocrons on Korriban."

Cadus knew he should find mediation, something that they could agree on. However, this was too important, and he couldn't yield. "The Valley of the Dark Lords was empty. The tombs of all the Dark Masters buried on Korriban, and the secrets hidden inside them were all gone. They've been gone for thousands of years. Is that what you seek, Windu? Nothingness."

Windu scowled. "The secrets of the dead! The secrets of who cannot be spoken!"

"The Jedi pillaged the tombs when Korriban fell to them and the Republic three thousand years ago. Nothing of value remains. The Jedi are servants of the light, but those of us with experience and control know the dark side has secrets most will never understand. Still, there was nothing on Korriban or Lehon."

Windu frowned, a harsh and stony expression. "You expect me to believe you found nothing?"

"The spirits of powerful Sith are said to linger in their tombs. They will show themselves to anyone who they deem worthy." Cadus shrugged, stubbornly refusing to concede with the point Windu trying to make.

"They appear only to those who are worthy, that is what I've heard as well. So, that is to say they would not have revealed themselves to an orthodox Jedi."

"Do you really believe I was communicating with ghosts and spirits by their graves, waiting for them to pass on the great mysteries of the dark side to me? Like I am the sole and rightful person to take ownership because I am a maverick?"

Cadus thought back to his studies. There were so many such accounts documented in the archives to be mere legend. There was some truth to it of course, but he hadn't encountered anything on Korriban or Lehon, and it wasn't like those dark lords would give him anything.

Sith coveted power and hoarded it for themselves, they would give him scraps, all means of seducing and controlling him.

"Yes, I do." Windu answered, though he knew it would infuriate Cadus even more.

"You believe you are going to learn more from the ghosts in the Valley of the Dark Lords than the vast expanse of knowledge we have here-even the artifact from that very place you are fixated on? If I didn't know any better, I would say you are losing your grip."

Windu leapt to his feet and swiped Cadus hard across the face. Cadus held his ground, he didn't even flinch, he didn't even blink..

"You are the same arrogant and impudent Padawan Count Dooku couldn't stand!" Cadus shouted.

"You have always invested your time in those who are dead and gone. You understood they held great power, but they are nothing but dust and bone!"

"You're wrong, Windu. If you think dark side knowledge will help your Shatterpoint or keep you balanced internally you are wrong...At this stage in your life anything of that sort is going to corrupt you, if you haven't been corrupted by the dark side and your Shatterpoint already. The Republic cannot be reversed from what it is or the direction it is going in."

"You understand our duty that we must uphold!"

"I also know the limitations of that duty."

Windu spoke, keeping his tone level. "If you value the wisdom of the dead so much, then go. Leave the Temple. Go to the far reaches of the galaxy. Find your path in that madness. Find your answers on the fringes of the galaxy!"

"Calm yourself, you will Master Windu. Descend this would have, if Master Cadus, not so aware he was." Yoda warned Windu in a sharp tone he didn't use often.

Cadus stared Windu down. He knew this was a test. It was ultimately about control. Windu was mad he was unable to control him. But, he knew Windu was wrong seeking to control him and others. The ancient Sith were dead, but their legacy remained in Windu clearly.

Trying to ignore the feeling of fury worming through his heart, Cadus took a deep breath and pressed his knees on his meditation mat.

"An impression on the young ones, have you. Look to emulate you now, they will, an example you must set for them."

"I've always done my best in that regard."

"That means your inappropriate relationships must end. That means your relationship with Padme must end, but your relationship with Queen Jamillia and Naboo is permitted."

Cadus's eyes went cold. "Inappropriate. Must end? Permissible? Do you want to rephrase that? My relationship with the Grizmalltian...With the people of Naboo goes back a long time. You are playing with fire here..."

"I was Master of the Order before Master Yoda stripped the rank from me for using Shatterpoint and sending Agen Kolar to kill you. I am not a fool, and I am not blind to what is happening within the confines of the Republic. Your inappropriate behavior was only tolerated, because it did no harm to the other apprentices. Now, however, many of the students will be watching you closely. There is the tournament coming up, which is very important and should be your primary focus. You have two Padawans. I do not want them following your path and trying to develop..."

"You don't want them to learn how to use their minds and exercise their will. You don't want them to even know they have a mind, you just want to cram stuff into their minds to control them when they get older like the Jedi have done for twenty thousand years."

"This is about Senator Amidala."

"This is about your control issues."

Windu's tone hardened. "This isn't a personal matter."

"You shouldn't expect a good reaction out of her if you try to punish her for our amicable and working relationship. It has saved Naboo, that is the only thing that matters. Before the Trade Federation when there was a corrupt king in play, I was there...When Damask Holdings was trying to strangle that world, I was present!"

"Speak with her I will, as I am speaking with you. Clear it must be, to the rest of the apprentices that the two of you are not warm in private. See her anymore, you cannot. Only contact in groups, never alone. If you both understand, no further backlash will there be. Understand I do, work with Naboo, always you have...But, no warm feelings, can you have for Amidala."

Cadus understood Yoda's concerns, even if the diminutive Jedi Master was too late, but overall, the solution went too far in his opinion. It was highhanded. There was no need to cut him off from Padme so completely that it would hinder things in the long run for their plans to manifest.

He wondered if the Masters knew of his attraction to her and her attraction to him.

Did they fear she would be a distraction?

No, once more this was simply about control.

"Master Yoda, you and I no longer have anything to speak about. Windu, you sent Agen Kolar after me, and Master Yoda, you accept this. I do not see Windu being sent away. His rank being stripped and the farce of his Shatterpoint being forbidden is not enough for me."

"Enough, it should-"

"It is not enough! Not for me! Windu, you will fight me to the death, which is what should have happened in the first place. It never had to go to that extreme that only Sith entertain, but your use of Shatterpoint and own arrogance made you overstep fundamentals and boundaries. The Jedi are ruled by you two, and you will never convince me any different after today."

"I am not afraid to fight you. You are the last from an ancient and bygone era! Let's see if your ancient and bygone swordsmanship can pierce through my Vaapad once again! I will fight you one last time before you are expelled or exiled for going against the Jedi Order's will!"

"To go against your will and Yoda's you mean to say...There is no Jedi Order."

"You are right, it should have been you and I the first time! Only one of us would be standing here right now!"

Cadus smiled humorlessly. "Only one of us would be in control and have Yoda's ear, you mean."

Windu's eyes flashed with rage.

"Master Windu, enough! Forbid you I have, of using Shatterpoint. Learn to lose, learn to trust, learn to rely on others, as well as win, a Jedi must. Humble yourself, you will. Calm yourself you will, boasting and braggart, pointless it is." Yoda said, tone sharp.

Cadus tried to ignore the sting of scorching rage burning inside of him at the younger man's words. In a short time, it would nearly be four years since the Clone Wars began. Discord among the senior Jedi, among the High Council grew ever more rampant, the more the years passed.

If they did not learn from these mistakes, the Jedi Order would be an afterthought within the next four weeks.

They'd have no place in the galaxy.

Windu would march into Palpatine's office as he had seen.

That vision angered him.

It was what put Order 66 into play.

It is what turned Anakin to darkness, but he would ensure it never came to be. Once the young man realized his true potential he would walk his own path.

It was, is, and will be the final nail in the coffin for the Jedi.

The thought of Younglings being slaughtered made his supernova of a heart erupt.

"I've seen and heard enough to know what direction this is going. You two are unprepared and will ultimately doom the Jedi to be outlaws and hated. You can wait to send this stripling away, if you choose to do so, Master Yoda, until after we are done settling things. You may have to cremate him. I won't allow you to send Younglings to their death. I will take them all and leave if I feel you are threatening their lives with your actions."

Rage blazed in Windu, and his dark eyes narrowed.

Yoda merely nodded, taking in Cadus's words. The truth was that he was just as wary as Cadus. He hoped that Cadus and Windu would find a mediation in agreement, instead of allowing themselves to fight again. But, it wasn't that simple, because Windu sent Agen Kolar after Cadus-allowing his fear and distrust to get the better of him.

Agen fell in battle, persisting with killing Cadus, deemed an order by Windu himself.

Yoda sighed sadly. "All right. A personal dispute this is. Blood there is. Finish it, and end it, both of you must as quickly as possible. Consequences there are when comrades, pitted against each other they are, However..."

Cadus looked at Yoda carefully, accepting the consequence. He knew that Yoda was fully aware of his fury and rage, but he would control it. He also knew that Yoda was aware of Windu's growing distrust and wily behavior.

He would kill Windu like he desired to, and if Windu persisted, instead Cadus would take one of his arms so Windu never sent a fellow Jedi to their demise again.

So he never sent another Jedi to kill another Jedi.

"I'm removing myself from the Council." Cadus said.

"It can't be done." Windu said.

"You are doomed for extinction...Even now you refuse to understand, adapt, adjust, and most of all, learn from our ancient forebears mistakes. There is no absolute in the force, there never was. There are many truths to the force as there are our own hearts. Light and dark. Ashla and Bogan. Any creed, philosophy, religion, group, sect, practice that opens hearts to the force proves there is no absolute or bearing on it. Still, all of us only demonstrate any of this through an application of power. The rightness of our beliefs, ideals, creed, religion, or our universal faith to the force isn't absolute. Our power was to never be used in wars, politics, or to aid the whims of politicians. We were never supposed to be so exclusionary nor take children at young ages. It is because you both and the Jedi now refuse to acknowledge this, that there is no Jedi Order...There is no balance. Darth Sidious has already won on principle alone, there is nothing that can be done to stop this tide that is coming."

"That is why we are putting an end to your study of the restricted Archives."

"Because I can see what you can't see, despite using Shatterpoint? I can feel what not even Yoda can feel, despite all of the time he wastes meditating trying to probe the dark side? Is that why?" Cadus asked.

"Dangerous...You've learned much about the dark side, a lot...You would know more than anyone at present, except for Sidious that is..."

"As have you, Windu. You have had a natural propensity for the dark side since you were a little brat running around the temple calling everyone "a motherfucker". That is the reason Yoda had to take you as his Padawan. It is only a shame Yoda didn't teach you better inclinations and manners, in addition to sharpening your force abilities...But I suppose with your natural propensity for stupidity...Well, I cannot be surprised Yoda decided to skip over certain things in your upbringing." Cadus countered sharply.

"Your mentality is from a time that has long vanished. The Jedi Order and galaxy has changed."

"Is that why you want to build an Academy on Korriban?"

There was a flash of anger in Windu's eyes. Obviously, he didn't like the implications or accusations being pinned his way with just that question.

His voice was cold and detached.

"The dark side grows stronger on this world. That is the only reason we would relocate if it were an option."

Cadus knew it would be better to let the matter drop, but he was ready to get physical. This animosity between himself and Windu had been building up way too long, and Kolar's death only exacerbated things beyond repair.

"You send Agen to kill me...You focus on Korriban and Lehon. You focus on Ziost. All Sith worlds. Is that the power you seek, Windu? You want to dominate?"

Windu sneered.

"The Jedi pillaged the tombs when Korriban fell to them three thousand years ago. Nothing of value remains. That is what we were led to believe but I know there are far more undiscovered artifacts of the dark side on that world...Knowledge that can be used against us. Knowledge that we need here so it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. If we can't get it, then it must be destroyed."

"You are a fool. The dark side has secrets you will never understand. There will always be something that you miss. It is no different than if I were to make a hover-board out of Mandalorian Iron, rather than use that Mandalorian Iron to make a star-ship, armor, or blade. Your idiocy isn't a simple as wanting eggs, but eating bacon instead."

"I believe we must retrieve all of the artifacts in the Valley of the Dark Lords."

"And, then you can make an academy there and misconstrue everything so everyone under your charge for the next twenty thousand years can be as confused as the Jedi Order and Sith have been for the last twenty five thousand years-since the children of the Je'daii took the helm and wanted to control and dictate things like you are trying to do right now."

"You are a Jedi Master. You will do as you are told. You have a duty."

"You and Master Yoda are blinder than an Orkellian cave slug. The Jedi Order, this Temple, everything the Jedi have become is a monument to your ignorance!" "

"Master Yoda has united all of the Jedi in a single glorious cause. We can go into the trenches with him."

"Then go in the trenches! Join the others on far flung worlds. Be united with them in your epic defeat. Sit here and wait for Yoda to open his eyes from another meditation with no answers to give any one of you morons." Cadus spat.

Cadus force pushed open the door to the Council Chamber and it slammed against the wall with a vicious crash that reverberated down the hall, and through the rest of the nearby temple.

Windu leapt to his feet, anger darkening his face. "What is the meaning of this?"

"You sent Agen Kolar to kill me you stupid son of a bitch!" Cadus roared out in pure rage.

The time for subtlety was gone.

"I sent him to bring you back!"

"He attacked me, persisting with the intent to kill me because something you seen in your forsaken Shatterpoint ability! I had no recourse but to kill him. If you sent more besides Agen Kolar, I would have killed them as well. Kolar's body is rotting away in the ground on Lehon."

The shock and horror of his reaction made it clear that Yoda had known nothing about the attack.

"You did this, Master Windu..." Yoda asked, his voice dropping.

His ancient eyes flashed with disappointment, and slight anger.

There was even horror in his ancient, drawn gaze.

Windu's eyes flashed with fury, however.