Chapter 21: Jazal

Alpheridies

Something had snapped the moment Jazal heard a lightsaber's slicing from her comm as Pax yelled for help. The moment she sensed the suffering of all of those beings at the cantina as they drew nearer, she knew Averross had to go. Many of them were children, Miraluka children, her people. Averross had come to her planet and not only hurt the Judicials under his command but hurt her own people. It felt entirely personal.

Whether Averross has to go meant shipping him back to Coruscant for the High Council to deal with, shipping him off to the Citadel, or leaving him to rot on Alpheridies she did not know.

It was one thing for a Jedi to drink. Many Jedi consumed alcohol in small amounts at ceremonies and functions. It was another thing to get somewhat tipsy, as a smaller, but still somewhat large number of Jedi did. It was yet another thing for a Jedi to consume alcohol to the point they became completely inebriated—it was extremely risky and only a few Jedi ever allowed themselves to do this. Entirely inconceivable to Jazal was the notion of a Jedi becoming completely inebriated in a crowded place.

When non-force users get drunk, the worst that happens is they hurt themselves or someone else. On the other hand, when force users get drunk, the worst thing that happens is they hurt a lot of beings. Even without a lightsaber, force-throws and various types of force-squeezes can be deadly. Her own people, the Miraluka, drank mainly extremely weak alcohol. The only strong alcohols were imported and were mostly consumed by aliens. At most, Miraluka would get slightly inebriated with alcohol so weak in did not even dehydrate the drinker.

The even more personal part of it was that Averross pulled this stunt the moment she finally had some privacy and could finally relax.

To make matters worse still, Jazal felt like she could have said something to Averross. 'Hey Master Nerf Herder, maybe getting drunk with the red necks isn't a good idea.' 'Hey Master Nerf Herder, be sure to drink in moderation. I wouldn't want you sending 1,000-degree molten metal upon terrified cantina patrons with your lightsaber.' 'Master, why don't you give your lightsaber to me before you go into that cantina?'

BLAST AVERROSS. Today, she had sworn aloud for the first time in years.

"Jazal?" Oc'nel asked nervously, walking alongside her.

"This had better be operations-related, Agent," Jazal said sharply.

"It is. We do have good news, but I forgot to tell everyone before this happened," he said nervously as if afraid of being struck by lightning.

"Good news?" Jazal asked with mild curiosity.

To Jazal's tempered amusement, the Bothan began listing problems like an office secretary who had a bad day. "Averross forgot to tell the Jedi Temple of our predicament, neglected to schedule the briefing with them, forgot to even tell them we are here, and did nothing but go to the Cantina and make an ass of himself—but Jazal, we contacted the Temple and got everyone a place to stay for free."

Jazal stopped herself from chuckling. "You're right Oc'nel. Master Grier, Master Ov-Bion, would it be possible for you to go to the Temple and help out my taskforce and any Agarath crew that require it? Even simply showing them around would help."

"Yes, we would be happy to Jazal," Grier replied serenely.

"Anything to help," Ov-Bion added.

"Thank you very much, we will continue to the hospital, Oc'nel, brief the taskforce."

"This is acting Cresh team leader Itoll Oc'nel," he started. "If you would like a place to stay in Fospol, we have arranged rooms for everyone from the Agarath at the Jedi Temple located in Temple Square. The rooms are spartan, so it is understandable if you'd like to pay to stay someplace else, but Jazal and I will be there this evening if you need anyone to talk to. If you have any questions about the accommodations or Temple rules, I am sure Masters Grier or Ov-Bion would be more than happy to explain."

"Good job Itoll, but you forgot something," Jazal muttered.

"Oh!" Oc'nel exclaimed awkwardly "Any questions?"

"Hey Oc'nel, this is Jassk. Do you know how Pax and the others are doing?"

"We are on our way to the hospital to find out," Oc'nel answered. "Jazal will…" Oc'nel muted his comm "Jazal will you be giving a briefing later?"

"Yes," Jazal replied. "Stop pausing so much Itoll."

"Yeah, Jazal will be giving a briefing later at the Temple," Oc'nel said. "Any other questions?"

Reyl, the engineer who had lost two limbs, asked the next question "Oc'nel, I really am getting kriffing tired of being stuck up in space. I am currently in the hospital wing at the top of the space elevator with only medical droids for company. Averross didn't even invite me to the briefing. It would be nice to be on a planet with fresh air, even one with no light. Would it be possible for anyone to come back up the well with a wheelchair and get me?"

"Oh, I am so sorry!" Oc'nel replied in alarm. "Kier, Higil, do you think you would be up to help Reyl?"

"We'd be happy to Agent!" the Mon Calamari replied.

"Thank you," Reyl replied with relief.

"I am so sorry we forgot about you again, Reyl, I really am." Oc'nel replied sadly.

"That's alright Oc'nel."

Yet another loose end Averross forgot about when he went straight to the bar. A crewmember who lost two limbs in the line of duty, Jazal thought cynically. It wasn't Itoll's or Pax's job to think of Reyl. She isn't even on their extraction team.

Jazal started trying to focus on Pax, Carver, and Fojo. She wasn't emotionally close enough to reach out to them at this distance without meditating. As she walked, she started reaching out to the buildings and street surfaces around her. The more visible-light tolerant plant-analogs grew much like moss in this part of the planet. They increased the definition of the surfaces for her as she reached out and—.

"—Jazal?" Oc'nel asked. "Is Averross being permanently declared unfit for duty, or is this temporary? Higil was wondering."

Jazal picked up her comm and joined the general channel. "I will get back to you on that. I would rather not speculate. Let's maintain our bearings and not discuss others in a negative light on a public channel Higil."

"Very well Master," the Mon Calamari said in a cautious tone.

"Okay everyone, we are approaching the hospital," Jazal lied. "Oc'nel and I are going to be too busy to answer more questions, but we will brief you later Jazal out."

"Oc'nel out."

She sensed Oc'nel was troubled. "Agent, what is it?"

"Well Master, I feel like the many of us are worried and it would have been better to keep chatting for a little while."

They were now walking along a wider street. The mossy plant-analogs had been recently cleaned from it and it felt barren, but less slippery and easier to tread on.

"True, but I sensed that many questions were going to be asked about Averross and Awerl. I am not ready to answer those and to be honest…" Jazal paused and sighed, "I don't know what the answers will be."

"What do you mean?!" Oc'nel asked alarmed, "You don't think the Jedi will leave Averross in command do you and side against you?"

"Not exactly. There are really two possibilities I foresee—"

"—A force vision?" Oc'nel interjected.

"No, Itoll, logical deduction. I am being metaphorical, sorry. There are two likely possibilities. One, the Jedi Council will recall Averross. Two, the Jedi Council will respect the Miraluka decision to deport him but will leave him up on the station effectively in command. Obviously, anyone would agree with you and I taking over temporarily because Averross is inebriated and in jail." It is going to be so tense if the Jedi council goes with number two, Jazal thought. I don't know how Averross would react.

"What about Awerl?" Oc'nel asked.

"He is almost certainly going to be recalled. It sounds like he started the whole thing… Averross may be able to worm his way out of culpability, but I don't think Awerl can."

"All right…" Oc'nel said.

Jazal could sense the words 'well, that's not fair' coming in Oc'nel's baritone voice with a touch of his cute Bothan growl, even though he did not say it.

"Itoll, yes it's not fair I agree. We don't have all of the facts yet ourselves though…" although, I am sure there is absolutely nothing in the universe that would excuse Averross or Awerl. "We need to play this strategically… within the system."

"Jazal?" Oc'nel asked.

"Yeah?"

With a hint of annoyance Oc'nel said, "Jazal, while I am a bit flattered that you like 'reaching out to me' so much. Could you stop being such a hovering busy body?"

"I am sorry, and I am sorry I embarrassed you earlier in front of Master Grier," Jazal said. "I've just well... Actually I have been this close to someone before, but I have never been this close to someone before in close proximity to other Jedi."

"I understand," Oc'nel said.

Focus… she tried reaching out to Pax and the others again. This time she felt Fojo in intense pain and felt Carver's anger. He was very angry about something but she—

"—Jazal?" Oc'nel asked again.

"I was in the middle of something Itoll."

"Sorry, I was just going to say… You know? Can you sense my fur?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I can often tell what emotions Bothans are feeling by looking at how their fur is. It doesn't change that much on the face, but on the neck and back, when our backs are visible that is, how it ripples and stands. You might be able to figure out how Bothans are feeling just by… sensing? Sensing our fur."

"Interesting…" Jazal said. "We can try that later."

"Oh, I wasn't volunteering to be an experiment—"

"—You weren't?!" Jazal demanded.

"Okay maybe I was," Oc'nel said with a nervous laugh.

"You are such a goof Itoll."

They drew nearer to a three-storey structure with huge metal letterings any Miraluka, even a Miraluka with relatively poor force-sensitivity, could sense: "Master Yasek Hospital."

"Who is Master Yasek?" Oc'nel asked.

"Ah, she was a Miraluka Jedi healer who served in the Old Republic era."

Jazal and Oc'nel walked up to an automatically open sliding door.

"Jazal I presume? Master Ov-Bion said you would be coming," the front entry attendant asked.

"Yes, I am Jazal, this is Agent Oc'nel, we are here to see the wounded Judicials," she said as she approached the desk.

Jazal faced the Miraluka directly as she talked, a habit she had learned living off world. Miraluka generally faced in the direction of the person they were talking to, but eye-contact was not a part of their culture.

"Very well, Master Jazal, Agent Oc'nel, take a seat. One of the nurses will escort you in soon."

Jazal could sense an unnerving amount of suffering here. Most of it though was not related to the cantina brawl.

o.o.o.o.o

To Jazal's amazement, when they arrived in the burn ward, Carver was far angrier than in pain. Fojo had fallen asleep.

"Then, that kriffing idiot cut the safe in half mid-air," Carver said while swinging an imaginary lightsaber, seated on his bed. "Look at my tattoos Jazal!" Carver demanded to the eyeless Miraluka.

Jazal could sense Oc'nel nearly laughed in spite of feeling sympathy. Jazal debated elbowing him, hissing in his ear, perhaps pinching his snout… No, it's not fair of me to manage his social life. He didn't agree to that when he started this… Thing with me. Even in her thoughts, Jazal did not want to describe it as a 'relationship.'

Jazal could not really sense Carver's tattoos, but she could sense a painful burn all along his arm and shoulder. "I am sorry Carver, but I don't know what your tattoos really look like. My senses are not sensitive enough for that and I cannot 'look' at them," she admitted. "Tattoos don't really have any definition."

"Well, you tell her Oc'nel!" Carver demanded angrily.

"Um okay," Oc'nel took a huge breath to avoid laughing. "Jazal, you see, Carver has flame tattoos all up and down both arms. Flame tattoos, got it? A hot object burned through his flame tattoos and… and now—"

"All right! All right! I see the irony Oc'nel. Damn… That is kriffing funny actually," Carver started guffawing. "BLAST though… This scar is gonna ruin them!"

Oc'nel burst into laughter along with Carver. After laughing himself to exhaustion, Carver laid back in his bed exasperated.

Phew, Jazal thought. She was worried Carver would be mad at Oc'nel.

"Master Jedi," an unfamiliar voice barely able to contain his rage started. "I understand that you Core types might find this amusing. My son says that it was a human member of your Order who did this to his face."

Jazal spun around and faced a Miraluka male. She could sense his rage, protectiveness, and anguish. Behind him sat a child with his face in a bandage. Jazal could sense the burns to the right of his nose.

Across the aisle from Fojo and Carver were ten beds, each with a Miraluka teen. Several parents were in the room too.

"I am sorry about what happened. I will do everything in my power to make sure whoever was responsible never gets to hold a lightsaber again," Jazal said.

"Who was responsible?" a female Miraluka voice demanded from the other side of the room, no doubt another parent.

"We are not at liberty to discuss that yet, I am sorry." Jazal attempted to sound as apologetic as possible.

"Another Jedi coverup… Unbelievable!"

"My daughter says the Jedi introduced himself to the whole cantina," another woman said. "Rael Averross."

BLAST!Jazal tensed up. This could explode into a media frenzy… "I can neither confirm, nor deny, that it was Master Rael Averross."

"Master?! You're telling me this wasn't some Padawan but a Jedi Master?" one of the father's yelled in a question.

Jazal took a deep breath. "Agent Oc'nel and I really need to check on someone who is in more serious condition now, it was nice chatting with you all and I hope your children make a full recovery."

Slowly walking through the tense crowd, Jazal and Oc'nel reached the door.

o.o.o.o.o

In the trauma ward, the medical droid said Pax had been downgraded to critical, but stable, condition. He had received a concussion and a skull fracture and was now suspended in Bacta.

"So, he is going to make it?" Oc'nel asked the droid.

"I said he has a 91.73% chance of survival without permanent neurological damage. There is a 6.17% he will have permanent neurological damage, and a 2.1% chance of fatality, in other words."

Oc'nel sighed.

"He is probably going to survive even with those odds," Jazal said consolingly putting her arm around his shoulders. "They program the droids to be overly pessimistic for insurance purposes. If the droids give a mistakenly optimistic diagnosis that then turns out to be wrong, the company may get a lawsuit."

"No Master Jedi, you are incorrect. By my estimation—"

"—Droid, please stop being obnoxious," Jazal demanded. Why do they program doctor droids to say things like that? "When will you bring the patient, Zuro Pax, back to consciousness?"

"I expect tomorrow afternoon," the droid replied.

"He probably won't be ready for the briefing by then…" Oc'nel started and trailed off.

"I don't think we are having the briefing tomorrow. The Jedi Council has not cancelled it, but it seems unlikely and—Speaking of the council, I expect this is Master Kenobi," Jazal felt her comm buzz on her belt.

"Master Kenobi?"

"Jazal. Congratulations, now, a Jedi Master, you are," Yoda's voice came through the comm.

What! I am not even on Coruscant. I have never even had a Padawan!

It was not unheard of for some Jedi to be elevated to Master before their Padawan had attained Knighthood. However, it was highly unusual for a Jedi who never even had a Padawan.

"Grand Master Yoda?! Respectfully, this is highly unusual, can you even do that? I am not on Coruscant. Generally, a Jedi Knight is only promoted to Master when—"

"Accept the title Jazal," Plo Koon's voice echoed through a ventilator and sounded very impatient. "We could have called you via hologram, but we all know you wouldn't be able to see us either way. You are within your rights to refuse a position as Jedi Master, but taking it will make this easier for us all."

"Congrats Master!" Oc'nel sighed in relief.

Why is he relieved?! This is even more unexpected news than Averross starting an interplanetary incident.

"Master Yoda, Plo Koon, whole council—I presume and Obi-Wan? This can't just be from Averross can it?"

"No Jazal, you are right," Mace Windu's voice interjected. "We lost two Jedi Masters today on Antar 4. Master Tursk was killed in action, Master Suldor was… Well let's say he made a far bigger mess than Averross did, suffered a heart attack, got many innocents killed in blowback from his actions, and is now recovering. We will need to put him in rehabilitation, probably permanently."

Jazal gasped.

The grave voice of Ki-Adi-Mundi spoke next. "My advice Jazal, is to accept this rank. We do not have time for you to wait around. If you take the promotion now, hopefully, we will all be able to pause, reflect, and spend the next week organising."

"Organising?" Jazal asked.

"The Galactic Senate passed the Naval Creation Act a week ago. There is currently a massive reorganisation of the Judicial Forces. The vote for the larger Military Creation Act will be at the beginning of next month. There will be nothing for you to do in the meantime, but we need you to accept the promotion so we can organise ourselves administratively."

"Fine, I accept. What about Master Averross?" Jazal asked quickly.

"Extraction Team Delta and Master Sekura are picking Awerl and Averross from Alpheridies Station. I assure you that they will be disciplined," Mace Windu said.

"All right," Jazal sighed in relief. "There's one more update. One of the injured Miraluka teenagers told his parents that it was Rael Averross who did this."

"Had you told me that an hour ago, it would be our top concern. However, things on Antar 4 have deteriorated," Kenobi started. "Agent Oc'nel, Master Jazal, I suggest turning on the news or tuning into the Judicial HoloNet. I am certain that this story of Averross's bar fight will remain local."

"As for the intelligence briefing with the Council and Director of EED," Mace Windu spoke up, "we will postpone it one more day. Hopefully more of your taskforce will be fit to attend by then."

"In the meantime, turn on the news Master Jazal," Kenobi suggested. "We will speak to you again in two days."

"Thank you for your trust in me," Jazal said.

"Thank you for accepting. Proud, Master Poof would have been," Yoda replied before the line ended.

Proud? Promoted to Jedi Master because the Order lost three Jedi Masters today?! So strange, and positively senile, Yoda is, Jazal thought after he hung up.

"Droid, is there any terminal we can watch the news on?" Jazal asked the medical droid, feeling more worried about what Master Kenobi had said.

"Ah yes, I am sure Oc'nel can show you the one in the trauma ward's waiting room," the droid replied, pointing out the door.

Jazal and Oc'nel walked in the direction the droid had pointed. Jazal felt dread. An incident worse than what Averross had done…