Ch. 12: Ajunta Pall: Jedi Paragon
Ajunta Pall was said to have been born in 6,947 BBY, although documentation is sparse. He was born under unknown conditions and his adopted family was forced to keep moving as a result of the constant wars. Growing up and in his early teenage years he worked on a series of freighters running supplies across the galaxy. In this time due to the fighting, the spcelanes were mostly lawless and ports were constantly being disputed. However, when he was seventeen he was found and taken into the Jedi order, as in those years it was common to accept adults who showed potential into the Order. The Jedi were even more desperate for members as they had lost most of the Order in the series of wars against the dark Jedi.
When Pall was found, the first thing the Jedi noticed was his immense raw Force potential which oddly enough appeared to be dormant despite its latent strength. Thousands of years later, the Jedi turned Sith Revan was noted as being like the 'heart of the Force.' For Pall however, Jedi remarked that looking at him through the Force was like looking out into a vast and calm ocean. It is remarkable that when found, he had no knowledge that he was force sensitive at all and was not known to have had any violent outbursts of power, nor any more skilled conscious uses of the Force. This is remarkable because once he learned to use the Force, he describes it as being as natural to him as breathing.
The Jedi have what's known as the 'Vergence Theory' to explain this phenomena. A force vergence is similar to a force nexus, which is the proper name for a location or item especially strong in the Force, except a vergence is centered around a person and is usually inaccessible to anyone else. (some people use the term 'vergence' to describe a nexus, but according to the Jedi, this is a misuse of the term) It is unknown if the person creates the vergence through their sheer power, or if the vergence somehow centers on a person and endows them with their power, as vergences are so rare that it is difficult to study. According to the theory, when a person is the center of a vergence, the vergence is able to shield their Force signature from being detected except by those actively looking for the power. Additionally, due to the immense connection to the Force required to form a vergence, it is thought that the person is always subconsciously aware of the Force, but as it is omnipresent in their lives, they cannot at first tap into it as they do not know what feeling or sensation to look for. Evidence for the Vergence Theory is provided in the persons of Leia Organa Solo, Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, and Kyp Durron. According to most studies, these four are some of the most powerful force sensitives on record and yet they were all well past the classic acceptance age of becoming a Jedi and still ignorant about their Force sensitivity. Leia was in her mid twenties when she found out, Luke was twenty, Anakin was ten, and Kyp was in his early teens. None of them were known to have consciously used the Force without training, and none of them were able to be detected in the Force until they began their training. The Vergence Theory holds that a vergence in the Force protected them from being detected. Some believe that this was the case for Ajunta Pall and potentially others as well.
Due to his power, the renowned master Uro Koo, who had stepped down from the position of grandmaster after the end of the Eleventh Alsakan conflict, took him as an apprentice. During this time, Pall learned to use the Force extremely quickly, and in little time he was the equal of any knight in the Order. After less than a decade, Pall was declared to be a full-fledged knight and three years later he was declared to be a master in 6,918 BBY, just over twelve years after finding out his Force potential. The reasoning is because Pall was not only extremely powerful, but calm, thoughtful, and knowledgeable as well. In all, he was the perfect model of the next generation of Jedi. When he wasn't meditating or running through lightsaber drills, he would be reading up on Jedi history and philosophy. He would also be very concerned about the state of the Galaxy, and whenever he was on a mission he would look to help as many as possible, and he would do so with serenity and care, always out to minimize suffering and to do his duty in the most effective manner possible.
However, looking back, many Jedi realized that he had a few disturbing tendencies that should have been addressed. He was not remorseful about killing, and would even kill in cold blood. This was not often, but when he took a life, he was always said to have had the same emotionless stare and utter willingness with no regret. When asked about this, he responded that a Jedi kills only when absolutely necessary. Similarly, unlike the dark Jedi, a true Jedi would not give into their emotions and that a Jedi should remain calm and in control in every moment, especially in combat. These two maxims combined to create the mentality that when a Jedi kills, a Jedi should be completely willing and feel no regret about the life taken as it was for the greater good, and, of course, the fact that the victim probably deserved it. Taken by itself, this does not seem too alarming, but he extended the logic. Since a Jedi could kill when there was a serious and present threat, there is no difference between killing in combat and killing in cold blood, as long as the victim posed a serious threat. In his private journals that historians were able to recover, he writes of the hypocrisy of those who gladly kill in combat but are squeamish when faced with a defenseless prisoner. While he did believe in taking prisoners, this was only if the victim stood no chance of escaping justice and when taking a prisoner would not endanger his own life or the lives of others.
One thing that he writes about being troubled by is the fact that in the past wars Jedi would lead armies as military commanders. This troubled him as while he was fine with killing in a controlled setting and when the victim was a danger, military commanders would have to send their own people to their deaths and in war it was in a very chaotic state using people who had no Jedi training. This is particularly problematic as as an apprentice and a knight, he had to travel to many planets engulfed in civil wars. On these planets, the Jedi made many unsuccessful attempts to end the violence, although there were times when the Jedi were successful in bringing the warring factions into a unified whole. He writes in puzzlement about how in civil wars, after it is over people can go on living as neighbors to the people they wanted dead before. He then writes about how 'war crimes' are disproportional. When someone on the winner's side kills thousands for victory, they are a hero. When someone did the same on the other side and is captured, they are a monster. Similarly, in war one is expected to mercilessly kill the enemy, but what crime did the other person do to deserve death? He came to believe that one should only be killed if they are a threat, but the enemy soldiers were threats only because they were on a different side, a completely arbitrary fact of the matter.
Despite these troubles simmering just beneath the surface, Pall was one of the best of the younger generation of Jedi. He was appointed to be an instructor at the Dantooine Jedi Enclave in 6,917 BBY. He was a phenomenal teacher and his students would often remark on his wisdom, kindness, and experience despite being barely twice their age. The citizens of Dantooine also liked him. There are surviving clips and quotes about him constantly saving their families from Kath hounds or raiders. He was known to be a kindly man who would sit in the library reading or entertaining trainees questions about some of the most in depth philosophical questions of the Force. Two of these trainees were XoXaan and Broodica, both of whom would survive to be exiled with him later in life. Broodica in particular is noteworthy as Pall would go on to marry her much later in life.
However, one day when browsing the old records in the Enclave library, Pall encountered records detailing the legends of Ku'ar Danar. He writes in his journals about how they trouble him. He sought to know more about this mysterious individual, specifically he wanted to know what he was doing on Dantooine and what exactly happened to him. After every lead he pursued came up empty, he decided to go looking for anything he left behind in the Dantooine wilderness. This plan was not as insane as it sounds, as he writes that many records refer to Danar coming and going from a specific place closeby when he still lived on Dantooine. Many thought that he was investigating something.
Pall ventured out into the wilderness with two knights. At the time it was winter, but Pall did not want to delay. Plus, he made a strong case that in winter they would run into less problems with the wildlife as most creatures would be hibernating. They set out to explore the nearby mesas. However, in the mesas, they ran into a large gang of outlaws who attacked them on sight thinking that the Jedi were there to arrest them. In the fighting, someone set off some type of thermal detonator, and it caused the snow covered platform that they were fighting on to collapse. One Jedi died, and Pall was presumed dead. The only Jedi that survived said that he sensed their deaths. Many times, the Jedi returned looking for bodies, but due to the harsh climate and deep snow and rocks, recovering any remains was difficult.
Pall meanwhile had survived, although he was badly injured. He was able to find a warm cave, but this cave was concealed and steeped in the dark side meaning he was unable to contact anyone else for help with telepathy. Due to the snow and his injuries, he did not want to risk venturing out. In the cave, he found a small group of insect-like creatures who attacked him instantly. He killed them and for a long while after was forced to subsist on roast bug. He writes that they were a bit spicy, but tasted like Gizka. Meanwhile, the surrounding townsfolk heard of his death and were deeply sorrowful. The planetary governor decided to construct a statue in his honor outside of the Jedi academy.
In the cave, Pall did, in fact, find what he was looking for. Ku'ar Danar had been investigating a nearby burial mound known as the 'Green Chapel' which housed some sort of ancient piece of technology. However, he could not explore it at the moment. Instead, he found many pieces of old notebooks and experiments. They detailed powerful theories in Alchemy. Pall even found evidence that some of the insect life, as well as the rare albino Kath hound, were actually the results of these experiments. Most disturbing, he found what looked like rusted cages designed to hold sentient beings. Extensive notes revealed that Danar had captured some of the natives and and bought members of other species as slaves to conduct experiments on. Danar appeared to be interested in cloning and forced conception and impregnation via the Force, the ability to create life. Specifically, he wanted to create an entire species of Force sensitive warriors. These experiments did not work out quite as planned, as all of his creations were short and horribly deformed. After his abandonment, they escaped into the wild and bred into a small population. This rarely seen species came to be known as the Fairfolk and they may still exist to this day.
One of the main issues that Danar encountered was that he was unable to successfully clone his force sensitive experiments. He wrote extensively about ways to solve this, but he did not have the tools to carry out these cloning experiments. Pall took extensive notes and added to them theories of his own. He wanted to one day try and solve this dilemma, as he came to believe that there was nothing wrong with cloning or genetic manipulation in and of itself, and that the Jedi should try it out one day. However, it is unknown if he ever completed these plans. Interestingly, after returning to the Jedi academy, he stored these plans and theories in a series of almost incorruptible data cylinders which he then stored in the Enclave's basement. When the facility was abandoned in 6,915 BBY, the basement survived unscathed. When it was rebuilt much, much later in 4,050 BBY, the location to the basement was lost. Eventually, sometime during the Clone Wars or before, someone found these documents and was able to finish Pall's dream of building a facility that can clone force sensitives.
Anyway, when Pall returned to the facility the Jedi thought they were seeing a ghost. However, after a while things settled down. He wrote that finding the statue was a surprise, to be sure, but an unwelcome one. He ordered it to be taken down. He originally intended it to be stored in the basement, but it couldn't fit. He did not want to throw away such a fine piece of marble, so as a result, he took off the nameplate, put it in a remote corner of the library, and rechristened it as 'The Jedi Parthenos.' Interestingly, this statue survived the destruction of the academy in 6,915 BBY and the statue was taken back to Ossus. When the academy was rebuilt in 4,050 BBY, it was put back in its proper place. It wasn't until decades later that someone realized who it depicted.
