Chapter 32
Consequence
"The plan is bold," Shaak Ti allowed, leaning against her chair as she looked upon Naruto who was now sitting cross-legged in the middle of the makeshift Jedi Council Chamber. The ninja looked unperturbed by the doubtful looks that most of the other Councillors were casting his way. Aayla was leaning against the wall at the edge of the chamber, watching the proceedings closely.
Naruto smiled a little sheepishly, "Hey, you're looking for me to build a galaxy-wide web of espionage and intelligence networks in a few short months…from the ground up, I might add. Even with help, that's a tall order; by myself, it simply isn't possible. Then there's also the fact that you have no hideouts or strongholds, what with all of your temples and enclaves being prime targets. You're going to have to start from scratch on that one as well."
"Agreed…" Tholme said as he too seemed to be deep in thought, "…but what you are proposing is a huge operation, and quite a risky one at that. The logistical needs alone would be considered a huge operation, and will require manpower which at the moment we just don't have. At the very least, we're going to be taxing what little resources we have left."
"I hear we're already well underway," Naruto replied, turning to the youngest Master on the council. "This little lady here and her allies have utilised an old mining asteroid and restored it as a hidden colony. It's just a matter of using the same methods in different areas."
That got the Council's attention, and all eyes turned to the young Fy-Tor-Ana who was looking at Naruto with a frown, "How do you know that?"
"I've made a few contacts in some smuggler rings, one or two of whom have been helping you out…" Naruto replied with a toothy grin, "OH, come on; don't look so bashful. It's a great achievement for you and your friends, and I think we can use that idea for future bases and hideouts! Find an odd abandoned mining asteroid, setup an enclave on an uncolonised planet…heck, maybe we can even highjack a few large ships and make something both mobile and self-sufficient. The possibilities are limitless."
"It is doable," T'ra Saa allowed.
"It is; believe me it is," Naruto replied.
"What about manpower?" Choi asked.
"Don't worry too much about that right now; I already have a friend of mine looking into it," Naruto added nonchalantly with a dismissal wave of his hand, "But he'll probably only be able to get so much. We'll need to find more, but for now at least, an increase in numbers is more likely than not. Tell me about the Hutts and their slave trade."
"You want to take on slaves?" Kota asked, mortified. Naruto saw his mistake immediately and quickly corrected himself. He raised his hands in a placating manner, smiling in apology before he explained what he meant.
"I'm not talking about forced labour or enslavement or anything like that. I'm talking about hitting Hutt and other supposedly-illegal slave convoys. We break in, free the slaves and any prisoners of war, get them out, and offer them either new lives on some backwater world or the chance to join us. I guarantee plenty of them would like a chance to kick those who enslaved them in the teeth, and probably also those who turned a blind eye to it, as in…?" Naruto let his question hang out there for others to answer.
"The Republic…" Hondurra allowed slowly and with a little guilt, "…and by default, the Empire as well."
"Bingo," Naruto nodded his head in agreement, pointing at Hondurra in acknowledgment of his astuteness in answering the question posed.
"This was where you said we should act like Jedi again…" K'Kruhk said with a heavy sigh, "…and I, for one, agree. For too long we've turned a blind eye to the slave trade; perhaps, this will be part of our atonement to those we promised to protect but could not."
"I'm not blaming you for this, Master K'kruhk," Naruto shook his head, "The Jedi became guardians and protectors of the Old Republic, and at its height it was well over a million worlds strong. There was no way a single organisation could follow its mandate everywhere, especially with only a few tens of thousands of Jedi to do so. In a body so huge, there was bound to be corruption somewhere that went unnoticed."
"Old Republic?" Obi-wan asked with a raised brow.
Naruto raised a brow in kind, "By the time we're finished we're going to rid the galaxy of this Empire and restore the Republic, right? Well obviously it'll be called the New Republic or something along those lines."
"I admit that your optimism is a breath of fresh air, Naruto…" Tholme said with a wan smile, "…and something we desperately need, especially now."
Naruto shrugged, "Hey, in this galaxy some of my most precious people are Jedi, and a part of my creed as a Ninja is to always protect those who are precious to me. It's my Ninja way; has been since I became a Ninja. The Emperor and his cronies want to kill those I consider comrades and friends, and that gives them their own pages in my personal bingo book."
"Bingo book?" asked Obi-Wan Kenobi with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, right…" Naruto answered with a sheepish chuckle, "…you guys don't know what that is. Well, the short of it is that it's what we shinobi use to identify targets for capture or elimination."
A series of nods followed his brief explanation. Naruto placed his hands on his knees and rose to his feet, cracking his neck muscles as he did so before looking upon the twelve Jedi who made up the High Council, "But back to the matter at hand: in order for this to work, we'll need some firepower as well. Most Jedi who arrived here were able to gain their own vessels, anything from starfighters to freighters. What do you have?"
"About two, maybe three squadron's worth of Eta-2Interceptors, a half-dozen modified freighters and two Consular-classStar Cruisers, one of which suffered mild damage in its escape…" Obi-wan listed off with a shake of his head, "…not exactly the makings of a grand fleet."
"But it does have the makings of a…" he turned to Aayla for clarification, "…what was it called, again, Aayla?"
"A flotilla," Aayla added in helpfully with a small smile.
"Thank you, a flotilla…" Naruto said as he looked back at the council with a thoughtful look, "…and what did our friend say his merry little band of rebels had?"
"He was hoping for a Venator-class Star Destroyer, but said it would be more realistic for them to have a few squadrons of ARC-170's, a handful of LAAT gunships and a few Dreadnought-class Heavy Cruisers…" Aayla replied after a moment before shaking her head and sighing, "…but that's just his best guess, so we still don't know what they'll be able to bring to the table besides themselves and their guns."
"Who exactly are you talking about?" Kota asked with a thoughtful look.
"Who are these possible allies?" Obi-wan added.
Naruto and Aayla looked at each other for a long moment, before the blond sighed and looked back upon the assembly of Jedi, "I had hoped to wait until my man got back to me with their decision. I don't suppose you'll be happy with waiting, will you?"
"It might be better if you just told us, Naruto…" T'ra Saa said softly, "…you seem to be worried that these supposed allies might be someone of whom we would be wary or suspicious."
Naruto looked to Aayla for a moment before looking back at the council, "It started six months ago when we ran into Padawan Tano. With her was a clone trooper: a Captain called Rex."
Some Jedi physically bristled at the mention of a clone, but others seemed a little more open, mainly Obi-wan who suddenly looked a lot more interested, "You know Rex?"
"He's been travelling with us for the last six months…" Aayla piped in, "…Padawan Tano explained that when Order Sixty-Six was implemented, Rex and a few Clone Troopers turned their guns on the platoon they were with instead of their designated targets, and in the fire fight that ensued only Rex and Tano made it out. They were able to escape and live on the run for six whole months before they ran into us. While Naruto was training me, Knight Morne and Padawan Tano in a few of his people's arts, Rex had been searching for clones like him: ones who either protected their commanders or went rogue after the order was given."
"You are sure they can be trusted?" Shaak Ti asked, doubt written on her features. The memories of clones cutting down her fellow Jedi in the very halls of their most sacred temple on Coruscant were still very fresh in her mind.
"I am sure that there are more than a few survivors out there who owe their lives to those clones of the ARC detachments or even to commando units nearby…" Aayla placated, walking to the centre of the chamber to stand beside Naruto, "…believe me, I know how you feel. I trusted my own commander, Bly, with my life, and he would have killed me if Naruto hadn't been there. When I first met Rex I was nervous and didn't feel able to trust him, but he bore up under my suspicion without complaint, eventually earning my trust. And he did save Padawan Tano's life, and since then he has aided us in fighting the Empire very effectively."
"You should have seen him on Kessel…" Naruto added hopefully, "…I'm sure Masters Choi and Swan, as well as Masters Wezz and Darte can back up our story. He blew up a dozen troopers of his former unit while getting them out."
There was silence for a long moment, the twelve Jedi looking at each other, as if they were trying to see what response the main body would make. It was Yoda who stopped any argument, smacking his gimmer stick against the ground to gain the attention of not just Naruto and Aayla, but also of every Jedi in the small makeshift chamber.
"Sure of his character, are you?"
Aayla nodded her head, "Yes Master."
"Also sure of the character of his comrades, you are, hmm?"
"I trust his judgment," Aayla replied.
"We are not trying to undermine you, Knight Secura…" K'kruhk said with a heavy sigh, "…but you trusted this Bly with your life did you not?"
Aayla hung her head at that, but Naruto placed himself between her and the council, looking upon them with an unwavering belief, "I believe him, and I've seen enough fighting men to be an almost-flawless judge of a warrior's character and intentions."
"You are sure?" Obi-wan asked.
"I've only been wrong about such a person once before…" Naruto replied without hesitancy or doubt, "…and that was when I was very young and naive."
There was silence for a long moment before Yoda spoke up, "Then, once sure of their intentions you are, bring them before us, you shall?"
Naruto bowed his head slightly, "Yes."
"They are convening their own council as we speak…" Aayla added, "…once their position is made clear, Captain Rex will contact us with their response."
"I do agree in the regard that the Jedi are better than the Empire we helped create…" Alpha conceded, sitting in the main chamber of the Will of Fire, watching his comrades as they each picked a place to sit, "…the Jedi have been pushed into a corner, much like we have, and together we would be stronger than we ever will be apart."
"However, there is the obvious issue that many of them won't trust us," Frost, a Lieutenant, added with a weary look, "Hell, most of them would probably shoot first and ask questions later, if you pardon the pun, and given what most of their troops did to them, I can't say as I really blame them."
"What Frost means is that we should be careful with how we approach them…" Blast, a commando, replied, "…it can take just one mistake for this proposed alliance to go bad quickly, and then we'll be worse off than we were before."
"I agree with your worries, my friends…" Rex said, leaning against the frame of the corridor leading towards the cockpit, "…and I also agree that we must approach this carefully, but our best means of survival is with the Jedi. If we go back to the Empire then we will receive a short court martial…if it could even be called that…followed by a hastily-made appointment with a firing squad. We are considered traitors of the Empire now, with bounties on our heads equal to that of most surviving Jedi and Separatist leaders."
"Which is why we need to meld with the shadows and make ourselves scarce," Echo, a fellow former Captain, countered mildly.
"If we just disappear, then we won't be able to survive much longer than a decade; not with the way the Kamino cloners made us…" Flak, a former Commander, said harshly before looking at his hand, "…I am probably one of the eldest clones gathered here. I was there on Geonosis when the Clone Wars started, and I can tell you that what you have heard about our anatomy were not rumours, but cold, hard fact. I've been in contact with a renegade clone detachment based on Mandalore, and they're suffering from the same."
"How long do we have?" Rex asked.
"A decade, maybe two or three tops…" Flak replied without pause. "…those on Mandalore are already looking for a way to stop, or better yet, reverse the condition, but they view everyone with suspicion…even us. So I doubt they'll be in much of a mood to share. There are also a few of them with a serious dislike of the Jedi, even though one or two are hiding among them."
"You're talking about the Nuls, aren't you?" Alpha asked with a sigh.
"Yes, I am."
"The six original clone commandos, the precursors to the Alpha batch, trained and adopted by a Mandalorian, completely free and independent of all of the rhetoric most of us clones have succumbed to. The infamous and deadly Nul-class ARC Troopers…" Alpha blew out a breath as he spoke, "…my forefathers, so to speak, and they don't like us Alphas much either."
"It's rumoured that one of them fell in love with a Jedi, that they had a son, and then she died when Order Sixty-Six was enacted, not by the blasters of clones but by the lightsaber of a fellow Jedi…" Rex massaged his temple as he spoke, "…I think it's best that I keep my crew away from Mandalore, then."
"For their safety?" Frost asked.
"No, for the Nuls' safety…" Rex replied with a tone of slight amusement, "…if they did anything to any of our Jedi members then I'm pretty sure the boss would rip them apart piece by piece."
"Who is this 'boss' you speak of?" Havoc, another commando, asked, "You've been hinting at him on and off since this meeting started."
"Let's just say the guy's a walking arsenal, and probably the baddest, toughest son of a bitch I've ever seen; I'd rather face down Darth Vader in single combat than the boss," Rex replied nonchalantly, though the other clones looked at him as if he was insane. Seeing that Rex wasn't joking about preferring Darth Vader as an opponent, however, they all began to gaze at Rex with intrigued contemplation.
Rex decided to keep the meeting moving as he continued, "I'll let you meet him at a later date, but for now I need to know what kind of materiel you guys can bring to the table besides the weapons you carry, any ships or hidden strongholds that might aid both us and our possible allies."
"Altogether, we have a squadron of ARC-170's, half a squadron of V-wings, a handful of LAAT gunships…" Alpha listed them off one after the other, pausing before finishing the list, "…and a Venator-class Star Destroyer."
"About what I thought…" Rex began, nodding, and then stopped, gears in his head turning as he slowly turned back to Alpha, "Wait…could you repeat the last one?"
Alpha blinked, "A Venator-class Star Destroyer."
Rex blinked, "You're joking?"
"No, I'm not," Alpha responded with a smirk.
"How the hell did you get your hands on one of those?" Rex almost exploded.
Alpha's smirk grew as he pointed to himself with his thumb, "ARC troopers?"
He said it as if that was all that needed to be said, as if it was all in a single days work for a unit of ARC troopers just over platoon strength to walk onto one of the most powerful warships in the arsenal of the Galactic Imperial Navy and fly her right out from under the nose of the heavily-guarded shipyard facility that the ship undoubtedly must have called home at one point.
"You guys are scary," Rex admitted, astonished at what his colleague had just informed him.
"It's run by my unit, which means we have less than a skeleton crew…" Alpha admitted as he stood up and stretched, "…we were about to ditch her, but I figure it would make a nice peace offering to the Jedi, and also a pretty good mobile base for both of our factions. It's fully-armed and stocked for a three year cruise with a full compliment of several thousand, so there would be no need to worry about supplies in the short term."
Rex blinked at the man for a long moment, and then he broke out laughing, "They're not going to believe this."
Celeste leaned back and sighed, looking up at the thick canopy above, "He overdid it."
Ahsoka looked over at her for a long moment, a wry look on her face, "This is Naruto we're talking about; when has he not overdone something?"
The millennia-imprisoned Jedi seemed to think for a moment before shrugging her shoulders, "You have a point, there."
"Well, he got the point across," the Padawan said as she looked down from their perch upon the gathering of Jedi below. Ever since the little duel between Naruto and Master Hondurra, all assembled had been talking about it, throwing suspicions, opinions and rumours around without pause. There were some who called him some mercenary from the other side of the galaxy, others called him some Jedi who decided to wander rather than fight, others still had suspicions that he was an Imperial double-agent while several others saw his cloning technique and made the pseudo-right assumption he was from an unknown order of force-users, "I wonder why he didn't use any of his flashy Jutsu, though; that certainly would have gotten everyone's attention."
"It would have…" Celeste allowed. "…but it would have also been catastrophic; his main techniques besides the likes of the Shadow Clone are essentially mid to long-range weapons of mass destruction. There would have been a lot of people hurt if he whipped up a Rasenshuriken or one of his stronger wind or water techniques."
"I suppose…" she allowed as she too leaned back, "…but ya gotta admit, the jerk had it coming."
Celeste gave her much younger friend a wry look, "He's just thinking what many other Jedi are. Why not fight back against the Empire and all the wrong they did to us?"
"Yeah, I agree with fighting the good fight, but through more subtle methods instead of launching a full out attack on them, you know?" Ahsoka replied as she looked up at the canopy, watching the small streams of sunlight break through the thick cover, "…Naruto's right: we can't fight them in open war, and I don't like the idea of becoming some pirate or terrorist group. We need to watch and wait for a time when the galaxy will see what they have allowed to happen, and then be in a position to do something about it when that time comes."
"What should we do in the meantime, then?" Celeste asked.
"Exactly what Naruto said we should do: use the Empire's extensive reach to our advantage, train, grow stronger, become Jedi again…" the girl replied as she looked over at her friend, "…rebuild our numbers, help those in need of help, protect the weak and strike out against the oppressive and the corrupt."
"Sounds like a good cause; a noble and worthy cause…" Celeste allowed with a heavy sigh, "…but one needs to be careful to stick to that cause no matter what happens. There will be those who will believe in and fight for the Empire, not because they are corrupt or evil but because they actually believe that it is the best course towards peace and order in a chaotic world."
"If the galaxy still wants the Empire to remain in the place of the Republic then so be it…" Ahsoka allowed, "…but not under the Sith."
"Then should the ones to lead and rule this Empire be the Jedi?" Celeste asked.
"No…" Ahsoka replied without doubt, "…it is not our way to become rulers. That is for the people to decide."
Celeste looked at the young woman for a long moment with a wistful smile, "You have a lot of good in you, young one, and so much more faith in the greater good than me. I believed in the Republic during my time…and why not? For back then, it was strong and unbendable. Strengthened by war, prepared to defend itself against any foe…" her wistful smile became a saddened one, "…but a lack of an enemy to fight made the Republic weaker; the enemy came from within rather than without, and without a proper force to police the Senate and the Greater Republic, it became nothing more than a corrupt bureaucracy, a farce of what it once was."
Ahsoka looked at her friend and studied her for the longest moment. Within the span of a heartbeat, she saw within Celeste a weaker, yet still apparent, degree of faith in the Republic and what it stood for, "Didn't you believe in the Republic during your time?"
"Of course I did…" Celeste replied, "…but look at what's happened. To be honest, such a thing can drain the faith of even the staunchest supporter. It might be that I was not there during a few millennia but when I see what has happened between my time and now…truth be told, I can't help but feel so…angry."
Ahsoka saw her friend's hands ball into fists and begin shaking. She saw Celeste bite her bottom lip, and knew instinctively what she meant. She may have been a Jedi removed from the Order through a combination of space and time, but even she could feel the anger and betrayal of those around her, made even more pronounced because of her faith in the Republic before her imprisonment. It must have seemed like someone stabbed her in the gut since the moment Darth Vader fought her on that unnamed moon.
The Padawan placed an arm around her friend's shoulder, smiling softly as she spoke. "Have a little faith…if not in the Jedi or the Republic, then in Naruto and Aayla and what they are trying to do."
"Have a little faith, huh?" Celeste asked as she leaned into her friend's embrace, smiling softly as she looked over at the huge trunk which housed the council, "I have complete faith in them, and they will forever have my trust and loyalty. I believe in them, and I believe in you and Rex. That is enough for me."
Ahsoka looked at her friend, "It sounds like you're not planning on returning to the Jedi."
"Mm," Celeste agreed as she leaned back, placing her hands behind her head as she spoke. "I was a Jedi in an ancient era, and the Order I know is long gone…and I must admit that I don't like what the Jedi Order has degenerated into. I think I'll give being a Shinobi a go instead; after all, I'm already trained in the arts, even if it is only a little."
"They agree."
Aayla breathed a sigh of relief at the statement, while Naruto adopted a grin so wide that it forced his eyes shut. The centre of the chamber had been taken by a portable holographic-projector through which a life-sized, amber-hued hologram of Rex stood tall and proud, looking upon the gathered council of Jedi Masters as well as his two friends.
"Good to hear," Naruto grinned widely as he spoke, "So what can they contribute besides being a battalion's worth of battle-hardened elite warriors?"
"A squadron of ARC-170's, half a squadron of V-wings, a dozen LAAT gunships…" Rex was grinning at the end of the statement, a twinkle in his eye as he voiced the final part of his answer, "…and a Venator-Class Star Destroyer that's fully armed and stocked for a three-year tour of duty…and that would be assuming that it had its full crew compliment."
"A Venator?" Choi asked with barely restrained disbelief.
Rex looked in the small Masters direction, "Indeed, Master Choi, and the clones who took it are more than willing to share her as a joint mobile base. It would be a safe place to keep the younglings and those Padawan Learners who have lost theirMasters."
"Sounds cool…" Naruto said with a smirk, "…we're going to need to set up a rendezvous to unite and strategise. I take it you've told them of my plan?"
Rex got a mischievous glint in his dark eyes as he spoke, "Of course I did, chief…and they loved it. Just the idea of using their skills to protect the weak and helpless got my brothers in arms really fired up and ready for action. Of course, when I informed them that I'd rather face Darth Vader in single combat than you, that might have given them a push in the right direction, as well."
Naruto chuckled as he answered, "Good to know."
"A few of the boys would like to say hi to their Jedi officers as well," Rex added with a small smile, "It'll be good for them to meet their comrades again; you won't believe how close many of these guys came to killing as many as they could before falling themselves."
"I have one of those old generals in attendance, Rex," Naruto smirked, looking behind him just in time to see Obi-wan step into the light, Rex's eyes widened in surprise before softening in friendly recognition.
"Good to see you again, General."
"You too, Rex…" Obi-wan smiled as he looked upon a man whom he still considered a friend, "…you look well."
"Thank you, General…"Rex replied with a grin, "…you don't lookso bad yourself."
"You can dispense with addressing me as 'General', Rex…" Obi-wan waved him off, "…I have always considered you my equal, and now you are outside of my command; there's no longer any need to refer to me as 'General'."
"Maybe so…" Rex replied with a smirk. "…but you will always be my General, sir, and the commander of all assembled here. Most have served under you at some point, and they consider you our commander-in-chief."
Another clone stepped into the light, garbed in the armour of an ARC trooper, but Obi-wan knew him immediately and a small smile of relief and happiness fell upon him, "Hello Alpha."
"Yo, General, I know I may be a little late…" Alpha replied in greeting before snapping a fully professional military salute, or it would have been if not for the smirk, "…but I've brought my brothers with me, and we're ready and willing to serve alongside our brothers and sisters of the Jedi Order once more."
Obi-wan let out a breath before grinning for the first time in a long time, "Then we will rely on you, Alpha."
Alpha smirked, "The ARC troopers and commandos have decided that Rex would best serve as our ranking commander, sir, but we're here to help and we're here to protect our friends and comrades-in-arms. The Star Destroyer was captured by my men and me, and we're willing to share it with the Jedi; you may feel free use it as a safe haven for those who need protecting. We've already taken the pleasure in renaming her fromResolutiontoRefuge."
"Refuge sounds like a good name, Commander…" Obi-wan smiled as he spoke, "…A fine name."
Alpha returned his smile, "We thought so too, sir."
Rex took over addressing the assembled Jedi Council, "There are a few goals that we have, but we can discuss this more at our meeting. It'll be on theRefuge in a few days' time; we'll be waiting for you and your representatives in the Besh Gorgon System. Coordinates have already been sent."
"Representatives will be sent, rest assured," Shaak Ti spoke up with a slight bow, "May the Force be with you."
"Likewise," Rex nodded before the hologram fizzled out, leaving the hollowed-out chamber in darkness for several moments before the lighting rose again.
"Hmm," Yoda hummed, gaining the councils attention. "Much has happened this day. For now, adjourned this meeting is. Begin anew tomorrow, we will."
The Jedi all nodded one by one, before rising to their feet and filing out of the chamber. Aayla and Naruto followed them, the blond leaning towards her and speaking softly enough for only her to hear, "There's something I need to tell you."
"Knight Secura, a word with you, I wish to have," Yoda's aging voice called from behind them.
Aayla turned around, slightly surprised, not only that she had been called but that he was still in his chair, before nodding her head. She noticed almost immediately that Naruto was looking right at her, a little shade of worry in his expressive blue eyes, and she managed a smile and a nod before turning to the form of the Grand Master. The blond got the subtle hint, and with a moment of hesitancy turned around and left the chamber.
Aayla walked until she was barely a meter away from the Jedi master, coming down to her knees as she sat down and waited for him. He had his head bowed, and a solemn look on his face which worried her. Like most Jedi, she had grown up under this creature's tutelage. He was always there, with a calming aura and a fatherly smile. To so many Jedi, he was the immovable rock, the ageless one who never seemed to change, the teacher, the parent, the protector.
He only ever had this solemn look when he had heard bad news, "Fallen to your emotions, you have, Knight Secura."
Those words sent a chill down her spine, and she raised her head to look into his ageless eyes, which seemed pained and saddened. She immediately felt a tightness constrict around her heart. He knew about her relationship with Naruto. He didn't need to say anymore than what he had already said. She could attempt to lie, but she would only feel pitiful and cheap if she did so. Instead, she lowered her head like a young child caught doing something she shouldn't by a parent, and hated herself for it.
"Yes, Master."
"Tell me, the boy did not…" Yoda said heavily before the thought could pierce her suddenly foggy mind, "Allowed me into his mind, he did. A show of trust, it was. Abused his trust, I did, and delved further than I should have."
She looked up into the eyes of the first among the Jedi, feeling that what he was saying was the undeniable truth. That was what Naruto wanted to speak to her about; that was why she saw worry and guilt in his eyes. She sighed lightly, opening her eyes to look upon the floor of the chamber, "He must blame himself for this."
"Deny it, you do not?"
"No, I do not deny it, Master…" she replied with a shake of her head, looking up and locking eyes with him, "…I have committed the taboo. I have allowed myself to fall in love with him, and have given into my emotions. I will not deny what I feel for him, nor will I turn my back on it."
"Know what this means, you should…" Yoda said, gaze hardening slightly, "Emotions, a Jedi must not feel, for a path to darkness, they are. Manipulated by emotions, Anakin Skywalker was, and so many perished because of it."
"I understand, Master, and I am willing to accept any punishment…" Aayla replied as she looked up to the Grand Master, "…but I feel that we, the Jedi Order, are as much at fault as he is. Anakin chose to become Darth Vader because of fear and indecision, this much is true, but the failings of the Jedi Order contributed much toward bringing Anakin to such a decision. If we had only been there and held out a helping hand to him, would we be in this situation now? Would he have fallen as he has?"
For the briefest moment, the Grand Master remembered that time in his meditation chambers, barely a few days before Order Sixty-Six, when Anakin had come to him for guidance on a vision he was having. That meeting had plagued him for so long, and more than once he had lamented that he should have seen through what he now realised was a hastily-raised facade, and a subtle plea for help.
"There for a reason, the Code is…" Yoda said, feeling how hollow his voice seemed to sound as he looked down upon this young woman, perhaps one of the finest Jedi he had seen in a generation. His heart began to break the moment he saw her shoulder slump, "…a decision, you must make, Knight Secura."
For moments that felt like an eternity, silence reigned in the chamber. Aayla remained still, her head bowed and looking at the ground as Yoda waited. Finally, she sighed, and the Grand Master saw a glint of light as a tear left her cheek and fell to the ground. It was over quickly, and slowly, Aayla rose to her feet, hand rising to wipe her grief from her features before she looked upon him as stoically as she could manage.
"I understand, Master…" she replied as she reached for her lightsaber. Unclipping it from her belt and holding it out before her, the hilt rose from her telekinetic ability and floated between them until it was in front of the Jedi Master. Yoda held out a three-clawed hand to catch it when she abandoned her hold as Aayla announced, "…I, Aayla Secura, hereby relinquish my rank as Jedi Knight, and hereby resign from the Jedi Order."
She looked up at him, and there was so much pain in her dark eyes that Yoda felt it in his very soul. He heard Naruto Uzumaki's words in his mind. In a heartbeat, his grip on his gimmer stick tightened until he heard the wood creak under his clawed fingers.
"I beg of you, do not blame Aayla for this. Although she has said otherwise I know that her greatest source of strength and pride is in her being a Jedi. To lose that, even now, would hurt her more than almost anything else."
"Accept your resignation, the Council does," Yoda said, speaking for the Order he represented, feeling almost mechanical as he looked up and steeled himself for what he was about to see. Aayla looked lost and frightened, hiding it behind a hastily-raised wall of bravado which would crumble as easily as paper.
"Thank you, Master," she said, her own tone just as mechanical as Yoda's own posture, as she rose unsteadily to her feet and turned to walk from the chamber, leaving her life as a Jedi behind her. She didn't know how she was able to walk, let alone make it outside where Naruto was waiting for her.
He saw her distress almost immediately, and was by her side to catch her as she collapsed, her strength leaving her the moment she left the confines of that chamber. She shook in his arms, and his own guilt increased tenfold for it, "Aayla-"
"I thought it would be easier than this…" she said in a shaky voice, looking down at her feet as the tears flowed from her eyes, "…my legs feel like jelly, and I can't stop shaking."
"I'm so sorry," Naruto said with the deepest meaning.
"It's not your fault; I knew what would happen the moment I chose to walk this path with you…" Aayla replied with a brave smile, as her tears streamed down her cheeks, "…and I would change nothing if I could go back and do it all again. It's just…it hurts so much, I can barely believe it. Please, just hold me for a while."
Naruto nodded and held her, allowing her to cry ever so softly onto his shoulder. He did not care for the few Jedi guarding the small chamber between them who were looking at the scene with a mixture of confusion and uncertainty. All that mattered was that the love of his life was in terrible pain and anguish, and he would be there for her. This was his fault after all, and he was more than willing to take full responsibility for it.
Author's Note 1: Now here is the big question, why did I do it? This whole chapter had a lot of planning, and a potential alliance, but the real strike home would be the scene with Aayla and Yoda at the end, I know I'll probably get some flak for this, and I know all of the arguments for. Just trust me when I say that I have a plan.
The next chapter will see more of this, so I ask that judgement be reserved until you read the whole arc. Myself and ncpfan are literarily burning oil to make sure the next chapter is done right, so have a little patience, also this arc, which at the moment I am dubbing the High Council Arc, will soon be drawing to a close, and action will be commencing again pretty soon.
Does this count as a cliff-hanger?
I'll let you decide
Peace out