Chapter 14: The War and Personal Conflicts

Galen Marek stood in one of the many numerous training rooms of the Jedi Temple battle PROXY. Ever since the battle aboard the Invisible Hand, he felt that his training had begun to slip up. On another note, he was experimenting with Jar'Kai, using what little knowledge he had to great effect. His efforts were not unseen. In the relatively large amount of time he spent dueling, he had gathered a crowd of many other Jedi. Even a few masters of the Jedi Council were present. They watched with great interest. They all knew who he was, but no one knew that his true name was Galen Marek. They only saw Starkiller, and that was enough to set many of them on edge. Galen understood their uneasiness, but also felt that it was unnecessary. Ignoring them, he refocused on the battle, falling back to Soresu to match Proxy's Ataru. He was finding defense with two blades to be relatively difficult. Galen was using his main saber to parry and counter blows. His offhand saber remained behind him, ready to deliver a surprise strike. Galen thought to use force lightning to seize the advantage, but thought against it. Force lightning was a power of the dark side, and he was a Jedi. Still, he found that he could still use dark side powers and abilities without having to call upon his anger, hate, and rage, but the Jedi may not see it that way. He launched a force push PROXY's way. The droid was quick to hit the ground on his back. Galen advanced, ready to deliver the final blow, but PROXY met his blue sabers with his green one. Caught in a lightsaber lock, both struggled to gain an advantage, but Galen began to call upon the force to enhance his strength. He then disarmed PROXY and held his lightsaber to the droid's neck.

"Ah, Master, I see that you advance quickly with Jar'Kai," ORXY commented.

"I am, but I don't have enough skill in it yet to use it in lightsaber combat effectively."

"Perhaps I can research and study users of Jari'Kai and help you study them."

"Yeah, that would help," Galen said. "We can get more information after the sessions with the Council has concluded."

Galen Marek stood at full attention within the Jedi Council. Even though he was a Jedi, he retained a cautious approach. He could easily break the Council's trust in him if he made any wrong moves. With that in mind, he had prepared mental defenses, not willing to take any chances.

"We are all well aware that as long as Grievous remains at large," Master Windu said, "The war will continue. Finding him must become our highest priority. Starkiller, do you have an idea where he could be going?"

All eyes turned his way. Starkiller's arms remained behind his back as he stepped into the circle.

"Grievous appears to be moving at random. This is just merely to throw off anyone who may be tracking him. That may change soon. I have not yet made an update on his location, but it is safe to deduce that he may remain hidden somewhere in the outer rim."

"Continue to monitor, we will," Yoda said. "Meanwhile, other matters to discuss there are."

"We believe that Chancellor Palpatine has motives that we are not aware of," Windu continued. "He has remained in office far longer than his terms allow for. We need to know what he is planning."

"I assume the Council will be sending someone to report on all the Chancellor's dealings?"

Galen, mentally, was somewhat amused. The Jedi had begun to suspect something was going on. It was a little surprising how long it was taking the Jedi Council to discover anything suspicious about the Chancellor. On one hand, the Chancellor's power in the dark side allowed him to disguise himself with ease, but he had immediately discovered the nature of Palpatine. He probably detected this so easily because of his affinity to the dark side, or perhaps something else. In any case, these next few weeks and months could prove to be very critical.

Only time will tell, Galen thought.

"Watch Palpatine, we must," Yoda answered. "Use someone the Chancellor's trust, we will."

"Who in the Jedi Order does the Chancellor trust," Galen inquired.

"Anakin Skywalker."

That was enough for Galen to tense up in mind. He didn't move a muscle physically. The Jedi were playing right into Palpatine's hands. Master Skywalker's strength in the force had attracted Palpatine's attention. It didn't take much to know that Palpatine was looking for the perfect apprentice, one with power unrivalled by any Jedi or Sith in history or the present. Somehow, he had to prevent this from happening, or at the very least, stall.

"Master, I do not believe that this is the best course of action," Galen said in a low and monotone voice. "His trust in the Chancellor is…unwavering and given certain recent events, his trust in the council may be...uncertain."

"It is understandable," Master Kenobi said. "But he is the only Jedi that the Chancellor trusts. We have no one else."

Galen contemplated this. It was not a very satisfying answer. Usually, he would not question his superiors, but in this case, perhaps the fate of the galaxy was at hand. A situation of this magnitude demanded careful action.

"Understood, but I believe that someone should watch Anakin," Galen continued. "His relationship with the Chancellor may conflict with that of his duties to the Jedi Order."

Ahsoka Tano sat cross-legged, looking into her green lightsaber blade. She had chosen to remain on the Rogue Shadow as it pursued General Grievous. For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to enter the Jedi Temple. Despite the many things that Starkiller was teaching her in order to sort through her inner conflicts, she still had not figured everything out. It hurt her more that Starkiller was now actively a part of the Jedi Order, and was at the center of the Jedi Council's attention. Despite not approving of this, she couldn't help but feel proud that Starkiller was taking steps away from the Sith that he was.

Starkiller was also the center of her thoughts now. Their relationship was complicated. At times, he acted like a master to her, and other times, he was a brother to her, but despite their growing relationship, it seemed that their relationship couldn't really progress any further. He still kept a rather secretive side, and she respected that, but she felt worried more than she liked to admit. Ahsoka had always appeared to him as a friend, and she knew he saw her as a friend too, but that was it. She wanted to help him, but she wondered if he would even accept help. Sometimes, Starkiller was unwilling to accept help, simply pushing it away, believing that he could fix it himself. More than once, she had seen him resort to self-torture methods and intense training to fix the problem. Ahsoka didn't mind the training, but the self-torture was more than she could take. She had stopped him whenever he tried to inflict any harm on himself. Now, he seemed to be dedicating too much time to being a Jedi.

She tried again to focus on something else besides Starkiller, but as she continued to stare into her green lightsaber blade, she could only think about him. He was the one who suggested this method of meditation, and while it was unusual and unorthodox, she found it to be very effective for her. She could do nothing but meditate and think about Starkiller…

To be continued…