[18 BBY]
[House of Wisdom, Personal Deck of Moff Daron Stormcrow, Eriadu Authority Republic Navy Capital-class Warship Stormcrow, Republic 5th Fleet, ORSF Station 67-45-8XR/Y, Seswenna Sector, Outer Rim Territories]
"Ah, Asajj, welcome back…" I greeted my darksider sort-of-ally and sort-of-subordinate as she entered the secured library I'd created In the armoured depths of the Stormcrow "…bit sooner than planned, but not my decision in the end, not with events as they are"
She frowned at me as she strode in "I had wondered what had possessed you to bring me back before we had barely done half of what we had discussed. What are these problems?"
"Making up the law as we go along" I stated with amusement from where I sat, closing the book I'd been reading as I shook my head "That's the situation in simple terms. Officially we are advising the technically-interim, Chancellor and Senate on Eriadu on the reforms needed to handle Force-users, like us, while I also have to attend meetings with other Moffs to discuss the war effort"
I gestured at her to have a drink if she so wished from the small bar as I used my other hand to pick up and refill my own tumbler "Have a drink, have a seat. Now, for you, well this is your chance to make a name for yourself as something other than a Separatist turncoat and other nasty things our opponents would like to label you. That and ensuring we don't allow some sort of crackdown on us Force-users like in Coruscant or Confederate territory, nor a future restoration of the Jedi to that particular power set within the Republic"
Asajj frowned again, actually taking a drink and then moving to sit across from me "Oh….and you are not supporting the Jedi already?"
Now I frowned slightly, sighing as I looked at my drink "Yes, yes I am, but I certainly don't want the Temple restored to what it once was either. Because we'd be the first sent to the super-secret prison they were running for all the dangerous sorts like us. But, its not like we won't need some sort of way of dealing with the inevitable idiot who truly falls to the Dark Side and starts cutting up a school or home for puppies because…reasons"
She looked at me, eyebrow raised "Reasons?"
"Dark Jedi and Sith reasons, you've read some of the histories. Idiocy often comes with the insanity…" I replied shaking my head, then taking a sip of my Solemite sweet-brandy "…so when they mess up the carpet like a maddened bantha...they can be dealt without making the rest of us look bad"
Asajj blinked….then let out a snort of maybe amusement "That's your logic?"
"Yup, that's the logic..." I replied politely "…as laws make civilized societies, and I like living in one of those"
"Such as the Republic was?"
Now I gave my own snort "We're in private now Asajj, you know how I view such things. The Republic died a long time ago, and what remains needs to be put out its misery as soon as possible…"
I smiled sadly as she gave me an odd look while I watched the ice clink in the glass "…and replaced with something better, while retaining what we can of its good points. Lucky for us then that we have the potential to sit at the table where the faction we serve while these laws are made, and as such attempt to shape them to our liking?"
"How very convenient for you…us?"
"Yes, isn't it?" I murmured with amusement, shrugging "Though it also comes with the cost that the Tarkins look to be intent on consolidating the various warbands and faction forces into a unified military…in time"
"In time?"
"Yes, while making us with said forces rather rich, and with positions of authority, and various other incentives, to join the fold over the next few years…assuming we last that long of course"
"Hmm…of course…" she replied with amused confidence, as if that was ever in doubt drinking her own deep red liquor from her glass "… so what are you actually proposing?"
So, I told her, about the my view on the reformed Judicial Forces, about making use of Knight Morne…
That earned me a hard, flat, stare and I chuckled as I finished up "…oh, don't give me that look. I intend you and dear Celeste as the dynamic duo of this Jedi-Sith hunting group I want to convince our lords above to create to maintain order and stability in our new Republic"
I sat back in my comfortably chair "So, you've got your chance to do up your own suggestions my dear Asajj, the perks of power and authority. Or in this case something for us to work on persuading others, though reason and argument not violence and the Force are required…"
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[18 BBY[Sometime later]
[House of Wisdom, Personal Deck of Moff Daron Stormcrow, Eriadu Authority Republic Navy Capital-class Warship Stormcrow, Republic 5th Fleet, Departing ORSF Station 67-45-8XR/Y, Seswenna Sector, Outer Rim Territories]
Talking with Asajj had been both as useful, and as difficult, as always, but she was a strong potential for hunting down certain potential dangers in time…along with both responsibilities and restraints of course. Something to balance Knight Morne with, especially since I hadn't heard anything from Stass or Barriss yet on what, if any, decision their little conclave had made on a Grandmaster and forming a Council. It was what I'd asked, and expected of course, but it was frustrating to deal with, along with the fact of Barriss going back into the pit of ideology.
'Not that I'm not going to be in a snake of politics and ambition soon myself' I thought watching as the Dathmormiri Witch meditated across the way with one of the more martial of my recovered former Jedi holocrons. She was certainly making use of her time back here after our little meal, and I put aside the reproduction of the tome from the Ossus find to relax a moment and think. I'd gotten word, from Kazdan himself by secret mail, that he was headed for, or might even have already, arrived there. The message was days old, since we'd been moving silently from system to system.
Typical really, you only got word to things outside of 'Republic' territory somewhat sporadically, and always late, as the Hypernet and various other comm-links were increasingly attacked or jammed. Or, in our case, increasingly regulated and militarised as things started to organise. Command and control within my operational area, just like in most of the Outer Rim, was a priority after all to tie the entity together, and to react swiftly to any enemy challenge. It bothered me how slow it was to get information out of 'enemy' territory about Anakin…or things that weren't military and political priority such as Kenobi's elevation and talk.
I glanced at the droids I'd setup as librarians 'And I could really do with talking with Kazdan for helping me with the Librarian and Custodian models for the House of Wisdom, and, more importantly, ensuring survival of that knowledge into the future'
…which, of course, opened up the can of worms that only myself and Asajj were the only current users of said library and store of items, and then only limited access for her, to my Outer Sanctum. Bringing in Celeste was one thing, as she could bring knowledge of potential Covenant stores that might still exist undiscovered if one could continue proving responsibility on the subject…
'But Kazdan could easily figure out my motives with those droid models before I'll be ready….Catch-22 in some ways' I mused to myself as I enjoyed the peace and calm of the Library. Revealing it was something I'd have to do eventually, likely soon enough, and the fact I'd handed over a decent chunk of former Temple Archive backup downloads from the time of departure…
'Still that doesn't take into account the Ossus finds we're still cataloguing, and the Sith stuff in the Restricted Area'
I'd built the system something like an onion, with Barriss and Knight Secura knowing I extensive files, but the 'Jedi' Library was merely a copy of what I'd handed over to the Temple. Barriss knew, or suspected at least, that I'd more than that, and didn't pry…but it was dangerous times with others. Not till there was something of a bulwark in place to prevent a well-meaning betrayal of generosity with the Jedi Enclave. No, this knowledge was intended for my collection, and for whatever future Sect I managed to establish…and on that note I brought up a data-slate with updated reports on the various projects related to this business.
My Custodian and Librarian systems were somewhat stalled;- I just didn't have the time to invest in them, hell I had barely enough to study, spar, and deal with fleet logistics as Moff right now. Thankfully I'd setup an automated system to manage cleaning, storage, and basic cataloging of the haul from Ossus and I could see real progress there. Or at least progress in the sense that I'd years ahead of me, when I had the time, to study ancient Jedi texts and holocrons collected…
'It still won't be enough in the long run if I want to restore what was lost when the Temple was nuked' I reminded myself, though the Stormcrow was close to a small mobile Temple Archive by design. The other updates were from System Data-Core salvage, and potential Auctions….such as the one that led me to Celeste in the first place. Battlefield graveyards were often picked over long ago for the best 'salvage' but right now the Eriadu Authority, through groups like mine mostly, were scouring old battlefields like locusts to find recoverable hulks. Or at least hulks that could be quickly scrapped at shipbreakers and then fed into the mobile shipyards available to us.
With that came an order from myself to try to recover the system cores from any Old Republic or Sith Imperial hulks and send them to our technical department. It was a slow process…in the sense of having far too many such cores to merely catalogue and see if recovery was possible rather than if they held any valuable secrets aboard. I put the pad down after reading it, shaking my head as I made to stand 'Then again, it'd go faster if we cut corners, but safety is more important considering the things that have happened in the past few years. At least it'll give eager young padawans or apprentices something to spend hour and hours slogging through whenever we…if we….finally have peace…"
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