Aboard Republic Transport Ship en-route to the Corbantis System
Chief and his team readied their weapons in the cargo hold of the transport, their fine-tuned ears allowing them to hear the quiet hum of the ship's engines and the Hyperdrive operating. Their target was only a couple dozen more light-years away, while they'd picked up word that General Surik had received a call from the Jedi Order to come to Coruscant. Lot of work ahead for the group, John thought to himself as he disassembled his MA5.
Unseen to the Chief as he was working on cleaning his gun, Delta-38 had walked in, weapons stowed on his back and suit seemingly prepared for the kind of insert Spartans usually abhorred, that through the void. Watching the Spartan clean and tend to his rifle, 38 thought two things:The fact the UNSC was a major faction still wielding slugthrowers was interesting and Spartans were well-behaved and capable soldiers if they maintained their gear as spotlessly as Chief did. He cleared his throat and spoke, "Master Chief."
Chief turned around, only to be met by the man in the bulky orange and grey suit. He greeted the man with a nod as he continued working on his rifle, then spoke, "Commander," while slowly starting to reassemble the weapon, ensuring the conversation could go smoothly without hurrying him along. He asked next, "Anything I can help you with?"
"I don't suppose you know much of us," Boss offered, "So, I figured it'd be best if our squads understood each-other, seeing as we all have specific roles in combat," and he leaned against one of the support struts in the cargo hold, watching the Chief meticulously work, making motions he must've rehearsed a thousand times slowly so that Boss could keep up. He appreciated it, though the intricacies of guns were a bit lost on him when they had Blasters.
"You're squad leader, Forty is your hacker and scout, Six-Two is the demolitions expert and Oh-Seven is your sniper," Chief explained from what little he'd seen of the squad. It was dead-on accurate, though, much to Boss's surprise. He simply gave the man a nod of approval. A nearby astromech droid approached Chief and handed him a screwdriver, but the Spartan refused calmly. The Droid let out a sad 'bwoooo' then rolled away.
"Yes. And for you, 087 is your scout, 104 is a rifleman and 058 is your sharpshooter," Boss offered a retort, watching the Chief still. He stated, "That begs the question of who your in is on the technological side," and walked in front of the Chief's table. The rounds in the rifle were fairly large-sized, about the length of his own index finger from the looks, if not a little more dangerous. He jumped a little as a blue avatar formed on Chief's shoulder.
"Heya!" The AI greeted, smiling.
"... An AI?" The Clone blanked. He'd certainly never expected their allies to be carrying artificial intelligences within their armor suits. He assumed she was coming from the armor suit, anyway, because it was the only thing that made sense. She waved, then crossed her arms and looked to the Chief, the two seemingly speaking to each-other via the Armor itself. He nodded.
"Smart AI. Evening, 'Boss'. Call me Cortana," She introduced herself, arms crossed and still grinning.
"Ma'am... Didn't know the UNSC heavily employs AIs," The Clone seemed a bit uneasy. Nobody could really blame him, though, considering the fact the Grand Army of the Republic was fighting automated machines probably led by Artificial Intelligences and blessed with the ability to think and maybe adapt. Not all of them were that capable, obviously, since B1 units still marched in what was tantamount to a straight line at Clone troops. Their only advantage was numbers.
"Cortana and I have been cooperating for nearly a decade at this point," Chief assured him, now looking at the Clone properly. He told his fellow soldier, "She's got our backs in there," which seemed to cause the AIs' avatar to glow a slight pink. Boss wasn't usually one to understand Basics' cues, but the fact an AI could do what was tantamount to 'blushing' told him a lot about how the UNSC viewed their AI companions.
"Noted," He spoke, visibly relaxing. Might as well be friendly, he thought, then added, "Glad to have you aboard, then, ma'am," as he watched the Chief completely reassemble his rifle in five quick moves. So, he was pretty much just letting him see how the weapon operated from up-close. Good to know, should he need to lift it himself in their defense.
"Glad to be here," She saluted, then looked to the Spartan and asked him, "Chief, shouldn't we join the others?"
"Right. On you, Commander," Chief told Boss. Three-Eight nodded and, without another word, led the man to the rallying spot of the two fireteams, noting that Linda was sat in the back, tending to her DMR as well. She'd picked something more for mid-to-long range just in case, considering they were going inside a ship. Kelly herself kept her shotgun cradled close, while Fred had picked out an MA40.
"... So, what is it you Spartans do, then?" Fixer asked them as he wrote some notes on a tablet. He added jokingly, "Outside of looking menacing," Which got a few, short, but open laughs out of the Spartans. Fred slid a new mag into his rifle, racked the bolt, then made sure the safety was on before he slid the weapon onto his back. Chief had half-a-thought to ask him why he wasn't playing with a knife.
"Same thing you guys do, I guess," Kelly quipped as she slung her shotgun onto her back. She turned to face Fixer and leaned forward, supporting herself on her hands as she clarified, "Special Ops, behind the Lines wetwork, even some front-line combat if the need arises," all while watching Fixer make a few notes on them. He nodded in thanks to her, to which she gave a thumbs up.
"If we ever got into frontline combat, someone made a mistake with Intel," Scorch replied as he slid several explosive charges into his backpack's container slot. Noting that the Spartans' eyes suddenly focused on him, he, too, clarified to them, "Not sayin' we couldn't handle it, just that we're better at the covert stuff," while raising his hands defensively. Sev snorted.
"There's nothing 'covert' about you, Scorch," The Sniper teased as he clipped his rifle to his backpack. A few more laughs echoed, including one from Fixer, while Scorch looked slightly unamused. Though he only looked that way because of the fact he stared at Sev like he'd just spoken an alien language instead of Galactic Basic. Sev knew it was more likely for Scorch to just be considering a comeback.
"Haha, Sev. So funny I almost forgot to laugh," He seemed to have given up, though, sounding slightly amused.
As the two Pod Brothers laughed at one-another, Fixer cocked his head right. He saw the source of the footsteps he was hearing coming in and ordered, "Can it, you two. Boss and the Chief are here," before straightening up and saluting the Spartan and his own Team Leader as they entered. The Blues jumped to their feet and saluted, too. Chief went with their body language when he asked what he was about to ask.
"Having fun?"
"Yep," Kelly chuckled, "Deltas really are like us.
"Linda's been awfully quiet," Fred jabbed a thumb back toward their Sniper, who took a break from properly zeroing her scope to look at Fred, visibly tilting her helmet forward to denote a raise of the brow. The Lieutenant shrugged at the sight while Kelly and Chief exchanged one quick look. To be fair, both they and Fred knew Linda got into the Zone more often than not when it came to adjusting her guns.
"I was tending to the mid-range option I picked for this job," She told them, "We're going internal on a ship, aren't we?" and she got nods of confirmation from her team-mates, while Boss and his Brothers watched the exchange. They felt like siblings, too, in a way. Siblings in all but blood. Delta had gotten a short briefing on Blue team's own operational history. Over thirty years of service with the UNSC, proudly delivering victory after victory to mankind in their war. Respectable.
"We're about to find out which ship it is, Redhead," The Clone Sniper butted in with a quip, which got a hum of affirmation out of Linda.
"Indeed, we are. Everyone, gather up. The Adviser's contacting us," Boss ordered. He pulled out and tossed down the holographic com system that Delta Squad had used so often to keep in touch with the man during their missions. The holographic system engaged, a spool of pixels swirling into the air and forming the shape of a Clone sat within the ship's command area.
"Hello, Delta Squad," The Adviser nodded, then looked over to Blue Team. He spoke jovially, "I see the Chancellor's request for our new allies came through just in the nick of time. Greetings, Blues, I'm Clone Adviser CC-01/425. Glad to have the support from UNSC elements on this mission," before looking the Chief up and down. Heavily armored, tough, no-nonsense-looking.
"Sir," The group clicked their heels together and saluted.
"Respectful, too. Good to know..." He nodded, glad to see it. He then did a quick sweep with his gaze across the hold, to take in all eight members of this deployment, then stated, "Well, let's cut straight to the chase, then. Deltas, this next objective may be familiar to you. The Prosecutor, an Acclamator-class Republic Assault Ship under the command of Captain Martz," and schematics of the Republic Assault Ship, the triangle-shaped troop-carrying heavy transport of the Republic, appeared next to the Adviser.
"The Prosecutor was our first home..." Boss told Blue Team, a hint of melancholy in his voice. The ship they were on rumbled a bit as they exited hyperspace, probably in the area where the Prosecutor was. Boss then stated in a quiet whisper, "We were stationed on her for a long time," as he stared at images of the ship's schematics and service record.
"Her last patrol was in the Corellia sector, ensuring the safety of Republic trade routes in the area," The Adviser explained, pulling up the relevant maps of the Corellia sector and the ship's patrol routes. A red dot flashed on the hologram, which caused the Spartans to tense. The Adviser then added, "But we lost contact with her over two weeks ago. She's only just recently emerged here, in the Corbantis System.
"This is nowhere near Corellia..." Sev murmured. He motioned to Scorch to start checking his suit, make sure that the armor was ready for the zero-gravity insertion they were gonna be doing. Scorch did as asked, approaching the man's backpack and doing a quick and thorough check, diagnostics run and seal press-check. He slapped Sev's backpack, which caused the sniper to turn around, only to get a thumbs up and nod of approval from his Pod Brother.
"... And Republic Assault Ships can't exactly go rogue with a mass of troops that're as loyal as you Clones are to the Republic," Fred offered, then quickly added, "Sounds like a trap to me," as his own suit's diagnostics ran. The Spartans also quickly checked each-other's suit seals, while Boss and Fixer checked theirs, too. Best not to have an oxygen leak when traversing space.
"Possibly accurate, Spartan 104..." The Adviser responded, then sighed and continued, "However, their last transmission was strange. Spoke of finding an unknown vessel floating among wrecks in a relatively out-of-the-way system. They were sent there to investigate by someone high-up after a Scout Ship discovered the debris field..." Annoyed he had no images for it.
"And said vessel somehow brought them here," Fixer quipped, then added, "Concerning, but I suppose we'll get all the details when we move in to check it out."
"Indeed, Delta Four-Oh. Which is why we're sending our most qualified squads," The man spoke rather proudly of Delta and of the Blues as well. He told them, "Someone noted your excellence on Geonosis and Blue Team's capabilities," before the hologram flickered off. Their Suit seals engaged as the place depressurized. The rear door of the bay opened, revealing the space outside and the massive vessel as it sat in the middle of nowhere.
"Hear that, Sev? Someone thinks I'm excellent," Scorch joked. The two brothers quickly bumped fists.
"That makes two of you," Sev shot back.
"Deltas, Blues, prepare for low-gravity insertion. Seal your suits. Good luck," The Adviser then spoke over the com.
"Alright, teams of two! Boss and Chief, 104 and I, 087 and Scorch and 058 and Sev!" Fixer spoke, waving the group forward. "That's our order of insert! See you all inside!" and the duos marched toward the door. This was gonna be one of the most stomach-churning experiences, John thought to himself as he saw the ship outside. Cortana giggled at the group's enthusiasm.
"Woohoooooo~!" Scorch cheered as he did a backflip, Kelly diving forward like an acrobatic swimmer. Linda and Sev followed up, activating their suits' thruster systems to guide themselves toward their insertion point. Meanwhile, Chief's HUD flashed with a NAV Point locked directly onto one of the missile tubes. Fixer shrugged at the two, then sighed as he watched Chief and Boss get out at the same time. The ship looked like it still had power... Though something suddenly felt extremely wrong to John. Familiar even...
This couldn't be good.
Coruscant, with Meetra
A singular UNSC Pelican flew amidst the crowds of skycars and speeders toward the Jedi Temple today. Meetra, who was sat at the seat nearest to the ramp, held onto the Pelican's side and watched the place. Her return to the political center of the Galaxy was unexpectedly sudden and brought about by the fact that someone had blabbered about her to the Jedi Council.
As they flew over the massive cityscape of the planet, the former Jedi, now clad in her old brown robes, tunic, belt and baggy pants, watched the world below go by while her thoughts wondered to her two major dealings with the previous, Pre-Purge Jedi Order. How their dogmatism and seeming deadlock had forced others like herself, Revan and Alek to take action against the Mandalorians alone, how she was hailed when she returned after Malachor V, as nothing but a traitor. How she had to relinquish her Lightsaber.
Then, when she met them all again after the Purge itself, when they attempted to kill her on Dantooine, or rip the Force from her very being, not understanding just what she'd gone through and how strongly she fought to regain her powers, even after that Void had been ripped into her very soul at Malachor, when the Mass Shadow Generator had been activated.
There had been another couple of encounters afterward with the Order she helped reform through Atton and the others, namely the Cold War times of the Old Republic and Sith Empire and the Eternal Alliance, her probable pride and joy. The ones that defeated the Sith Emperor of the day, the ones that managed to fully and utterly remove the threat of a world-ending anomaly not to far from Nihilus, if not a little worse...
Atton... Even four thousand years later, she remembered his face and his voice. And more...
Her mind couldn't even comprehend it'd been so long since she'd seen her compatriots from during the hunt for the Triumvirate. Atton, Teethree, Forty-seven, Mical, Bao, Brianna, Visas, Canderous, Mira... Even Kreia. She missed them all dearly. All of them, no matter how they displayed themselves, had been her trusty companions and had helped reform the Jedi Order after she'd gone to fight Tenebrae alongside Revan. She missed that bastard revanchist, too. Hell, he was the reason she'd been a godmother in the first place, heh...
Feeling a hand land on her shoulder, she was taken out of her momentary fugue and looked back to see Noble Six sat there beside her. In the Blood Tray of the Pelican, Anakin, Obi-Wan and a very apologetic-looking Ahsoka sat, the latter twiddling her thumbs as Richard, who was sat beside her, simply wondered about how they wound up as security detail for this meeting. The rest of CRIMSON was also aboard:Ecklund and Dinh, more specifically.
Six asked, "You alright, General?"
"Living for now, yeah..." She sighed deeply. It was obvious to Noble Six that she didn't want to be here again, especially since she'd specifically joined the UNSC's ranks as a freelancer to get away from Coruscant after so long. He needed to have a chat with her when they returned to the Infinity. He was actually looking forward to see how this whole situation developed, though. The chat with the Order.
"Approaching landing area!" The pilot, a young woman, spoke from the Pelican's cockpit. The group all turned back and properly seated themselves, feeling the Pelican start to decelerate, the slight gravitational shift causing pits in their stomachs. Ahsoka looked at Meetra with the most apologetic and fearful look any Padawan had ever given a senior Jedi. Meetra, however, smiled and waved it off, while Anakin gave his Padawan a light, but reassuring pat on the back.
As the Pelican touched down on one of the elevated platforms on the sides of the Temple, the group of people stood to their feet. Six motioned to Dinh and Ecklund to keep the Pelican safe, only to pause as he saw men and women clad in white armors, their masks featureless save for the slits that acted as eyeholes. They wore ornate robes with white and gold and flowery shapes and carried double-bladed lightsabers that glowed gold.
"Temple Guards..." Meetra whispered, then said sarcastically, "I feel like royalty..."
Six snorted at that, though Meetra found it a lot less funny. Stoically, she stepped forward, her escort of three Jedi, two Spartans and the four Temple Guards leading her forward into the wider halls of a place she had never wanted to see again. Entering the great halls of the Temple, they were met by the sight of the vast Libraries that still contained nothing but a fraction of the Great Library's information.
Padawans, Jedi, Knights and Masters as well seemed stunned when they saw Meetra and her friends walking in. Padawans and younglings stared with mouths agape at the Four thousand-year-old woman that had waded into their temple, Lightsaber clipped to her belt and hands hidden underneath her robes. Masters Kenobi and Skywalker were beside her, with a fellow Padawan, Ahsoka, walking with.
Meetra felt the weight of everyone's gazes as she looked around. She also felt the weight of what lay below the Temple itself, the Darkness of the Nexus they had so foolishly covered up with what was meant to be a monument of the Light Side, trying to bury something they never should've touched in the first place. Even in the great, decorated halls, even amidst the thousands of Jedi and Force Sensitives present here, she stood out.
She stood out because she was a Wound. A Wound that was never closed by the Jedi and a Wound that vowed to assist a different breed, a change in the Galactic Order that the Force couldn't foresee. She'd joined the human forces of the United Nations Space Command in hopes of doing what Kreia couldn't so long ago:Break the damnable cycle of the Force. Save this version of the Republic, or help rebuild it into something new, whatever cataclysm may befall it.
If the Order was going to judge her for it once more, she would judge them back, much like Kreia did on Dantooine. Well, no, not quite, she wasn't going to outright cut them off from the Force and let'em die like she did, but she had some choice words to say to the ones who returned the Order to its pre-Purge state... As they entered an elevator in the Main Spire, Meetra felt the weight of the Force suddenly pressing down upon her once more. Like she had returned before, victorious but damaged, so she returned now, a new woman.
Ahsoka and the others had kept quiet for the trip. They'd keep quiet, still, but they felt the radiating energy of the woman. Yes, many knew Meetra as "The Exile' and 'The Wound Not Closed' in some circles of historical context. They also knew her as one of the reasons the Jedi Order had survived the Great Purge so many millennia ago, so she was pretty much one of the reasons the Order existed still.
It was why Ahsoka felt a little bad about yapping like she did over com and bringing attention to her. She must've had a reason as to why she didn't want to come back to the Temple after so long. She watched the usually cheery Jedi Master staring out at the cityscape beyond the elevator's thick glass with uncharacteristic stoicism. And when the elevator reached the top, they all stayed in the back of the room.
Meetra showed Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka to stay as she took a step forward into the sanctuary of the Order. A dozen Masters sat in the Council seats, though a few seats were either empty, or occupied by holographic displays of the Jedi that would have come to... Do what, judge her? Speak to her? It mattered little. She saw their eyes widen, their gazes locked onto her.
"By the Force..." Mace Windu, Jedi Master and one of the most loyal of the Republic's wardogs, stared with wide eyes. The blonde woman immediately noted the aura of disapproval behind the man's posture. He wasn't staring, so much as glaring at her and trying to mask it. Oh, she knew she was gonna enjoy this little dressing-down now, simply looking back at her friends and smiling reassuringly at them.
"So, she's truly alive..." Master Shaak-Tii whispered, scratching her chin. She spoke warmly, "Master Surik, it's an honor."
"... To think we were so close, only a shuttle flight away. Apologies for not greeting you properly, master," Master Plo Koon bowed his head, then looked over to the somewhat giddy Ahsoka. IF he could smile, he would right now, knowing that Meetra had been a sort of major influence for Little Soka's early training, especially considering just how focused the girl had been on studying about her in the Archives.
"It's alright, master Plo, master Shaak-Tii..." Meetra spoke, though she could feel the stares from some of the other Masters present, Windu included, weren't warm. So, she chose to comment on the division, stating rather bluntly, "This is a little familiar. There's no stone in the middle of the Council Chambers this time, though, but I am wondering if, with so many eyes on me, you are all going to pull a fast one for old time's sake and ask me to surrender my lightsaber... Like Vrook, Atris and so many others back in the day did," which immediately gathered gasps from them all. Good. She'd struck a nerve.
"I think you misunderstand the reason for your presence here, master Surik," Windu commented, fingers interlaced in front of him as his previous surprise was now replaced by his unusually stern gaze. Every other Jedi seemed to have picked up on it, the weight of the air in the room almost doubled by the Force presence of someon as attuned as Meetra. And they could feel Meetra's annoyance slowly bubbling up.
"It's the freakshow element," Meetra quipped, grinning at Windu, "I know. Seeing the dead walk the Galaxy when I was supposed to be a Force Ghost? Believe me, I'm not here by choice. And I mean that in every sense. However, I think the Force did something good for once... It brought me face-to-face with the descendants of the Order I helped rebuild four millennia ago to talk to you all. Let's start with the basics first, what is it you all want to talk about?"
"We want to know how you are still alive, master," Depa Billaba, Windu's former Padawan, a middle-aged human woman, offered calmly, trying to maintain the neutral tone Meetra had been hoping to keep for herself during this convo. Depa, however, complimented, "You look good for a dead woman, might I add," which garnered a few snorts, though not out of Windu.
"I appreciate it. As for why I'm still alive? Well..." Meetra spoke, her voice growing low. The room's temperature dropped almost a hundred degrees in a nanosecond as the Jedi woman's skin grew paler and her eyes darkened. She told them, her voice reverberating like a dark Echo in the Force that sent chills up everyone's spine, "As good a time as any to reveal that that Wound you all fear so much has never truly healed," and her form and hair shifted for a moment to a dark version... The Wound In The Force all feared, a black, soulless husk almost, one so different from Meetra it was visible even to Richard and Six.
And to say it seemed to terrify the Jedi was an understatement...
"... You shouldn't be here," Windu growled as Meetra's form soon shifted back to its usual self. One of her escorting soldiers had wanted to step up, make sure she was okay. She'd felt it and gazed back at Six, offering the young man in MJOLNIR an awkward 'We'll talk about it later' smile, before turning back to Mace after his comment. Her blue eyes had returned to their normal hue and so had the whites around them.
She replied, "You summoned me!" while laughing at the absurdity of Mace's comment. All other Jedi in the room suddenly felt slightly uncomfortable, but those who had welcomed her warmly did not seem to avert their gazes. Even Depa, ever so carefully guided by Mace to become someone like him, stared on at the Anomaly that was Meetra Surik, stunned.
"It was obviously a mistake," Windu shot back.
"Oh, no, this wasn't the mistake, Master Windu..." Meetra did, too, balling her hands into fists under her robes, her fury felt through the ripples in the Force. She told them, "The mistake was mine... For hiding and not coming here sooner. Look at me, all of you. Death and destruction could not put an end to one of the last Jedi from before our Fall four Millennia ago. I can feel you all, so scared of the truth, so surprised to see that the Dead do not have kind words for you to soothe you, to say you've done well. This Order is wrong..." Then she declared, loudly and audibly, "It is BROKEN."
"Broken, we are? Walk the Galaxy as undeath, you do. Broken, are you not?" Yoda, the eldest of the Jedi here, chimed in, trying to maintain the calm.
"Master Yoda..." The blonde let out a sigh, "As much as I appreciate your intervention, I'm well aware of my own predicament and don't need to be told off for it," And she looked at Yoda, too, recalling the days they'd operated together in the High Republic and the Golden Age that had been. She told him, |We worked together during the High Republic Era, after all. You should know that."
"Worked together, we have. Changed, you have, too. What happened...?" He almost seemed remorseful when he asked that.
"... We both know what happened when my Strike Team perished, master," She replied as anger started bubbling up again, "As for the rest of you, those who stare at me with that fury, that hatred for starting to try and open your eyes and the eyes of every other Jedi in this room that dares listen... I'm going to give you all the Benefit of the Doubt and say that most of the smart Jedi of the Old Republic's Order left with the Eternal Alliance when that came about, with the High Republic age destroying the last of your sanity. It's like I'm looking into a mirror of the past," And she finally snapped at them, "The same dogma, the same failures, the same mistakes that BURNED US YEARS AGO!"
She breathed in and manage to calm herself again, then told them, "The one thing I can say that would be even remotely close to a compliment for all of you would be that you were all at least a little proactive about joining this War instead of letting it fester like the Old Order did when the Mandalorians came about, forcing me, Revan and so many others to leave and fight."
"And where did that lead them? Where did it lead the mighty Revanchist and Knight Alek? Into the arms of the Dark Side... Or did you forget that, Master Surik? Adherence to Code is what saves us from falling, too. We joined this War because the Republic is the only way forward for us. We've learned that in history and we don't want to make the same mistakes you did," Windu snapped back, standing to his feet and glaring at Meetra.
"... You dare bring up my friends, both of whom are long-gone, to try and make a point about falling, try to point fingers at us and yet forget Revan, the mightiest of us all, brought an end to both Mandalore's capabilities and left it nothing more than a regional power...?" She asked, staring at him. She attempted to contain her fury, bottle it up, simply speaking now with a subdued anger to try and maintain an air of calm, "The same man who saved the Galaxy thrice more from Darkness, the same man whom I've spent a hundred years of captivity by just so we could stop Tenebrae... You truly have lost your way, Mace Windu, for not seeing that what they did is what you wish you could do, cowering behind your Code and your Words. I can sense that Darkness within you."
"Being a Wound has dulled you. The Code you deride so much has kept us going even through the High Republic's darkest days!" The man bellowed, much to the surprise of his fellow Jedi, even Obi-Wan and the others. Honestly, the entire discussion had gone in an unexpected and somewhat interesting direction to them. That there was a four thousand year-old being making her points toward what mustv'e been tantamount to a toddler for her...
"That Code speaks of attachments as if they're a mistake. I'm sure you derided young Skywalker for his while you bear the most toxic attachment of them all. That to this corrupt hellscape that is the Republic. A thousand-year-old beast that needs reform, not stagnation like you're trying to maintain. Your own comrades have gone quiet here, Mace. Do you not notice that even the mighty and ancient Master Yoda has gone silent...? Are you truly that attached to it all that you can't change your ways?" She almost pleaded with the man to. Hell, she was pleading to him mentally, she wanted to see the Jedi return to what she'd built them as.
"These ways have kept us running for generations after you've disappeared! You could have become Grand Master and changed all of this if you so wished, but you fled, leaving us with only this. You built this Code and then left the Order after the High Republic..." Windu replied, staring down the woman and finally seeming to calm himself down, too. Good. At least they weren't making fools of themselves anymore, Meetra thought dispassionately.
"I did... Because I wanted to protect the Order I thought would still live through from myself, should I ever fail to contain the Wound," Meetra replied, shoulders sagging. She told him, "Not this mess, so cowardly and hiding behind the Light as an excuse, while your connection with the Force has been dulled to the point the Veil of darkness blinds you to everything in the Galaxy."
"You've all lost touch with that which you wish to protect, for what...?" She was distressed, obviously, having to ask this and causing the entire room to fall ever-more silent. "To be pawns to a corrupt Senate? While it's true that the Republic was half decent during the High Republic times, you let the failure of the Starlight Beacon to overtake your collective psyche with fear, making you stick to your oh so great temple on Coruscant, a temple that was, mind you, built atop a Dark Side nexus, or did you forget?"
"... Time, you should give us, perhaps. Reconvene, we must." Yoda requested, trying to finish the de-escalation process that was currently ongoing, despite Windu seemingly being ready to go into a tirade to counter her. The dark-skinned Jedi sighed and sat himself down, rubbing his face, while Meetra simply seemed to let her hands fall by her hips now, looking at Yoda.
"I won't be coming back here anyway, master Yoda. Do whatever you want and need to do," She replied, her voice now soft and calm. With one wave of the hand, she motioned for her friends to board the Elevator. Ahsoka, who looked like she felt extremely guilty about this, got a pat on the head from Meetra as they entered the Elevator, seemingly soothing her.
"... That went terribly well," Kit Fisto quipped, pushing aside one of his head-tails and sighing. Much of the history of the Order was in the backs of everyone's minds whenever they convened. The very room they found themselves in was proof that History would forever repeat itself in the halls of the Jedi Temple. That the Force itself wanted it to be so. And yet, some would deny it.
"She's a monster. We should never have let her come here after all," Mace had protested them bringing in this supposed 'Meetra' from the get-go. It had only taken one touch of her powers for them to realize she was, in fact, the real Meetra Surik. The true Jedi Exile. And it irked Windu something awful that they'd decided to hear her out in the first place. Of course, she wasn't going to be happy.
"I'm surprised you're so vehement about this, old friend," Plo stated, staring at Windu.
"She insulted everything we know. Everything we've built..." Windu replied, but Yoda showed him to calm down. Right, no point in letting his mind wander...
Back on the Elevator, the only two people making any sort of noise where the Spartans. It was sort of muffled laughter, but one that still allowed them to stay ramrod straight. They'd probably enjoyed watching a religious group get themselves torn down by one of their old members like that. Catharsis and all that, honestly. It was Catharsis for Meetra, too, because she'd just been watching them slowly kill themselves.
"... That was uh..." Anakin was still a bit stunned someone had said he was in the right to form attachments. Master Surik had been one of, if not the first person that wielded a Lightsaber and openly stated that in front of everybody else. Obi-Wan didn't seem to object on it, so, maybe, he could talk with the two about himself and Padme. Provided Padme didn't disagree, obviously.
"That could certainly have gone better," Obi-Wan had been amused, to say the least. He was still smiling at the fact his own master's philosophy seemed to have been proven a little right. Still, he asked Meetra, "Are you well, master Surik?" while watching the girl slowly refocus herself and calm down. Ahsoka, too, stared at the Master with a small smile, though she was still worried she'd caused too much of a ruckus by bringing Meetra up.
"I'm okay... Just need to settle down a bit. Especially after facing someone like Windu," Meetra spoke, though she also gently gave Ahsoka another pat on the head. She whispered to herself, "The man was certainly just a reincarnation of Vrook," before looking out over the cityscape itself, watching as what seemed to be a trio of new Venators and an Acclamator moved in for landing at the nearby Republic base.
"It was a rather endearing sight for someone who barely comes around once every month," A female voice with a relatively light accent spoke, causing everyone to turn and face her, wide-eyed. How she snuck aboard, only she knew. She let out a chuckle, then stated, "Hehe. Greetings, all. It's certainly interesting to see this little makeshift group of people..."
"... I remember you. You were that Padawan from the RES Agathia. Fay..." Meetra spoke, then smiled at her, "You're a master now."
"Indeed. Hello, master Surik. It's certainly been a long few centuries since we've seen each-other and yet you look as good as back then," Fay nodded, smiling at the young-yet-old Jedi and at the others who stared, The Chosen One and his Master included. The Padawan seemed to be losing it again at the sight of another one of her possible idols. Fay felt a little honored about that.
"... Master Fay? I thought you..." Kenobi blanked.
"Ah, young master Kenobi. Apologies, but the healing from the wounds Ventress gave me and my missions have kept me away from the temple for a while," She clarified, then added, "Seems as though I came at the right time to give my monthly report, however. That was a glorious sight to behold... Master Surik. If you ever need help, speak into the Force and I will be glad to assist you."
"Thank you, master Fay..." Meetra smiled. The two women nodded to one-another and Fay got off a floor earlier than them, near a set of Archives. When they got to the bottom floor, she quipped, "That was interesting," when they exited the elevator. She paused, however, when she saw a pair of Senate Guards, clad in blue, walking over toward her and her group, blasters stowed, faces obscured by the intricate forms of their helmets and dark T-Shaped visors. They stopped the group just as they were about to leave for their Pelican, looking at her.
The Chancellor must've learned about her existence, too... Great...