It has been just over fifteen years since Djinn Altis last set foot inside the Jedi Temple, and given the circumstances of that departure, he had fully expected that he'd never return to it again. However, these are unusual times.
Many of the familiar faces he once knew from this place have now passed away, and those he knew of as Younglings and Padawans now roam its halls proudly as Knights or even Masters. No more are the keepers of the peace that he grew up being a part of, now all but the Younglings (and Djinn himself) have been replaced by soldiers and generals.
The building itself, however, is unchanged. It is the place that housed him for roughly six decades, and he remembers the layout well. The great steps leading up to the main entrance are just as imposing as ever, the Room of a Thousand Fountains is still as serene as ever, and the five ivory-colored spires remain as high as ever. It's like seeing an old friend. Many more old friends await in the High Council Chambers above, but for now, he remains anonymous and shrouded.
Djinn wears a brown robe which is tightly wrapped around him, and he covers his head with an oversized hood, rarely looking up. He is no infiltrator; in fact, it was Yoda himself who requested his presence, but the invitation also came with a request for utmost confidentiality. Neither his own followers nor the members of the wider Jedi Order are to know of the meeting.
Normally, Djinn and Yoda send one another written correspondences via the Republic's postal system, but this time, a smuggler friend of his got the note in a sealed box delivered via a courier droid. Once opened, it proved to be an ordinary sheet of flimsiplast with the Jedi Grand Master's swirling handwriting that is so familiar to Djinn, but with unique content. At the top was a disclaimer that it was for Altis's eyes only, in the body was an invitation to come before the Jedi Council without telling anyone, and at the end was the command that he should shred it thoroughly once he finished reading.
It's the kind of summons which, coming from anyone else, would make Altis a bit concerned for his own safety. But while he has his disagreements with the Council, he highly doubts that they're trying to hurt or assassinate him. Even if Yoda had really wanted me arrested, he probably wouldn't have waited so long to get it done.
To an extent, his curiosity got the better of him, and it's also true that he just wants to re-articulate in person some of those talking points he made all those years ago. To Yoda's ears, they're no doubt tired ones, but many of the new Councilors he hardly knows. Despite all that, the most important reason to accept is that Djinn believes that the Jedi wouldn't be requesting him on Coruscant if his help wasn't truly needed. And where there is a need, Djinn strives that he should live to serve.
With the High Council currently in session, the turbolift which goes up into its antechamber is watched over by a young boy, more a receptionist than a guard. In Altis's day, that was typically a duty assigned to Padawans, but apparently the Jedi Order of today keeps their teenagers too busy on the front lines, so now this job has been relegated to a Youngling.
"Do you have an appointment with the High Council?" the Youngling asks, his voice surprisingly deep and sounding far more mature than his height and lack of Padawan braid would indicate.
He can't be more than eleven or twelve, but he speaks like he's impersonating some suave hero out of a holodrama. Perhaps we've all been growing up fast. "I have an invitation," Djinn finally responds, "It's from Master Yoda himself."
The Youngling gives a puzzled look and leans forward as if to get a glimpse under Djinn's hood. After Djinn just looks down in response, he can feel a telepathic influence poking at the edges of his mind. How unprofessional to probe a Master like that. What would Yoda say? Altis firmly blocks it.
The Youngling types something into a datapad, then inquires, "And what exactly is your name, Master?"
Djinn shoots back, "What exactly is yours?"
"Pax Chizzik."
"Well, Pax," Djinn explains, holding up a finger in the younger boy's face, "Master Yoda requested that my visit maintain total confidentiality. So, you just tell him that his friend has arrived as requested and let him make the decision."
At that Djinn turns his back to Pax, indicating firmly that there is no more to be said, and he finds himself a seat on a nearby wooden bench. The Youngling, although his frustration and uncertainty is glowing in the Force, seems to have given up on the point. Half a minute later, he responds, "The Council will admit you once Master Kcaj concludes his report." Djinn turns halfway toward Pax and responds with a curt nod.
Not more than ten minutes later, Coleman Kcaj departs from the turbolift, and Altis rises to enter it. The Ongree Jedi regards him with curiosity as he does so but says nothing. At long last, Djinn Altis ascends to the height of the Council spire, removing his hood during the trip. He watches as the turbolift door opens directly in front of him, then steps into the circular room, which is well-illuminated by the mid-afternoon sunlight.
He enters in silence, glancing quickly around the room, hoping to get a welcoming smile, but most of the Council members remain as austere as ever.
Since he was last here, five members of this body have passed on: T'un, Micah Giiett, Yarael Poof, Yaddle, and Eeth Koth. The oldest of the replacements still on the Council is Ki-Adi-Mundi: A few years after Djinn's departure, he retook what had once been his interim seat.
He still has a hard time seeing Shaak Ti, Kit Fisto, and Agen Kolar as Councilors. When he knew them, all were talented but still fairly green Knights, pun not intended in Fisto's case. Apparently, Kolar is not currently available, while Ti only attends via hologram. Fisto does give him his signature grin. Also making an appearance is one whom he didn't know ever got a spot on the Council, a Gran woman. She was one of the instructors in the Temple here. What was her name… Leem?
Saesee Tiin is eagerly leaning forward with his hands folded under his chin, while Yoda is present as always, and he cracks a warm smile to the visitor he invited. Even Piell, Mace Windu, Oppo Rancisis, and Plo Koon are all holographic, the former in particularly poor resolution. Adi Gallia is the one who finally breaks the Council's silence, announcing, "Master Altis, we have a serious problem."
Who doesn't? With this war… Yoda jumps in, "Greatly appreciative, I am, that accepted my invitation, you have. Able to reach this Temple while fully incognito, were you?"
"As best I could. Some aboard the Chu'unthor may have their suspicions," he replies. Djinn doesn't go on many solo missions anymore, so his sudden disappearance raised some eyebrows.
A few of the Council members exchange glances and no doubt unspoken telepathy. "Sufficient, it is," Yoda announces.
"Djinn, we need to reach out to one of your Jedi," Mace Windu then says. His tone is unlike Yoda's appreciativeness or Gallia's somberness. Windu is not making a polite request or a desperate plea; he is making a demand.
That is not exactly what I'm hoping for, especially if that Jedi is…
"Kuallue."
The name almost startles him, but he does his best to maintain composure. Kuallue was the oldest and probably the wisest, smartest Jedi in Djinn's sect. It had been an honor to have Kuallue known as one of "his Jedi." The Celegian had always been level-headed, and even when he lost two apprentices in a day, one to the Dark side and the other to death, he had not faltered in his commitment to do good. When Djinn lost his own wife, Margani, Kuallue was there for him. But now, his friend is gone.
He sensed Kuallue's grief in the Force about two months ago, and via subsequent communications with the Obroan local police, he learned of how Uyuo and his son perished during a Separatist attack. But Kuallue himself vanished without a trace, and Djinn is increasingly worried about his companion, whom he often senses wrestling with his grief. He'd try to help him in person if he knew where to look, but the fact that Kuallue never told him anything suggests that he was captured… or worse. Deciding not to immediately bring up Kuallue's disappearance, he instead asks, "What for?"
What little leverage he has over the Council hinges on him actually being able to reach out to Kuallue. "It's not necessarily about him," explains Ti, "but rather one of his acquaintances, by the name of Sadiya Keldon."
The name is familiar to Djinn, for he heard it before, long ago. Keldon was that one who got expelled just a year before I did, all because she believed in that Potentium ideology. Her antics had caused quite the controversy at the time, along with her constant, child-like tantrums about how none of the Jedi could provide satisfactory responses to her questions.
Of course, the Jedi had given answers, only she just didn't like them. When Djinn left a year later, he did his best to go about it with significantly more professionalism. He'd never talked directly to Sadiya, and none of his followers had either, as best he knew. She had long turned her back on anything Jedi-related. "That Padawan you kicked out and called a heretic?" he asks Ti, still surprised to hear the name again.
"Indeed, the heretical Padawan we kicked out, and she's causing more problems now," explains Oppo Rancisis. Altis is still in the dark about what Kuallue has to do with her, but he decides to let the Jedi reveal what they know before he starts admitting too much ignorance.
Saesee Tiin does exactly that for him, elaborating, "Not long after her exile, she joined the Judicials, and she worked her way up the ranks until she's a high general now. We've sensed the Dark side surrounding her, and she's been using her recent military successes to try to garner support for limiting the Jedi's role in the Republic."
Djinn presses what has been one of longstanding issues with Jedi dogma, pointing out, "Perhaps if you had been more tolerant toward her unorthodox views, she wouldn't have gone completely rogue and become this present problem." He can't help but feel a certain sympathy toward Keldon, merely a young girl at the time, who was forced to choose between her Order and her ideals in the way that he was. Even wrong as she had been, guidance was what she needed, not severance.
In particular, he looks at the hologram of Oppo Rancisis, who had been one of the strongest advocates for her expulsion. "What's done is done," counters Kit Fisto, who had nothing to do with it. "What we have to figure out now is how to reconcile with the consequences, regardless of whether the decision sixteen years ago was right or wrong."
Djinn would like to provide a few more choice words about the negatives to kicking out Jedi, particularly regarding his own exile, but he sympathizes enough with Fisto's approach that he decides to hear them out.
"How can you hope to 'reconcile with the consequences,' as you say, if you can't even commit to a stance on whether or not the decision was justified in the first place?" counter-argues Rancisis, his tail writhing beneath him, the hologram warping through the cushions of his seat. Koon and Windu give affirming nods, and Fisto decides reluctantly to hold his tongue.
Gallia intervenes on his behalf, saying, "I voted against expulsion then, and I stand by it. Dealing with internal Jedi affairs is much easier than convincing the Senate to take action against a non-Jedi."
"So, you want Kuallue and me to help sabotage Keldon's credibility?" Djinn asks, though he feels that he isn't quite along the right lines.
As he had expected, several Councilors shake their heads in response. Tiin then explains, "Unfortunately, we actually need Keldon right now. As you may have heard on the HoloNet, she has supposedly cornered General Grievous on Bandomeer. That was two months ago, but still no results."
The pieces finally begin to fit together for Djinn. If Kuallue is associated with Sadiya, that means he would be on Bandomeer, no doubt trying to aid in Grievous's capture. Probably as payback for the Separatist attack on Obroa-skai. Djinn had faced similar vengeful temptations after the death of his wife, Margani. If only he could be there for Kuallue the way that Kuallue was there for him.
"The Chancellor does not grasp the nature of our divide with her," elaborates Gallia, "He sees Sadiya and us like bickering children who need to be separated, lest we become distracted by infighting. Thus, Sadiya gets her battlefields, we get ours, and neither is allowed to cross over."
To a non-Force-sensitive, that probably sounds like a perfectly fair solution.
"We absolutely cannot let Grievous escape. If Sadiya is under the sway of Count Dooku, she must be sacked before she can sabotage our forces on Bandomeer," concludes Saesee Tiin.
Yoda asks, "What know you from Kuallue?"
Djinn considers his words, shifting around awkwardly as eleven sets of eyes watch him from all sides, awaiting his answer. He finally begins to admit, "Kuallue has…"
"Gone rogue," finishes Yoda, raising an ear. I would have phrased it slightly kindlier than that.
"That makes two times, then," huffs Rancisis.
Djinn winces. "He's been going through some difficult times."
"Lost someone, he has, hmm?" suggests Yoda.
This is really the part that Djinn didn't want to have touched on, and as soon as Yoda says it, he knows the other Jedi Council members are all over it. Oppo Rancisis is the first to pry into it, saying, "Perhaps allowing him to have a family comes with some negative repercussions after all, doesn't it, Djinn?"
Even Piell interjects, "This isn't the first time either, remember how Mars LaRone fell a few years ago?" That was also one of Kuallue's apprentices, but in that case the damage was contained within the Altisian Jedi. LaRone had nearly killed thousands, but Kuallue and Geith Eris dispatched the Dark Jedi before he could complete his plans.
"Yes," Djinn concedes, "I've made my mistakes. I put too much on Kuallue's plate, and that's what brought about Mars's fall. There was just no way for him to properly train Mars and Clees at the same time when I sent them on that mission to Samaria. And as for right now, perhaps I could've stopped this by reaching out to Kuallue sooner after Uyuo and his son died."
He hangs his head to consider the failures. Perhaps the latter is a bit of a stretch, but he'll never not wonder what he could've done to prevent the two falls. He swallows, and then looks up at Yoda and Mace, continuing "But you're living in hypocrisy if you think our failures are sufficient to condemn the entire philosophy. You'd need to look no further than the other side of this conflict, where I don't need to remind you that of their most important military leaders, four were trained by your kind, and two were trained by members of this Council."
The Jedi Grand Master hangs his head in such deep shame at the reference to his training of Dooku that Djinn immediately feels bad about it. Perhaps the failure should be more properly attributed to Thame Cerulian, who was coincidentally one of Kuallue's close friends when both were Padawans. As Altis can't bear to see Yoda's distress, he turns his gaze to focus on Mace Windu, whose hologram stares daggers in return. His apprentice, Sora Bulq, had betrayed him on Ruul.
A long, solemn silence fills the Council chambers, as both sides know that any further debate victories would be pyrrhic. Djinn could point out a thousand more failures of the Jedi Order, but they're ready to shoot back in kind. Perhaps the worst part is that the criticisms from each side are both right. But for now, they settle on an uneasy truce when it comes to comparing which philosophy produces better Jedi. Kit Fisto, the great mediator that he is, breaks the silence by asking, "Have you pursued Kuallue in any way?"
"Only telepathically," Djinn answers. He'd still rather not let the Jedi know that he learned Kuallue's location from them. To admit it would put him in their debt.
"A more direct approach may now be necessary," remarks Plo Koon.
The Gran Councilor nods but reminds him, "A Jedi is needed on Bandomeer, no doubt, but as Master Gallia explained, we are forbidden from going there because the Chancellor doesn't think we can work effectively with High General Keldon."
Windu states, "We can't risk disobeying the Republic so directly, especially when it could provide Sadiya or any of her allies with another excuse by which to turn the Senate against us."
"So, you want us to take the fall for you?" asks Djinn, incredulous. I may not be subsidized by the Republic, but I don't want to see all of us become outlaws. Trying to hide his network of Jedi, especially the children, from the entire Grand Army, as well as vengeful Dark-siders like Keldon would be a terrifying thought indeed.
Tiin points out, "You haven't been ordered to stay away from Bandomeer in the way that we have. The Republic may not welcome you, but you have ignorance as an excuse, and your pursuit of Kuallue would give you perfectly justifiable reason to show up anyway."
Djinn considers. The Jedi have already helped him immensely by telling him where Kuallue is and what he's up to, but to further interfere in these dreadful Clone Wars, potentially upsetting both Republic and Separatists alike, would be an incredible risk. He states, "Sorry, but our purpose is to aid the greater good, not pick sides in this terrible conflict. We had enough of that on JanFathal. Any mission to Bandomeer would only be to go after Kuallue."
The Jedi once again look at one another as they try to agree on a response. Saesee Tiin offers, "We'll do everything we can to make it worth your while."
"And what would that be?"
"We haven't come to an exact conclusion on the details yet," Fisto concedes, "We may need a moment."
A sly smile emerges on Shaak Ti's lips, and she explains, "We have resources, subsidies from the Republic. We should be able to discreetly supply you with some quantity of fuel, foodstuffs, spare parts… or whatever the Chu'unthor needs. Furthermore, we may be able to offer an additional Jedi to support your mission."
He's not exactly sure how aware of it the Jedi Council is, but credits are quite tight for Djinn and his crew, so that's not exactly an offer he can easily turn down. Furthermore, having another Jedi as backup would dramatically even the odds if things got difficult with Kuallue. He waits for a few seconds, pretending to be a bit less interested than he actually is. "Alright, Masters, you have my attention. I'll leave the room so that you can discuss, and why don't you make me an offer once I return?"