[17 BBY]

[Meditation Gardens, House of Wisdom, Personal Deck of Moff Daron Stormcrow Eriadu Authority Capital-class Warship Stormcrow, Republic 5th Fleet (reconstituted), in orbit Dromund Kaas, Dromund System, Esstran Sector, Old Sith Empire Worlds, Outer Rim Territories]

There was peace and tranquillity here that Aayla Secura enjoyed…needed at this time in truth, here in the 'gardens' of the amusingly named 'House of Wisdom'. It didn't feel like the Temple, but it was…close…in many ways, even if it was empty. Here there was no great mass of Jedi moving around, adding further harmony and strength to what peace was here. No, her ally, patron, here was odd in the raging fury of war, of darkness, was locked way within another, nearby section, where the biome was wild and almost predatory compared to these peaceful gardens. Balance as Daron would call it, the symbol of black and white teardrops together, yet apart, representing that philosophical variation from the Code.

But it was not the Jedi Way truly did not apply as it once did. Not with the Jedi Order fallen, the galaxy at war, and now she sat cross-legged in a half-lotus position on a ship above ancient Dromund Kaas. Yet another horror of legends, and, yet, again, another horror out of the legends in use by the once supposedly dead Sith. Except now the Sith rose from ashes of the dying Republic, their reach long, and the roots deeper than she had ever believed possible. For here, yet again, the Order had missed the dangers of a Dark Cult for centuries, one that had aided the one that had nearly destroyed the Jedi…one that had created monsters born of Sith magic. Wielded Darkness that had seemingly gotten into Aayla's very soul along with the others who gone into that sanctum of the Dark Side.

Which was why she was here, now. Cleansing herself of that…taint, that violation, as the very star system itself felt…ominous. It was a pressure, a blanket, constricting all, almost making the star itself a gloom shrouded thing that the light struggled to shine through the Force. The Age of Heroes come again…and with the Heroes came the Horrors they must oppose. That was the fate of the galaxy now that the peace of a thousand years had ended…because it had to end, for it was a peace that could not be sustained. Her visions, her deaths in those flashes, at Naboo…

After Kiffex Aayla had felt something was missing inside her. That there was a hole inside her somehow, that the Dark Side could overwhelm her…like it had almost done on the world below. Not that that it would control her, but that there was a battle at all as she trusted in Force, and the Force…was turned against her. Fear to Anger to Hatred as Master Yoda would say. Threatening to seep inside her, just as it had the two Nightsisters she could see now, now that her mind was clear and clean. Now that she could think without the suffocating cloak oppressive darkness pressing down on her it was clear what was happening, what had been happening in the galaxy.

'Oh, or the fact that Knight Morne is very clearly Master Morne' she considered calmly reviewing the sequence of events on the world below. Firstly, that Celeste Morne was clearly a Master Shadow, rather than what she pretended to be, and secondly 'Asajj Ventress resisted the effort, just as Daron did, but has not rejected the Dark Side either. Which is…concerning, is it not?'

Or was it?

It was difficult to decide as it both made Asajj Ventress more….tolerable, also Jedi-like in her control, while also making her a better Darksider. But, all things considered, Aayla had to see that as a good thing, for now at the very least, as the galaxy had far worse monsters out there, as she had, once again, just experienced. Between that, the Battle Meditation, the visions from said Battle Meditation, and the things not noticed by the Order…it represented a future Aayla knew she had to influence as best she could. Exactly how she was to do such was still a work in progress, but she did have access to quite a great deal of ancient Jedi texts here and now, along with what had clearly been a Pre-Revan Master Jedi Shadow…

"Must you Master Secura?" a mild aggrieved feminine voice asked, a familiar presence in the Force interrupting Aayla's deeper, perhaps darker and more concerned views of the future. Aayla merely opened her eyes, allowing a smirk to come back to her face, as if nothing bothered her in the entire universe.

"I'm communing with nature Bariss" she teased back not breaking the pose as the other Jedi Knight, who, as usual, was standing all prim and proper written across her face, just as her arms were folded across her chest in irritation or annoyance "It's like being back in the Temple, and it's Aayla not Master Secura you know"

"I'm reasonably sure the Council denied you to the right to meditate like this Aayla"

"Oh, shush you, let's call it ancient twi'lek tradition, and neither your dear Moff, nor poor, innocent, Padawan Kestis is here to be shocked" Aayla grinned back "And I do know, from personally annoyance, that the sisters of night like to sunbath like so. I'm meditating rather than just lazing around during our free time"

Then smiled beatifically "Though I expect you came to talk about more than my dress sense?"

"No, I'd come to meditate in fact, then felt your presence" Bariss murmured back, coming to sit down across from Aayla, adopting a mirror pose to Aayla's own "It seems you are recovered, and I should not have worried"

Aayla let her grin turn to a wan smile "Or perhaps I'm just acting out? Hmm? We must all deal with the aftereffects of such darkness is down there…and this was mine. You were wise not to go down there Bariss, and especially for keeping Ahsoka here"

Bariss frowned "It was…she would be…"

"No, not in her current state. She's healing not healed of whatever darkness wounds here"

The miralian girl sighed "Don't say that to her, but…yes, I do agree. And, yes, I do know the truth, for what makes us a better healer can, in its way, make us vulnerable to such things….especially here. This place…"

Aayla nodded, lekku bouncing "Yes, there is almost no Light in the depths you know? My powers…the Force just…seemed go away, replaced by a darkening ever present hunger. The worst moments in my life playing through my mind"

She laughed now, softly, but ringing with honest joy amidst these bright, warm, and serene gardens "Hence the need to get clean as it were. Oh, and don't worry about your beloved…" the face Knight Offee made made Aayla giggle "…he dealt with it better than some, and by some, I mean myself, and Karis, and Naa'leth"

Bariss sighed "I know…it's just Daron's….Daron about things"

"Everything's fine? Do not worry?" Aayla mused "To a healer? Heh, of course he would. But in truth…I think this was a much a test as anything. Where you and I are empathic, he…is not, at least not in that way of healers or consular. Still, I believe he meditated a good while after too, no?"

At the other Jedi's nod, Aayla smiled faintly "See, knows something, but, sadly, for you Bariss you choose one of the Jedi Lords reborn for your lover. Fraid' you'll have to get used to having marching into the darkest places, lightsaber blazing and foes to face. As we both know he is a Master, much as some would try to deny that fact"

'Let us not mention that Asajj Ventress is perhaps at that level too considering she not only held back that attack, but counter-attacked' Aayla did not say. The 'Reciprocal Master Teaching Arrangement' was concerning, but it was functional, and the fact the former Sith Apprentice to Dooku had not fallen to the assault that had almost overwhelmed Aayla…

Bariss huffed in annoyance "And I? Does that not mean I am one of those too?"

"Oh, I think we're all making such choices now" Aayla partly agreed hands on her knees, thinking, feeling the Force swirl through and around them "I expect I might make such a choice in time as well. The galaxy has changed, and the Jedi must change with it"

"Huh?" Bariss huffed "Found a pilot or something?"

Aayla chuckled "No, no, not as yet dear Bariss, but, then again, I've never been the most traditional of Jedi either. Blame my former Master, since he is already running around with a wife already, apparently"

Quinlan well and truly could get on her nerves Aayla knew, even when he wasn't as the same star system as her!

Then it was more 'business' related subjects, as Aayla sighed "And the younglings, how are they?"

Bariss shook her head "Alive…that's about the best I can say. Those darksiders were…monsters. Their own younglings, and some of the girls, one was….his own daughter…"

Aayla nodded as the healer trailed off "I know it is not the Jedi way, but I find myself rather glad those so-called Prophets are dead"

Her miralian friend nodded "I, perhaps unfortunately, agree, those poor younglings are in such pain…and they are Force Sensitive"

"I suspect that was the point" Aayla unhappily agreed with a sigh "It is why I have been considering things, meditating. It would be unwise to be around them as I felt upon returning from that so-called temple, and raising them with no Creche, no Crechmasters, no true Temple…well, I fear we will all have our work laid out before us in coming years"

That said nothing of the works of vile alchemy, and tens of thousands of slaves, they had found the world below – slaves and potentially future victims turned abominations. It was beyond sickening; it was terrifying what those poor wretches she had helped slay had been turned into. What was worse was that it had been going on for so long, so unnoticed, and now with the Order broken there was only them here and now to deal with it. One of which was a former Sith, two Darksiders, a Jedi Shadow thousands of years out of time, and a Jedi who had rejected the Order itself long ago. Yet…Aayla could not but agree, and support with wholeheartedness, the effort to loot and then destroy the dark settlements for any scrap of knowledge.

To allow such things as she had seen, had felt, to escape out into the galaxy at the service of the Sith on Kuat was far too worrisome to ignore. Which was why the fleet lingered here, above this cursed world, and momentarily focused on Jedi business rather than just the war. Slaves were evacuated, the younglings brought to safety and mind healers, and the active ruins ruthlessly purged. Tested too…Aayla knew she was being tested, as were the others, when they descended to the darkened world of a ruined empire, full of monsters that needed to be slain. Which was why Aayla had returned there….to prove she could stand against it. Failure was a teacher…assuming you survived it.

For now, they had an unformed creche of dozens of younglings, abused or dark-inclined younglings, that were angry, terrified, lost, or a combination of all three emotions. Nor were they exactly within the 'standard temple youngling' standards either. Aayla could feel it in the Force, feel it in her bones, that the choices made now, by so many, would save or doom the galaxy in the years to come. Even if it started with some younglings, and choosing a path she wouldn't have planned, Aayla knew she would take the steps she could towards the 'saving' it part of the equation. For soon they would be gone from this place, likely off to terrify Zygerrians once more…

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