Twenty-four hours after the attack on the Jedi prison facilities, Ala was stubbornly back on her feet despite the protests of all the medical droids, and at least on Umbaran doctor.
The attack that landed had only stunned her. There was no physical damage beyond the possible nerve damage from the blow. Still, it left her unsure on her feet. Meditation was in order to help her body rewire itself properly.
There was a soft thud with each step as the rubber toed walking stick aided each step she took into the Council chambers.
"Yes...I will be fine...yes...Lorn and Acier broke the Sith out of our prison, you can believe what you saw on the cameras," she was clearly still coming to terms with herself, but stopped short of saying how close she came to ending it all.
"I...yes. I tried to stop it all. I am sorry that I failed."
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Sela stood near a window, uncharacteristically agitated. She turned when Ala entered, her eyes clouding with concern, but she did not go to the Grandmaster's side. She needed the appearance of strength more than strength now, and Sela would not let her desire to be helpful to override that. She turned back to the window, began to pace.
"This has gone on long enough," she said. No one in the room would have heard her voice so harsh, so cold, so angry before. "It cannot continue. The Chancellor requested that we keep the Sith in custody for the Republic if we were going to let her go. This will humiliate the Order and make us suspect in the eyes of the Senate at the moment we can least afford it, and frankly, it should."
She turned back to the window, resting her hands on the stone sill. She shook her head and took a deep breath. She was angry. That would not help. Drawing on the Force, she summoned it to her, letting it wash over her, carrying away some parts of her fury. Enough that she was able to keep a civil tongue in her head. She exhaled deeply from her nose, then turned back. "I will meet the Chancellor at her earliest availability. I suggest we have an investigation going and a preliminary action plan by the time I do."
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Vodet was as much live-and-let-live as any one being could really be. His own Enclave had at least one clan of Witches in the grounds plus the pilots from all walks of life who called it a safe port. It was nice. But what had occurred just recently? Even he, and his long-lived shell covered self saw the issue.
He'd been on that side, where Lorn was. Wanting to fight. He was there for the Starchaser Crusade (tm). But this? Today? No. That was different. Breaking a Sith free. An enemy of the Jedi? And causing harm to the Grand Master?
"It brings me peace to see you, Master Quin. And the failure isn't yours. But we need to move forward. Find our bearing. And you need rest."
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He sighed. Heavy and lumbering. Looking to Sela, he nodded. "I can make arrangements to move Jedi younglings. Parts of the Great River and Jedi Academy Network still stand."
He took a beat.
"Do we put out an order for our renegades?"
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Ala shared the frustration of her fellow Masters. And something deeper. Since the confrontation with Lorn, Acier and Ella Nova, Ala had been taken with a deepening, foreboding sense of finality.
Every path lead to some form of end. And none of them were satisfactory.
All she could do, was do right, and trust the Force.
"We can offer amnesty for those that joined the Vanguard before the understood what it really meant...breaking Sith out of prison...breaking Republic law. After that, I would see it only prudent to request of the Chancellor that the Republic turn some of resources towards the quick and immediate incarceration of the Vanguard."
Her shoulders stiffened.
"The longer this drags out. The more the Order will remain divided."
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Sela finally allowed herself to approach, gathering the knot of the masters closer. "Forgive me, Grandmaster, I know neither how to phrase it delicately nor whether it would do any good. I will speak plainly. I am not convinced that is a wise course of action. Not the amnesty, but asking the Republic for aid."
She folded her arms, tucking her hands into opposite sleeves, as much a gesture of self-soothing than of habit at this point. "Reingard took up arms against this Order -- his own brethren -- and endangered you. I have no reason to suspect that he, or likeminded Vanguards, would value the lives of Republic forces seeking to apprehend them."
Sela glanced to Vodet, eyes searching for some sign of disagreement or accord. "We would be sending them potentially to their deaths to solve a problem they did not create. Perhaps we did not either, but them even less so. And I fear we may be in no position at all to request help from them once the Chancellor learns what happened with Nova. And one must ask oneself: who benefits?" She shook her head irritably, then looked back to Ala. "This -- breach -- between the Order and the Republic serves only the interests of the dark side. The SIth could not have designed a better scheme to sow the seeds of discord between our two bodies."
Sela glanced back toward the window, as ifs he could see the enemies gathering already. "The question is who will they strike out at first? Us, or the Republic?"
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Speaking plainly, in a situation like this, was probably the best any one could do. Vodet knew what was going on, slightly. He could feel the changes in the waves, the way things moved and separated. he understood the thoughts of a crusader, he'd been there himself, granted the Galactic Alliance of old was designed to hunt down Sith. And it had its own disagreements, mostly with the Republic of the time.
Age and Wisdom.
The air coming off of the Yinchorri was in agreement with Sela, they wouldn't protect the lives of the Republic, wouldn't value that.
"This feels like Jedi business, or at least Force-user..." He had the sympathies of Starchaser towards other Light-adjacent organizations. Skywalker once said that the Force was a river, and the cup of the Jedi was not the only way to drink.
"I think we put it out to those who can handle it, circle what wagons we have... And make sure we can patch the bond with the Republic. But it does mean making statements that are not so easy to roll back."
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"I appreciate your wisdom. But I do hesitate to agree immediately," Ala said, eyes taking a moment to offer apology to both Masters that were present.
"Lorn broke Moonbound out of a Republic facility. And now they both take Ella Nova from one of our facilities." Her eyes wandered to the window.
"They made it a Republic problem. And then we showed we cannot control them. If we claim this as an internal Jedi matter now...we are trading on good will that I am worried will soon be in short supply."
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Sela took a slow breath, her eyebrows lowering. The foolishness of the Vanguard was making life more difficult for the loyalist than for themselves. That was the nature of rebel groups, she supposed. It didn't make it easier to accept. But after a moment of quiet reflection she raised her chin and nodded.
"As you say, Grandmaster. I stand ready to deliver whatever message you require."
She clasped her hands behind her back. "I still believe we ought to have an investigation ongoing before I make any report. To show we are being proactive." She allowed that to sit for a moment. "And respectfully, Grandmaster Quin, we should be preparing to be subjected to an investigation by the Senate. When we inform them of what we know, there will only be too many happy to use it as an excuse to test the bounds of our independence. We must be ready to either cooperate, or... Not."
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The Vanguard was seemingly everyone's problem. From his understanding of history, when a Jedi group fractured away, one had to fall for the other to stand.
All this happened before. And it will happen again.
"We can put out the feelers. Have analysts see what we can track down in the way of Vanguard vessels. Getting ahead of a bureaucrat to save face and demonstrate our control should be easy."
Maybe the turtle still agreed with a Galactic Alliance or old.
"Unless we decide to break from the Republic?"
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Nodding only slightly, Ala turned back to look out over the growing compound. Construction of a new dormitory wing was well underway. They had a future in this home of theirs, should others allow it.
Ala watched as a group of younglings ran excitedly through a courtyard, only to be reprimanded by an aged Master who in turn offered them a smile of amusement after they had corrected their hurried ways.
Those children desired only to protect and heal the galaxy, each with a destiny deterined by the decisions of the Council and Senate.
"Due diligence is wise, Sela," she said, breaking the protocol of titles and rank. "Be prepared for what might be thrown at us. I will send the message to the Vanguard, most are still tied into Jedi channels."
Glancing at Vodet, she forced a smile across a face that seemed prepared for tears.
"I suspect...that day is closer than any of us are willing to admit."
