Obtainer of Rare Antiquities
Ren Sogan paced to and fro before one of the shining bronze memorial statues in the Jedi Temple’s Great Hall. He wore a poker face that he developed for times just like this, when he was forced to give a mind-numbingly boring lecture to a group of disinterested, barely-awake younglings. The poker face still wasn’t perfected, and he showed obvious signs of frustration. It was the kind of frustration that all educators feel, especially those tasked with the monumentally laborious duty of getting factoids through the impenetrably thick skulls of children.
As he spoke, he could see their eyes glazing over, drooping as they gave the minimum effort to pretend to care. He didn’t blame them. In the Jedi Knight's so-far brief period of tenure as an historian and archaeologist for the New Jedi Order, his supervisors had assigned him an ever-increasing pile of educational duties, primarily as an instructor for the younglings’ courses on galactic history. Why the Masters thought that a curriculum of dry academic orations would suffice to capture the interests of children who carried lightsabers and could move objects with their minds, he would never understand. But he would do his duty, and finally he would have the free time to start whittling down that steadily growing list of artifacts he had leads on. Surik’s Blade was so close to being found…
Now, that was compelling!
“So, Dooku’s first act of military conflict with the Republic was to lead the capture of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his padawan Anakin Skywalker, as well as Senator Padme Amidala.” He could see some of the heads in the front perk up at the mention of the two most famous Jedi in history. Indeed, if there were any questions after his lecture, it would be about them. But this lecture wasn’t on those two. It was about the Battle of Geonosis. And so he would instruct them on the Battle of Geonosis.
“Can anyone remind me why Dooku and the Separatists were so interested in Senator Amidala, in particular? Anyone?” Silence was expected from the students, and silence was what Sogan got. Sighing in exasperation, he blurted out, “The Military Creation Act. She was the lead opponent of the Military Creation Act.”
One of the younglings in the midsection of the group - a Nikto girl - spoke up timidly, to Ren’s surprise. “But, Master Sogan, why would the Seps want the Republic to have an army? Wouldn’t it be better for them if they didn’t?”
Ren, taken aback by any show of interest in the hodgepodge that was late-stage Old Republic politics, tried and failed to hide a smirk. All he needed was something from the crowd to make this lecture bearable; he would meet the students the rest of the way. “Because the people controlling the Separatists had hidden motives. Motives that didn’t just involve secession from the Republic. Unknown to anyone at the time, the Confederation of Independent Systems was controlled by the same figure that controlled the Republic. Chancellor Palpatine. Darth Sidious.”
Ren expected a greater reaction than he got. Some of the students started paying attention, but most simply continued their attempts to even stay awake. Sogan scoffed and shook his head, returning to a formulaic, dry tone. “So much for Sidious. A Jedi liberation force, along with a batch of Clone troopers, was sent to stop the three’s execution. Out of the 200 or so Jedi on the planet, about 180 were killed. Jedi forces for most of the war were severely limited because of this.”
Ren paused to take in the quiet before turning to face the memorial statue. Rather than a figure of one person, like many of the other statues that were littered throughout the Great Hall, this one showcased a collection of Jedi, sculpted according to the best footage available, that fought on Geonosis. It really was quite a sight. Jedi artwork mostly consisted of more symbolic attempts at capturing the spirit of the people depicted, more so than literal constructions of their figures. Still, the Jedi literally and figuratively towered above the present congregation. Their lightsabers ignited, all angled in combat stances, they stood as a collective bulwark, huddled together to face the threat of the Separatists. Leading the defensive structure was that valiant Master Mace Windu, whose headstrong determination to free the prisoners - to save the day from the darkness of the Sith - shone through even a metallic, still depiction. He and the rest of the Jedi radiated power, courage, an unending devotion to honor and justice. They wouldn’t stand down, even if it meant death.
To stand with those giants of history, to charge forward despite all it would cost…he confessed it was a dream he had from time to time. An imagining he could only conjure from the abstract readings of history.
A vision he could only -
Wait.
Behind Master Windu, as part of the second line, stood an imposing, built Jedi, his blade held forward with all the rest. But something was…eery about this figure. There was something impossibly familiar about him. A face he saw before. Not just in the distant records of the past. No, this was, to him, an unmistakably modern face. A face he encountered as he was…
As he was familiarizing himself with the Jedi roster currently present in the Temple.
The face of Master
Caltin Vanagor
!
As he spoke, he could see their eyes glazing over, drooping as they gave the minimum effort to pretend to care. He didn’t blame them. In the Jedi Knight's so-far brief period of tenure as an historian and archaeologist for the New Jedi Order, his supervisors had assigned him an ever-increasing pile of educational duties, primarily as an instructor for the younglings’ courses on galactic history. Why the Masters thought that a curriculum of dry academic orations would suffice to capture the interests of children who carried lightsabers and could move objects with their minds, he would never understand. But he would do his duty, and finally he would have the free time to start whittling down that steadily growing list of artifacts he had leads on. Surik’s Blade was so close to being found…
Now, that was compelling!
“So, Dooku’s first act of military conflict with the Republic was to lead the capture of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his padawan Anakin Skywalker, as well as Senator Padme Amidala.” He could see some of the heads in the front perk up at the mention of the two most famous Jedi in history. Indeed, if there were any questions after his lecture, it would be about them. But this lecture wasn’t on those two. It was about the Battle of Geonosis. And so he would instruct them on the Battle of Geonosis.
“Can anyone remind me why Dooku and the Separatists were so interested in Senator Amidala, in particular? Anyone?” Silence was expected from the students, and silence was what Sogan got. Sighing in exasperation, he blurted out, “The Military Creation Act. She was the lead opponent of the Military Creation Act.”
One of the younglings in the midsection of the group - a Nikto girl - spoke up timidly, to Ren’s surprise. “But, Master Sogan, why would the Seps want the Republic to have an army? Wouldn’t it be better for them if they didn’t?”
Ren, taken aback by any show of interest in the hodgepodge that was late-stage Old Republic politics, tried and failed to hide a smirk. All he needed was something from the crowd to make this lecture bearable; he would meet the students the rest of the way. “Because the people controlling the Separatists had hidden motives. Motives that didn’t just involve secession from the Republic. Unknown to anyone at the time, the Confederation of Independent Systems was controlled by the same figure that controlled the Republic. Chancellor Palpatine. Darth Sidious.”
Ren expected a greater reaction than he got. Some of the students started paying attention, but most simply continued their attempts to even stay awake. Sogan scoffed and shook his head, returning to a formulaic, dry tone. “So much for Sidious. A Jedi liberation force, along with a batch of Clone troopers, was sent to stop the three’s execution. Out of the 200 or so Jedi on the planet, about 180 were killed. Jedi forces for most of the war were severely limited because of this.”
Ren paused to take in the quiet before turning to face the memorial statue. Rather than a figure of one person, like many of the other statues that were littered throughout the Great Hall, this one showcased a collection of Jedi, sculpted according to the best footage available, that fought on Geonosis. It really was quite a sight. Jedi artwork mostly consisted of more symbolic attempts at capturing the spirit of the people depicted, more so than literal constructions of their figures. Still, the Jedi literally and figuratively towered above the present congregation. Their lightsabers ignited, all angled in combat stances, they stood as a collective bulwark, huddled together to face the threat of the Separatists. Leading the defensive structure was that valiant Master Mace Windu, whose headstrong determination to free the prisoners - to save the day from the darkness of the Sith - shone through even a metallic, still depiction. He and the rest of the Jedi radiated power, courage, an unending devotion to honor and justice. They wouldn’t stand down, even if it meant death.
To stand with those giants of history, to charge forward despite all it would cost…he confessed it was a dream he had from time to time. An imagining he could only conjure from the abstract readings of history.
A vision he could only -
Wait.
Behind Master Windu, as part of the second line, stood an imposing, built Jedi, his blade held forward with all the rest. But something was…eery about this figure. There was something impossibly familiar about him. A face he saw before. Not just in the distant records of the past. No, this was, to him, an unmistakably modern face. A face he encountered as he was…
As he was familiarizing himself with the Jedi roster currently present in the Temple.
The face of Master
Caltin Vanagor
!
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