Coruscant, Jedi Temple, High Council Chamber 21.9 BBY (60 seconds later)
Watching as Master Tiin strode across the room to reclaim his seat, I noted this was a full session of the High Council, with the exception of Master Poof. Looking at the Quermian's empty seat filled me with a deep foreboding, but the feeling was as nebulous as it was compelling.
I tried to recall what eventually happened to the illusionist, but nothing except his silent presence during "my" testing by the High Council in a vanished timeline came to mind.
Momentarily, I considered saying something to the Councilors about their fellow possibly being in trouble, but quickly rejected the notion. I wasn't even sure this vague reaction was connected to Master Poof.
It could just as easily have been triggered by a tragic decision influenced by the actions of the successor of his successor a generation from now, or it could be nothing at all. Nothing but a subconscious expression of my anxiety over having to give an accounting of myself to the near-entirety of the Council.
Not that this major in-gathering of the Order's leadership was occurring for me, of course. The Council had been deliberating all day concerning the the findings of the task-force Masters Jinn and Koon had jointly lead to the Pammant System.
Their scans of the fleet-killing Malevolence, confirmation of it's fully operational status, and knowledge of it's sister-ship still under construction would definitely be reason enough for the full Council to convene and remain closeted for the many hours they'd already been here.
It was merely my misfortune to be the tail-hook issue of their long and undoubtedly tension-filled day.
Continuing my observation of my superiors, I noted with mild surprise, not to mention a touch of dismay, that there were a couple of new faces in the limited-term seats.
When Tutso and Bultar had both repeated to me the rumor that Master Koth was considering stepping down prior to the expiration of his term due to an intense interest in a potential apprentice whose identity the rumor-mill hadn't revealed, I'd selfishly hoped it was unfounded gossip.
The Zabrak Master was a natural crusader cut from the same cloth as me and my former Master. That, and he knew what it was like to be a major talent inducted into the Order later than was normal.
Furthermore, Master Koth had the respect of both my major critics on the Council, and he'd often used it to soften or deflect their antagonism when I ended up standing where I was right now.
I recalled seeing him preparing to depart the Temple at the same time I'd been leaving for Padme's ship, but I didn't have any idea where he was now.
Fortunately, and I had to suppress a smile over this, his replacement appeared to be Master Fisto. The easygoing, often smiling Nautolan Jedi Master was, if anything, even more of a do-good-by-directly-battling-evil type than his predecessor.
Even better was his quiet yet growing disagreement with the no romantic attachment doctrine, and the fact he saw the value in emotions for a Jedi. If I had to lose Eeth Koth as a voice in my corner, getting Kit Fisto as his successor was just about as good as it got.
A reminder to me that the Force (not to mention the High Council) ever sought balance, Master Giett's long-anticipated replacement was something of a mixed bag from my personal perspective.
While the portly Jedi Master hadn't ever looked on me with the kind of favor that Masters Yaddle, Koth, and Tiin did, or taken an interest in me due to my talents, as Masters Yoda, Windu, and Koon had, his had ever been the voice of a peacemaker seeking moderation in all things.
He'd remain silent through any number of quasi-dignified, passive aggressive digs the scarred Lannik and cerebral Thisspasian fired my way, but could be counted on to counsel leniency when one or the other was for having me spend weeks on make-work penance for some utterly trivial violation that should have been handled by the Council of First Knowledge anyways.
Adi Gallia was, quite unfortunately from a personal perspective, thick as thieves with Master Piell. A diplomat like Master Giett, the best thing I could say from what little I knew of her was that she was also quite close with Qui Gon and Obi Wan.
I knew that someone who'd earned Master Jinn's respect wouldn't simply be another echo-chamber for my one-eyed bane, but I'd often seen the Tholothian Jedi Master walking slowly about the Temple with the far older Lannik.
The two of them deep in conversation. It had seemed such a strange sight to me, that I'd asked Master Vilbum what he knew about how the pair had come to know each other so well, while studying to acquire the fundamentals of the Force Burst technique.
He'd told me that Master Piell had saved an infant Adi, as well as her diplomat parents decades earlier, and was also responsible for her induction. I could see how that could create a tie between them, but didn't really have any idea how it would influence the woman in her new role.
It happened to be more of my bad luck that today of all days, Piell actually had something of a leg to stand on with regards to his criticisms. Still, I had no intention of meekly letting him have it all his own way.
All of this I took in and considered in the time it took Master Tiin to get settled. A moment later, and with a brief glance the Grandmaster's way first, Master Windu brought the Council to order.
His first words after having done so, I chose to take as a good sign. In part due to my knowing he'd doggedly advocated for providing Padme with a capable protector during her mission to Cato Neimoidia.
"The Council thanks you for your patience, Jedi Skywalker. After setting the time for your debriefing, other developments were brought to our attention that required consideration.
There was also the fact we did not anticipate your commendable decision to record everything which transpired on Cato Neimoidia, from both yours and Senator Amidala's perspectives.
That demonstrated an admirable sensitivity to the politically charged nature of the mission, and a forthright sense of personal accountability, but it was a great deal of information to sort through."
Normally sparing with praise to the point one could generally be forgiven for wondering if the stoic Jedi Master was familiar with the concept, it was a not so subtle sign of support from the Master of the Order.
Inclining my head respectfully, I bowed with my hands clasped before me to the members of the Council, then replied with calm courtesy.
"It seemed prudent to create an objective account of the events in question to refute whatever lies the traitor Senators, the Trade Federation, and the InterGalactic Banking Clans might concoct to conceal their misdeeds."
Inevitably, it was Master Piell who inquired with deceptive serenity "While I agree in principle with the idea of creating such an objective record of events, in practice, I find myself deeply troubled by the minute and a half gap in the footage shortly after your recovery of the data-disc.
Would you care to explain this curious failure to capture what occurred immediately after this critical moment in your self-appointed mission, Jedi Skywalker?"
A little puzzled that this was the tack the head of my personal inquisition was taking, I saw no harm in answering with complete honesty.
"Without telling Dod or Clovis what he intended, Poggle the Lesser arranged for the Dark Jedi, Asajj Ventress to make a surprise appearance, so she could examine his co-conspirators for any signs they intended to betray him.
When I learned of her imminent arrival from the message Senator Amidala sent along with the data-disc you saw me recover, I realized it was time to enact one of the contingency-plans I'd developed with the Senator and her bodyguard."
The whole Council seemed interested in where I was going with this, so I didn't hesitate to finish explaining.
"Under the circumstances, the most feasible of our plans required me to contact Senator Amidala from the shuttle in my guise as her pilot, then feign the arrival of an urgent diplomatic communique.
Given the tight time constraints, I chose to traverse the nine or ten kilometers to the spaceport by running across the rooftops using a combination of continuous Force Speed, Force Reflex, and a number of Force-assisted leaps.
The filament-cam I was wearing wasn't designed for that kind of high-speed motion capture, so it stopped recording what passed in front of the lens until it's visual processing unit began making sense of the incoming data.
That's why the recording picks back up with me reaching the last of the rooftops, then dropping down into an alleyway I could emerge from like just another pilot or crewmember returning to their ship after a bit of shore leave."
Leaning forward a little, the scarred Lannik's face was a study in disbelief marred with by black suspicion, as he replied.
"If you were capable of simultaneously utilizing two very draining techniques for so long, as you interspersed a third use of the Force at-will, then why is this the first I'm hearing of such a capacity on your part, Jedi Skywalker? Prior to your recent Knighting, I was privy to all your training-data as a member of the Council of First Knowledge.
Do you expect us to believe your abilities have expanded to such an extent in a mere two months naturally?"
Meeting the judgmental Jedi's half-gaze with equanimity, I calmly replied.
"Respectfully, Master Piell, I received eight years of instruction in the methodologies of the Matukai, and the vast majority of my training occurred outside the Temple. Those methodologies allow me to go without sleep for more than a week at a time in a sustainable fashion.
Regardless of my day-to-day level of exertion. Once you know that I've only been sleeping twice a week since my twelfth life-day, it only takes a bit of arithmetic to realize I've put in more training-hours than most Jedi more than half again my age."
Before the pink-skinned, barrel-chested dwarf could respond, I allowed my tone to grow the slightest bit critical, as I concluded "I'm uncertain why this should come as such a surprise to you, sir.
You certainly spoke as one who possessed a complete understanding of Matukai practices, when I assisted Master Dark Woman with her presentation before the Council of First Knowledge.
Please correct me if I'm misremembering your stated position, but I seem to recall you stating that 'The Jedi Order has no need for the derivative, sub-standard practices of heretics who cribbed everything they know from first principles they almost certainly purloined from us to begin with.'"
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