A Conclave for Concern

[Vollen Shai]

OOC: pvp/death/capture/shenanigans diabled, open to Jedi only.

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There was a worry that had run the rounds on Tython, and every Jedi had it on their minds if not their lips: The Supreme Chancellors announcement. What it meant for their Order, if it was an forceful as it sounded, no one could say yet, all there was was speculation and concern. Time enough then it was to address it.

Vollen had heard the announcement in transit, passing through the Deep Core on his return to Jedi space. His mind was grave with the possibilities it left them with, the possibilities that may yet linger behind its happening at all. He liked none of them. Though from what he and the other Councillors could put together in the little time they had, it seemed that not all in the Republic were well with this move either, for various reasons. Those were not his to deal with though, nor the Orders. With bounties on their members heads and the apparent enforcement of the ruling so far, the stakes for them now were real, no matter what might change in the coming days.

Right now, the Order deserved to know, and deserved a word in its own direction going forward, so then, he and other members of the Council gathered before the Tython temple, in Order to address their brothers and sisters, and see what they had to say. For a matter as grave as this, more minds were hopefully better than few,

"My friends" Vollen began, his voice calm, but carrying fully over the gathered members,

"There is no need for me to recapitulate the recent words of the Supreme Chancellor. What does need to be better known is what this Order does in response to this. While from what we understand this was a unilateral move on the Chancellors part, and it seems that not all in the Republic are behind the move, but for now this is what we face" he looked over the faces of those gathered before continuing. Good Jedi, one and all, they didn't deserve such targetting,

"In which case, this is a discussion. How do you think we should respond to this? What is our relationship to the Republic going forward? And what should be our immediate reaction? Let's take these one at a time, and stay focused" he said with a slight smile and laugh, trying to keep the air calm, relaxed,

"I know how these things can go"

And with that, the floor was open to that first question, how should the Jedi respond to this announcement?

 

[Aliyah Phoenix]

"Those are the actions of one man, not the Republic. This won't last... Maybe, when all is said and done..." she was talking under her breath, to nobody in particular. She was here for the Conclave to address something she'd only recently become aware of. Apparently the Chancellor locked Republic Space off from the Jedi. No, he declared war on the Jedi. This was unexpected, she thought their relationship with the Republic was improving, but it didn't take much to start making connections. Maybe when all is said and done, I should turn my attention towards the Republic... From asking for Jedi support to claiming the Order was the enemy, it seemed that as a governing body it was absolutely untrustworthy. Still, she was going to ask publicly anyways, because she felt the other Knights deserved to know the truth. Gently kicking off the wall she'd been leaning against, Aliyah turned to Council, more towards Vollen than anyone else. "I don't believe a word of what that holospeech said, but I'm going to ask anyways. Have we been interfering in their war? Or is this just the Chancellor doing his own thing?"

She didn't remember any missions related to the Hutt Cartel, but she did remember her fair share of joint missions that where up for grabs not so long ago. I know there are Senators who are sympathetic to us, they're the only ones who can do anything about this now. Aliyah shook her head slightly and smiled. She didn't doubt them, and that's exactly how the question would sound, but if there was truth to it she'd like to know everything she could from their side. It would help repair a relationship afterwards, if the Order still wanted one, but that was another thing entirely. Why did they continue to openly help the Republic? She knew why. They where Jedi, and it was the right thing to do. But she also suspected a lot of other people where asking themselves the same questions, so she'd bite the bullet and do it for all of them. "Responding seems easy enough. Stay out of Republic business and focus on bolstering ourselves up. The Empire will be focusing on us now if I'm reading the situation right, and we need to be ready for that when they come. Well. Readier." Aliyah sighed slightly, still smiling, "We're doing better, I think, but... readier. Best way I can put it."

@Nightfall096

 

[Kane]

Kane listened intently to Vollen and Aliyah's words, he was still irked by the events in the senate. This had to be more than just the Chancellor, but not anyone else in the republic either. Aliyah was right, the rest of the senate seemed to be uninvolved in this. Which could potentially make it so that it was quickly overturned, but Kane knew politicians could be slippery and expected the Chancellor to pull something to avoid letting the senate stop this nonsense. And the old Crusader had a feeling he knew who was behind this sudden attack from the Chancellor.

"I will say what we are all thinking here."

He spoke up as he stood from a bench he had been sitting on,

"This has the Sith written all over it."

He spat the word "Sith" like it was a foul tasting poison in his mouth.

"This only benefits them after all, with us banned from republic space we can't even pass through it. We are stuck here in the core."

Aliyah had a good idea about building themselves up, but first Kane's thoughts turned to his son and the bounty wrongly placed on his head alomg with several other Jedi.

"I agree with the young Pheonix about our needing to bolster ourselves, But what of the bounties on some of our number Councillor? How can we best protect them?"

And how will we make whoever is behind this pay? he thought to himself grimly.

 

[Austin Wolfe]

theme​

Having recently spoken to one of the Knights who'd had a bounty placed on his head, Austin came to the Conclave with the subject on his mind. He realized, upon hearing the words Councillor Vollen Shai voiced, that much of what he said to Tynian he would repeat here. After the Councillor had finished speaking, there was a pause before the first one stood to speak — Aliyah Phoenix. It had been some time since Austin had communicated with her, but the words that she spoke rang true. The Master smiled and nodded in approval from his seat as the Knight finished and leaned back against part of the wall. Not only listening to the words being spoken, Austin kept his mind open for the feelings and emotions that the Jedi displayed at the Conclave. He had heard many things about previous conclaves, not all of them good, and he would make sure things remained cordial and under control today.

Next to speak was Kane, a Knight who Austin only knew through reputation alone. Standing up, he was quick to accuse the Sith of the Chancellor's recent proclamation. The Master narrowed his eyes slightly, catching the vehemence in which Kane said Sith. He too was concerned by the bounties — causing Austin to reply, although he remained seated.

"Though I do not presume to speak for the Councillors," he nodded in respect towards Vollen Shai, "Aliyah speaks the truth. For reasons which we can only speculate, the Chancellor branded the Order as outlaws — without a vote or discussion." Austin fell silent for a moment, his gaze passing over all the Jedi present. "Though it pains us to be barred from the boundaries of the Republic and no longer be able to offer aid to those who need it, that is something we must accept. Those worlds are under the protection of the Republic, and we therefore have no choice but to leave them in the GAR's hands."

The doctor shifted in his seat as he continued. "As for those with bounties issued against them, do not forget that each and every one of us has a price on our heads by the Empress herself." Having been proclaimed so long ago, many Jedi had likely forgotten this. Even before then, the Hutts were offering loads of credits for Jedi lightsabers. "We must simply stay vigilant — be careful where we tread. There are many other worlds in the Galaxy that we can offer our aid to. And, as Alyah aptly put," he nodded towards the Knight, "Our defenses can always be bolstered. Though we have experienced relative peace from Empire attacks since Jedha, this will not last long. This barring from Republic space is perhaps a blessing in disguise — it gives us the focus and resources we need to prepare."

"However," Austin said lastly, "I admonish you all to be mindful of your feelings. Do not let outrage or resentment control your thoughts. If this is truly the will of the Force, then so be it. It is out of our hands."

@Nightfall096 @Autumn's Firefly @One For Sorrow​

 

[Tynian]

Tynian sat and listened to first Master Vollen, then Aliyah, Kane and Master Wolfe.
Although he was one of the Jedi singled out with an actual bounty placed on his head, his main concern was for those younger Jedi who were going to be hunted down and killed for no reason. He had shared this with Master Wolfe only a few days ago...

The Chancellor’s decision to outlaw the Jedi was still pressing on his mind, and he felt he didn’t have much to say, but the living force would not allow him to stay silent.
So reluctantly he stood and began speaking with clarity and confidence.
“Even though the leader of the Republic has decreed this against our Order, it does not mean we simply vanish or go into hiding.” He paused. “Our response should be the same as we are called to be as Jedi. To protect the weak, to promote justice, and to live according to the direction of the force. This edict has caused chaos... which we all know is a tool of the dark side. And yet we also know that the living force does not promote chaos. But rather peace. And to that end we cannot remain silent, nor go into hiding. We remain strong and focused in our purpose in helping those who cannot help themselves and remain a beacon of light throughout the galaxy.
As for the bounties.. I know first hand how shocking that was to hear, but it even though it has been hard, I will not be moved, with the strength of the force. I will do all I can to fight this, but my main purpose is to protect as many lives as possible in light of this.”
He took a breath and looked at Kane and smiled. “Someone once taught me that the force is our ally. I pray we remember that.”

 

[Leto Antilles]

Leto mimed puking as he saw the overly eager Jedi smile at another grizzled old one and speak about the mysticisms of the Force while giving him puppy eyes. "Get a room already."

It always seemed to be the same old crap at these conclaves, loads of big talk, but no concrete course of action. "If the Force is our ally then why has it been sitting by idly while the Sith conquer the Galaxy, turn planets against us, kill one Councilor after another? Don't suppose the Force is pissed with us, is it? Or just having a laugh at our misery, I mean it is kinda funny how screwed we are."

Not hearing any laughter, he pushed himself up from the boulder he had perched himself on, eating from the bag of crisps he had brought along. He knew from past experience that going to a conclave was like going to a movie, and what good was a movie without snacks?

"No? Not funny?" He smirked at that and held out his bag of crisps towards a Bothan Jedi he walked past. "Well how about the truth then, we brought this on ourselves. Not the Sith, not the Senate, not anything else. Us." He might have been a bratty kid, but his teachers had managed to beat enough into him to give him some political acumen, and even that tiny bit seemed to be more than the other Jedi possessed. "This is what what the NAP was all about, letting the little Sith queen build up her forces without Republic interference. And now she doesn't need to be careful, she has enough strength to wipe us all out."

He should have been irritated, but instead he was just amused. Kit's death had made him question his ways, but here and now he couldn't help but wonder if the entire Order was full of dingi. "She was content with sitting by and twiddling her thumbs, all we had to do was use that time to build our strength like she did. Instead we messed around in a fight that was not ours, and now she has the excuse she needed to screw us. Finish us once and for all."

"The Force isn't going to save us, it doesn't give a crap. Simple pragmatism will. Forget the Republic, gather what strength we can, and prepare for the inevitable attack that's coming our way."

 

[Vollen Shai]

Listening on this first round of thoughts, Vollen nodded, smiled, tried to keep an open mind. There were plenty of options, plenty of room for blame too. But such ideas were best kept out of mind for now, he thought anyhow. As was raised, there wasn't a time in recent memory that they didn't have a price on their heads, it would be another factor to consider moving forward, but it was not something they could let get to them, or else they'd spend all their time fighting against bounties when either way they would be targets of other parties moving forward simply for who they were,

"If nothing else is going right in the galaxy then at least we can all see that we're all close to one mind on these at least" he said softly, taking back the floor for a moment to coalesce what had been said, keep the day focused on the questions at hand. If he knew Jedi, force, if he knew himself at times, they had tendencies to wander, both their minds and their feet,

"We seem to all agree that we cannot be distracted by this outlawing, and that if anything it means a refocusing of our efforts. Perhaps yes, there might have been more of that before, but we can only act now, that is the simple truth of it" he said with a sigh. Too often these conclave became spaces for blame, and argument. They needed clarity now instead, they had no such luxury of time,

"In which case, like you all seemed to say, there are many worlds beyond the republic, and we must make ourselves ready. I have my own ideas on how to do that, but what are all of your thoughts? And think, are you ready to do what you propose? There is no time for empty words now" Vollen posed to those assembled. It was time to get ideas flowing, put together plans, stir the Jedi into becoming more than they were. Hopefully that would be enough.

 

[Aliyah Phoenix]

-Music-​

Aliyah actually amazing herself. She was clapping. Loudly. Sarcastically.

Thank you, Leto, for telling us exactly what we didn't need to hear right now. Aliyah rolled her eyes and eyed the Jedi. She hadn't met him before, but she'd heard of him... so, obviously, she expected better. Sounded hypocritical in her head too, but the Masters had been right to shut her down when she got like this, because she wasn't seeing the big picture. Knight Antilles represented almost point for point who she used to be, and she shook her head because of it. Was that was she and Venatus sounded like when they did that? Aliyah hoped not, her lekku curling slightly after realizing how stupid some of the stuff she'd done in the past had been. And this wasn't even past past, we were talking past few days past. "We have a room, you're currently in it. Stop, please, you have absolutely no idea what you're doing right now. You think you know. You don't. Look around you. What do you see? These aren't the Sith. These aren't the Republic, these are your brothers and sisters and right now the last thing anyone needs..." she took a moment, collected herself, and continued. "...is a reminder of what we did wrong. All that negative needs to stop, everything happens for a reason. You're right, the Jedi Order was foolish, but I didn't see you doing a damn thing about it then."

Crossing her arms, she sighed internally. She had changed. Aliyah didn't know whether that was a good thing yet. "So I think we'd all appreciate if you stop trashing the rest of us who've been fighting and dying to try and fix that mistake. The Force? You think the Force gives a damn about any one individual person? It's the FORCE. It's will is it's own, and you made a commitment to follow that will. All of you did. Oh yea, it's easy to do that when your back isn't against the wall, but it's not so simple when you start bringing in desperation, is it?

It's really easy to take a look at this war, at our Order, at all that's happened and say 'Wow. We've lost so much, we've gone from here to there.' But we never take the time to thank the people who got us through, who bonded together when it seemed like there wasn't a point in going on. So, thank you, all of you. Doing the right thing is lonely, especially when everything seems to be falling apart. But I'm going to tell you something you already know." Aliyah's head cocked sideways slightly. She was still talking to Leto, but she was letting her voice carry. For once, she didn't think this was going to be a horrible mistake.

"That's life.

Murphy's Law will dropkick our doors down whenever it feels like it. This tradition was never easy, some of us took it by choice, some of us were raised to become a Jedi. But that doesn't make a difference, because at the end of the day every single person in this room is a Jedi. Every single person in this room decided to take the risk to build and create, to fail and to succeed. We refused to give up, we will never cow to any tyrants, we will never bend to any threat.

It is our legacy to stand tall and bright, to face the Sith, the Cartel and the Republic and say this we have done. We will not stop. We will stay busy, we will work on our dream of bringing true peace to civilization, to righting the wrongs of the Sith and the Dark Side. We will continue to follow the standards nobody else is measured by, we will not go where the path has led.

We will walk our own path and blaze a new trail. “There is a price we will not pay.” “There is a point beyond which they must not advance.” a great man once said, “When great forces are on the move in the Galaxy, we learn we’re spirits—not flesh.” And he said, “There’s something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty." We know this as the Force, and we know our duty.

It's time for us to harness the will, and say in spite of this, we will carry on. We're not going to let this slow us down, and we're not going to let this destroy us. You are coming back and you will be stronger and better because of it. But today we need to dig deep inside ourselves and make a declaration that this is what we stand for. The Force be willing, we will need every one of us before the end." She shocked herself again, but this time she didn't let it show. It was basically everything she hoped someone would've told her, and hopefully it would be enough to counter that little tantrum.

@Wit @Nightfall096 @Vosrik @Nastalle @One For Sorrow

 

[Leto Antilles]

CRACK!!

In the silence that followed the Twi'lek Jedi droning on, the crunch of Leto biting into a crisp echoed through the gathered Jedi. "Sorry, sorry." He spoke up through a full mouth, "please continue, let the positivity flow." He took another bite, another loud crunch ringing out.

A few Jedi, probably sympathizers with the Twi'lek, glared at Leto, who just smiled back through a stuffed mouth. Wiping his face off, he continued. "See, that doesn't really help, does it? If you can't ignore my crisps then why should we ignore all that we have done wrong?"

He pulled out a small bottle he kept in one of his jacket pockets and took a quick swig, simply juice unfortunately, he could have done with a drink right now. "We're not kids who need to be coddled, step up and face your mistakes or go cry in your corner. This is war, and unless we face our mistakes and learn from them we are going to lose."

 

[Vollen Shai]

Vollen took a deep breath. This was just the sort of thing he worried about. It felt about right to channel Master Shivaaga for a moment,

"And if we all can't address solutions rather than squabbles then we will be no closer to winning either" Vollen said dryly, not attacking, but trying to get them to refocus, looking hard at the pair, before lowering his stern expression and re-addressing the group,

"Again, I'm looking for your thoughts, and your ideas. What do you all see us doing next? The Council has thoughts, we want to know yours? What do we do as a whole, and what are you each planning to do?" he offered the last as a prompt. If all the Order were so keen to ready themselves, then it would take all of them to do it. Each one, individually and collectively, would need to act. He hoped they'd all thought about that too.

 

[Leto Antilles]

Leto conceded to the Councilor's words, and bowed as he stepped back, letting others step forward and speak. He himself knew that there was a streak of arrogance to him, and that little of self awareness was enough to keep him from making a fool of himself by squabbling with a member of the Jedi Council. Instead he focused on his chips.

"Jakku." He spoke up when no one else did, repeating himself a little louder when eyes turned towards him. "Jakku."

It seemed like the logical choice. The Sith were to the east, so he was gonna go west, as far away from them as possible. Put as much of a buffer between them as he could. Besides, it was a whole lot closer to Jedha than most worlds outside the Republic.

"Apparently an idiot of a Jedi killed someone there a long time ago, now the planet hates Jedi." He hadn't known the Jedi responsible personally, but he had heard of her by reputation. Vin's Law was something he had heard around the Temples, but that was it.

"The Galaxy might be turning against us, and even I know I can't change everyone's mind on my own. But one planet, changing what one planet thinks of us. That I can do."

Suddenly conscious of the eyes on him, he instincively pulled out another crips and raised it to his mouth, stopping just short of eating it. "So yeah, Jakku."

 

[Kane]

Kane fought down the urge to thump the young upstart who seemed to be more interested in instigating an argument than actually contributing here, the boy was being -to put it bluntly- an ass.

But then after Councillor Shai gave him a well deserved smackdown he ACTUALLY said something useful, something perhaps that other less brash Jedi might not have thought of.

"The young upstart here has a point."

The old Crusader walked over to where Leto was standing, using the force to quickly snatch the chip from the boys hand before eating it himself and shooting the boy a wry wink.

"If we can change the views of a planet that openly hates us outside of republic space -and mercifully far from the Empire- that could work wonders when it comes to changing the opinions of the Republic, and the galaxy at large."

He stroked his beard in thought for a moment before continuing.

"If the Republic sees us aiding those who despise us in spite of their hatred while the Empire keeps devastating entire civilizations to add to it's power then they might just see who their true enemy is, perhaps even reconsidering the NAP and aiding us against the Sith before they have the entire galacy under their heel."

He paused again, letting his words sink in.

"If the council approves of this plan, I will go with Leto to Jakku. Assuming we can get through republic space wothout being blasted into oblivion."

 

[Tynian]

Tynian stood once again. “I will go with Kane if it seems right to the council. If we can somehow help change the collective mind of a planet, I’d like to be a part of that.” He paused then continued. “Unless the council has another planet in mind in addition, for a similar purpose?”
There was no waiver in his voice. “I will not hide, I want to help in any way that I can.”

 

[Aliyah Phoenix]

Aliyah just smiled. That speech wasn't for him. It was for the rest of them who actually felt like there wasn't much point in fighting. Fighting a war is kind of hard without people willing to fight in it. He just happened to say a schpeel that connected to something that could boost morale, and she said it out loud. Terrible idea?

Maybe.

Who knows, she stood by her decision.

She wanted to snap back and say something quippy, but Aliyah found herself feeling numb again. She didn't really feel like arguing right now, even if every word that came out of Leto's mouth made her cringe. She let Vollen say his entire piece instead and started focusing on the conversation. "Sorry, Vollen. I don't have any idea where to start when it comes to gathering resources. I have a few idea about how to learn from our mistakes, but I don't think anyone here wants to hear them at the second. I do think that I want to start scouting around to see if we can get another Temple or Outpost set up or repaired. The more the merrier, I think spreading our territory out is important. We can't do it by invading, but if we keep these outposts secret until we can act openly... might just work."

Aliyah paused for a second and smiled gently at Kane's comment. He was hotheaded for an old Jedi sometimes, but he had a great sense of humor. She liked his plan, and it sounded doable, but she wanted to comment on something. "And that's where Leto actually said something genius. I agree, Jakku, and anywhere else that we know is sympathetic to us. There's also another problem; we don't have a lot of Knights. And I can tell you right now there are a ton of force-users out there who are light oriented and willing to learn. Jexz, maybe Herrith, you all probably know others. It's time to bring them in, if we can, and make sure the Knights we do have are confident they can actually fight a fully trained Sith.

I can go with you if I'm available. But go to help the people of Jakku, and secure allies in the fight against the Sith. You know that even if the Republic does notice, that's not what we should be focusing on. I think it would be smart to temporarily cast this declaration from our minds until we've dealt with the problems we had before it came along. As long as we don't give in to our better natures, and listen to his new law of staying out of Republic space unless absolutely necessary, we should be okay for the time being. We could work with our allies in the Republic Senate after we feel readier enough to stand a chance against the Sith."

 

[Lucian Volante]

Lucian was probably going to regret doing this.

But the simple fact of the matter, as far as Lucian was concerned, was that he probably should be here for the conclave. He had even decided that he should probably do one better. He should probably be here to get a chance to see what they were actually going to be doing.

Which, apparently, meant three people taking forever to say anything and, in the end, come to the conclusion that taking a jungle planet with a tiny population was a good idea.

"Force be kind..." he declared with a sigh, "I thought they'd be less..."

He groped for the word for a moment before just giving in.

"Mind-numbingly foolish... by the Force, I wish for strength."

Standing, Lucian waited until Aliyah had paused for breath, which was seemingly the only point at which she stopped speaking, before speaking up himself.

"I interfered in the Republic's war against the Cartel." he declared bluntly, loudly and clearly, "I did so because it is our duty as Jedi to stand up to the rot and decay that afflicts the Galaxy. Honestly, I believed that my fellow Jedi would agree that we need to take a firm stance against our enemies, the enemies of Light throughout the Galaxy."

He shook his head,

"And instead we stand here and hear about Jakku... it is an insignificant speck of a planet with a tiny population and no real strategic or resource value and we're to throw some of our best members at it?" He shook his head, "Has anyone thought about securing deals with planets of actual note? Muunilinst? Eriadu? Sullust? Credits, skilled people and resources for ship building... but we would rather stretch ourselves for a jungle world run by a flightless bird's cult?"

Please let him be among sane sentient beings.

 

[Leto Antilles]

Leto wasn't sure what was going on, first the old man, then the Twi'lek, and now a blonde..model? Man were there some pretty folks here, how were they losing on the PR front with so many pretty faces in the Order? Then he recalled who their Grandmaster was and realized that his wrinkled face probably wiped all the pretty ones out.

"I mean I appreciate the compliment, but if I'm the Order's best then we've got a whole other problem." It was supposed to be just him going to Jakku after all, the pretty boy was right, the planet was small enough to not need anything more. He wondered if there was more to the world than he knew about, with people signing up to accompany him. "But so I get this right, you don't want one lone Jedi to go off and change the opinion of a world that has openly been antagonistic towards us?"

He knew that he shouldn't, but he couldn't really stop himself from responding. Maybe it was his old life rearing it's teeth, but he couldn't let things like this slide. "Muunilinst, Eriadu, Sullust. All wonderful choices." He glanced at the old man and his friend from earlier as he continued. "Should give them a look, I think I can handle Jakku on my own. Real pity though," he paused for a moment as he turned towards the pretty one, "would have been great if Jedi had been visiting those wonderful and strategic world instead of messing around with the Hutts. Guess wanting to help people was okay in Hutt Space, just not on Jakku."

He didn't really care what any of them thought though, he was going to Jakku, he hadn't asked anyone to accompany him and didn't need anyone to accompany him. He did not want to lead some crusade against the porgs, simply fix the wrongs set in motion by another.

"Don't worry," he said as he popped another crisp into his mouth, "I'll make sure not to irritate any Empires while I'm there."

 

[Fennex Zeerda]

"Wycks moldy earwax..." Fennex muttered under his breath, hitting the mute button on the console as some of the younger and more impassioned Jedi threw veiled insults, empty morale rousing speeches and other such nonsense back and forth. Most of them barely had half a point between them. He was holo-calling this conclave in from a refueling stop on the way back to Tython from Andara, and was glad for it. If he was there in person, there would be no mute button- he'd be forced to listen to all this long winded drivel.

"Some day you're both going to be in charge of people and responsible for bigger things.", He turned to his Knightly compatriots, Galahad and Fiona, when he saw the opportunity for a Master-series lesson, "When you're standing in front of people, just remember- nobody wants to be talked at. The longer you talk, the less people listen. Ten well chosen words can mean more than a thousand."

He flicked the volume back on, thought the noise hadn't changed too much. Many Jedi didn't appear to have a good grasp of the Galactic situation- that the Sith were far and away the most powerful force in the Galaxy, militarily speaking, and that the Jedi frankly had little to offer to the Republic. Do-gooding was all well and fine- excellent, really, in most circumstances- but you couldn't force it upon people who didn't want it, and the Republic hadn't really wanted, appreciated, or repaid their help in many decades, despite many Jedi's best efforts. Fennex was as full of hope as the next bright eyed young Jedi but, as one of the few aging Masters left who remembered what it was like a few decades ago, he was also a realist. The Jedi were losing- hard.

"Alright, that's enough I think." He finally couldn't resist intervening as things got even more sarcastic. Some of these Jedi had good individual ideas, but just like many previous attempts at rallying the order, they were short sighted. "We all get it- we caused this new crisis, breaking the spirit of the NAP and antagonizing Alais, and we have few allies left in the Republic or elsewhere or whatnot... We know." He sighed, his little blue hologram flickering in the assembly chamber from millions of lightyears away. Jedi could be so hard to deal with sometimes- too much of anything, including hopeful idealism, could be a harmful and blinding thing just like any other emotion, "Forging Alliances with new worlds doesn't do the Order any good though if we can't offer them anything tangible when it counts, and likely only puts them further in danger. That's what we've done to the Republic for the last century- endangered them. Anyone looking to laser sword their way into an alliance with the people of Jakku or anywhere else should ask themselves how many innocent people they're willing to doom to death by association just to further our cause."

It was a grim assessment, but it was pragmatic. Fennex would love to go back to the old days- gallivanting about the Galaxy hunting lone Exiles, rescuing pirate hostages, freeing slaves, and generally keeping the peace and doing good- but he seemed to be one of the few that recognized that, for now at least, doing so only served ultimately to harm many of the people he sought to protect.

"We need to start looking at consolidating what little we have. Brace ourselves. Defend and hold it if we can, and, if not..." Fen's whiskers twitched, "We need to make sure that the Order can survive without us."

@Shalken @Painus

 

[Austin Wolfe]

Choosing to remain silent as Aliyah and Leto shot back and forth, Austin gritted his teeth and rubbed his temples. He was one of those unfortunate souls who wasn't able to mute the conversation, however he did take a moment to calm himself and refocus on the Light. There was chaos, and peace to balance it. Vollen spoke again thankfully, quieting the Jedi and turning the passionate words into focus and action. Truth be told, Austin had already spent many hours staring at a galactic map earlier that week, and had plans to take certain Jedi to assist certain nearby worlds. Now there were plenty of volunteers right here.

Master Fennex' holograph flickered as he spoke in turn. Austin knew that on board that ship was Galahad — although his friend hadn't divulged what exactly they were doing. Likely something important, if it involved Master Fennex as well. As the fox-like Jedi concluded his words of wisdom, a small hush finally rolled over the Conclave. "Rakata Prime," Austin spoke aloud. It was one of the planets nearby Jedha — one of many that he looked at earlier, but this one with greater interest. "We are currently working within the Deep Core to spread our influence to the nearby systems," he nodded toward Councillor Shai at this statement. Austin had already ventured to both Pollilus and Constancia. "But Rakata Prime has one thing that we need — shipyards. The Rakatans are known to be arrogant and cruel, but allying with them will allow us to gather more strength."

There were many other planets that could benefit them as well. Ojom was surrounded by several space stations and rich in trade hubs. Tapping into those could bring the Order access to resources and credits to bolster up their defenses. Last Austin heard, Grug was on an assignment there, but Galahad and the doctor were also tracking a potential crime lord located there as well after first discovering evidence of it some time ago.

 

[Ilnyysh Qorli]

Ilnyysh had been silent through all the squabbling up until now, but he had been thinking furiously. What could the Jedi Order do? How could they escape this situation? He got a grasp on his thoughts and stood up to present his piece of mind, speaking in his odd, alien speech pattern.

"Yes, Ilnyysh thinks that bracing ourselves for an oncoming attack is a good idea, but isn't the best defense a good offense? The Sith Empire has been expanding rapidly, and we have been doing nothing to stop it. Spintr, the planet where Ilnyysh was trained, was captured right after Ilnyysh left for Tython. The Sith have been capturing more and more planets. If we are expecting a battle sometime soon, why not start it on our terms, and in their territory? If we can keep them on the defensive, it will be the Jedi Order's best chance of survival."

He sat down again after his speech. He knew that not many Jedi were pro-war, but he felt that the meeting would benefit from a variety of opinions. He hoped that the Jedi would have the courage to face the Sith instead of hiding away from them.

 

[Galahad Vult]

A grin spread across Galahad's face as Fennex temporarily muted the broadcast and muttered expletives under his breath. Though finding Master Zeerda's reaction amusing, Vult could not help but agree with him. Though he had not personally attended any Trials or Conclaves of the Jedi, he had heard a great deal about them — particularly how, in every single one, somebody managed to get the entire group riled up. In fact, Galahad remembered how one of his temple guard colleagues had mentioned having to forcibly remove an Amaran from one such event. ⋮⋮ Wait, could it... ⋮⋮ a thought passed through the Knight's mind as he looked at Fennex. He discarded it as quickly as it came. ⋮⋮ No, it could not have been. That would be ridiculous. ⋮⋮

Listening intently to the Master-series lesson, Galahad nodded sagely. He was not one prone to long-winded speeches unless he absolutely had to, like with the orphans recently — and that was exhausting. Nevertheless, the blond-haired Jedi took note. He did not think it was likely he would become a leader any time soon, but even getting a point across to others was best done in a concise manner.

Fennex made an excellent entrance, as usual, and he made an excellent point. Many of the people and worlds across the Galaxy had been attacked simply through association with the Order. Though helping these people seemed good on the surface, how much were the Jedi really helping if they had caused millions or billions of people to suffer and die? Whether the Order would shut itself off from the rest of the Galaxy or risk making alliances and potentially put others in danger was a decision they were going to have to make.

Another thought came to Galahad as he sat on the ship, his blue image displayed holographically at the conclave itself. He scratched his beard, considering recent events. His thoughts formulated, the ex-guard offered his input as well. "Tython." It was a strange statement, when currently everyone had been discussing other planets they could increase their influence with. Not pausing too long, Galahad continued. "Master Zeerda has a point. An attack is imminent, and we must be able to defend ourselves. However, we are ill prepared to do so." He sat upright in his chair, his Brylark staff laid across his lap. "Very recently, not one but two ships not only entered Tython's orbit, but had made landfall. Luckily for us, neither of them were hostile, but I pose you a question: if Tython were attacked, right now, would we able to defend it?" Galahad could imagine it now. Star destroyers overhead, raining down fiery turbolaser hell, and the Order would be completely helpless against it.

While the Jedi had made great strides in securing multiple Temples and fleets recently — the fortress on Prakith and its station were an excellent example— they had done little to secure their position on their very own home planet. "We must shore up our security here on Tython. Shipyards and fleets are good for engaging the enemy, but we need defensive fortifications. We have lost our home to the Sith once before, and it would be a tragedy indeed if it happened once again."