Knightfall: A Beacon of Hope

[Wyck]

The Grand Master of the Jedi Order sat in the control room of Brighthome in deep meditation. He had been in this state for almost two full standard days—since he narrowly defeated the Sith Lord Leviticus on the surface of Ilum. The blow he had struck against the Sith Empire had ultimately not amounted to anything. The Empire had soundly defeated the Order at Tython and Ruusan and now the Jedi Order was in real danger of facing extinction.

The device that floated in front and above Wyck was a representation of that fear. The Jedi holocron had been Wyck's fixation for these past two days. On it, he had poured all of his knowledge of the Jedi Order: it's teachings, its history, his own musings about the light side of the Force and his warnings about the Force's dark side. Almost two centuries worth of accumulated wisdom were now forever imprinted on the holocron. Should the Jedi Order ever fall to the Sith, it could be restored through the knowledge contained on this device.

Sweat was pooled on Wyck's brow when he finally finished. The device reassembled itself into a cube and floated down into his palm. With great effort, he rose from his sitting position and limped over to a nearby control panel. There, he activated the beacon that would signal the beginning of the end for the Jedi Order.

It was a coded security beacon. The Sith would have no idea how to decode it or decipher its meaning. But, to every surviving Jedi who managed to intercept it, Wyck's message would ring out loud and clear: all Jedi and all ships remaining in the Jedi fleet were to retreat to Brighthome. Operation: Knightfall was ago. It was time for the Jedi—at least for now—to disappear.

But before the Order assembled to hear these words from the Grand Master himself, Wyck had one final order to give the final members of the Jedi Council... so he summoned them to the control room. The conversation they would have would not be pleasant, but it was necessary. @Loco @Zigara

 

[Bruce Guleya]

Bruce had already been on Brighthome for some time now. His greatest nightmare on the verge of becoming a reality, the Knowledge he had protected and built was in grave danger and there was little he could do now, the Sith had appeared and they had become strong. The bardottan couldn't help but to feel the great failing with this turn of events and the Caretaker also had taken this as a partly his fault. They should have changed, they shouldn't have laid dormant for so long or even ignore the troubles brewing - was it his fault? No it wasn't actually his fault. It was no single person's fault, it just was. It wasn't long ago when Master Shai told him that the Caretaker of First Knowledge was a position of great burden - that was more true now then ever.

With the darkest of days looming over the Jedi Order, Bruce had to make a plan - a contingency plan. It was a plan he didn't want to have to act out, but it was necessary now. No single member of the Order, not even the Grand Master himself had spent as much time in the various archives across the Jedi Order as Jedi Councillor Bruce Guleya (or at least he didn't think so). Soon after he had took the position he had terabytes of Jedi stories, knowledge, and everything else transferred to him and he spent many nights simply reading through all the details. He had become well versed in the Jedi and the Light Side of the Force; true, though Wyck didn't spend as much time no one had a better understanding of the Light Side of the Force then Wyck - the Caretaker was just book smart. As such, Bruce had been categorizing the information and was preparing to start creating many smaller and simpler holocrons... or maybe he'd have to settle on datacrons. He hadn't begun production, but he was preparing to do so when given the opportunity.

Bruce was keeping to himself in his assigned quarters, tired as he wrestled with the harsh disturbances in the Force. He was looking out his window now, at the field of stars that had encompassed Brighthome, he was quiet as he took a moment to recall some of his last experiences and relationships for he would cherish them, in case his days had concluded with the fall. He remember his friends, Vollen, Jinlo, Eivor, Aliyah, and Cregan, all dead and one with the Force. Fennex, he still had him around and he had started to believe Wyck saw him more than just another council member. It was hard to recall them all, but as long as he could that's all that mattered. Though turbulence would strike a cord with him, he was still content and at peace with himself. He suspected that, should he create the Holocrons he would use all of their likeness to act as gatekeepers - if he could, but that was up for debate, if he did they would probably not be exacting mirrors of them but at the very least he could get their attitude and appearance down, unless his memory failed him.

As he stared out into the starfield, lost in the moment, he was only brought back by a soft chime coming from a console in his quarters. The Grand Master was summoning the Council... and probably for the last time. A chill ran down the bardottan's spine, this was actually happening - his stomach twisting in knots as he came to that realization. Calm yourself. Pull it together, Bruce.

Bruce turned away from the window, he approached the console and instead of opening a link, he tapped a few keys to send a response, a response that simply stated he was on his way.

With a heavy sigh, the bardottan left his quarters wandering the halls of the station, if anyone greeted him or tried to stop him, Bruce would resist and for the most ignore those who had made that decision. It wasn't that he was rude, he was just a one-track mind right now and was focused on what was to come and that he would most likely be apart of the planning. He eventually arrived at the council chambers, he entered with his head held high and a control of his heart. He walked up to the Grand Master perched on his chair, Bruce bowed deeply without saying a word. Once respect was paid, the Caretaker of First Knowledge took up his position in his assigned seat as he settled in.

Though exhausted, Wyck still have a formidable control of the Force and Bruce knew he had been pushing himself to the maximum limits lately, if he didn't have the Force to guide him, the physical signs would be a giveaway of the exertion. It was also apparent that the Grand Master wasn't proud of this summoning either.

"Grand Master Wyck, while it is a pleasure to be by your side - I wish circumstances were better." Bruce sighed, "Have you been well Wyck? I do worry sometimes - even though I know you're capable of so much." The Caretaker did his best to offer a smile. He knew there was a chance there were some struggles, Bruce could feel them himself - with the many deaths to have happened so rapidly, along with the surge of power through Andraste, a great anger had light up under her - felt across the galaxy the day it had happened.

@Malon @Loco

 

[Fennex Zeerda]

Fennex shuffled into the control room without any of his characteristic dramatic and untimely entrances. He was still moving slower than normal, severely weakened still by his efforts on Tython and recovering much slower than he was used to. He was beginning to feel his age something awful- he was already quiet venerable for most of his species, and most of his people hadn't spent four decades fighting for their lives, getting stepped on by Rancors, tumbling off the back of speeder bikes, or getting manhandled by little girls. For all his gradually growing pain though- especially his aching leg- he refused to walk with a cane. It was becoming too much of a trend on the Council after Shivaaga's run in with the Sith Lord, and Fennex would not stand for being seen as a copy-fox.

On the bright side, his and young Knight Antilles suffering had at least secured the contents of the Holocron Vault. Though Tython was ultimately a devastating loss to the Order, at the very least the knowledge they had salvaged could be used to help them rebuild- a distant prospect at this point, Fennex was beginning to realize. He had seen to the securing of the Orders knowledge before arriving. It would never be held in any one location again- it was too precious. Instead, much of the archives contents had been scattered about their remaining ships or sent off with trusted Jedi Masters to protect for now and await further orders.

Fennex coughed, making his whiskers twitch- his immune system was as temporarily weakened as the rest of his body, but he had too many other concerns to go lounge about with the healers until he was well. He clambered and struggled his way into a seat not built for someone of his stature and sunk back into the rough cushions. He sighed heavily, watching Rem and Thalia enter together, talking in hushed whispers- they had arrived shortly before Fennex and his ship. They had known each other the longest- the two last remaining councilors from the old guard. They had seen it all up to now, Fennex knew. They often kept close council with one another.

"Uggh," Fennex broke in as Bruce spoke, "I hope I'm as energetic as he is at a bajillion and seventy or whatever. I'm getting too grey in the fur for all this."

@Malon @Zigara