Ask The Next Step

[Trina Kalist]

Instead of demanding the Jedi come see her, Trina instead made the trip over to Jedi-aligned Ithor. She wanted to meet in their space where no Jedi would feel as if they were breaking the Jedi ban rules. She despised that the ban even existed, but that was another problem to solve in due time. Today was about a large step into unorthodox territory. She knew the Jedi were wary about clones from the past, but there was truly no other solution.

She was waiting in a meeting room assigned to her. While she was there in person, any other Senator that was a part of the discussion was free to Holo in. She was a huge proponent of transparency - at least when it came to doing the right thing. She still hadn’t spoken to the Chancellor about this.

The Kuat Senator arrived with several guards and aides, though they all waited outside the room. She took a seat, waiting for the Grandmaster to arrive. The woman had been smeared across media but Trina knew her heart was in the right place.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

The Force bent, ripples of power flicking across a still galaxy. She searched. Her mind casted far from her body. Racing across the cosmos for answers. Missing Jedi…a path forward…anything…anyone. At each turn a dark curtain descending across her vision. Growing uncertainty spreading out like poison from a wound. Alex found no answers. Only more questions and disappointments. Slowly, her soul returned to her body. The Force constricting in her chest. Her eyes fluttering open. Alex sighed as the furniture in the room settled. She reached instinctively for her com. “Alana…” The Jedi Knight answered quickly from the other end. “She is safe, Grandmaster. Two justiciars have eyes on her.” The Morellien Jedi breath a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” It was wrong. She knew it.

Her young padawan deserved no special treatment. Maura should have been treated as all the other…but if she were to lose the girl…the closest Alex had to a daughter…well how could she survive? The Jedi of old were well aware of the danger of attachment. She knew the risks. With everything that had happened, one more loss would simply be too much to bear. The com chimed again. “The Senator from Kuat is waiting.” Right. A deep breath banished the threads of exhaustion. She smoother her robes as she stood. Her armor creaking beneath. This was war and she was dressed for it.

Carefully arranging her face into a well-controlled mask, Alex made her way quickly to the conference room. Ithor was not home but it was safe. For now. Her boots thudded loudly through the hall until she arrived in the meeting. She knocked politely before entering. Nodding respectfully to her guest. “Senator Kalist, thank you for your patience.” Alex took a seat at the table. “There never seem to be enough hours in the day.” She smiled slightly. “I must say, I am surprised although not disappointed to see you. What can I do for you?” The Kuat Senator was one of the few who had spoken on their behalf in the Galactic Senate. That was a sorely welcome sight.

@Sreeya

 

[Trina Kalist]

Trina smiled in turn, noting how exhausted the Grandmaster looked at all times. She had read about the Jedi and the serene Master Yoda and others that always had an air of tranquility. Trina did not see that in Voran. In fact, she saw something far more realistic - a woman that carried the weight of an entire order on her shoulders, an order that often sat on the brink of extinction.

“Grandmaster,” She stood up to shake the woman’s hand before taking a seat again, “It’s no trouble. I have the luxury of not being in the midst of a war just yet,” Trina said with a sad smile.

“I do not wish to waste your time, so I’ll cut right to the chase,” She explained, “A few Senators and I have met to discuss ways we can support the Jedi. I meant what I said in the Senate - I’m ready to stand by the Jedi in whatever way I can. However, you need more than just goodwill and faith. This is why I’ve pulled together several Jedi sympathizers to propose Project Bulwark.”

Trina paused there before she continued, knowing it would be a doozy, “We are prepared to pool funds towards the creation of a clone army,” She knew that would stir up anxiety within the Jedi, “I know what it sounds like. The difference is that we would like the Jedi to have full authority and oversight on the project.”

“The reality is that the Jedi need a disciplined military to complement and support them and the Resistance does not fit that bill,” Trina said, “A clone army would be formally trained to fight alongside the Jedi and would be a military force that answers only to the Order. We want to make the project as transparent as possible to kill any potential for an incident like….what we have seen in the past.”

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

A clone army. A shiver ran up her spine. Alex wasn’t quiet that old to have lived through the Old Republic, but she was dangerously close. Any Jedi knew their history. The history that had brought their Order to the very brink of destruction. A cycle that seemed doomed to repeat if something was not done. She knew the odds they faced and the challenges that lay ahead. Alex was not naïve but, despite everything, the Jedi endured. They had not fractured. They had not broken. They fought on. “Well…” She pushed her hand through her hair. “I don’t know what I expected. It certainly was not that.” Could she really take this risk.

“Before all this.” Alex gestured vaguely around the room. “When I was one master among many, there was hope the galaxy would band together. That the Republic and Free Worlds would see the threat of the Empire for what it was. There was some hope for that. Promises made by the Republic.” She simply shook her head. “Even after Chancellor Ro was replaced and those promises turned to dust, I sat on Belasco and listened to Aezz and Prime Minister Belasi swear a grand undertaking between my Order and the Free Worlds.” Now she shrugged her shoulders. “Then she resigned, and more plans melted. That was when I bound our fates to the Resistance. An endeavor that has been nothing short of a failure.” A personal failure. “We safe heaven but no unified force.”

Alex carefully suppressed a sigh. She could sense the truth of the Senator’s words. “I mean none of this to cast doubt, Senator but I must be cautious.” That was her only choice these days. “You know your history. I know we need help.” She raised her eyes carefully. “But there is always risk with such great power.” A power she wanted which made her all the more afraid.

@Sreeya

 

[Trina Kalist]

Trina listened as the Grandmaster detailed every attempt there had been to help the Jedi. At the end of the day, it had all been talk. Nothing of substance ever came. She nodded at the Grandmaster, “Senator Aezz lost a massive chunk of his planet, but his faith in the Jedi has never wavered. He was there to witness Order 66 and fully understands what a project like this falling into the wrong hands looks like. And yet, he still supports this idea because it is the right thing to do. Because it’s us finally doing more than just speaking.”

She exhaled slowly, “Today it’s the Killik, tomorrow it’s back to the Sith. The Empire will stop at nothing to try and wipe the Jedi from existence, and I don’t want more planets to fall just because it takes the galaxy so much time to come to its senses. I wish to act now.”

“The final decision to mobilize this falls to you, Grandmaster.”

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

“I know.” The weight shifted on her shoulders. Pressing every downward. “I always know.” What a terrible hypocrite she had become. The healer who had pushed Lena and Tedimor for her chair. Promises that the Order would never repeat the mistakes of the past, that she would never see them become an army again. Alex had stood against Yavain. One of her closest friends to stop the Jedi from becoming a war machine. Now here she sat, dressed in armor, and pondering a path she promised to never tread. But the truth was harsh. Yavin had fallen. They were running out of time and peace was lost.

“We will lead the clone army.” The Force shifted in her head. Images flashing across her eyes. Strength.

@Sreeya