1 STAR WARS STRONGHOLDS OF POWER

 Chapter 1. 

Coruscant. Jedi Temple. 

A flaming glow of the rising sun was illuminating the urban scenery that covered the planet long ago. Over time, the city grew deeper with its numerous labyrinths of underground levels and higher with elite skyscrapers and penthouses for the most powerful creatures of the Republic. There were a few remarkable buildings over all of those structures. The Jedi Grand Temple took a special place among them, built almost 2 thousand years ago in the epoch of post-imperial renaissance. 

The central tower rising above all the others was illuminated first. In ordinary circumstances, the twelve grand Jedi would bring themselves into meditation, exchanging their thoughts and flows of the Force, greeting the new day and life in the warmth of the sunlight. However, today's case that had brought them together was extraordinary. That day they were deciding the fate of a boy who had broken the code of their Order. The fate of this boy they believed was entwined with the fate of the entire the galaxy.

Grand Master Shayo-Shaolo, despite himself, was strongly concerned about the situation. He was carefully listening to how the Masters were exchanging their phrases; the opinions uncommonly varied. The Jedi Council had been united for many years, and that was the first time when it got split.

"We'll have to make a decision, Masters. Master Toru sees disturbing dark visions. We all feel severe concentration of the Force around Padawan Nalek. I'm afraid we have no other choice, Master Teu.

Master Teu, a middle-aged human, propped his head with his arm. He was handsome and neat. Those who knew about the Jedi only from the legends thought they all looked like him.

"After his teacher's death, I was his mentor for a while. His abilities are outstanding, but..."

"Yes? Speak freely Master Teu" – Grand Master Shayo Shaolo pushed him forward.

"...but I think he couldn't recover from his teacher's death and all that happened after. He is gradually going deep into darkness, I feel that."

"As we've expected," the Master from Kamino answered, "your words only confirm our worries. Toru associates his dark visions with Padawan Nalek. We seem to have all the reasons to believe them."

"But the Sith?" - Master Veelimen, a Nautolan in rich robes, was skeptical. "Do you believe that he will contribute in their return in the future?"

"You know what he has done better than we do, Veelimen. It happened before your eyes," - a Kaminoan, Master Mayon-To, fended off.

"The boy is just trying his strength. We all did that. He needs time and support of wise mentors to survive the loss, not an exile."

His gaze went round the Masters sitting in the circle, and he regretfully realized that not many shared his views. Yet he wasn't going to give in. The tribune at the Jedi Council was incomparably smaller than the one of the Galaxy Senate with a thousand of Senators - the representatives of the Republic territories - but not less important. 

"Being a Consular and the most powerful politician of the Republic distanced you from the Order's life," Master Irkatsiya put her word in.

The young woman was looking at Veelimen with a challenge which he accepted smiling carelessly.

"I don't understand why you are so prejudiced against him, Irkatsiya? If you want to find enemies, seek them outside these walls. Trust me, they are more than enough there." 

Irkatsiya pursed her lips and didn't answer. Master Mayon-To started to speak instead. 

"Padawan Nalek neglected the code, committed a crime against the Order, smirching it`s honor. You should know how awfully damaged our reputation was by what he had done. And you, Veelimen, will have to disentangle what he has done for so long."

"It won't be easy, but I'll deal with it" Veelimen responded.

"But how are you planning to do that?" the voice of the Kaminoan was somewhat skeptical.

"It is in my power," Vilimen answered with confidence. "For you it must be enough." 

During the speech in the Senate or in a private conversation with galactic business, political and army giants, Veelimen easily hid his real feelings skillfully showing the ones that the audience expected, being hypnotized by his charm. But here, among the powerful Jedi, these tricks made no sense; moreover, he didn't want to falsify his feelings. Only here, among the Jedi, he could be himself. He didn't hide his indignation.

"Deizen is a bastard. He has got what he deserves," he added.

"Deserves? An ordinary Padawan actually destroyed the mind of the Republic Senator with the strongest interference of the Force. Then, when we called him in there, he tried to read our mind."

"So, he is not that ordinary, is he?" 

Master Teu leaned forward, his palm rested on the knee and his elbow aside. The pose that at least caused confusion among some Masters because it was more suitable to a mafia boss than a Jedi of the Council. 

"All the policy is about Corellia now, and Senator Deizen, as well as Consular Kofyu, comes from there. They have already found everything out. Their ambassador demanded measures to be taken due to the accident happened to Senator Deizen. Their diplomats threaten to go public. They want us to expel Padawan Nalek from the Order.

Veelimen threw up his hands. 

"Believe me, Master Teu, politicians always want something but it doesn't mean that we owe them anything. On the contrary, we must show our position and protect the Order. We can't betray one of us because of political pressure. We are the Jedi Order and we are afraid of neither average people requirements nor threats."

Towering over the head of others, the Jedi Master from Kamino was sitting in her seat that stood out by its solemn officiality. She was burning Veelimen with a displeased look every time he started to speak or, even worse, interrupted the speaker.

"We can't compromise ourselves in the galactic arena. We can't allow the issue of a Jedi out of control to get in the agenda of the Senate. Just imagine: "The Jedi manipulate the galactic policy with the Force"." 

"We can't take a protective position in this case. If we accept our fault, we will lose even more," Veelimen answered dryly.

"No!" If we want to keep on saving the galaxy from self-destruction, we have to play by the rules.

After a short but heavy silence, Master Viisa entered the conversation. The youngest of the Council ever, this Twi'lek was not only extremely charming and beautiful but also wise that, however, wasn't accepted by all who were present. Many considered her an attention seeker who didn't earn a Master title but got it because of her pretty face and ability to impress. 

"We shouldn't overreact. We can find the common ground with the government of Correlia. I can go there in person on a diplomatic mission even today."

Bran's expression made it clear that he was skeptical.

Irkatsiya, who was sitting in one seat from Veelimen, leaned forward turning her strict eyes on him.

"It's not only about policy. Toru saw him in his dark dreams and he can't be mistaken. The boy is dangerous. We have to take measures now until dark emotions have fully absorbed him and his outstanding abilities have grown out of control.

Master Shayo-Shaolo, an old Mirialan wrapped in the folds of his cape, was sitting opposite to Veelimen. He was in his thoughts, but at the same time he was listening to everything that was discussed in the Council.

"I'm more concerned about what he did than Corellia's reaction. Nalek penetrated the head of the Senator using the Force, emptied his mind, made him publicly admit the crime in an open hearing of the Council..."

"Yes, I was there," Veelimen added.

"Such a barefaced aggression and cruelty with which he did it... Such a daring challenge to the principles of the Order. We just can't ignore that," the Grand Master was not glad to articulate these words.

"That's right, but why go for extremes? The Order can't blindly follow the public opinion that calls for the blood of one of us." "With all respect to Master Toru," he bowed towards the Selkath, "I don't believe that the boy can be a reason to return the Sith." 

Shayo-Shaolo looked away sadly. The Grand Master knew exactly that the dark side of the Force always found the cracks in the structure of the world to take its poisonous roots without being seen. He couldn't let the history repeat, couldn't let himself make the same mistake...

He replied to hot-tempered Veelimen. Old and grey-haired, his tattoos faded or disappeared in numerous wrinkles covering his skin. Hardly had the Mirialan said only a few words when the Council opened their ears.

"I suggest that we should listen to Master Toru," Shayo-Shaolo made a gesture towards the prophet. 

All eyes turned on Toru. That was the rare case when old Selkath attended the Temple on Coruscant. The Master preferred solitude in his native water world, Manaan, to a daily routine of the Council in the heart and capital of the Republic. His smooth skin needed water as much as his mind needed the silence of the depths. Master Toru usually showed himself at the Council as a hologram and only in critical cases. He somehow knew when the Jedi needed his wise advice or prophesy. That time, he arrived and awoke a great interest among the Temple's inhabitants who had never met him personally. 

Toru was a bit confused when all the eyes were drawn to him. He started from afar.

"What I saw were the images, hints, whisper of the Force. I see a man wrapped in dark fog over and over again. His body`s burning with blue signs, which meaning isn`t clear to me. He emits the threat the galaxy hasn't seen for centuries. Even now I feel it. This dark being is connected with Padawan Nalek. The outlines of the frightening future got more visible when his teacher had been killed. Then the unsolved puzzle of my dreams has come together." 

Silence hung over the Concil hall. A long time ago, the Jedi did pay great attention to the prophesies of the Force, but those times were gone. When the rivals of the Order were destroyed, the Jedi concentrated the power in their hands, both political and military, they had never had before. Prophesies were not needed anymore, and lots of the Jedi lost their intimate bound with the Force their ancestors had had. Lots, but not all.

The Force was still the source of endless undiscovered mysteries for Master Toru. The Force spoke to the world through him using the ways he didn't understand sometimes. He spent all his life getting closer to the perception purity of visions and signs he saw in his meditations and dreams. He remembered some of his visions, and they were legible enough to take shape of a prophecy. However, there was an image that had been following him since his early childhood and constantly returning as a dark image. The only one vision started differently every time, but it inevitably finished the same. First, this scary image frightened young Toru who thought that he was loosing his mind. The years had passed when he succeeded in overcoming the fear. Only after he put himself together, he could think clearly about the vision trying to interpret it in a right way. Now, at last, he knew who was the source of the main prophesy of his life. The Padawan to be judged by the Council.

Master Toru went on speaking. He seemed to be unable to find the right words and render his disturbing thoughts.

"You can't interpret my prophesies in one way only. Maybe, the Force is playing with me, and what we think to be a warning, sign, will become the reason."

"The reason for that dark being appearance? How?" a Rodian Master leaned forward curiously.

"Because of our reaction," Tory said.

"But you say that... repeat it please. That being is connected with this dangerous Padawan, isn't it?" Irkatsiya didn't let up.

"Yes," that was the answer.

"So, it's all absolutely clear to me personally. The person will become that being. You are a Force's favourite, Toru. It sent a warning through you to all of us."

Irkatsiya was confident in her words, and her ideas were shared by many.

Master Toru sadly lowered his head.

The Grand Master was listening to the Jedi with a heavy heart. He had already been looking at an indifferent face of Master Teu, a new Nalek's mentor, for some time. 

"Master Teu, you have been the closest person to Nalek since his former teacher Heizo died. Not for so long, but you were his mentor. Tell us what impression he made."

Teu thoughtfully took a hard breath.

"As I've said," he shrugged his shoulders, "Nalek is sliding down to darkness. He hardly speaks not only to me but his peers. He even surrounded himself with the veil of Force, he uses it to hide his emotions from me. Jedi Heizo considered him special, born, as he said, in the Force. You don't have to take it too literally, but... No doubt, he is extremely talented. Perhaps, one day he could be good enough to beat even you, Master."

Teu revealed his envy with no sign, but Veelimen saw the impression in his eyes when he was looking at Shayo-Shaolo. It meant that he felt the same when he was looking at his Padawan top-down.

Shayo-Shaolo bowed. 

"I see. But... how would you feel about his punishment?"

Master Teu didn't hesitate a second.

"With an appropriate respect to the Council's decision." 

Shayo-Shaolo leaned back in his seat. Master Viisa threw up her hands and frowned her beautiful face. 

Teu was Viisa's teacher in the past. She became a Jedi Knight when she was 16 and soon surpassed her mentor not only in as a Jedi but also in wisdom as many believed. He found her judgy look and turned his eyes away. 

Master Talin'bihal who was staying quiet all the time pierced the silence of the hall with his abrasive voice breaking away from his bone mask in choppy phrases. 

"Toru's prophesies always come true. It is very likely that the boy is the one he saw in his dreams." 

"We can't let the Sith appear in the galaxy again. What we know is that the Padawan is prone to the abilities that the Jedi try not to use considering them dark. The threat is better to be eliminated in its germ."

"Agreed, Irkatsiya," Talin'bihal added briefly.

"He showed complete disregard for the code laws overusing the force where he had to be humbled," Mayon-To said.

Master Bran sitting next to Veelimen was exchanging short phrases with him from time to time. At first sight, his pose said that he was not interested in the question discussed. At the same time, it was only a pose, a habit that had become a part of him when he had been a Senate Consular of the Republic. The position he took before Veelimen. Indeed, he was listening to attentively, as usual, and making conclusions. 

"The most dangerous thing is that we can lose trust and, as a result, power in the Senate because of the boy's carelessness. It would mean to let the chaos of human passion rule the lives of billions of the citizens of the New Republic," Bran again went to policy.

Vilimen wasn't surprised at the opinion of his former mentor and demonstrated it clearly.

Viisa felt weakness because in spite of all the trainings and meditations she couldn't hold on and calmly hear out the opinions of other Masters anymore. 

"I wonder how fast you all unlearned to trust the Force! The fear speaks through your lips. Just think, I feel its smell - its stink - in the Council hall. Fear of a 16-year-old Padawan made a military advisor Talin'bihal and a proficient sword-fighter Irkatsiya shiver. And Master Bran, who is respected by politicians, - be afraid of the opinion, as you have said, of the chaos of human passion. In my opinion, this behavior is unacceptable inside these walls!"

Having spoken her heart out, Viisa squeezed into her seat as if she was trying to step back from the Masters who were piercing her with their cold eyes. However, she didn't regret throwing a bitter truth at them. The Jedi Order she felt sometimes needed ice-cold shower to sober up. Well, she was ready to play this role.

"I'd be happy if everything was so easy, Master Viisa." 

Shayo-Shaolo had been worried about the split in the Jedi Council for a long time already. This controversial question only stripped the contradictions that had been growing in the Order.

The Master from Kamino pushed her body forward and then addressed the Council with a decisive speech.

"Master Viisa may be excused for her intemperance and disrespect to the Сouncil. I'm sure that she stands up for the beliefs she thinks to be true. However, as Master Shayo-Shaolo has said everything is much harder. We are bound by circumstances and we have no other choice. We will have not only to expel the Padawan from the Order but also to separate him from the Force. Only this will prevent possible problems and losses arising from his exile. Fortunately, now we know a necessary ritual," - she gave a short but meaningful sight to Shayo-Shaolo. 

 An oppressive silence fell over the Jedi Concil. Each of the Masters was trying to absorb what had been said.

The first who came to his senses was Master Veelimen.

"It seems that I haven't heard correctly. You proposed to put him out of the Force? He was born with it, he was marked by it. How can you offer that? And you all," - he appealed to those who hadn't spoken yet, - "why are you silent? Why is Master Viisa only brave enough to speak out? Or am I the only one who`s terrified by the possibility of such a fate for a Jedi? Grand Master, I don't..."

"I'm afraid we have no choice. If we expel him from the Order, we may evoke his falling to the dark side. Only having deprived Nalek of the Force, we can be confident...," - Shayo-Shaolo could hardly pull the bitter words out.

"Impossible! I say I will resolve the problem with Deizen..."

Veelimen almost jumped off his seat looking around and seeking support from other Masters. He saw how determined - though reluctant for themselves - their faces were. "I can see that you have already decided." 

"Depriving him of the Force we can only help the prophecy come true. My vote - on against. At the moment of doubt and vagueness, one should rely on conscience and the all-mighty Force." 

"Listen to Master Toru! The wisdom of his is great."

"If the boy has no Force, he won't be a threat," Talin'bihal concluded.

Shayo-Shaolo didn't miss a single word. He was reflected on his own decisions with a bitter interest. And, is spite of all this, he always was a creature of action, insistently searching for his way through the thorns. Sometimes he had to face the consequences of his actions but thanks to the action he controlled his fate and always turned to be strong enough to fix rare mistakes. 

"We can't ignore the threat. We know about it only thanks to the visions."

Master Toru went silent. He seemed to speak out everything he had to and couldn't say more.

Veelimen, on the contrary, was unwilling to give in. The most powerful creature in the galaxy, he passionately struggled for the life of an unknown Padawan.

"And what do you feel when the Council is going to separate your Padawan from the Force? It was you who said that the Order would need the outstanding talents of your Padawan very soon, wasn't it?"

"I don't refuse my words but I'm more convinced that our code is a sacred law opposite to the chaos. The chaos is the cradle of the dark side of the Force. The chaos gives birth to the Sith. Nalek's heart is full of fear and hatred that corrode it from the inside and feed the chaos."

"So maybe it's your fault as a mentor? You failed as a teacher and now you are shifting the blame to the one you were responsible for."

"You have been in the Council not for so long, Master Viisa, and in spite of all your undoubtful talents," - he tilted his head towards her, "you had never had to make such a complicated but necessary decision. That's what we call wisdom, my former Padawan."

He smiled politely only with his lips and leaned back in his seat.

"Master Viisa is still naive and young, and Master Toru's prophesies and the variations of their interpretation separate him from reality. But you, Veelimen. I can't understand why you don't want to see the obvious and keep on insisting on your own. You should realize the necessity of such a decision like nobody else," - a tall Kaleesh appealed to him from behind his bone mask.

Talin'bihal, a military strategist of the Order, was decisive and straightforward. He didn't understand the position of his main political and ideological ally.

"I protect the Order form external threats. Together we are strong that's why those who mean to do us harm try to divide us."

Master Irkatsiya was skeptical about Veelimen's words, and addressed the Grand Master.

"Master Shayo-Shaolo, I think we have already made a decision. Veelimen can speak forever, we all know that, but it won't affect the majority opinion."

Shayo-Shaolo stood up easily and movably in spite of his age. He looked around the Council hall and all the Masters once again. 

"The decision of the Council should be unanimous. The Jedi Council will expel Padawan Nalek from the Order and cut him off of the Force." 

He saw how the majority gave a bow of agreement. Some were decisive, others hesitating. As he expected some Masters didn`t vote.

Viisa stood up.

"I refuse to take part in this crime. Maybe the wise Council will cut me off the Force for it?"

She resolutely headed for the entrance ignoring all the judgy sights after her. 

Veelimen stood up too. 

"I obey the will... hum, of the majority. I do apologize, Masters, I have important things to do." 

His robe being too luxurious for a jedi swelled and billowed behind him. 

Toru only gave a short bow to the Grand Master. He couldn't stop brooding.

"Shayo-Shaolo, I think we are making a big mistake. The Force seems to test us, and we haven't pass the test."

The voice belonged to an unusually shaped cubicle drone flying next to the hologram of Master Sio'vrone. A long time ago the Gree race built Coruscant. Now their presence in the capital, as well as in the entire galaxy, is hidden and covered with secrets that the Gree themselves hesitated to reveal. Even the members of the Council had never seen Master Sio'vrone in person. The keeper of sacred knowledge of the Order, he jealously guarded his own secrets as well.

"I obey the Council's will."

A glowing projection, sparkling with large vivid pixels - a special Gree's technology - fell apart, and a drone translator sat down disconsolately on the seat of a secretive Master that had never taken it.

Shayo-Shaolo took a deep breath. Now he seemed to be only a tired old creature overwhelmed with grief, not a powerful Grand Master of the Jedi Order.

"So, agreed. The sentence will be carried out tomorrow at sunset."

He sat in the seat and turned away to the window rubbing his temple with his long stringy fingers, full of worries and doubts. Passion that as he knew exactly should be alien even to a Padawan, not to mention the one of his position. He knew that the lost peace would come back as it always did, being the core of his character. But now he wanted only one thing: to look in the future like Toru in order to see what he had seen. However, the Force left him for the first time in his long life.

Padawan Nalek was lying in his cell in the Jedi Temple; the feeling of danger didn't leave him alone. He tried meditation several times to calm down the feelings raging inside but every time his body shook as if the Force itself didn't let him go out of that stressed wariness. The Force concentrated around and he felt uneasy. He jumped out of bunk again being unable to lie down motionless and rushed to the window next to which there were two trees with their branches entwined. Plants reached for the window and light as he did. Nalek put his hand on a coarse trunk and, feeling the flows of the Force and insistent peaceful life, became a part of the tree for a moment. He knew that the ordinary Jedi couldn't do that. He knew that he could go into the world of the Force so deep that his new teacher found it frightening. His old real teacher who had replaced his father didn't though. Jedi Knight Heizo passed away six month ago, and nobody punished the ones who were real culprits of his death. Nobody but Nalek. He revealed a deceitful corrupted Senator. It wasn't difficult at all to enter his pathetic mind. He opened him as easily as an ancient book. His mind tried to resist but he suppressed it with no attempt. He pulled out the information and other names from his memory but political armor of the Correlian diplomat turned out to be stronger than justice. 

Nalek came closer to the convex panoramic window of his round cell. He could see the solemn Senate building - the heart of the galactic Republic. The population of the planet increased more than three times, and Coruscant got richer than some space regions over the last 1,200 years. It was not a surprise. Fulfilling the tasks of the Order with teacher Heizo in the outer rim, Nalek saw the abandoned worlds that were dying slowly, poisoned by industry, only to make Coruscant prosper. An amazing city. A great city. Bright flashes were sparkling around one of the gigantic spheres - new artificial satellites of the planet - over countless figures of lights in a smooth silence of dark space. A raw of space stations had been built for 8 years already; they would be 5 according to the plan. The Moon Project is the most ambitious and expensive one over the entire history of Coruscant; it had to reliably defend the citizens of the capital and be a living area for 36 billion of new citizens. The fourth and fifth moons started to be build not so long ago while the second had been almost finished. The Senate ordered to speed up the work three times due to increasing tension in diplomatic relationship with the Hutts. The only question was money. Teacher Heizo repeatedly said that half of the Republic works for a grand defensive system of Coruscant.

The whole story started there, on Moon-2, and finished in the Senate building. Or didn't? The Jedi Council should decide his fate. He only hoped this decision to be fair.

Somebody knocked at the door.

"Come in."

The door went up, and his teacher appeared. He entered and gave a short bow to the Padawan. The latter greeted him back and, with all his body freezing, waited for his teacher's words being unable to calm down paralyzing anxiety. However, in spite of his state he instinctively didn't want any stranger to know his weaknesses. The person standing before him was still a stranger. No matter what he did and how hard he tried, Master Teu couldn't take teacher Heizo's place.

It happened right after his death, but Nalek didn't notice anything at first. Unconsciously he started to build a shield of the Force around to hide from the world, to be protected from the Jedi who could feel what was happening in him. He guarded himself without even knowing it and realized what had happened only when he came to his senses a little bit. The barrier couldn't protect himself from the penetrating eyes of some Masters whose abilities were stronger than his but it worked perfectly against most of them. Even Master Teu wasn`t able to read him and Nalek knew for sure that this fact annoyed his teacher very much.

 Nalek understood that as a Jedi he didn't have to react to death like this because teacher Heizo got one with the Force only closing the life cycle but he couldn't do anything with that. He was overwhelmed by remorse and hatred to real culprits of his death 

Master Teu examined his cell. His eyes stopped first at an unmade bunk and each tree in turn.

"You are still sleeping badly. Ignoring meditations."

"Meditations are not so effective, teacher." 

"You lack diligence. You rely on your talent too much and neglect discipline."

"The thing you are speaking about is not a talent." 

"But what?"

"The Force. I rely on the Force, teacher."

For some reason, the Master didn't love his answer though he didn't say that. 

"The Force is not all. The Universe is great and hides a lot of secrets. When the time comes, you will understand what I mean." 

Nalek shrugged his shoulders. Sometimes they spoke different languages. 

Teu approached and touched the tree where it was touched by Nalek several minutes ago. 

"You did grow them. Two dry dead seeds bloomed thanks to you. You are still obsessed with the idea of creation." 

Nalek raised his head looking in the Master's face with surprise. He continued.

"It is not surprising. Many teachers ask us, Masters, for advice about their Padawans. Heizo worried about though admired your passion when he had come to us. His worries came true... If only you were as sensitive to living creatures as to dead seeds, everything could be different."

Nalek's heart was beating in tune with the last frightening words.

"What are you talking about?"

"The Council made a decision on your case. You will know it tomorrow at sunset. Obey the Council's will and accept any punishment they will give you with dignity."

Nalek swallowed reflexively. The Master knew what waited for him. He felt it with every cell of his body. For a moment, he was even eager to enter the teacher's head and find out the truth. He was likely to succeed but the moment was lost. This trick would finally turn everyone against him while he hoped for simple though severe punishment like to assist the Jedi healers in studying death sick creatures or cleaning the Coruscant sewage.

"I will accept the Council's will with resignation." 

"As you have to."

Master Teu turned to the door.

"Teacher... as for the Senator... I asked the healers about his state. In a year, he will recover with no consequences. Please, say it to the Council. Nothing bad had happened to him."

"Nothing bad? You turned Republic Senator mad. You almost destroyed the Order's reputation. The sentence will be fair, don't question it." 

"But he is guilty...

"Don't justify your crimes, Nalek. Accept them and draw the line."

Teu turned round and when he came up to the door, it became transparent and went up. Before leaving he turned around.

"May the force be with you, Nalek."

"May the force be with you, teacher."

Next day, when the air of Coruscant heated during the day started to get colder and the solar disk touched the observatory spire, there was a short knock at Nalek's door. Only two knocks. They were not asking. They were demanding. Nalek approached the panel and pushed the button.

There appeared a man's figure in classic Jedi robes with his face hidden behind a dark rough metal mask. Those were the Temple guards - faceless and emotionless warriors, performers of the Council's will. Their devotion to the Order was absolute, they were not only a shield of the Temple but also its sword. The apostate Jedi using the Force in their interests somewhere in a remote system of the outer rim were afraid of only one thing - to see the mask of a guardian before them. Nevertheless, most Jedi had never met the warriors of this secret cast, and Padawans thought these creatures were only a legend.

Nalek was surprised when the two entered his cell without saying a word but he didn't give out his feelings. He gave a short bow looking inquiringly in the holes for the eyes.

"Follow us."

Staying in one room with those two, he felt their pressure on the Force. They seemed to impose their will to the energy saturating everything around. It was unpleasant, their protruding presence was too intense. It spoilt the harmony filling it with unnatural tension. In other circumstances, Nalek's mouth would turn down and grin at how ignorant their attitude to the Force was... but they were rising above him wishing his obedience. He remembered teacher Teu's words of yesterday and bowed once again. 

One of the guards left the cell first. Nalek put his hands on both tree trunks in turn, drew his lightsaber from the bunk and unwillingly followed the one while the other was walking behind. They both didn't say a word. Nalek instinctively felt that his conductors threatened his life, he played in his head one try to escape after another depending on the changing places. He even imagined how he beat one of them in a fast and sudden fight. Was it one of the missed visions of the future or only game of imagination? He restrained the impulses convincing himself that nothing bad would happen to him and the guards were only a formality.

They didn't meet a lot of Jedi on the way but when they did Nalek wanted to cry for their help. But he proceeded in silence and obedience. Time seemed to drag on endlessly in the turbolift before it stopped at the top of the Council tower where Nalek had already been waited for. 

When he entered, he found teacher Teu first of all. The latter looked down sitting in his seat, so Nalek's mind started working desperately. He expected his teacher to come for him and support him before the hearing in the Council but now... Now when all the signs and hints of the last days came together suddenly he clearly realized that he had been deceived. He was alone with the creatures dreadfully and obviously wishing to harm him.

Master Shayo-Shaolo opened his eyes. He tried to enter the plans of the Force at least now, at the last moment, but... it was in vain. His temple hurt where he touched it with his two long fingers. The force was not with him. It was with the Padawan. When the boy came in, Shayo-Shaolo distinctly felt its increased presence. Nalek was standing before him fearfully turning around like a trapped beast. He wished he hadn't finished like this. 

"The Force is gone if we have to commit something like that..." - the Grand Master whispered.

His own words sounded like a thunder while unheard by the others.

Finally, Shayo-Shaolo raised his head and looked into the boy's eyes. At that short moment unwillingly, they suddenly recognized each other as mortal enemies once and for all. An old man and a boy, they both knew that they had to destroy each other to keep themselves.

"Nalek Eezen, you are here by the will of the Council because you have broken the code numerous times and neglected ancient traditions, the foundation of the Jedi Order. You deprived the Senator of his mind using the Force for your selfish revenge, which defames a Jedi, and did it intentionally. If you have what to say for yourself except for that we have already known, now it is the last opportunity to do it." 

Nalek was standing in the middle of the hall and looking down. The guards were behind on both sides of his. Not all the seats in the Council were taken, but all the Masters who were there concentrated on him as one.

"I did it for justice's sake. Teacher Heizo is dead through his fault, so are others. I should have done anything." 

The wrinkled lips on a green face sunk. Shayo-Shaolo took a breath. He still hoped that he would not to fall back on extreme measures though he had already put up with the inevitability of the decision.

"You can't veil your motives from us, Nalek. You manipulated a person's mind in order to extract the truth hidden by him but there is even a deeper reason. The one that is behind your actions. The thing is that you committed it because you can. This is the main excuse and both reason for your actions. Not many of the living Jedi can use the Force telepathy as you do, maybe nobody can indeed. You know it and place yourself higher that the laws of the Republic, higher that the code of the Jedi Order, higher than those who are here now."

Nalek knew that Shayo-Shaolo was right. He knew it because he felt inner resistance to every single word and could not beat it. The Masters also felt his resistance. Here he could hide nothing.

"Forgive me. I will meditate to find harmony..."

"Too late. The Council has made a decision." 

Mayon-To's intonation broke his breath.

"Yes... yes. You committed a crime that the Jedi Council and the Order can't forgive. For this we are exiling you from the Order and to prevent the uncontrolled Force from making harm to the galaxy we will separate you from it."

It was foolish not to trust his instincts that had never let him down. The panic of desperation overwhelmed him preventing him from not only moving but also thinking.

"No, don't do that. Exile me but don't put me out of the Force please..."

In one step, both guards approached.

Pleas couldn't save him, and he gave a cry of despair.

"No!"

"Kneel, Padawan, and accept your destiny!"

In the back of his mind trapped like a beast, Nalek understood that the last words belonged to Master Teu but at that moment his whole being was struggling for only one - salvation. Everything he saw in front of him was a big convex panoramic window - the only obstacle separating him from freedom. 

His knees bended and his legs tensed up. He bounced off the floor and in three quick forced jumps reached the glass slipping between Masters Mayon-To and Shayo-Shaolo. He broke the window with a forced push initiated by his entire body and at that very moment he instinctively surrounded himself with a protective field not to be hurt by the broken glass flying in all directions. He was already outside the Council hall when suddenly he felt how some invincible power grabbed his body as if doing it with two hooks and pulled him back inside as a rag. He was lying on his back on the same spot where he tried to escape from a few moments ago. He tried to rise but the same suppressing power knocked him down to the floor. The two dark figures in faceless masks were rising above him stretching their hands to him and holding him with a death grip of the Force. He waved his hand breaking one grip, then the other. For a moment the load disappeared but then, even more intense, returned. He gave some hopeless tries to get out but it all was in vain. Relentless guards clamped him over and over again until he fell backwards exhausted. The unforgiving brutal force of the guards was so huge that he couldn't resist anymore. When he found the strength to turn onto his back, he saw that he was threatened by the same open and powerful hands that left him not even slightest chance to resist. Panic struck him again. He had never faced such severe overwhelming power. He couldn't run away, couldn't escape from these hands. He stopped resisting but invisible clamps only loosened their grip slightly. 

Except for the two guards, other figures were appearing around him. A woman's voice said:

"He wouldn't put up. See? We've made a right decision."

The Jedi were taught never to lose hope no matter how hopeless the situation was. He desperately tried to catch every detail that could help him to save himself. A worn robe, a cut on a dark mask, a lightsaber to the left on someone`s belt... faces of the Masters red in sunset glow surrounding him and a strict face of teacher Teu among them. 

Through convulsion, he cried.

"Teacher! Teacher, help me! Why are you doing this to me?!"

For a moment Teu hid his eyes. Looking at broken glass on the floor, he said.

"Sorry, Nalek. For the Jedi Order's sake, we will have to sacrifice you." 

He slowly turned his head until their eyes met. When it happened, Nalek finally realized that there was nowhere to wait help from, nobody to beg for mercy. 

He had no friends here. But the Force was with him. He appealed to it in his thoughts. How dare they decide that they had the right to deprive him of the Force as if it was their own?

The Masters stood round him. He felt Master Mayon-To's boot to touch the edge of his robe. Nalek couldn't breathe normally. His breast moved abruptly and spasmodically. It felt like his body got smaller, shrinked in the dread of the inevitable. Then being unable to resist physically anymore, he fully gave himself to the Force extending his feelings through the galaxy. From one planet to another, through the space, past and future, he was simultaneously a part of everything. He felt the scent of a fil`ko flower in a frosty morning on Alderaan, a gentle kiss of blue lips, the heat of a sandy planet, the surfaces of wet black sharp cliffs. He felt such an awful pain as the mother of the High Masted did when she was bringing him into the world. He felt the speed of a racing cart rushing through the desert, the strength in the tarsus of a culicia insect. Somewhere the sun was dying and at the other part of the galaxy, in thousands of years, a lightsaber would come alive in the hand of a boy lighting his face blue. He was the strongest plantlet that broke through the sands of Kashyyyk, filtered seas of Tatooine through his gill. He was a planet violently deprived of the Force, was a part of a noetikon in the Jedi Temple archive lost long ago. For these three seconds, he was all and forever. For these three seconds, he experienced more than others couldn't do in ten lives. And then he heard the voice addressed to him personally, "at last... you... will come...".

It was the last the Force showed him. He was alone, and now he owned only his body. He tried to return to those feelings to feel at least someone's presence again. But there was only intangible emptiness stuffed with decorations. 

He turned onto his stomach and got on his knees without asking himself why they had allowed him to do that. His stretched hand was catching empty air trying to find something that was there just a moment ago. His eyes were not blinking and were trying to find something in the dark, bulging. He was touching his body with his hand as if it didn`t belong to him.

"No... what... what have you done to me? There is nothing... I feel nothing!"

With effort he stood up on his shaky legs and attempted to draw his lightsaber rolled aside. Nothing happened. Then, with a cry of despair, he reached out his hand and tried again. And again and again and again... The grip didn't move. Unable to hold back his tears, he took a clumsy step towards a desirable object but when stumbled, he crawled further on all fours. He still didn`t give up trying to draw the lightsaber when at last it suddenly moved. But Nalek didn't feel a well-known cold grip in his hand. When he raised his head, he saw his Jedi weapon in Master Teu's hand. His eyes were stuck on the face of his former mentor. 

"You don't need it anymore. I'm sorry, Nalek, but you will have to get used to it."

Nalek lowered his head. Sobs were shaking his weakened body when standing on all fours he fell on his side, the head pressed against the knees. 

The eight Masters were standing above the crouching broken Padawan in complete silence. Then the tallest of them sat down drown in the folds of his robe. He stretched out his hand, touched a shaking body, and Nalek lost consciousness and fell in a troubled temporary relieving sleep. 

Shayo-Shaolo turned to the guards standing aside and waiting for the order.

"Bring him back to his cell. He needs rest and peace after... what he`d come through." 

The guards bowed silently and hurried to fulfill the will of the Grand Master.

"He will have a long sleep. When he wakes up, you talk to him, Master Teu."

When the guards brought Nalek away and the door closed behind them, a subtle wave of relief washed over the hall. In the darkness, the Masters went their separate ways and took their seats. Shayo-Shaolo took a deep breath and broke heavy silence with the words none of the Masters wanted to hear.

"Despite what we've done, I still feel that Nalek Eezen's fate is not sealed yet."

The sun of Coruscant had already set, and the vivid lights of the endless city spread out to the horizon. 

Master Toru opened his eyes. An endless ocean lived in a never-ending movement behind thick glass and the city of Didooine woke up in the warmth of a deep-water volcano.

Toru arrived from Coruscant not so long ago. Being in a deep meditation needed to him as water after a long journey, he gave himself to the Force trying to speak to a living energy in an unnamed language. Sometimes he thought that there was no language of the Force, that life is speechless and grave to all the thinking things. Then upon long and painful reflection and doubts, there came clarification. The Force mysterious in its simplicity as much as in its complicatedness sent him visions about many living creatures in the universe explaining both their simplicity and complicatedness. It was the language of the Force - the language of life. But... could he appeal to it in return? Toru tried so many times that it was impossible to count. In spite of many failures, now he was ready to try once again as he had never needed advice so badly before. He sent visual images somewhere, tried to pull out a part of his memory, thoughts, a part of himself and give them all to the Force. It was all in vain again. 

He was broken because his visions could lead the Jedi to a fatal mistake. How could he correct his own mistakes if he couldn't understand the true desire of the Force? 

Nalek woke up suffocating from the absence of the Force and emptiness absorbing him. At that moment, he remembered what had happened to him and regretted his awaking. In his sleep, he was obsessed by only one thought that had been with him since his childhood. It took different visual forms, but its meaning was always the same. When a child, he believed that he was destined for greatness. At that time he had no reason to think so but once having invaded his being the confidence became an integral part of his. He had never forgotten and never, before that day came, lost his faith.

Nalek lifted himself on his bunk and only then saw Master Teu who was standing by the window with his back to him. Until recently he could feel his presence with his eyes closed. Now he could rely only on what he saw and heard. Leaning on the tree, the Master was looking out of the closed curtain. Having moved it aside, he let the sharp rays of the light inside that most likely woke Nalek up. 

The Jedi definitely knew that Nalek wasn't sleeping. Not turning around, the Master started to speak to him in a calm smooth voice of a mentor and friend. 

"Nalek, I have to ask for your forgiveness. I know what connection with the Force meant for you. Unfortunately, what we had done to you was the only decision available. I know that you feel betrayed, my words are empty for you, but believe me, it is not like this."

Finally Teu turned his face to him. The Master was neat and handsome as usual. The best sculptors of the Republic would eagerly carve out a Jedi monument based on his appearance but the Master was modest and didn't want too much attention. He smiled at the Padawan guiltily.

"I, as well as the Order, still trust you. We would like to offer you some job in the Temple to make you stay. After all, the Jedi Temple is your home."

Nalek couldn't drag a single word out. The Master didn't find his silence embarrassing though.

"You are afraid and lost. You ought not decline this opportunity at once. You could learn the history and artifacts of the Jedi as you used to do. All the knowledge of the Order will be available. You'll see, we will find your true calling together."

The Master's mouth turned down. 

"You hate me. I feel it. You have to understand that what has happened is the direct result of your decisions." 

Nalek without saying a single word suddenly started looking around his messed up linen and mattress.

"You are searching for your lightsaber... It is gone. You won't get it back. Nalek, look here. For your own sake, try to put up with your new state as soon as possible. An absolute majority of creatures lives without feeling the Force in the galaxy. They have their happiness and grief. Catch it too. Now you are free from a great burden of our vows and you can become whatever you want. You can do whatever you want. You can even love." 

Nalek didn't listen to his silly words. He stole the only thing that rightfully belonged to the boy. He would create a new lightsaber. 

"Don't even try, you won't succeed. Kyber crystals react the creator's personality and the Force in a special way. You don't have it anymore."

Nalek knew it. As he knew about the emptiness he was destined to now. Earlier his former teacher couldn't read his thoughts and emotions so easily. 

Teu was going to leave but hesitated for a moment near the mattress on the way to the door for a while. Nalek could see only neat folds on the coarse material of his robe.

"You need time to come to life. I know. Please think about my offer. I will come to see you in a few days."

"I won't stay here."

As he reached the door, the Master stopped. When he turned back, Nalek was a few meters from him looking right into his eyes. There was something alarming in his look that made Teu slightly frown. Yet he felt sorry. His former Padawan could find his place in the Temple being closely supervised by him and the Council. 

"You don't need to hurry with this decision. Take as much time as you need..."

"I want to leave."

"Well, that's a pity. In this case, I'll give you enough money for a few years. Before you get on your feet."

"I don't need anything from you."

Master Teu stood still thinking for a while, then bowed shortly and went out. 

Nalek had no own things after his lightsaber was gone. He had no place to go and he didn't know at all where to start for after leaving the Jedi Temple. But now he wanted to look through the window of his cell for the last time. He opened a curtain and sat right on the wet ground closer to one of the trees. He was looking somewhere into the distance touching the soil with both his hands. Suddenly his fingers found something solid. It was a seed of the fruit fallen from the tree a few months ago. After cleaning it from the ground and putting before him, he examined the place around the trunk. Finding nothing, he turned his eyes to the second tree prowling the ground with his eyes until he found what he was hoping to find. Stretching out his hand, he raised the second seed. He put them on his palm and looked closely. Hardened into stone, they didn't give life to plantlets. 

One day he found two dead seeds just like these and in a few months applying the Force exquisitely he managed to wake them up inside. As a result, he grew two trees that decorated his cell and gave birth to the seeds just as dead as they had been. They needed and challenged him at he same time. Could their appearance be a sign he longed for?

"Is it possible that hope is still here?" - he clenched his treasure in his fist.

While leaving the Temple, he forbade himself from looking back. There was one thing Master Teu was right about: he should really get used to a new life in which he had no Force anymore. At least now. Putting hardened seeds into his pockets, he swore that he would never give in and up trying to return his loss. He was leaving the Jedi behind and from now on nothing was tying him with them.

The Grand Master didn't leave the Council till the morning. He could always make out hints in an overall flow of the Force, although maybe not so skillfully as Toru but now they were slipping away from him. A couple of repair droids was removing the broken glass on the floor, and a couple of others was installing new convex glass. Turned around in his seat and watching surgical precision of the droids' work, Shayo-Shaolo thought about the Jedi Order. About what it had been and what it was now - strong political power, an ideological core protecting the galaxy from a great war for many centuries. The Council consisted of the strongest Jedi - skillful warriors, wise mentors, and leaders. Why now were there questions the Jedi couldn't answer on? 

Suddenly one of the seat was illuminated blue. The appearance of the hologram got Shayo-Shaolo out of being numb and broke a severe silence filled with mechanical noise of the constantly working droids. 

"You wanted to speak to me, old friend. I've caught your anxiety."

Shayo-Shaolo smiled sadly.

"I'm full of doubts which shouldn`t have place in Jedi`s heart."

"You will push your doubts aside when you see the goal. You are made this way," - Toru answered in a guttural tone.

"But what if you were right and we have made a huge mistake?" 

"Then you will have to fix it." 

"Fix it... how can we correct what we have done?"

The question of the Grand Master was up in the air. The Selkath didn't have an answer that would bring peace to Shayo-Shaolo back. 

"You are crushed not only with the Padawan's fate, aren`t you?"

Shayo-Shaolo raised his tired eyes on the projection. Toru could see through him even when he was in another part of the galaxy.

"It seems to me that after the ritual... how do I say this..." he was picking the words for what he thought to be impossible a day ago. "Could we happen to make harm to ourselves?" 

 "The Force is silent with the Jedi."

"Do you feel it too?" – asked Shayo-Shaolo in despair.

"Yes." Only you are able to affect the Force. You completed the ritual the galaxy hadn't seen for thousands years. You invented it anew. We are to evaluate its influence on the fabric of the Force."

"How arrogant I was when I thought that this action would not lead to any effect! The harm made to the Force may have consequences that you can't even imagine."

"You couldn't foresee that."

"But I had to!"

"It's all water under the bridge, Shayo. You took responsibility for the future and now it is with you till the end."

"What do you mean? Go on, Toru, don't stop!" - he hurried the old friend impatiently.

"You haven't got rid of the darkness in the future sacrificing the boy. Maybe, the probability that the dark side will take over the galaxy has been reduced but not disappeared. This probability is still by in the shape of dark figure that comes to my dreams. We should follow the signs it had left behind."

"The symbols on the body," Shayo-Shaolo guessed. "But why haven't you told others?"

"They would only cloud the Council`s judgement. I have been trying to reveal its mystery for years but came only to a superficial conclusion."

Toru turned away, and somewhere out there on far Manaan pushed a few buttons, and the projection of some patterns drawn by him appeared in the centre of the hall on Coruscant. The Grand Master couldn't take his eyes off the mass of pictures, many of which were not finished, others were blurred retracing the lines from the hazy visions of the prophet.

"Ritual pictures..."

"Yes." 

"And it's the only clue."

"My friend, you are possibly the one of the Jedi who can unravel the mystery."

"Even if it is like this, what will the answers give us?"

"We will be ready if the dark side of the Force yet shows its face."

Shayo-Shaolo reached his hand out, and the image of symbols narrowed. It was floating in the air above his palm on which there was a scar from a transverse burn healed long ago. His eyes reflected the bright light coming from the projection.

"Where shall I start searching?"

"These signs might come from Datomir. There is an order in the symbols on the body of the being visiting me, and the order is formed by ancient times. Maybe, we'll have to seek the answers in the past, not in the future."

"I have never heard about Datomir."

"The darkness is around this world. I was afraid to go down there because I saw that the fate worse than death was waiting for me here."

"I'll go to Datomir as soon as possible," the Master said ready to act. "But what about the Jedi, Toru, what about the Republic?" 

"Leave policy to Veelimen. He is much better at it than we. Meanwhile, when you are absent, Master Bran will take care of the Order." 

Shayo-Shaolo smiled sadly, wrinkles marked all over his tired face.

"I have wondered a lot why you turned down the position of a Grand Master. You have always deserved it more than I have."

"No, I am not. Besides, I love my solitude."