Ripples [Master Tak]

[Calen]

The gentle sounds of the Room of a Thousand Fountains washed over Calen as he took his seat on one of the many stone benches present in the enormous garden. He opened his eyes as he sensed a pair of young Initiates coming along behind him. A short, somewhat tubby Rodian and a scrawny human lad quickly set up a small table just to the side of the older Jedi Master and set down a freshly brewed pot of tarine tea and a plate of sweet-sand cookies. After each was carefully arranged, Calen gave the duo a firm nod of approval with all seriousness and leaned forward and plucked two of the cookies up and gravely offered them to the younglings.

They each took one a bit shyly and Calen offered them a slow, deliberate wink. Humor sparkled in his still-sharp blue eyes, the corners crinkling into small wrinkles as he briefly smiled. After the children had their cookies he made a show of putting on his more stern, sagely expression back on and gave a grunt of dismissal. The pair scampered off with their treats and left the Grand Master alone in the towering greenhouse with just the sounds of flowing water and the occasional calls of the various exotic fauna.

He did not yet pour himself a cup of tea. Jedi or no, growing up on Coruscant instilled a certain degree of gentlemanly manners and he chose to wait patiently for arrival of Master Tak.

While he waited, he closed his eyes again and gave himself over to the Force letting his mind stretch out through the garden and brush against the minds of the animals and feel the gentle presence of the plant-life. These were busy times for the Order, in the wake of the Mandalorian's crusade. Many of the Council found themselves more often off-world on their own missions than not lately. Still, maybe were due to return soon but for now only two happened to be around to hold Council. With that in mind, Calen had opted for a less formal setting surrounded by a place strong in the Force in hopes that it would add clarify and guidance to their discussion.

[Master Tak]

Takaa’chuwaki was late, something he did not enjoy. In his old age he had learned to never keep others waiting, it was essential, for everyone, to know that if you have a prior engagement, it takes precedence over any matter that may appear, if not than you must formally cancel the arrangement. At least, that was what the wookiee gentleman believed. He disliked being forced to wait, especially someone like a Grandmaster of the Jedi order, however despite the fact that he was older, Tak still held respect for the Grandmaster. He was human, who were known for their relatively short lifespans and Calen had already reached a point in human biology when his limbs and body began to fail him, he was reaching the inevitable death that humans face, having lived such a short life in Wookiee standards, he is considered very old in human ones. Regardless of that, of his human nature and biology he showed the abilities to master the force as well as become a powerful lightsaber duelist. Tak, being much older, saw a great deal of honor in this.

Tak, being nearly 400 years of age, never became the Grandmaster. There were many reasons why and many reasons that impacted his decision of the Grandmaster position. Though he was offered to take the position numerous times, he himself knew that not everyone spoke the language of the wookiees, so it would be tiring to constantly telepathically speak with everyone, especially the younger kids, he encountered a similar problem when he was Battlemaster, but you can thank him for teaching many kids how to understand the wookiee tongue. He wanted a more active role in the order, being a battlemaster and being a Grandmaster required your constant being in the temple, in the senate and constant contact with everyone in the temple, something that his wookiee tongue disallowed him to do; it was the same with the Battlemaster position, you always stayed in the temple. Tak, seeing what times had come, knew that he was needed out there in the front lines and in the council, not as a battlemaster and not as a Grandmaster, but as a Jedi.

Why he was late? Tak was late for many reasons, for one he had just welcomed a party of recently returned Jedi with their padawans, giving them instructions about their upcoming missions and listening to their short reports before they reported in front of the council. The other reason was because when he tried to go to the room of a thousand fountains he would constantly be stopped by someone asking him questions, or someone greeting him and inquiring about his day and his life. Etiquette and manners, along with kindness dictated that Tak needed to answer and indulge with his friends in a conversation, so when asked he answered and spoke with them giving them advice. Having reached such an old service in the order, you’ll notice that when you walk through the halls, everyone is greeting you, some boy some say hello, the closer ones walk in for a tap on the shoulder, when one serves the Jedi for four hundred years, you become somewhat of a icon for peacefulness, everyone sees you, they recognize you and befriend you. He remembers, when Calen was brought here as a child and when Tak first taught him and his class how to hold a lightsaber correctly when they were kids and Tak was a battlemaster, those are the things you remember and everyone remembers you, it was both nice and at times troubling.

Though all of his thoughts came to a halt as he entered the room of a thousand fountains. The massive greenhouse instantly brought a smile and peace of mind to the Jedi. The serenity of this place was incredible, so much life and peace that the Wookiee felt at home here. At times it reminded him of Kashyyyk, but much more greener and peaceful than Kashyyyk would ever be. He quickly made his way through the stone walkway towards the direction where Calen was, it was slightly harder to sense his presence among so much life, but Tak was experienced enough to quickly sense and find him. His dark brown jedi robe flowed as he walked, uncovering some of his beige tunic and beige pants with the black leather leg guards that covered his legs below his knees and ended just above the ankles, leaving the wookiees feet uncovered. When he finally saw the master, sitting on one of the beautiful stone benches and with a small table in front of him. It had tea and cookies, but Tak knew that he could not eat, they had serious business to discuss, a disturbance I the force unlike any other, Darth Revan. They were the only two council members in the entire temple, everyone was away, some were away on missions and others were away to advise the leader of various planets on what action to take.

He greeted the familiar face of the aging human with a smile and bowed his head slightly ”Master Calen, I’m sorry for being late, I was caught up with a few duties.”

[/color] he said calmly in the wookiee tongue, releasing calm and silent growls, like he usually spoke unlike the loud screams of other wookiees. He called everyone with the title of Master, master. It was accepted and despite being the oldest he never saw a problem calling those younger than him master, he referred to everyone in the council as master as many of them did as well. The wookiee slowly sat down at the bench, leaning back against its stone construction, awaiting for Calen to begin the discussion with his ideas and points of view.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]

[Calen]

"Not at all, Master Takaa’chuwaki." Calen replied in his Coruscanti accent. The aged human waved a hand in absent-minded dismissal of the Wookiee's apologies and then motioned fluidly for him to take his seat. Master Tak, as he was more widely known, had been in the Order as long as Calen could remember and had little evidence to suggest that the old Battlemaster wouldn't still be around long after him.

"In fact, it is I who must apologize that necessity forces me to pull you away from your other concerns for this meeting." The Grandmaster continued. With a deft, practiced motion he swept aside the lengthy tail of iron gray hair over his shoulder so it would not be in the way. He leaned forward and arranged the cups and saucers to picturesque perfection and then lifted the teapot and began to pour himself a cup. It quite a simple thing to reach out with the Force and attend to the little chore with the wave of a hand and a boost of willpower but Calen preferred to do it without. The Force was many things, the core of the Order, strength to depend on when needed and a sage adviser. Calen was of the school of thought that using the Force for every little task trivialized it to some degree.

"Tea, Master Tak?" Calen offered as he tended to the refreshments. Once settled, he leaned back against the stone bench once again and admired the central waterfall of the garden. The quiet rush of water was like a balm to a troubled mind and Calen took a few heartbeats to simply take it in, breath deeply and sip his tea. After that, he knew that reality intruded and there was little time to spare cooling ones heels. He closed his eyes a moment and then frowned as he opened them again and set down the cup on the table. He meshed his hands together and steepled his index fingers, resting them on his bottom lip.

"The Mandalorian Wars despite the victory of the Republic in the end were doubtlessly a tragedy. Despite my best beliefs at the time I now find myself questioning if the Council chose correctly or if our decision really mattered at all. If we had stepped in sooner and not forced Revan to take matters into his own hands would things have been different? If we had taken greater steps to reign in one of our most promising, if rebellious students would we be having this discussion at all?"

The Coruscanti Jedi sighed and shook his head.

"The past is the past, I suppose. All that is left is to focus on the moment upon us. Now, my meditations have lead me to conclude that as awful as the Mandalorian conflict was it was simply a prelude to something more dire. Mandalore acted out of simple conquest but there is an obscuring curtain hanging over the Galaxy now, the Dark Side of the Force is on the rise again."

He untangled his hands and stroked his beard thoughtfully as he contemplated the falling droplets of the waterfall again. After another moment he turned and fixed his steely gaze on his fellow Jedi Master.

"Did you know Revan well, Master Tak? Can you venture a guess or discern from the Force what his next step or even his ultimate goal might be?"

[Master Tak]

Tak sat, slowly gesturing with his hand a polite refusal when the grand master of the Jedi order offered him tea, this was not a time for snacks. He leaned back in the stone bench, connecting his palms and intervening his fingers as he got ready to listen to the master. He could sense the master’s loss, or rather doubtfulness of his actions in the air that lingered around him and the emotions that lingered inside, of course Tak knew that Calen needed no reminding of controlling his emotions and that ultimately Calen was an intelligent and capable human being. Calen was capable of controlling the entire order while many of the councilmen were away, among them Tak had many responsibilities and always tended to those he considered more important and while running the Jedi Order was indeed very important, Calen had shown more than an incredible amount of capability in leading and controlling the order during such times.

As the Jedi Master spoke of the mandalorian wars, Tak felt himself pulled back into the battlefield of the outer rim planets where he and several other Jedi Masters stood ground against a battalion of Mandalorians, some time before the council issued and order to pull back. Mandolorians were vicious though an honorable people and they needed to be stopped; their way of life and wishes to wage war against the galaxy had proved to be insane and rather idiotic to some extent. And despite the matter that the Mandalorians were attacking and killing millions of people, capturing planets and making their way towards conquering the republic, Tak always stood firmly on the idea that the Jedi are not soldiers. The Jedi were philosophers and peacekeepers, of course Revan did a noble thing going to war against them yet at the same time, it was not the Jedi way- He waged war not peace, he did not try to seek a diplomatic solution, he saw that the mandalorians were just another enemy in his way and he dealt with them in a hideous and dark fashion, which represented badly both on him and the Jedi Order.

Tak did not speak immediately once the master paused, he allowed him to continue on a short speech about the past, to which Tak nodded slowly once he mentioned the dark side of the force and upon him finish to speak, Tak took a second to inhale some air as he released a few grunts and growls, low pitched, honoring the serenity of the Thousand fountains ”Revan rushed into action, without thinking of the consequences that his actions lead to, his actions were not the way of the Jedi- we are not soldiers…”

[/color] he paused for a brief moment, the youth of today did not realize the Jedi were philosophers and keepers of peace and sought to fight and find new adventures, it worried him to some extent, he continued ”Of course, he defeated them, but what made him different from them? The boy we once knew was gone, he had fallen to the darkness, the same darkness that lead him to the unknown regions. I do not know what he found there, but you can sense it too, the Dark Side surrounds the galaxy.”[/color] it finally brought the wookiee to his point, which he was trying to reach by going through revan.

”The Dark side has returned to the galaxy after a long time, Revan fueled by his own anger and fears has returned and what he plans to do remains a mystery to us, but we must be mindful of the living force and of the future- our actions with decide what it will be”[/color] came a long pause during which the Jedi Master asked him if he knew Revan well. ”I knew him as I know any Jedi- he was my student, just as you were once too.”[/color] he stroked his chin with his left hand once as if trying to recall everything about Revan and quickly he responded ”He was a good lightsaber duelist, but nothing you’d consider great or incredible, while abed with one saber, he was quite skilled in the dual style of Jar’kai”[/color] but slowly the master shook his head ”Yet, the saber was not where his abilities laid- he was smart, a good leader and charismatic, he was a good tactician who always seemed to fight in a duel with a head on his shoulders, he was a powerful force user, though he always lacked the experience which is gained through decades of fighting and studying to truly display what he could do”[/color]

The wookiee closed his eyes for a moment ”I can feel him even now, he goes through the galaxy and while I do not know what his actions are, what his motivations are I do know that he has much anger within him, much of the dark side has tainted him and I regret to say that he is on our doorstep…”[/color]

The master gulped ”Though I regret saying this, Revan has returned fueled by a wish to destroy the republic and the Jedi and to return control to the Sith, that we cannot allow.”[/color] Tak looked directly into the eyes of his old friend Calen ”We have received reports about him appearing with a ship all around the galaxy, most recent of them are those that he is flying towards a certain sector… I feel he is going towards Alderaan- a strike team we must send.”[/color] though the Jedi were not soldiers, this was their battle to fight, they were the protectors of peace in the galaxy, the defenders of light and justice and those who battled the darkness of the sith.
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