The Wolf Pack

Chapter 39

Jedi Master Mace Windu had met his fair share of idealists in the Order. It was the nature of the organization that made it that way. A spiritual place guided by the light side of the force was meant to breed not only idealists, but also optimists and hopeless romantics: There were more Jedi wearing rose colored glasses than there were realists, and that had always been the truth of the Jedi.

What he saw now in front of him was no child. Kriari Foreas was no optimist, no romantic, no light and love Jedi. The fire burning in her eyes was too bright, too visible, too obviously abrasive to be anything other than willpower. Whether that will was the will of the force or not remained to be seen. She had stood there, in the middle of the council chamber and accused them of lying to the entire order, to the entire galaxy. She stood straight as a soldier, immovable as a temple, furious and dangerous as Tatooine's worst sandstorm.

And she was right.

Her every word cut through the heart of every council member. Padawan to one of the Jedi's best negotiators, Kriari Foreas made the Jedi council bleed with words sharp as blades and truth.

Only truth.

"The entire galaxy looks to this temple for guidance, for support, for protection. Be it physical, spiritual or emotional. The Jedi, detached as we must remain, are the galaxy's hope and guiding light. Are you not ashamed of yourselves? We claim to be unattached to the material world yet we stand above every living being comfortable in our privilege and buy slaves to fight our wars," Mace Windu could not interrupt her. "This council has not only violated the Clones' rights by buying them, but you have also watched as they endured training that took the lives of thousands of them; you watched as they lived, breathed, fought and died for us and turned a blind eye when they were no longer of use to you. And as if that wasn't enough, you hid it from the galaxy, you hid it from the Order. You did this all in silence because you knew it was wrong and you did it anyway."

Master Windu watched as his fellow council member Ki-Adi Mundi attempted to save their dignity. Even when it had all been long gone.

"And what would you have had us do, Child? Fight ourselves? Outnumbered, outgunned and unmanned?"

Kriari's fury turned to Master Mundi full force. It had not been the right choice to draw attention to himself.

"Are you telling me, Master Mundi that a conscription army could not have been formed? Are you telling me that you would rather hide behind the Clone army's helmets and preserve your own life at the cost of theirs? Are you telling me our freedom is more important than theirs just because we were not biologically engineered?" Kriari Foreas' yellow eyes shone with the brightness of the two suns of her home system. "Are you telling me, Master Mundi, that your life is worth more than theirs?"

The silence in the Council chamber was deafening. No one dared contradict her, for she was now the vessel with which the Force was evening the scales out. Judgement had come, and it had arrived sooner than any of them expected.

"I do not stand here today to bargain. I stand here before the Jedi Council to demand that the production of clones be stopped, and the gaps in manpower be filled by conscripted soldiers from the systems that belong to the Republic. I stand here to demand that the Clones be given full rights of sentient beings under the laws of the Galactic Republic, that they are given free will to choose whether they want to keep fighting for a system that has used them or not, and to make sure changes are made to the training programs on Kamino."

Master Ki-Adi Mundi chuckled and shook his head. He might have looked amused, but every Master in the room could feel his unease, his offense, his resentment at being called out by someone who's lifespan was not half the time he'd spent in the Jedi Order. But no-one shared his resentment, the only feeling Master Windu could certainly say prevailed in the room was shame.

"You make such demands, child, but what do you have in exchange for these conditions other than your will."

Mace Windu wondered why Master Yoda had yet to say something.

"It should never come to this, Master, a sentient being's life and rights should not be paid for, but if I must, I will expose the Jedi Council to the Galaxy like I just did to the entire Order."

...

Ahsoka's hands covered her face as she heard the hologram playing in every corner of the Temple. Kriari had managed to sneak a holocomm into the Council chamber and send the live signal to every device within the Jedi temple.

There was no hiding the truth anymore.

Around Ahsoka, reactions were vastly different. Some fell to their knees as they realized what had happened, what they had done, what they had, deep down, known all along they were doing. Some crushed their comms with the aid of the Force and sent the pieces flying. Others stayed silent, and were waiting for any Master other than Ki-Adi to say anything.

"You threaten us, child?"

Stop.

"You believe that merely stepping in here, throwing accusations at us with no proof and threatening to expose us will be enough to get what you want?"

Shut up.

"I don't need proof. I have fought with the clones, I have eaten, laughed, cried, sweated with them. I have been wounded trying to protect them, I have healed alongside them. I have been to war and come back with less allies than I set off with. I have made friends and I have lost them,"

Please, don't take her away too.

"I need no proof, Master Mundi. Not when the war is out there and all of you are in here."

There was a deep silence. Master Ki-Adi Mundi had nothing to say to that. But the voice that everyone had been hoping to hear, finally spoke up.

"If so discontent with the Jedi you are, Why left haven't you?"

There was no malice or contempt in Yoda's voice, only a calm curiosity for something that did not make sense to him then.

"Because unlike many of you I am willing to use my privilege to help others instead of keeping it to myself."

Ahsoka wasn't sure if she was proud or angry at Kriari. What was she thinking? Talking to the Masters like that? Threatening to expose every single one of them. But she decided it didn't matter. Kriari was right, it didn't take a genius to see it. Force, they had all been struggling with the morals behind the war and how they clashed with the way of the Jedi, with a path guided by the Force.

But Ahsoka, at thirteen was dead certain about one thing: She would follow Kriari anywhere. She would follow her because she knew Kriari would always let herself be guided by the Force, even if that path made her part ways with the Order. Ahsoka vowed to herself that day, that she would reserve her trust for a chosen few and the Force, the rest would have to earn it.