Padawan Ben Khal walked into the Council chamber, shoulders hunched and head hung low. He stopped in the center of the circular room, his adolescent figure surrounded by the seated Councilors, awaiting their judgment.
Dark circles created sleepless shadows around his blue eyes. He hadn’t been able to rest last night. Not just because of what awaited him in the morning, but because he’d had an unexpected meeting before bed…
His master had asked to see him. Ben almost didn’t go, but something compelled him to walk to the detention center where Oukranos was being held. He stood on the other side of the energy field, peering inside the narrow cell, and waited.
Oukranos was kneeling on the floor, meditating. He opened his eyes, looked up at Ben, and said, “I am sorry.”
His apprentice released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Sorry for what?” he asked.
“That it came to this.” Oukranos slowly rose to his feet. He wore a simple tunic, plain clothes without adornment. They had taken away his lightsaber, his belt, his connection to the Force.
Ben still had everything. They let him go to classes and train and sleep in his own bed. He’d been told the Council would go easy on him because of his age. He was a promising young Jedi, just starting out. The youth are more prone to mistakes borne of inexperience. With age comes wisdom. But Oukranos was a Master. He was held to a higher standard—which made his actions all the worse.
They will judge him harshly, he thought in the present, looking around at the Councilors seated in their chairs. Oukranos would be presented to the Council after him. He was going first.
Back in the holding cell, Ben didn’t know how to feel. Relief? Shame? Anger? Sadness? He’d been numb since the civil war started. “I am sorry too,” he muttered. What use is saying you’re sorry now? he wanted to ask.
Oukranos bowed his head. “It seems to me that we both realized something about ourselves on Hapes. We each made different choices, but the conclusion was the same. Both of us decided that doing what we felt was right mattered more to us than being good Jedi.”
Ben said nothing. In the Council Hall, his hands had begun to shake.
“That is why I intend to take the Barash,” Oukranos had continued. “Self-exile to my homeworld. I’ve already discussed it with Kass. She wants to go with me and establish that enclave we keep talking about.”
Through the observation window Ben could see his master’s wife watching, alongside two sons and a daughter who had traveled from afar so that the whole family would be together. He watched them cling to each other, mother and daughter and brothers. His own parents refused to show up for the trial. Deep down, he knew they wanted him to come home.
Though Oukranos never actually said so, he knew that he was thinking you should go home too, Ben.
Would that be so bad? His mother would get to work trying to marry him off to some rich and powerful woman. But he'd be hailed as a hero, the only Jedi who fought for the Consortium. Or perhaps not, given it was the same Consortium that turned its guns on its own people. Not that he cared about glory. More than anything else, he wanted to be there to help Hapes rebuild. Let the Jedi worry about the rest of the galaxy.
Before the Councilors could cast their judgement, he lifted his chin and said, “I will take the Barash.”
Dark circles created sleepless shadows around his blue eyes. He hadn’t been able to rest last night. Not just because of what awaited him in the morning, but because he’d had an unexpected meeting before bed…
His master had asked to see him. Ben almost didn’t go, but something compelled him to walk to the detention center where Oukranos was being held. He stood on the other side of the energy field, peering inside the narrow cell, and waited.
Oukranos was kneeling on the floor, meditating. He opened his eyes, looked up at Ben, and said, “I am sorry.”
His apprentice released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Sorry for what?” he asked.
“That it came to this.” Oukranos slowly rose to his feet. He wore a simple tunic, plain clothes without adornment. They had taken away his lightsaber, his belt, his connection to the Force.
Ben still had everything. They let him go to classes and train and sleep in his own bed. He’d been told the Council would go easy on him because of his age. He was a promising young Jedi, just starting out. The youth are more prone to mistakes borne of inexperience. With age comes wisdom. But Oukranos was a Master. He was held to a higher standard—which made his actions all the worse.
They will judge him harshly, he thought in the present, looking around at the Councilors seated in their chairs. Oukranos would be presented to the Council after him. He was going first.
Back in the holding cell, Ben didn’t know how to feel. Relief? Shame? Anger? Sadness? He’d been numb since the civil war started. “I am sorry too,” he muttered. What use is saying you’re sorry now? he wanted to ask.
Oukranos bowed his head. “It seems to me that we both realized something about ourselves on Hapes. We each made different choices, but the conclusion was the same. Both of us decided that doing what we felt was right mattered more to us than being good Jedi.”
Ben said nothing. In the Council Hall, his hands had begun to shake.
“That is why I intend to take the Barash,” Oukranos had continued. “Self-exile to my homeworld. I’ve already discussed it with Kass. She wants to go with me and establish that enclave we keep talking about.”
Through the observation window Ben could see his master’s wife watching, alongside two sons and a daughter who had traveled from afar so that the whole family would be together. He watched them cling to each other, mother and daughter and brothers. His own parents refused to show up for the trial. Deep down, he knew they wanted him to come home.
Though Oukranos never actually said so, he knew that he was thinking you should go home too, Ben.
Would that be so bad? His mother would get to work trying to marry him off to some rich and powerful woman. But he'd be hailed as a hero, the only Jedi who fought for the Consortium. Or perhaps not, given it was the same Consortium that turned its guns on its own people. Not that he cared about glory. More than anything else, he wanted to be there to help Hapes rebuild. Let the Jedi worry about the rest of the galaxy.
Before the Councilors could cast their judgement, he lifted his chin and said, “I will take the Barash.”
