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					[color=ec008c][b][u][i]Yavin IV: Jedi Temple[/i][/u][/b][/color]

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK7kmRNfi4s]The First Council[/url]


[@Lotrix Molick][@Piercing Light]


"Y'know? I don't even think we have coffers at the moment" Mara muttered making a melodramatic disappointed sigh before she broke contact with the Felinoid and walked forward towards Luke. The stair wars taking a sort of pale blue color as sensors ignited the wall lights that clung to the ancient stone in place of the torches that would have given off a pale light in their time. "Hamner, tell me you're not funding us" Mara queried back giving the man an impish grin. She knew the man was a master at logistics but he lacked the average quartermaster's appetite for graft which made her wonder just how much of the family fortune he burned through amassing his collection of Jedi artifacts (unless he pillaged for that, then maybe she had underestimated the book keeper who looked like he belonged in an action holo about the old Jedi Order). Hamner for his part let out a raspy laugh "I'm rich but I'm not that rich, no about seventy percent of the funding is coming out of the military budget"

A sore spot for Luke he knew, feeling that the Jedi Order should have been funded by a combination of donations and the same civic budgets the New Republic operated for management and upkeep. They were servants of the denizens of the Galaxy, keepers of the peace and agents of the sort of order the force seemed to crave and the New Republic advanced but they weren't soldier's to be ordered by the Republic Joint Chiefs or the Alliance council. Garm Bel Iblis convinced him once to lie to his Knights, it would never happen again, not unless he made the call without any external pressure. "The other thirty percent?"

Hamner grinned and for a second looked like a pirate. "Why from the personal wealth of the Imperial flag officers we've captured and the Republic has tried or executed"

Luke turned giving him a stare that seemed to be a mix of shock and outrage "I thought we weren't doing that?" he asked alarmed. Hamner sighed seemingly like he shared Luke's aprehension on at least some level. "The alternative is that we're stuck between Mothma and Iblis and their war for control of the Council and the government..." He seemed to want to add more but Mara gave him a look that said the less Luke knew about their little alliance of mutual benefit with Borsk of Clan Failure (as Mara Jade disparagingly called him), the better. Thankfully, Tasaia broke up that conversation to remind them that while they all had big old Galactic concerns and someone doing the "Drunken Hutt in a titty bar" to the force every few days they had a much more pressing concern here. "She's right you know, whatever we felt coming off Coruscant made the presence here [i]angry[/i]"

"It made me angry" Hamner muttered, it had felt like blasphemy, deep down in his core. "Yeah but you're not the ghost of a dead Sith Lord for which we have no idea how to address or how powerful he or she might have been"

"Assuming it's just one" Hamner remarked eying Luke. "Do you have any notions?"

"About how to deal with it?" Luke blinked "I didn't even know what it was until Tasaia confirmed my suspicions. And it wasn't a threat before, I guess it might be now, the force feels..I don't know. Like it's waking up, ever since Palpatine's death and this? Whatever happened the other night only hastened it, but I don't think it's capable of affecting us overtly"

"Yeah but the kids? We've got some teenagers here Luke and Kale's apprentice is case study in post traumatic stress disorder in a species that isn't capable of conventional articulation" Hamner murmured, figuring it wouldn't matter since Tasaia would run into those two sooner or later and if she was to be part of this new council, she needed to know. She had a better understanding than anyone here, except maybe Luke as he didn't think Palpatine bothered to teach Mara how to handle those problems while being a force user.

Luke chuckled, understanding why he broached the topic. "I don't think she's that bad Knight Hamner, but you make a good point. I remember hearing stories as a kid about Jedi Knights of old who learned how to banish malevolent spirits, but it came from traders and even if it's not a child's fable, I'm not comfortable playing around with a soul. At least not yet, I can figure something out, but"

Jade laughed "Are we really talking about exorcisms? Even the Emperor didn't touch upon this subject, this is surreal. Are we Jedi or Pais Dei crusaders?"

"THE POWER OF THE LIGHT COMPELS YOU!" Hamner shouted only to grow suddenly silent as he realized, that might have really been a part of some ancient ritual..Since..it was part of other abilities. "Maybe we can"

Luke's comm device came on and the voice of the smuggler turned Jedi, turned one of the first members of Luke's praxeum echoed through the stairwell. For a moment he seemed about to tell Kale that it would have to wait, but to join him any way only to catch the look in Mara's eyes. "Tasaia, Kenth and myself can keep the discussion going about what to do about our local problems, we'll touch base with you when we've got a concrete plan"

"Besides, they haven't finished putting in the dehumidifiers and cooling systems, I'd much rather have this conversation outside in the open air where there's at least a breeze"

"misty as it might be" Mara added back "Surprised the Farghul here hasn't been wandering around like a furball, I've been to jungle worlds, fought in 'em but Yavin is punishing"

Rolling his eyes Luke set aside the fact that as the only person from a desert planet, he should be suffering more than everyone else but found that he rather enjoyed the climate to answer Kale. "I'll be in the reception chamber on the last level of the temple. Come find me there"

"Right then" Jade added turning to head down the stairs. "Let's go talk about how we're supposed to deal with dead people"