CH-17

"Most disturbing, this is." Yoda said, his taloned finger stroking his chin slowly. The diminutive Jedi Grand Master remained seated in his chair, one hand holding a twisted cane. Yoda was small and a pale green, his wrinkled visage giving some insight into the great age of the powerful being.

"'Disturbing'? That's all you can say about this?" demanded an absolutely irate Anakin Skywalker as he actually paced the chamber. The dark Jedi robes of the human billowed as he turned to pace back the other way. One of the most publicly recognizable Jedi in the ongoing Clone War, Anakin's dark hair brushed his shoulders as he turned. The man was classically handsome with an intense look on his face, marred only by a scar over his eye.

"My Padawan, who was railroaded out of the Order, nearly put to death while you all did nothing, is now running around with some Force-Using Bounty Hunter, after these two… threatened to throw her into prison again...?" He broke off not wanting to go quite as far as blatantly insulting the two masters, before he finished his statement, no less irate than he started.

"And all you can say is this is 'Disturbing'?" Anakin clenched his fists at his side to keep from throwing his hands in the air in disgust.

"Calm yourself, Anakin. Losing control at the moment will not help us to determine a course of action to take regarding this," came the cultured and soothing tone of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He sat rigidly in his chair, the bearded Jedi Master watched Anakin move with concern on his face. It was time like this when Anakin's emotions were so close to the surface that Obi-Wan was truly concerned about his padawan. "I myself share your… concerns, but we need to deal with the issue before us first."

"Nothing direct can we do," said Master Yoda. "Highly embarrassing, this trial has been for the Jedi Council more so than even the military or government."

"This holovid would be even more embarrassing if it were released to public," added Plo Kloon. "Outright damaging to the Order, in fact." He clarified needlessly. The Kel Dor Jedi spoke quietly. His head was bowed as his words came out through the antiox breath mask he wore. The mask added a deeper tone to the Jedi Master's voice.

Several other Jedi Master's looked at him with concern. He had been incredibly quiet since Ahsoka Tano had walked away from the Order. Several knew how close the two were, and thought the Jedi Master was blaming himself for his devotion to justice and how it blinded him that he knew Ahsoka better than any other Jedi save her Master, who believed her innocent. He was blaming himself for his lack of faith in her. He knew Ahsoka, who he affectionately referred to as 'Little Soka' would never murder in cold blood. The mechanical goggles that protected his eyes also prevented anyone from being able to tell what was going on in his head.

"The public is already wary of us having an excessive amount of power and influence due to our wartime roles," said a holoprojection of Mace Windu, who was already enroute to his next mission aboard one of their fleets. The bald and dark skinned Jedi master spoke bluntly to the people there as was in his nature.

"Outright abuse of power like this," he continued as he stared down Ki-Adi-Mundi as the cone-headed master fidgeted a little in a chair amongst the rest of the council, "Could give the Senate reason to introduce sanctions that would make the Ruusan Reformation look like a scolding meant for a naughty youngling."

Ki-Adi-Mundi shifted uncomfortably in his seat while aware that his companion in that afternoon's events was getting equally unpleasant glares from other Jedi Masters. Unlike Ki-Adi-Mundi however, he did not have a seat on the council, so Master Tre'jin was forced to merely stand there. Even over a holocom transmission, the image of Master Windu looked especially thunderous.

"Where did the transmission containing this holovid originate from?" asked Plo Kloon, his tone still quiet.

Obi-Wan was quickly flicking through information on a datapad as he spoke up almost absently. "It came from a freighter here on Coruscant just before it entered Hyperspace. The problem is, the freighter took off from a landing bay approximately 3,500 km from the walkway where Ahsoka and this stranger disappeared from. That is not enough time for any known suborbital craft in the immediate area to traverse that distance, so they must have transferred the recording to the pilot of that ship in an effort to throw us off if we decided to continue hunting them."

"Which means they're both likely still planetside then," finished Anakin with a nod as he spun without hesitation and began to walk away.

"Where are you going, Anakin?" Obi-Wan called out to his former apprentice, a note of concern in his voice. He was well aware that Anakin could be impetuous and given the volatile nature of the circumstances he was justifiably concerned.

"To find my Padawan before you all make up another reason to try and kill her..." Anakin shot back over his shoulder at the Masters in the room.

Before Obi-Wan could tell Anakin to wait, two more presences appeared via Holoprojection, over respective chairs as Masters Aayla Secura and Shaak Ti joined the conference. The Twi'lek and Togruta Jedi Masters' images hovering into view. In the distraction of their appearance, Anakin made his way out of the room and through doors that quickly closed behind him.

"What is the emergency we were summoned for?" asked Shaak Ti, she had been in meditation away from her troops and it had taken awhile for the message to reach her. The Togruta Jedi Master's voice was flat. Her robes gathered around her as she sat cross-legged facing the holocom. Her black and white striped lekku hung down over her chest, while her montrals protruded upward like horns.

"Does it have to do with how we will try to combat the effects that Padawan Tano's sham trial will have on the public's perception of our Order?" asked Aayla Secura, who was well known to have worked often with Ahsoka, and looked none too pleased as to what had happened. Nor was she shy about making her feelings known. The blue-skinned Jedi Master was not on the High Council, but as one of the more prominent and decorated generals in the war, as well as being in charge of a highly successful fleet of troops, so was often included in large scale discussions.

"Or how our own members now look at members of the Council with doubt after they viewed the ineptitude of our leadership," added Shaak Ti, causing several masters to look at her in surprise.

Usually more stoic and quiet regarding her thoughts and opinions, it was clear she was in complete agreement with both Anakin and Aayla regarding the treatment of Ahsoka Tano. None of them were pleased with the actions of the Jedi Council

Mace Windu replied curtly, "We're sending you a data packet now. Please review the video and the information included before you ask any additional questions."

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