A whisper in the Dark Side tugged at Dooku, and he was almost tempted to follow it then and there. Sidious wanted to speak with him, and was calling him away from the Jedi Temple. Whatever he had to say would surely be less painful to hear than to sit with the blasted Jedi Council.
With the funeral due to start in a few hours, Dooku had made the mistake of going to speak to them while they were together. Individually, he got along well with many of them, but as a group they were prone to posturing.
He had hoped to persuade them on the necessity of sparing a few Jedi Masters to the New Temple, just until some of his knights were ready to be promoted, but instead Dooku had been lectured for the better part of an hour by the self satisfied fools. They sat there in a circle around him, questioning him in faux neutral tones about if Ky Narec was truly ready for his promotion..
Outnumbered twelve to one, Dooku had only repeated his answers a few times, before he outright refused to take the same question twice. In his mind he agreed, Ky Narec's dueling skills weren't quite at a level Dooku would accept in a Master yet, and he was internally conflicted enough that his connection to the force wasn't as strong as it could be. If Dooku were still on the Jedi Council, he would have been against Narec's promotion.
Now that he was trying to run his own Temple, he saw things differently. Narec was a skilled leader and teacher, and had a genuine rapport with the other Knights. Dooku needed another Master to help him run the New Temple, Narec was the best option. So be it.
"Narec is a worthy Jedi Master." Dooku had to stop himself from growling out each word, lest his frustration show itself. "And if you wish to see his work, I invite you to come visit Indinor yourself."
Twelve pairs of eyes stared at him from all sides, and though they tried to hide it, Dooku was sure many of them were just as frustrated as he was. Yoda hadn't said a word for the entire interrogation, even though he had to know some of what Dooku was struggling with. At least Yaddle looked somewhat sympathetic to him, while Windu remained unreadable as always.
The Council was not a monolith, it never had been. Jedi had different beliefs and interpretations of the Code, and this resulted in loose factions that occasionally disagreed on what should be done and who could be trusted with what role.
They weren't anything as formal as a political party, but loosely the groups could be described as the Orthodox and the Unorthodox. The former were concerned with the spiritual wellbeing of the Jedi, and felt that too much involvement with the affairs of the Republic was corrupting, and the latter felt that the primary role of the Jedi was to serve the Republic, and desired to take a more active role outside the Temple.
Many considered Dooku to lean towards the Unorthodox, though his views were more nuanced than that. For one thing, he agreed that the Jedi should be more active than the Orthodox would like, but he disagreed that the Jedi should be more involved with the Republic, because it was a source of corruption.
As far as Dooku was concerned, there should be a team of Jedi working all hours to influence the Senate like the corporate lobbyists did. They could use as many mind tricks as it took to make that collection of absolute fools do some actual good for once. The average senator was deeply mediocre, and should never have been trusted to vote for anything in the first place, anyway. Of what worth was the free will of another fat, self-serving career politician?
Better to influence the senate, than be influenced by it. Dooku had seen more than one disaster unfold thanks to some fool's ambitions.
Of course, voicing this view in the first place was part of what got Dooku kicked off the Jedi Council, even though he spoke it half in jest. These days he didn't think of it as a joke at all.
His patience fully gone, Dooku didn't even wait for the Council's reply after the chamber was silent for a few moments.
"I see that you will not help me grow the New Temple, and I will not demote Narec." Dooku turned to leave. "So be it."
"There is one more thing we wanted to discuss." Mace spoke up. "In regards to Master Sifo's passing."
"Have you discovered the assassin?" Dooku asked.
"No, but the Council is concerned by Sifo's presence on Raxus at the time of his death, Dooku." Mace leaned forward slightly. "The Council is… confused, by the reason for him being there."
"You have all read the report?" Dooku asked, ready to dismiss the whole thing. Prialla was part of the team and had shared it with him. "Sifo was helping me to refurbish some ships."
"Your world is not supposed to be purchasing military vessels, Dooku."
"A fine thing then that I'm repairing ones that I already own."
"That's the letter of the law, not the spirit of it." Yaddle chided.
"Yes, well if the spirit of the law mattered at all I'm sure the Galaxy would be much better for it. For now, my people need safety and I am providing it." Dooku replied. "Is that all?"
"Why was Sifo doing the inspection for you?" Plo Kloon pressed. "It would have been more appropriate for a representative of your house to go instead."
"Sifo was the one who suggested going to Raxus." Dooku said, jaw tightening at the implication. "He was even the one who found the ships in the archives, and contracted the engineer. I merely let him to do as he willed."
"No one here is suggesting you had a hand in his death." Yaddle assured him. "But the New Temple isn't a tool of House Serenno. We are concerned that you are allowing your private interests to interfere with Jedi business."
"Count of Serenno, Grandmaster of the New Temple." Windu added. "You have conflicting responsibilities."
"Yes, much like serving the people of the Republic and the Senate?"
"The Senate represents the people." Mace replied.
Dooku scoffed openly at that.
"The point is the Council feels a mistake was made, and wants to ensure it is not repeated." Ki Adi said.
"Well, the New Temple appreciates the Council's concerns, and will give them the full weight they're due." Dooku replied, curtly. "Will that be all?"
When the room was silent, Dooku left without another word, fuming. He rode the lift down to the main hall alone, stewing inside himself.
How dare they try to lecture him over Sifo's fate after all their failures. A mistake they called it? Of course they were all too happy to overlook their own shortcomings after Galidraan, repeating those mistakes a dozen times over. Master Katri didn't have to die, and they wouldn't have even realized who murdered her if he hadn't stepped in. They didn't want to change, they were far too comfortable.
How many times had the so-called wise Council send Jedi to their dooms? They had the gall to lecture him when he had done it but once.
He stood there in place, unmoving as the lift doors slid open.
He hadn't wanted Sifo to die. He even tried to avoid it for as long as possible, but in the end Sidious had demanded it and he'd relented. Dooku had even met the assassin in private. Sifo, a brother in all but blood who Dooku had known since they were just boys, had been killed with Dooku's blessings.
Sifo had never questioned it. The man was faithful to the end, too faithful. He placed his trust in the Republic, in prophecy, and in the Jedi Council. All of them had betrayed him in the end. Most deserving of the blame would be Dooku himself. He may not have been the one to do the deed, but he might as well might have had.
Having stood there for too long, the elevator door timed out and closed in front of Dooku's face, his expression reflected back at him in its foggy surface. Was he angry? Tired? Was this guilt he was feeling?
"Foolish." Shaking his head, Dooku pressed the button to open the doors again. He strode out into the Jedi Temple, and resolved to ignore that seduction of the Dark Side. Whatever Sidious wanted could wait.
...
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