Masters 1

36 ABY

Rey watched the old man across the bar, he was with a female Chiss and a Mandalorian. She'd been going through Luke and Leia's notes, where she found mention of things called Holocrons, as well as a Jedi Master who had mastered all forms of lightsaber combat.

"Is that him?" Asked Poe, making Rey look at him.

"I think so." Answered Rey, as the Chiss started to walk towards them, "Kriff."

Rey looked down and saw a metal tube roughly two foot in length. The Chiss eyed them, before addressing Rey, "Where's your master?"

Rey jerked back, "What?"

"You're master," repeated the Chiss, folding her arms across her chest, "The one who's training you."

Rey paused, "I'm a master actually." Rey scolded herself at how petulant she sounded.

The Chiss laughed, "You're the age of a Padawan, unless you're from an ageless species."

"That's enough, Athena." Said the old man, dropping into the seat across from Rey, "Although, she does have a point."

"I completed my training-" The man waved his hand, frowning at her.

"I know who you are, Rey." Said the man, giving her a piercing look, "I know your origins, your trials and your accomplishments."

The man leaned back, "I also know, you can barely use a lightsaber."

Rey opened her mouth, indignant, but the man raised his hand to stop her, "However, I am willing to train you on that front."

Rey leaned back in her seat, as the man looked around the bar and gave a piercing whistle. Over half the occupants got up and left, before the man looked back at her.

"Luke wasn't the only one to survive Kylo Ren." Said the man, as he got to his feet, "However, the others of us that survived opted to rebuild our Order."

Rey's jaw dropped, as the man gestured for her to follow him, "There are a number of force sensitives that you plan on training, correct?"

Rey nodded, as the man led her out of the bar.

"By the way," Said the man, "My name's Ezra."

"Rey," Responded Rey, automatically, "but, you already knew that."

Ezra chuckled, "You remind me of my daughter."

Rey didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"May I see your lightsaber?" Asked Ezra, glancing at her.

Rey held the lightsaber out, watching Ezra examine it.

"You made it out of a quarter staff you had?" Questioned Ezra, stopping at a door, as Rey nodded, "It seems you've added a locking mechanism to it, I assuming so it can become a lightsaber pike?"

Rey frowned, getting a hum from the man. He ignited the blade, carefully watching the blade.

"Where did you get the crystal?" Asked Ezra, not looking at her.

"A cave on Ahch-To." Answered Rey, as Ezra deactivated her lightsaber and handed it back to her.

"Impressive," Said Ezra, as he led them through the door they'd stopped at, "you'll have to forgive us for not coming to Crait, and our minor presence at Exegol, we were dealing with a few issues."

Rey saw various helmets decorating the walls, as well as a group of people carefully watching her.

"With the death of Grandmaster Tano," Continued Ezra, "we've been attempting to select a replacement. Luke forfeited the title when he left after the temple on Ossus was destroyed."

"Ezra," Said a woman with oddly dyed hair, "Who's this?"

"Rey, Jedi Knight," Ezra gestured to Rey and then to the woman, "meet Sabine Wren, head of security."

"So, this is the child that Palpatine clone had." Murmured Sabine, before looking at Ezra, "Master Kestis said he needs you in the archives."

Ezra nodded, glancing around, "I'm assuming Masters Marek and Jade are heading the classes."

Sabine nodded, "Jacen's also looking for you."

Ezra quietly nodded, before walking towards a doorway. Rey looked around, this temple was disguised as an office building and, instead of going upwards, they tunnelled down underneath themselves.

She quickly followed after Ezra, leaving Sabine shaking her head, as some of the Jedi from the bar entered the temple, including the Mandalorian and the Chiss.

M

Rey silently watched Ezra talk to a man with green hair, a man around Ezra's age sat frowning at a data pad. He flicked through the contents of a data pad, before glancing up Ezra, "Who's the Padawan?"

"This is Rey," Answered Ezra, glancing at Rey, "you know who she is."

The man frowned, before nodding and going back to his data pad.

"Who's he?" Asked Rey, making Ezra sigh.

"This is Jedi Master Kyle Katarn," Explained Ezra, "He's currently recovering from a mission gone wrong."

"That Acklay had it coming." Mutter Kyle, as Ezra continued his conversation with Jacen, "Skywalker's going to be coming back today."

Rey's eyes snapped to Katarn, "Skywalker?"

"Luke's son." Answered Ezra, turning to face Rey, "After Kylo Ren destroyed the temple of Ossus, we were presumed dead and, when no one came for us, we went into hiding."

"We've been rebuilding the Order," Said Katarn, getting up, "slowly, but progress is progress."

Rey looked around the room, noting the number of data pads and glowing cubes and pyramids. Ezra followed her gaze, "Don't touch those, Master Kestis tends to get a bit touchy if someone touches the ancient artefacts without supervision."

"I heard that." Came a voice from the other side of the archives.

Ezra let out a chuckle, before looking at Jacen, "Thank you for your report, hopefully the Senate will allow us to go into the temple ruins and salvage what remains of the archive there."

Jacen nodded and turned to leave, getting a sigh from Ezra, "Jacen," He called, "your parents would be proud of you."

Jacen gave a hesitant smile, before leaving. Rey heard Ezra sigh again, before his comm beeped. Checking it, Ezra smiled, "Galen and Mara are free now, I'll arrange a council meeting."

Kyle nodded, before getting to his feet, "I'll spread the word."

Ezra then looked at Rey, "Come, it'll do you some good."

Rey gave a hesitant nod, making Ezra's smile wider.

M

Rey looked around the room, a woman with red hair and a man with a buzz cut appeared as holograms, Master Katarn was talking to a man with reddish-white hair, Ezra told her he was Master Kestis, Sabine Wren was quietly conversing with the Chiss from the bar, Athena, Ezra and a master Hati were discussing training regimes for the students. A Wookie Jedi Master was talking to a Master Horn and Master Leonis. There was an empty chair next to master Marek, which none of the Masters were looking at.

Ezra glanced around, ending his conversation with Master Hati, "Right, we're going to have to address the Bantha in the room, who are we going to select as the new Grandmaster of the Order?"

The room went silent almost immediately, before Marek spoke, "Master Gungi is the eldest in the order, excluding Grogu."

The Wookie looked at Galen, [I doubt I'm the best choice for that role.]

"I'm inclined to agree with Master Marek," Said Master Leonis, "Not only are you the eldest Jedi in the order, you are also the only one of us who're from before the rise of the Empire."

"While that may be true," Said Athena, looking around, "Master Gungi may not be best suited for the role of Grandmaster. No offense."

[None taken.] Roared Gungi, as Ezra frowned.

"Galen, you're Master of the Order." Said Ezra, "The two roles have been merged before."

"I spend most of my time away from the Temple." Cut in Galen, waving his hand, "You and Kyle are both Battle masters, maybe one of you could take up the mantle."

"That still doesn't fix our other issue." Said the woman with red hair, looking around, "If one of us is to become Grandmaster, we'd still need to select a master to join the council."

Kyle frowned, "Haa-Ri is currently heading the healers being train on Polis Massa."

"He is also freshly knighted." Objected Master Leonis, before her gaze fell on Rey, "We also have to take our newest arrival into account."

The other Jedi all looked at Rey, making Ezra sigh, "I don't know why she came here, but she's under the impression she's a Master."

"She did kill Darth Sidious." Mused Master Kestis, getting an eyeroll from Master Jade.

"As did Vader and Luke."

Ezra quietly watched Rey, frowning, "Her skills with a lightsaber are laughable, at best, but she has a good mastery over the force."

Before anyone could respond to Ezra, the door to the council room beeped. Ezra sighed, "That'll probably be Skywalker." He looked at Rey, "You'll have to leave us for a moment, so we can focus on Skywalker's report."

Rey didn't need the force to tell they weren't going to take no for an answer, "Yes, masters."

Turning on her heel, Rey walked towards the door, just as a man who looked like a younger version of Luke walked it. Giving Rey a brief nod, he continued to the centre of the room.

"Masters." Bowed the man, as the door shut behind Rey.

"Anakin." Nodded Ezra, leaning forwards, "What's the news from the Senate?"

"Obi and Dala are still on Coruscant," Said Anakin, his hand clasped in front of him, "Obi thinks he can convince them into allowing us reinhabit it in the long term."

"The temple on Coruscant does have many advantages that the other temples don't." Said Galen, his hologram flickering, "Larger living areas for one."

"It also fell with next to no resistance." Said Mara, looking at the other masters.

"That could be down to the Inquisitors and other Sith agents that were in the Temple." Objected Cal, leaning back in his chair, "But, if we were to relocate to there, we'd have to expediate the expansions of Corps."

"That won't be too difficult," Dismissed Kyle, "We can employ displaced farmers, both to have a professional to oversee thing and to supplement our numbers in the Agricultural corps."

"And we can adequately fill the other branches of the service corps." Agreed Ezra, looking at Anakin, "There's something else, isn't there?"

Anakin glanced around, "I came across a pair of force-sensitive children on the planet Stewjon."

Cal frowned, "What are their names?"

"Allie and Kallum Kenobi."

The Council member glanced around, "I assume," Said Mara, "they're a relation of the late Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"Their mother is his great-niece, Masters." Responded Anakin, "I've spoken to their parents and they have agreed for them to be taken for training."

Cal nodded, glancing at Ezra, "What is Dala doing?"

"She left Coruscant to search for a planet with an abundance of Kyber crystals." Answered Anakin, "Since Starkiller Base was built into Ilum and the Resistance blew it up."

Ezra sighed, silently cursing the Empire and the Sith for the shortage in Kyber crystals. Hopefully, the twelve remaining Kyber crystal planets would still be somewhat plentiful.

"Thank you, Anakin," Said Mara, jerking Ezra out of his thoughts, "We'll go over your report in detail. You're dismissed."

Anakin bowed and walked out of the room. Ezra let out a sigh, before looking around, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm starting to feel old."

Dhara looked at the chrono and sighed, "We might as well finish for tonight, and submit council recommendations in the morning."

There was a general murmur of agreement, as each council member got up and headed for the door. Ezra glanced at Ahsoka's empty seat, he sighed and continued on his way. Since the loss of Luke's students, their new Jedi Order had around 500 members and, with what little hope they still had, they may be able to rebuild the Order back to the strength they had before the Clone War.

Running a hand over his face, Ezra looked out the window. He could see his old Tower, now primarily used as a Jedi Outpost. He groaned as he felt a slight pain in his chest, before he turned towards the turbolift. Ezra hoped that Rey was fully trained, they needed as many teachers as they could.

M

Ezra winced as he stepped out into the sun, he spotted Rey watching Anakin and Mina spar, she looked like she was trying to copy them discretely. Ezra let out a laugh, before walking up to her.

"You don't need to spy on them," Chuckled Ezra, grabbing his lightsaber, "it does have a training setting, right?"

Rey nodded, igniting her lightsaber, with Ezra igniting his in return, the purple blade pointed towards the ground.

"We'll start with the basics, Form 1." Ezra raised his blade, with Rey copying him.

Finn looked around at the other Jedi, a Twi-Lek led some children through some exercises, while a Kel-Dor guided some older students around the archives.

"You should probably close your mouth before something flies into it." Quipped a Kiffar, smirking at Finn.

He quickly closed his mouth, getting a laugh from the Kiffar.

"Name's Korto," he held his hand out to Finn, "The council asked me to lead you through some basic training."

Finn nodded, allowing Korto to guide him through the temple's halls.

Rey ducked under Ezra's blade, he'd progressed to Form III, she felt her arms start to ache, sweat started to run down her face. She faltered, and Ezra twisted her lightsaber from her hand. The hilt hit the floor and Ezra chuckled.

"You're progressing well," Said Ezra, deactivating his lightsaber, "if you keep practicing this in your own time, you'll fully be worthy of the title of Knight."

Rey breathed heavily, looking around, their lesson had drawn a lot of attention, Ezra looked around, "Don't you all have somewhere to be?"

In a flurry of movement, the Jedi dispersed, leaving Ezra and Rey with Anakin and Mina. Anakin let out a low whistle, "You never gave me that sort of praise."

"Because you were trained amongst us, not in the wilds of space."

Mina let out a snort, the Togruta covered her mouth in an attempt to conceal her laughter. Anakin threw her a dirty look, before looking at Rey.

"You've been calling yourself 'Skywalker'." Said Anakin, glaring at Rey, "Why?"

"Luke and Leia said I could." Answered Rey, getting a sigh from Ezra.

"It's getting late," Said the Jedi Master, looking around at them, "we'll continue this in the morning."

Ezra turned and started to leave, "Some sleep will do us all good."