The Coruscant Guard
Quinlan took a deep breath as he left the Temple. Okay, time to meet his troopers. Starting with the commanders. There had been a short Council meeting to strategize on how they were going to keep everyone straight, how to filter down orders and missions, and so on. After that, a few others were going to meet the troopers they would be working with the most, so Quinlan wasn't the only one ready to get going.
It was a little strange walking through the Temple after the announcement that he was appointed to the Council. There were a lot of whispers and stares, and some congratulations. It wasn't like he was unknown, but it was unusual for someone of his age to be appointed to the Council, even if it was inevitable with his skills. It was still going to take some getting used to. He remembered how differently Qui-Gon was treated by those who didn't know him well when he agreed to the seat. Now he was dealing with it himself.
At least meeting with the commanders would be a good break from all of that. They wouldn't have prior expectations of him. They would be first meeting him as a member of the Council. There was nothing to change their opinion of him that way. While he would get used to the reactions everyone of the Order had, it would still take some getting used to. So having someone who was only ever going to know him as a member of the Council was nice.
Quinlan parked his speeder at the new Coruscant Guard headquarters, just outside the Senate Dome. He smoothed out his robes and walked over to where the four commanders were waiting, at attention with their helmets off.
“Hello,” he greeted them cheerfully. “I'm Jedi Master Quinlan Vos. Uh, wait, General Quinlan Vos. That's going to take some getting used to. I will be your general. Now, the formwork doesn't have your names, so... can you introduce yourselves?”
“I am Commander Fox.” The one that seemed to be in charge stepped forward. “I was given the position of head commander. This is Thorn, Thire, and Stone.”
“Nice to meet you. You've had some time to settle in, so why don't you give me a tour? I don't need all of you if you need to work,” he added after a moment.
Fox looked a bit annoyed but nodded curtly. He turned to the other three. “I can handle the general.”
They nodded and left.
Fox eyed the General warily, but asked the questions that had been bothering him. “We weren't supposed to get a general. Nor were we supposed to be a part of one of the system's armies. Why did they both happen?”
Quinlan grinned, stepping closer. “Why? Because I requested this posting. It wouldn't be good for me to be fighting in battles all the time, but I'm good at investigative work and the other areas the Coruscant Guard specialize in. I also think it's dumb that they weren't planning on giving you a general considering you will be interacting with regular citizens a lot and need some references from someone who knows Coruscant.”
Fox stared at him. “And why are we in the Fourth Systems Army?”
“Because I'm the High General in charge of the Fourth Systems Army, so to make it simpler the Coruscant Guard just got swept in with the rest.”
“You're on the Jedi Council.” Fox must have missed that memo.
“Yes, I am.” Quinlan nodded. “Now, about that tour?”
.
Commander Fox did not know what to expect the day before when he received the news that the Coruscant Guard was going to get a general and that they had been assigned to be a part of the Fourth System Army. General Vos certainly was not it.
General Vos was a bit more relaxed than he expected for a Jedi, let alone one of the Council. He was cheerful and treated them like sentient beings. He didn't seem bothered by them at all. Instead he was quickly analyzing each room, offering suggestions for improvements and getting irritated over weird things, like the lack of things to do in the rec room. He glanced at their current processes for investigations and cringed, promising to teach them his methods. Apparently, they were lacking.
And now... now Fox was watching General Vos just about tear apart the medbay, complaining the entire time about the terrible set up, the lack of adequate supplies, and the second rate machines and droids they were given compared to what was best on the market. He only paused to see to a trooper who came in with a broken hand from a training incident and efficiently took care of it before a medic could get to the trooper and then he was back to making lists on how to improve the medbay.
“Um, general... are you sure you want to do this, we're fine the way we are,” Humerus, appointed head medic, asked cautiously with a glance at Fox.
General Vos shook his head, the light glittering on his tattoos and the golden things in his hair. “No, you're not. You're not equipped for a bad day. You're not equipped for worst case scenarios. There's not nearly enough bandages or bacta. And the setup isn't exactly conducive to healing.”
“And how would you know?” Fox interjected, wondering how the Jedi, who was otherwise going to be leading a battalion, could handle a broken hand without blinking.
“Oh, right. You don't know. I'm a master healer. It's not the only thing I can do, but I did regularly take shifts in the Healing Halls at the Temple. I know what works and doesn't work, and while I know you won't need the same processes necessarily because you're not Jedi, that doesn't mean this is going to work long term. Better to fix it now than when the problems appear.”
Humerus now was very interested in what General Vos had to say. Fox sighed and braced himself to be stuck there for a long time, though it was interesting just how much more serious their general got when it came to injuries. So he did know how to be serious. That was good to know. He should have known with the general being on the Jedi Council, but it was better to be certain.
Fox continued to observe the Jedi through the rest of the tour. The general approved of the office set ups, including his own, testing and spinning on the chair for a moment before making a note out loud to get each of them caf machines and snacks. He took a moment to see what was already on his desk, then asked to finish out the tour.
By the time they stopped to get lunch, Fox was a bit less wary about their general. The Guard had not had a great reception from the Senate, with some rather poor treatment straight away. But their Jedi, General Vos... he genuinely cared. He wasn't going to do the bare minimum, even with his Council duties.
Suddenly Fox had better hope that the Coruscant Guard was not the worst place for him. He had hated the idea of not being in the midst of the worst of the war like his brothers. He had also hated that somehow he was decided to be the best one for the Guard. He suspected it was because he'd always been the one who handled formwork the best. And then they arrived, and it seemed that they would be isolated from everyone else. They'd be expected to be the bad guys to the rest of the GAR when they got in trouble. They'd have to deal with the citizens who would probably grow to hate them.
But... with a Jedi that cared? Suddenly there was hope. Fox already liked his sense of humor, from a few of his quips. Fox may not show his sense of humor, but he knew how to appreciate it from others. He could get along with General Vos. And General Vos was sure to keep things... interesting.
.
Quinlan had just settled at his desk to get started on the formwork he already had when he got a message from the Chancellor. He let out a sigh. Of course the Chancellor wanted to have tea with him. He sent a quick response then started on his formwork, wanting to stay on top of it, and get an idea of the sort of thing he would have to deal with.
But he didn't have too long to work on it before he had to go meet with the Chancellor. On his way out he stopped by Fox's office, knocked, and leaned on the door.
“I was wondering when the best time to address everyone would be, or at least as many of our troopers as I can.”
Fox looked up. “After dinner. We haven't entirely started integrating into Coruscanti life and we don't have patrols after dark yet. We're on track to start night patrols in two days.”
“Alright, good. I'll talk to everyone after dinner. Where's the best place to do that?”
“Probably the mess, sir.”
“Right, thank you. I will see you for dinner if nothing else comes up.” Quinlan smiled at him.
“See you then.” Fox looked back down at the work he was trying to handle.
Quinlan left, thinking over what he still needed to do before dinner. The most important thing was working out his schedule so that he had time to teach everyone what he knew. Looking over what the Coruscant Guard had... they were rather unprepared even to properly follow the processes of investigations. It was a good thing they had him as they would have had to figure it out on their own otherwise.
Aside from finding time to teach, he also had to be sure he was scheduling his on-call time and being aware of whenever he was needed for Council duties. He was probably going to help the Guard with most of their duties, though maybe not patrols; he was undecided on how that would be received. And then there was the formwork . It was going to be interesting balancing all that out with downtime, but Quinlan was sure he could do it. He'd just set aside certain days for the formwork and maybe a couple hours in the morning for it, depending on Council obligations. That should do it.
Those thoughts took him all the way up to the Chancellor's office. From the usual greetings of those he passed, he suspected that the news of his appointment to the Council hadn't yet reached most of the Senators, much less those who worked for them. Even those who wouldn't treat him differently would offer their congratulations once they knew.
Quinlan knocked on the Chancellor's door and waited. Once he heard the Chancellor tell him to come in, he entered and closed the door behind him. He smiled at the tea set up, filled with some of his favorite snacks. He was sure that the tea would be one of his favorites. The Chancellor was good at remembering that sort of thing.
“Ah, Quinlan, it's so good to see you.” The Chancellor stood and shook his hand, delighted. There was an undercurrent of annoyance, but that could indicate anything, including the Chancellor just learned something that irritated him.
“It's good to see you too, your Excellency,” Quinlan replied with a smile. “Are you ready for tea?”
“Of course, Quinlan. I must say, I'm very pleased that you made it onto the Council. You quite deserve it, you know.”
Quinlan chuckled and joined him at the small table. “I'm still quite young for the role. Only two years shy of tying Mace Windu's record of youngest.”
“That is even more impressive. Are you ready for the responsibilities?”
“I think I am.”
“I saw that you're taking charge of the Coruscant Guard. How do you feel about that? Don't you want to be out in the galaxy?”
“I'm where I'm needed. That's always going to be the most important to me. And besides, the Coruscant Guard will be expected to escort others to other systems, and I'm sure I'll be called in on missions if absolutely needed.”
The Chancellor nodded, sipping at his tea. “Well, I do hope you realize you will be working directly with me quite frequently now, Quinlan.”
“I figured that would be an easy task, Chancellor. I will be primarily working from the Coruscant Guard headquarters, aside from my Council duties. Besides, I think the Order needs one of the Council members to basically be guaranteed available if no one else is. From what I've seen so far the commanders will be perfectly able to handle things in an emergency. They just need a Jedi to ensure things run smoothly.”
“Seems rather arrogant of you.”
“Realistic, more like.” Quinlan waved a hand before snagging a cookie. “I took a look at their knowledge on how to gather evidence, what their processes are, and without my help or some other Jedi to help them, they're really in a sink or swim situation for these first few months, at least until they know what they're doing. It also seems unfair that every single trooper would at some point in their chain of command report to a Jedi but the Coruscant Guard does not.”
“And I suppose with how many of the Senators are reacting to the existence of clones so far, it would be good for them to have a Jedi do reports and otherwise interact with them as necessary instead of relying solely on the commanders, and hoping the Senators have the sense to listen to clones.”
“Quite.” Quinlan nodded. “Once I'm confident that they have what they need to succeed, I will be better placed to help out as necessary than currently. Their education on laws and investigative processes is rather lacking. I suspect that they were trained without something like the Coruscant Guard in mind.”
“Good of you to step up and ensure things work out well, then, Quinlan. You really are a great Jedi.”
Quinlan smiled. “You always say that, just about every time we meet.”
“Now, the war is just starting, and we're still sorting out what this means. That means that the requirements and duties of the Coruscant Guard may change, and I may be asking more of you than the Jedi, things that are normally outside of the Jedi's purview.”
“I am committing myself to the Coruscant Guard alongside my role as a member of the Council. I can keep the two separate if need be.”
The Chancellor nodded. “Good, Quinlan. I may be asking you to keep secrets from the Jedi Council.”
“So long as it does not go against our values, I do not see an issue with that. We do not have to share everything with each other.” Quinlan was suspicious that the Chancellor felt the need to clarify that, though he showed none of his feelings. Instead he kept to the same casual cheer he had always used. It was a good mask.
“Good. I am pleased I get to work with you more frequently, both as General of the Coruscant Guard, and as a member of the Jedi Council.”
Quinlan grinned. “It will be nice to work together, yes. I will do my best to meet expectations, as always.”
“Oh, I am sure you will do quite well. Now, how did your brother take the news? And that padawan of yours?”
“Aayla was thrilled, which I expected. She's always been happy with anything I do. Obi-Wan was happy too, something about not tying the record, I think. He really is still a bit bothered by breaking the Jedi Master record by so much, and I don't think he wants more attention for being 'special.'” Quinlan shrugged. “I think he's being ridiculous. He would fit in well in the Council, but this was just not the time. Maybe if I had taken another path back when we were younger it would be him on the Council now. But it's not, and so he's content with what he has to deal with. Especially with his padawan so close to being Knighted.”
“Ah yes, Anakin. He accompanied you to fight the Separatist leader, didn't he? Lost his arm for it, I believe I saw in the reports?”
“Yes, that is what happened. He did well, and the Council agreed, upon reviewing our reports, that he actually passed his Trials, though there were a couple that were borderline, and he really does want to complete the Trials properly, after dealing with the loss of his arm. He will be fine, I don't see him not passing.”
“He does have quite the level head on his shoulders. Obi-Wan did well with him. And I suppose you did a lot of helping?”
“I did, at times. Anakin is looking forward to being a Knight and working with his own troopers. Obi-Wan of course is worried that Anakin is jumping straight from being a padawan to being a general, but there wasn't much we could do, not with his Trials already scheduled. Either way, we're quite proud of him.”
“Of course you are. It is always good to see the ones we mentor succeed so well. Oh, that's right, the other master appointed to the Council was your friend Kit Fisto. I was not very surprised to see that. He has become very valuable in discussion, and several Senators ask for him above any other Jedi. He will do well as a leader.”
“I'm actually a little relieved he was appointed at the same time,” Quinlan confided, recognizing the Chancellor's fishing for information. “It's nice to have someone I know well adjusting at the same time so we can exchange tips.”
“Adjusting to such a large responsibility is no easy task. I remember when I was first appointed Senator of Naboo. I thought I could never handle it all, and now I've been Chancellor for 10 years. Oh, how the time has flown. You will do wonderfully, Quinlan, I just know it.”
“Thank you Chancellor.”
.
Quinlan stood in front of the gathered troopers, pleased to see that they weren't wearing their buckets. Though it was a little eerie seeing so many identical faces staring back at him. Oh well, he'd get used to it and he could tell them apart in the Force. That was good enough.
“Hello everyone. I am General Quinlan Vos. I am in charge of the Fourth Systems Army, as a Jedi Master on the Jedi High Council. I do a bit of everything but I have a few specialities that will be useful to you. I am particularly good at investigating, so over the next few months I will ensure you know what you are doing, using my own techniques and processes. No need for anyone to make mistakes when I know how to do it. I am also good at negotiations and dealing with politicians- I'm not that good with politics, but I'm good at getting people to listen. Since we'll be working closely with the Senate, that's going to come in handy, I think.”
“And the final way I can help out instead of just being in charge is that I'm a master healer. I can complete surgeries and I have even done surgeries successfully in the field. So I better not catch anyone pushing their limits against medical advice because I would rather you take a little longer to heal to a hundred percent than risk permanent pain and making a mistake because of injury, no matter how much I understand the urge, as I have done that myself in the past.”
He looked over the troopers again. They were looking a bit more at ease, but also a bit confused. Well, that was to be expected, based on preliminary reports from the Jedi who were already out working with troopers.
“I hope we can grow to work well together, to trust each other, as time passes. I know that we're about to get far busier, especially once the night patrols are added, but that just means I only have so much time to teach everyone. Once I finish finalizing my schedule, I should have a few classes a day for everyone to sign up, and I expect everyone to attend at least one, in order to learn how to better serve the Senate, Coruscant, and the Republic. I will also be doing about an hour training in the training room, during which time anyone can join me, every day, though what time will depend on the day. On top of that, once I have finished with the glasses classes, I will spend some time in the rec rooms to teach you some of my favorite games, if you'd like to learn. And maybe eventually even my least favorite ones.”
He smiled. “So does anyone have any questions for me?”
There was silence.
Quinlan looked them over carefully. “You are allowed to ask questions. If there's confusion, better to clear it up now than when it causes problems.”
Thorn stepped forward, nervous, though he was good at hiding it.
“Yes, Thorn?”
“Is it true that Jedi don't have emotions?”
“Thorn!” Fox hissed, horrified, though again doing a good job at hiding it.
Quinlan chuckled. “That is a common misconception about what we do.” He looked back over the crowd, then to Thorn. “I'll get to the answer of your question, but that did tell me that maybe I should inform you more about who the Jedi are. The Jedi first and foremost are peacekeepers. We're not warriors, we're not generals. I am one of a minority that has experience in ordering large groups of people around, and that's more with situations such as evacuating entire planets. But with this war, we are stepping out of our usual roles on the 'request' of the Senate to be leaders, to be generals.”
He clasped his hands behind him before he continued. “Outside of the war, we fulfill many roles. There are those of us who spend most of our time mediating disputes, taking neither side, just helping two groups come to an agreement. Those that primarily do things like search and rescue. Those that do what we call 'crisis negotiations' where they go in when the situation is dire to try to negotiate peace, but prepared to have to fight if things fall apart, or to negotiate when one group is at high risk due to something like natural disasters. We have our healers, our teachers, those that raise little ones. We have archeologists, researchers, mechanics, pilots, farmers, and so much more even though there are only ten thousand of us.”
He smiled at everyone. “We generally need to appear calm and all knowing in all situations, or we lose trust. We can't show bias towards either side, we need to remain neutral. Many spend so much time doing so that we don't always remember how to show our emotions when we are off duty.”
Now for some more serious stuff. “Being a Jedi is more of a way of life than anything. Being a Jedi is how we choose to live with our Force sensitivity. How we choose to use the gift of being able to use the Force.” Quinlan raised a hand and lifted one of the buckets on the table with the Force. “The Force is all around us. It is in everything. For Jedi, we use it regularly, without meaning to. We do try to be polite about it, of course, but it's just another sense for use. We can sense people around us, sense their surface emotions, maybe some thoughts if they're strong enough. Usually that only comes with people who are loud and even projecting them instead of keeping them to themselves.”
“But all things often come with a downside. We can use the Force to help us in a fight, to sense what's coming next. But emotions, like anger, can take a dangerous form when it comes to the Force. Much like a friendly spar can be transformed into a brutal fight as soon as feelings get involved, the Force can be twisted with our anger, our fear, our hate into something unnatural. That's the Dark side. That's what the Sith uses, and that's what makes them dangerous. As Jedi, we are committed to never giving into the Dark side, to serving the galaxy and doing what's right.”
Quinlan looked over to see if most were following his words. The commanders seemed to be, at least. Good. They could help clear up any issues later, then.
“So, our emotions can easily cause issues. Even without the Dark side, imagine what I could do with this,” he waved the helmet around with the Force, “if I got too excited or too angry and lost control?” He set it down. “So, we have to control our emotions. We can't let them get out of control. Add in that since we can use the Force to convey our emotions, we don't need to show them... And yes it can appear that we don't have emotions. But we do. We just put our duty above all else, and most of the galaxy don't see us in our downtime, as we are rather private about ourselves.”
“But you're showing emotion now!” someone yelled. Quinlan made a note to get his name later.
“For better or for worse, we are stuck together for the duration of the war, through times of duty and downtime. Many of you may end up accompanying me off planet. While there are many Jedi who are reserved even in private life, I've never been one of them. In fact, I generally stick to no emotions when absolutely necessary, as I've never found it easy to hide my emotions the way many do. Probably because I'm Kiffar.” He shrugged. “There's no reason to be all stoic right now. It'd be different if we were out on Coruscant, chasing down a criminal, or on bodyguard duty for some senator. But that's not the situation right now. So, I'm being myself.”
“Any other questions?”
“Uh, what all can Jedi do?” Thire asked cautiously.
“We have several abilities. Let's see... the most common ones... We can boost our physical body in a fight, leaping far higher and farther than we should. We can move objects as I've already demonstrated. We can use the Force to heal, depending on training. I can work miracles with my skill, though it can exhaust me if I'm not careful or try to heal a fatal wound entirely with the Force. Some Jedi can grow plants with the Force, others can use the Force to help people deal with trauma. There's rarer skills, more innate than learned. Such as visions, where a Jedi will see what might come to be, or something that has already come to pass. Some sometimes will see the Force around them, some can smell or taste it. There's also psychometry, the ability to feel echoes of memories and feelings left on objects by the people who handled them with a simple touch.”
Stone tilted his head, intrigued. “Wouldn't psychometry be useful in investigations?”
Quinlan grinned. “It comes very much in handy being able to pick up leads just from handling something like the murder weapon. Of course, we still need probable cause and an evidence trail, but with a place to look, it's far easier to connect things together, though things aren't always as they appear.”
Fox stared at him. “Wait, General Vos, you have psychometry?”
Quinlan wiggled his fingers. “I do. One of the reasons that investigations are one of my areas of expertise.”
Thankfully, that all seemed to have broken the ice a bit, and soon, he was answering more and more questions, starting to pick out bits of different personalities and the names to go with as he went. This would work. It had to, but for the first time, Quinlan was entirely confident that he could lead the Coruscant Guard. That he could earn their trust.