Location: Coruscant – Jedi Temple, High Council Chamber
Date: 24 BBY
The Council Chamber atop the Jedi Temple tower was exactly as Cain remembered it: quiet, dignified, austere. The air hummed faintly with the Force, every breath steeped in the weight of tradition. The twelve chairs of the Masters formed their iconic circle—an unbroken symbol of unity.
He stood at the center of the chamber once again, his robes trimmed in gold and silver, his dark skin catching the soft afternoon light. His eyes, bright and resolute, met each Master without flinching.
At his side stood Count Dooku, cloaked in silver and black—his stance regal but solemn, his aura no longer shadowed in dark intent but tempered, steady.
Master Mace Windu broke the silence first.
"You return to us not with humility, but with banners, titles, and an army behind you."
Cain bowed his head, respectful. "I return with truth. With results. With a chance."
Master Ki-Adi-Mundi leaned forward slightly. "This 'Enclave'—this Eternal Galactic Alliance—you claim it is not a rebellion. Yet you train armies, organize Jedi under a new name, and declare war on the Zygerrian Empire without Republic sanction."
"I declared war on slavery," Cain answered. "Because no one else would."
Master Yaddle tilted her head. "And what of attachments? Your 'Jadaii' embrace what the Order forbade for centuries."
Cain did not hesitate.
"We teach that love is not weakness—it is foundation. Fear of attachment is not balance. Balance comes from embracing emotion, mastering it, and knowing what it means to truly protect and when to let go."
Windu's gaze sharpened. "The Jedi are not soldiers. We are guardians of peace. We do not provoke war."
"And yet the Clone Army was built beneath your Temple watch," Cain replied, voice firm but even. "Commissioned under your name, without your knowledge. A blade placed in your hand, and you never asked who sharpened it."
The room stilled.
No one interrupted him.
"I don't come to overthrow you," Cain said. "I come to offer something you forgot. A way back to the root of what we were. A way forward for what we can still become."
He looked at Master Yoda, who had remained silent until now.
The old Master opened his eyes slowly. "Worried we are, not by what you seek… but how far you walk to find it."
Cain took a step forward.
"And that is why the door remains open. For you. For any Jedi. For every youngling who seeks the teachings and the truth. Tython welcomes them all. We don't demand loyalty. We offer a path."
Murmurs stirred behind the seats. Temple Knights and Jedi standing along the chamber walls whispered—some confused, others hopeful.
Then Cain gestured to the man beside him.
"I did not come alone. I present to you a Jedi Master who once walked among you, who once sat in this very circle. He has returned, not to condemn you—but to seek atonement."
All eyes turned to Dooku.
He stepped forward, cape brushing across the center stone.
"I… have made many mistakes," he said slowly, each word deliberate. "I abandoned the Order. I allowed pride, ambition, and disappointment to blind me. I gave counsel to enemies I killed Sifo-Dyas, and so many others while watching as corruption consumed the Republic I once believed in."
The Council stirred—but did not interrupt.
"I believed the Jedi had grown weak," Dooku continued. "But it was not weakness that failed us—it was stagnation. Dogma, not compassion. Tradition, not justice. I followed that error too far."
He unfastened his saber hilt.
"I no longer wield this blade as a count, or a separatist, or a fallen Jedi."
He ignited it.
A bright, brilliant white blade hummed softly into being.
Gasps echoed across the room.
"I purified it. Not as a symbol, but as a vow."
He extinguished it, and placed it on the floor before the Council.
"I seek not your forgiveness. Only your understanding. And if not that—then your silence as I begin again."
Cain placed a hand on Dooku's shoulder. "This is his first step. There will be many more."
The chamber was quiet for a long time.
Then Mace Windu spoke, his voice low.
"You've both defied Council authority. Built structures outside Jedi law. Initiated combat without approval. If we allow this… more will follow."
"Then let us," Cain said. "Let more follow. Let them see there is another way. One that does not demand blind obedience, but asks for open eyes and an open heart."
He turned away from the Council now and faced the chamber doors.
"And when you're ready to remember who we were meant to be… you'll know where to find us."
As They Departed the Temple
Cain and Dooku walked through the vast halls. As they moved, younglings turned and stared—some whispering to each other, some standing taller. A Knight approached, placing a hand over his chest in a silent gesture of respect. An archivist bowed her head.
At the entrance, two Temple Guards stepped aside without a word.
As Cain stepped out onto the great Temple steps, he felt the presence behind him.
He turned.
A line of Jedi—Knights, Padawans, and younglings alike—had followed.
Some carried bags. Some clutched holocrons.
Cain said nothing.
He just smiled.
Then turned his face toward the rising sun.
Codex Entry 046 – The Door Remains Open
I did not need them to kneel.
I only needed them to see.
And now, one by one…
They do.