Aqinos (Jedi Renaissance)

Aqinos was a male Sunesi Jedi Master who served the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic during the final years of the Republic Classic era. Deemed a heretic for melding the Force with technology, Aqinos was cast out of the Order and became an Altisian Jedi; joining with Master Djinn Altis and his followers aboard the Chu'unthor II praxeum ship. Following the end of the Clone Wars and the appointment of Grand Master Grand Master Tomac Moorcé Altis and his followers were formally invited back into the Order proper. Aqinos and his Iron Knights were given full status in the Order and the Sunesi Jedi served on the High Council near the end of his life.

Jedi training and banishment
A Force-sensitive Sunesi male from Monor II, Aqinos entered the Jedi Order at the age of sixteen having spent the first few years of life as a non-sentient creature before evolving into the sentient Sunesi form. Beginning his training later then most Initiates, Aqinos received formal training at the Coruscant Jedi Temple until he was selected as the Padawan of Teltior Jedi Master Jaled Dur. Training under the prolific alchemist, Aqinos marveled at his Master's greatest creation, the Heart of the Universe stone and noted the praise his master received by their peers. Crafting a yellow-bladed lightsaber for himself in the frozen caves beneath the Ilum Jedi Temple, Aqinos longed to be a Jedi Sentinel and craft machines imbued with the Force in order to blaze his own reputation. Passing his Trials of Knighthood and ascending to the rank of Knight, Aqinos constantly built or improved upon equipment used within the Temple but constantly fell short of the big breakthrough he strove for. After years of work, Aqinos ascended to the rank of Master and was appointed as an instructor at the Temple Academy by the Council of First Knowledge.

Pleased by his position in the academy, Aqinos garnered harsh criticism for his philosophies regarding droids, teaching that droids were a form of sentient life. Continuing with vigor his studies into bonding Force-sensitives with technology. For this work, the Council stripped him of his position in the academy and the High Council cast him out of the Order for his heresies. Abandoned and alone, Master Aqinos found refuge aboard Master Djinn Altis' praxeum ship, the Chu'unthor, where he continued to teach. Around 60 BBY, Master Aqinos discovered the Force-sensitive Shard named Ilum and her twelve children on Orax and began training them in the ways of the Force. Residing on Dweem, Master Aqinos was able to imbue these individuals' Force-abilities within the shell of several Juggernaut war droids, FLTCH series droids, and Uulshos Justice droids. Deemed fully trained Jedi by Master Aqinos, the so-called Iron Knights approached the Jedi Order and fought alongside Jedi Mace Windu during the Arkanian Revolution of 50 BBY. However, this did not gain them favor with the High Council and the group remained isolated from Coruscant and the Jedi Temple there. Several decades later, the group reemerged on the front lines of the Clone Wars, fighting on behalf of the Republic against the Separatist Droid Army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. While not accepted by the Order, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine granted them the titles of High Marshal within the Grand Army of the Republic.

Jedi Renaissance
"It was the High Council who cast us aside time and time again, despite our best efforts to appease our benevolent masters. Why now, in peace time, does the Council seek us out? What possible threat has you coming to seek out our help this time? And how long after you thank us will you shun us once more?''" "''That was a different time; a different High Council. A different Grand Master. I believe in a different way; a better way. I want you because of your differences, and I want you to stay."

- Aqinos and Grand Master Tomac Moorcé discuss the new role of the Altisian Jedi in the Order.

When the Clone Wars came to a sudden end, Aqinos and his fellow Altisian Jedi were mysteriously contacted by Master Tomac Moorcé, a Purpilian Jedi who had recently been appointed Grand Master of the Jedi Order. Curious as to what the Order could want with a group of heretics and exiles, Altis gathered a group of representatives including Aqinos to accompany him to Coruscant for a meeting with the new man in charge. Receiving the delegation in the Lake Room at the Jedi Temple, the Grand Master welcomed the group to join him for lunch by the serene lake beneath the Tower of Reconciliation. Once all were fed and introductions made, Moorcé outlined his plan to repopulate the old Jedi fortress world of Ossus and to expand the Order's number. Unsure of why they were being told Moorcé's plans, Aqinos voiced the group's confusion at being invited back to Coruscant. Elaborating, Moorcé explained that he wanted all Force-sensitives enrolled in the Order, or at least under the Order's watchful eye. Despite this, he believed that their differences were not necessarily irreconcilable and if the Altisian Jedi wanted to maintain their differing views, they could do so while still in the fold of the Order and under the authority of the Council as long as they submitted to the High Council's superior authority. While the delegation did not see how that was any different from changing their beliefs in order to appease the High Council, Moorcé proposed that Altis take a seat on the High Council to ensure that the beliefs of his followers were protected. To encourage a decision, Moorcé promised assured the group that all Altisian Jedi could live on Ossus and even form their own Academy as long as their curriculum was submitted for review by the Council of First Knowledge and did not advocate for dark side use.

Leaving the Temple after promising Moorcé a short deliberation period and a quick response, the shocked Altisian Jedi returned to the Chu'unthor and detailed the deal Moorcé proposed to them to the fully assembled group of Altisians. Putting it to a vote, the members of the splinter group agreed that Moorcé's word should be honored until he proved them false and that the idea of being full members of the Order was a sweet one. Returning to Coruscant as a solid force, the Altisian Jedi entered the Coruscant Temple and were asked before the High Council one by one for evaluation. When Aqinos faced the members of the High Council he was pleased to see Master Altis among them. Grand Master Moorcé extended an apology on behalf of the Order and reinstated him as a Master and an instructor at the academy after reviewing his work done in the years since he was banished. Waiting outside the Council chambers, Aqinos was pleased to hear that the High Council had agreed to put the Iron Knights through the Trials of Knighthood and affirm their status as Knights. Following the completion of all further formalities, the Altisian Jedi were permitted to travel to Ossus upon receiving clearance for reoccupation to set up their own Temple and community.

Aqinos and the others arrived on Ossus to find construction in Knossa well underway. Looking at historical records and modern plot maps, the Altisian Jedi selected the ruins of the city of Talla high in the Eocho Mountains and overlooking the Great Library. Clearing the debris from the ruins of the burnt out buildings, Aqinos selected a small hovel to take as his residence. While the Iron Knights began construction on the group's simple temple building, Aqinos gathered with the senior members of the newly-named Talla Jedi to discuss their goals moving forward. Forming a new format for their academy with Aqinos as Headmaster, training of Talla Jedi would start with Padawans or Knights seeking out the ideals of the more liberal Jedi sect. They could study at the Talla Academy or aboard the mobile academy where they would be free to marry or enter into relationships without censor. Agreeing that the High Council would dictate missions they took on, they maintained that members would have the option to invoke the Right of Denial should they disagree with the Council's decisions. When Talla's gardens began to flourish and the Order as a whole began to thrive in Knossa, the differences between the main Order and the Talla sect shrank and a strong camaraderie and brotherhood formed. Aqinos made frequent trips into the capital to consult the Great Library of the Jedi, something he had sorely missed during his exile. Inside the vast archives which was far more comprehensive then even the Coruscant Temple's collection, Aqinos was able to research new studies into the Force and its relationship with droids.

In 2 BBY Aqinos was summoned before the High Council to respond to a mysterious visitor to Ossus. Arriving at the Jedi Grand Temple, Aqinos was introduced to a curious droid called I-5YQ, a shiny protocol droid who has made his way to Ossus on his own accord. Aqinos was shocked by the droid's seeming sentience after spending several days with him and assisted him in reuniting him with Jedi Master Barriss Offee, who had met the droid during the Clone Wars. Offee was then given a sample of the bota plant that the droid had carried inside him for years since their last meeting. Aqinos was inspired by the dedication displayed in the droid and offered him a place within the Jedi Order doing whatever job he wished. I-5 was enthusiastic about working within the Great Library on Ossus and Aqinos saw him put to work doing research with full access to the materials within the Library. Aqinos' work was heralded by the Jedi Anakin Skywalker who had worked closely with an astromech called R2-D2 and believed that some sort of sentience could be found in his friend as well. Studying R2-D2 in comparison with I-5, Aqinos believed that the experiences of each droid had such profound effects on the history of the galaxy that the Force was able to imbue itself into the very components the droids were comprised of, technically making them Force-sensitive. Arguing that computers and the brains of living beings were not that different, Aqinos' discovery was hailed by Droid Rights activists across the Republic and the Confederacy alike. Famed across the galaxy for his work, individuals flocked to Ossus to thank the Jedi Master for the research which would see the Droid Liberation movement into the future.

In 26 ABY the High Council selected Aqinos to join their ranks as an adviser to the very powerful Droid Rights movement working its way through the Senate. As legislation made its way through the Senate to see to the outlawing of slave droid brains and indentured servitude of certain levels of intelligent machines, Aqinos spoke publicly on the issues and allowed I-5 to demonstrate for throngs of people his life-like qualities. When news broke that the Senate, under the leadership of Chancellor Borsk Fey'lya, had passed the legislation Aqinos and his supporters rejoiced for their victory. One year following the victorious campaign for droid rights, Aqinos became one with the Force, passing away in the Gardens of Talla which he had helped to rebuild. His body was taken to the Grand Pyre and cremated, his ashes spread across the Gardens outside his former hovel in Talla.