User:Brandon Rhea/Jhon Cordatus

Jhon Cordatus was a   who sat on the  for nearly a decade, at one time as  of the  during the Third Galactic Civil War. He was born on in 957 ABY and was promoted to  after training under Jayda Hal to become a. As a Knight, he fought in a battle on and the Battle for the Serendipity.

Cordatus was briefly exiled from the Order in 981 ABY after a mission to rescue the princess of Oro Prime from Ardos resulted in a war between the two planets, caused by Cordatus' reckless actions on the mission. When he returned from his exile, he left the Guardian path and studied under Sage Master Errand Khoss as a. Years later, he became a and trained Jedi students in the Sage Halls of. One of those students was Andraste, who left the Order not long after beginning her training.

After Khoss' death and the disappearance of his successor, Bratak Dar, Cordatus interpreted visions and disturbances in to mean that the  had returned and assumed control of the Empire. When he was proven correct and Dar did not return, Cordatus was elected to the High Council and became Sage Master.

In the years that followed, Cordatus advised the Jedi on how to proceed in the inevitable war with the Sith. After the resignation of Valafar Lamartine, Cordatus became interim Chief of State of the, an office he held until a successor was elected. Following the bombing of the Jedi Temple, Cordatus became Grand Master and worked to rebuild the New Jedi Order from its numerous losses against the Sith.

Having come into contact with Andraste again, Cordatus met her on, where she revealed she had given birth to a daughter she conceived with the Darth Exodeus. Exodeus followed her there and, following a duel between Cordatus and Exodeus, Cordatus faked his and the girl's death to protect her from Exodeus. After realizing that the girl, whom he named Lana, was a descendent of and was destined to help bring salvation to, Cordatus left the Order and took Lana into exile where he could train her as a Jedi.

Early life and training
Jhon Cordatus was born on in 957 ABY. His father and mother were both nineteen year old s when he was born. During his youth, he befriended Errand Khoss, a friend of parents'. Khoss acted as a mentor to Cordatus, though the Jedi Master was concerned about what he observed to be the boy's reckless and foolish behavior.

From the time he was a boy, Cordatus showed an ability to receive and interpret visions and dreams from, which allowed him to predict the possible outcome of events and see things that were happening in the present. He also had an interest in the powers and philosophies of the Force, although he was less talented in combat. Given his abilities, his parents hoped that he would become a, but Cordatus wanted to serve under a who could teach him to be a warrior in the art of lightsaber combat. It was his goal to use his abilities with visions in battle against enemies of the and the. The had some reservations about granting this request, as they were concerned about an eleven year old boy having strong desires to learn the ways of combat, but they agreed to allow him to do so. He was assigned to Jayda Hal, a  Jedi who took a more moderate and less-combat oriented approach than Cordatus had wanted but who nonetheless possessed strong skills with a lightsaber.

Cordatus trained with Master Hal for a number of years, during which time he learned to hone his skills with a lightsaber. He later reflected that her most important teaching was that a Jedi's strength came through the character and convictions with which they used a lightsaber, not through physical and combat strength alone. After many years together, he felt he had learned this lesson well, though in truth he did not yet fully grasp or understand the concept.

As a Padawan, Cordatus became friends with fellow apprentice Sara Umbra. The two became close, with a strong bond and trust having grown between them. Umbra often felt that Cordatus was reckless and arrogant, so she tried to sway him from those actions by offering him a sense of warmth and protection in their friendship. This allowed him to feel that he could be more open with her than he could with other people.

In 977 ABY, when he was twenty years old, Master Hal agreed that Cordatus was ready to face the. He doubted if he was ready, but he faced the Trials after she reassured him that he was. Cordatus passed the Jedi Trials and became a Jedi Knight, and he felt proud that Master Hal and his parents had put their faith into him at that point.

Mission to Ansion
Circa 981 ABY, a border dispute between settlers erupted on, a planet in Imperial space. At the request of the Imperial government, an ally of the Galactic Alliance and the Jedi for centuries, Alyia DeSoro dispatched Ambassador Cos Alexander to serve as a neutral arbiter in border negotiations between the settlers. Cordatus was sent as Alexander’s protection, and he was present as the negotiations took place. During these negotiations, Cordatus offended one of the Ansionian settlers, leading to an argument between the two men. The settler instigated further disagreement and ultimately attempted to shoot Cordatus, who deflected the blaster bolt with his lightsaber. The bolt struck and killed another settler, leading to an armed conflict between the two groups of settlers. Cordatus and the nearby Imperial s ended the conflict, and Amabassador Alexander unsuccessfully attempted to continued the negotiations. The mission ended in failure.

The mission's failure prompted Chief of State DeSoro and the High Council to request a briefing about what transpired. The report was filed by Errand Khoss. While Khoss commended Cordatus for helping to stop the conflict, he faulted the Jedi Knight for letting the conflict erupt in the first place. Khoss believed that Cordatus could have controlled the trajectory of the bolt he deflected from his lightsaber, meaning it never should have killed the settler and led to the conflict. It was Khoss’ judgment that Cordatus be temporarily suspended from his duties for what Khoss called Cordatus’ reckless behavior, pending further inquiry.

Battle for the Serendipity
Following the mission to Ansion, Cordatus fought in the Battle for the Serendipity alongside Sara Umbra. Hidden forces, which had been secretly plotting under the rule of Darth Aevum to take control of the Empire&mdash;but whose existence the Jedi were not aware of&mdash;sought young, impressionable Force users to train for the eventual Sith army, so they attacked the transport vessel Serendipity while it was ferrying s from the Alliance-Imperial border back into Alliance territory. During the battle, Cordatus saved the life of one of the Initiates, Kara Vaalki. When the battle was over, the secret of the Sith's existence remained hidden.

Mission to Ardos
Shortly thereafter, the Jedi were called upon to help resolve tensions between two planets, Ardos and Oro Prime, within the Empire. The two worlds had been faced with deteriorating relations for the previous ten years, and Ardos captured the princess of Oro Prime and held her hostage in exchange for a number of demands. One such demand was the disestablishment of the Oro Prime planetary militia, which the Ardosians believed was planning to attack Ardos. As the Imperial government had been unable to resolve the matter, it requested that a small group of Jedi assist Imperial forces in solving the situation.

The Jedi and the Alliance were hesitant to involve themselves in the internal military affairs of the Empire, but they nonetheless agreed to assist in an Imperial-led operation aimed at rescuing the kidnapped royal. Cordatus volunteered to be a member of the strike time, hoping to use his combat skills against real opponents.

When the team arrived on Ardos, they infiltrated the compound in the middle of the night. They were discovered during the infiltration, leading to a firefight between the Ardosians and the strike force. Cordatus and the Jedi moved to the front lines of the team, thereby protecting the Imperial forces, before they split up to complete separate objectives. Jhon was tasked with locating the hostage, and he fought his way to where she was being held and ultimately rescued her.

As Cordatus would later claim, his success in finding the princess led him to become over-confident and prideful during the remainder of the mission. As he was fleeing with the princess, he threw his lightsaber at a group of Ardosian soldiers with the intention of having it boomerang back to him, but the blade also hit the facility's power generator that stood behind the soldiers. This sparked a meltdown in the facility, forcing the team and the Ardosians to evacuate. Because of the short meltdown time, however, there was not enough time to warn the nearby population. Although the team and their rescued target were safe, the ensuing explosion killed hundreds of civilians and injured thousands more.

The result of the incident was an Ardosian declaration of war against Oro Prime, as Ardos believed it was a deliberate attack meant to create mass destruction on Ardos. The war that followed claimed the life of the Princess of Oro Prime when an Ardosian soldier slit her throat. The Imperial military ultimately intervened and ended the conflict.

Exile from the Order
As a punishment for his actions on Ardos, the Jedi Council placed Cordatus under arrest. He began feeling guilt and sorrow for his actions, and he could detect the disturbances in the Force for every death that occurred as a result of the war. The High Council considered permanently exiling him from the New Jedi Order, which he felt they would have been right to do, but instead he was exiled for only one year and sent to work in a Jedi mine.

During his exile, he went through a period of self-doubt and self-pity, and he considered leaving the Jedi entirely. He felt he had failed in learning Jayda Hal’s instruction about how a Jedi’s strength came through the strength of character and conviction rather than combat prowess alone, a painful lesson for him.

Becoming a Jedi Sage
His exile ended after one year, and he chose to return to the New Jedi Order, realizing that his self-punishment would only lead him towards the. Cordatus came to believe that a Jedi’s life was one continuous mistake with which they could learn and grow from. To that end, he chose to leave the path of a Jedi Guardian and become a seer, a prophet, and a Sage, which his parents had hoped for him to begin with.

In order to hone his abilities to see and interpret visions and dreams, Cordatus began training in the Sage Halls on under Errand Khoss, who had become a High Council member and the Sage Master of the New Jedi Order. He was able to learn how to channel his relatively untapped abilities into more detailed and accurate interpretations of visions and dreams. Khoss also suggested that Cordatus train in the Hall of Healing as a, which Cordatus accepted; he believed saving lives after causing the end of so many would help him forgive himself for the suffering on Ardos and Oro Prime, which it ultimately did.

In 994 ABY, Cordatus was elevated to the level of Jedi Master and became a teacher in the Sage Halls. Khoss felt that the new Jedi Master had a talent for teaching, and the Sage Master believed that Cordatus’ self-forgiveness and self-transformation on Ardos made Cordatus a good choice for working under him in the administration of the temple. Cordatus continued to teach classes and occasionally trained students one-on-one, all while overseeing a number of healing trainees in the Hall of Healers.

Training a Padawan
During his time at the Sage Halls, he was sent by the Jedi Council to an orphanage in the slums of, where the Council had asked him to meet a young girl who lived there. Upon his arrival, Cordatus was told that the girl, Andraste, had been involved in incidents with other children at the orphanage.

When he met Andraste, she was under the impression that he would call her crazy, as she had been labelled as such by those at the orphanage. The Sage Master felt her to the Force, recognizing that the incidents she had been involved in were as a result of the Force manifesting itself within her. Despite sensing that she had an uncertain and clouded future, he chose to offer to bring her to Empress Teta to be trained as a Jedi. She was hesitant at first, but he was able to convince her, using her affection for flowers to tell her about the rich environment surrounding the Sage Halls where she would be able to live.

Andraste traveled with Cordatus to Empress Teta, where she was accepted by the Council for training. All of the Council members recognized that she had darkness within her, but helping her overcome it was why the Sage Master had chosen to train her as his Padawan. As they began training, Cordatus taught her many aspects of a Jedi's life and the philosophies behind them, including the Eightfold Path to Transcend the Dark Side, which were central tenets he believed a Jedi was wise to follow.

Despite Cordatus' training, Andraste believed that she had a chaotic monster within her, one that continued to cause her to do harm to others. While on Empress Teta, she attacked a group of Padawans and nearly mutilated them. Fearing that this was because of an inherent darkness within her, she left Empress Teta and Cordatus behind, ultimately joining the Sith.

Election to the Council
Five years after Cordatus’ elevation to Jedi Master, Khoss became ill and passed away from natural causes. When the Councilor knew he would die, he requested that the High Council choose Cordatus as his successor, despite his short tenure as a Master. Because the Council was wary about Cordatus due to the events on Ardos, they instead chose Master Bratak Dar to become the next Sage Master and Jedi High Council member. Cordatus respected that decision as he felt that Dar was a capable Jedi, and he understood the Council’s reservations about the Ardosian incident.

Cordatus continued to work in the Sage Halls under Dar until 1,002 ABY, when Dar was sent on an assignment into Imperial territory to assist Imperial forces in a sensitive operation. However, Dar never reported back, and he was not heard from by the Jedi High Council again once his previously routine correspondences had ceased. The Jedi investigated his disappearance but they could not reach a conclusion about what had happened.

Shortly after Dar’s disappearance, Cordatus began having visions and dreams that were stronger than he had felt before, to the point where he could not initially interpret them. He also felt a shift in the Force that created a number of other disturbances, none of which the Jedi could understand at first. Cordatus withdrew from his teachings in order to study his visions, and he ultimately realized that the had returned for the first time in nearly nine hundred years and had taken control of the Empire.

He reported his interpretations of the visions and disturbances in the Force to the High Council, along with his belief that Dar had been killed by the Sith in Imperial territory. The Order’s Prime Envoy, a High Council member and a member of the, reported Cordatus’ findings to the Galactic Congress. The Chief of State ordered a covert operation into Imperial territory, where the operatives confirmed these findings.

Due to his successful interpretation of the events, the High Council elected Cordatus to succeed Dar as Sage Master and Councilor. He took over the administration of the Sage Halls of Empress Teta, overseeing all training and matters related to seers, prophets, and Sages, as well as the Hall of Healing. He also became the chief interpreter of visions and dreams in the New Jedi Order.

Third Galactic Civil War (1,011 ABY–)
Over the near-decade that followed the Sith's return to power, the Empire was in a state of cold war with the Galactic Alliance. The Jedi integrated with the Alliance forces, becoming military commanders in preparation for the war that the Council believed was inevitable. During this time, Cordatus was a voice for restraint; not restraint in preparation&mdash;he believed the principles of the Eightfold Path offered justification for war when it was necessary&mdash;but in terms of how the Alliance and the Jedi appeared. He did not want the Alliance or the Jedi to unwittingly play into an Imperial propaganda campaign, thus turning Imperial citizens further away from the Alliance, or even Alliance citizens away from the Jedi.

The Sith takeover also prompted some Jedi to believe that the Sith were impostors, not true heirs of the Sith lineage but rather dark side users who were merely claiming the title of Sith. This was born out of Jedi being beholden to the prophecy of the and the belief that  destroyed the Sith forever. By 1,011 ABY, however, talk of that no longer took place in the Jedi leadership, and the Jedi came to believe that the Sith were indeed heirs of the Sith legacy.

The road to war
That same year, Cordatus saw a vision that told him that Darth Aevum, the Dark Lady and Empress of the Sith, had been killed and then succeeded by her apprentice, Darth Judicar. Based on what he had seen in his vision, Cordatus relayed to the High Council his feelings that Judicar was much more eager for war than his late master, suggesting that a conflict between the Galactic Alliance and the Empire was soon to come. Per a Jedi Council request, and the approval of Chief of State Valafar Lamartine, Cordatus addressed the Alliance Congress about his vision and requested that Alliance intelligence operatives be sent to confirm his vision. The vision was ultimately proven correct.

As preparations for war continued, Chief of State Lamartine unexpectedly suffered a near-fatal heart attack. His father had died of a heart attack around the same age, so, concerned for his own health, the Chief of State chose to resign from office and focus on other aspects of his life, including his health. Standard transitional procedure was for the Prime Envoy to become interim Chief of State, but then-recently appointed Prime Envoy Bacilla Kane was unable to fulfill the role due to other commitments. The Jedi Council elected Cordatus to assume the temporary posting in her place, and Cordatus assured the Congress that his goal was to oversee a transition to a new Chief of State, not to remain in power or coordinate military policy.

The looming threat of the Sith caused stress amongst members of the High Council, as well as a desire amongst some members to remove any hint of the dark side from the Jedi. One such case was when Battle Master Augustus Primus Leonus walked in on a fight between a group of Jedi where emotions such as anger were in use. Two Jedi, Kalen Conner and Kelly Cross, were called before the High Council. Grand Master Beric Kanasur deemed that Conner would restart his Jedi training, whereas Cross would face immediate exile from the Order due to her lashing out in anger against Conner during the fight. Cordatus protested the decision, as they were not given a chance to defend themselves, but the decision stood and Cross chose to leave. Cordatus, however, requested that she meet him on.

In the aftermath of the Council session, Cordatus continued working on the transition to a new administration when a number of Jedi requested a meeting with the High Council. Because Cordatus was still a member of that body, he attended the Tython-based session via, where a group of Jedi issued a vote of no confidence against Grand Master Kanasur and Prime Envoy Kane. Although Cordatus would have preferred it not have happened, he did not object when it was issued. The Grand Master, Prime Envoy, and the Battle Master&mdash;the latter a close friend of the Grand Master&mdash;all stepped down. Lore Master Lecchamemnon became Grand Master, while Cordatus remained Sage Master. Further promotions saw Daisuke Sonam Fuyu become Battle Master, Virzivil Axgar become Prime Envoy, and Nuju Leafskipper become Lore Master.

It was not until after the vote of no confidence that Cordatus was able to meet with Kelly Cross on Coruscant. When they met, Cordatus offered to propose to the new High Council that she be allowed to re-enter the New Jedi Order, pending additional training that would help her to control her anger. Cross accepted the offer.

Soon thereafter, an Imperial attack on the The Will of the Force, the flagship of the New Jedi Order, led to the vessel's destruction. In the aftermath, Cordatus used his authority as interim Chief of State to call an emergency session of Congress. After consulting with military advisers, Congressional leaders, and the High Council, the Sage Master requested that Congress declare war against the Empire, a resolution that Congress approved. Furthermore, to ensure that the Jedi were not left without a defensive vessel, Cordatus issued Executive Order 9287, transferring command of an Alliance military vessel to the New Jedi Order. The ship was re-christened Light of the Force and replaced The Will of the Force as the Jedi flagship.

Recovering from destruction
Once a new Alliance administration was chosen, Cordatus relinquished the position of Chief of State and returned to Empress Teta. While there, he attended a meeting of the Jedi Council via hologram where a former Jedi turned Sith, Aÿisha Remy, stood before the Council on Coruscant seeking answers for why Jedi she had known were killed at the hands of the Sith. Unknown to the Council, Remy had smuggled a inside of her lightsaber. Although Cordatus attempted to convince her to remain with the Jedi and seek redemption, she chose to leave the Coruscanti Temple and left her lightsaber behind. Once she left the temple, the bomb exploded, killing the Jedi Council members in attendance&mdash;Battle Master Fuyu, Prime Envoy Axgar, and Lore Master Leafskipper&mdash;and destroying the Coruscanti Temple. Cordatus and the Grand Master, who also attended via hologram, were left unharmed.

Cordatus remained on Empress Teta, and from there he helped the Grand Master coordinate the rebuilding of the Jedi leadership and deal with the aftermath of the bombing. He met with Zsaekriel Dtoahfre'Vuun, an who briefly served as their  after their former leader, Bellatrix La Rouge, was killed in the Jedi Temple bombing. Dtoahfre'Vuun chose to join with the New Jedi Order in order to fight against the Sith, and he was appointed as one of two Battle Masters, with a focus on offensive combat, and given a seat on the Jedi Council.

In addition to Dtoahfre'Vuun, Bektar Vor Tulon was chosen to serve as the second Battle Master, and he was placed in charge of defensive combat and security. As Cordatus prepared to travel to Coruscant to meet with Vor Tulon, who was overseeing the damage assessment on the galactic capital, the Sage Master sensed that Andraste, his former apprentice, was on Empress Teta. He found her outside the Sage Hall grounds, where she told him of how she had become a member of the Sith leadership but that she had kept the security of Empress Teta a secret from them.

Although Andraste was insistent that she was a bad person who would surely bring harm upon others, Cordatus told her what he had always believed&mdash;that whatever her flaws, she was a good person. Before she chose to leave, the Sage Master sensed that she was pregnant. Cordatus allowed her to leave, reminding her to hold on to the good things in her life in order to find redemption.

Cordatus left Empress Teta aboard the Light of the Force once Andraste was gone, and he arrived on Coruscant to meet with Vor Tulon and assess the rubble of the Jedi Temple for himself. Cordatus gave Vor Tulon approval to begin rebuilding the Jedi Temple and increase security there and at other Jedi locations. They also began discussing increased security for Alliance worlds, for which Cordatus gave Vor Tulon approval to begin pursuing.

Leading the Jedi
Upon the completion of the meeting, Cordatus returned to Empress Teta aboard the Light of the Force. During the return trip, he briefly entered a training class designed to better Jedi fighting abilities led by Dtoahfre'Vuun. Cordatus knew that the methods the former Imperial Knight planned to use would be more intense than what the Jedi were used to, so he entered the class via hologram in order to assure the participants that he had full confidence in Dtoahfre'Vuun. Cordatus left the class once he was finished speaking.

The Jedi continued to train and rebuild in the aftermath of the bombing, while the Sith turned their attention towards the s, who occupied space that the Sith wanted for themselves. In order to claim it, the Sith issued an ultimatum demanding that the Mandalorians vacate the territory or be destroyed. In order to save their civilization, the Mandalorians chose to leave, and the Alliance offered them worlds to settle on in Alliance territory. A treaty was put together to formalize this, and Cordatus was chosen to sign for the Alliance, as neither the Chief of State nor the Grand Master could attend on short notice. The Sage Master traveled to Tython, where he met with Mandalore the Indomitable and the two signed the treaty.

Cordatus met with the Grand Master after the signing of the treaty, where Lecchamemnon informed him that he was stepping down as leader of the Jedi. As the most senior Jedi left on the High Council, Cordatus rose to the position of Grand Master. Ebberla Daw was appointed Sage Master and Adalii Jenarian became Lore Master, completing the appointments of new High Council members.

When the new Council was in place, Cordatus and most of the other Councilors traveled to Coruscant, where a candlelight vigil was held at the ruins of the Jedi Temple in honor of those who were killed in the bombing. Hundreds of thousands of Jedi, civilians, and political and military leaders attended in order to pay their respects. Recovery crews continued to work during the vigil, and Padawan Urufu Nekare was rescued from the rubble during the service, giving hope to those in attendance.

It soon became apparent that the Order would need as much additional expertise in the Force as it could find. To that end, Cordatus set about bringing experienced Force users, both new to the Jedi and old, into the Order, continuing what had proven to be the success of appointing Dtoahfre'Vuun as Battle Master. One such person Cordatus sought was Baelor Dolrhûn, whom the Grand Master traveled to the planet Adonai to find. Dolrhûn was a friend of Cordatus, and he was a former Jedi who had left the Order on his own accord years earlier. The Grand Master successfully convinced him to return to the Jedi.

Finding destiny
The rebuilding of the New Jedi Order continued on for months, and Cordatus worked to bring the Jedi Council closer together in a well-working leadership team. He felt that the Council under the two previous Grand Masters had not worked together as they could have, and he knew that victory over the Sith was dependent on a Jedi Order that could cooperate from within. As he continued to do this, Cordatus was contacted by Andraste, who urged him to meet her on but did not tell him why. Sensing the urgency in her request, Cordatus left for the, and he did not tell anyone why he was going there. He arrived on Lehon days later and found Andraste near the, where she was with her newborn daughter. She told him that the girl was the daughter of Darth Exodeus, the and, and asked that Cordatus take the child and raise her in hiding for safety. As they spoke, Exodeus arrived in the area and used the Force to put Andraste and her daughter into a coma-like stasis field. Cordatus rushed her back into her ship and left to confront Exodeus, engaging in a duel using both a lightsaber and the powers of the Force. The confrontation ranged from the Temple of the Ancients to the beach, with their use of the Force causing destruction both in the temple, the temple grounds, and the ruins of and ancient Sith warships on the beach.

As the duel continued, the two combatants goaded one another with their powers, though neither of them fully engaged the other. By the time they arrived at the beach, however, they began fighting with greater intensity, entering into the wreckage of an Old Republic ship. Exodeus got the better of the Grand Master inside the ship and landed a hit that sent him flying from the beach and into the ocean. The Emperor, assuming the Grand Master was dead after not sensing his Force signature, returned to Andraste, though Cordatus was still alive and washed ashore nearby. There, he found the collapsing ruins of an ancient enclave once used by the, and felt compelled to enter it by the memory of his father telling him about an ancient Force-using order. Once inside, he activated a computer terminal that responded to him because he was a Jedi. Cordatus searched the computer for information about events on Lehon, suspecting the ancient Force order had something to do with it, between destroying the  and the. The computer's records were corrupted, but it yielded results for the name Ussej Padric Bac and the word "Lettow"&mdash;neither of which Cordatus was familiar with, nor did he know why this information, or the search he ran, was important to him.

Cordatus returned to the Temple of the Ancients where he found Exodeus confronting Andraste, freed from her stasis. The Dark Lord attempted to attack the Grand Master again, but Andraste intervened, holding Exodeus back while begging Cordatus to take her daughter and run. He did as she asked, but promised to save her as well, before lifting off in her vessel. Before leaving the area, the Emperor sent a wave of at the ship. Cordatus detached the ship's and sent in flying out behind the vessel, allowing the wave of lightning to hit it and simulate an engine's explosion before escaping, leaving Andraste and Exodeus behind to believe that he and the girl were dead.

What Cordatus knew that Andraste and Exodeus did not was that the girl, whom he named Lana, was a descendent of, as was Andraste, making her a Skywalker by virtue of lineage. Knowing that he would have to go into hiding, the Grand Master also recognized that Lana, who he came to believe would have a destiny to defeat Exodeus and Andraste&mdash;Andraste had given in to the dark side while attacking Exodeus on Lehon, becoming the so-called beast that she warned Cordatus was within her&mdash;would need to have him play the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi, namely the protector who was one the teacher of one of her parents.

Flying with a damaged engine, Cordatus emerged from hyperspace near the planet and sent out an encrypted distress signal, which was answered by the Light of the Force. The vessel, under the command of now-Jedi Master Kara Vaalki, discreetly rescued Cordatus and the baby girl without most people onboard knowing, save for Vaalki. When he was aboard, he lied and told her that Lana's parents were killed when their vessel crashed on Lehon, though Vaalki did not believe him. Nonetheless, he went on to explain how what he discovered in the Rakatan computer might have been related to the ancient Force order, so they searched the from the Light of the Force's databanks to learn more. They discovered that Ussej Padric Bac was a Jedi Knight during the Great Territorial War, but there was very little information about him&mdash;suggesting to the Grand Master that Bac was not an important historical figure. He also surmised that Lettow may have referred to the, a group of led by  during the early days of the Old Republic.

Cordatus and Vaalki secretly departed the Light of the Force and traveled to Coruscant, where they discreetly entered the Jedi Temple, which was undergoing reconstruction in the aftermath of the Sith bombing, to directly access the Jedi Archives. While Cordatus searched for information about Bac, Vaalki searched for Lettow and did not come up with any results. The Grand Master, however, discovered that the access log for the entry on Bac had been password protected with a riddle: "the desert that no light touches." Determining that the riddle referred to, the Sith homeworld where Cordatus suspected he would have to travel at some point, he discovered that the log had been accessed, shortly after he opened it on the Light of the Force, by Jedi Master Skhai Baatch, a teacher in the Sage Halls whom he had known and taught with for many years.

Before leaving to speak with Baatch, Cordatus returned with Vaalki to Tython, where he assembled the High Council, along with Kara, to inform them of Lana's existence. He admitted that she had a destiny to defeat Andraste and Darth Exodeus sometime in the future, as well as that she was a member of the. He urged the Council to remain unified without him, as he would leave the New Jedi Order to raise Lana in hiding. One week after he left, Lore Master Adalii Jenarian updated the Jedi Archives to state that Cordatus had been killed in action, giving him some measure of protection while in exile.

Return to exile
Cordatus knew that he would need to remain on the move while in hiding, at least when he was searching for more information about Ussej Padric Bac and Lettow. He surmised that hiding in a wasteland had become predictable, so instead decided not to opt for that sort of setting. The first world he visited while in exile was, where Skhai Baatch lived in solitude. Once there, he made his way into the mountains, where he found her in order to find out what she knew about Ussej Padric Bac.

Shortly thereafter, Cordatus left Lana in the care of Baatch and briefly returned to the Jedi Temple on Tython at the request of Sage Master Ebberla Daw, who informed him that the High Council was in the midst of a disagreement over the Anzat Lore Master's biological need&mdash;and actions&mdash;to take the life of others for sustenance. Vaalki raised the issue and refused to return to the Council chambers so long as the Lore Master remained there, so Cordatus returned to Tython mainly to speak to Vaalki. He scolded her for refusing to confront that which she disagreed with and reminded her that the unity of the Council and the Order was essential if Lana was to one day fulfill her destiny. He believed that the Lore Master could and should be helped to find another way to find her required nourishment, and being shunned by her peers on the Council was not the way to make that happen.

In the weeks that followed...


 * In the Steps of Bhikkhu Bo

Personality and traits
During his time as a Jedi Padawan, Cordatus was focused on being a Jedi warrior, wanting to fight against the enemies of the Jedi using skills with a lightsaber rather than skills with the Force. He had the ability to sense the currents in the Force, suggesting he would be fit for the role of a Jedi Sage, but instead he wished to use that ability in battle against his enemies. These abilities caused him, by his own recollection, to become arrogant and over-confident in his own skills.

It was not until the war between Ardos and Oro Prime that he realized the negative traits that dominated his personality. Through his exile and his training upon his return to the Jedi, he came to realize what his master had taught him years earlier, namely that the strength of a Jedi came not through defeating enemies on a battlefield, but through the strength of their character and the convictions with which they wielded the blade of a Jedi. The self-doubt that he felt over his actions in sparking the war led him to ultimately believe that the life of a Jedi was one continuous mistake, and he could use his faults and failures to learn and improve himself. These realizations led him to become a Jedi Sage and, ultimately, the Grand Master of the New Jedi Order.

The evolution of his views about the Jedi also led him to being a proponent of forgiveness and understanding amongst the Jedi leadership when he was on the High Council. He did not believe that exiling Jedi was appropriate except under the most extreme circumstances, and he opposed arbitrary exiling of Jedi without accused Jedi having a chance to defend themselves. One of his core beliefs in this same regard was that of redemption and the goodness of Human nature, which he saw as something that was inherently good. While Human nature could be corrupted, he also believed it could be redeemed.

As a teacher, Cordatus taught what he called the Eightfold Path to Transcend the Dark Side. He believed that those who followed the dark side could be redeemed, but that it was even more important to teach Jedi students what he saw as the proper way to live the life of a Jedi and, through it, avoid corruption and inspire goodness in other beings. This philosophy included such concepts as Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration, Right Intention, and Right Understanding. Cordatus stressed, however, that these concepts and philosophies were not rules, but rather ways for a Jedi to avoid the dark side while living naturally and true to themselves in order to do what they knew was right.

All of his philosophies, particularly as a High Council member, related to what he referred to as “the Way,” namely the Way of the Jedi. He taught that commitment to the Way meant giving up selfish desires and showing a willingness to help those in need, including those who had fallen to or were struggling with the dark side. He also felt it was important to teach Jedi to follow the Way in a manner that suited their particular life and needs, as well as the lives of all beings.

It was critical to Cordatus to remind the Jedi, particularly his fellow High Council members, to follow the Way after the war broke out between the New Sith Imperium and the Jedi and the Alliance. He saw the Jedi involvement in the war not as a militaristic endeavor, but as an extension of their duty to protect the people of the galaxy. He recognized, however, that being a Jedi in a time of war could be difficult and cause conflict within themselves, but that they could remain strong individuals if they held true to the Way.

Despite his many strengths, he did view one flaw within himself, and that was himself. He believed that the greatest flaw of all beings was themselves, namely the corruption that they could inflict upon themselves. Cordatus, for example, was once full of pride, which resulted in the deaths of others. He would later teach that thoughts like pride could consume a Jedi, and that all Jedi, himself included, had to work to avoid it.

Criticism of the Old Jedi Order
Cordatus was often critical of the, believing that it was their own mistakes that ultimately led to their downfall. He was particularly critical with how they treated Anakin Skywalker and contributed to his fall to the dark side. He remarked to his students that the old Jedi High Council did not follow the concept of Right Livelihood when they ordered Skywalker to spy on ; because  knew that Skywalker was in fear of the loss of, and because they rejected Skywalker for the rank of Jedi Master, Cordatus felt that they put him into an impossible situation that helped break his psyche and push him towards the dark side.

It was in that regard that he felt the Old Jedi Order had become too political and had lost their sense of the Way. For Cordatus, the proper action would have been to help Skywalker live a better life, but instead he charged that they recklessly and selfishly made him a political tool to spy on Palpatine rather than holding to the tenets of the Way. With that involvement in politics came corruption. Cordatus contended that the Old Jedi ended up leading political and militaristic lives that corrupted them with short-sidedness and the negative qualities people often ascribed to politicians. Their goal to end the threat of the, the , and Darth Sidious were noble to Cordatus, but ultimately he found them flawed.

These methods were that led him to conclude that the Old Jedi led to their own fall; their politically motivated methods led them to use Skywalker as a tool, and that choice allowed him to be manipulated by Palpatine to the point where he fell to the dark side and, ultimately, led the Galactic Empire's.


 * Methods teaching Anakin vs. Luke (Right Conduct, The Philosopher's Student)

Comparisons to Obi-Wan Kenobi
Knowing that she was a descendant of Anakin and Luke Skywalker, Cordatus saw Lana as the living embodiment of the Skywalker legacy, one who would not only help bring salvation to the galaxy but who would fulfill a destiny that Anakin and Luke began a millennium earlier. To that end, he saw Andraste as being similar to Darth Vader, and Lana being the comparison to Luke&mdash;the child who would one day save the fallen parent. He knew that Lana would struggle with that destiny, as Luke did, but that it would be worth it in the end.

Because of that similarity, he perceived himself as embodying the legacy of Obi-Wan Kenobi. This similarity first arose when he saw Andraste fully fall to the dark side on Lehon, which allowed Cordatus to realize how Kenobi felt when Anakin turned to the dark side. It fully manifested itself, however, when Cordatus chose to go into exile with Lana in order to keep her safely hidden from the Emperor and Andraste, just as Kenobi did to hide Luke Skywalker from and Darth Vader.

He did not, however, believe that he was entirely similar to Kenobi. What Cordatus believed ultimately set himself apart from Kenobi was that Cordatus knew what his place was in Lana's destiny, whereas Kenobi did not know his own place in Luke's. This allowed Cordatus to attempt to avoid the same mistakes Kenobi did, such as believing that Vader could not be redeemed and would have to be destroyed. Cordatus believed that members of the Skywalker family brought light to darkness, even if that darkness was their own, so he believed that Andraste would ultimately be redeemed.

Relationships with other people
During his first exile from the Jedi, Cordatus shied away from interactions with others, fearing that he would hurt someone again just as he had hurt many due to his actions on Ardos. His anger over his past made him fear his future, as well as people in his future. After he returned from exile and chose the path of a Jedi Sage, however, he began to feel more comfortable around others again. He went on to instruct students in the Sage Halls, no longer fearful of hurt anyone else.

Sara Umbra
Cordatus knew Sara Umbra since their childhood as Padawan learners. Together, they trained as Jedi and became Jedi Knights, and often fought beside one another in combat, despite the relative peace that the galaxy enjoyed at that time. Their close partnership in battle complimented their close friendship, particularly as Umbra believed that Cordatus acted arrogantly and recklessly and attempted to help him change his ways.

It was through Umbra's concern for Cordatus that he let his emotional guard down around her, something he did not normally do around people. He felt that she offered a sense of warmth that he could feel protected by, giving him comfort when he needed it. In spite of this, they were not romantically involved as of 981 ABY.

After Cordatus' exile from the New Jedi Order ended, he chose to become a Jedi Sage rather than the Guardian he had been. With Umbra's help and influence, he was able to become a Jedi Master, which ultimately led to him becoming one of the leaders of the Jedi.

Kara Vaalki
Cordatus first met Vaalki on the Serendipity, when he saved her during the Sith attack on the vessel. She came to admire him, believing that he possessed a gift to inspire people through his leadership. They remained friends for many years, enough to where Cordatus trusted her to help him in his quest to learn more about Ussej Padric Bac, as well as entrusting her with the secrets of the Skywalker legacy.

In spite of her admiration for him, she did not hesitate to speak her mind, even if what she had to say seemed harsh. Cordatus admired that quality in her, though, seeing her tenacious qualities as something that the Jedi had come to lack. He saw her as stubborn and uncompromising, which helped him to trust that she would protect the secret of the Skywalkers.

Prior to leaving the New Jedi Order, Cordatus correctly predicted that Vaalki would become a member of the High Council. She ascended to the body soon after he went into hiding, briefly serving as Battle Master before becoming Lore Master.

Andraste
From the first time he met her, Cordatus could sense that Andraste was conflicted about her own humanity and whether she was and would become a good or bad person. She believed that there was a beast inside her, a description of her inner darkness that Andraste always felt was trying to claw its way to the surface and take control of her. It was for that reason that she felt she was a fundamentally bad person, which Cordatus rejected.

Powers and abilities
Cordatus viewed the most important ability of a Jedi to being one who was able to overcome themselves and be a better person for it. The evolution of his abilities from a Guardian to a Sage was as an extension of this belief. He had trained as a Padawan to become a duelist, but after the war between Ardos and Oro Prime he chose to become a Sage. By the time he was the Sage Master, he was looked upon by his fellow Jedi as a master of the Force.

Lightsaber training
As a Padawan, Cordatus' master trained him on the path of a Jedi Guardian. He became skilled in the art of lightsaber combat and fought in conflicts such as the skirmish that resulted from the failed negotiations on Ansion, the Battle for the Serendipity, and the Mission to Ardos. After he became a Sage following his post-Ardos exile, he no longer favored lightsaber combat, instead opting to become a master of the Force. He remained proficient with a lightsaber even as Grand Master, though his skill with it was not what it had been while a young Guardian.


 * Overview of lightsaber use on Lehon

The Force
As Sage Master, one of his roles was to be the Chief Healer in the Hall of Healing, located in the Sage Halls of Empress Teta. He had the abilities of a healer, though he did not see himself as the best healer of his time.


 * Healing Andreus

His ability to detect the currents of the Force also led him to being the Council’s interpreter of visions and dreams, roles that he fulfilled when he first saw the return of the Sith and the death of Darth Aevum in visions.

Cordatus knew that he had to be trained in the art of a lightsaber even after he became a Sage, but he came to prefer using the Force in combat rather than a tangible weapon. He saw the Force as the only weapon that a Jedi truly needed, one that afforded an advantage over those who were more accustomed to using a lightsaber or. While he was fighting Darth Exodeus on Lehon, he was able to use the Force to see through the total darkness within a Republic ship that they fought in. He saw his use of the Force as a light breaking through darkness, both literal and metaphorical, and was able to see the halls, rooms, and everything else in the Republic ship by using the Force.

Other abilities
After becoming a Sage, Cordatus developed leadership abilities few other Jedi possessed, namely the ability to convince Jedi to listen to him and follow him. He suspected that this was due to his ability to know the right words to tell people, such as an appropriate metaphor to illustrate a situation using stories that would be strong in someone's mind. It allowed him to make someone see themselves in others in a way they may not of otherwise had.

It was this ability that helped the Council swear to keep the secret of the Skywalker destiny, many of whom did so without question. Instead, they trusted that Cordatus had the interests of the galaxy at heart, and that he would be able to protect Lana as he promised. Out of this trust and the promise to keep that secret, Ebberla Daw used the Force to remove her memories of Lana after being captured during a battle between the Jedi and Sith on, ensuring that Andraste would not learn that Cordatus and her daughter were alive.

Behind the scenes
Jhon Cordatus is a role-playing character created by role-player and fan fiction author Brandon Rhea for Star Wars Legacies, the fifth and current role-playing timeline on TheStarWarsRP.Com. The character was posted on the website on,.

When developing the character, Rhea chose to use what he called an "obligatory tragic past for a Jedi" by creating the deaths on Ardos, which the character was responsible for. Rhea wanted to show that the character once had a desire to find adventure and excitement as a Jedi but later had to face the consequences of that choice in order to become the Jedi he currently is in the role-play. It was also to give Cordatus' teachings about Jedi philosophy a backing in the character's own experiences. According to Rhea, he did not want the character to have "learned philosophy in terms of just having it taught to him," but rather "he needed to learn it through the result of his own actions," thus giving his teachings more weight.

The character was well received by Rhea's fellow role-players. One role-player, Quill, enjoyed the coherent story. HunterOrdo was satisfied the character as well, while wishing that Cordatus had started as a Jedi Padawan in the role-play in order to see all of the events of the biography unfold and how the character would react to them. Constantine noted that he believed it was rare to see a well-written Jedi character on the website, so he was pleased with Cordatus' profile. Laurent Bastien also applauded the character and felt that the writing style was very personal.

For his part, Rhea has said that he enjoys role-playing the character. He initially envisioned Cordatus as being a character who was not involved in the main plots of the timeline, but, over time, that plan evolved to where the character shares similarities with Obi-Wan Kenobi in the destiny of Lana Skywalker. Despite those events and some current forethought for the character, Rhea enjoys not knowing what direction the character will take, and has said he has not had as much fun role-playing as he is now since 2006, during the website's second timeline.

Appearances

 * SWRP Origins: Battle for the Serendipity
 * SWRP Origins: Mission to Ardos
 * Star Wars Legacies: Destiny Begins - The Guardian
 * Star Wars Legacies