UPDATE: I reread this and noticed so many typos. You check it 50 times but it's only on the 51st that you actually see them. I've tidied this so there shouldn't be anymore and I promise to be more vigilant for them in future chapters. Also, I'm British and some of our spellings are different over here, so sorry if it causes confusion.
This also contains major spoilers for the Jedi Knight and Sith Warrior storylines.
"Compassion is the basis of morality."
― Arthur Schopenhauer
Heavy doors smashed shut behind her. Footsteps echoed throughout the room as the soles of her boots hit the marble floor. The Jedi Council. It truly was the liveliest place in the galaxy. Kahlei wasn't one for debating. Why waste time when she could be saving lives? Discussing how to do it was pointless.
When the Grand Master had requested that she attended this particular meeting, she hadn't exactly been thrilled. Nevertheless, she'd obeyed like a good little Jedi - like she always did. She was a Jedi Master, but not a Council Member. It was odd that she'd been told to go personally. Kahlei would have preferred to attend on her holocom back in the comfort of her ship. It was only when she was halfway towards the only empty seat she assumed was hers, she realised the Council had fallen silent upon her entrance and now carefully watched her. She frowned. Weird.
"Master Kahlei, I appreciate you taking time to attend this meeting."
Kahlei bowed her head in respect. "Always a pleasure, Grand Master." A lie. This was so boring.
Master Satele Shan was the only Jedi who stood. Her table was centred in the middle of a larger table that curved round her. The Masters of the Jedi Council were seated at it. Their eyes still remained on her. "I hope you can forgive the abruptness of this and that we have already thoroughly discussed the issue whilst you travelled here. I also hope you come to the same conclusion as us after watching this. We received this message 13 hours ago." Satele wasted no time in playing a holo recording.
A tall human woman flashed onto the holocom next to Satele, her vibrant red hair elaborately done up with a plait running down her back. Her face was adorned with red markings, and the dark armour that should have weighed her down somehow made her look more elegant.
"Greetings, Jedi scum." Her unmistakeably imperial voice was strong and commanding. "I am the Emperor's Wrath."
The Sith's arms were crossed but the rest of her body took a more open stance. "It is my understanding that you shelter a traitor. Allow me to take him off your hands. Lord Scourge is a pollution upon your otherwise 'perfect' Order."
She narrowed her eyes. "I can't imagine you would refuse me. Unless, of course, you have deluded yourselves into thinking he's some sort of hero." Wrath cackled.
"He only assisted you on your pathetic quest for his own personal gain. He's hardly a saint. He sought the Emperor's power but was too weak to harness it." Tapping her chin, she continued. "Now, I'm fully aware that your Jedi idiocy knows no bounds and I am 99.9% sure you will fail to see reason. So, I have an incentive for your cooperation.
"I have a truly spectacular prototype that causes worlds to explode in minutes. How delightful, hmm? Unfortunately, the rest of the Empire are concerned about side effects and refuse to give it a test run. I, however, am eager to take it for a spin and am not nearly as worried about the consequences as those fools.
"Don't you think Coruscant is a superb destination? I know I do. An immensely populated Republic world? Sounds fun. However, giving that treacherous worm an eternity of vengeance is more amusing, so I'd rather spare Coruscant this once. And I am a Sith of my word, Jedi. No, honestly.
"I'm also a very understanding woman and I realise that although you may cooperate, you may find it difficult to convince Scourge to also do so. Therefore I shall give you one Dromund Kaas month to help me capture him. If I don't get hold of him in this time, Coruscant goes boom."
The image of Wrath fizzled out. Kahlei sighed, cupping her forehead in her palm.
Great.
No.
This was really just awesome.
She hated having to pick between friends and millions of lives. Why was she never given a third option? If she chose to help a friend, she'd sacrifice so much innocent life. If she chose to follow her Jedi teachings, she'd sacrifice someone she'd grown to care about - however frowned upon that was by her Order. It was kind of sad to think that if she'd listened to all those old, by the book Masters she'd had as a padawan (before Orgus), she'd have been the perfect Jedi and would choose to save Coruscant with ease. That's what the Order wanted her to do.
But could she really go through with that? Was that the kind of person she was?
"I don't expect you to act yet, Kahlei," Master Satele said, with a tone that was much softer than she had ever heard the Grand Master use before. "I understand that it is hard to not form attachments to those you work closely with, despite how hard you may try not to. Meditate on this and return to us tomorrow morning."
Two decisions lay before her. Which one was right? Which one was wrong?
Kahlei shook her head, focusing on the waterfall in front. There was one person who would be able to help her.
She shut her eyes, then proceeded to block the sounds around her. Small animals scurrying in the grass, the gushing of water, the breeze tickling leaves: these were all blanked out. Next came the ridding of taste. Perhaps, she shouldn't have that tea. Its sweetness still lingered upon her taste buds. Apparently it helped stress, but obviously that was a lie.
Kahlei scolded herself. She needed to stop these petty thoughts. Focus. Once she'd shut out the remaining senses, she began to amplify the sixth. Reaching out into the force, she tried to find Master Orgus's presence.
Nothing.
Again.
She'd assumed that the place he'd taken her to as a padawan to meditate would be a good location to search for his spirit in the Force. Clearly she was wrong. Had he finally gone to rest now that the Emperor was dead? As much as she was pleased that he'd found peace, part of her felt frustrated. How would she make her judgment without her old Master to guide her? Kahlei was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn't sense her visitor arrive. So when he spoke, she quite literally jumped out of her skin.
"Oh, Master Kahlei! I hadn't heard you'd returned to Tython."
She looked up to see the only other Sith Pureblood she'd ever had a civil conversation with. Lord Praven. Well, Jedi Knight Praven now. "I only got here this morning." She paused. "I take it the Grand Master didn't send you then?"
"I came here to meditate, like yourself." He frowned. "You were the one who first taught me about peace, yet I don't sense that you are at peace. Is something wrong?"
He'd find out about her dilemma soon enough. There was no harm in confiding in him.
"I know that it is wrong of me to put one life above so many, but not doing that feels just as wrong."
"Do what is right."
"So I shouldn't be putting a friend's life over millions?"
He sighed. "No. I mean, do what you truly believe is right. Not what the Council think is right. If you don't mind me asking, what is actually going on?"
"Wrath wants us to hand over Scourge or she'll blow up Coruscant," Kahlei confessed.
"Hm, I see." Praven shrugged. "You'll find another way to stop her, Kahlei. Have faith in yourself."
"Master Satele, what's going on? Why did you want to see all of us?" The redhead frowned, glancing over the crew - minus a few members. The Grandmaster gestured for her to be quiet. "Fine, whatever."
Kira watched Doc scratch his head, thoughtfully, whilst scanning the room. The Council were all gathered here, muttering amongst themselves. She assumed some were new to the Council since she'd never come across some of them before. "Y'know, I'd have thought Kahlei'd be summoned to a Jedi party like this: never mind the rest of us."
Kira nodded her agreement. This was way too strange.
The Grand Master cleared her throat, silencing the room. "I do apologise for the delay. Master Kahlei should be on her way any minute now."
The Council's holoterminal beeped as if on cue. Master Satele answered it.
"Greetings, fellow Jedi." Kahlei appeared on screen, hair scraped back into a high ponytail as usual. "As you requested, I have made my decision."
Kira saw Master Satele narrow her eyes. "I hope you're not here in person because you're already on your way."
On her way to what? Kira wondered.
"I don't believe in bowing down to the Empire, so no. I also don't believe in sacrificing friends - yeah, yeah, I know I'm such a terrible Jedi for forming attachments, but betraying friends is just something I won't or will ever do."
"If you do this Kahlei you will oppose us, the Republic and the Empire. You will be alone against the galaxy."
"Heh, well, I can live with that."
Her old Master turned her attention to the rest of the crew who were all standing behind Satele. "Yeah, guys, sorry, but you all can't join me on this one. I don't want you to ruin your lives for me." Kahlei glanced down at something next to her. Kira wasn't sure what it was. "I have exactly 10 seconds before you are able to track my ship, so, bye!" She guessed it must have been some sort of timer.
When Kahlei's image had faded on the holoterminal, Satele sighed and shook her head. "This is a great loss to our Order. We will greatly miss Kahlei's martial skill and determination. It's unfortunate that she refused to cooperate." Satele turned to face Kira. "Master Kira, you know Kahlei better than any of us do and you are the only one who she would listen to."
"Grand Master, I don't understand what caused her to turn away from the Order?"
"Wrath asked us to give her Lord Scourge or she would blow up Coruscant. Kahlei refuses and I believe she is trying to destroy the weapon capable of doing this." Not wanting to sacrifice a friend? That was exactly the sort of thing Kahlei would do. "I do not doubt that she would be able to defeat this Wrath if it came to combat, but we know nothing of the weapon and I fear that if Wrath suspects that we are not obliging, she will activate the weapon. We cannot risk Coruscant for the life of someone who refuses to be one of us. Imagine how the Republic would feel if they discovered this? They would turn away from us and the Empire would conquer the galaxy."
"But, Master Satele, even if we give Wrath Scourge, how do we know she won't break her promise?"
"We don't. That's why others are going to find information on the weapon."
"But if you destroy the weapon then you don't need to give them Scourge?"
"Giving Wrath Scourge will remove her suspicion and makes it easier for us to hide our motives. It's also highly likely this process will take longer than the deadline she gave us."
"I.. I understand. What do you need me to do, Grand Master?"
The rest of the crew remained silent. Kira suspected they saw her as their new leader: Kahlei's replacement. Not that she could or would ever want to replace her friend.
"I need you to track Kahlei and to make her see reason. We need to try to get her to return to the Order as she is invaluable. I also highly doubt Lord Scourge would willingly agree to turn himself in. Kahlei is the only one who could convince him to go and one of the few that would be able to force him to do so."
"What if she won't agree?"
"Then we will have to view Kahlei as a threat to our Order and will have to stop her and Scourge by any means necessary. This is for the greater good, Kira. It's just a shame that the Sith has corrupted one of our best warriors."
Kira gulped. She didn't like the sound of 'any means necessary'. Did they mean they would resort to killing Kahlei if she failed to return? And she wasn't so sure Kahlei's decision was completely because of Scourge. Even before Scourge had joined them, Kahlei had been more than willing to do anything to save her friends. Besides, if anything Scourge discouraged Kahlei from befriending him. No, this had nothing to with Scourge - apart from the fact that he was the friend concerned.
She wasn't sure how she felt about this. Kira could completely understand Kahlei's decision, yet she could also completely understand the Council's decision. She agreed that the Council could be wrong at times (not very often), but this time they were right. Sacrificing all that life for a Sith was wrong. Kahlei was too ambitious to properly consider the possibility of failure. The risk was too great. She had to make her friend see this. Kira nodded, satisfied with her conclusion. She would try her very best to resolve this without violence.
It was only as she turned around that she realised Lord Scourge had been watching the holocall. He was leant against the door, frowning. As usual, he was clad in his heavy dark armour that he always wore. Kahlei didn't think that in all the time he had been part of her crew that she had seen him without it. Maybe he'd worn it for so long that it had glued to him and was like a second skin? Had it been a happier day, Kahlei would have giggled to herself. She remembered the time she'd tried to get him to replace it with Jedi armour so he didn't scare the civilians quite as much. He'd been furious (well, as much as he could pretend to be with his curse) and had reminded her that he would always be Sith. When she'd first met him, she'd been slightly intimidated by how his figure loomed over her: his height made him pretty damn scary. She wasn't exactly the shortest woman she'd ever met, but she barely came up to his chest. Now that she'd gotten to know him better, she'd discovered that he was relatively harmless and was anything but your usual Sith.
"You stood up to your pathetic Order, hm, Jedi?" If she didn't know better, she'd have said he sounded impressed. Instead, she knew he simply found it interesting and considered this to be a 'step towards the Dark Side.'
"They're not pathetic. Just blind at times."
"You're defending them despite the fact that they turned you away as soon as you chose to express your own views? Is that really the freedom you jedi believe in?"
Kahlei folded her arms, attempting to stand her ground. "You will always be Sith, I will always be Jedi. You can't manipulate me."
Scourge smirked. "I see."
"The Order think you have. They probably blame you for my 'antics'."
"Have I?"
She rolled her eyes. "Like I just said, you can't manipulate me to the Dark Side. This is entirely my decision."
He reminded silent for a few moments, regarding her. "Why are you throwing everything you've worked for, Jedi?"
It was always like this. He'd quiz her on everything and then if he found anything interesting (anything that remotely appeared to be a Dark Side quality), he'd continue to quiz her some more.
"Because I don't sacrifice friends when I know it will be in vain."
There was no way that the psychotic Sith on that holocom would miss an opportunity to wreck havoc in Republic space. She'd seen numerous sith wanting to 'finish what they started' on Coruscant.
Scourge sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "How many times do I have to tell you I don't require friends or protection?"
"Clearly not enough."
"I don't want your Jedi charity." He stalked out of the room. "You can take it elsewhere."
Kahlei sighed, collapsing into the sofa. Great.
He was quite right. She'd just practically thrown her entire it all away for someone who;
One: Refused to consider her a friend.
Two: Had no gratitude.
And three: Was a Sith.
Way to go, Kahlei. You just officially screwed up your life.
But what was done was done. There was no point crying over spilt milk. Now she had to come up with a plan. A plan that would prove that she'd been right to trust her instincts and had chosen correctly. And if she failed -
Well, she couldn't consider that.