Chapter 10
"And the Council calls me headstrong". Rand shook her head with some feigned indignation but Ven knew there was genuine resentment in her comment as well. Do you truly believe you should stay, or do you simply not care?" Yiorndo Salm asked with a condemning look that made Ven's face a little hot.
"The Force is my guide. If the Council demands my return I will do so at once. But until that time I feel compelled to investigate this Vanguard." Ven answered in a deliberately measured tone.
"You're aware that you could cause an intergalactic incident?" Rand offered in a lighter tone but Salm was not having it. "This is a delicate matter Ven, you need to leave it to the diplomats. And to bring your Padawan with you is unfair to her."
"What have I done to make you distrust me so Master Salm?"
"You play to the line Ven. You claim guidance from the Force and that may be, but there are times I wonder if it's not your own nature that bids you to that line in an effort to see how close you can walk to its edge".
Ven considered pressing his case that walking in the light was exactly what he was doing, but it would make no headway with Salm. He came from the disciplinarian school that taught the precepts of the Order and guidance from the Council was the only way to ensure a Jedi's commitment to the Light. He believed Ven an individualist at best and an egotist at worst, and nothing he said now would sway him from that opinion. Besides he had turned his back immediately and made for the shuttle.
Only Rand lingered a moment longer before placing a consoling hand on his arm. "You are an honorable man Ven. And when you walk in the light you're the best among us. Stay in its gaze."
"I will do as you say. May the Force be with you Rand," he bowed his head while offering her his most reassuring smile.
She loosened despite herself and returned the gesture. "And with you Ven, I will advocate on your behalf before the Council and await our next meeting."
Kaiden had been surprised to hear the human male Jedi ask to stay when she had finished showing them highlights of their attacks. She had been more bemused when his request led to what could only be described as the politest argument ever between the Jedi and his comrades.
The same back and forth appeared to be continuing before Master Sala turned and walked up the ramp to their waiting yacht. Between their light touch and the female Jedi's lingering glare Kaiden wondered briefly if the two were a couple. His student, or Padawan, was already on board and staring after her master like a daughter worried her father had gotten himself in more trouble than he could handle. Kaiden felt a twinge of guilt at helping to create this tension, but only just. They badly needed a shift in momentum. For their part the Imperial Knights had expressed their willingness to stay but did not have the necessary order from their Empress. The younger one looked on from behind Rand Jonibe with a look of jealousy and regret, but Kaiden theorized that had as much to do with the blue skinned Twi'lek next to her as it did their mission.
"Everything okay Master?" Nair asked as Ven got within a quiet word.
"Of course young one," he said, placing a hand on her back. "Are we ready Commander?" he asked Kaiden.
"You say the word Master Sala".
"Then let us be on our way," he said as all three walked ahead of the ascending ramp.
"On to the Citadel."
Kaiden was more than happy to see that the awesome nature of their capital could strike a look of wonder into the eyes of guests who had been doing the lions share of impressing so far.
"Amazing. And you say a race of sentient machines built this?" Nair asked, looking out the starboard viewport.
"No, that is what we originally thought, but it turns out it was constructed by an extinct race called the Protheans. About fifty thousand years ago they had most of this galaxy under their control."
"It truly is a wonder," the older Jedi breathed and Kaiden saw her mother smirk beside him.
"Yes, we're still unsure of the alloy they used, but the relays we traveled through were built from the same material."
They had made an intentional decision to dock in the Wards instead of the Presidium to give their guests an impromptu tour, but the looks of amazement soon dried up. They were nothing but polite, even asking questions Kaiden could tell they had only a perfunctory interest in knowing the answer to. At one point Master Sala remarked that it reminded him of the 'undercity back home', but Kaiden couldn't tell if that was a compliment. It dawned on her just how many times they had probably been introduced to new worlds, undiscovered aliens, reclusive cultures.
"This goes far beyond the parameters of the vote," Sparatus thundered.
"We made an executive decision. We need to assess all new options-"
"-I did not sacrifice so much against the Reapers, to watch this body be torn apart by an insurgency. We are losing this war Sparatus, in more ways than one, and your stubbornness will ensure it ends in defeat. I am sorry these aliens didn't evolve on a world with lethal solar radiation. I am sorry they look like the beings you fear are supplanting your grip on power, but your xenophobia will not be what drags us down, not while I still draw breath. Now if you want to call a vote on such a mundane matter as appointing this being an advisor in our fight against the Vanguard, then you call it. Otherwise I will not sit for another of your self-serving rebukes!" Ashley realized her arms were quivering at the elbow and she removed her hands from the table before turning around and heading for the door.
"Y-you can't speak to me like this!? She can't speak to me lik-" was the last thing she heard as the soundproof door shut behind her.
Kaiden felt a brief rush of embarrassment at the level of fawning the students at Grissom Academy directed at their Jedi visitors. But in the end, she couldn't blame them. After introductions and a brief explanation of the past week, Kaiden joined the two Jedi and the facilities unique director, Jack, on the training floor's viewing balcony.
Below, the oldest students of the Citadel's biotic academy were below exhibiting their abilities for the new guest instructors.
"Before I can do anything with these younglings will have to remove these implants," Ven said without looking over at the two human females to his left, his hands gripping the railing.
"Good luck" the heavily tattooed woman said as she flashed an eye at Kaiden. "I've been trying to end that program since I got here".
"We'll see what we can do. But all our science is telling us these implants amplify their ability…it will be hard for us to change our view of biotics that quickly".
"You misunderstand me. It is not my intention to change how you perceive this ability. Whether scientific or spiritual you must see this as part of your evolutionary processes, and the implants are only inhibiting its expansion".
Ven saw that Kaiden wasn't grasping the concept. Jack, on the other hand, seemed to be treating it as confirmation rather than revelation. He pointed in the general direction of the four lare training mats below. "All the students show the same relative level of aptitude correct?"
"I'm not sure what you mean?" Jack asked again past Kaiden who had already begun chewing her lower lip in consternation.
"They can move objects from around the same distance? Their throws move objects of the same weight about the same velocity?"
She thought for a moment. "Yes…in general."
"That's because the implant is synthetically activating their ability, making it much easier for them to begin manipulating objects, but it also limits their growth in the Force."
"How?" Kaiden asked.
"Artificial devices interfere with the flow of the Force. Even a prosthetic arm can stunt one's abilities. Deviations of the mind only compress our potential."
The older woman nodded enthusiastically as Kaiden shook her head and leaned into the rail. He seemed he had a willing Jedi if that ever became his purpose here.
"Secondly, the practice of singularities must end. We call them Force storms and they are of the Dark Side," Ven said more seriously as his Padawan's head tails curled around her neck at the mention of this darkness.
"To tear holes in the fabric of space is destructive enough, to do it with the intention of malice is anathema to the Light."
Finally Kaiden stood back up all the way. "Singularities are our most powerful biotic weapon."
Ven felt comfortable enough with his new ally to place a warning hand on her shoulder. "What I offer is not the easy path. I hold no secret that will bring about a speedy resolution to your conflict. But what I do offer is a better understanding of your power and its connection to the universe. You are taking your first steps on the path to a more peaceful existence. One that may not even come in your lifetime. I hope that is enough."
"Why don't your biotics use projectile weapons?" a dark skinned student in her early 20's asked from her seated position on the exercise floor. Many of the older students were still uncomfortable calling it the Force, and that was fine by Ven. He wasn't here to create a second Jedi Order. This question gave him a chance to express that.
Ven tapped the hilt of durasteel and Tythonian Oak lightsaber absent-mindedly as he thought of the best way to answer. "Many millennia ago the leaders of our order realized that taking a life was becoming far too easy. Wooden clubs became durasteel, slug throwers became light blasters, Starfighters, antimatter bombs, the list just kept growing. We felt the easier it became to take a life, the easier it became to make the decision to do so. We use our lightsaber both as an expression of tradition and a deterrent against resorting to deadly violence. In short, if you have to snuff out a being, you should have to look them in the eye and feel it as you do."
The students, for their part seemed to be giving real weight to his words and he couldn't have been more pleased with their attention over the past three days. "I would never suggest your academy adopt our traditions. It is for you to grow and evolve in the Force under your own directives. I am only here to show you there exists a light and a dark in this energy field, and how best to follow the Light."
About to break for the day one of the younger students not with Nair on the observation desk raised his hand with a precocious smile. "Yes Mohinder?" he answered, proud he had gotten a handle on some of this galaxies more unusual names.
"Can we see it?" he pointed at the hilt resting under Ven's hand.
He looked down at it quickly and raised his hand with a smile equal to the younglings. "I promise to show you when it is time."
He didn't let his disappointment show…too much. Suddenly another student stepped out of the darkness at the back of the room. He was a Turian, one of the elders, and also one of the more enthusiastic of Ven's students over the past three days.
"Ah, Oppitana Natanis, and what is your excuse for missing the day's lesson?"
Ven's smile faded as he felt a ripple in the Force as he noticed the steely look and that seemed to grip the boy's plated face. That tingle started burning hot as he noticed the hand behind the student's back. Ven's fingers, which still rested lightly on the top of his lightsaber hilt, gripped firm as he brought it up and activated it at the same time.
"Fear the Vanguard human!" he bit out each word with a quiet fury as he leveled one of their hand cannons and began firing at the same time Ven activated his blade.
Ven let the Force take over. He had no idea if he could deflect these synthetic Force enveloped rounds, but his blue blade flashed before him as the gun cracked to life. One shot he felt woosh off the blade, then another. The other students were rolling away, but some were beginning to gather their own biotic fields as Ven reached out his left hand and sent the boy careening into the rafters above, before falling back to the exercise mats a moment after his hand cannon.
Ven instinctively looked over the students around him, as they looked back at him with the same concern. Oppotana was out cold but Ven's Force sense had not abated.
"Master!" he thought he heard from behind him before quickly realizing it was his comlink. They hadn't used it since arriving and it startled him as he pulled it off his belt.
"Nair! Are you alright?" he was already Force sprinting to the adjoining hallway.
He got to the observation deck before she answered and he found her and Kaiden on the deck with another student, this one a Batarian named Akophe Gropp'roke, as Jack was hovering protectively over the younglings across the room. He joined them on the deck to find the student still conscious and straining under Kaiden's grip.
"She just came in and raised a weapon," Nair said standing up and moving over to her master. "I called her weapon to my hand before she could get a shot off."
"Good work Padawan…Vanguard agents, here?" he asked Kaiden, but she just nodded at Nair and Ven turned his attention back to her.
"Its worse Master, I compelled her to tell me, I thought the situation warrant-"
"-Nair, what is it?" he snapped, cutting off her rationalization for using a mind trick.
She looked across at the crying children and then back to him, "they're coming."