A Philosophical Discussion
"What do you think?" Jedi Master Sahn Ho asked Ciiru Nomuro.
"Haven't we lost enough Jedi to these raids?" he asked, incredulous that the Jedi Council would consider yet another raid against the Sith. "There is no chaos. There is Harmony," Ciiru quoted from the Jedi Code, then asking, "Has that lost its meaning to the Jedi Council?"
"Ciiru, there are some on the Council with such close attunement to The Force, that at times, they are able to see events that have yet unfolded," Sahn Ho said.
"I know about this," Ciiru replied, before reminding him, "Yet Time and The Force are always in flux. Nothing is certain. We expected the Sith Empire to dissolve into a fit of multi factional civil wars after the demise of Emperor Vitiate.
"Instead, we have seen the Sith unite and stand in solidarity. We rid the galaxy of one evil Sith lord who'd ruled for nearly a millennia and a half, but instead gained a new Sith ruler who would multiply the evil of their order with the sharing of forbidden dark knowledge. Things have become worse.
"The destruction of Vitiate was to bring about the end of the Sith Empire, but it is the Galactic Republic which faces annihilation, and the Jedi Order which is finding itself straying from its ideals. The Council must rethink its decision," Ciiru said, to Jedi Master Sahn Ho, himself a member of the Jedi Council.
"Gnost-Dural said pretty much the same thing you did, and Bela Kiwiiks backed him up, but they were out voted," Sahn Ho said.
Ciiru listened quietly, realizing that the Jedi councilor sitting across the caf table from him basically told him that he voted with the majority.
"The Force is leading us down a path which seems counter intuitive; I'll not deny it. We must trust The Force," Sahn Ho concluded.
"Yes, and yet….," Ciiru Nomuro said, pausing to think.
After a moment, he realized that he was at odds with himself, and with what he had recently come to believe.
"We always think about The Force," Ciiru said, turning to face Sahn Ho, "To clarify, we say, The Light Side, or The Dark Side of The Force. To some, it means there are two The Force, one is light and one is Dark. To others, there is only one The Force, one side is Light and one side is Dark."
Sahn Ho shrugged.
"And?"
"What if there is neither Light, nor Dark, just The Force?" Ciiru went on, risking everything as he aired the heretical line of thought he'd been pondering ever since his time on Makeb. "What if Light or Dark is determined by what is in our hearts; how we live our lives; how we treat others, because The Force wanted it that way?"
Ciiru went on, despite the look on Sahn Ho's face.
"If seeking to end the war is something that falls on The Light Side of The Force, then doesn't anything we do to prolong the war be considered a Dark Side pursuit?"
"You are trying to tell me," Sahn Ho said, almost laughing, "that the Jedi Council are following the Dark Side of The Force."
"Again, Master Sahn, what if there is no Light or Dark Sides of The Force? What if the Light and the Dark is what is in our hearts? The Force uses us to bring into realization its own will, whether for good or for evil."
"I do not believe that evil is in the hearts of the councilors, Ciiru."
"The roads and avenues to the Nine Hells are paved with good intentions: is how the old saying goes, Master Sahn."
"If you were a padawan asking me these questions, I would be glad to debate you and help guide you to an understanding of the Jedi Code and of the teachings of the way of the Jedi faith. You are no padawan, Ciiru. You are a Knight of the Jedi Order. Your words carry weight and consequence. If you intend to confront the Jedi Council with your line of reasoning, then you must be prepared to stand up for your beliefs at a former inquest.
"There, your theories can be put to the test. There you will prove your point, or be demoted, and possibly cast out of the Order. I won't say anything to the others on the Jedi Council. When you feel yourself ready, seek a formal audience to be heard," Sahn Ho said, all traces of humor and friendly disposition gone from his face.
"It is a line of thought that has been weighing heavy on me because of events that occurred on Makeb. I have too much more to consider and to think about. I'm not anywhere near ready for such an inquest, Master," Ciiru said.
"Why did you bring this to my attention if you are not ready, Ciiru?"
Ciiru looked down and shook his head morosely.
"I was hoping you'd debate me," he answered, "and guide me back to the way of Jedi teachings."
Ciiru gave mirthless chuckle as he returned his eyes to the Jedi Master.
"Then," Sahn Ho asked, "do you believe there are Sith who follow the Dark Side to the good of the galaxy?"
"Absolutely not, Master Sahn!" Ciiru replied, quite adamantly, adding, "Consider that Darth Nox, did save the lives of the Makebi. A good thing, yes? But he has enslaved their minds. They are willing subjects of the Sith Empire. They have thrown off the democratic ideals of freedom, and have embraced – with a will – the kill or be killed philosophies of the Sith.
"Ideals that embrace freedom of speech, individual freedom, and the respect of individuals' right to self-determination are viewed by them as marks of weakness. They now espouse the ideal that the strong have the right to take from the weak. They now hate the ideals upon which the Galactic Republic have been founded. You heard that interview with Shalim Avesta, didn't you, the one shown before the coronation ceremony?
"There is nothing good about the Sith Empire and even less good about the Sith lords who rule over them," Ciiru said, with emphasis, "I'm talking about the Jedi. We are predisposed to do good, but I see us justifying the use of evil to achieve a good end, too…." Ciiru shook his head, concluding, "I find it contrary and confusing."
Master Sahn looked at Ciiru thoughtfully.
"What you mean to say is that whether we do good or evil," Sahn said, to confirm Ciiru's assertion, "is in our own hearts, and The Force uses us, to effect its own will, sometimes good and sometimes evil."
Ciiru, looked embarrassed but nodded confirmation that's what he'd meant.
"Then we have no free will? We are puppets of The Force?" Sahn Ho asked.
Ciiru shook his head, still unsure, and confused, but he answered.
"The Force directs our feet. We end up where we end up, and exert our will on the circumstance, based on the good or evil in our hearts. The Force made it so that I would be assigned to the negotiations between the Galactic Republic and The Makebi government in exile."
A thought struck Ciiru about something that was a bit out of character with the Jedi Council.
"How often do the Jedi Council order its knights to plant spytech, Master Sahn?" he asked.
"It's very rare that this is done, Knight Ciiru," Sahn Ho replied carefully.
"If it were not for that, Master Sahn, I never would have known why my negotiations failed, and who supplied those weapons. The Force made it so that the Council would order me to plant the spytech, and because I had become aware of Noxsious' relationship with the Avesta brothers, the thought could occur to consider the idea of them asking him for salvation. The Force gave me a strong impression that this would succeed.
"Darth Nox was adamant about leaving them to die, but because The Force presented him with an opportunity, something that he needed - colonists, it gave him the idea to use them to colonize one of his planets.
"The Force used us both: me and my Light Side desire to save their lives, and Nox and his Dark Side desire to practically enslave them, but The Force used us both to effect its own will."
Sahn Ho's eyes bulged open on hearing this. This was the first that he'd heard of this. More importantly, it was evidence that Ciiru had probably learned the ability to see future events.
"Knight Ciiru Nomuro, did you tell this to Grand Master Satele Shan?"
Ciiru morosely shook his head in the negative, before replying, "You are the first to hear of it."
Ciiru could see the disapproval in the Jedi master's stern countenance and felt compelled to explain.
"You see, after, the supreme chancellor condemned the Makebis to die, I spoke to Grand Master Satele Shan and told her what had happened. Later, she told me she'd done what she could, but that Saresh's mind was made up. The Makebis would die.
"The grand master was about to allow this to happen without even trying Force Persuasion to show Saresh the great evil she was about to perpetrate. A Jedi, following a logically good reason, namely, that we Jedi may not use The Force to alter political decisions and outcomes, was going to result in a terrible genocide.
"Satele Shan was about to let the mass genocide occur because it was right and correct to not use The Force to change a very powerful politician's mind against her will. Doing this good on Coruscant, would have allowed a great evil to occur on Makeb.
"I did something wrong, I know. I told those people to seek help from the Sith, The Force screamed at me, that this would save their lives. The next thing I know, Darth Nox is saving the Makebis from annihilation.
"Do you see my dilemma? Who did good? Who did evil? Who followed the Dark Side? Who followed the Light Side? Is there really a Dark or a Light Side, or is it only just The Force, and it is we who label things Light and Dark?"
Master Sahn Ho said, carefully, "Let me pose a hypothetical question. What if you were under the influence of the Dark Side? Do you think their lives would have been saved? Do you think a good result would have happened?"
Ciiru's facade revealed his troubled state of mind as he confessed, "I was very near to falling to the Dark Side."
Then he recalled a significant detail he had forgotten.
"When I suggested to them to call Darth Nox for salvation, I naturally believed he was long gone from Makeb. He had already succeeded in stopping Makeb's entry into the Republic. But instead I discovered that he was still on Makeb. I saw a chance to confront and destroy him, but I didn't."
"Why didn't you confront Nox when you had the chance, Ciiru?" Sahn Ho asked.
"Because it would have destroyed the only chance the Makebis had to survive," Ciiru replied, shaking his head, "Now that he is emperor, I wonder if that was the right thing to do."
"You were still under the influence of the madness that Vitiate used to destroy the minds of the others on your strike team. You were filled with great rage. Did you make your decision while under a state of rage and fury?
"I meditated to bring calm to my mind before I thought on it," Ciiru said, nodding as though confirming his own recollection to himself.
"Do you see? You cleared your heart of emotion and brought peace to your mind before meditating on the problem. Did the strong impression from The Force come after you'd calmed your mind, or while you were still furious?"
"After I had brought calm to my mind, Master."
"You see?" Sahn Ho said again, his point having been proven. Then he said, "Satele told the Council that she had recalled you to Tython. We weren't sure you would return. Thank the stars that you did.
"You've done well in your meditations, Ciiru. You've purged the rage from your heart, and have mostly, if not completely purged the malaise with which you had been afflicted in your battles against Vitiate and his minions.
"Yet, you've been torturing yourself with this contradictory paradox of a question, Ciiru."
Ciiru thought carefully.
"Then, following the Jedi Code, There is no emotion; there is peace, I would have calmly left them all to die? Would the Light Side of the Force guide me down that path?"
Sahn smiled, and became filled with compassion for the heroic but confused and tortured Jedi knight.
"Ciiru, you followed the Jedi Code," Sahn Ho said, "You allowed the Light Side to guide your decision to save millions of lives where others had failed. The Light Side guided you to see that Emperor Noxsious' selfish nature would work to save lives."
Ciiru thought about that time. Noxsious was well prepared to leave the people to die, but he realized he could use them. He saw the Makebis as commodities, with value.
"And the Force impressed on me this would be his choice," Ciiru thought to himself.
"If you had destroyed Noxsious," Sahn Ho was saying, "you would have doomed those people to extinction. Despite your state of emotional imbalance, you followed the Light Side of The Force. Destroying the savior of those people would have been a decision influenced by the Dark Side. You did not follow the Dark Side, Ciiru."
"Then Master Sahn does not disapprove of the actions I took on Makeb?" Ciiru asked himself.
"Has it occurred to you, Ciiru," Sahn Ho asked, "that The Force screaming at you, as you put it, might really have been a glimpse to a possible future, and that you acted on that information to save lives?"
Ciiru's eyes changed on hearing that.
"It is as you have said, earlier, Ciiru. The future and The Force are always in flux. Sometimes we act on the vision and get good results, as you did in saving those people. And sometimes we get poor results; we get Emperor Noxsious.
Sahn Ho could tell the gears were turning in Ciiru's head, the Jedi Knight was deeply thinking it through.
"I don't know if this is something you have learned, or acquired. I don't know if this was a onetime fluke or if you will be able to see into the future again, Ciiru. In my experience, I have to conclude that The Force has given you a vision of Nox saving those people, a vision of a future event."
Ciiru's eyes opened wide on hearing this. Seeing a vision of a future event had never occurred to him. He only thought of it as a strong feeling that it would work.
"I think, Ciiru, Vitiate's last and tenuous grip on your mind will be broken, when you understand that he's been torturing you with that impossible paradox of a question."
"I was granted a possible vision of the future, and I acted on it?" Ciiru asked, as though not quite believing it.
"And you let Darth Nox escape justice, despite your initial impulse to confront him. Not confronting him saved all of those lives. Do you see, Ciiru? The Force wasn't exerting its will. You made these choices, and you followed your conscience, taking the required actions based on a vision The Force gave you and based on what you believed was right."
"Is it always like this, Master Sahn?" Ciiru asked, after a moment, "I mean, does The Force always give an overwhelming impression for visions?"
"A Jedi, closely attuned to The Force, may have visions in any number of forms. Some have lucid dreams. Some have very clear waking dreams. Others are given very strong premonitions, which you described as The Force screaming at you, Ciiru. Visions do not always come in the same form, but somehow you know when it's a vision of a future or past event."
"Even nightmares?" Ciiru asked, with a growing sense of dread.
"Even nightmares," Sahn Ho confirmed, to Ciiru's great dismay.
Ciiru's questions seemed to have been answered, Sahn Ho decided.
"Knight Ciiru, will you lead our raid?" the Jedi Master asked again, "You'll lead one hundred and twenty six Jedi, six of them Knights who will each lead a team of twenty Jedi."
The Jedi knight thought back to his recurring nightmare and how it felt as though an impending doom loomed ever nearer with each terrible dream. Ciiru thought back to when he'd had that waking dream at the lunch counter.
"All this time, I've thought it was Vitiate's attempts to torment me, but it was a vision," Ciiru Nomuro realized at long last. Then the realization struck him, "And now Master Sahn is asking me to participate in a raid to draw Darth Nox, Emperor Noxsious, out into the open," with a cold shivering realization, Ciiru lamented, "I might become Darth Incinerous!"
Sahn Ho realized that Ciiru was off in the clouds with his thoughts.
"Knight Ciiru, I know you have a lot to ponder after our talk," he said, a bit miffed, "but did you hear my question?"
"I beg your pardon, Master Sahn," Ciiru said, returning to the here and now, "What was your question?"
"Will you lead our raid against Transformative Technologies?"
"I have no choice," Ciiru Nomuro said, his voice low and desperate.
"Of course you have a choice. You can say no."
"No, I have no choice," Ciiru said, anguish showing on his face as he added, "I have foreseen the raid. I've been seeing it in my nightmares."
The End
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