The people of Coruscant were more accustomed to the Jedi than citizens of any other planet. Throughout the galaxy, the members of the Order inspired a mixture of fear and reverence. On Coruscant, however, the people had become desensitised to Jedi mystics through decades of overexposure. It was difficult to remain in awe of Masters Yoda or Windu, regardless of how much power they wielded, when one had seen them being heckled by the Finance Minister in the Senate, or smiling fixedly for the press at the Annual Droid Expo.
Nevertheless, when the doors to Senator Amidala's office opened, and the Jedi Master entered, a chill swept through the room. A second ago the place had been ringing with the sounds of dozens of loud conversations, and now they were stilled, and a soft whispering arose in their place.
The Jedi, a youngish human in cream robes and a brown cloak, advanced a few paces and looked around, apparently waiting to be greeted. No greeting was forthcoming.
The awkward silence was broken by a tall Gungan, who went boldly up to the Jedi, narrowly avoiding tripping over his own feet.
"Master Jedi!" the Gungan exclaimed, clasping his hands. "Mesa Representative Binks! Mesa mui smilin to meet yousa!"
The Jedi's soft black eyes settled on the Gungan. A slight tightness came over his face, as though he disliked what he saw, but he replied cordially enough.
"Representative Binks," he said. "I have heard much about you. I am impressed to see that you retain your native Gungan accent. Many representatives, after years in the Senate, would have adopted a more polished form of Basic to cultivate an air of refinement and competence." The Jedi blinked lazily, as if to imply that if anyone needed to project an image of competence, it was Representative Binks. "So… you are the one who tabled the motion to grant emergency powers to Chancellor Palpatine. I believe it was Senator Amidala who deposed Valorum and placed her fellow Naboo Palpatine in the Chancellor's seat to begin with. Tell me, Representative Binks, do the people of your planet have a particular dislike for democracy?"
Jar-Jar blinked his stalk eyes rapidly and spread his hands in an imploring gesture. "Everything wesa did, wesa did to save the people of Naboo. Besides, Valorum was a corrupt politician, in the pockets of the Trade Federation and Banking Clan! The Senate was owned by corporate interests!"
"How fortunate that's all over now," said the Jedi, with a touch of sarcasm. "Well, you make a valid point about Chancellor Valorum. And as for Chancellor Palpatine, if he has any unscrupulous corporate backers, I doubt we will hear about it. Everyone is so busy with the war these days. It would be unpatriotic to carry out investigative journalism on our own senators while the Separatist Army is terrorising us."
Jar-Jar Binks had never met a sarcastic Jedi before. He decided they were not his favourite kind of Jedi.
"So," the Jedi went on, "you will be managing Senator Amidala's office in her absence?"
"Yes," said Jar-Jar, puffing his chest out importantly.
"How fortunate for her," said the Jedi. "I'm sure you'll do a fine job, Representative. Only, I beg you, try not to dismantle any more of the fundamental pillars of our democracy while she's away."
"Mesa try!"
The Jedi bowed, then swept past Jar-Jar Binks, for he had seen the Senator emerge from a private room, along with an escort of clone troopers and a protocol droid.
"Master Chet," said Senator Amidala. "What a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."
"The pleasure is mine, Senator," said the Jedi.
Senator Amidala went on, "Master Yoda wasn't very forthcoming about the details of our assignment."
"Master Yoda is not very forthcoming about anything. It is a peculiar habit of Jedi, when speaking of the Force, to draw a veil of mystery over the truth. Over time, that habit bleeds into everything we say, and the longer we live, the more obscurantist we become. And Master Yoda has lived for over eight centuries. But in this case, he is quite right. I will brief you on our ship. Coruscant is a city of glass and wind. Words carry much further than anyone can know, here."
The Jedi's dark eyes flickered around the room. The background whispering subsided, then redoubled, as everyone studiously pretended to not pay attention.
As they walked towards the exit, Senator Amidala said, "I have never met a… Force Inquisitor before. What does your role involve, exactly?"
Master Chet considered this for a moment. He said, "You know that the Jedi are peacekeepers. At present, we are spread all over the galaxy, fighting on multiple worlds to defend the Republic's borders. Well, I, too, am a peacekeeper. I keep the peace in men's minds."
Amidala frowned. "And how does one do that?"
"By any means necessary."
They exited hyperspace, and the forward viewscreen was filled with the grey-blue orb of the Planet Sidon.
Padme drew in a breath. "It's… not what I expected," she said.
"You are surprised," said Master Chet. "Surprised that a Hutt-controlled world can retain some of its natural beauty. We sentient beings often confuse moral goodness with beauty, and we expect evil to be ugly. And the Hutts do make it easy for us, for evolution has made them gigantic, shapeless, slug-like, and endowed with every feature we find repellent. But there is no law that says it must be so. The Jedi say evil can come to us wearing a lovely shape. Indeed, it often does."
Master Chet glanced at Padme apologetically. "I did not mean to lecture you, Senator. It is another unfortunate Jedi habit. I have no Padawan to bore with sermons, so I have made the world my soapbox. You see, I rarely have the chance to converse with people. Unless you count the interrogation of heretics. But their conversation chiefly consists of them screaming death threats at me, and then… just… screaming."
Padme felt distinctly uncomfortable, but not wanting to discomfit the Master Jedi, she said, "I am always grateful to receive wisdom, wherever it comes from."
"A commendable attitude. And I am sure your prior diplomacy with the Hutts will make our mission safer and easier."
The Jedi looked down at the planet's surface, as their pilot guided them into the upper atmosphere. At this range, they could see that the world's orbit was filled with a thousand ships, ferrying goods - no doubt much of them illegal - to and from the Hutts' commercial centres.
"Doesn't it have a beauty of its own?" said the Jedi. "Finance. Capital. Soulless mercantilism. A web of connections as intricate and profound as any woven by the Force. A stockbroker sells his photovoltaic cell shares on Coruscant, and the price of slaves goes up on Tatooine. A war breaks out, and droid bonds skyrocket, and suddenly there is a new middle class on Aldantis, where before there were only factory drudges… I believe the Hutts understand the principle of interdependence almost better than the Jedi. But it has not made them more compassionate. A Hutt knows the price of everything and the value of nothing…"
"I have never heard of the Hutts supporting a Force sect before," said Senator Amidala.
"That is because when the Jedi Council was formed, and it assumed centralised authority over all Force religions, it outlawed those sects appealing to the mercantile classes."
"But one of those sects survived?"
"The Force flows through all living beings. Great and small, predator and prey, compassionate and cruel. Like fluid poured into a container, the Force takes the shape of the organisms it inhabits. It is coloured by the environments it passes through. So long as worlds like Sidon exist, something in the living Force will take on the character of those worlds, and a corresponding sect will arise."
"But if that's true," said Senator Amidala, "if the Force takes on the character of each society and civilisation, there is no way to impose the Jedi Code on all planets, except by changing their entire way of life."
"That," said Master Chet, "is precisely why the Jedi Council thought it necessary to embed itself in the machinery of the Galactic Republic. The Republic is a unifying force. It is a means of spreading prosperity and effecting social change. It promotes and disseminates the values of the universal Galactic civilisation, which the Jedi have taken pains to influence in a benevolent direction.
"The earliest Jedi were recluses, who renounced the world, and focused on contemplation of the Force. But as they retreated from the world, they left it vulnerable to attacks from misguided and violent Force users. And so the Jedi returned to the galaxy, but by acting upon the world, they were changed by the world in turn, becoming entangled in material affairs. The corruption of the Republic has entered our bloodstream. Once we were peaceful custodians of knowledge, and now we are generals in your grand army… "
The Jedi master lifted a hand, and pointed to a distant landing pad. "Set us down there, pilot," he commanded. "Senator, it were best you and your crew remain on this ship, except when your diplomatic duties require it."
"Master Yoda asked me to investigate this situation alongside you," Padme said stubbornly.
Master Chet did not look pleased, but he did not argue. "Very well," he said. "But you alone will come with me. The clone escort will remain here until we require backup. There are Force sensitives on this planet. They have detected our approach already. The fewer of us there are on the ground, the less likely it is they will be able to pinpoint us. I am quite skilled at shielding myself from other Jedi. A sad talent that comes from hunting my own kind."
"They aren't your kind, Master," said Padme. "They're Sith."
The Jedi shook his head sadly. "Senator, what Sith and Jedi share is that we prefer to think in absolutes. The Order would have us believe that every fallen Jedi is seduced by the Dark Side. But experience has taught me that there are many shades of possibility between a lapsed Jedi and a sworn Sith. We must broaden our minds."
And Padme, who had a bad feeling about this mission, promised to do so.