On the other end of the ship, the pirates holding the entrance to the bridge were having a hard time containing the invaders. Aelia and her marines had stormed their way to the command deck entry hatch with little difficulty, leaving a heap of dead or disabled pirates in their wake. Now they stood at the brink of success, with only a handful of slavers standing between them and control of the ship. This was an obstacle that would soon be overcome; already, the pirates' resolve was weakening, and with every comrade to be gunned down by blaster fire or cut down by lightsaber it fell a little lower.

Some pirates, more level-headed than their comrades perhaps, had identified the Jedi as the greatest threat. Aelia batted aside a series of blaster bolts all aimed at her heart and head; most dissipated harmlessly against the bulkhead, but two caught their owners squarely in the chest and took them very conclusively out of the fight. She reached out with the Force, and hauled another pirate through the air towards her. Mid-air, he was decapitated by a clean saber stroke; before head and body had hit the floor, Aelia had moved, crossing the remainder of the hallway and closing the distance between her and the pirate resistance. With the Jedi now among them, dealing merry hell left and right with her lightsaber, their defence finally broke completely, those not dead or injured fleeing back onto the bridge, heedless of the angry cries of the man who sat in the command chair.

The Republic forces stormed the bridge, surgically precise blaster fire taking out the few guards who moved to try and stop them. Aelia strode to the front of her troops, and locked eyes with the Trandoshan who sat at the head of the bridge. "I take it that you're the captain?"

The lizard-man slowly rose from the chair. "Jedi. Come to die?"

"After today's performance? I don't think that's likely, do you?" Aelia levelled her saber. "Surrender. Release the slaves, and give yourselves up. I promise you will be shown mercy."

The Trandoshan did not seem to hear. Instead, he was eyeing her all over, as if measuring her up. "The Scorekeeper offers many points for Jedi, especially grown ones," he muttered. "Your death will honour me greatly in her eyes."

Aelia exchanged worried glances with her lieutenant, and did her best to laugh. "I'm flattered, but I'm afraid I really am out of your league. You'd only be killed."

Again, the slaver captain ignored her. With a dull scrape, he drew his vibroblade from its sheaf on his back. "There is no honour in underhand tactics. Such trickery disgraces the Scorekeeper. You and me Jedi, to the death. No help from our men."

"Alternatively, I could just order my marines to shoot you where you stand." Aelia raised a hand, and the soldiers around her raised their blasters and took aim. "You're outnumbered. I doubt I would lose a single trooper. Much simpler."

The Trandoshan grinned, or at least tried to, but such expressions are very difficult to pull off when you have a reptilian face; all he managed was a lizard-like facsimile of a grimace. "That would not be in keeping with the Jedi Code, would it?" he hissed.

He has a point, dear, said a voice in her head.

Aelia scowled. Shut up, dad. I'm trying to solve this problem without any unnecessary risks, like you taught me.

Ordering your men to gun down your hopelessly outmatched enemies is certainly not what I taught you, Aelia, the voice of Quintus chided. Remember the Code. There is no emotion, there is peace.

Hang the Code. If it's just going to get in the way, then I'm afraid it's going to have to get broken.

And now you know how I feel, almost every day. Quintus' voice sounded tired. The Code has an infuriating tendency to make life difficult, doesn't it? I mean, sure, you could take the easy path now, and just shoot him. He is a slaver after all, and he did just threaten to kill you, so he arguably deserves it. You wouldn't have too much trouble defending your actions to the Jedi Council afterwards.

Thank you! Back in the real world, Aelia raised her voice. "OK, everyone, on my command-"

Of course, Quintus continued, by that logic, the next time you're faced with a young Imperial soldier trying to surrender, you should probably just kill him too. He may not have asked to be in this war, and he may well only be fighting for fear of his Sith commander, but he is serving an evil empire based on the whole-hearted embrace of the Dark Side. If you killed him, I'm sure few people would blame you. Except maybe his family, and that nice girl he was seeing when he was on leave. They might hold it against you.

Aelia snarled aloud in frustration, earning confused looks from everyone else on the bridge. Do you have a point?

My point is that if you break the rules for good reasons, it won't be long until you're breaking them for bad reasons. That's what the Jedi Code is for; it keeps us in check, and holds us to the straight and narrow. Quintus' mental voice took on a serious tone. It's what keeps us from becoming just like the Sith Lords we fight in the name of righteousness. We may resent the rules, and we may bend them on occasion when the circumstances call for it, but breaking them is the first step on the path to the Dark Side. When you're a super-powered space wizard with the ability to kill people in a dozen different ways with just your mind, morality stops being a duty to aspire to and becomes an essential instead. Otherwise you may as well don those ridiculously over-sized shoulder pads and start calling yourself Darth Whatever right now, because that's exactly what you'll end up as. Even if you still call yourself a Jedi.

There was a long, mental silence. Then Aelia sighed. So you're saying I have to accept his offer for single combat?

Don't be ridiculous! Quintus sounded shocked. That would be a terrible idea! Just don't kill him, that's all. One slaver is not worth losing your soul over.

She grinned. "I can do that."

In front of her, the Trandoshan blinked, startled by his prey's sudden return to the Land of the Speaking. "What? You can do what?"

"This."

Aelia's hand made a wide, sweeping gesture. The captain snarled in frustration as his vibroblade ripped itself from his scaly grip. Pirates scrambled to get out of its way as it flew across the bridge, pin wheeling through the air, until it finally embedded itself in a control console on the far side of the command deck. "Stun him!" shouted Aelia, and her lieutenant put a low-power blaster bolt into the captain's chest. The Trandoshan collapsed into his chair, even as the Jedi leapt across the deck and landed on the main terminal, sinking her lightsaber deep into the ship's navigation console. She turned to face what was left of the crew, and the sparks from the console lit her grinning face with an eerie blue glow. "Ladies and gentlemen! Unless I'm very much mistaken, I've just disabled whatever fancy systems you use to steer this heap of junk. We, and more importantly our ship, are now your only hope of survival! With this in mind, perhaps you'd like to reconsider your captain's response to my offer for your surrender?" She stood triumphantly atop the half-molten navigation console, enjoying the effect. "Well?"