Chapter 25: The Guide (Part 1)
The first thing Siri notes, even before she's fully awake, is the lack of the Force. It jolts her awake in a panic, breathing raggedly, gasping as if she's choking. She can't feel it, she can't feel it! She claws at her neck, her arms… and then there's hands stopping her.
"Siri! Calm down!"
It's Obi-Wan's voice.
She blinks rapidly, adjusting to the dimly lit room, her chest rising and falling slower and slower. Obi-Wan is kneeling in front of her, clutching her shaking limbs. Siri looks around, shes dressed in a light medical wing gown, there's nothing in here but a bed that she's on, a forcefield as a door, and a very small fresher tied to the… the Force Suppressant Cell she's in.
"I'm in the Temple," she states flatly.
"Yes."
"Home sweet home," she mutters bitterly.
Obi-Wan lets go of her arms and sat down next to her. "Sorry, the Council didn't want to take any chances."
She shook her head. "It's nothing I didn't expect if I was ever found and captured."
Then her eyes narrow and rage spikes. "I know why I'm in here, but why did they throw you in with me? You've done nothing wrong!"
He smiled mirthlessly. "I asked to be in here."
She blanks. "You what?"
"I asked to be in here," he answers again, "Figured you could use the company."
She just stared at him.
His smile turned self-depreciating. "…and I want to convince you to turn away from the Dark Side."
She sighs. "Obi-Wan… I've been through this dance and song before."
"And I heard you came close," said Obi-Wan, sitting down on the bed next to her.
She had... before Ur Manka had betrayed her. She said nothing though, merely looking down at her hands silently. Sidious had never instructed her on what to do in the situation the Jedi captured her. She had little to no knowledge about dealing with Force suppression. Probably because he would have used it against her had she been to unruly. Zannah had briefly mentioned once that there were techniques to escape Force Binders, to resist Force suppressing concoctions, but an entire cell was a completely different matter. She... wasn't getting out of here unless the Jedi let her out.
"Siri... what happened on that mission?" asked Obi-Wan, "After we separated to look for Tally?"
Siri looked away from him for a moment. Does she tell him? Does it matter? It was a long time ago for her...
"Master Galia and I... discovered Tally being abducted by a hooded figure, he leaped on a speeder, we gave chase," she said, shrugging, "We followed him back to his ship and confronted him. Turned out he was Force Sensitive, thought he was a Dark Jedi. He took Master Galia by surprise, got a hit on her shoulder and disabled her dominate arm. We fought..."
She trailed off, an image of her Master shoving her aside and taking the lethal low. "I was weak. I got her killed."
Obi-Wan frowned. "Siri, you can't blame yourself for..."
"You weren't there!" she snarled, "You... you didn't see how pitiful I was! She..."
Siri's hands trembled. "She pushed me aside, she was run through..."
"She died for you," he said softly, in a gentle, sad wonder, "There is nothing greater a Master can do for their Padawan then to give their life for them."
The anger, the rage, and the hate that surges forth from the memory aren't unexpected. Its the lack of a familiar spike of power, of the Dark Side, that throws her off. Leaves her floundering to the surprise ache of grief and sadness, emotions she hadn't felt for that memory in so long. It takes her completely offguard. She's left with ragged breathing, tears in her eyes, and the pain of loss so acute it was overwhelming.
"Siri?"
"No Force," she rasps, her voice shaking.
There is no Dark Side to smother those weaker, pitiful emotions.
Not even the brief light Ur Manka had given her years ago to release her pain into.
Just memory, and raw feeling. How... how did Force Nulls deal with this? She curled a little, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "I need the Dark... I don't want to feel this..."
Obi-Wan laid a hesitant hand on her shoulder. "Siri... have you never grieved for her?"
"Once," she whispered, "When I was with Master Ur Manka. But... I had other things to struggle with than an old memory."
"I don't understand," he said, "How could you not feel that for so long? Not release it..."
"The Dark Side," she snarled, "Does not release emotions! It uses them, and it especially keeps such weak emotions at bay! Grief, sadness, such sensations have no use to a Sith except to use against others."
Obi-Wan's hand fled her shoulder, and it was like a sudden patch of cold where it had been. "It... suppresses them?"
Siri just growls under her breath and stands, pacing the cell, trying to find a way to beat back what she feels. She has always had the Force's assistance, light or dark, in doing this. It's always been there, affecting her one way or another. She feels a bit floundered without it, but like hell will she let it beat her. She pushed at the feeling, the roil of her stomach, forcing it away through stubborn force of will.
"Siri?"
She closed her eyes as she paced, though kept her rotation short without the Force to sense if she was about to walk into something. Emotions were power, if they could not be used at the moment, they would be stored. Except she couldn't funnel them to draw out later without the Force, so they were just emotions. Normal people could still use their emotions for strength, she had seen desperation draw out amazing reserves in some of the beings she had killed. She could recall having drove her lightsaber through a target's chest once, only to have them still push on and stab her right back with a vibroblade out of pure spite and hate to take her down with them.
She just had to figure out how to use them without the Force, and not let them drag her down.
"Could you explain that?"
She opened her eyes and blinked at him. "Why? You already told me you have no interest in embracing the Dark Side."
"I have no desire to fall," he agreed, "But I have an academic interest in knowing how it affects you."
"Fall," mused Siri, "Is such a crude, barbaric thing, and nothing I would intend for you."
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Why would I let you fall, Obi-Wan?" she purred, a twisted smile crossing her face, "You can get hurt doing something so uncontrolled. Why let you fall off a cliff into the dark, when I could guide you down the shadowed path instead?"
Her eyes watched Obi-Wan reflexively lean back into the wall beside the bed, as if to scoot farther way from her. "A fall is a horrific, terrifying thing Obi-Wan. Filled with pain and loss as you finally embrace your true power. There are much better ways I think that embracing the Dark Side could be done."
It was strange. Seeing that nervousness, that fear, and not being able to feed off it for power. It must be doubly strange to Obi-Wan, because he's in here too, he can't release his emotions to the Force at the moment. Though, being a Jedi would give him practice at keeping calm, which would help him in this situation. That fear though... for once, she doesn't like it. She doesn't like him being afraid of her, not after he confessed his feelings.
She watches him steel himself, and then he speaks, "Do you regret yours?"
Siri's fists tightened. "I never had a choice in mine."
"There's always a choice...," began Obi-Wan.
"Is there?" she snarled, "Is there really, Kenobi? I was facing down a Dark Jedi, a young Sith Apprentice in reality, who had just killed my Master, who toyed with us. I was a complete emotional mess, I had no control anymore, and he..."
She looked away, thinking but not saying 'He threatened to kill you, to make you watch as your master died as I had'. She didn't think Obi-Wan would do well in realizing she had... well... in a way kind of fallen to the Dark Side for him. She was angry with him... but she didn't want to hurt him, and the truth would wound him deeply. He... he admitted to loving her, and she would never again raise a hand to him to inflict pain. He was hers... and she never wanted to see his face twisting in pain again...
Pain that she had inflicted on him.
She hissed at the regret that bombarded her, sneering at him and diverting both him and her from that moment. "It turns out, Obi-Wan, if you kill a Sith Apprentice through falling, you automatically qualify for the job, and if you decline, you die."
Obi-Wan blinked. "You killed a Sith?"
"Sidious's first apprentice, Maul," spat Siri, "A beast. He was my favorite and most treasured kill. I won't likely find a more satisfying one unless I kill Sidious."
"So you chased Tally, Maul killed Master Galia, and... you fell to kill him," said Obi-Wan slowly, "Followed by, I'm assuming, Darth Sidious kidnapping you and forcing you to be his apprentice?"
Siri scoffed. "Forced is such a strong word Obi-Wan. As you said, there was always a choice. I could have refused, he..."
Would have tracked down and killed all of her friends from the temple... killed Obi-Wan...
"...would have either kept torturing me until I agreed, or until he got sick of waiting and just killed me," said Siri, memories of that time in that cell...
That cell...
Siri threw back her head and she laughed. "Oh the irony."
Obi-Wan gave her a blank look.
"When Sidious abducted me, he threw me into a cell and tortured me until I agreed to become his apprentice," she said with dark amusement, ignoring Obi-Wan's grimace, "When the Jedi abducted me, they threw me into a Force Suppressant Cell which is basically torture for a Force Sensitive, until I assume I agree to serve them. The irony is not lost on me."
Obi-Wan frowned. "I'm not sure capturing a dangerous prisoner is quite the same as abducting a lost and struggling Padawan. The cell is to make sure you can't hurt others, and we want to help you, not force you into service."
"Semantics," she said dismissively.
"It's really not," said Obi-Wan mildly.
"Unless I agree to try to go back to the light, to the Jedi, I know I'm not ever getting out of here," she said flatly, "Don't mince words Kenobi. Its the same now as it was then. Convert or die, or at least spend the rest of my life in a cell."
Or until Sidious destroys the Jedi, drags her ass out of this cell, and kills her for her failure. She can't even imagine the rage he must feel at the moment, to have had his yellow-eyed Sith Apprentice, and lost her within five minutes time. He'd make her death slow and painful.
"It's all my life's ever been," she said bitterly, "I'm not ignorant. Jedi or Sith, I was indoctrinated and trained in their ways, a servant to a master. Whether a compliant, dutiful padawan to Master Galia, or a slave of an Apprentice to Sidious, I haven't been free a day in my life."
"Indoctrinated?" he said, incredulous, "The Jedi..."
"Take children as infants and raise them from the ground up to be Jedi," she said flatly, "So yes, indoctrination. The Jedi and the Sith aren't that different Obi-Wan, they just go about the same things in different and conflicting ways. Case in point being Sith will take an older apprentice, and aren't afraid to poach from the Jedi."
Yeah, they really weren't afraid to do that. Exar Kun, Revan, Ulic Qel-Droma, ect... Siri was just the latest in a very long line.
"I beg to differ."
"Then differ, I don't care," she said dismissively, "Now get up and out of my bed."
Obi-Wan did, and she laid down, staring up at the ceiling silently.
"Do you mind, if I tell the council what you told me about the mission with Tally?" he asked.
She scoffed. "You're their interrogator, you're going to tell them anyway."
"I am not," he said firmly, "I will only tell them things you give me permission to, or that have immediate dire consequences."
She rolled her eyes. "You're going to pull Good Jedi Bad Jedi on me? Really?"
"I'm not pulling anything Siri, I mean it," he said again, and her eyes washed over him. There was not a hint of lying, but a Jedi's calm facade would allow him to hide that. Not to mention she didn't have the Force to sense for a lie, still...
"Even if I believed that," she drawled, "This is an advanced prison cell for dangerous Force Sensitive. If there aren't cameras and microphones in it, I might die of shock."
At that, Obi-Wan blanked. "Oh. That... might be a good point. I'll bring it up, and if there are any microphones, have them removed. I doubt they'd agree to removing cameras though."
She scoffed. "Right, sure. Even if by chance you are telling the truth, the Council won't allow that."
Obi-Wan shrugged. "We'll see."
They lapsed into silence, Siri pursing her lips and just staring up at the ceiling. Force, she wished Zannah was here to chat with at least. Then again... would a Holocron even work in a Force Suppressant Cell? That was a logic conundrum to think about...
"So... what happened next?"
Siri sighed. "Go away Obi-Wan."
"Maybe later," he answered, sitting down against the opposing wall, "If you don't want to talk about your past, I can bring you up to speed on whats happened here at home."
"Oh joy, Jedi gossip and the Temple rumor mill," drawled Siri, glancing over at him.
And seeing a flash of... something, pain, irritation, resignation. "Yes, the rumor mill."
She rolled onto her side, studying him for a moment. There was honest negativity from him, interesting. Lets see where this led to..., "Alright then, lets hear it."
"Well... that mission was a disaster, to say plainly," said Obi-Wan, "My Master and I got six months of censure for our troubles..."
"You WHAT?" she exploded, bolting to a sitting position and clenching the ends of the bed tightly, "That's kriffing stupid! You weren't responsible for what happened!"
Obi-Wan shrugged. "A Council Member and her promising padawan had just been killed, supposedly. There was plenty of blame to go around and both Qui-Gon and I were there to take it."
Her rage surges at the thought of it... of Obi-Wan being unnecessarily punished, blamed for her own death, reputation torn apart, the rumor mill in terrible motion...
...and then there was, yet again, no familiar spike of power or the Dark Side in response. She snarled a bit and clenched her fists in frustration, in yearning for that familiar dark rush. It sent a viscous shiver, a craving, for it that she could not sate. She didn't like this, at all. She was in her first hour of conscious captivity, and it was already trying at her. She swallowed at the thought months, years, potentially her entire life, being spent in this room.
Then again, being cut off from the Force but not severed from it for the long term had potentially dangerous side effects for a Force Sensitive. She wondered if she'd go mad from being coped up in here, or from the lack of the Force, either she supposed depended on her will. She considered if the Jedi even knew about that. Then again, they had these cells, they had been used in the far past. Or maybe they just chalked up any side effects to being caused by the Dark Side, who knows. Perhaps they didn't care, used it as a form of punishment.
Self-Righteous bastards, the lot of them.
"Are you okay Siri?" asked Obi-Wan.
She blinked at him. "Do you always ask stupid questions Obi-Wan?"
"Some of the time?"
She snorted, trying to hold back a laugh. "When did you stop being to stuck up and stingy?"
"Sometime after Qui-Gon corrupted me with his maverick ways," mused Obi-Wan, "Terrible influence, that Master Jinn."
Siri frowned a bit and laid back down, thinking about how much Obi-Wan's master meant to him, the pain and anticipatory loss Obi-Wan had felt when Siri had been about to kill Master Jinn... "Sidious wants Qui-Gon dead, specifically."
Obi-Wan's breath hitched. "Is... that why you were involved in the Blockade of Naboo?"
"No, Sidious has some reason for the blockade, never told me, I was just to get the Queen to sign the treaty, you and Jinn were bonus. I was to kill Qui-Gon to get at Dooku, and kill you as... as my final test," she said.
Obi-Wan frowned intently. "Get at my Grandmaster?"
Siri turned her head, eyebrow raised. "You almost sound fond of him."
"I am fond of him," said Obi-Wan matter of factually, "When he wasn't chasing off after you, he spent a lot of time with us. While I prefer Ataru, he taught me a bit of Makashi."
Siri groaned. "Great, so that surprise wouldn't have worked on you either."
"Nobody expects Makashi," teased Obi-Wan, "Not even someone who uses it."
She blew a raspberry at him before frowning, "But... Dooku hadn't had anything to do with you or Qui-Gon since your apprenticeship started."
Obi-Wan shrugged, a self-depreciated smile crossing his face. "I was in... well... a rut, after you apparently died, and it reminded Qui-Gon enough of his own grief over Master Tahl to make him spiral into his own. We were miserable together, and apparently that was enough to have Yoda twist Dooku's arm into visiting us, and well, Dooku ended up being a rather welcome addition to our lives."
There was a part of Siri that purred with pleasure, of Obi-Wan having grieved for her 'death'. There was another that was sad, for him to have suffered that pain. The final part..., "You two are terrible with attachments."
Obi-Wan only smiled sheepishly in response at that, ducking his head.
Siri... enjoyed watching him like that. Seeming actually happy, not a Jedi's unnatural calm. She didn't want it ruined... and Dooku falling would ruin it. "Dooku has spent to much time alone chasing shadows, especially ones that Sidious had me leave for him. Qui-Gon's death would have been meant to push him into leaving the Order and leaving him ripe for the picking."
Obi-Wan's smile vanished in an instant, a heavy, if but bewildered frown crossing his face. "What use would he have of a Jedi Master? Even if Dooku left the Order?"
Oh poor Obi-Wan... so deluded; she thumbed herself, "What use would Sidious have for a Jedi Padawan, fallen or not?"
Obi-Wan shook his head. "Dooku wouldn't fall."
"You don't listen Kenobi," Siri growled, flashing teeth, before tilting her head away, "I'm giving you the courtesy of warning you that Sidious has been watching your Grandmaster for a very long time. The least you could do is actually take my warning seriously, because I sure as hell don't have to tell you a damn thing."
Obi-Wan's frown hadn't left his face. "If you had killed Qui-Gon, and I had lived, Dooku probably would have taken up my apprenticeship rather than leave, for however little it lasted. Even if... if we both had died, he would have set out to destroy the Sith, not join them."
"Obi-Wan," she said irritably, was he this ignorant? We're all Jedi this ignorant? "I HATE Sidious, I want nothing more than to kill him. Hating the Sith and wanting to destroy them doesn't stop you from being able to join them. To work with them and be converted to their cause over time. I know from experience."
There was an ill look to Obi-Wan's face. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before standing up. "Alright... I... need to go see the Council, and see if they can get my Grandmaster back here. He was apparently looking into your underworld connections as an angle to locate you."
Siri growled. "He had best have stayed away from my favorites."
"You have favorites?"
Alexi and Mighella flashed through her mind. "Just because I'm a Sith doesn't mean I can't like people and prefer their company."
Though, now that Obi-Wan actually admitted he loved her... she probably wouldn't be ending up in Alexi's bed anymore, if she ever got out of here. Hell, she'd probably have to threaten him to never EVER mention it aloud. She'd cut his dick off if he ever even hinted to Obi-Wan that he and her had slept together. That... was an awkward sequence of thoughts...
She frowned a bit; she was not ignorant of how she was reacting to him, how her thoughts had shifted. Ironically enough... she thought she'd probably be acting more aggressive for him, more possessive of him, a Jedi, if she had the Dark Side right now. She's... not comfortable with how open she feels towards Obi-Wan...
It left her distinctly uncomfortable to have something feel more important than killing Sidious. Or at least comparable to that desire.
Obi-Wan was studying her for a moment before turning to the entrance of the cell. "I'll be back in a bit."
She watched as he called for the guards, wondering if he was really that trusting that he wouldn't make for the door-
Oh.
She smiled a little, annoyed, as a second forcefield activated a few feet in front of the first before that one shut down, allowing Obi-Wan to step forward, and then the forcefields switched again. A double-lock. It really sunk in... she wasn't going anywhere...
Suddenly, the cell seemed to grow a lot smaller.
And she wished Obi-Wan hadn't left...
Obi-Wan kept his face masked with passiveness, and his arms folded into his robes, as he finished giving Siri's very brief description of that mission eight years ago and her warnings about Dooku to the Council. There was an air of skepticism... but not on Yoda's face.
Yoda was honestly, and openly, worried about Dooku. "Mmm. Fear this, I did. Recall my padawan through emergency frequencies, we will. Know that found dark artifacts and writings while chasing Tachi, he did."
Obi-Wan swallowed, hard. He hadn't been aware of that, Grandmaster was keeping secrets from him and Qui-Gon, secrets that could destroy him. "So she's not lying in the slightest then. This 'Sidious' want's Dooku."
"Did she imply why?" asked Master Windu.
Obi-Wan shook his head. "No. I was... a little in denial over it and didn't dig into it."
He broke his stance to reach a hand up and rub his face. "The Sith are corruptive of everything."
"Then be mindful in your... sessions... with the Sith," said Master Windu, "There is no need to lose you to them as well."
Obi-Wan gave him a very unimpressed look. "I'll manage."
"She is more cooperative than I thought she would be," mused Master Piell, "Frankly, I wasn't expecting anything that wasn't a lie or deception for months, if that."
Obi-Wan shook his head. "She wasn't being cooperative. We argued mostly. She... thought that old mission didn't matter much to her anymore when she gave into that request, and did me a courtesy telling me about Dooku."
Plo Koon tilted his head. "A courtesy?"
Obi-Wan smiled a little, sadly. "I give it a few days at most before she learns to manage herself under Force suppression, but she's a bit open in her tells right now. She told me because I care about my Grandmaster."
"Attachment," mused Plo Koon, "She'd betray her Master's plans simply because you care about Master Dooku?"
Obi-Wan shrugged. "Yeah."
"You don't seemed surprised by this?" inquired Plo Koon.
"She's not loyal to Sidious," said Obi-Wan flatly, "Firmly seduced to the Dark Side, yes. Loyal perhaps to the Sith ideology in general, yes. But to Sidious? No. She firmly hates him."
"Then why act against him, has she not?" asked Yaddle.
"She's afraid of him, I think," said Obi-Wan slowly, "She said, back on Naboo, that I have no concept of just how powerful he is. She said she was decades away from being able to face and kill him. If she acted now, he'd just have killed her..."
He trailed off, frowning. "I'm probably missing something in all of this, I feel that I am. I've barely had an hour to talk to her so far, there's so much I don't know, and what I have learned thus far... is troubling."
"Yes, you haven't given in full detail a report of everything said," said Master Windu, prompting.
"And I'm not going to," said Obi-Wan, tilting his chin up a bit, "I promised her I would ask her permission before I say anything to specific, and I meant it. And on that note, if there are any microphones in that cell, please disable them."
The Council went dead silent.
"Padawan Kenobi...," began Master Windu, a scowl on his face a extreme disapproval in his voice.
"If I can't get her to trust me, if I can't earn that from her, she will stay lost," said Obi-Wan firmly, "You cannot touch the light without trust, and if she cannot trust, then she will never walk away from the Dark Side."
Yoda looked at him thoughtfully, "In what you say, truth there is. But report your progress, you still must."
"I can allow overviews," said Obi-Wan carefully, "And my thoughts in certain general matters, like something she revealed about the Dark Side to me earlier."
"Which is what exactly?" said Master Windu, eyes narrowed on him, "What is she 'teaching' you?"
"It wasn't teaching," Obi-Wan answered flatly before clearing his throat.
"She implied that the Dark Side suppresses what she called 'weak' emotions, such as grief and sadness. I've taken the liberty of assuming that applies to regret, guilt, and things of that nature," said Obi-Wan thoughtfully, "She seemed rather taken offguard when she felt them in the cell without the Dark Side there to block them."
"You consider this important?" asked Master Windu.
Obi-Wan stared at him. "Of course it is important, it's incredibly important. I had no clue the Dark Side works like that. Frankly, I know next to nothing about it, aside that anger, hate, suffering, and things of that nature lead to it, empower it. I don't know if its like that for everyone who touches it, or just her. But its a piece in understanding why the fallen stay fallen."
"Knowledge of the Dark Side is tightly guarded and restricted," said Master Windu firmly, "And for a reason."
"I understand that, and agree somewhat," said Obi-Wan, "But having little to no understanding of it academically leaves one uncertain on how to deal with it outside of a lightsaber."
He sighed. "I want to understand why and how she fell, I think she didn't tell me the whole story there. I want to understand how she was pulled into the Sith, why she didn't bolt the moment she had the opportunity to. What drew her in and kept her there..."
He trailed off briefly, "...what happened with Master Ur Manka. How she nearly came back, how that failed, how she ended up back with Sidious. How she became so entrenched into the Dark Side, and... and what happened on Naboo, that moment her eyes turned yellow and it felt like she had become something else. That... more than anything else, needs to be dealt with. She cannot ever become that lost again, I don't know if I could pull her back a second time. I need to know and understand everything I can in order to help her break free and stay free of it."
"Mmm," mused Yoda, slow and drawn out, "A long path, will you walk. Difficult this trial will be, for you, for Tachi. Dangerous, it may be. Talk to your Master, or a Mind Healer, you will, once a week at least, no less."
"If I feel in over my head, I will pull back and give myself space to think and deal with what I learn," agreed Obi-Wan.
Yoda grunted. "Agree with you, the Council will. So long as brief us, communicate, you do, refrain from recording, disabled any listening device in the cells shall be. For your safety, cameras will remain."
Obi-Wan didn't get the feeling Siri would hurt him, not anymore. But he didn't voice the thought, he doubted they would listen to it. He merely bowed his head. "Thank you, Counselors."
Master Windu seemed disgruntled by Yoda speaking for them all, and asked, "Is there anything else you learned thus far that you would consider acceptable to share?"
Obi-Wan grinned a little. "She wasn't anymore impressed with my and my Master's sixth month censure than we were."
"Hmph, impudence," said Yoda, waving his stick.
Then Obi-Wan frowned, uncertain. "Her views and comparisons between the Jedi and the Sith I'll need to figure out how to address."
"That's preposterous," snapped Master Windu, "Comparisons?"
Obi-Wan twitched uncomfortably. "She said that both Orders use indoctrination."
Exasperation filled the room, and Obi-Wan had the sense that this argument was something the Jedi Order as a whole was used to.
"It is the choice of the parent to give up their child, it is against our mandates to force them to baring extreme circumstances where the child's life is in danger," said Master Windu, "And any Jedi, should they so wish, is free to leave the Jedi Order and find a new life for themselves. No one is forced to stay."
Obi-Wan tilts his head in acknowledgement, but doesn't verbally respond. He thinks about it, and doesn't like the bitterness Siri showed. The words 'I haven't been free a day in my life' echo in his mind, because she firmly believes that, he didn't need the Force to feel that. He considers that a Jedi knows nothing else, why would they ever want to leave? Why is it considered such a crushing failure to not become a Jedi Knight, to end up in the Service Corps? Leaving the Jedi Order has a stigma, and anyone saying otherwise isn't doing anyone a favor. He doesn't think the Jedi Order does this deliberately, its not malicious, not like the Sith or other Dark Side sects at least. Its their culture, a way of life. Whether its indoctrination or not... that's really up to the individual he supposes.
"I don't think there's anything else relevant," and not personal, "To speak of at the moment, it was just a quick session."
"Then may the Force be with you, Padawan Kenobi," said Plo Koon, the rest echoing, and Obi-Wan echoing back, before leaving the room...
Review Responses:
DuckedHard: Sorry, Midichlorians will not be mentioned often, outside of simply being used like a 'Vegeta what's his power level' kind of thing (which probably wont happen outside of Anakin) or Midichlorian manipulation, because there are oodles of goodies with that Force power.
Nerdman3000: Stroke! Stroke!
1saaa: :D Thanks. I try to use little references, hints, or throwbacks, though sometimes I may forget or misuse/contradict them.