AN:The brief video snippet of Obi-Wan talking was contributed by Lagrange from Sufficient Velocity. I liked it, and decided to roll with it. After all I do encourage audience participation.
Made up statistics are made up! I didn't have any luck finding mass killer/family killer versus population statistics so I ended up inventing my own. If anyone can find actual stats, I'll adjust the chapter, but otherwise just roll with it being significantly less than 1%.
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I loaded up the video Obi-Wan had recorded. R3 had the good sense not to upload it until I reviewed it, and I didn't see any point in putting it off.
"The Force is an amazing, wondrous thing. Mastering it is the work of a lifetime, and those who devote their lives to it have achieved some of the most incredible feats of bravery and heroism in galactic history. They've also caused and committed the greatest atrocities." Obi-Wan's image spoke with solemnly.
"Before you commit to following the Captain's videos, I implore you to step back and think of what becoming a Force wielder will actually mean for yourself, and for those around you. For a time, it may seem like you're just learning a fancy new magic trick to show off at the bar. Right up until you have that One Bad Day. Then, rather than having to patch a whole in a wall, or apologize for a few angry words, you may wake up to realize you've just slaughtered everyone you know."
"The teachings of the Jedi Order have been refined for countless generations, and our philosophies and practices are focused on avoiding that. While our tenants are not easy to follow, they are the best way we know of to safely use the Force for the good of all sentient beings."
"Learning to use the Force will probably make your life worse, in the long run. If you've spent your entire life learning to control yourself, your emotions, and your thoughts, then you just might be able to avoid a horrible fate. Otherwise? Force users who fall to the Dark Side have depopulated entire planets. They've killed their own loved ones and destroyed organizations they spent their entire lives building. They've even killed themselves by destroying their own starship in a fit of mindless rage."
" So please, don't embark on this journey casually. You aren't picking up a new hobby. You're picking up the most dangerous and powerful skill in the galaxy."
Pausing the video, I pinched the bridge of my nose and growled under my breath. I couldn't upload this. It would scare off every kind hearted sapient and encourage the reckless, the violent, and the crazies. Granted those people would abuse it regardless, but the whole point of this was to spread knowledge of and the ability to use the Force. Letting him chase off the people least likely to abuse it? No way. Now I needed to deal with this or kick the man off of my ship.
I needed to do some serious research before beating statistics into his head. The hardest part would be making the man understand that Force users, are in fact, just people. With all the good and bad that implied.
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"You know when I told you that you could record a video about the Jedi order I did not mean that you could spend a half hour sharing horror stories in a poorly thought out attempt to scare a bunch of people away from using the Force." I glared at Obi-Wan.
"I simply thought my time would be best spent warning them of the risks of learning to use the Force." His response could have almost been serene, but I doubted serenity normally came with fangs.
"By scaring off every decent person watching that lacks a poodoo detector, and encouraging any lunatic who wants to go out in a blaze of glory." I deadpanned. It wasn't much but Obi-Wan twitched, "Luckily R3 ran the video by me before posting it so it's not out there encouraging the crazies. Seriously, depopulating planets? What were you thinking? That takes planet killers, or an army. Unless you think a lone Force user can just reach out and drag a planet's moon down?"
I passed him a datapad with a list of names on it.
"That's every being in the past five years who committed a mass killing or annihilated their family. You talked about having one bad day? That's the galactic list of people who had that one bad day."
It wasn't pretty to think about. Hell, the list was kriffing long and if I actually stopped to read them all I'd probably crawl into a bottle for a couple days before pretending I'd never looked at any of it. Obi-Wan's appalled look told me he'd likely react in a similar manner.
"And you want to give Force training to all of these people?" He tossed the datapad onto the table in disgust, "You are proving my point Captain."
"There are something like a hundred thousand names on that list." I ignored his comment, "There are something like one hundred quadrillion sentients in the Republic. It's a drop in the bucket. Callous as that may be to say, it's the truth."
"That does not justify arming these people with the Force. That temptation can only increase the likelihood of such incidents exponentially. And it makes every one of them much more dangerous."
"There are only about, what ten thousand Jedi? Maybe fifteen if you count all the corps as full Jedi?"
Obi-Wan eyed me carefully at the apparent non sequitur. "That sounds about right, yes, what's your point?"
"I'd be interested to check Jedi numbers against the number of members who either Fell, or at least dabbled in the Dark Side of the Force. Be interesting to see how the statistics line up." I shrugged, "Not really conclusive though considering that these people didn't actually have one bad day. As you so eloquently put it." Calling the data pad to me with the Force I closed out the list of names and pulled up something like twenty different articles on the subject of the mentality of mass killers and people who killed their own families. Handing it back I gave him the cliff notes version knowing he would go on to read them all later, and likely research further.
"Discounting the zealots who commit their crimes in the name of some cause, ideal or religion, and the mentally ill, you're left with people who just couldn't cope any more. People that life isolates then spends months or years shitting on, people who just can't catch a break. And where a lot of people accept that life just isn't fair, or as some people blame themselves? These are people who blame everyone else for their problems. Then they lash out at whatever person or group they believe is responsible. It's not one bad day, it's hundreds, or thousands, of bad days. One after another, grinding a person down to the point they just can't cope anymore."
Obi-Wan didn't say anything, eyes already roaming over the first article.
"I'll grant you the Jedi probably do have much lower rates than the rest of the galaxy when it comes to snapping like that. But every Jedi is part of a group which actively watches for bad situations like this, and acts as a support group for their members. You also generally don't have the same stressors. You don't have to worry about where your next meal is going to come from, or if you can afford to keep a roof over your families heads, you never have to worry about losing your job, or a spouse leaving you."
I spread my hands wide.
"Sometimes life sucks, and people can't handle it. That's not limited to Force users. And I'd be pretty surprised if the Force actually made it any more likely."
"And what about people who are abusive?" Obi-Wan countered. Not conceding the point, just setting it aside to try a different approach, "The ones who enjoy feeling powerful, who take pleasure in others' pain?" I ignored the obvious joke about how they needed to keep it in the bedroom. This was serious, and it deserved to be treated as such.
"Then I'd say they've already fallen. Look, I know there are going to be people who abuse this, just like there are people who abuse blasters. But I think there will be a lot of people who put it to good use, or no use at all. I'm a Force user, and aside from those times trouble comes looking for me? I only use the Force to try and figure out what it's capable of. What I'm capable of."
"And people could twist your teachings to do unspeakable harm."
"Let them, they twist everything else out there to do harm anyway, one more option won't be the end of the universe. Besides, it's not like I'm giving them combat training."
That drew Obi-Wan up short. And he looked at me questioningly. I shrugged.
"I'm offering instructional videos on the Force. Not combat. No lightsaber forms, or even how to build a lightsaber, not that most could afford a crystal anyway. The closest thing I'm planning to teach is the Matukai forms, and that's not the same as sparring practice. It also won't do much good against blasters unless you count making it easier to run away." I shook my head, "Oh, it won't stop them from being dangerous. Force push down a flight of stairs, enhanced muscles to snap a neck or break ribs, but that's not skill, or overwhelming power. It's just one more way to do something horrible."
Obi-Wan didn't respond, though he did look thoughtful. Not even remotely convinced, but thoughtful. I doubted I could convince him. I was a heretic preaching thing at odds with the Jedi code, and actively working to break the status quo. Everything I said was suspect. Luckily, I was pretty sure I knew people whose beliefs he might be more willing to listen to. Even better, I'd managed to score a contract heading that way. Nice thing about vacation worlds was they drew people from all over who then needed rides back to wherever they came from in the first place. Lots of business from people who tended to have the credits to blow on chartered flights and month long vacations.
"Look, we've got a week's shore leave to not be cramped up in here before we leave with our next group of passengers. You and Anakin both have credits to burn that don't need to be justified to some bursar or requisitions officer. Enjoy yourself, meditate on a beach, go to a bar and buy everyone a round of drinks, get some training in with the kid. If you want to take another shot at a more neutral or positive video about the Jedi order go for it."
"And what will you be doing, Captain?" The question was much more relaxed then his earlier retorts. I wasn't sure if that was because he thought I might have a point, or if he was just putting the argument to the side for now. Maybe it was the offer to let him make a pro Jedi video instead of his anti Force video.
"Winning bar bets. Trying to find someone to man the other gun… Probably spend some time on a beach or in a field running through some forms. I don't always have the space or time to practice. Might as well use the opportunity."
"Lightsaber forms?"
"And unarmed combat." I shrugged. "I'd rather not get up close when people pull blasters, but I try not to let myself get too rusty." I grimaced, "Though without sparring partners or anyone to point out mistakes, I'm not sure how successful I've been."
"Then perhaps this will be a chance for me to teach you something." Obi-Wan's grin was aggravatingly cheeky.
I grumbled, but didn't dismiss the offer. I was pretty sure I could use the refresher course.
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Coming back to my ship a hundred credits richer, but no closer to finding a second gunner was a bit of a letdown. Not a surprise though. Vacation worlds weren't known for their seedy underworld full of spacers. A lot of these people likely owned their own yachts and either learned to pilot them on a lark, or more often retained pilots. Ships like mine were in the distinct minority here.
The flicker of movement in the shadows by the hanger entrance caught my attention. Oddly there was no sense of warning or danger from the Force. Still I came to a stop and waited as the figure walked into the dim lighting of the hanger bay.
It was a Mirialan girl with modest curves, deep green skin, and brown eyes. She had tattoos, black triangles, alternating point up and down leading from the corner of her eyes horizontally back to her ears. Her short cropped black hair was broken up by scattered blue highlights, and she was dressed in what looked like expensive casual clothes, all in dark shades. Not an unattractive girl, but she couldn't be more than sixteen. A bit too young for me… and more relevantly a bit young to be wandering around by herself in random hangar bays.
"Can I help you with something kid?"
"Ha! I knew it was you! Flicker kept insisting there was no way I could get lucky enough to be on the same planet as you, but I'm more than good enough to get inbound flight manifests out of system security. It's not even encrypted! And how many ships named Arcane Knowledge could possibly be bouncing around the galaxy? I mean there are probably at least a few because there must be trillions of ships out there, at least. But YT-2000's? not nearly that many of those so I was sure it had to be you!"
I blinked almost dumbfounded by the river of words that flowed out of her mouth. If she had managed to rhyme while doing it, I'd have been convinced she was a rapper.
"And I was right! Suck it Flicker! Family vacation away from my baby and I still managed to find you first with nothing but a supped up datapad! Sure, it was a lucky break, but we're dealing with the Force here! Obviously, it's a sign that I was meant to find you. This is just the beginning! A few years learning from you and I'll be just as big a badass IRL as I am on the holonet!" She let out a giddy squeal.
"I am far too sober for whatever this is." I muttered, "Kid, are your parents around here somewhere?"
"Huh, oh no. I ditched them back at the hotel when I realized you were here."
"Right… let's go make a holocall before I somehow get implicated as a kidnapper.
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"Delia Anak Dharam, what were you thinking wandering off at this time of night! You sent your father and I into a panic thinking you had been kidnapped!"
"But, Mom,"
"No buts, young lady!" The small hologram of the older Mirialan woman snapped, before turning to face me, "Captain thank you so much for calling to tell us our daughter is alright. I don't know what gets into her sometimes. She's always been prone to flights of fancy, but she's never done something this irresponsible before."
"Mooooom." Delia whined, "This is Captain Kesel! He's the one making the Force videos I showed you and Dad!" That actually seemed to stop the next round of remonstrations in their tracks as the hologram more closely scrutinized me.
"You're certain?" She asked with a calculating glint I wasn't sure I liked the look of.
"Yes!" Delia grinned wide, "My friends and I spent weeks working through every registry we could get our digital paws on!" She turned to give me an accusing look, "Do you know there are several thousand humans named John Kessel. And six hundred are within your estimated age range? It actually took our analysis program forty five minutes to narrow the possibilities down to just a few dozen. We had to go over the last hundred files personally to get an exact match. Shade wouldn't stop bragging about being the one to actually identify you. As if it was some accomplishment instead of dumb luck that he got stack of profiles with your file in it." She sighed.
"And then you had to go to Coruscant. Getting your flight plan from Takobo was a breeze, seriously their security is garbage, but Coruscant?" She scowled, "Their security is bleeding edge. My friends and I are good, but we're not that good. You'd need a system twice as good as my custom rig to even try it, and you have to be a legend among slicers to pull it off without a back door." She shook her head, "Total black hole for information acquisition at our level, and with the way you just seem to go wherever you please we didn't even have any regular ports of call to keep an eye on. I sliced system security here just to see if I could pull it off without my baby, and then I found your ship docked here!" She grinned a megawatt grin, "Had to be destiny, or the Force, or the best damn luck in the galaxy! I had to come meet you!" She sheepishly scratched her cheek just below her tattoo. "I, uhh, just forgot to grab my comlink before I left."
"Sorry, are you telling me that a bunch of teenage slicers have been trying to keep tabs on me?"
"Dude, are you kidding me? Maybe a sixth of the slicer community has been trying to keep tabs on you. My friends and I are just some of the best up and comers." She shot me a cheeky grin. "Pretty sure some of the more experienced slicers had tabs on you after like, a week, at the outside. Depends on when the video got brought to their attention, and how much real work they needed to get through first. Some of them like to feed us tips and puzzles. Sort of a cross between entertaining themselves and helping us learn. One of them promised to give us a lead if we had too much trouble picking up the trail again after Coruscant. They know we aren't that good yet."
That took me a moment to digest and I found myself glancing between the girl and her mother.
"Should I be worried?" I wasn't sure which of them I was asking. Her mother's sigh at least indicated who I was going to get an answer from.
"I wouldn't be overly concerned. While I've never understood my daughter's fascination with computer systems, I've learned that the slicer community is less criminal than one might expect." She gave her daughter a look of fond exasperation, "They seem to have only two real goals, amusing themselves, and using their skills for profit. It's a rather more mercenary calling than I would have liked to see my daughter get into, but I can't deny that she's skilled at it." She shook her head. "Targeting lone individuals is generally considered beneath their skill."
Delia nodded firmly. "Screwing with people that don't have any real defense is kid stuff, the big names shut that down when they catch wind of it. Then you either get with the program or system security starts getting anonymous tips."
"That's good… I think." I shook my head, "So about getting your daughter back to you. I can let her use one of the beds in the empty crew cabin for the night and bring her over in the morning? Or would you prefer to come and pick her up now in person? I'm certainly not about to say you can't come get your kid if that's what you want to do."
"What?!" Delia shouted, "Oh heck no! You're not getting rid of me that easy!" She slapped her hands to her sides and bowed as best she could in the cramped quarters of the ship's cockpit, "Please train me in the ways of the Force!"
The groan from the holoprojector mirrored my feelings on the matter rather closely.
"No. Now about getting your daughter back to you?" The mother's surprised chuckles were almost as amusing as Delia's outraged squawk
"Hold on!" Delia shouted, "You can't just dismiss me like that! I've got potential! I was just under the threshold the Jedi use for recruiting. And, and, and, I've been practicing everything you've explained! I can sort of sense the Force now when I go through stretches and kata's… I think. And maybe a little bit when I meditate!"
I thumped my head off of the back of my seat. "It's not about potential, kid. There's a reason I decided to make those videos instead of starting up a school or something. I bounce all over the galaxy." I waved a hand over the console to emphasize the point, "I've got jobs to do, and I don't have the room to start carting around a bunch of students."
"I could join your crew then! What spacer crew is complete without a good slicer?"
"Most of them." I deadpanned.
"Captain." The voice from the holoprojector grabbed my attention away from the petulant teenager. "Your videos, are they genuine? Can you actually teach those who lack a strong innate connection to sense and use the Force?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, it's not a perfect solution, personal instruction instead of carefully worded guidelines would be better. There just isn't any way to make that work on a galactic scale. Not even if every trained Force user dedicated themselves to teaching. I'm just doing my best to give people guidelines to work with."
She nodded decisively to herself. "Captain, Mirialans are, generally speaking, a very spiritual people. You have given our culture as a whole the chance to feel the Force. That is no small thing to even the least religious among us. While our daughter has a strong affinity for silicon and coding, she is no exception to our people's general feeling about the Force. If anything, she has always been fascinated by it." The woman hesitated as if choosing her next words with extreme care. "My husband and I have long known that Delia would not follow us in a more conventional career. Her heart and soul are in her codes and puzzles." Delia's pleased smile showed surprising depth from the motor mouth.
"I'll grant you, we expected to keep her at home for at least a few more years… But if this is something she wants to pursue… Do you have any openings on your crew my daughter might be able to fill?" I slapped a hand to my forehead. Even as Delia started to cheer.
"Mrs. Dharam, I can teach your daughter to feel the Force, I can teach her how to use it. Hell, I can teach her the things any good spacer needs to know if she's half as good with machines as she seems to be with computers." I paused and tried to find the best way to explain. "You have to understand though, traveling with me is not going to be safe. Every video I make is me telling the Jedi order to kiss a Hutt." Delia snorted into her hands, but I ignored that for the moment. "How long their patience with my antics will last is anyone's guess. And every criminal group who catches wind of me is going to consider me a juicy target with minimal protection. I can minimize the risks by staying out of the Outer Rim, but that just means they'll have to be careful about things. There aren't many Dark Side Force sects out among the stars, but if they take offense they might very well come after me too. You do not want your daughter within a parsec of me or my ship."
Delia seemed to deflate even as her mother chewed on my words. "Delia, didn't you once tell me that you and your friends made a game out of seeing how many false alerts you could spread for a ship that had been scrapped." The girl lit up like a blaster bolt in the night, nodding rapidly, "Could you and your friends do something similar for the Captain? Spread false trails all across the galaxy to obscure his location?"
"Easy!" Delia's grin was all teeth. "I'll get the boys on board; between us no one will know where the ship is until it lands!"
Mrs. Dharam smiled a cheeky little smile, and gave me a raised eyebrow. It sounded like a good plan, and having a slicer on board was suddenly a lot more appealing. I still had to ask the obvious question.
"Why? I'm telling you this could get your daughter killed and you're encouraging her? Shouldn't you be trying to talk her out of this?"
The woman smiled fondly. "She's a bit young... but she's old enough to make decisions for herself, Captain. And as I said, we are a spiritual people. For my daughter to find you while we were away from home on vacation of all things… How could this not be the will of the Force?"
I didn't know what to say to that. After leaving the order I had tried my hardest to put aside the religious aspects of my training. It got in the way of pushing boundaries and experimenting. But there was always that niggling in the back of my mind about how the Force pushed me to do things, or go places from time to time. About how coincidence sometimes stretched into the ridiculous around me. There was a sense of purpose in the Force, if you willing to listen. Just knowing that made you want to listen, and follow, and believe. I glanced to the side to see the green teenager looking at me with hope filled eyes. Hell, I'd been younger when I decided to make my own way in the galaxy. With a groan I slumped back into my seat.
"You ever worked a quad laser turret before?"
"Um, no?" Her head tilted to the side in slight confusion.
"Guess what you're going to be learning as your first official duty on the Arcane Knowledge?"
Delia squealed and glomped onto my side.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise you won't regret this! When can I start learning? Where's my room? Can we swing by Mirial to pick up my baby sometime soon? I'm good, but I'm a little limited with just my datapad. Where are we going first? Oh Force, I still need to get my clothes before we leave!"
I slumped into my chair as the excitable girl starting talking with her mother. Maybe I'd get lucky and her father would put his foot down about not letting her work for me?