I'M BACK!
Seriously, though, I do greatly apologize for it taking so long to update this-or any-of my works. Unfortunately, life during the COVID-19 Pandemic has been as chaotic and hectic as it has been frightening and uncertain. I do hope that this is a harbinger of many chapters to come, though, given the uncertain times we live in, I cannot make such promises. Alas, the only promise I can make is that I will try.
Additionally, as you will soon notice by the timeline mentioned below, this chapter actually takes place over 3,600 years before the first four chapters, so please allow me to explain this: this chapter introduces you to three of my characters from the MMORPG game, Star Wars: The Old Republic. I'll explain more in depth at the end of this chapter, but this does tie into the overall story and may even give you some insight as to what it is that Cal Kestis has been asked to investigate.
So, with that in mind-on with the show!
RECOMMENDED STORIES BY KENTH VICTUS:
Mass Effect: Every Day After
Mass Effect 4: Vindication
Gates of Terabithia
Star Wars: Jedi Wasteland
Chapter V: The Winter Contingency (Part I)
Location: Jedi Academy, Alderaan (~3,612 BBY)
He could feel a torrent of emotions welling up deep within his soul, a volcano ready to erupt. He closed his icy blue eyes while releasing his clenched fists as he imagined those feelings venting through his ajar mouth.
"Emotion, yet Peace."
What was to come, he knew, would be the will of the Force. He was, he knew, not its master, but rather its servant, adrift upon the flows and ebbs of its whims. The emotions he now felt were as natural to him as they were to any sentient being, and in accepting that he found an odd peace he'd long ago come to appreciate.
"Ignorance, yet Knowledge."
He was, indeed, ignorant of what was to come next, particularly in the days that were to follow. Again, that was to be determined by the will of the Force, and there was naught he could do to alter that. Regardless of what happened next, he knew what needed to be done and possessed the knowledge and wisdom to carry out his tasks as needed.
"Passion, yet Serenity."
Even as a child, he'd been so very passionate about a great many things, from serving a greater good and protecting those weaker than himself to the love he felt from—and for—his closest friends. Again, this emotion, he knew, was natural and he accepted that. He also knew the serenity that came with accepting that he was not all powerful, and that even those he so loved, like the stars themselves, would one day end. As all things must.
"Chaos, yet Harmony."
Even now, over a decade removed from the arrival of the Zakuulan Invasion that had nearly destroyed both the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire, the galaxy itself remained in a state of perpetual chaos. Normalcy, it seemed, had ceased to exist the moment his lightsaber's emerald blade had pierced Valkorion's heart. Yet, he, a man who had been captured by the eternal pull of the Dark Side only to then renounce it completely, was in Harmony with the Force, as befitted a Jedi Master of his stature. With that Harmony, he remained a bastion of light and clarity in the storm of the galaxy.
"Death, yet the Force."
Nothing, he knew, lasted forever. Eventually, even stars die. This was one of the oldest lessons he could remember from his time as a Jedi Youngling. The Lords of the Sith fought so very hard to conquer death, yet in that endeavor most of them seemed to find it quicker than they might have otherwise. Yet, he knew that death was not the end. No. No, it was not. As he himself had experienced, death was but the next chapter of the Unifying Force. The Force itself, he felt, may be the only thing more eternal than even time itself.
"You know, I may not have been raised among the Jedi, but I feel that makes a better rendition of the Jedi Code than the usual nonsense they teach your apprentices to recite."
A smile, now, graced the ragged, scarred face hidden beneath a great, flowing beard of brown. He didn't open his eyes to regard the newcomer, nor did he need to. No—the face of his wife, from her once-orange eyes to her golden hair, would be something he would never need sight to see. Nor did Kitch Victus need his vision to notice the look of concern on Lana Beniko's face.
"More than one of the surviving masters have voiced their concern that my time with you has made me borderline-heretical."
While he'd meant his words as a joke whose purpose was to defuse her concern, he knew—as, he suspected, she did—that it remained a true statement. Some of his more conservative Jedi compatriots had long felt his brief tenure under Emperor Vitiate's thumb had forever tainted him, and some still believed that his alliance-turned-romance with a Sith Lord-turned-Imperial Minster of Intelligence made him, at best, a security risk, and at worst a traitor to the Republic.
"I fear the Jedi Order will always be too narrow-minded and afraid of change to be a true force of change."
Now, at last, Kitch opened his eyes as he finally turned to regard his wife.
"To be fair, look at their responsibilities." He explained. "We're meant to be Keepers of the Peace and Defenders of Justice, not soldiers."
"Yet there exist generations of Jedi, now, who've known nothing but war; even Grand Master Shan can scarcely remember life before the war."
"Such a sad commentary in and of itself."
"Admit it, Love; as much as you love and care for the Order, the Jedi Code prevents the Jedi from going as far as they need to go in order to win the war."
While he'd never voiced his opinion aloud, these were nonetheless words he himself had thought a dozen times over, as had, he knew, several of his fellow Jedi.
"You know I'm right."
"I do." He allowed. "As children, we're taught that Jedi should only ever use the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack. Yet we have Jedi who serve as Generals or Fleet Admirals, who lead entire fleets and armies into combat against other living beings—myself included. At times I do fear we've lost sight of what being a Jedi is supposed to be about."
"What?"
Kitch, now, narrowed his eyes as he tilted his head, momentarily confused by such a simple word. His confusion, it seemed, was not lost on Lana.
"What?" She repeated. "What is it supposed to mean to be a Jedi?"
He chuckled, now, as he shrugged his shoulders. "If only I knew."
"I think you do."
"Oh?"
"You are a Jedi Master, after all. Moreover, you're the Commander of an Alliance that brought together the Republic and the Empire, the Sith and the Jedi, to defeat the Eternal Empire. If anyone alive is qualified to unilaterally determine what being a Jedi should mean, I feel it's you."
"No; I can think of someone infinitely more qualified to make that decision than me."
"Like your friend?"
Kitch, now, turned to the door behind him, the same door that had, for nearly two weeks now, been locked. Without looking back towards Lana, he nodded.
"I still don't know what you see in her." Lana continued. "And please, don't think it's jealousy—it's not."
"I know, Lana."
"It's just—she's so unquestionably powerful, more so than you or I."
"She is."
"I'd wager there may be no living Jedi or Sith left who can rival her powers of the Force; not even Lord Malgus or Darth Theedeus."
"I feel you'd win that bet."
"And her skills with her lightsabers nearly rival even your own."
"They do."
"Yet she refuses to participate in the war like most Jedi do. She makes peace wherever she goes, even if it means potential threats remain free."
"Lana, My Love—I feel you've answered your own question."
"How so?"
"As I said before—Jedi were originally meant to be keepers of the peace, not soldiers. We're meant to use our powers for knowledge and defense, never for attack or personal gain. We're supposed to respect life, in all its forms. As warriors, we violate every single tenant of the Jedi Code." Kitch, now, turned back to face his wife.
"What is it?"
"Kairi Lii is, bar none, perhaps the most perfect Jedi alive today. She seeks neither glory nor victory, destruction nor conquest, but rather peace and justice. She is, first and foremost, a diplomat and a scientist, a historian second, and a peacemaker third. Even in combat, she remains perfect, never attacking or pushing the front, but rather holding firm in defense. No Jedi with her tenure has survived with a single-digit body count, yet she has. Even in her hunt for the Children of the Emperor, she remained peaceful and forgiving—look at her redemption of Master Bakarn. By the stars—if Master Braga had chosen Kairi to confront the Emperor instead of me, I have no doubt the mission would never have failed; she could well have redeemed even Lord Vitiate."
"Perhaps, but you yourself are something of a redeemer." Lana corrected. "Both Tol Braga and myself are but one of several you pulled from the call of the Dark Side."
"Yes." He allowed briefly. "But you're the only one I didn't force away from it. Master Braga, Leeha Narezz, Warren Sedoru, even Lord Praven—I bested them all in combat first, leaving them either redemption or death. While it's true Kairi did best several of her foes, including Master Bakarn, she—it's hard to explain."
"Her method was different?"
"It was. I bested my foes by matching and surpassing their power. She did it by letting them rain their storms dry. I'm the Jedi Battlemaster, responsible for teaching future Jedi the art of war. She—she's what a Jedi should be. If I were to be given a blank universe and had to choose a single Jedi to rebuild the Order from the ground up, it would be her."
"Which is why you've put her in charge of the Winter Contingency."
He nodded, mulling her words over in his head.
The Winter Contingency. An emergency contingency plan he himself had devised for the ultimate worst-case scenario. A response to a future with no Jedi Order.
A future ruled by the Dark Side of the Force. By the Sith.
The Winter Contingency employed a mixture of modern scientific breakthroughs and ancient Rakata technology. It was, as he himself had once explained it to Lana, the ultimate strategy.
And the riskiest.
Which, as he now explained to his wife, the very reason he'd entrusted its activation to the wisest and calmest individual he knew. Kairi Lii Starstone was no warrior. She was a Jedi. And right now, that was precisely what was needed.
"And have you given any consideration or thought with regards to how this might affect our children?"
"I have."
"And?"
"Korra Rose is a teenager, true, but she's become more than a mere child; she's only a few years from being a full-fledged Jedi Knight. Orgus is himself nearly a teen, yet his studies are progressing at an amazing rate; the day will come where he makes a great Jedi Knight himself. Joric may not have a connection to the Force, but he already has his own ship and his own crew; he'll find his own way in the Universe, as he always has."
"I—"
"You disagree?"
"Of course not." Lana answered quickly. "But—"
"You're afraid."
"Am I that obvious?"
He smiled as he moved to embrace the one-time Sith Lord. "Only to me."
"Are you?"
"Afraid, you mean?"
"Yes."
"Oh, by the Force, no—I'm terrified."
"You are?"
"Absolutely. As, I suspect, any father would be, to know he'd be leaving his children alone to the cruelties of a galaxy at war."
"But?"
"But I'm also a Jedi, and nothing will ever change that. This—that fear, that's precisely why Jedi are typically forbidden from having families. There exists too great a risk that, if made to choose between the ones we love and doing what's right for the galaxy, we'll choose the former, and the galaxy itself may be made to suffer. Not many Jedi—and fewer Sith—could forsake their families or leave their wellbeing to chance to do what's right for the greater good. And I understand that—it's the most difficult decision I've ever made.
"At the end of the day, however, I must trust that I've done well by my children. They know I will forever carry my love for them—and their love for me—wherever I may go. I have taught them all I can, and I trust in their friends and masters to prepare them for whatever the galaxy may throw their way. If Kairi Lii determines that the time has come to put the Winter Contingency into effect, then she will do so believing that it's the best way to protect the galaxy. If she decides the time has not come—"
"Then she will do so believing that it's the best way to protect the galaxy."
"Exactly."
"Well, I still don't like it."
"I—"
"However, in all the years that I've known you, your instincts have never been wrong, nor have you ever led me astray. And, regardless of what happens, we'll still have each other."
She leaned up and he waited not for an invitation. Seizing his opportunity, he bent down and kissed his wife, taking great pleasure in the taste of her lips upon his. For but that moment in time, all felt right in the world.
"You know, Master, I never would have expected the man who pretty much single-handedly saved the entire galaxy to lock lips with a Sith. Doesn't seem right."
Not for the first time, Kitch found himself trying his best not to laugh. As he and Lana broke their embrace, he found himself watching the red-haired form of Kira Carsen stride confidently around the massive floating holocron that dominated the academy's Great Hall.
"A pleasure, Padawan—as always."
"What can I say?" A second voice added as its owner appeared quite suddenly from around the opposite side of the holocron. "He always has emulated me."
The younger man's black hair dropped in breads all around his head, nearly obscuring his green eyes from view. His face, dominated by a neatly-trimmed mustache and goatee, held a misleading softness about it. Indeed, those meeting Aldilin Starstone for the first time would likely mistake him for the gentlest soul they'd ever met. Even if they could see his twin lightsaber hilts beneath the folds of his typical Jedi robes, few would ever recognize him as the second-most dangerous swordsman the Jedi Order had ever produced.
"Last I checked, I'm older than you, so how—"
"I'm just that good."
Kitch laughed. Many, even among the Order itself, found Aldilin to be too confident of himself and his abilities, and while he was far from the humble Jedi his masters had wished him to be, Kitch knew him to be equally wise and particularly empathetic, always ready to care for those in need.
"She still not come out yet?"
Kitch shook his head. "Not since she locked herself in; if not for the Force, I would be almost concerned that she'd died."
"Have you notified Iroh and the others?"
"I have. Iroh was leading a campaign against a band of pirates on Dantooine, but he's assured me he'll be here as soon as he can."
"And the others?"
"Making their own preparations for the event that Kairi initiates the Winter Contingency."
"Are you even sure this'll work?" Kira asked pointedly. "I mean, most of that Rakata tech is pretty old."
"She's got a point, Kay." Aldilin agreed, resorting, now, to the childhood nickname he'd once labeled Kitch with.
"She does, to which I point out that it has, in the past, been remarkably effective at its job. Remember the Esh-Kha on Belsavis?"
"How can I forget? I think I've still got scars from our time there."
"I've also infused it with modernized technology." He continued. "Tech created by Tharan Cedrax and approved by both Doc and Kairi herself. Our chances of success may be far from assured, but they are at their maximum."
"He's right, Dear." Aldilin conceded. "Even Captain Dorne thinks it'll work, and you know she had no love for the plan when Kay first introduced it."
"Speaking of Desmond and Elara, have—"
"My brother and his beloved are moving the ships into position as we speak." Aldilin explained. "Crewless and ready for when we call upon them again."
"It is my sincere hope that we needn't make that call. Ever."
"As a wise Jedi once told me," Yet another voice interjected. "Hope for the best and plan for the worst."
The newcomer, as Kitch and his compatriots quickly learned, was also the most unusual-looking individual of them all. Covered from head to toe in light gray fur, his most striking feature wasn't the mane of dark gray hair that perfectly melded into a mustache-free beard, nor was it his deep blue eyes. Rather, the first thing anyone looking upon him might notice was the collection of black and white stripes that adorned his face, giving him quite the fierce—and predatory—appearance. And, while it was true that the Cathar Jedi Master was a fierce and dangerous warrior, he was also every bit as kind and (when not on the field of battle) peaceful as nearly any Jedi to live.
Iroh Worrell, Jedi Master, seemed as calm and collected as ever, giving off no hint of concern at the fact that his own wife had, for a full fortnight, been locked away from any food or sustenance.
"Master Beniko, a pleasure, as it always is."
Kitch smirked as he embraced his friend, the third in the circle of Jedi who'd come of age together. He'd long since stopped trying to convince his friend that Lana was technically no Jedi Master, that, though she'd severed her ties to the Sith and now sought to defeat them, in full, she'd also refused to join an Order she so completely disagreed with. Though Iroh explained that one didn't choose the Jedi life, the Jedi life chose one, Kitch secretly thought it was Iroh's way of teasing them both.
"Perhaps you'd care to lend your opinion to something, Commander Worrell, Commander Starstone."
"Oh?" Both asked in unison.
"Indeed. My beloved husband and I were just discussing the failures of the Jedi before your arrival."
"A multi-volume book, that would be." Iroh chuckled. "I feel our Order's history, itself, is a failure of a great many things."
"The failure in question," Lana explained. "Is the Jedi's adherence to the Jedi Code."
"An intriguing theory." Aldilin allowed. "Do continue on."
"As I was telling Kitch—I believe the Jedi Code is the reason the Jedi haven't won this war, perhaps even the reason the Empire may win."
"How do you figure that?" Kira asked bluntly, now eyeing Lana with quite the incredulous expression.
"Simple; the Code itself prevents the Jedi from going as far as they need to in order to defeat the Empire."
"Like the Sith have a better plan?"
"They don't." Lana answered truthfully. "Most Sith are more concerned with defeating rivals than waging a war; internal power plays have all but driven the Dark Council into extinction."
"That's—"
"She's right." Kitch explained, giving neither of his friends a chance to counter.
"Master—"
"She's right." He repeated. "Kira, this war is older than you are, older, perhaps than any of us. It is not the nature of the Sith to share power, but to consolidate it. To hoard it. The Sith who have power spend most of their energy and efforts protecting it, and those who haven't power spend most of their time and energy conspiring to take it, often at the tip of the lightsaber."
"I—"
"Yet, as divided and errant as their attention is, the Republic, the Jedi, still can't defeat them. We've come so tantalizingly close, yes, but we never get there. Have you never questioned why that is?"
No one spoke.
"Destroying armies, alone, especially in a modern age where tens of thousands of battle droids can be manufactured per week, will never again be enough to win a war. To win a war, you must break your enemy. You must deprive them of the will to fight. Your only recourse is to show them that the pain and suffering of opposing you is greater than anything they may achieve in victory. You must torture them, make them beg for it to end. Attrition. Attrition is the only way to win a war."
"That sounds like the exact opposite of a Jedi."
"It is, my old Padawan. To win at war, you must forsake everything the Order stands for, a move the Code prevents most Jedi from making, and those who do make it—they destroy themselves long before they destroy their foes." He shook his head. "Peacekeepers should never be made to lead a war."
"But what can we do?" Kira asked. "The Sith aren't going to stop just because we decide to stop fighting."
"No, they won't." A woman's voice answered. "Nor should we stop fighting the Dark Side. I believe that what Master Victus is saying is that we should focus on keeping the peace and defending justice, and that, if we do that, we may defeat the Sith in the manner that truly matters."
They'd been so busy in their conversation that not a single one of them had heard the door, at long last, hiss open. Nor had any of them noticed the blue-skinned Togruta woman walk weakly into their midst, looking so frail and exhausted that her white-and-purple montrals appeared to be almost droopy.
She stumbled forward, now, briefly losing her balance. Immediately, the towering, bulky form of her husband was but a blur of motion, catching her firmly in his grasp as Aldilin pulled his cloak off his own body to wrap it around the woman who was like a sister to them both.
"Kairi, are—"
"At peace be, Aldilin." She answered. "I'm fine, I promise; my legs have merely forgotten the strength to hold me up; theirs is a momentary weakness."
"Kairi, what—"
"I saw it." His fellow Jedi Master answered simply.
"Saw what, exactly?"
"All of it. The night the Jedi died, the morning the Republic fell. A time the Sith command the entire galaxy. A dark shadow, greater than anything we've ever faced."
"When? How long?"
"I—I don't know. Months, perhaps. Centuries or even millennia. It—it's hard to tell."
"But it is coming?"
"It is coming, yes."
"Lii," Aldilin interjected. "Please, did—did you see anything else? Anything that might help us?"
"I saw—" She paused, closing her dull amethyst eyes momentarily. "A Zabrak, a Sith Lord, I believe, with a saberstaff. He killed a Jedi Master, a Human I don't recognize, but the Jedi's death sealed the galaxy's fate. He alone could have aborted the darkness."
"A Sith Lord?"
"No—a Sith Apprentice. He was powerful, but animalistic. A warrior whose understanding extends only so far. He could never be the master of the Dark Side. His master, though—The Phantom Menace that became the Revenge of the Sith. Always in motion, the future is, but—in the dark night, there was A New Hope that could lead to the Return of the Jedi, the Last Jedi, as the Force Awakens once more. Yet, even in defeat, his Empire Strikes Back, never truly defeated."
"Anything else?"
"I saw a planet—Alderaan, perhaps, exploding from a great weapon, but—I don't recall—"
Her words dissolved and then fell silent as Iroh held his wife. It was, Kitch knew, a testament to her unnatural connection to the Force and her immense strength that she'd survived as long as she had without nourishment, but he also knew that, even for a Jedi Master and a member of the High Council, she'd pushed herself to the limit.
"Kairi, the Winter Contingency. Is it—is it time?"
She spoke no words, but the nod of her head confirmed what he'd already known.
"Then now, the time is." He answered. "Twilight is upon us, and soon, night must fall."
"Night must fall." Lana repeated softly.
"Iroh," Kitch continued. "Get Kairi some food and then see to it she gets some rest. I'll activate the beacon, spread the word. Now," He repeated. "The time is. May the Force be with us all."
So, time for my usual post-chapter explanations.
First, I know it can be hard tying in multiple player characters from Star Wars: The Old Republic into one cohesive story. For those who've never played or are otherwise unfamiliar with the game, it's like this: the game itself takes place approximately 3,600 years before the story of Luke Skywalker. There are thousands of Jedi and thousands of Sith as the two galactic superpowers, the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire, vie for control of the galaxy. When you first start the game, you can choose which of the two to align with. The Republic offers one of four classes: Jedi Knight, Jedi Consular, Republic Trooper, or Smuggler. The Empire offers either Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitor, Imperial Agent, or Bounty Hunter. Each class has its own unique origin story that comprises the first three chapters of the game. Regardless of how many characters you have for each class, the base story will remain the same, though your player choices can alter how those stories progress and unfold.
Kitch Victus, Iroh, and Aldilin Starstone are both characters from the Jedi Knight story, while Kairi Lii is one of my Jedi Consular Characters. The Desmond they mentioned is Desmond Wayne Starstone, one of my Republic Trooper characters. This means, then, that Kitch, Iroh, and Aldilin, in the game, all share the same general backstory and travel with the same companions, including Kira Carsen, who is the Knight's Padawan (and, if you so choose, a male Knight's love interest). For the purposes of this story, however, her training was concluded by the Hero of Tython, Kitch Victus, though she fell in love with fellow Jedi Knight, Aldilin Starstone. Aldilin and Iroh will both receive altered backstories to be discovered in future chapters that will make them more in-line and compatible for this story.
It's a lot, I know.
Additionally, the whole conversation of the Jedi Code preventing the Jedi from winning the war was inspired by the same conversation that takes place between Captain Wilhuff Tarkin and Anakin Skywalker during the show Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It is something I'd thought about long before the show ever covered it, but peacekeepers do, more often than not, make the worst soldiers. As Kitch explains, to win a war you have to utterly break your enemy, which a code of peace and tolerance often does not allow.
Also, for those who may not recognize it-the Winter Contingency is from the video game, Halo: Reach, and was the name of the UNSC's response in the event of Covenent activity on the military center of the UNSC military, the planet Reach.
So, thoughts? questions? Feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think.