Following the battle against Lumiya, Octa and Seha retired to their individual quarters aboard the YT-2400 for the rest of the trip back to Denon. Jacen and Garis, meanwhile, went to the latter's room to speak to each other.
The both of them standing near the exit of the quarters, facing each other, Jacen calmly demanded from his apprentice, "Explain to me that outburst of yours back there. And before you go on, I want you to address me as Master or Master Solo for this conversation until I say otherwise."
Garis dropped his gaze from Jacen's for a moment before looking back up to his Master. "I was angry, Master Solo," Garis replied in a reluctant tone. "Angry at Lumiya. She had hurt you, and I thought that maybe she could have killed you. So I attacked her for what she did to you, by making her feel pain for what she did."
Jacen shook his head reproachfully. "You clearly understand that whether by the ideology of the Living Force or the Unifying Force, that is not the Jedi way, Garis." It wasn't a question.
Garis nodded, looking more and more regretful by the moment. "But I couldn't control myself from making that witch pay for what she did to you! No one should ever hurt the great Jedi Master Jacen Solo! You're my hero! My inspiration! So if she wanted to inflict pain onto her, I'd make her know pain." His tone in that last sentence was one of restrained fury and darkness.
"Garis, this is unacceptable. You can't do anything like this, no matter what your feelings on the matter are. You'd be letting your emotions dictate your actions, and you would make the Force a mere weapon rather than the all-encompassing energy that it really is."
Garis had to look away from his Master again, his shame now completely evident, as if he were about to cry for failing Jacen.
The Jedi Master sighed. "Come. Sit down." He waved over to a chair in the corner of the room.
Garis complied, and he took his seat there while Jacen took the one that was adjacent to it.
"Garis, let me tell you a story about my time under Vergere's tutelage. When I was on Yuuzhan Vongformed Coruscant with her, she had deliberately led me into a trap, where I found myself surrounded by Yuuzhan Vong at her back. Naturally, I felt betrayed by my teacher, the only other person in the ruins of what I could call home who I could even remotely trust. So I reacted in the way that had changed my life forever: I used my inner darkness - all the anger, all the sadness, the grief, from the torture and torment that I had to go through - and lashed out with the Force against Vergere and the Yuuzhan Vong with her. I did it in vengeance, I did it to hurt them, to kill them, to make them suffer to their dying breaths.
"After that, I found her laying there, battered and beaten from my attack against her; and she said that this was the true nature of the Force. It wasn't bound by any code of ethics that said that this was right and that was wrong, light or dark. And that was what changed my outlook on the Force; it made me understand that if used incorrectly, the Force could be destructive, just as it could be productive, no matter what the intentions.
"So now, you might be wondering, 'How is this different from how I, Jedi Apprentice Garis Boric, reacted to my Master, Jacen Solo, from being wounded by Lumiya?' The answer is this: There is no real difference, at least not on the surface. Thus, we lead into this question: Why am I scolding you for this, when you reacted purely on your emotions just as I had, which was what allowed me to become the man I am today?
"Because I sense in you, Garis, that how I learned to balance out my inner light and darkness is not how you could have learned it. Every individual must learn their own way, and my way cannot be yours. I can only teach you what I can to not only the best that I can teach you, but also to the best of how you yourself can learn. But do you know how I sense that how I learned the Unifying Force could not work for you?"
"Because of the Force?" Garis asked.
Jacen nodded. "But do you know what the Force was able to tell me about you?"
Garis shook his head wordlessly.
"Through the connection that I've been able to establish with you through the Force, via our Master-apprentice rapport," Jacen began, "I could tell that, as much as you reacted on your powerful emotions, you had also been completely willing to end Lumiya's life after making her endure the pain that you've made her endure. You would not have felt regret; you would not have felt remorse for your actions, for taking the life of another being in cold blood, because you felt that she did not have the right to live anymore for hurting me.
"But even if I didn't have the Force, Garis, I would still be suspicious. You know why?"
"Why?" the apprentice asked, his expression now one of shock and disappointment in himself.
"Because you were deliberate in hurting Lumiya," Jacen emphasized. "You did not lash out at her like a maniac. You did it with precision, with thought somehow put into your rage. You cut her down methodically and at controlled points. It looked more like the workings of a meticulous serial killer than that of a rage-filled Jedi apprentice who wasn't thinking through with his anger. That was what separated us: what I did to Vergere and those Yuuzhan Vong, I did it in the heat of the moment. But what you did in the heat of the moment, you took as an opportunity to carefully make Lumiya suffer in pain. And that greatly disturbs me, Garis."
When Jacen was done, Garis was silent for several long seconds, looking back at his Master as if he had been betrayed. "But... I... saved you," the apprentice growled, his expression going from hurt to rage-filled.
"Yes, you did," Jacen calmly acknowledged. "And I thank you for that. But I must still bring this to the attention of Master Luke. I'm sorry, Garis."
"Well, can't you just retrain me or something?" Garis asked desperately. "Start from scratch? Teach me how best you think I can learn?"
"I intend to do that," Jacen replied. "That is, if my uncle is willing to accept that." His expression brightened, though he didn't smile. "If it's any consolation, I believe that he'll give you a second chance."
"Thank you," Garis replied, his anxious expression evening out to one of hopeful calm.
Jacen nodded. "'Til then, get some rest. We should return to Denon a few hours from now." He stood up and headed to leave his apprentice's quarters.
After he left, and the door was shut behind him, Jacen let out a sigh of both relief and anxiety. On the one hand, he was glad that he could leave that room without really upsetting Garis in that encounter.
On the other, he could sense that Garis seemed horribly disturbed; his apprentice seemed mentally imbalanced, Jacen noticed. That did not bode well for Garis's future as a Jedi.
Jacen felt bad for lying to Garis like that; if Uncle Luke saw what Jacen saw, then Garis could not reach Knight status, never mind being a Master. Guilt ran through Jacen's consciousness that the man who helped him and Jaina reconnect, who helped her regain her lost memories and not regain the post-traumatic stress disorder that had damaged her mind, would not become more than what he was now.
.
"Ah, Master Solo, Master Ramis," Luke said as soon as his nephew and Octa walked into his office a few hours later. "I'm so glad that you've both returned from your trip." His tone did not convey sincerity. "Do either of you mind telling me why Centerpoint Station still exists?"
Jacen and Octa shared a glance, and the latter waved a hand, indicating that Jacen should be the one to explain. Jacen sighed in mild exasperation before he turned back to his uncle. He then recounted how he had been led astray by the false vision given to him by Lumiya, which had given him the impression that the galaxy would fall into desolation if Centerpoint was destroyed.
"I see," Luke said once his nephew had concluded his report. "Well, at least you did what you thought was right, Jacen."
"I'm sorry, Uncle Luke," Jacen said in shame.
Luke sighed. "Well, at least now that Centerpoint has at least been rendered useless as a weapon to the Corellians, Prime Minister Saxan has declared that she's more willing to resolve this issue with Chief Omas. Neither of you have kept up with the news since your escape and return here, have you?"
Jacen and Octa shook their heads in unison.
"Well, reports on the HoloNet have declared that Saxan is willing to allow the Five Worlds to fall back in line with the GA as an entity," Luke elaborated. "With the added agreement that Centerpoint will be completely dismantled and all of its parts subsequently destroyed; the GA will be overlooking this."
"So no one in the Five Worlds is opposing this action?" Jacen asked.
"There are definitely people in the Corellian system who resent Saxan for her decision," Luke confirmed. "But so far, no one in the military has resisted her actions. And while it's possible, there are no signs of a coup against her in sight."
"And what about Thrackan Sal-Solo?" Octa asked.
"What about him?" Luke asked.
"While there's no solid evidence," Octa elaborated, "surely, he must have been behind this. Isn't he taking any actions against Saxan's sanction?"
"He probably would," Luke said, "if he hadn't been reported dead in an alley a couple of hours ago."
"What?" Jacen asked.
Luke nodded. "Blaster bolt to the side of his head, apparently. Police evidence says that it was self-inflicted. Perhaps he didn't want to live in a Corellian system where Saxan's rule would go unopposed, for the most part."
"I doubt that," Jacen said. "I don't think Thrackan would have been so depressed about this. He would have mounted a resistance. No, I think Saxan had him killed."
"Perhaps," Luke said. "But as it is, we have no solid evidence for that, just as we had no solid evidence that Thrackan Sal-Solo had anything to do with Centerpoint being active as a star-destroying weapon again. Therefore, neither the Jedi Order nor the Galactic Alliance have any basis to investigate this further when CorSec has already ruled it as a suicide; and if we do investigate further, we might instigate the Corellians back into crisis against the GA."
"But even if Thrackan was slime," Jacen said, "shouldn't Saxan be ousted as a murderer?"
"In due time, Jacen," Luke said. "In due time. But first, let's make sure we don't start anything that might stop the Five Worlds of Corellia from becoming completely cooperative with the GA, or which might halt the dismantling of Centerpoint."
Jacen sighed. "I suppose you're right."
"At least your mission was somewhat of a success," Luke said. "And that you acted out of conscious, which is what every true Jedi must do. You're both dismissed."
Octa moved to leave, but after she was gone, Jacen remained.
"Uncle Luke," Jacen said, "there's something I need to tell you about Garis..."