Lord Darth Yoda - Good theories as always. I tend to think in general that outside of the most famous Jedi - Yoda, Mace Windu, the council members etc, that they wouldn't know many Jedi by name. Remember even if these people were studying the Jedi, there are still 10,000 of them...that's a lot of people. No one can know everything.
SpeechBubbleMe- Sascha's plan involves blowing their cover completely...so its a pretty risky plan! Nara's so much fun to write, she's a bit more fun than Sascha to write, because Sascha is kind of plaid...boring. Whereas Nara is a bit more impulsive, and reckless - and its her fighting against those urges that shows her growth as a young woman. Also Sascha/Nara banter is fun to write :).
A/N - Nothing from me! As always your reviews are appreciated :).
As always, Please enjoy the next chapter.
Chapter 13: The Great Jedi Debate, Part One
There really wasn't much planning that could be done before the big meeting that was scheduled by the 'Society for the Preservation of the Republic', so she and Sascha just chose to...not prepare for it. What Nara had learned was that if you went in with a plan and found that things were wildly different than what you had prepared for, it often left you on the back foot. Yet if you went in with no plan, or just vague guidelines, you were mentally ready to be flexible.
And in all honesty, they didn't need to prepare when the thing they were arguing for was their very validity as Jedi. If they needed to prepare for this debate…that probably said more about them than they'd like it to.
The only real decision that they made was for Sascha not to wear his Jedi robe, just his 'civilian' clothes (she would of course wear her nice, civilian clothes.) The other decision, which was not that much of a decision, was to pack their lightsabers. She and Sascha both agreed that they were necessary, if only to potentially protect themselves. Plus, a lightsaber was always a handy way to identify a Jedi, which is something that they might need to do.
Before they left their apartment, Nara hesitated, "Are we sure we are doing the right thing? We are risking everything on this. We'll no longer be undercover, and everyone will know that we were out investigating these people."
Sascha leaned his shoulder against the wall for a moment, "It's a risk for sure. But what's the alternative? We're in murky moral waters here, and this is a way to maybe get everyone to see something that they haven't seen before. The Jedi perspective. I don't think we can go in and arrest people or hurt people for expressing their beliefs. So we need to get them to change their minds. I think that's the only way we can complete this mission."
"We're about to walk into the Gundark nest though," Nara pointed out. "These people might not be receptive to our ideas."
"I know. But if we can change the minds of 10% of the people that are attending, that would be enough. We both know why these sort of anti-Jedi people are dangerous," said Sascha, looking directly at her. "It's not that they don't have some fair points, its that if we let opinions like this fester without combating them, when we go to different worlds looking for help, people might not want to help the Jedi! We're seen as outsiders too much as it is. We need to be more open with who we are and why we act the way we do. It's one of the things I don't like about the way the current Jedi Order works."
"And you think that we can change our entire perception in one conversation?"
Sascha shrugged and smiled, "Gotta start somewhere."
"Since when are you such an optimist, Sascha?"
"Gotta start sometime."
Nara rolled her eyes, "Sometimes I think I hate you, Sascha Whitestar."
Sascha bowed mockingly, "Then I'm doing my job correctly. Diffusing the tension before a mission."
Nara laughed. Sascha was always great at making her laugh when she needed to laugh. "I think it would have been easier tracking down the bounty hunter that our Masters have been tasked to find," Nara remarked.
"From their last update it sounds they are making about as much progress as we are. Come on, let's get going Nara, we don't want to be late."
Nara tossed a mocking salute, "Yes, sir, Padawan Whitestar, sir."
"I could hit you for that."
Nara grinned, showing teeth, "But then I'd hit you right back, and I know you don't want that."
Sascha laughed easily and opened the door, "I'd say you punch like a girl…because all the girls I know punch really hard."
Nara rolled her eyes, Sascha's attempts at flattery and/or comedy sometimes backfired on him.
The two friends didn't do much talking as they made their way to where the meeting was taking place, which was one of the auditoriums that were sometimes used by Apren Polytechnic, but not part of the school campus itself. Zven or whoever had just rented the auditorium for their use today. The auditorium held about eight hundred to a thousand people, so Nara expected an audience of about that number. Plus, the auditorium was set up to broadcast lectures to a local Holonet (if you had the passcode, you could watch), so Nara suspected that anyone who couldn't attend would still be able to watch.
The two Jedi blended effortlessly into the small crowd that was walking towards the uditorium. Doubtlessly, not everyone was on their way to where they were going, but Nara felt like she was swimming along with a school of fish.
Sascha leaned over, and spoke in a low tone, "You only feel that way because you are nervous."
"Get out of my head, Whitestar," she said half-seriously.
"So predictable, Togruta," he said, nudging her playfully in the ribs.
Nara walked a few steps with a smile on her face, then she quelled it. "Game time, Sascha."
Sascha nodded slightly, and his smile disappeared from his face, "Game time."
While Nara found it slightly odd to be referring to a potentially life threatening situation, as a 'game' she was always relieved to see Sascha following her instructions.
The two Jedi arrived a few minutes early and grabbed seats in the aisle in one of the middle rows. While not exactly the polite thing to do, they needed the ability to exit their seats quickly if need be. Nara let her eyes take in the entire auditorium. At the front their was a decent size stage from which to talk to, and then seats that cascaded outward from the stage. It reminded Nara almost like a cutout version of the Senate chamber, without the floating pods.
She and Sascha quietly observed the others who were walking in and taking seats. To Nara's eye the only thing that stood out to her was that a large percentage of those in attendance today were human. It wasn't that everyone here was human, it was that they were clearly over represented vis a vis the normal population of Estimar.
"A lot of humans," Nara said under her breath, careful not to let anyone overhear.
"Some humans see the Jedi Order as a problem because they see it as dominated by aliens," Sascha admitted.
"Humans can be so annoying."
"Agreed," Sascha said, flashing a lopsided smile.
"That's kind of funny, coming from you, human."
"You forget that my best friends growing up were all human. Several of them were extremely annoying," Sascha wisecracked. He did have a point though. Doro and Trigg, were often exceedingly annoying...and she had only known them as teenagers, as younglings they had probably been worse.
"You see anyone you recognize?" Sascha asked her, all business again.
Nara concentrated, racking her brain to find out if she had seen any of the beings before. A couple of them seemed familiar, but no one really stood out to her as someone that she 'knew.' "I don't see anyone overly familiar."
As the minutes passes, the auditorium grew more and more full. It's going to be a full house, Nara realized, vaguely disquieted by that this event was going to be so well attended. Though, in fairness, she too wanted a big crowd, one big enough to witness how empty an ideology that Zven and crew were presenting them and how flawed their thinking was. The only problem was...they were only going to get this one chance, and if she and Sascha couldn't present their side of the 'argument' strongly enough, well they'd be trudging back to the Jedi Temple with failure written all over their faces.
Which was something she was desperately trying to avoid. Failure happened. The Jedi of the Jedi Order were fallible, everyone knew that. There were some missions that just...went wrong. She just didn't want to have that happen on the first time she was on a mission without her Master...for obvious reasons. There was no report card when you were a Jedi, but both Padawans knew that if they wanted to be Jedi Knights, that they would need to have a solid list of achievements on their record.
"Here comes the leadership," said Nara, as she spotted Zven, Jas and a few others moving to the front of the room.
Sascha gestured to one of the shorter humans that was kind of milling around the main group containing Jas and Zven, "You think that could be Quetziel?"
Nara trained her eyes on the target that Sascha had picked out. A little older than Jas and Zven, this mystery human was a little below average height, dressed in plain black and grey clothes. Possessing short black hair and a fairly athletic physique, Nara wouldn't have given him a second look except for the fact that he bore at least a minor resemblance to Doro Roa, Sascha's clanmate.
"It could be him, Sascha," she said. "I don't know how to find out though."
Sascha shook his head slightly, "Not sure it matters, but if it is him, at least we have some additional dirt we can use against him."
"Do you want to go personal?"
Her friend shrugged, "Not if we can avoid it, but this debate is winner take all, Nara. We use everything we have."
Unhappy with that answer, but understanding the logic behind it, Nara settled into her seat. She looked over and made eye contact with Zven, who nodded politely at her, but Zven frowned when he saw Sascha beside her. She shrugged sheepishly, as if to say 'sorry.'
It took a few more minutes, but the auditorium filled to near capacity. Whatever this rally or meeting was about, Zven and company were going to have a large audience. Finally, Zven stepped to the front of the stage and waited for silence to break out. It did eventually come. Nara noted how calm Zven was, how much authority that he projected, just by waiting there, waiting for silence. She knew that one of the most important things to do was to not underestimate her adversary, and she wouldn't. Zven was a highly intelligent, highly focused young man with lots of experience in public debate. She and Sascha would have to be at their best to be up to the task.
"Welcome all, my name is Zven Hitplik. Many of you know me, or the people up here with me on this stage. Some of you have come her today with friends, spouses or acquaintances." Zven smiled tightly, "And some of you might have just wandered into the wrong room and are too shy to leave." The audience tittered at the joke.
"We're here today to discuss the Jedi Order. We've been taught since we were younglings that the Jedi Order are the Guardians of the Republic. We've been taught that the Jedi are selfless monks that keep to their ways and are only here to protect and serve the citizens of the Republic." Zven let silence hang in the air.
"Which is an absolute load of bantha dung," said another voice.
Nara whipped her head around, trying to find the source of the last comment. She wasn't surprised to see that it was from the person that she and Sascha had identified as potentially to be Quetziel Roa. In comparison to Zven's air of confidence and authority, Quetziel's voice was one of barely concealed anger. Even his body language suggested contempt towards the Jedi Order. Two very different approaches. Two very different people.
Quetziel sauntered to the middle of the stage and shook hands with Zven, "My name is Quetziel Roa. As my good friend, Zven Hitplik will tell you, the Jedi Order is a cancer on the Republic, draining its resources, twisting its morals and undermining the very fabric of our democracy." Quetziel paused, "I see some of you looking at me with doubtful glances. I expected as much. You, like many others, have been brainwashed into thinking that the Jedi are true supporters of the Republic. While I hesitate to claim that the Jedi are doing their brainwashing themselves, it is clear that we have not gotten a fair an unbiased perspective from the media regarding the Jedi. So allow us to present another perspective. All we ask is that you keep an open mind."
Zven took over, speaking in a clear, academically minded tone, "Most schoolchildren could tell you about the history of the Jedi Order. They were a group of Force wielders that allied with the Republic several thousand years ago and have remained allied ever since. The Jedi Order's main rival over the years was the Sith, a group of 'dark side' Force wielders that fought many wars against the Republic and its forces. The Sith, as servants of evil tend to do, imploded about a thousand years ago and are functionally presumed to have been wiped out. There has been no widespread war in the galaxy since the climactic battle on Ruusan, where the Jedi were victorious."
"Which is a triumph, the Jedi would have you believe, a triumph that peace has broken out," said Quetziel, his voice gaining in power, in aggression. "But that logic seems faulty, doesn't it? Why are we amazed that peace follows war? Shouldn't have we been amazed that the Jedi and Sith managed to fight for thousands of years without destroying each other? Shouldn't peace be the default state of things?"
Nara felt herself wanting to launch a retort, wanting to cite the thousand of other conflicts that the Jedi had diffused, which could have interrupted that near thousand years of peace that the Jedi had watched over. Sascha, who could no doubt feel her frustration, made a little gesture with his hands, as if to say, 'let them have their say.' Nara decided that she would channel her frustration into making crisp counter arguments.
It was Zven's turn to speak again apparently, "But it's interesting when you think about it. How many years of conflict in the galaxy were just because one faction of Force users was fighting the other? The Jedi talk about how balance has been brought to the Force, that the Sith were a perversion of the Force...the bad guys if you will. But whose word do we rely upon for that? The Jedi. They write their own version of history."
Quetziel again, "And how long will it be until there is some Jedi Schism and war envelopes the galaxy again? History suggests that it can't be too long. In fact, I'd say we are probably long overdue."
Sascha rolled his eyes dramatically. She nudged him and whispered, "How long are we going to let them slander us?"
"Let them dig themselves a hole, Nara. Then we bury them in it."
"Metaphorically, you mean," she whispered back.
"I'm open to either," Sascha said with a grin.
Back to Zven again, the red Zabrak with black tattoos could have been an intimating physical presence, Nara decided, but anyone who knew anything wouldn't see him as a threat. A lack of muscle definition, especially along the forearms marked him as someone who was not a fighter. Still, his words could make him a dangerous adversary. "Despite this...whitewashing of their own history, one could easily shrug their shoulders in dismissal. Who cares, I hear some of you saying, 'history is always written by the winners.' That is true, no doubt. But one does have to wonder about the Jedi. If their entire reason for existence was to fight against the Sith...what are they doing now? Waiting for them to come back? Are they on vacation?"
"The truth is," said Quetziel, "The Jedi lust for power. They want nothing more to control the Republic through their thin veneer of being a monastic order. Tell me, if the Jedi were truly concerned about being an order of threadbare monks, why do they have their Temple in one of the most important, most expensive sections of real estate on Coruscant? Shouldn't they be off communing with the Force in somewhere a little more private? I'll tell you why they keep their main offices on Coruscant. It's only from there that they can control the Senate and the chancellor."
Sascha let out a quiet sigh, but that wasn't what drew Nara's attention. Nara noticed that throughout that...rant from Quetziel, that Zven looked somewhat pained. It was clear to her that Quetziel and Zven weren't totally on the same page. Maybe that was something they could take advantage of later.
"How do they influence the Chancellor and the Senators of the Republic?" continued Quetziel. "It's nothing as crass and illogical as mind control, no, only true conspiracy theorists can believe that. The answer is much more...insidious. See, the Jedi present themselves as the only party that is capable of being a neutral arbiter, as preposterous as that is. So when there is a crisis in the Republic, as there inevitably always is, the Jedi are called upon to find a solution. A good strategy, is it not? Except that it isn't. The Jedi are very adept at subterfuge, but they are not always adept at coming up with the best solution." Quetziel glanced around the room, "Many of you must come from planets where some Jedi played an important role in its history. Tell me, did the Jedi come to a fair compromise?"
All around them there was grumbling. Grumbling from a pair of Rodians a couple rows below them, no doubt thinking of the failed treaty of Yavin IV. To her right, a Twi'lek and a Gand were arguing, no doubt debating the highly controversial mediation that occurred on the contested planet of Ringel VI, which to this day was still debated by Jedi younglings in the Temple. In her opinion, that mediation had been badly botched by the Jedi that had been in charge, but, although the first mediation had failed, subsequent treaties had salvaged the situation.
Nara could see why Quetziel was bringing this up though, the simple fact was that history tended to forget the successful treaties. All people remembered was the failures.
"Despite the failures of the Jedi, which are too numerous to count, do we ever see any politician talking about imbuing normal diplomats with the power that we give the Jedi? No! Of course not. It's up to the Jedi to solve all the problems of the Republic. We should be solving our own problems! The Jedi Order are made up of younglings that are taken from their families as infants. These are not normal people. They do not share our values, or beliefs. They don't know what its like to live our lives! How can we let them make any decisions for us, let alone our most critical decisions?"
Beside her, Sascha grimaced. If there was any plan of attack that might work against the Jedi, it was painting the Jedi as total outsiders. For better or for worse, the Jedi were seen rarely by the average citizen of the Republic, so it was pretty easy for people to paint them as out of touch elitists. And it was a hard argument to counter...because they were out of touch elitists – their ability to use the Force would always make them 'elite.'
All around them, people were nodding in agreement. The next group of additions to the anti-Jedi group were being added. And all Nara could do was wait. Fortunately, she was a predator, and was well accustomed to waiting for her prey to walk into her grasp. She just had to hope that they would.
Zven took the centre of the stage again, while Quetziel took a drink of water off to the side. "The other big concern about the Jedi Order that I know many of us have is that the Jedi are supposed to be our moral centre. Can you imagine explaining the Jedi Order to a new planet that joins the Republic?" Zven made his voice higher pitched, almost comedic, "'Oh yes, the Jedi are our best and brightest. They live in a Temple on our most populated planet. No non-Jedi is allowed inside without permission. Oh, they also have the largest repository of information in the Republic. Yeah, we aren't allowed access to that either. They are also the keepers of the kyber crystals, perhaps one of the galaxies' most superconducting materials, and yet they do not allow research on them. Oh, and one last thing, they also have the right to take any of the children that are deemed to be 'Force-sensitive. They are great though, trust me.'"
Zven paused letting his rant sink in, "These aliens would have to think we were crazy, or that our moral code was so out of whack that they'd think that we were monsters. They'd think we were the bad guys." Zven shook his head slowly, "We let the Jedi get away with so much, we let them get away with perverting our laws, and for what? What do we get out of having this symbiotic relationship with the Jedi? Does anyone have an answer for me?"
"Peace," suggested one brave soul.
Zven bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement, "We have peace," said Zven, "But how much of that is the work of the Jedi, and how much of its is the work of our government, our politicians, our societies? I would contend that it is not the Jedi the supply peace, but ourselves."
Quetziel took over from Zven, "We have to realize that the Jedi merely take credit for the hard work that is done by others. Why do they do this? Well, if they didn't people would start to wonder why the Jedi get all these favours from the Republic."
Again Zven grimaced slightly, but he quelled it quickly, "The Jedi Order keeps us stagnant. It undermines our democracy – by having an unelected leader like Master Yoda be the equal in power with our chancellor is a threat to our democracy? What's keeping the Jedi from taking over?"
"About a thousand years of history," muttered Sascha under his breath.
"The simple truth," said Zven, "Is that we don't need the Jedi anymore. We can thank them for their service of years past and tell them that they are no longer welcome anymore. They can leave, take their things and practice their...religion elsewhere."
"Or my preferred solution," said Quetziel, "We put the Jedi under Republic supervision. They become public servants in the truest sense of the word. We abandon these silly regulations that the Jedi have about taking younglings from their families and not allowing them to love. They may get guidance from the Force, but we should make the Jedi accountable. Make them share their knowledge with us. If they are so wise...why do they keep their wisdom locked away, hidden from view? Why must the Jedi Order live in secrecy? I say we need to hold then accountable," Quetziel said with a snarl in his voice.
"Whatever the solution ends up being," said Zven coolly, "It is clear to us that the role of the Jedi Order needs to change. And we want to work together with all of you to bring that about."
"How do we do that?" someone shouted.
"We band together," said Zven smoothly. "We protest, we hold events, we get the media to report on us and our beliefs. Then we put pressure on politicians. It is only through our politicians can we get enough support to make these changes. It won't be easy. It won't come quickly. There will be those that question us, but if you believe, like I do, we can make the change that can help restore the Republic to its deserved greatness. Join with me in the Society for the Preservation of the Republic." Zven raised his arm to the heavens, as if imploring them to join him on stage. Nara found that to be a bit much, but she had to admit that the speech was quite good. She disagreed entirely with Zven's premise, but his arguments had been well chosen.
To Nara's chagrin, the audience started clapping Zven and Quetziel's speech. The ovation quickly enveloped the room where it was to the point that it felt like only she and Sascha was the only people not clapping.
Once the applause finally died down, Zven bowed to the room, "Thank you. Now I know many of you have questions, I'd like to answer some of them now. If you want to ask questions in private, you can speak to me afterwards if you wish. Raise your hand if you have a question."
A young Bothan raised his hand. Quetziel acknowledged him with a wave of his hand, "Yes?"
"Isn't this illegal?" asked the Bothan. "Couldn't this be considered...you know...treason?"
Zven smiled genially, "No this is not illegal, though I do want to say that if you ever feel like we are asking you to do something that you are uncomfortable with, please just say so and leave. We will respect that. Everyone has a limit as to how far they can go, how much they can contribute. There's no shame in it. Going back to your question though, we are just using our right as Citizens of the Republic to exercise our free speech. And that is likely all I will ever ask any of you to do."
An aggrieved looking Gran stood, "The Jedi are a drain on our society! We should dedicate ourselves to purging the Republic of this vile infestation. We should not let these youngling stealing, money grubbing monks be around any longer!"
A large shout of support went up from around the two Jedi. Nara felt like pulling a cloak around her, only to realize that she didn't even have a cloak. The hostility in the air was almost palpable. These people around them might have had some anti-Jedi thoughts before today had started, but now they had been whipped into a fervor by Zven and Quetziel.
"We can let this go no further," Sascha said, projecting his voice just enough to be heard. "It's your move, Nara."
Nara let the shouting die down before raising her hand. As she did, she extended her senses outward and used the Force just to nudge Zven's attention in her direction.
Zven smiled slightly, "Yes Nara, you have a question?"
"I do." She smiled benignly, "If there was a Jedi here today, would you say those same things to him or her that you just told this room?"
Zven blinked twice before responding, "I would. I stand by my words."
"What if I told you that you just did," she said, putting real durasteel into her voice.
"I'm afraid I don't understand," Zven said cautiously.
Nara stood from her seat and spoke proudly, "My name is Nara Nalto, Jedi Padawan. With me is Sascha Whitestar, Jedi Padawan. I think it's time we had a friendly debate," she said with a confident smile.