6
The Jedi found themselves at pains to answer the question, so Odan-Urr called a recess to the meeting. "Seek solutions in the Force, until we meet again," he advised.
Namezh and Se'lai meditated together and were shown a vision of Jedi whose meditations encompassed the Dark Side of the Force. Who had new lightsaber forms and combat techniques to draw upon, skills that tapped the Dark. Namezh saw herself, her eyes golden in hue instead of their usual blue, as a Councilor of her Temple, debating the will of the Force. Se'lai saw himself teaching the new lightsaber techniques to a small cadre of Knights and Masters. They saw the mavericks of the Order, Wayseekers and naysayers, enjoying a camaraderie they had never before found within an Order that had often made them feel lesser, apart.
The vision shifted to the peaceful gaze of Odan-Urr. His countenance grew in size until it loomed over the galaxy itself. Maada and Ontez watched as Odan-Urr's expression became stern, then cold. Then angry. Then enraged, as the galaxy fell out of balance beneath his glare.
Their vision ended, the two Jedi felt fear. Unsure of what to do next, Maada felt it necessary to seek the will of the Force. She meditated as shown in her vision: finding her calm center, she did not disperse her emotions into the Force as was typical. Rather, she allowed every feeling to swirl around her as a hurricane around its eye. When she understood and had mastered each emotion, she drew the Dark Side in through them like water though a sieve.
Her bones chilled as she heard whispered offerings of power, invitations to drink deeply from the fount and revel in the resulting storm of energy. The Dark Side told her of all she could accomplish if she only surrendered herself, only gave in to the Force's dark undertow.
Here, Maada knew, was peril, for total surrender to the Dark Side was permission to indulge in one's own darkest nature, engage one's worst impulses, pursue one's emptiest ambitions. It was to seek self-satisfaction at any cost, and such was never the will of the Force. Maada ignored the whispered enticements and sought the tension point, the fulcrum of the Force, where light ended and shadow began. It was a difficult place to hold under her attention; her entire life's training told her that she stood on the slipperiest of slopes, a place where true purchase should not be possible. But it was, and she found her footing. As her calm center resided in the light, the storm of her emotions fed and were fed by the Dark.
And at the inflection point between eye and storm, Maada Namezh heard the will of the Force more clearly and more fully than any adept of any Order in over twenty thousand years.
Thanking the Force, releasing her emotions fully to the Dark and breathing deeply of the light, Maada opened her eyes and told her companion that she understood the vision and knew what must happen next. The Jedi Order, she said, would rise or fall on the fidelity of one Master. If Odan-Urr embodied the truest principles of what a righteous Jedi Master must be to serve the Force, the Order would take new shape. Should he fail at the test: schism, and a galaxy whose servants would ever be at odds with each other.
When the Council reconvened, Odan-Urr stood. "I am eager to hear what my fellow Masters have gleaned from their ruminations; I confess, my own were inconclusive. I stand, as I hope we all do, open to all views."
By tacit agreement, Maada and Ontez chose to speak last, listening first to the results of the other Councilors' meditations.
It seemed nobody had found much clarity in the Force - certainly not as much as Namezh and Se'lai had - but the hints they received had yielded interesting suggestions. One suggested that Maada, Ontez and their team put together a few proposals for specific changes to the Order. Another proposed a pilot program by which a few Masters would begin living and serving by the Je'daii Code, being closely monitored for results and any signs of Falling. Almost every Council member agreed that some form of change to the Order's operations was wise. Those who did not, including Odan-Urr, still agreed that further study of the Je'daii and Force Wars was warranted. Odan-Urr, who spoke last before Ontez Se'lai, added that such study should be confined to Maada's team and all findings restricted to Masters only.
Ontez Se'lai was unsure what, specifically, to recommend. He believed in the truth of Maada's interpretation of their shared vision, but many of the proposals he had heard made sense as a step preparatory to broader change, particularly if some of the more academic and action-oriented ideas were combined. As he stood to speak, he turned his will over to the Force to the best of his present ability, unwilling to tap directly into the Dark Side in the Council Chambers as yet.
"It is true that any seismic change to the Order's foundations must be made in a calculated manner. I have heard many good suggestions for ways to begin, and I do not think full consensus on a destination need be achieved in order to begin on a journey of growth in service to the true will of the Force. However, I wish to impress upon this Council - and I know my…controversial friend will do the same - my perspective that seismic change is indeed necessary. Today I have seen a vision of what our Order may become if we commit to this journey. I tell you that in this vision, I saw Knights and Masters wield the Dark Side of the Force in meditation and in physical training. I saw no negative consequences resulting to the Order from choosing this path. I saw a more concerning path, but I will leave it to Master Maada to speak further to that aspect of the vision that we shared." He sat down.
Maada Namezh did not rise immediately to address the Council. Rather, she surveyed each of them in the Force, and attempted to read the patterns of potential futures spinning forward from that moment. Also restraining herself from embracing the Dark Side without permission or warning, she knew that what she saw was skewed, but the most hopeful outcome flowed from her full disclosure of her recent experience.
Finally, with the eyes of all Council members resting on her with varying degrees of impatience, she rose and began speaking as she moved to the center of the chamber. "Masters, as the sole non-Council member in this room, I know that my voice carries no true decision-making power. However, I trust to our long history of collegiality and my own record of service to imbue my words with all the influence it is mine to bear.
"This Order stands at a crossroads. Down one path, we will find great change, and much hope for a future of greater understanding of and service to the Force; down the other stands generation upon untold generation of strife, with peace and true order grasped only fleetingly for brief epochs amidst the chaos.
"I will tell you of the rest of the vision Master Se'lai and I shared. It was of the face of a Jedi Master, who sits upon a Council, gazing sternly over the galaxy. That face grew enraged and the galaxy tilted out of balance, falling into darkness, reaching vainly toward the light.
"I looked deep into the Force for meaning, and here is what I found: our future requires that every single member of this Council act solely in accordance with the best of what it means to be a Jedi Master. To be humble. To serve the Force. To seek wisdom. To master use of the Force. To teach and to learn. To guide and to follow. If you all hold true to the heart of us - to the soul of the Jedi rather than to our policies and doctrinal boundaries - then we will emerge from this catalysis of beliefs all the wiser, all the stronger, all the better suited to serve a galaxy in balance and to understand the Force as it is, rather than as our limited perceptions make it out to be."
The Jedi Master thanked the Council and left the Chambers.