Revelation

Talak Rand

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Jedi Order
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Talak had returned to the same Ajan Kloss clearing that he had gone to after the funerals for the Jedi who had fallen at the prison break. It was a place he was comfortable. It was close enough to the compound to be approachable, but far enough that he was unlikely to be disturbed by others. He had much to meditate on in the coming hours and days.

He had already come out here several days in a row, consulting the holocron of the long-dead Jedi Battlemaster who he related to far more than any other Jedi he had found. A Sith who turned from that path. As a Sith, he'd heard a different story of Venator. The man had been treated as a potent power but ultimately misguided and led astray by the Jedi. Now he saw something else in the man. A kindred spirit for more reasons than simply because they used the same lightsaber form.

The conversation had given him much to think on and he knew the discussions would continue in the days to come. There was still much darkness within himself. The Arcanist was a force that was both powerful and dangerous, but it was as dangerous to him as to his enemies. He'd seen time and again how it had nearly cost the lives of innocent people, it had nearly cost him Trys, and it had nearly cost his freedom. It had corrupted others to the Dark Side, dragged them down to be less than they should have been, and the repercussions of its actions were still being felt.

But for all the negatives, it was not without its positives. He had broken up slave trading operations, freed innocents, and shut down spice production operations. Those were all undeniably good. So where was the line? What was the balance? Jedi still killed, but the Arcanist was labeled a villain and murderer for what he did.

It was this that the holocron had helped clarify for him. Though Corvo himself had stated he was a poor example of a Jedi, he was still hailed as one of the Jedi heroes of the era of the last Sith Empire. He must have done something right or at least found a balancing act between the Light and lingering Dark. Like Corvo, Talak had the skills of a Sith Lord, which led to the question: when were they acceptable? Did he always have to offer surrender? Could he strike first? Kill an unsuspecting opponent without falling back into the dark side?

And thus his mind returned to the Arcanist. A creature who had derived its power from hatred. Even hatred of injustice or cruelty led to a lack of control. Peace was a lie, there was only passion. But that passion may have led to "breaking of chains" but it simultaneously enslaved him to a new master. It enslaved him to hatred and irrationality. He hadn't separated the fighting from his own hatred. He fought and killed because it was personal, and that wasn't what led to serenity or harmony.

So what was his role in the Jedi? This was the question he returned to time and again. He had the skills of a killer in an organization of peacekeepers in a time of war. In 1000BBY, the Jedi weren't the Jedi Order they were the Jedi Army. Perhaps they needed to be that again or perhaps they simply needed individuals who were ready to be soldiers. Perhaps that was Talak's role: not as a redeemer - though open to such if the situation was presented - but as a soldier and hunter. Bringing to justice the Sith who would destroy the galaxy. Offering mercy when it was requested, but bringing about justice when it was required.

So what did that look like? That was his next question he needed to answer.
 

Talak Rand

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Jedi Order
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Jedi Knight

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Time continued to tick by as he searched the Force, his mind, and the holocron for answers. It wasn't often that he slowed down enough to become so entranced in the Force. He wasn't sure how many hours or days had passed by since he'd been out here. His sustenance came from the Force.

This turned his thoughts inward, reflecting on who and what he was in the Force. He was one with the Force here, but even in this place filled with Light, he often felt like a Dark mark. A stain on an otherwise pristine world. Was that an honest assessment of what he was? That wasn't the real question, though. The real question was did it matter? Why should he care what the Jedi thought? Or the Sith thought? Or what "fill in the blank" thought? What mattered was the results. Who he was inside? Did he like where he was? What he had become?

That was the crux of the issue: he spent too much time wondering about what he was supposed to be doing as a Jedi that it was hampering him doing anything as a Jedi. What had the Battlemaster said: there's a need for people to do the ugly things, but don't lose yourself in it.

So what did that mean? Were the ugly things of the dark side? No, that didn't seem right. It was clear that the man had been haunted by his past, suffering from pain and agony about what he had done as Dark Lord. He wasn't advocating for the dark side, but he was advocating for pushing the line. Doing things that perhaps weren't mainstream Jedi. And that was the Shadows. Those who would zealously combat the Dark Side, perhaps to the point of being overzealous.

That wasn't to say that murdering without remorse was the path. That was the path of the Arcanist and a path he wouldn't walk again, but killing without passion? That was what the Jedi seemed to allow even if they didn't endorse it. That was what seemed to elude him. If it was the answer at all.
 

Talak Rand

Character
Jedi Order
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Jedi Knight

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Phoenix
Joined
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There is no death, there is the Force. What exactly did that mean? He knew that it meant when they died they became one with the Force and that he, himself, should not therefore fear death. He had a feeling that that could be very easily manipulated into justifying killings and other things he knew were wrong. He thought that probably wasn't the answer.

And he didn't need to look further than the expository tenets of the Order for confirmation of that. Defending the weak, valuing life, and conquering recklessness were all additional elements to what the Order believed.

As the Jedi Code had more depth than it first seemed, so the rest of the galaxy did as well. This, he had determined, was one of the issues with the Arcanist. He was judge, jury, and executioner in situations that may not have been so simple as they first seemed. Perhaps he should have spent more time determining the intricacies of the worlds of Nar Shaddaa or Gamorr. Or perhaps his focus should have been on protecting the innocents involved rather than slaughtering the guilty.

But that brought him back around to the Sith. Combating the darkness was something that was the responsibility of the Jedi. He knew that some of the more extreme members of the Jedi would disagree in the means that was to be done, but most agreed that included actual combat as well. While he wasn't beyond offering redemption, he no longer felt that was the first responsibility. Few Sith - in fact none so far as he'd experienced - were willing to accept the offer.

So perhaps killing the Sith was the wrong path. As killing the criminals had been the wrong choice. Perhaps his goal should be stopping the Sith. It was a subtle change and one that would often result in the same choices made either way, but given how much of the descent into darkness was determined by motivation, he decided it was an important one.

And stopping the Sith Empire was something he felt trained for. Perhaps that was his place, and his days of concern about the thoughts of others needed to be put behind him.
 
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