The Rendition of Dhar-kor Jord

[Will]

As the Bogan faded back to unconsciousness, Huang sighed. This was draining. He was a warrior, not a wordsmith. He could not play the game of minds. He had learned to fight. With a blade, not his tongue.

Hector...had changed. War had warped him. It was turning him down the dark path. It was subtle at the moment, but it was a seed, able to grow into a twisted tree of darkness.

''Hector, my student... This is the wrong path. We have crossed too many lines. This can be done in other ways. We shall take him to a force-dampening cell. We shall render him powerless. Doing... this to him will only make him more powerful. Pain is strength to them.''

He indicated the crushed hand.

''This is why they are our most deadly foe. They are unchained, slaves to their emotion. They have no control. A foe with no constraint is a deadly foe indeed.''

He fixed his yellow eyes on Hector. He could pick out the dark circles under his eyes, his sagging cheeks, his grey skin. He was being drained by this. How long could he go on this way?

''You were always too emotional for work like this. You care too much. This dark work is not for the likes of us. Not where he can weave his words and dark talents, at least. Come. We shall move him. Let's see if simple words shall work.''

He paused, looking at the floor.

''If not, I can always use my blade to end this.''

 

[Kit]

Hector didn't look up. Huang was right, as usual. There was a reason the swordmaster was on the council and Hector was not. The wisdom of the Jedi Master was indisputable.

"Of course you're right."

Hector meant it. Huang was making perfect sense. Hector was too emotional. He had let the exertion get to him, let the Bogans words creep beneath his skin. He had allowed his emotion free reign, let them dominate him, rather than him controlling them.

"I lacked control. I'm sorry master."

He raised his head. There was no fury now, no anger, instead only cold reason. He knew that in an instant, he could kill this man. Remove his evil from the galaxy forever. He could lash out with the force once more, and crush the Bogans other hand. He would pose no more threat to the Jedi, and once in a force dampening cell, the man would be truly broken.

But he did not. It would be as Huang had said, another step down a dark path. One he did not care to walk, no matter how satisfying it would be to tear the wretch to pieces.

"I'll keep him under until we reach the cells, but then I need to rest."

 

[Will]

Huang nodded as his student acquiesced. Simply a product of overworking himself. He could feel Hector calming himself. Good. He relaxed slightly, sending a padawan to get a trolley for Jord.

As he turned back, he felt a shift. Hector's hand was raised, his intended action obvious. In that moment, Huang saw a reflection of himself. Cold, calculating, ruthless.

''Hect-''

As he spoke, Hector's hand dropped. Huang was glad. He was teetering though. He would have to council Hector. Huang bundled the immobile form onto the trolley, moving him to the force-blank cells. The bane of force users, they eliminated force power, the room blocking the occupant's connection. It was into this they moved Jord, tying him back down.

''Hector, rest. You need it. You have done well. I am proud to be your Master.''

 

[Kit]

Hector visibly relaxed, every fiber of his being clearly relieved to have dropped his days long use of Morichro. The Bogan would come around, but no longer would Hector have to fight to control him.

No, now he could rest. Must rest.

"Thank you, Huang."

With that, he turned and left, in search of a bed, a bench... anywhere he could sleep for even an hour or two.

 

[Sreeya]

Val was slightly nervous, there was no doubt about it. She had been contacted by the Grandmaster to deal with Jord. She hadn't expected such a task. The Jedi was followed by the Grandmaster herself, who had arrived as soon as she had been notified of the situation. Talzea remained silent, her features difficult to read. She held in her hand a datapad Val had given her. As the two women approached the cell, Talzea turned to face both Hector and Huang. The half Danthiri nodded to them both. They looked exhausted, but this couldn't wait.

"There's something I need to discuss for a moment with you while Knight Karasu sees to the prisoner. Follow me."

She indicated to the datapad and urged them to follow her. Meanwhile, Val did not look at anyone, her thoughts far away. She walked past Hector and Huang and stepped into the room, spotting Jord right away. He was still unconscious, tied up and...Val grimaced as she saw the blood seeping out from the stump at the end of his arm. He was still knocked out when she ignited her saber and prodded the tip against the wound, quickly cauterizing and sealing it. Val switched off the saber and took a few steps back, carefully observing him for a moment. She said nothing, thoughts whirling in her mind. Could she truly do this?

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

He woke up a few minutes after the wound on his hand was seared shut. He looked up and felt, for the first time in his life, almost nothing. He had his anger, his hate, but he simply couldn't release it into destruction as he so desperately wanted to to everyone that was there, barely being hidden at first, but dying down as realization set in as to why he couldn't.

He had been moved to a force dampened cell. This dawning of course happened as his mind cleared and bodily functions returned to normal. "Well...so I suppose you're going to just keep me awake for the rest of my dismemberment then hmm?" He asked to the new woman before him as the door closed, leaving the two of them alone in the room.

He stood up and stretched. "At least I can run around and attempt to dodge your blows this time, since you can't use the force to do it..." he said, though he made no attempts to back away at all, on the contrary he went and sat down cross legged on the floor some few feet away.

 

[Sreeya]

Val remained silent, her eyes still on the wound. It came as no surprise to her that he hadn't immediately resorted to violence or some speech about how Jedi were dirt. She had found that Bogan, despite the image of them portrayed across the galaxy, still had individuals among them. Individuals that retained some semblance of their former identity. Of course, the cliche Bogan that thirsted only for blood usually ruined things for the rest of them. Val walked over and sat down on a chair across from him, smiling at his words.

"Nope, no dismemberment from me. Chasing you and waving my lightsaber around sounds like too much damn work."

Her tone was casual, same with her body language. Val was vastly different from the usual image of a Jedi. Mostly this was because she pretty much sucked at being one, yet she still had her uses. She had landed herself in this situation, after all. Val looked down at him as he sat down.

"You know..you really could have picked your team carefully. You had your ass torched and flung across by your own team member. Did you ignore his demands for a promotion or something?"

She had to grin, carefully reading his body language and expression while conversing with him.

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

"We weren't there for war." He said simply. "The offer of no harm that I made? That was legitimate. You could've walked away for all I cared, though I'm sure one of the idiot lackys I had would've given chase. They've no mind for that sort of thing..." His anger controlled, though boiling under the surface as he remembered the betrayal.

"Unfortunately loyalty is not a strong suit in some, as is true of any group." He said, fighting to maintain composure.

 

[Sreeya]

"The thing I've noticed..is that both sides appear to mistake the other. You view us all in a singular form, and we have the tendency to do the same to you. There is no identity, there is just Jedi and Bogan."

Val knew he wouldn't immediately grasp her meaning. She was leading towards a greater point.

"We see you as a taint on the galaxy, you see us as stupidly misguided Force users that seek to preserve the galaxy, yet don't lift a finger to do so. It's that kind of thinking that causes this divide between us. Because we are led to believe that you have no desire other than to destroy all in your path, we fully believed you simply wished to throw the notion of surrender in our faces. We are tired of being the Jedi that sit and deliberate, tired of being beaten and just forced to change.."

Val rose to stand, sighing.

"It was a necessity. Every Jedi you fought against, we are a new breed. We are wrought from what the Bogan have caused, what they were a catalyst of."

She thought over her words for a moment, pondering on how much Jedi had changed. Val glanced up at him, silent for a moment.

"We had been asleep for many..many years. I believe we're just now waking up. Abruptly so.."

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

"Indeed, and it is us you have to thank for that. A necessary evil perhaps?" He said with a shrug. "You are, I'm guessing, to young to remember the schism. We were just like you and your new breed of jedi are now, but of course, the jedi weren't ready then, because we had nothing to be ready for, to fight against, rebels without a cause, as it were." He said looking her over. "Yes, I was just about your age..." he said with a nod.

"You've even started to employ similar tactics to get answers." he said raising his now handless arm slightly. "Dare I say if you had come earlier we would be reversed in our positions, you and I." He said with a slightly malicious smile.

 

[Sreeya]

"Necessary..to a degree."

Val simply smiled at his words.

"The kinds of answers I desire lie more with the psychology of one's path to the dark side. There is a lure, almost seductive, that captivates them and they lose part of their own personality within the mix."

She looked at him for a long time.

"Thus it is curious to me when someone like you, a high ranked Bogan retain bits of his identity. Someone who is not immersed to the point where the Force consumes them, twists them and takes control. It's almost as if the Force is the Master, the dark sider a vessel, a puppet to its whims, though that puppet believes itself to be the master."

Val began to pace slowly, though she kept her eyes on him.

"Do you truly believe in the cause of the Bogan? Or was it a means to an end? A necessity you took upon yourself to uphold..possibly to do to the Order what the Order could not do by itself? And...now that it's achieved..what now?"

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

Jord smiled. "Ah, you're a perceptive one..." he said looking her over. "Or telling me what I want to hear. Either way you're right to a point. Though I'm not sure the whole order is as such, it matters little. What I've helped to build will continue to forge the Jedi through fire, and if they survive they will be a perfect weapon for protecting the galaxy. If they do not, well, it will have the Bogan, who by the way, are very far away from the total destruction craving fools that the cult were. The Empire is a very different place than the fools of that cult."

"My identity? Only those without control lose themselves. The darkside is a tool, and many forget that...when we started to draw on it...Wel, it's like I told my acolytes. Sometimes, when a fire erupts there are those that flock to it's warmth, it's light, and in the process they become consumed and catch fire themselves. In doing so they runaround, catching ablaze all that they can. In this, they have extreme amounts of power. But it is shortlived. So is the story of how the Cult of the Bogan was founded."

He paused for a moment, realizing with a mildly amused chuckle he had fallen back into his role of teacher, one he held even before he left the order. "Though some stay back, and keep away from the flame, watching it, seeing it's potential. Then they harness it, wield it, bend it to their will, and perhaps some are burned, but they only burn themselves, and it can be recovered from, if they learn well the first time. Someone like that can use fire to create anything, bend steel to their will if they like. That is the Nature of the Empire I helped build."

"As for what now...Now I don't know. Being captured wasn't in my plans, and being killed isn't either, though I suppose that last one isn't planned for by anyone."

 

[Sreeya]

"Use...bend...wield it...harness it..it all sounds so forceful. It sounds controlling, dominating. The Force doesn't have to be seen like that, Jord."

Val could tell he was stuck in his ways, but perhaps not beyond hope. Val took a long moment to think over her words.

"The Force can be seen as an ally. You don't need to wield it or manipulate it. You can call upon its aid. This Empire you speak of..it exists but the loyalty exists from fear or overzealousness. It's not one born from respect. It's..much more empowering to help protect the galaxy, to help build something that can garner respect."

She finally decided to sit down, not on the chair, but on the floor directly across from him, still maintaining a measure of distance.

"Have you retained the capacity to feel emotions? Or have you thrown your humanity in along with the fire? You can be calculating, clever and manipulative without feelings. Do you have them still?"

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

"Emotions are where my power comes from." He said. "I would argue jedi are more prone to losing their emotions than we are." He said, curious as to what she was talking about. He had once used the force as an ally. A long time ago, but to what end did it get him? He shook his head. "Using the force as an ally makes things grow stagnant, passive..." He said, but even as he said it, he rememembered the ferocity with which the jedi battled, and that was anything but passive.

"But then, how do you wield it like you did?" he asked, his thoughts betraying him as he spoke them aloud.

 

[Sreeya]

"The Force is extension of myself. A part of me. Not as a tool, but something that resides within me, almost like a friend."

She smiled as she spoke.

"The passiveness that existed had much to do with the incapacity to accept changes. Jedi were incredibly set in their ways and refused to change, refused to take part in what happened around us. However..it took us this long to realize that we are a part of this galaxy, and we must aid in protecting it. We must take initiative and help construct it into a safe place for those that cannot fight for themselves. The Force..is a gift and a curse at once. It makes us aware of everything on a much deeper level, and gives us this inherent desire to wield this power and apply it to everything around us."

Val paused for a bit.

"But like with everything, this power takes over and we see it as a mere tool, a means to an end, to achieve something. If the Force is an ally, you work with it. This allows you to test it to its limits, but never lose sight of yourself. That's how we were able to wield it so efficiently, undeterred by that old Jedi perspective of only desiring peace, yet never acting on it. If you listen to it, allow it to guide you, instead of the other way around, it shows you the path and gives you the strength to counter the threats coming to us. It's a level of strength that's the Force in its purest form, without it ever poisoning you."

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

"Hmm...I will need to think on this, and everything that's happened recently. But while I think, I'll make you a deal. I give you a shell corporation operating within the republic that we used to funnel money to Jade Galactic for funding towards our arms and ships. Bank account numbers and everything. You do that, I want a percentage of that bank account to go to a cybernetic hand, one of my choosing. I just need a datapad in which to give you the information of the accounts, and of course to pick out my new hand."

He said all this and gauged her reaction. "Thus giving me time to think, and you a chance to see at least what kind of arms your up against."

 

[Sreeya]

Val nodded.

"Yes, I imagine this change of techniques when it comes to dealing with you is a bit unusual.."

She raised an eyebrow as he spoke.

"Jade Galactic..? Really.."

Val fished out a datapad and slid it over to him.

"We'll look over what you're ordering and everything will be monitored, just keep that in mind. You're also under surveillance at the moment."

She smiled at him.

"..Is it just me or is there a suspiciously high number of Jedi or Dark Jedi that lose their hands?"

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

"Though if it exists now I hear it's under new management but yes...To be honest I haven't really kept up with them after our orders were complete." He said and chuckled as he took the datapad, setting it on the floor and typing out quickly, all things considered his orders and the promised information.

"I would hope you were monitoring me, otherwise you'd be idiots. Of course the fact that I know your monitoring me means that I wouldn't try to do anything incredibly stupid...no, for now I just want the satisfaction of seeing Hectors face when he returns and I have a better than new hand." He said, not looking up from the datapad until finished, then slid it back over to her. He left all the pages he opened up, and handed it back to Val.

"Look at all the information you've gained, and I don't even know your name. Hector was more forth coming with that, but of course, less successful in his endeavor."

 

[Sreeya]

Val simply smiled, taking the datapad. She nodded to him and walked out of the room. She would find Talzea and relay the information she had gathered so far. Val was still unsure on how to view this man. She was mistrusting, but there was no reason to categorize him. She wondered what he would dwell on, and what he would take away from their discussion.

The Jedi returned late the next day, the account being looked into. Val stopped in front of the door and knocked. Wait..he was a prisoner. She chuckled softly and walked in, glancing up at him. It was obvious she wasn't used to dealing with prisoners under such circumstances. Val sat down across from him as usual.

"Get a good beauty sleep?"

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

He was found in meditation, though he could not connect to the force he stirred somewhat slowly as she entered and he smiled as she came in. "The lack of a bed made it hard, but we originally lived in a giant cave system on Ando Prime. I'm certainly not complaining." He said, moving out the meditational position into something a bit more casual.

"How was your rest? And what have you thought of our conversation thus far and the information given. I take it given the lack of annoyance and courtesy of knocking you found it all in order?"