Ask Yavin IV To Move Forward

[Yvain]

Yvain moved slowly through the halls of the temple of Yavin 4, the newly promoted Jedi Master still had a heavy heart even after such an honour. What had happened on Taris deeply saddened the old Jedi, he had felt the travesties of the past two centuries through The Force but this was the first time since the Clone Wars that Yvain had seen such destruction, so much death with his very own eyes. Although it did wear heavy upon him it also galvanised his spirit and his determination to see the Dark Side firmly put away.

A door opened ahead of him leading into one of the meeting chambers set aside for Jedi Knights and Masters away from the prying eyes and ears of the Padawan's and Younglings. For what they were hear to discuss was not for those with young hearts and new souls, no this needed the tempering of time and heat of battle to keep their minds and souls strong.

The room was set up to seat a dozen though he suspected they would never need that much, he had invited those Jedi he had fought with on Taris, though he was unsure if they to were to invite any of others to the meeting. Yvain had not said that they could not, if anything perhaps having heads not so recently burned by the Sith might help cool their conversations, but that was for them to decide not him.

Taking a pew in the middle of the room the Jedi Master pulled himself into a sitting position, his legs crossed beneath him, taking a deep breath he waited.

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[Alexandria Voran]

“Master Voran? Master Voran?” Alex’s eyes slowly refocused, pulling back from worlds away. I don’t care. The words rang over and over in her mind. Who had that woman been? That beast rolling around in the blood and mud. The Sith had pulled her down into the Darkness and she had happily followed, meeting him in a violent maelstrom that nearly destroyed them both. Alex had stumbled to the very edge of the cliff. The newly minted Councilor Alexandria Voran had spent several days in a bacta tank before being released. She had learned then of her elevation to the Council. Terrible timing. If only the others knew what she had done…snarling at the Sith…ready to plunge into the depth. Alex reminded herself she was not perfect. That each fault offered a chance to learn.

She slowly turned her head to lock eyes with the young Jedi Knight hovering nearby. Not all Jedi threw themselves into battle. Just as Max had administrative help, so did Alex. “Yes, Falla?” Her voice was calm and polite. “Master Yvain is waiting for you.” Right. She was supposed to see Soren, Vahn, and Yvain. A meeting of the wounded. Alex stood from the chair. Her body still ached. The bruise on her face had not healed and left a lovely yellowing puddle on her cheek. She groaned, waving Falla off. “I’m fine dear…did you message Master Venn and Sati?” (@Fantasy Liver @Killa Ree) Falla nodded enthusiastically. Alex was uncertain if Drow or Indy would come but she wanted them there. Whatever transpired at this small meeting would help shape the Order and lead to a larger conversation she needed to discuss with the Council. “Thank you. I can make my own way there.” Falla seemed concerned but did not dare say differently. Alex slowly made her way to the meeting chamber.

The door slid open easily at her touch, revealing Yvain sitting in the center pew. The Morellian Council took a seat on the righthand side, groaning again as she sat. Her shins were still killing her. She quickly shot a look at Yvain. “Not a word.” A small smile spread across her face. She settled into her seat, waiting for the others to arrive.

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[Drow Venn]

The shine on Drow Venn's ancient ceremonial Jedi armor had never been brighter as he walked through the corridors of the Temple at Yavin. Today's meeting was about serious business and he wanted to look the part so he had busily polished and buffed out his armor to look presentable today. Passing by two sturdy and resolute Gammorrean Temple Security guards, the Ishi Tib Master gave the pair a nod of recognition before striding into the chamber and taking his seat.

Masters Yvain and Voran were already present and Drow felt a sense of relief. Relief because these were two of the finest Jedi that the Order had and would surely make this meeting both productive and positive. However, he did feel the smallest twinge of unease seeing Alex. He had recently confessed to his fellow Master about matters most serious and Voran had given Drow great counsel and had promised to keep his deeds secret from the Council. Of course, Drow had asked to speak with her before she became a Councilor so now at least one Council member knew of the details of Drow's escapades in full, confessed detail. The feeling uneasiness quickly went away because of the trust and respect that Drow had for Voran. She had promised silence and her word was one the Ishi Tib had long learned to trust by now.

"I heard what happened on Taris. I'm sorry." Drow said to both Jedi.

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[Indy Sati]

It had been a long time since she had been around other Masters. Longer still that she was in a private meeting with any Council members. When she had been summoned, she merely smiled slightly at the message. She had been back for only a few days, and already there was a meeting called.

Thank the Force they were alive.

The Pantoran Jedi strode in, wearing the traditional brown robes of a Jedi Master. She had been in denial of her position for so long, believing Max's judgement to be in error, that she wasn't worthy of the position of Master. But now... she would work hard to make him proud. And yet, beneath the robes, a teal suit of armor showed, similar to Roland's own style. And though the Pantoran was much more thin than when she and Alex last met, there was a sureness, a gravity in the Force that followed in her steps.

She bowed once to all there, settling down.

"I'm sorry I'm late. You wouldn't believe the traffic here."

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[Vahn Berand]

Vahn Berand was elbow deep in the guts of his X-wing, squatting under the starboard wing. Engine grease and oil smeared his hands, and there was sooty smear across his cheek where he’d absently wiped a hand under his eye. A coupling had shaken loose during flight and had caused a cascade of electrical problems in engine 3 that he was slowly piecing together with duct tape and faith. Then it happened; a reserve coil had retained some residual charge and shocked his hand when it drew too near. It wasn’t bad; mostly just surprising, but it sent him recoiling away from the engine in reflex, and he slammed his head up under the wing.

Vahn hissed a breath as he climbed out from under the fighter, and rubbed a hand at the emerging lump on top of his head. Then, he snapped. The days of anger and frustration caught up with him, and he pulled back and kicked a bucket that he’d been soaking a rag in, sending it clear across the hangar. He then flung the spanner he’d had in his hand in the opposite direction and it clattered loudly across the stone floor. He swore. He yelled. His hand twitched towards his saber. He wanted to destroy something.

A scattering of eyes silently turned towards him in the hangar and Vahn frowned, scrubbing a hand at the back of his neck bashfully as he turned away.

“Sorry. Sorry about that. I’m going to take a walk. I need a few minutes,” Vahn was met by silence, and he was satisfied with that. Any response at all would have just increased the awkward situation as he turned and left the hangar.

Vahn had not been himself for days. In normal times, Vahn was light hearted, at times jovial. He made friends easily. Master Vetan had always praised this side of him. But now he was angry. He maintained a steady boil that hardened his heart and he hated this feeling. Vahn hadn’t considered Taris his home in a long time. A long time. Still however he found he couldn’t abandon it; it was a still a part of him, and just after realizing this he’d lost it. He’d fought, and lost.

And they made me a Master for it, Vahn thought bitterly. His hand curled into a fist. He was no Master. Not in his heart. He couldn’t even save one world. If only she were here, she’d…. Vahn banished the thought from his head. It was too painful.

A small chirping at his heel caught his attention and he turned to see Ralta, the little black and green BG unit that he’d received from Master Vetan so long ago. She was worried. Droids didn’t often get the nuances of sentiment, but Ralta was especially sharp for a BG unit.

“I’m alright, girl,” Vahn said, crouching in the hallway. He rested on hand on the little BG unit’s hemispherical processor unit. “I’m just sad. Angry. And… I don’t show it well,” he continued while standing back up.

One didn’t need to be fluent in droidspeak to understand the response.

“I’ll be okay. I promise.”

She twittered in response, and Vahn frowned.

“I guess it is that time. Let’s go see what the others have to say,” he said. The truth was, he was hoping to blow this discussion off. To lose himself in the banality of engine repair, or saber practice, or some other menial task. But his outburst had just ruined that option for him, and now he didn’t have a good excuse to not show up.

Vahn moved on in silence. Along the way he’d retrieved his silver white robe after cleaning his hands off on a rag. At least he’d try to look presentable. He missed the sooty smear across his cheek, however.

He arrived shortly after Indy, the newly minted Master entering the chamber wordlessly. With long, hurried strides he found himself at Alex’s side without thinking like gravity. He didn’t sit, but he did stand quietly just off to the Councilor’s left side. His head was low, eyes studying the ground. They positively smoldered in the moment.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I was...tied up,” he lied.

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[Yvain]

Time slowed as the Jedi Master began to gather his thoughts, he knew that was he was planning on bringing up within the confines of this room were almost definitely going to put some of his colleagues on edge. He knew his views were not always aligned with his brethren but then, Yvain's views were formed by events and experiences none of his brethren had ever experienced.

First to enter was the newly crowned Jedi Councillor Alexandria, the pair of them had a rather interesting relationship, a budding respect tinted with a large amount of humour and perhaps childish behaviour. Perhaps he could truly call her a friend in this trying times, he was about to make another of his classic and highly amusing comments about her old bones when she got to it first. He was about to let one out anyway when the Ishi Tab Master Venn entered the room. Though he had heard of the Jedi he had not had the chance to interact with him and would not know how he would take his snide yet hilarious comments about Alexandria.

He nodded in thanks to his words about Taris, before they were greeted by the a third Jedi Master, again Yvain had not had the pleasure of dealing with Master Sati but had heard much about her and was happy to have her present in this meeting. The final attendant was the also recently promoted Jedi Master Vahn Berand, they had spoken briefly after Taris mainly to deal with matters outside of The Order and the little green Jedi had come to respect the Humans.

Although they were perhaps one shy, Yvain did not wish to waste any more time than was needed so he opened up the conversations. "Fellow Masters, I thank you for joining me here today." He begin looking to each Jedi before spotting Vahn still standing. "Please sit Vahn, you are making it look untidy." Damnit his natural humour had to slip out he thought.

"I have asked you here to discuss both the outcome of what happened upon Taris, but also The Order's response and future stance towards the Sith Eternal." The last part of the comment was said with a little more steel in his voice than usual. Yvain then gave them a brief rundown of what had happened upon Taris, there was no point going into details as he was sure that they had all heard or read about what happened but it was important to highlight the severity of the situation for what was to come.

"As most of us bore witness and those who did not have been told. The Sith Eternal are becoming bolder by the day and this must come to an end. The time of appeasement and the back seated nature of our Order is over, the galaxy is at the mercy of The Sith if we do not act, it shall once again fall to the black nature of the Dark Side. I propose that we once again become the leaders of Freedom and Justice within the Galaxy and take the fight to the Dark Side, I have already begun with the agreement of the Council the advancement of our military assets. I hope with your support we can advance this with good haste and begin too push back against this black tide."

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[Drow Venn]

Drow found himself nodding emphatically at Yvain's words. Having grown more confident with his words as of late, he stood up and cleared his throat to add his own two credits into the mix because he felt it was necessary in these dire times.

"I agree completely, Master Yvain. I've been taking great effort to bolster up the defenses on Yavin itself and Master Voran and I recently obtained a number of X-Wings with astromech support from Incom. And I know other Jedi are doing the same across the galaxy." Drow said, nodding and smiling at each of the Jedi present as he spoke, gesturing to the Gamorrean guardsmen outside to indicate what he was talking about with the bolstered Yavin defenses.

"However, I feel like we are not doing enough. Recently, I embarked on a diplomatic mission to Sullust. The newly formed government is at odds with a guerilla group called the Cursed Hand. The Cursed Hand agreed to leave Sullust and join our fight against the Sith in exchange for our promise to give them a hunk of land somewhere to call their own. The Council forbade this deal from taking place, saying that the Cursed Hand were terrorists and that we didn't have the political capital to give them land. Is now the time to be turning away help?!?" Drow said, growing more agitated in tone as he spoke, though his distress wasn't directed at any one Jedi in the room.

"I hate war. I've had too much of it in my life and I was never happier than when I was healing others and finding my own inner peace as a Jedi. I want those days to return but to do that, we need to win. As much as I hate war, I'm good at it. You all know my background and I know firsthand that there are no half-measures when it comes to victory."

"We are not in a position to be turning away allies, no matter how distasteful they may be to us. And if they prove to be troublesome after the Sith are defeated, I'd much rather deal with angry Sullustans with blasters than angry Sith with lightsabers." Drow said, sitting back. Much as he didn't want the other Jedi to have to stoop to the things he'd done, he also didn't the Order to waver in this contradictory halfway position of idealism and militarism. If they didn't want to commit, Drow was fine taking on the Sith himself with the underground allies he'd made. But one way or another, the Jedi needed to commit or the Order would lose the war and itself.

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[Alexandria Voran]

Alex smiled at each Jedi Master as they entered. She spared an extra moment for Indy, glad the Pantoran Jedi Master had returned to them. Vahn was last to arrive, moving to stand on her left side. It felt right. Almost as if that was where Vahn belonged. Alex felt a brief moment of happiness. The Light shone brightly in the room, beating strongly in her heart. Light flowed effortlessly around the Jedi. She smiled. This was balance as it was meant to be. Her gaze drifted before Yvain spoke. Alex’s eyes rested on each Jedi Master. They all wore various forms of armor. Suddenly, Alexandria Voran felt very out of place. She was in the midst of a war council. Her fears were cemented the moment Yvain began to speak. Alex’s strength in the Force rivaled all in the room. Her aura did not shift one fraction. Her mind was a well covered by a perfectly still pool. She was unknowable.

No.

This was all wrong.

The Morellian Councilor was the only one in the room briefed on the Cursed Hand. Despite her warning, despite her counsel, Drow had acted foolishly. She would never betray his trust, but his actions grew increasingly concerning. It seemed he aimed to compound that foolishness. Yvain laying out the perfect path. Alex’s voice was calm when she spoke. Even and perfectly modulated. She was a member of the Jedi Council, but these were her friends. They did not mean what they said. They couldn’t.

“We must not repeat the mistakes of the past.” Remain centered Alex. “We are meant to be an example for the galaxy to follow…I agree we must lead. The Free World Alliance and New Republic are too splintered to withstand the Sith.” Was that sadness in her heart? All Max had sacrificed just for this? “They need a Light to follow. The Order can be that Light…but this is not the way.” She shook her head slowly. “We cannot…no…we will not sacrifice who we are. What would the galaxy follow then? An Order unable to hold their own ideals.” Her eyes shifted to Drow. “The Council was right to forbid the alliance with the Cursed Hand. They are not rebels, not revolutionaries, they are terrorists.” Yes, that was sadness in her heart. “They have taken innocent lives on a world that is free.” Yvain was older, but Alex had lived nearly a century. She had seen this holo.

“We have walked this road before. We have lost ourselves and lost the war.” She was disappointed. Not angry. Heartbroken. “There are other, better ways, to unite the galaxy behind us. As Max did before, we must band the galaxy together…not abandon them to fight the war alone.” The Order was not a military. They were not only warriors. Alexandria Voran would not watch the Jedi become a shade of the Sith.

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[Indy Sati]

Though she entered into the room wearing armor, she was not a warrior. Not like Yvain, nor Drow Venn, or even, at a certain level, Alex or Vahn. She had not fought in many battles; her fighting was researching into the past, delving into the deep darkness and finding things long lost or forgotten. But yet, her lover had been a warrior, and to a pointless death that still marked hollow. Max, too, died a death in battle, for a good cause, but nonetheless he was gone. And now they proposed war.

She felt a growing coldness in the pit of her stomach, and she slowly stood, staring at each of them with gentle, golden eyes. "I stand with Master Voran on this one. We are not like the Sith, conquering and burning as we go." Her voice was soft, gentle even. "I have seen what follows when we step into war and become war machines; we begin to lose our way. We falter."

Her eyes settled on the ground for a moment, sorrow in her voice.

"We fall."

But then she stood taller, shoulders firm as she gazed directly at Drow Venn. "I do not think using such a group would be wise; liberating the Sullustians was a good cause, but using one evil to fight another will only lead to more pain, more heartbreak. We must defend and protect, as is our place in the galaxy." The hollowness evaporated, filling instead with Light, with strength and surety. "We must work with what we have, and protect the borders from Sith invaders where we can. But they want us to bring the fight to them."

"I stand with Master Voran. We must work together against the Sith. As much as we can... the mercy ships are a good start," she nodded once.

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[Vahn Berand]

Just as soon as Vahn sat down near to Alex, it seemed he was pulling himself back up onto his feet. He scrubbed a gloved hand at the back of his neck, and he gave a lopsided, sheepish grin. For a moment he felt just like a young boy learning the basics of the ways of the Force. His thoughts wandered over the possibility if any of the masters in this room had seen him as a lad so long ago.

He listened as each Master spoke, his brow knitted in tension. He weighed each word, measuring each against his own experiences with the Sith.. This wasn’t a meeting of the Council, but he knew this meeting was no less significant. So it was two for War and the ultimate choice of the Old order. And it was two for Rey’s way, her vision for the future. Were the Jedi to be warriors, or healers?

“It’s funny. I never thought I would go back home. To Taris, that is. We all have another home we need to take back, eventually. One way or another, through war or through peace. I've never thought as much about Taris as I have these past few weeks," He said, arms crossed over his silver and grey robes.

“It was difficult to grow up on Taris,” Vahn stated as he walked into the center of the room. “Not enough money, not enough food. Did you know that most of us grow up eating nutrient paste made from kelp in our polluted oceans? I had a lot of that growing up. Tends to get bits of vegetable matter stuck between your teeth. Not bad otherwise though. Good for old people because they don’t need to chew it.” he stroked a hand over a beard, his gaze distant for a moment.

“But even that was hard to come by. A lot of kids starve. Sometimes though, you find some people who are able and willing to help. When I was little I, before I could really start making myself useful with my quick hands,” he spoke slowly, lifting his gloved hands up and wiggling his fingers in emphasis. “I wound up being one of the fortunate ones. Sector L-957A had good people in it. One day I hadn’t eaten for a while, and this older man spotted me on the way to the factories. ‘Yoy’n tinn’r ‘en moyn small finga. Yoy’n go see tat Ahntie over dere, she’ll cook yoy’n up a supp’r.’” Vahn said, slipping into his native accent before he paused. “Every older respectable woman is your Auntie in the Lower City when you’re a sprout.”

“That’s how I met Auntie Kaia. Good woman, she was. Lost three husbands to the factories, but she kept soldiering on. She ran this little diner, well, more a bar. Not much larger than this room in fact. We had to stand in the back to get whatever she had to spare. And we performed little tasks for her when she needed. She was getting on in years and her knees weren’t the same as they had been before,” Vahn looked from each Master to the next. As he spoke he became more and more animated, speaking almost in a rush.

“Sorry. Sorry I’m getting away with myself. One day, when I was still learning how to be quick with my fingers, I picked the wrong pocket. Turns out I’d robbed some off-world mobster, and I wasn’t as good of a thief as he was. Caught me right there, just down the corner from Auntie Kaia’s place and started dragging me off. Probably to bring me back to some slave market somewhere,” Vahn said.

“However, somehow as soon as he’d dragged me off into some dingy alley Auntie Kaia was there. Warned him off with a blaster in hand. Sent him running. Saved me, she did. Even an old woman can be a threat when properly armed,” he continued.

“It wasn’t hard for the mobster to find her place the day after. But what they didn’t know is that he’d be met by a small crowd. We knew he’d come back to make trouble with some of his buddies. They…” Vahn paused, and his gaze wandered to the ground. “We, made sure the body was never found. Just another disappearance in a sea of faceless goons.”

Vahn paced in a small circuit as he spoke, gesturing broadly. When he finished, he nodded, and allowed himself a moment to breathe.

“We have to face the Sith. We have to face the darkness. We won’t stop them with peace talks, or delegations." Vahn paused, and looked away from Yvain, towards Alex. His expression was strange. He was young, especially for a Jedi of his rank, but for a moment he seemed so tired. Old and stretched thin. Already he'd been on so many battlefields, and he could feel the weight dragging on him. “But we won’t stop them by becoming them either. We're being called to a task greater than should be expected of us, than should be reasonable. War, yet peace." Vahn improvised.

“I don’t have the age or experience as most of you, nor was I here when the darkest times fell on the Order after Ajan Kloss as the rest of you do...but I do know one thing. We need to be able to juggle these dual responsibilities. Fighting is necessary sometimes, we all agree on that I believe. But we need to be more than just warriors.” Vahn scrubbed a hand at the back of his neck; one of his tells when he was particularly uneasy about something. He knew how narrow of a path he was trying to tread.

“We need to look at our history. It wasn’t just raw military might that defeated Palpatine’s Empire. It wasn’t just diplomacy and morality. It was something more. The Rebellion was something greater than just one or the other, we need both. We, the Jedi, are our greatest selves when we’re able to unite the spirits of the galaxy in common cause. We need all of us in this room to be on the same table with this.” Somehow, Vahn was certain of one thing. The Jedi couldn't be warriors or healers. They had to be Jedi.

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[Yvain]

Yvain knew that this would not be an easy conversation to have let alone to win, he ideally needed early support from one or two of the others in the room and then hopefully with some guile and wisdom win another over to there side. He nodded in thanks as Drow Venn began the conversation with support of his motion, the old Jedi however was not aware of what had happened upon Sullust nor the subsequent actions of himself and the council with regards to the Cursed Hand. He had mixed feelings on the matter itself, he knew that they should not ideally deal with unsavoury characters, but how many unsavoury characters had both The Old Order and the Rebel Alliance dealt with in the past, how many unsavoury things had they done to win that war. Unsavoury things that everyone now forgets because they won. "Thank you for your support Master Venn."

"Master Voran, you say we must not sacrifice what we are, but what are we then? Are we not defenders of peace? Defenders of justice? How can we defend such ideals if we do not act upon aggression and injustice? Must we stand ideally by as pacifists and watch the galaxy burn before us until someone else takes a stand?" Yvain kept his voice and demeanour calm as he spoke not wishing to get to the point where voices were raised and feelings were hurt.

"Master Sati, what borders do we protect? The Free Worlds Alliances? The Republics? What about those worlds not associated, do we leave them to the 'conquering and burning' because they did not wish to sign up to something? And how do we protect such worlds? As Master Voran said, The Republic and The Free World Alliance is splintered with no direct attitude towards this aggression. The galaxy cannot rely on them to be the shield they need. And we barely have enough resources ourselves to defend this very temple let alone half the galaxy."

So it was two for two at the moment, Vahn took a moment to speak and when he did he rambled a bit, though Yvain understood where he was coming from. "Master Berand, thank you for your words. You are correct people will stick together when assaulted by an external threat, but that threat must attack something precious for that to happen, like your Auntie. The Sith have already attacked the Jedi nearly wiping us out, have taken two dozen systems including lands within the Free Worlds Alliance, committed war crimes, yet The Galaxy still idles on. They do not care enough to band together like the Tarsian's did for Auntie Kaia and I fear it will take something on a much grandeur scale to do so. Something I do not wish upon this galaxy."

He had spoken much but he still had a final point. "Master Voran, you say that they need a light, a beacon for them to rally around, but a beacon, a light must be lit. And they cannot be lit without action. We must take a roll of leadership within this Galaxy, not abandon them as you believe I am saying. We are the one undeniable threat to the Sith, as was shown upon Ajan Kloss, we are a target more than anyone else in the Galaxy. So we must take this action not only for the survival of justice and freedom within the Galaxy but also the survival and continued existence of the Jedi Order. We must become that beacon, that light, through action, to show the Galaxy that the Sith are not to be feared and that they can be beaten. People will flock to the winning side, look at the ISC and at the moment we are loosing."

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath he finished. "I fear, that without action, both the Jedi and Freedom of the galaxy will disappear before our eyes."

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[Drow Venn]

Drow found himself reverting back to his default behavior when he was a Padawan. He listened. These were Jedi Masters. These were the best and brightest stars the Order had and somehow he'd slipped in too. All of them had wisdom to share and Drow silenced the arguments begging to leap out of his mouth and heard what everyone was saying.

"Unity and mercy ships are all very well. I genuinely mean that." Drow began, looking at each of the Masters in turn as he spoke.

"But the fact remains, we need soldiers. True, the Rebellion and Jedi didn't just win the war with troops and clones but they sure as hell helped them do it! I can respect factions like the Cursed Hand being distasteful even if I don't agree with it. But unless any of you are hiding a droid army in your robes, we do need to find a way to swell our ranks so we can better defend the galaxy against the Sith."

"The Sector Rangers and FWA are valuable allies but having our own forces. would make things significantly easier on us and our allies. We could militarize our security forces on Yavin and Ossus but I'd hate to leave our Temples undefended, especially in times of war."

"Or we could make a call to our friends across the galaxy. Form a volunteer force with which to fight the Sith. There are those on Byblos who are grateful to the Jedi for stopping the Sith and want to strike back at them. We also have friends among the Pamarthens and the Gammorreans as well. I, myself, still have several contacts from my mercenary days. I'm sure all of you are aware of the financial limitations the Order has and we also lack the resources to house and train a standing army.

"But volunteers we could call on as needed? That I think we can do." Drow concluded, taking a seat again and resting his chin in his hands as he prepared to listen to what the other Masters had to say about it.

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[Alexandria Voran]

She wanted to sigh. She wanted to chastise Drow and Yvain. They were so blinded by their pasts they could not see the future clearly. She wanted to smack Vahn for feeding into it. She didn’t. Alex remained a closed loop. Her thoughts hidden beneath unbreakable mental barriers. Her feelings carefully shieled. The Councilor listened carefully and let all speak their peace. She did not love the long speeches. It was not her style, but the Jedi had gathered her for a reason, and she would hear them out. The assembled Masters did fully understand the position of the Council. The Grandmaster had left behind healers and diplomats. Their appetite for war was slim. Alec could only image their reaction to such a gathering. It would not be well received. She was the buffer to prevent splintering of the Order. Splintering they had already avoided once.

The Morellian ran a hand through her hair, wincing as she touched a bruise. “We all have the best intentions. We all know that.” Her voice remained measured and calm. “These mistakes are not just of our remote past.” She shook her head slowly. “Oren branded a criminal, now in exile, lost to us.” He had recruited her back to the Order. Now he was as good as dead. “The Guardian’s disbanded for good reason.” Foolish mission after foolish mission gone horribly awry.

“Everyone in this room knows the Shadows already work in the mud, risking parts of their soul for the good of the Order.” Her eyes lingered on Drow and Vahn. “How many more Jedi do we risk creeping closer to the Darkness? We must not forget, despite their gifts in the Force, the Padawan’s are mostly children.” Alex knew her history. The history of sending kids to war. It never ended well. “We already have the blood of Denon on our hands.” She shook her head. She was rambling when she had just complained about rambling.

“We need more than we have. I agree. Our homes must be protected, we must have the ability to trek the galaxy safely…I understand.” The Force rang with the truth of her words. “But we need the FWA, and we need the Republic.” Alex took a deep breath. She reflexively reached for Vahn in the Force. “I will not see us become Generals and Commanders. I will not see the Order turned into a war machine. The galaxy has the might to withstand the Sith if united. We will not unite them with becoming what they face.” The galaxy already distrusted Force users. Raising a massive army would only further make the pariahs.

@Braden Drake @Killa Ree @The Steel Stag @Fantasy Liver

 

[Indy Sati]

It wasn't just the current argument that they came against. She could recall texts about the Emperor Palpatine; hell, perhaps even Yvain and Alex knew about those situations. The two were old enough. But they all seemed eager for war. They all seemed hungry to leap into the fire, meet the Sith on their comfortable turf. She refused to play their games. She would not play by their rules. They had more than proven that there was nothing sacred.

All except Master Voran. Indy stood tall as well, her features impassive. "I mean no respect. But I refuse to fight in a war that means following in the footsteps in our old Order; I may not have lived it," she gestured up, "but have we not learned that if we play into the threat of war, if we act offensively, that we risk more than just our lives? We are barely tolerated in this galaxy," she pointed now. "If we begin to be aggressive, we risk being further lumped into the Sith. The best we can do is open ourselves to the Galaxy, and to the mysteries of the Force. We must arm ourselves with knowledge. We will not stay idle, but look for more homes, more havens. I stand with Master Voran." Golden eyes were warm, but resolute. "I lost someone precious to me because of a pointless battle; I will not stand idly by and watch more of those that are important to the galaxy be lost to the Force as well." Briefly, she thought of Stolas' words, his taunting at displaying Roland's helmet to the galaxy.

She could go to war if she wanted to. But there was the taint of Darkness to that thinking, and that path held nothing but more pain.

Her voice was soft.

"If we continue down this path of war... I see only death, pain, and our end." The Pantoran wasn't known for dramatics; her words held all the gravity of someone who knew this too well.

@Valen Pelora @Braden Drake @The Steel Stag @Fantasy Liver