Adenna Alluyen Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 Adenna had never been to Nal Hutta or Nar Shaddaa, though the thought of coming to the center of slavery in the Galaxy was one of the last things she ever wanted to contemplate. Still, the Empire had conquered it and, from what she had seen on the Holonet, they have spared little quarter when it came to the slavers. As much as she embraced the Jedi, sometimes, she wondered if they were too soft on criminals and those who spread suffering and misery to the innocent. She wanted to see the truth here and judge the Empire based on its actions. Perhaps there was something good about the Empire to be found. As soon as Tobias left the comfort of their bed, she joined him in getting dressed. They would need to be at their best for today, and both would need to watch each other's back. "We can do this," she said quietly. "If the Empire is changed, then that is a good thing. If it isn't as changed as we would like, perhaps we could have a hand in making sure it eventually gets there." Send PM's to Travis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adenna Alluyen Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 Adenna smiled at Tobias' rapid fire words. "You are, but it is endearing, almost cute," she said lightly. It was a good distraction from the echoes of anguish she felt here. This was not a place one wanted to be in, too many innocents and unsuspecting people had met terrible ends here. Still, beneath the layers of misery and hopelessness was something else: hope. There was change in the air, she could feel it in her soul. That was good, not at all what she thought an Imperial world would feel like. She took Tobias' offer of the lead, falling into the diplomatic mode she grew accustomed to on Thalassia, and approached the waiting Imperials. She stopped several paces from their leaders and said formally, "I am Jedi Adenna, this is Master Jedi Vos. We received a message inviting us here and wish to accept that offer." Send PM's to Travis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adenna Alluyen Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Adenna kept her face and her Force presence as tightly concealed as possible, keeping the neutral appearance that helped her so well when dealing with the various politicians on Thalassia. They did indeed do their homework, though that wasn't hard for a group as large as the Empire. Bringing up an anti-slavery campaign was interesting, but she wasn't sure if it was genuine or simply a ploy to hook her into the Empire using what they knew she would want to hear. "I do applaud any efforts to bring justice to slavers," she said diplomatically. "While I do not speak for Master Vos, I for one would be willing to hear more about your campaigns, though I will admit to reservations about the Empire. My experiences with the Empire have not been endearing, and the Empire itself has historically been far more apt to create and use slaves rather than liberate them." Send PM's to Travis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adenna Alluyen Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 In an odd way, the Moff's words did make a lot of sense and help alleviate a small number of Adenna's concerns. She understood that, sometimes, a small threat of force was needed to get people started on the right path. It couldn't last forever, and if it was needed long term, then things would never work. After all, that was what police forces and even the Jedi were for. "Have the Wookiees not asked for GA assistance, or did they come directly to the Empire?" she asked. It would be a sure sign of sad times if the proud Wookiees had only the Empire to turn to. "And, what do you envision our roles in this campaign being?" She was far more versed in small unit tactics and maybe cleaning up pirates nests, not full planetary invasions and battles. Send PM's to Travis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adenna Alluyen Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Adenna wasn't entirely convinced, but destroying Sith and Black Sun slavers did sound like a worthy cause. She would go along with this for the moment, but would keep her eyes open. Infiltration wasn't her strongest point, but she knew how to play the part if needed. There had been times when she was young that she had to play the subservient slave, and times when she was older where she was the arrogant aristocrat or bureaucrat. She could be stealthy or brutally destructive, though against slavers, she preferred to kill everyone involved. "What roll do you envision us playing?" she asked. "And what is our cover for infiltrating the station going to be?" Send PM's to Travis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adenna Alluyen Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 Adenna watched and listened to the presentations. It was a similar quandary as to what she faced on Thalassia. The idea of tracking sales records was initially attempted so that it might be possible to find and recover slaves, but that ended in disaster. Extractions were much more risky and many officers and soldiers were lost, and the data was more often than not useless or destroyed in the attempt. Further, even knowing where slaves were offered little actual benefit in recovering them as the beings who held slaves were unlikely to return them simply because someone else asked for them. It was a cold, hard fact, but Thalassia quickly learned to rely less on those operations and more on simply stopping the evil and saving what could be saved. "Why do we need to recover the central computer at all?" she asked. "The risk is high and would likely result in failure or high loss of life and loss of the data anyway. As Master Vos said, the station crew, or at the least, their commanders, were likely to destroy any data or even self destruct the entire station just to spite us and take as many of us down with them as possible. These aren't cowardly, self serving, self interested pirates who can be bargained with to surrender for their lives. These are Sith and Black Sun fanatics who know they have no chance of survival if they lose the station and escape back to their unforgiving masters. They also know that if they surrender, even if they are spared by your forces, Black Sun or the Sith would make their families suffer in response. These men won't surrender, they will sabotage our efforts." She pointed over at the images of the infiltration force concept. "Master Vos is correct in that pirate gangs know when their rivals are out of touch. On Thalassia, we initially tried infiltrating using previously knocked out pirate groups. We had a success, but many failures before we realized it was not worth it. If we had more time, months perhaps, we could establish a front group or better infiltrate existing groups. That is far more likely to succeed, but we do not have that time. "As harsh as it may seem, I recommend simply bombarding the station with ion cannons to disable the slave collars. Perhaps an ion bomb smuggled in would also suffice, but is riskier. Cut losses and play it safe: better to slag the collar unit and take the chance that records at the central computer might not be recoverable than to risk losing the entire team and all chances of recovering data. In brutal honesty, POW's would likely prove more useful than the data as the men there would know more where the slaves were sent out. Plus, there would possibly be datacards or other independent data sources detailing shipping manifests or docking logs. Data isn't simply stored in one place and we may have to get creative in finding it, but even that data is of fairly little value. Slaver holders won't lightly turn over slaves already purchased even if we find them. If we try to make a plan too complicated, it is more likely to fail and we will lose everything rather than a safer bet to save the larger number of Wookiees and soldiers." Send PM's to Travis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adenna Alluyen Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 Adenna nodded. "It is entirely possible they will begin killing slaves on the station once the attack begins. There is honestly nothing we can do about that but secure the station as quickly as possible. They would do that no matter how we took the station barring a very, very fortunate successful infiltration which is far more likely to fail than succeed. Shock and awe is something the Empire does well, so let us utilize it. Speed will save more lives than just about anything, so we must launch the attack as quickly as possible and hope that the Wookiees are able to either revolt or escape before too much harm is done." She sighed, knowing the long history of horrible atrocities that evil had performed in the Galaxy's history. "We must also steel ourselves for the possibility that the Sith will unleash some sort of doomsday weapon that will kill large portions of the planet's population. When resisting an evil that doesn't value life, it is always a threat. If they do such, we must take whatever small solace knowing that the Wookiees died quickly while still remembering their proud heritage and not as a broken, worn people with backs bent by slavery. I have seen more than one slaver group exterminate their slaves rather than allow them to be freed, and I would not put it beyond the Sith to destroy Kashyyyk and attempt to blame it on us. "With that said, I am ready to fight whenever everyone else is." Send PM's to Travis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adenna Alluyen Posted May 11, 2019 Share Posted May 11, 2019 A full holomessage came through to the Ara-Lai for Sandy from Grandmaster Alluyen. Just in case, a voice only version was sent to her comms. "Knight Sarna, I am very proud of your work on Chandrila, but your work is not yet complete. I truly hate to place this weight upon your shoulders, but the Jedi Order needs you once more. We have located a substantial Black Sun fleet protecting the station holding Empress Zinthos. I am therefore forced to summon the entirety of Jedi forces so that we, along with our allies, may be able to take this opportunity to rescue the Empress, crush our nemesis, and deny the Sith some of their allies. I need you to gather whatever Imperial allies you can and come to these coordinates as soon as you can. We can't risk the fleet departing or them finally tiring of the Empress and executing her." Send PM's to Travis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adenna Alluyen Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 With a series of flashes, the battered allied fleet reverted from hyperspace after the harrowing battle around Dark Sun Station. Many of the Jedi ships were damaged and showed score marks and even holes in their hulls. It would take some time before some of the ships were back to full battle strength, especially since the Jedi Order didn't have a shipyard under its control. The Order would have to rely on its allies to help repair its ships and replace losses. During the journey, medical treatment was given according to triage with a great number of walking wounded tending to themselves. As soon as able, the most severe of the wounded would be taken down to the planet's hospitals to relieve the overwhelmed medical staff on board the fleet. Jedi healers focused their attentions on the worst of the injured, but they could only do so much. Adenna focused her time on the extremely complicated task of trying to put the Imperial Remnant's Empress back together: a task that occupied most of her time. For the time being, Commodore Neldis was taking over fleet matters. Send PM's to Travis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adenna Alluyen Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 Adenna was surprised at the speed in which her patient was recovering. Though the Empress was a little younger than the Grandmaster, there was a great pool of resiliency that helped her shunt aside the physical and emotional trauma of the last few months and focus her mind on the task at hand. The fact that there was a good deal of Force sensitivity within the younger woman probably helped as Adenna was able to rely slightly upon that to repair and heal while the bacta did its job. "The Jedi Order stands against the Sith and their ilk," Adenna responded, "any who also oppose them will be counted as the Order's friends. For as long as the Force wills me to lead the Jedi, we will fight even if it means taking losses. While many died rescuing you, we also managed to deal many blows against the Black Sun's forces and gained some small measure of justice for Kashyyyk. Now is the time to see if we can put aside our differences, forget the past, and forge a common alliance against our universal foe." Though she wasn't exactly fond of the idea of moving the Empress, there were too many things that needed to be tended to. After making sure that a proper hoverchair with an attached mobile bacta unit was ready, she and the doctors consented to let her move. She didn't exactly look pretty sitting in a bulky hoverchair with a small bacta tank covering a good portion of her body where the skin grafts were still healing, but at least the Imperial Remnant had a head of state that could work towards putting this new Alliance together. Adenna sent summons to whatever was left of the Council and any other Jedi Masters in the area to meet with the Galactic Alliance and Imperial Remnant leadership with the hopes of establishing that very Alliance in a more formal sense rather than just as a collection of loose allies. Send PM's to Travis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adenna Alluyen Posted September 27, 2019 Share Posted September 27, 2019 Adenna would have to deal with the fallout of Dark Sun Station at a later time, not when there were more important things to discuss. Her personal opinion was that she didn't much care of the fate of whatever scum sheltered under the corrupt wings of Black Sun's playplace. Anyone who was wealthy enough to afford to such a place had more than enough ability to know what sort of place they were going and thus, she had no sympathy for them when their poor choice of friends came back to bite them. She had encountered plenty of wealthy and privileged people on Thalassia who had benefited from the slave trade there who cried when her task forces raided the slaver's properties. No sympathy at all for them. At least Tobias had managed to nab some of the credits, those would be quite useful in funding the Jedi Order's efforts. With so many friendly planets falling to the Sith, donations to the Jedi Order were dropping. Without money, food, supplies, weapons, and ships would not continue to come in. If the Jedi were to even be able to continue to operate their Temples, they had to have funding. That said nothing of the ability to wage war against this evil. When it was her turn to speak, she said, "The Jedi Order is, first and foremost, a religious order that strives to bring peace and safety to the Galaxy. We are not a government that seeks to rule or has political power in the traditional sense. We survive based on the generous donations of money, supplies, and manpower from those governments, corporations, organizations, and individuals who share our spiritual beliefs and goals. We also serve to restrain the awesome powers bestowed upon us by the Force in both ourselves and in others. The fact that the Sith Order has managed to thrive and build upon their powers a new Empire is proof enough of the desperate need for an opposing Force sensitive counterforce. "The Jedi Order has stood by for far too long while the evil that is the Sith are allowed to build up their Empire and that is upon us. I will not speak ill of my predecessors who did what they felt was right and acted as they were guided by the Force, but I am not them. For as long as the Jedi Order and the Force see it fit to place me in this role as Grandmaster, the Jedi Order will step up and fight evil head on just as they did in the days of the Old Republic. We may prefer peaceful meditation, but I fully believe that when confronted by an evil the likes of the Sith, most of the Jedi will no longer be able to stand idly and do nothing when they have the power to intervene and provide a counter to the awesome powers the Sith wield. "We will work with the Galactic Alliance and the Imperial Remnant with whatever resources and inspiration we can garner, but we have no interest in conquest and rule of planets. We are here to fight evil, and as long as whatever government that is formed here proves itself compatible with the Jedi Order's philosophies, we will support them. Make no mistake: I realize we are at war and in war, unpleasant and sometimes extreme things must be done. However, the Jedi Order will not replace one evil with another. Should this rebel alliance prove to be no better than the Sith, we will oppose it with the same fervor." Send PM's to Travis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adenna Alluyen Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 While she was glad to see Knight Sarna join the meeting, it took a great deal of Jedi training in self composure not to wince at the very poor timing of her interjection. She had hoped to address that issue internally, but it seemed she would have to deal with it now. It wasn't something she was looking forward to, because there was always the political necessity to consider. The Jedi Order didn't technically own or control the large military forces that fought with them. Those were a conglomeration of independent groups and individuals who volunteered to fight along the Jedi Order against evil. For now, they were organized into a fairly cohesive command structure out of necessity. That command structure heavily considered and acquiesced to the will of the Jedi Order, namely her, but that didn't mean they absolutely had to obey. One of Adenna's biggest concerns was that a major rift would develop between the Jedi Order and the military causing most or all of the officers and soldiers to return home or worse, become an independent rogue operation bent on carnage and vengeance. Adenna knew that she had to walk a very careful line between subtly guiding them to be an effective tool against the Sith yet not stifling them so much that they rebel and become a malevolent force. She silently cursed the clumsiness of Tobias for how he presented the situation so callously and in the open before their allies. He was a fighter and quite the practical manipulator of business and infrastructure, but he had no skill at politics or social etiquette. She knew he thought very pragmatically, but there were going to be times when he needed to learn how to balance that pragmatism with politics. She would be having a very unpleasant discussion with him in private as soon as she was able. "I do not disagree, Knight Sarna," Adenna replied. "The Darkness must be kept at bay lest we will become what we fight. What was done is done and will be addressed, though it was not a Jedi who conducted such actions and without any orders to do so. Yes, it was done under the command of the Jedi, and for that, we will need to deal justice. Such a thing is not to be tolerated by any who march under the Jedi banner, but until a Force using member of the Jedi Order crosses the line, I will leave the matter in the hands of the military that fights alongside us. Newly ascended Admiral Neldis will deal with the engineers as is fit according to Galactic Law. Should he fail to properly respond, I shall find another to lead those who have freely chosen to fight along side us." She looked over at Armenia and added, "I suspect Master Draygo would enjoy working with Admiral Neldis to ensure that all of those who are found guilty of any sorts of war crimes will be punished, so I will direct her to such a task." Adenna wasn't naive enough to believe that governments and loyalists to both the Galactic Alliance and the Imperial Remnant would be able to merge everything into one without both sides jostling for power and influence, but at least it would be an attempt. For the moment, both sides needed to work together far more than they needed to oppose each other and fight for the scraps. As much as she didn't want to get involved in it, she suspected the burden of helping maintain the balance would likely fall upon the Jedi Order. Still, there was an opportunity here to take action on something else she had wanted to do for some time. "I believe it would serve the Galaxy good to work together to fight the Sith Empire now. We can always deal with splitting things up when the threat is gone. To that end, as the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, I would like to formally invite the Imperial Knights back into the Jedi Order. I understand the reasons why they departed from the Order and am willing to work to rectify them. I am also willing to offer the Imperial Knights fair representation among the leadership of the Jedi Order in proportion to their membership, as well as affording them a degree of autonomy that will allow them to preserve some of their traditions and practices. I believe both the Jedi Order and Imperial Knights will benefit from such an arrangement and I am willing to further discuss details with Empress Zinthos." Send PM's to Travis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adenna Alluyen Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 Adenna could sense conflicting emotions in Tobias as he was put under the spotlight, and it pained her to do what she was about to do. She had hoped to handle this among the Jedi, but it seemed now that their dirty laundry had to be put out into the open among their allies. Perhaps it was better this way, a way to garner more trust and faith for the Jedi Order. "War always causes terrible things to bubble up out of each of us," she said sadly. "None who fight remain untainted or emerge unscathed. My predecessors and many of the current Jedi recoil from that taint and struggle to remain true and pure to the Jedi way. I admire them for their intents are true, but in this Galaxy, those aspirations are not for everyone. There are some who, like me, deliberately take a stand knowing what it will cost. When this war is over, I will either be dead or, if we win, I will gather all of those Jedi who joined me in fighting and we shall go into exile so that the taint upon our soul will not spread to those Jedi who remained pure. It is a sacrifice I willingly accept, and I will be the first to put any who fall along the way out of their misery lest they become what they have vowed to oppose. "I bear no illusions as to the path we take and how harsh and full of blood it will be. There will be horrific things that come from this war: both accidentally and deliberately done by our side. Any who think the innocent can be entirely spared is dangerously deluded for the innocent always suffer. Our only respite is the hope that, though the suffering that breaks out today, many more tomorrow will be spared." She sighed heavily, "That does not mean we should ignore the travesties brought upon the innocent, nor should we leave the guilty unpunished. We must take responsibility for our actions and the actions of those within our authority. When those under our authority do reprehensible things, we must look within to see what role we played ourselves in creating the environment that caused our subordinates to take such actions." She looked directly at Tobias. "To that end, I am relieving Master Tobias Vos of his current duties and authority over the Jedi's intel and business networks. Those shall be turned over immediately to Master Hazgel who will assume all of the duties that Master Vos once held. There will be a place for Master Vos in time, but until then, he is to spend his time meditating on the harmony of the light side and serving the war effort in an advisory capacity only. Though I will not force him, I do believe he may be well suited to present himself before his fellow Masters for evaluation. Should he do so, I welcome a representative of the Imperial Knights to attend and observe. "As for me, I must take responsibility for the entirety of the Jedi Order, including all the actions of those forces serving under its banner. If the Jedi are to fight a war, we must do it with the utmost moral authority. The armed forces serving under the Jedi do so of their own volition: they do not follow nor are they bound by the rules of the Jedi Order. Still, this is no excuse. Since they are a volunteer force and took no oaths of allegiance, I cannot force them to disband. However, I do offer command to the Rebellion, be they Admiral Slaughter or the Empress, should you feel that is best. Some may reject that and leave, but I feel most will follow whatever is decided here." Send PM's to Travis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adenna Alluyen Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 Despite weeks of various, often headache-inducing negotiations and work building up and organizing a rebellion against the Sith Empire, Adenna kept pushing on. It wasn't easy dealing with the plethora of needs that spawned from trying to merge scores of different groups of individuals each with diverging and sometimes conflicting needs and ambitions. It was exasperating to no end, but necessary. Had she known it would be so much paperwork and negotiation, she might have simply kept the Jedi out of everything. As appealing as it was to her during these weeks to dream about an aloof and cloistered Jedi Order above and outside of the common day to day politics and negotiations of building a coalition government, she knew that it was impossible to do that. The Jedi couldn't have a hand in making sure the Rebellion was formed with the right foundations if they didn't roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty with the day to day work. One of the lowest points she had was now staring her on her own desk. On top of an increasingly large pile of datacards containing thousands of reports sat a nondescript datacard containing the Imperial Knights' evaluation of the man she loved. She had dearly hoped that it wouldn't read what she feared it would, but deep down she knew it would not bring her comfort. As she read it, she knew that deep down, it was true. Tobias was a complicated man, but then, she had always accepted that. She knew he was no paragon of traditional Jedi values and ways, but the Jedi had needed someone like that. The Galaxy was a dark place, one that needed warriors and beings who would do what was necessary to defeat evil. She had always known that those who stood up and did just that would invariably be tainted and thus unable to ever return to normalcy. What she had hoped was that Tobias would be able to contain everything for a bit longer. He had always been on the edge but there had been signs that he would be able to stay on the right side of the line for some time longer. Even then, part of her felt that she needed a man who could stand behind her and do things that might not be exactly chivalrous but who would not question her or seek to condemn her. It struck her as almost startling at how quickly she had become the pragmatic one so soon after the mantle of leadership fell upon her shoulders. She had never seen eye to eye with those who placed more value in taking the "high road" at the expense of the innocent. There was something noble about taking a moral stand and dying upon that hill, but that wasn't going to help the Galaxy. Even as her instincts screamed to ignore the report and curse the Imperial Knights, she knew that she had to resist that urge or risk worse. One of the reasons why she had wanted to bring the Imperial Knights into things was because of her respect of their willingness to fight the Darkness while rejecting its touch. They might take things a quite a bit farther than she would personally want, but as long as those joining the Knights did so understanding what would be required of them, she would not oppose their methods. If they saw problems and issues within Tobias, then she needed to heed them. The Jedi had to be preserved, even if it meant sacrifice. The Jedi Order wasn't alone in this fight against evil: the fact that there were tens and hundreds of thousands flocking to the Jedi banner even when joining the Rebellion was still an option bespoke of this. She had heeded the objections of some of the Jedi and most of the Jedi's armed forces leadership and hadn't completely given up the armies that flocked to the Jedi's banner. Still, what she had insisted upon was adopting most of the standard discipline and practices of the old Republic and Galactic Alliance. There was a great deal of integration and oversight shared between the two command structures, even if the Jedi's armed forces operated separately and answered ultimately to the Jedi Order. How was she to lead them if she couldn't keep her own house clean? She could compromise in some areas, but there had to be core elements that she did not abandon or surrender. As much as it pained her, she knew that the report was right and that Tobias was in danger of being burned out and crossing back to the Darkness. Her decision to remove him from command had been correct, even if it pained her to her core. Tobias would still be of use, though: he would be among the first of the endangered Jedi that attempted to recover from the taint surrounding them. If they could be rehabilitated, perhaps there was hope for many of this generation of Jedi who would be facing the evil of war. It took a tiny bit of doing and searching, but she eventually found the author of the report and went to him in person without any of her attendants or aides. She waited until it appeared that the man was not overly pressed with duties and approached him. With a quick bow of her head, she addressed him, "Inquisitor Alekseyev, I appreciate the candor and honesty of your report on Master Vos. He has already been removed from command and relieved of his duties for several weeks, but I will not be reinstating him for the foreseeable future. Rather, I will be sending him and a small number of other Jedi who have fallen to similar struggles as result of this war to a retreat where they will be ministered to and monitored by respected Jedi. They will all attempt to heal and bring peace to the troubled while returning them to the Light. They may never recover, but at least they will not be putting others at risk. Through their trials, perhaps a good method of redemption will be discovered that will help the many more who will falter." She gently pushed aside her robe and detached her lacquered wood handled lightsaber from it. After contemplating it briefly, she carried it with the Force until it was hovering in front of the Inquisitor, waiting for him to take it. "It would be wrong to expect those who serve under me to adhere to standards and a measurement that I myself cannot adhere to. The Jedi Order must remain true to the Light and keep hold of its core values and principles just as it must be led by example. I wish to submit myself to the same trials that Master Vos underwent. If I, too, am tainted, then it is best that I know so that I can better guide the Jedi Order or turn it over to one who can. Will you accept this duty, or should I find another?" Send PM's to Travis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adenna Alluyen Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 Adenna wasn't familiar with the methods in which the Imperial Knights were connecting to and amplifying the Force, but she had read that they could be done. It was a fascinating method, but one she would explore at a later point. For now, she needed to put her attention toward the proceedings at hand, not the mechanics behind them. “My Lady, are you a slave to your passions?” It was not a simple question, nor was it one that she would answer simply. "I am a slave to nobody and nothing," she said a tad bit coldly, even if it was rooted in reflex. She had been around enough slavery and fought enough of it to take a casual offense at the suggestion, even if she knew it was not intended as such. She did not miss the inference, though. She paused a moment and considered the actual question, "I do experience emotions like any living creature does, including passion." She sighed and relaxed her shoulders. "I have struggled against hatred, fear, and despair many times in my life, but in my time as a Jedi, I have learned to contain and control those and other emotions and prevent them from ruling me. The trite answer is to say that I surrender my emotions and passions to the will of the Force, but that is what young aspirants would say." As the pressure of the Force amplification began to increase, Adenna could feel it beginning to pulse in her inner ears. She spread her robes and sat down cross legged in the middle of the slightly glowing lines. Knowing the point of this exercise wasn't simply to interrogate with words, but to discover through the Force and self inflection, she sighed and delved into her own sense of the Force. She opened her mind, intentionally and deliberately not excluding any of the Inquisitor's encroachments into it, but also not inviting him in if he choose to remain separate. She had nothing to hide from him and knew that if she did, he would likely latch onto it and uncover it anyway. "I view the Force as a living thing, something that is natural and eternal. It predates sentience and will exist long after the last sentient creature perishes. As such, the Force itself does not have a light or a darkness any more than an untapped forest does. We, as complex and often self motivated creatures, do most definitely have a connection with the Light and Dark. When we reach into the Force for guidance or to mold it to our will and use it, we do so with an intent that is either pure and light, or selfish and dark. "It is us sentient creatures of flesh and blood that created the Darkness, and our own nature that constantly draws us to selfish and evil uses of the Force. Similarly, those who resist that call have embraced the Light by denying our selfish and corrupted wants and desires to instead serve others and embrace life and peace. I constantly face the temptation to give into my own passionate hatred for the evils of this Galaxy by unleashing all of the truly terrible powers that I was born able to connect to. It is always a desire to lash out at all of the evil we face in the Galaxy and it will forever be present in any who have a mind to think." She paused a moment, realizing the heat in her voice had risen slightly and retaining her calm center in the Force. The amplification was beginning to create an almost throbbing sensation in the back of her head, a sign that the Force was swirling more around her. "Even then, I cannot allow myself to fall into that trap and become what I fight. "You question my ties to Master Vos, and you are right to do so. I do love him and that love does guide me throughout my life, but I do not let that love or any other emotion control me. I do not shut myself off from emotions and feelings to cause them to fester, build, and explode in an unpredictable and uncontrollable eruption. Instead, I recognize them for the natural part of life that they are and allow them to work in conjunction with my mind and my sense of the will of the Force to direct my decisions. Some Jedi elect a path of pure serenity and abandonment of emotions as much as they can. That path is not for me because I recognize its inherent unnaturalness. For those whom it works for, I wish them the peace they seek, but it is not something all may achieve." There was more, much more. She had not always been able to control her emotions and passions. "I have teased the path of Darkness before," she admitted. "When I was younger, more foolish, and less experienced, I did use the Force and my righteous wrath to bring down unrelenting terror upon the slavers and other scum that had infected my home for decades." Images of bodies hewn and charred from lightsaber and blasters scattered on ships and in remote bases filled her head. She had led task forces that showed very little mercy upon the slavers they relentlessly hunted. It was a time when, filled with her own self righteousness, Adenna had believed that the intent justified all actions no matter how dark they actually were. She had always had a very strong will, one clad of the hardest steel and now honed to a razor edge that she turned against injustice. She had flirted with the line far more than once and willingly courted the Dark all the while cloaking herself in the appearance of the Light. She had emerged damaged and tainted, deluded that her actions had not touched her. She had continued this all the while battling the infecting taint that came from her psychic battle with Jidai Geki all those years ago. During her time on Thalassia and shortly after, the tendrils of the Darkness had rooted deep within her, claiming parts of her soul that would forever remain damaged. Blood, liters and liters of it, flowed behind her as she had carved her way across the Galaxy in pursuit of justice against the Darkness she herself was all but embracing. She never fully embraced the Darkness, but she toyed with it in the hope and delusion that she could use it against those who were even darker than she without being sucked in. "I was a terror and I loved it." Her voice was distant while violent and destructive images danced before her mind. Her physical eyes were shut to the world even as her inner soul opened to the horrors of her past. As the images grew more and more vivid, attaching scents and sounds to the sights, her voice grew more powerful and full of venom, more heated and wrapped up in the events themselves. "I crushed evil the same way they crushed the innocent. I turned their tactics of terror and aggression against them. I used their weapons, their ships, and their money to root them out and slaughter all who didn't immediately surrender themselves. We were even better than them because I could use the Force and they couldn't stop me. Sometimes, we didn't even give them a chance to surrender, but simply went in with weapons hot destroying everything that stood in our way. I knew that my Jedi teachers would be appalled at what I had become, but I was doing it for a good cause and didn't care. It was madness and I loved every moment, I became the very nightmare to those slavers that they had been to me as a child. I existed to bring justice and that justice knew no mercy or compassion, only vengeance. When it was done and I could find no more slavers to kill, I left and went to the rest of the Galaxy where I found a new foe, one even more worthy of being destroyed." As everything within her soul screamed for her to continue down this path, to accept that violent and death filled path of vengeance in the name of justice, she opened her blue eyes and the bloody scenes fizzled away into nothingness. She had faced those times and cast them aside before, deep within the caves of Ilum when she had recognized the Darkness within her and abandoned it along with the taint from Jidai Geki. "I was on the way to becoming something worse than even the Sith: a woman driven by a self deluded sense of righteousness to do extremely terrible things. At least the Sith are honest with themselves in that they embrace the Darkness, I wouldn't even have been able to be that honest. Instead, I realized what I had become and choose a different way to bring justice to the Galaxy." Scars of those times would never fully disappear and Adenna accepted that. She knew that she would never be fully able to set aside the lightsaber, that her purpose in this Galaxy was to be the sword against evil. Any who took on that mantle would forever be touched by that role, never to go back or rest idle while injustice existed and harmed others. There was no lessening of the steel clad will that drove her, but it was honed and directed to a different path. Her voice was steady at this point, unwavering and full of deliberate intent. "Righteousness is a virtue, but it can also be blinding, a tool of the Dark to fool those who would not otherwise trod its path. I recognize the need for passion in all people because it is what drives them to improve and simply live life. Without passion of some sort, life has no meaning or purpose and people give up. As users of the Force, we must constantly recognize those passions exist, but keep them guided and under control." She was definitely far from perfect, but she had cast off her own delusions and viewed both her self and actions in the brightness and honesty of the Light. She would fight the Darkness, but she would refuse to become the Darkness. War was a necessity, but the sacrifice of herself and her own peace for the sake of the innocents in the Galaxy was something she accepted. The Force, once pounding within her head, had become a single solid tone by which she could once again anchor and center herself. She returned to the room and reigned in her openness to the Force. When she spoke once more, her voice was cool: dispassionate to any who heard only with ears and weren't able to sense the vibrantly intense purpose within her soul. "I will lead the Jedi Order and all who wish to follow me in the fight against the evil of the Darkness. Some of those who follow me might fall to the deceptions that I myself was nearly lost to. When they do, I will give them the opportunity to return to the Light and re-purpose themselves, or I will do what must be done and prevent them from becoming what they set out to oppose by any means necessary. I will never know external peace myself because I am a warrior destined to constantly oppose evil. When the war is finished and some semblance of peace and justice is returned to the Galaxy, I will hand over the reigns of power to a new leader, one who can function in peace. I will then lead all of those Jedi who fought but were scarred by the struggle to a place where we can attempt to find our own serenity and there we shall stay until the Force calls us back to fight the Darkness once more." Having said her part, she bowed her head and remained there waiting to see if her Inquisitor had further questions for her. Send PM's to Travis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adenna Alluyen Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 Adenna accepted the offered hand and rose to her feet. The Force levels in the room began to dispel and return to normal. Despite the relative shortness of the experience, she was drained. Even so, she was inwardly pleased at the results. Though she had been confident that she would pass the trials, there was a very small amount of her that was concerned that there was a lingering taint from Jidai Geki that might still need purging. She was relieved that it seemed her inner demons had been removed and all that she faced were the normal temptations experienced by everyone. She was also pleased at the openness of at least these men to working with the Jedi Order once more. Their cynicism was quite evident in her recent interactions with various members of the Imperial Knights in how they viewed the Jedi Order with disdain and skepticism. When they first left the Order, she had thought that it was only a bad thing as it divided able warriors who could oppose the Sith, but she understood it when faced with Jedi leadership that refused to fight against evil. That was not the case now and it would never be for as long as she was the Grandmaster. It was time to heal that rift and bring back all those who served the Light under one unified banner to oppose the Dark that the Sith championed. She nodded in acceptance of the Inquisitor's words. "It is my desire to bring the Imperial Knights back within the Jedi Order so that we may fight our common enemy as one unified force. Divided, we are both weaker and the Darkness is made stronger. This is something that I wish to remedy so that we, like the Galactic Alliance and Imperial Remnant, might become one once more. I understand and respect the unique nature of the oaths you take, so I would happily make accommodations to preserve the Knight's teachings and traditions. Speak to your leaders and relay what you have learned here, then tell them that I wish to meet with them to see if we can come to an agreement that would add the strength and discipline of the Imperial Knights to the history and resources of the Jedi Order." The Grandmaster bowed briefly to the Imperial Knights, collected her lightsaber, and exited the room with purpose in her steps. She couldn't control how the Imperial Knights took her message, but she had made the first move to bridge the gap and end the schism that exists between them. It had cost her dearly in the form of Tobias, but her personal sacrifices were necessary for the betterment of the Jedi Order and, on a wider scope, the Galaxy in general. She had lost her right hand, but her hopes were that it would gain her an army of battle hardened warriors ready to stand against the Darkness and do what was necessary. Perhaps, in time, even Tobias could be redeemed and rehabilitated to return to the fight once more, though she suspected he had his own plans to wage the war against the Sith. Send PM's to Travis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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