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Yavin IV


Tarrian Skywalker

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"Sure" Darla said smiling at her friend warmly.

 

She thought about meditating herself. Darla had never been much of one to ponder the forces mysterious and spend time on reflection. Perhaps, she wondered, that had been her downfall. If she had a better understanding of the Force would she be in her current predicament?

 

There was still time for Darla to rediscover the Force. Perhaps with some guided meditation she could get to the root of her block.

 

Her mind drifted to Armiena. Darla wondered if the woman had given birth yet? The group was supposed to have met with her at Bilbringi, but Faust had arrived and their plan had been delayed.

 

She sent a comm to Skye.

 

"Skye... How much longer will our guest be with us? I was just wondering if we'd be leaving to see our... Other friend soon?"

 

Darla didn't want to give Faust any idea of what she was talking about. Although he probably wouldn't follow them she didn't want to risk giving away any information that may put her friends in jeopardy.

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"Yes, Master," Aerec muttered, head down and shoulders slouched. He walked away without making eye contact with either Darex or Darla. His fists and jaw were no longer clenched. They were lax, but not relaxed, drooping from his bones and his spirit.

 

Aerec sauntered sadly away, every step his disappointment growing. He had hoped Darex would help, but instead he'd scolded him and sent him away. Though Darex had shown no sign of it, the Jedi Master was surely as disappointed in Aerec as Aerec was himself. That shone through in the fact that he'd had to speak to him in words rather than through the Force. Perhaps Aerec wasn't cut out for this after all.

 

By the time he found an empty room his muscles were tightened again with anger, his steps hard and swift. Unconsciously he'd reached into his robes and brought out his three juggling sacks, his only remaining possessions from before finding the Jedi. He squeezed them, then hurled them, one after another, into a nearby wall.

 

And then he crumpled to the ground, the tears that had crept up through his frustration breaking through the emotional dam.

 

He remained in the fetal position for a while until he had nothing to show from his tears but a headache. At some point, he had started tossing one of the juggling sacks to himself.

 

You're supposed to be meditating, Aerec. He sighed, no more energy left for tears or anger.

 

All right. Heaving his body up, he sat against the wall where the oddly patched, brightly colored juggling sacks had fallen. He picked them up and began tossing them in the old ways. He'd used them to beg on the streets of Coronet, telling jokes along with his flashy juggling skills to help feed him and his brother.

 

Another well of emotion sprung up at the thought of Dante. Where was he now? Was he even alive?

 

What am I doing here with the Jedi when Dante is probably still out on the streets?

 

Why do I have the Force and not Dante?

 

Maybe that's why I'm an obstruction. I'm not supposed to have it anyway, just like my brother.z

 

But he did have the Force and he knew it. Without even trying, he'd fallen into a meditation trance, his arms still juggling but his mind uninvolved. The simple rhythm of his catching hands and tossing wrists was hypnotic enough to help him drift into the Force.

 

There he was, deep in the ocean, standing in the way of the powerful current, yet using it nonetheless. Why can't I just flow with the Force? Just be part of the current, part of the ocean?

 

It was Dante.

 

No, it wasn't Dante, it was the lack of Dante. If Dante didn't belong, how was it that Aerec did?

 

Believe. Trust in the Force.

 

It didn't make sense. He fought. I have no reason to trust.

 

Yet still it urged him. You must believe in yourself as yourself. Not as Dante's brother, not as Darex's apprentice. As Aerec Blackwood, an individual in the galaxy, a being in the Force.

 

That was part of it, a major part. But Aerec couldn't make himself believe right away. At least he knew the problem. Darex could help from there.

 

There was more, though. To believe in something, he needed a purpose. His purpose pre-Jedi had been survival, food, shelter and warmth. Now he had all those things. But what was the purpose of a Jedi?

 

He'd read about the Jedi and was now living with them, but he didn't know what it meant to be a Jedi yet. Guardians of Peace and Justice in the galaxy. Antithesis of the Sith. But what did that mean?

 

He'd known what survival meant. It meant a piece of bread and a piece of duraplast to sleep under. It meant begging. It meant stealing. It meant running from the Coronet Police and occasionally CorSec. It meant always sticking close to Dante.

 

It was tangible. But Peace and Justice? What did that mean? He wasn't sure he'd been on the right side of Justice most of his life. In fact, he was pretty sure he wasn't. And now he was supposed to be a guardian of it? By cleaning up the streets from bums like Dante and himself? I don't know if I can do that.

 

But Darex hadn't shunned him, even when he'd caught him stealing. So being a Jedi couldn't be about throwing people in jail. It had to be about more. But what more?

 

He knew of only one way to find out.

 

Master, I think I've found a couple things.

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Darex shot a smile back at Darla. "Thanks, Dar."

 

He easily found a small cargo hold with a door. It would just fit him if he sat Indian-style. He didn't even have to worry about bumping his head on the ceiling. A gesture with the Force slid the door shut behind him. He immediately let loose the dam that was his consciousness of himself as a seperate entity and let the Force rush into him with all the impact of a geyser.

 

It never ceased to amaze him. He had been feeling the Force for close to thirty years now, but there was still so much he had to learn about it. He emptied his mind of concerns, questions, and self and simply listened.

 

The Force spoke to him then. It had different voices, and curiously, this time it spoke to him in the voice of his old friend Induran. Your doubts are natural, but unfounded. You fear what others may say.

 

He paused. The statement rang too true for Darex to feel comfortable. I do care about being a good Master. I still feel like my elevation to this rank was premature. I don't think I'm the youngest Master in the Order, but there are so few of us...it almost doesn't matter if I feel like I should be a Master. I am, and therefore I am an example. If I am not out on the front lines, obeying the orders of the Grandmaster, then what kind of example am I?

 

There was encouragement in Indy's voice. Trust in the Force, Darex! It is not people's opinions you should be worried about. It is the will of the Force that should be the only thing that occupies you mind. Each Jedi serves the Force in his own capacity.

 

Darex thought about it some more. He was following his instincts, trusting that it was his place to be training new Jedi. If the war continued, there would be few Jedi left in the Order. His role, as he felt the Force prompting and encouraging, was to be a teacher to those who needed one. While his reluctance to fight on the front lines of this war might seem like cowardice to some, he had complete confidence that he was where the Force wanted him to be.

 

A smile came unbidden to his lips. That was a refreshing thought. This was his path, and it was one that suited him. If, in the future, a time came where he was to do something else besides train padawans, the Force would make that clear.

 

He slowly pulled himself back from the flood until only a small rivulet ran through his mind. As he did so, he felt Aerec reach out to him, and responded with a sense that he was coming.

 

He slid open the door and crawled out of the cargo compartment. Striding through the corridors, he came to the room that Aerec was in and knocked gently on the door.

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"Come on in," Aerec said from his sitting position against the wall. He thought about pushing the door open with the Force, but was too tired from his meditations and emotions.

 

With Darex in the room, Aerec began to verbally bubble. "So, I think I figured out sort of what some of the problem is. Well, problems are. There's two. For now. First, I guess I still feel like I don't belong. I mean, why me? Why do I have the Force? My brother apparently didn't, but I did and it just doesn't make sense to me. So, I guess I'm just having a hard time believing that this is really my path, just because it's weird for me to be in such a...well, good position. I'm used to being a street rat, ya know?

 

"Oh, which brings me to my second problem. I don't know what it means to be a Jedi. I don't get the purpose of it. Like, I knew what it meant to be a street rat, I knew my purpose. To survive. I knew how to do it, I could see it, ya know? But I guess all this invisible Force and high-up code stuff is kinda beyond me. I get it with my brain, but I can't see it, ya know? Like, what does a Jedi do? I don't know if I should be a Jedi if I don't know what a Jedi does. I don't know what Guardians of Peace and Justice really means...."

 

Finally Aerec trailed off. His brain was still spinning like he had more to say, but he didn't have any words to put out there. So, he ended with a simple: "Ya know?"

 

Then he took a deep breath in through his nose and tried to not need to pant.

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Darex lowered himself into a seating position as Aerec began to blurt out what he'd discovered. When he was finished, Darex sent a calming wave over to him.

 

He leaned back a bit and stroked his goatee. "Well, Aerec, as far as problem one goes...I think it's something that can only be cured by time. You've only been a Jedi for a tiny fraction of your life so far. It's normal that you need some time to adjust. The people, or in this case, person, that you have been around your entire life is gone. You have to get used to an entirely new life. Though I was young when I joined the Order, I remember what it feels like when your life changes the cast of characters on you."

 

He hesitated. "I hate to sound callous, but it'll get better. You'll move on." He raised a hand to forestall a comment. "I'm not saying you'll forget Dante. By no means. He will always be a part of you. But you will make new friends, and the Order will become new family members."

 

Darex was wise enough to know that this wasn't the best time to point out that this was the exact reason the old Jedi Order had forbidden attachements. They were a barrier to the Force. I felt the same barrier he is feeling now. In the end, I let it go. Sure, it was painful, but I have no regrets. It was possible that Aerec could catch those thoughts through their bond, but it didn't bother Darex if he did. He wanted to be completely open with his padawan. He hoped Aerec knew that if he was curious to learn more details about Darex's life, he could simply ask.

 

The Jedi moved on. "As far as what it means to be a Jedi...I can only offer you my personal definition. The interpretation varies a bit from Jedi to Jedi. But for me...being a Jedi means that I have a responsibility to the galaxy. I have been given great power. Few beings in this galaxy have the ability to use the Force. I had to decide what to do with that power, and therein lies the difference between the Jedi and the Sith."

 

He felt that he was getting off track already. It wasn't a question with an easy answer, but it was a crucial question to ask. "Being a Jedi means that I help those who are in need, at whatever the cost to me. Take Vladimir Faust for example. He is a ruthless killer who has slaughtered thousands of beings. He has destroyed cities and worlds and individual lives. If he had been found by almost anyone else in the galaxy, they would have let him die and say that it served him right. But we healed him because we are Jedi. If someone is wounded, or unable to defend themselves, it is our duty to help them. Because we have a power that they don't have."

 

He paused again, trying to see if any of this was making sense to Aerec. "That is really what it means when we are called 'guardians'. We are the answer to anyone who cries out in a desperate plea for help. No matter what the cost to ourselves. I've been in situations where I had to choose between the possibility of my own death or the death of others. And being a Jedi means that I will sacrifice myself, or those close to me, to save someone else. Self-sacrifice, as much as we don't like to think about it, is core to what being a Jedi means.

 

"As for justice, because we have this higher power, Jedi are often looked to in settling disputes. The Force abounds with wisdom if we only choose to listen, and many that do become great diplomats and negotiators. Still other Jedi focus more on day-to-day justice, working more as police, and using their Force-senses to discover the true villains behind crimes.

 

"Peace is the ultimate goal for Jedi. Whatever we do, it is to bring peace to whatever situation we find ourselves in. That is why the Order is involved in the war against the Arach'tar. The Grandmaster sees that while these beings are invading the galaxy, burning and incinerating planets, there can be no peace for the average being."

 

He stopped almost abruptly and looked keenly and earnestly at Aerec. "Does any of that make sense?"

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Ara's stomach twisted, her face paled. "I hadn't heard what had happened to Corellia, or that anything had happened at all. I've been away for a while, myself, so I hadn't..." She swallowed heavily. "That's horrible. And you've heard nothing..."

 

She shook her head. "And you recover from being broken in the mind and spirit, just as much as one would from a broken body. It just depends upon how willing the mind is to recover, just as much as the body." Ara pushed Faust gingerly back down to the table. "Speaking of which, sit still, Vladimir. More aptly, lie still. All we did to help will be for nothing if you insist upon trying to get up sooner than you should."

 

"...though I suppose that means someone's going to have to spoon-feed you, or something similar." Ara couldn't help a small smirk; it was a good-natured riff, at worst. She meant no harm by it, and clearly by his own taunting, Faust's own wit hadn't suffered from the bodily injuries he had recieved.

"I reject your reality and substitute my own."

--Mythbusters

 

Proud member of the vast Right-Wing conspiracy

 

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"Well, yeah, sort of it does." Aerec had understood what his Master was saying, but it didn't necessarily resonate. "I guess there's really nothing I can do about moving on besides...well, ya know, moving on. And like you said, that takes time. But I can do that if I have to."

 

He stood up and took a few pacing steps, idly tossing one of his juggling sacks up and down. "But for being a Jedi, it's all still words for me. You said that you could only offer your own definition, and I'll probably find my own definition, but I want to go out and be a Jedi. I want to see why the Jedi fight these Arach'tar people you're talking about. If I'm gonna be a Jedi, I have to be doing Jedi things. Right?"

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Darex smiled. "Unfortunately, Jedi also care about their padawans. This is actually a very dangerous time for you. You are beginning to understand the Force and be able to channel it. But this makes you very vulnerable to the dark side. It will tempt you, and the pull will be strong, if only because of curiosity. You're still exploring the Force, and it will be easy to step over the line."

 

He shook his head. "However, I think we can arrange some things for you to practice 'doing Jedi things'. That is one reason I brought you here. Being around these other Masters gives you a chance to question them and see what they do as Jedi on a daily basis."

 

He rose. "The more of a Jedi you become, the more 'Jedi things' you can do. That's what your training is all about. Come with me, Aerec."

 

He opened the door to the hold they had been in and strode the the main room. Darla was still there. "We're going to see the patient," he told her. "Let me know if you need me? Or would you like to come along? Aerec here wants to see some Jedi doing what they do regularly, so I'm going to show him what healers like Skye and Ara do."

 

As he waited for her response, he nudged his apprentice. There is danger, despite the severity of Faust's wounds. Be on your guard. He is a powerful Sith Lord. But danger is something Jedi face almost every day.

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When Darex first began speaking, Aerec felt disappointment seeping into his heart. But as the Jedi Master continued, it became apparent that the padawan would at least get some of his wish.

 

When Darex mentioned that they would be going to see Faust, Aerec's eyes popped open in excitement and fear. His ribcage felt the force of his beating heart. First he stared at his Master, then decided that staring at Darla might be a better move, then decided that staring probably wasn't the best thing at all and cleared his throat and try to look tough.

 

But he knew that Darex could see through all that with the Force. Darla probably could see through it without the Force.

 

Yes, Master, Aerec said, reaching out to the Force to calm himself and get in touch with his Master. I'm ready.

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Straining, Faust tries to sit up, only to crash back down again. "Bloody hell..."

 

Faust's eyes close, an angry scowl slowly drawing over his face. "It's truly wretched when one's body refuses to obey its master." Faust shakes his head, almost murmuring to himself. "Destroying the body only does so much.... Frustrating but endurable.... Far worse to be broken in mind and spirit, would you not agree?"

 

"That's right. Sit up and undo all the work we've just done." Skye rolled her eyes, not wanting to have to redo any of the healing if he was so foolish as to misalign his newly knitted bones or to rip open the rejoined nerve endings.

 

"Speaking of which, sit still, Vladimir. More aptly, lie still. All we did to help will be for nothing if you insist upon trying to get up sooner than you should."

 

"...though I suppose that means someone's going to have to spoon-feed you, or something similar." Ara couldn't help a small smirk; it was a good-natured riff, at worst. She meant no harm by it, and clearly by his own taunting, Faust's own wit hadn't suffered from the bodily injuries he had recieved.

 

Skye shared a look with Ara, mischief beginning to shine through her unnatural bright blue eyes. "Yes... we could... or we could just put a tube in and feed him intravenously." She checked his arm, making sure he hadn't pulled out the line she had going for the blood transfusion. There wasn't too much more to go in the last bag she'd placed up.

 

Receiving the comm from Darla, Skye took it silently through her comm chip implant. She tilted her head to the side evaluating Faust's condition.

 

"Well. Once the last lot of this transfusion goes through, I don't think there's anything requiring the presence of two Healers of our caliber. If you don't need me for anything Ara, I'll leave you to handle him."

 

She glanced up at the statistics that Flitter displayed for them, taking note that Faust's vitals were returning to what they should be. He'd still need bedrest so that he wouldn't undo what they had just done though. Watching the last of the transfusion drip through the line, Skye reached over to unhook it from the line. She closed off the canula, letting the Force aide her in removing the protective covering from his skin before placing a bandade over the point where she'd had the needle in his hand.

 

Glancing back over to Ara, Skye inclined her head, "I'll be only a comm away if you need me for anything further. I best go speak to the others." She beckoned Sanare to follow her out, along with Flitter. Once out of the surgery though not quite out of Ara's ship, Skye whispered the news to Sanare regarding Armiena. She was to let Ara know only when alone. Instructions given, she thanked Ara's 'assistant' and left the ship for her own, Flitter hovering behind her.

 

She entered Serenity, feeling the security and decontamination beams flow over her, letting Flitter go find I-Nine while she approached Darla to answer her in person rather than via a comm.

 

"Faust's body is healed, as long as he doesn't do anything stupid to undo the work Ara and I have done to repair it. He'll be bed bound for a while before he can attempt to move. I'm not sure what Ara's plans are for his 'care'. I received a comm from Armiena earlier. She's had Aidan and all is well. How have things been here?"

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Darla had sat alone and tense while Aerec and Darex had gone to meditate. Even without her Force senses Darla knew that there was more going on. There was a doubt in Aerec. Having Faust turn up and watch everybody suddenly become tense and rush away probably hadn't helped him any. Darla's outburst of emotion must have seemed strange considering how calm she had been since she had met Aerec.

 

All of this and Aerec was still struggling to learn and discover who he was. Darla hoped that the meditation helped him to clear his mind.

 

After a short while the two returned. Aerec seemed to stare at Darla yet not at her at all. There was obviously a lot on the young man's mind. Darla wished that she could reach out to him through the Force, try to find out what was troubling him. But that ability was still out of her grasp.

 

Seeing Faust did have a cathartic appeal to Darla. Perhaps if she saw the injured man in the flesh she could reconcile him wit the insatiable monster in her head. Just like she had done with...

 

No. Don't think about him... not yet...

 

Before Darla agreed to go with Darex and Aerec, Skye returned.

 

Rushing over to her friend Darla embraced her.

 

"You're a sight for saw eyes."

 

Smiling Darla listened to her friends good news. Armiena had given birth to her son and was well. It was a shame that they couldn't have been there. Darla was sure that they would go to visit her soon though. As Skye spoke, Darla's was drawn to her eyes. They were no longer the emerald that Darla was used to, but a deep unnatural blue.

 

Closing her own eyes, Darla saw Skye as she had once been. Beautiful wings had grown from her back and she had been able to fly, amongst other things...

 

"Skye... Your eyes..."

 

Darla was a little shocked. Her friends eyes had become that color when she had been blessed by the Chaos god Tzeentch, the father of her children. Her memories were still a little hazy and she didn't remember all that much about that period. As far as she knew Tzeentch had vanished and when he did so had the gifts that he'd given Skye.

 

"Tzeentch... Has he returned?"

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Skye smiled wistfully at Darla, though shook her head, "No, he hasn't returned." She returned her friend's embrace warmly. "I have a way of purifying the crystal from your saber. I'll place it into a pendant for you if you like. It won't change what Faust did with your saber, but the crystal does resonate to you, for all he did with it."

 

She stepped back from Darla to face Darex and Aerec. "If you do go to see Faust, make sure he doesn't decide to get up and ruin all the work that Ara and I have done. To heal, he has to remain still and prone."

 

Skye gave both a smile, her gaze meeting Darex's padawan, "How is your training coming along? Darex is a good teacher." Her gaze shifted to her former padawan's, winking at him.

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Faust merely glowered, lying back down, his eyes searching the Jedi as if to detect the mental scars he was sure to have left after their last encounter.

 

"So tell me this Jedi," he begins slowly, "how do you heal the wounds for a galaxy consumed by war? You can rebuild the galactic infastructure, have your governments run on trade, art, and your hokey religion. Yet people will remain constant. They will always strive for more. Power, pride, greed. All those lie deep in men's hearts. How can a galaxy survive without embracing that? How can you sheep survive the terrible, awful truth than our precious humanity, regardless of our species or what not, is merely a faccide for the animal-beast we all evolved from?" Faust's tone of voice is casual, calm, but his eyes glitter, his speech carrying louder as if to assail other ears. "Of course, I am not out of touch with my humanity. Far from it. I am more human than you Jedi will ever be. Passion, hatred, anger, the instinct to survive drive us all. It has been a blast awakening this galaxy of sheep to the fact that wolves will always, always walk in their midst, and there will always be a hunter."

 

"Think of it. You either scar or are scarred by others- hunter or prey. You either accept that, die, or go mad. Someone mentioned dear old Darla? How many institutions has she been in and out of before now? What of you? Your mind broke so you wouldn't have to confront that inner beast. Your spirit was strong, and that eventually healed, yes it must have, but my dear wolf, how many others lack that fortitude? How many trillions? If they could, would our endless wars of Jedi and Sith endure? How do we know that our precious Force is not schitzophrenic itself in its divisions between Light and Dark, and unable to heal?" Faust laughs. "Wouldn't that be the greatest joke, if the all powerful, omnipotent Force was mentally disturbed? How else can you explain the resilliance of the Sith and how easily Jedi tend to fall into Darkness with the Force answering their call? Can you even trust its humble, passive guidance, Jedi?"

In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed - but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.

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"The galaxy has it's own methods, it's own ways of healing. Quite frankly, it seems as though everything goes in cycles, like nature itself." Ara pulled up a chair and sat herself next to Faust's makeshift bed, keeping eye contact with the Hunter. "The passage of seasons, the day and night, birth, life and death, they are all cycles. All lives reflect this, as does the life of the galaxy at large. My goal is to keep the good of that cycle longer than the bad, the prosperous longer than the chaotic. That is not an impossible goal, Vladimir, and even though we are all people with imperfect souls, no matter how hard we try, we can still strive to be as good as we can, and to make sure that those who do wrongs are served justice, since they are of course going to exist. Surely that is not a horrible goal, even by your own standards?"

 

She leaned forward on her hands, elbows resting on her knees. "We all have those strong feelings, some just control those urges, those feelings better than others. I am of the thought that you cannot deny having those feelings, to never feel is to be less than human, but you can control your reaction to those feelings." Ara shrugged a shoulder. "The response and control will never be perfect, but that doesn't mean one shouldn't try, no matter the wolves out there who would wish harm and use that to their advantage."

 

"Unlike you and I, the Force has no mind, only those who tap into it have a mind to mold it as we would see fit. Some use it for the betterment of others, some use it to their own devices. The Force's 'flaws' come not from it, but from those who employ it. It is, for better or worse, only as perfect as those who would use it, and humans are not perfect. However, the Sith are no more or less resilient than the Jedi. We merely exist, and we continue to exist, and it is unfortunately easier to take the quick way and utilize those strong emotions that can overpower a mind than it is to concentrate, keep one's self calm, and to overcome those emotions to come to a better solution for everyone involved."

 

Ara waved a hand. "Listen to me ramble on. Is there anything you'd like to drink? IV fluids can only be so nourishing and, well, they don't exactly taste well."

"I reject your reality and substitute my own."

--Mythbusters

 

Proud member of the vast Right-Wing conspiracy

 

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Faust laughs. "A pint of blood, drawn from a new born babe would be refreshing. Alas, I don't think you'd willingly give that now, would you?" Over the top, Faust inwardly admitted, but he did hunger for bloood. "And if you as a Jedi believe the Force has no mind, no guiding will, then you would be a heretic to your order, would you not? Jedi are supposed to be meek servants, following the Force's will, letting it guide their actions. We can guide how it's manipulated, but in the grand scheme, it does have a will, and one that I am very... skeptical on... even as one who reluctantly forced himself to master the Sith's arts..."

 

Faust's eyes keep contact with Ara's, grinning. "Of course, Sith are supposed to use their passions, anger, hatred as a strong force, to inflict their will on the Force, to seize it, shape it... while Jedi merely guide it... All those orders, muddling about, our midi-chloriens acting as a conduit to the great unifying, living overmind of the universe, which is in turn made of all living things... Makes one wonder, really..."

 

Faust, struggling sits up in a sudden burst, his muscles rippling from the effort, forcing clarity into his voice.

 

"The Jedi had a prophecy about a chosen one set to bring the Sith to extinction, one of "balance" in the Force, slaughtering the Sith, yet the Sith were able to reach into the Force with the Dark and make their own prophecy. How can it see so far and grant such pure visions if it were not so fractured, all knowing, all seeing? Hmm? Your theory is right, I believe, the Force, your god, is no more than a reflection of us, and it's health, it's spirit is... questionable..."

 

Faust takes a deep breath. "I do admire your work Jedi... chaos, death, loss, mean nothing without that hope of betterment. What power would Hell have without the ability to dream of heaven? Yet it is a struggle, your utopian visions are doomed to failure in the long run. In the end, this galaxy will sooner succumb to my reality than it will ever, ever embrace yours. Peace, love, selflessness, restraint? Ha! The cycles continue and we may advance in knowledge, power, and mastery of the Force, but that merely escalates the pace at which we'll destroy ourselves. Consider it," he adds, his eyes narrowing, "an ever growing circle, a spiral of death, yes, I think you'd appreciate that analogy, that will consume all in fire. Then, only then, will the Hunt truly begin!"

 

Faust laughs hard, one of the wounds on his chest slowly ripping open. Unconsciously, his hands graze down to his wound, catching some of the blood, which he in turn presses to his lips. "I will fight on the winning side, and for my own pleasure. The two are not unlike. Your dreams, your ideals do work, for they work wonderfully in contrast to how this galaxy really is. My acts would mean nothing without your coddling efforts. Your viciousness in deluding people, fighting down opposing voices... merely make you fun sport."

 

Faust's arms lean back, and his artificial left arm fires to life, just as a burst of force lightning errupts from his right- not to hurt or damage anything, but in a dramatic, powerful effect aimed at propelling his otherwise inert body to his feet.

 

"You've earned a reprieve, Jedi, you and all here," he grates, his knees shaking steadily, his entire body swaying heavily as he takes one step, using every once of will and effort in his body to master both his muscles and the Force itself. "I'll live, and I'll continue my hunt, but what I am, what I represent, I cannot be stopped, killed, or defeated. And in the end, your kind will never be able to do anything about it!"

In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed - but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.

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Darex, too, noticed Skye's eyes. He also noticed how she avoided responding to Darla's implied question about why they had changed back. He thought it was curious, but knew that if anything serious had changed, Skye would not hesitate to mention it. So he dismissed the thought.

 

He caught Skye's wink as she turned to question Aerec. He missed her when she wasn't around. They retained a strong connection. It had formed almost instantly the moment he met her, and it had only grown stronger during his time as her apprentice. It was good to talk to her again.

 

Since Skye had returned, he felt that Faust would not stay long, and shared that thought with his apprentice. If you want to see him, then we can leave. Otherwise, I recommend asking Skye about what she does as a Jedi. Her role is very different from mine, and might shed some light on your...frustrations.

 

It was a simple suggestion, one that Aerec could choose to act on or not.

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"My training's going pretty well, I think," Aerec responded, choosing not to focus on the negative things he'd discovered during his recent meditations. "It's not like I have anything to compare it to. I'm pretty much a street urchin wrapped up in these robes." Aerec smiled and barely noticed that he'd been able to hear and comprehend Darex's message while he'd been speaking.

 

Ha! You can multi-task! Aerec thought, congratulating himself.

 

"So, Master Skye...uh...should I call you Master...I'm still not sure even what to call Darex...err...Master Darex. Anyway, you're the one that healed this Faust guy? How do you heal someone with the Force? And why would you want to help someone who has hurt you and your friends so much?"

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Ara jumped from her own chair, stopping the once-again injured Hunter with her hands, throwing him back down to the cot with some force. It wasn't enough to injure, but it was enough to get her own point across.

 

"The 'winning side' is not important, nor do I care about your own pleasure. Others matter just as much as yourself, even those you know nothing about, not just those close to you." She began whirling around Faust's prone body, patching together what he had torn apart with such ease. "I do not coddle, I do not silence those who oppose me, but I will protect those who cannot do it for themselves from people like you who would seek only to make a ridiculous point by harming them." Ara wiped the blood from his lips with a cloth in a sweeping motion as she healed him once more.

 

"Just because you are not happy with how your life turned out does not give you any right to make everyone else's life miserable, Vladimir. It also doesn't mean that you can never return to your own happiness, the kind that didn't involve sadistic tendencies." Ara leaned over the Hunter, her hands placed on his shoulders, her hair dangling by his face.

 

"You chose your path, just as I did mine. Everyone does it. I know your past, and your story doesn't mean that you inevitably had to end up like this. Nor does it mean that everyone should and will end up like you. This cycle will not end, I agree, but it still does not mean that happiness, virtue, and 'Heaven' are nothing but false hopes in lieu of an empty, torturous Hell." Gray eyes flitted over his face. "We Jedi, and others, can do something about your kind, Vladimir, and I told you that before. We can find justice for those you and others have wronged, and we can deliver on the feelings of hope and elation, of betterment and just living." Finally, her eyes settled on his own. "I have even tried to give you, and your family, that life, if you would allow it, but you continue to reject that gift, even with your actions here."

 

Ara quirked an eyebrow up, giving him an oddly motherly look. "I would appreciate it if you would leave the theatrics to your words, at the least. If you keep opening those wounds, even the greatest Healer in the galaxy could not help you from your own self-destruction."

"I reject your reality and substitute my own."

--Mythbusters

 

Proud member of the vast Right-Wing conspiracy

 

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Faust struggles, forcing himself back up into sitting again, firmly planting his mechanical left arm behind him to avoid being pushed back down.

 

"Fool," he grates, his tone dropping to a low, menacing whisper. "You think I loathe this life? I'm unhappy with how things turned out? No matter what happens, I will regret, have regretted nothing in my life. I have made this galaxy mine once, and can do it again with ease... It's just the matter of if I wish to." A slow, slow smile draws across his face, a look that is almost beatific in its rapture. "I'm suddenly reminded that this particular star cluster is far from boring, even if the exploits of my new friends in their own distant galaxy is more... entertaining... The innocence, the hope, all missing from my latest conquest. Really, destroying those is one of life's greatest pleasures, that look of pure terror, fear, awakening when people realize the fragility of what they hold dear."

 

Faust continues on, calmly raising up his right hand. "Justice, you speak of. Justice is an illusion, given by those with power. You call my actions sadism, but really, it's a mercy, a rebirth. This galaxy, as you so self-righteously accuse me of being, is self-destructive. My fires merely illuminate the path to its Hell." Smiling with tight, pale lips, Faust once more summons the lightning to his hand, this time clenching his fist tight. He smiles, his face a study of ecstasy as the lightning runs down his arm, sending off tendrils of smoke from his very flesh.

 

"Survival," he moans softly, "is a beautiful, wonderful thing. It is struggle... it is conflict, it is war, it is pain, and it is life..." The lightning crackles again, running through arm, causing it to shimmer and spark, covering it with second degree burns before fazing out. "The pain lets you know you are alive, that the fires you feel are of this world... that the fight is not yet over... even when surrounded by enemies and with your back to wall..." Faust laughs hard, holding aloft his smoking, charred arm.

 

"In the end, the galaxy will be like this, mark my words. I've decided to make my return."

In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed - but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.

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Darla noticed how her friend had answered her question but without actually explaining why her eyes had changed color. She was worried however, knowing that if it was nything important Skye would explain in her own time. Knowing this, Darla didn't push her friend for any further information.

 

Listening while Aerec questioned Skye, Darla remember her own tuteledge at the hands of the Master healer. Healing had been one of the later skills that Darla had learned. After leaving the Sith and already having great destructive capabilities Darla had decided to explore healing. After quite some time with Skye, Darla had master the lightside art. For a spell she had devoted her life to it, healing even her enemies, just as Skye and Ara had done with Faust.

 

It had offered her a new presective on the Galaxy. She had known intimately how the lightside could repair and renew. She also gained a compassion that went beyond Dark and Light.

 

Did that compassion really help me? Or did it just lead me to infinitely Darker depths?

 

Darla shook away the thought.

 

Whatever had come from all she been through, not being able to heal or help another was what Darla missed the most. At times being Force-blind made her feel powerless.

 

Perhaps it was good to be made to feel small again...

 

For now Darla was an observer. Watching Aerec and how he was learning and growing. Skye would surely be a helpful influence to the young man. Darla watched intently, waiting to hear what wisdom she would offer Aerec.

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Skye inclined her head towards Aerec, "Master is my rank, as it is with Darex. It is also a term for anyone who has taught a padawan. I'm also refered to as Master Healer Organa. Unless we're a more formal setting, you may address me by my name, Skye." She glanced across at Darex, her eyes sparkling before further answering Aerec.

 

"To heal through the Force requires a different kind of focus. You channel the Force on a different level. A lot of healing involves that which isn't physically seen. If you are healing a cut, you begin by concentrating on the edges of the wound first, seeing it through the Force so that you can rejoin nerve endings and capillaries, like you are sewing or knitting the wound back together. With this same focus you can also repair broken bones and dull a patients - or your own - pain. It takes a lot of in depth training in the medical field as well as your Force training to become a skilled Healer."

 

Skye gestured for Aerec to hold his hand with his palm upwards. Summoning the Force she trailed a finger across his palm, imitating the sensations that would be caused if she were healing a wound in that area. Where her finger touched, his skin tingled through her use of the Force.

 

"Every life is precious, not only innocents, friends and family, but your enemy as well. There have been many times that I have healed those that are considered 'the enemy'. A Healer uses their talents on anyone who requires them. Only those that can use the Light side of the Force can Heal."

 

Catching sight of Darla, Skye smiled in her direction. She knew her friends were curious about the colour change of her eyes. She would answer them once she'd had time to think on it more herself.

 

 

(Sorry if some of this post doesn't make sense. Nearly falling asleep here... if it needs fixing I'll do so once I'm more awake tomorrow.))

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Aerec jumped at the tingle that Skye had put onto his hand, then smiled in fascination as the beautiful woman spoke.

 

"What do you do with people like Faust after you've healed them? Do you just let them go and hope they don't go on another killing spree as a sign of gratitude?" Aerec realized after he spoke that his questioning may have come across as antagonistic. It wasn't his intent. He was genuinely fascinated by the concept of healing even an enemy, but had some serious questions about it. If this Faust guy was really as horrible as Darla had made him out to be, Aerec wasn't sure he wanted the villain walking around all healthy.

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Ara's eyes narrowed, and she quickly grabbed Faust's charred arm, preparing for another possible onslaught if it would come. She squeezed his wrist tighly, charred skin flaking off as she spoke.

 

"I do not accuse, I speak the truth. You say you're happy with things, that you're not self-destructive, and yet you bruise and batter your own body to this end, all to try and prove a point?" Ara gave the Hunter's arm another good twist to get him to lower back down to the table. The mark on her forehead, left over from her last run-in with the man below her, began to glow a fiery red in time with the beating of her heart. "You say justice is an illusion, but it isn't. It is only an illusion for those who think justice was not served in their own lives, to ones they loved."

 

She didn't let go of his wrist, keeping her grip, and his skin began to return to its healthy state, a bright pink of new flesh. "Hope isn't an illusion, either, and even if you wish to make it disappear, it will always be there, and it will always prevail over those like you."

 

Sanare finally floated back into the room in the human form-projection of itself. Seeing its mother leaning over the Hunter, it ran over, surging its energy into Ara. This threw her healing into overdrive, leaving Faust with new skin on even more of his body, regardless of whether it needed it.

 

"I'm fine, Sanare." Ara removed her hand from Faust's arm, giving the Hunter a curious look over. "I wonder, what would happen if I used Sanare to purge the darkness from you? Would there be anything left, or would it just be your true self?" She snickered. "Either way. Stay down on the table, Vladimir. You can attempt to resume your fruitless 'hunt' after you've healed."

"I reject your reality and substitute my own."

--Mythbusters

 

Proud member of the vast Right-Wing conspiracy

 

Look! ART!!!

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Faust remains calm, subduing a wolfish, almost overbearing grin. Amazing what a bit of self-mutilation, followed by a moment of pique in his healer/captor would produce. It was far, far better than he planned and went beyond simply proving a point. He felt that healing surge shoot through him and knew that while he would still need a week in a bacta tank, he would be ambulatory when he was ready. His eyes flickered from his held wrist to his arm, feeling much more than his charred flesh mending as the healing flowed past his arm to other parts of his wounded body. It was almost a pity he couldn't heal himself conventionally like these Jedi could. Sure of his quick exit, he sends a simple mental signal to his ship, having its engines on stand-by to leave this sphere behind.

 

Check...

 

His eyes remain locked on his wrist, even after the Jedi releases it, his smile bleeding through. "Fool," he laughs. "I do enjoy life, even when the pain takes every fiber of my being. I hate, I rage, I suffer, and I live. I live even more when I feed on those feelings in others. It, is simply the way of things." Faust gently flexes his wrist. "Would you rather the galaxy became a series of automatons, unable to feel anger, peace, or expression, simply caved into to the Light side of the Force's will?"

 

"Tell me, when you restrained my wrist to stop this 'senseless self-destruction' as you roughly called it, what makes you think this galaxy is any different? What makes you think the Force is any different with its fractured psyche? Force of will, power, and the like alone impose your so called reason, and 'peace' on the sheep of this galaxy. Power is justice, pure and simple, and my power has shaped this galaxy enough to make it mine a thrice over."

 

Faust tests his legs again, and finds himself able to stand. Yes, the Jedi outdid herself. "I will be taking my leave here, and I will be finding this hope, and destroying it. For those who really have it, for those who treasure it, plant it, I will reap, and sow despair, which always, always fills in where hope dies. I will become Darkness, death, and the destroyer of worlds, and despair will multiply. Those fruits will prove beyond sweet, though alas, your kind finds them rather bitter."

 

Faust stretches and moves to the bin where his affects were scattered, mentally sizing up if he could carry them out, especially his heavy body armor. "Darkness cannot be exercised as its in all of us. It is what allows us to hunt, to compete, to survive. Survival is at the basic root of all our petty squables, and exercising it utterly is no different than cutting me down where I stand. Perhaps if you were wiser, you'd have done that while you had me helpless." Faust kneels, testing his limbs. He was sore, aching sore, and weaker than ever, but...

 

"Tell me one last thing," Faust asks mildly, an innocent catch in his voice indictative of serious trouble afoot. "When Skye took the saber I lifted off Darla, did she check it carefully? I do hate other people playing with my toys and just in case, I left a few... surprises... for the unwary. I cannot be responsible for this little trick since I had it in place long before I crashed here. If the wrong someone tries handling it, or worse, taking it apart or probing it with the Light side, the results could treat us to a rather amazing light show as her atomic structure collapses in on itself." Faust's face remains benign, his voice calm. "Though in all fairness, I did warn her that it was my saber, my crystal now. As a hypothetical, if something were to be inhibiting comms as we speak, as well as Force communication, how fast do you think you could hustle it to warn her in time?"

 

Check. Check and mate...

In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed - but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.

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Aerec had a good point. Darla thought that perhaps it was right for someone like Faust to be slain for his crimes. What prison could hold him? What punishment would be penance enough. At least with him dead the Galaxy would be a safer place.

 

She knew that that was not Skye's way. Darla wasn't sure if her friend had ever killed or ever would. There was blood on Darla's hands. In her current state, she wasn't sure how exactly she felt about killing. In the past she would have acted quickly, on impulse. But now without the Force she had time to be mindful of things. Without the Force her emotions didn't get her way.

 

Now her anger was just anger, something that she could think about dissect, understand and let dissipate. Before her anger would have become a storm of energy, something very real. Letting that dissipate had been very difficult and often she had just unleashed it.

 

If she still had the Force would she have tried to kill Faust?

 

Darla had grown calmer. Apart from the momentary flash of danger and fear she had felt upon Faust's arrival, she had been void of the Force for quite some time. Darla was finally thinking clearly.

 

Faust would get what was coming to him. One day. Whatever that may be. Darla understood now that it wasn't her place to decide his fate. It wasn't her job to deal out cosmic justice. She knew from experience that if you put enough badness out into the Galaxy it would finally catch up with you.

 

What Faust sowed would return to him. Darla however didn't even want to see when he fell. She no longer had any desire for revenge or to see pain inflicted upon another.

 

All she wanted was for Faust to be gone. Away from her and her friends...

 

But if he hurt them, your friends, then your tune would change wouldn't it?

 

A questioning voice nagged at the back of Darla's mind.

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A lesser man might have been offended when Aerec asked Skye the same question that Darex had recently answered. But a Jedi prized that type of behavior in a student. It showed a thirst for understanding an issue from all sides, which always showed the makings of a great diplomat. Diplomacy was a role that Jedi for millenia had taken up, though Darex had seen less and less of it as time progressed. The Jedi of this era did little in the way of interplanetary disputes, and it was one area where Darex felt they had lost something important.

 

But, like a true Jedi, while he questioned the change inwardly, he never let the questions prevent him from acting or obeying the Council's orders. And it wasn't as if the role was entirely forgotten; Darex himself had played the part on several occasions, most notably with the queen of Trowa Barton's monster creations on Roon.

 

As he waited for Skye's response to his padawan's question, he began thinking about what he would teach Aerec next. There were still several things he wanted to impart, the most notable being lightsaber combat. As he pondered, he also wondered how to help Aerec get past some of his questions. A text came to mind, one that he had read first on Naboo in his youth, and then again during his solitude on the Eternal Vigilence. It offered a different perspective, one that would perhaps help his padawan learner. He made a mental note to download it to a datapad for Aerec to read when he had some downtime.

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((sorry for the delay... RL has a habit of getting in the way of the RP))

 

 

Skye pondered Aerec's question, her eyes meeting with Darex, then Darla before returning to the padawan. "There are some things that can be done rather than to just 'let an enemy go'. We've already sent word to the Grandmaster that Faust is here. In the past there have also been other ways of dealing with an enemy. A famous Jedi once said 'What greater weapon is there than to turn an enemy to your cause? To use their own knowledge against them?' There is a method that can be used though it would take several powerful Jedi working together to do it..."

 

Skye shifted her gaze back towards Darex to see his reaction. Her own thoughts beginning to formulate another plan of action in the 'treatment' of their patient. Perhaps she should speak with Ara again to hear her thoughts on the matter...

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Darex raised his eyebrows. The case that Skye had been referring to had happened in the distant past, and he knew that the person in question had had their mind essentially destroyed. The Council had decided when rebuilding the person's mind to erase all of the patient's memories, giving them a fresh start on life. He had always been curious as to why the Council had made the decision it did until recently, when he realized that by looking at the story as a whole, one could see the Force prompting them, as the reprogrammed Jedi had then gone on to defeat the most powerful Sith of their time.

 

But it had been a drastic step, and a difficult one at that. Darex knew that he couldn't make a decision like that without much deliberation and the direct agreement of the Council. The potential if it worked was extreme, but he was unsure about the morality of it.

 

Wouldn't treating Faust in that way be doing exactly what he expects us to do? It could protect many lives if we succeeded, but what kind of life would that leave him?

 

He dwelled on his thoughts, but paid attention to Aerec's response.

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Aerec felt something major behind Master Skye's words, as if a string in the Force had been plucked between her and Darex and the sound was resonating throughout the entire rim. For a couple moments he just looked back and forth between the two of them, wondering if he could pick up any more details. But nothing more came.

 

Skye's answer itself had piqued Aerec's interest. The longer he spent here on Yavin, the more he was realizing that this Faust character was a major sticking point for the Jedi, and that something major could really unravel form it.

 

The young man was buzzing with excitement, as if the potential of seeing Faust hadn't been enough. The Force and the Jedi interested him more with every moment.

 

"That sounds fascinating," he said. He couldn't even express in words his massive interest in Faust and all the things they could do with him. If he'd come up against a situation like this when he was still a street urchin, he and Dante probably would've just killed the guy or let him go. Those were all the options he'd known, and he wasn't sure he could bring himself to kill someone laying on a hospital bed.

 

But now the world was much more complicated, with so many more options. Aerec reveled in the chance to be more than just a simple bum.

 

Wishing for something more, his excitement burst through his patience. "So, what's next? Do I get to see this big scary evil guy?"

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Skye looked back at Darex, knowing the other would deliberate every angle before deciding what the right course was. That's what made Darex a great and wise Jedi. In her thoughts she mulled over just how many it would take to do what she was hinting at. The Council of old had all been involved in the decision to do that to Revan. Of course the Grandmaster would be told the suggestion. In turn, Armiena would call in those she needed to discuss this with, along with the three Masters here on Yavin. They would have to leave this planet before anything was performed also. Skye smiled at Darex, returning her gaze back to the enthusiastic padawan.

 

"If you do go to see Faust, make sure you are not alone with him. I would insist that you had Darex and either Ara or myself present. Faust is not to be trusted even when injured. Think of a wounded predator, how dangerous they can be. A Sith like Faust can be like that also. He will play mind games so be prepared." Skye glanced between Darex, Aerec and Darla, "I'd also suggest you and Darex kept the link between you open so that Darex may help protect your mind from Faust should he try to take advantage of you."

 

Her words were spoken with caution. Skye knew first hand just how malicious Faust could be. She couldn't emphasise enough the fact that Darex would have to carefully keep a watchful eye on his padawan so that Faust couldn't influence him. She also knew what Darex went through with Shy. How a Sith had influenced her, causing her to turn to the darkside. She did not want that happening here.

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