Faction An Open Conversation (Silver Jedi Concord)

[Light Rises]

Alton Wick, an olive skinned, dark haired Senator from Ingo was seated in the amphitheater. Once a theater for the world’s elite, now a part of the Senate structure on the world. Ingo is a desert world not far from Saleucami, and the Senator felt it was important to be speaking to the Silver Concord, the worlds that were taking refugees from the Bryn’adul genocide, the worlds that could be next.

An aide had welcomed people, both in person and through holovids and introduced Senator Wick. The man stepped forward. One who supported Senator Coldwell in her run to the Executive, and the approach that the Alliance Chancellor Chandra, he wanted to speak openly to everyone. Taking a sip of water, his tie removed, his jacket on the stool set out for him, he paced the stage.

Holovid of Bryn’adul forces razing worlds, and death counts of nearly a dozen worlds were displayed.

“I want to thank you for coming. I would like to have an open meeting as a member of the Concord’s Senate, so that you know the Concord is hearing you. Regardless of what the mystics in the Jedi state, we have people here to protect, and there are powerful nations out there, willing to assist us.” Turning to look at the gathered.

“I invite you to speak freely, and I will do my best to answer you, or my aids will ensure I find the answer.”

 

[Takui]

Taku sat in the middle of the amphitheater, integrated with the many who gathered to hear what the Concord had to say for itself. The Government threw its lot in with the Sith against the extragalctic threat of the Bryn'adûl, but seemed to have conveniently expunged the threat of the Sith from its thoughts. So for them, the argument of the ends justifying the means.

Convenient.

How easy it was to forget evil when something else distracted attention away from it. It had been only a handful of months since the Concord warred against the Sith. Were the lives of those lost so inconsequential?

Politicians did not regard life the same way that they did. For them, this move swept the ashes under a rug and made the promise that their regime would live on. It went against the grain of everything that they had stood for in more than twenty thousand years. Yet, the Concord only months old thought they had foresight and clarity.

Takui had educated himself. In the weeks past, he spent time holed away in the archives, making himself fully aware of the Force, and of the nuances that moved the Galaxy. The Jedi had always been wrapped in the machinations of Sith, of Politicians. Only a handful of times in history had they denounced it.

The white haired, ruby eyed youth folded his hands in front of his face. His expression was stone as he locked eyes with the Senator. "You speak of the threat of these Bryn'adul," he spoke up when the man finished. Taku was respectful, cordial, but not complacent. "But you are willing to take the hands of those who slaughtered our own not months ago? When we campaigned against the Bryn'adûl to begin with, why did the Sith continue to conflict with us then? We have known about this threat; so why now? Why after so many lives have been lost is it convenient for this accord to form?"

Light Rises

 

[Syd Celsius]

Wearing: Sage Suit

Armed with: Wind and Fire Wheels

"Because..." trailed the voice of a beautiful, red headed Atrisian Force Spawn in a skintight green and gold catsuit as she floated into the senate chamber with the tombstone skinned Laertia Io , wearing an obsidian kimono with the symbol of The Jedi Order repeating in a faint, barely noticeable pattern.

"Everybody had to realize the futility of fighting each other AND the Bryn'adul..." the red head continued, floating forward to face the scrutiny of the Concord Senate. Ever since Laertia and Syd had voiced their support for the desperation move of the Concord, they'd been getting hostile receptions on Kashyyyk. Jedi accusing them of treachery, of being on the path to The Dark Side. But both knew in their hearts this was the right thing, no matter how repulsive it was on the surface.

"No one is dismissing the lives lost at the hands of the Sith. No one is ignoring the fact that they have murdered whole worlds rather than lose them. But those acts, as merciless and sadistic as they are, are often done by the Sith for very specific purposes. Either strategically, as a form of particularly cruel area denial, or as a way to weaken the Morale of the enemy. But even the Sith know that if they went about exterminating 'every' populace they encounter, they would soon find themselves in the same position as the Bryn'adul, with no one wanting to humor them ever again, and everybody taking up arms. Arguably, the Sith have put themselves in the position they are in by practicing what The Bryn'adul practice halfway..." Laertia spoke suddenly, with the same fiery zeal she had spoken with in front of the Jedi Grandmaster Coren Starchaser . "But focusing our resources on the Sith, even though they are weakened, would leave us unable to deal with the crippling blows the Bryn'adul inflicted and continue to inflict. Like it or not, we must fight together, at least for a little while, or we will die seperately." The Black Knight of Nar Shaddaa said with a ringing finality to Takui .

"The Jedi must remain a part of the Concord. By abandoning the people they swore to defend just to desperately thwart the Sith, they show disrespect to the people fighting for their worlds who would not have made this deal unless there truly was no alternative." Syd spoke.

"I suffered at the hands of The Sith, as many of the Silver Jedi have. My family was butchered by The Sith..." Laertia spoke. It was essential that every member of the Senate in favor of The Deadly Alliance (The Narrator's name for it, not the character's.) knew unequivocally that there were powerful Jedi who would refuse to abandon the Concord and would rally others to the cause of such an Alliance.

And defend it from any Jedi that might try to tear the Alliance apart from within...

Light Rises

 

[Okkeus Dainlei]

He couldn’t stand to listen to it anymore. The alliance with the Sith should have never been made in the first place.

“And I know Sith, because I used to be one of them. If we make an alliance with them one day, they will become our enemy the next.”

Turning his head he looked upon Syd Celsius , who was blinded by this alliance with the Sith to see what will actually happen to our people. No more was his focus on Alton Wick (Light Rises), but upon the crowd. These Jedi needed to know what would happen.

“When has an alliance with the Sith ever worked out? Concord made an announcement to aid the Sith in their defense of Dantooine, yet we have had no quarrel with the New Imperial Order, who they want us to attack. First the Sith, now the Bryn’adul...do we want to make enemies with the Imperials as well? Hell, why don’t we attack the whole galaxy!”

The frustration of the situation was getting to him. Sith were nasty people, just like he was. They are unforgiving and will take anything they want. An alliance will only make trouble for the Silver Jedi, and he was having no part of it. And he knew Takui wouldn't either. That was why their training had come up so fast.

When Dantooine came he would be fighting alongside Imperials, because they know who the true enemy is.

The Sith.

 

[Laertia Io]

Laertia Io looked at Okkeus Dainlei . Yeah, she'd believe he was former Sith.

Same look in his eye...she could usually spot the ex-Dark Side addicts...

(Cutaway of J. Jonah Jameson laughing uncontrollably)

"I hear many complaints, but no actual solutions as to how the Silver Concord is expected to fight the Sith, the Bryn'adul, while refusing to ally with any government we don't like. News flash: Its mostly jerks running the Galaxy. Wehave dozens of worlds with societies that have been outright genocided. The Bryn'adul do not take prisoners! The Bryn'adul do not take slaves! EVERYONE who is weaker than they in their eyes deserves only death. As savage as the Bryn'adul are, as many losses as we have sustained fighting them while trying to strangle the Sith, how can we long keep up this failed strategem?" Laertia called out to every Jedi present. Then she threw an accusing finger at Okkeus.

"Admit it, boy: You have no solution...do you? Leaving the Sith to join us fry the part of your brain that runs on logic? All I have heard from you and those like you these past few days is nothing but vague Jedi Platitudes about 'Remaining United and facing the Darkness.' Well, we've been doing that and it hasn't worked! You are not telling us anything we don't already know from personal experiences. The situation of an Alliance is not ideal, but if we try and focus on both at the same time we will exhaust our strength and our resources. Teaming up with The Sith will almost certainly allow them the chance to recover...but what choice do we have? Throw everything we are into stopping the Sith while the Bryn'adul actively genocide another society out of existence. At least there is the possibility of eventually freeing a world the Sith conquer, however difficult the odds. We have done it before! We'll do it again after the Bryn'adul are defeated. But there is no saving a worlds inhabitants once conquered by the Bryn'adul...because there is no one left to save at that point. We barely drove them off Yurb! I watched hundreds of men die hideously at their hands, trying to hold them back for even a few moments! My colleague here nearly lost her own Padawan in the slaughter at Nar Kreeta! I watched as they killed thousands with a giant worm! The NIO is run by a pack of fools! They would make war against the Sith even while the Bryn'adul continue to stab everyone! And any Jedi who joins them are signing the death warrant of the Concord! Wake up! There will not be ANY world to 'heroically liberate' like in all your Jedi Daydreams if the Bryn'adul are not met with overwhelming brutality and Force!"

There were murmurs among the Senate now. Laertia was already starting to get scattered cheers.

"Go on. Tell us your inspiring strategy about how we are supposed to beat the Bryn'adul AND the Sith at the same time..." Syd asked in a dulcet tone. "If it doesn't involve so much as 'one' vague platitude I'll be shocked. Positively shocked."

"People like Okkeus don't have solutions, real logistical solutions, to YOUR problems, noble People of the Concord! They run on their own experiences and bias!" Laertia said. "More allies means more bodies to kill Bryn'adul. More weapons. More ships and starfighters. More tanks. Slight relief from the massive economic losses we have sustained fighting them. The possibility that just a few more of YOUR friends, YOUR loved ones, come back from a battle they otherwise might not have, because THIS time, there was an extra gun besides them firing!" she finished passionately, illiciting both boos and cheers in equal measure. But a lot of people were starting to clap for her now...

 

[Takui]

He could barely contain his disgust. To call a campaign where thousands of lives were put to the torch a "mistake," to infer that any opposition to the darkness was a lapse in judgement, to stand in defense of a morally bankrupt position: this person called themselves a Jedi?

Taku was slow to stand. His body was wracked with feelings of turmoil, as though if he were not careful he might come completely unhinged. The dark side had crept into this place, and it was spreading even into the decisions of the Jedi. The Galaxy truly had gone mad.

In a mad world, it was the sane ones who were different.

He accepted his rage, because it was founded and vindicated. But he did not give himself to it. With a sad sigh, he pushed away the urge to shout. Raising his voice would not stir their hearts. They had already hardened them, already joined the Sith war machine.

They were blinded by their fear, and could no longer see the light.

"Speak on the foolishness of the Imperials once the Confederates, the Sith, and the Concord reach out a hand to them. If they had wanted the Galaxy to unite against this threat, why then did the Aliiance and the Imperials not have a stake in all of this?"

His voice shook, but he stabilized himself with a clenched fist.

"I won't sit by and listen to this any longer. I had my questions but it seems like the answer was already clear."

Taku stood up from his seat and left the room without another word.

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"ENOUGH."

Darlyn's voice cut right through the assembled folks, demanding attention and silence. The President rarely came to these sorts of events in person, and even rarer spoke up at them, but listening to those speaking he felt compelled to say his own piece. "This is not a time to cast blame, to point fingers and declare the other is killing this galaxy by inaction or handing it to the Sith on a silver platter. NO one will be convinced by this angry yelling, on our side of this argument, or the Jedi's. Now is not the time for this argument, that time has long since passed. WE must continue on now with the knowledge of what has come to pass, and work on making the future one we all can live with."

"The Jedi have made it clear their duties and ties are only to their code and their beliefs. I would say this is an easy choice, but perhaps they too struggle with that. I cannot claim to know, because I am not one of them. All I know is what those like me know, that this alliance is neither an easy choice, nor one any of us wished to make. Were it up to how I feel, we would have never allied with the Sith, and we would be continuing to wipe their control of the galaxy away like the stain it really is. But our duty is not to ourselves but to our people, and their survival. The Jedi are entitled to their opinion and beliefs, right or wrong as they may be. This is not the time to continue airing out this argument angrily and futily."

"As far as I am concerned, thr jedi are welcome to join us as they see fit, as long as they recognize the Concord has put its people over doctrine. And that should end this discussion. No one is under the pretense this will be a lasting peace between the Sith and the Concord. Only a necessary one. Light and Dark have joined forces before, and they will again after, as many times as it takes to keep this galaxy from facing extinction."

 

[Cyprian Ichar]

Amid the sea of finely dressed dignitaries, aides, reporters, and other VIPs, the armored hulk that was Cyprian stood out like a sore thumb. In the interest of civil dialogue, all weapons were left at the door, but like a Mandalorian the Lord Commander of the Balarac kept his armor.

That was the only "suit" fit for the barbarian of Wild Space.

During Senator Wick's introduction, graphics holovids of Bryn'adûl brutality were displayed for all to see in the gathering. The Force Sensitive could feel many in the audience recoil in horror or disgust in the face of such terror, but Cyprian just leaned forward in concentration, drinking in every horrible image, grasping snippets of tactical maneuvers on display by the Bryn. He doubted Wick had intended to provide a battle primer during his emotional appeal, but nonetheless, Cyprian had learned a little more about the enemy hordes that festered in his backyard.

He found himself much less enthralled by the arguments the broke out between the Concord's Sorcerers, what they called Jedi. Some intimate details went over his head as an outsider, but it all seemed to boil down to a classic debate between principal and pragmatism. A common struggle that every sentient faced with their choices each day.

While he had no investment in the Silver Jedi or the Concord, he could emphasize with each position as a warrior himself. The Bryn were an existential threat that the galaxy had never seen before, but it was a tough pill to swallow to ask fellow Concord cohorts to fight beside those whom they had only crossed swords with maybe weeks before, whom had kidnapped and tortured their former Grandmaster and comrades.

However, these committees and debate seemed to be going nowhere. It was time for solutions and action.

"If I may..." Cyprian interjected, towering above his peers as he stood. "It does seem that the Sith Empire has changed its tune, and that may seem odd to some here, but we should keep in mind that the Sith have just suffered a catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Bryn'adûl. In one fell swoop, those alien hordes took more territory than the New Imperials did after months of heavy campaigning. Even now, I feel a growing wound in the Force as the Bryn commence their extermination against entire Sith sectors. In their hubris, the Sith underestimated the Bryn until it was too late, and now they scramble for survival."

"I think that would be my only objection with the Concord associating with the Sith Empire. They don't seem to be rational actors, picking fights with the Concord and the Silver Jedi even after they were being hounded by the NIO and the Mandalorians at their doorstep, the Sith likely looking for an easy victory to shore up internal support. Even their recent campaign against the Bryn seemed designed to do that. Getting beyond the ethical debates of my Jedi friends...I do not see the Sith Empire as reliable or effective. The Concord appears to be losing much more allying with them, than they will gain. Why not approach the New Imperials or the Mandalorians whom you also neighbor?"

He said all he wanted about the topic of alliances with...less than scrupulous characters. Now came his pitch and the real reason he was here.

"I think everyone is overlooking one source of manpower. Billions - perhaps trillions - are currently engaged in the largest migration in history toward the inner regions. Most are helpless refugees, but a sizeable portion of them are willing to fight to take back what is theirs. More of us still reside in Wild Space, willing to hold the line. If even a tiny fraction of those billions and trillions could be converted into an effective fighting force, that would still represent one of the largest armies ever assembled, even dwarfing the Bryn. What I request today is assistance in training, infrastructure, and perhaps any old surplus material the Concord can spare to the Balarac."

"Give us what we need, and we will fight harder than any other ally you will muster. It is our homes they destroy, after all."

Light Rises Takui Syd Celsius Okkeus Dainlei Darlyn Excron

 

[Dair Cotarin <inactive>]

Light Rises | Takui | Syd Celsius | Okkeus Dainlei | Darlyn Excron | Cyprian Ichar
​

Dair sat in the back of the chamber, a contemplative expression on his face. He looked from one person to another as each of them spoke around the topic. None of what was being said was in the least bit false, and yet few seemed to be willing to admit to the truth. Dair had seen so many governments that cradled and kindled the light in dark places fall. He had grown up in the Galactic Republic, which once reigned over the core and much of the galaxy.

It had fallen.

Dair had turned to the Galactic Alliance after that.

It, too, had fallen.

'Are we not the servants of the Light?' He thought to himself as he took a deep breath. 'Are we not here to defend that which we can from the ravages that plague the galaxy?' His soul hurt. He had plenty in his past to use to despise the Sith, and Imperials, and Mandalorians. At one time or another, anyone who had not actively used one form of the Jedi or another as their primary source for force users had been an enemy of the Jedi. There had even been a time when Dair had thought that an early government of the Silver Jedi and the Galactic Alliance would come to blows. Whether galactic distance or cool heads had prevailed, he did not know.

"If you have seven Jedi in a room together, you will have at least one who has fought against an Imperial force. You will have many who have fought against the Sith in one form or another. You will have at least one that has known the Mandalorians as an enemy." He paused then, to look around the room again, and to stand from his seat. He folded his hands into his sleeves before he spoke again. "We fight anyone who threatens destruction on innocent lives. We fight with everything we are. We fight, and hope to see a day when we do not have to fight. Can any Jedi in here gainsay that?"

He paused again, his right eyebrow raised slightly.

"We have allied with dark forces before, when the cause necessitated it. We have nearly always been betrayed by those forces, yes, but the other side of that issue is that rarely have we allied with dark forces for anything other than necessity." He looked at the Jedi who had spoken most vehemently, trying to exude the calm from his heart out into the world around him. "The role of the Jedi is not to rule. We are not philosopher kings nor despots. We fight the darkness. What is being asked of us now, is to fight the darkness of the Bryn'Adul. Their savagery is such that even the Sith have taken enough notice to reach out and seek to aid us in pushing them back. That is not an invalidation of any of your feelings. This isn't a court where we are exonerating the Sith for anything they have done, nor is it carte blanche for any actions they take moving forward. It is a pragmatic decision that there is a force out there needing everyone's attention. There is no illusion of what the aftermath of this conflict will bring. It will not suddenly be red carpets and parades for the Sith Lords. We will fight against this foe, and then we will fight against the Sith once more."

"That is what is being asked of us. Nothing less, and nothing more than that which we have done before. Nothing less and nothing more than our duty as servants of the light."