Faith is the heroism of the intellect.
“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” - Henry David Thoreau
It’s been a while since you have seen him. Surely he has not been missed, or people would have been looking for him. This is not some kind of jab, or pity party or anything, as the galaxy moves on regardless of who is in it. The thing is though that the man sitting in the cockpit of his ship has been “away” for a long period of time because he needed to gain a new outlook on the galaxy itself. He had lost it when he was buried under the rubble that was much of the Jedha Crystal Temple. Make no mistake he had a right to feel betrayed and abandoned when no one came and looked for him. The thing is he was not going to get over it any time soon and he knew this. The problem with this conundrum that he was in though is that Vanagor could not shake it on his own. So the big man did something that he doesn’t make a practice of doing, he sought help in finding his place in a galaxy that had forgotten him all over again.
There once was a time when he would have fit right in with the New Jedi Order, he took the fight to the Sith so hard that his name was uttered in their halls as a kind of threat (“Vanagor is looking for you…”). Where there was a level of satisfaction to this in the fact that every step forward for a Sith around him meant that there were two steps back, it was a self-defeating purpose. He was not dying a hero, he was living long enough to become a villain.
There was a time when he would have fit in with the Ashlan Crusade. When he was still learning to partner with the Force he studied and practiced night and day often causing a severe loss of sleep (and incidentally a lot of aggression he focused on the Sith, hence taking the fight to them). The problem here was that the more he learned, the more he wanted to learn and there was only so much that the Temple was teaching him, so the big man set out to the stars, rarely returning to the Temple unless specifically called or an important purpose of his own.
It was when he came out of the ice that Vanagor even found a place among the Silver Jedi Concord. He showed his natural leadership and wisdom (heh, never thought he would be associated with wisdom) to the “younger set”. He wanted to stay in the background and just observe and maybe learn about how much the galaxy had changed, but the problem is that there was a “celebrity” to his face and name. He was the “Jedisicle” some might say and while it was cute at first, he was falling back into old practices.
None of this is bad, mind you. Vanagor had little to no true regret about how his life had turned out as the Force had brought him this far and put him where he needed to be each time. The thing is though, he had a vision of what was meant to be his end (no doubt). Sure. visions of the future are not set in stone, but he has had no visions of the like since then especially now that he is not having any whatsoever. It had to mean something. It had to truly mean that he was no longer guided by the Force and that everything in his life, every move was his own now.
The Sith are going to be so jealous if they find out he broke his own chains.
So, getting back to the beginning. Where has he been? Vanagor showed up not that long ago on the Jedi’s radar when he did the right thing and actually helped the people of Knossa city and not just showed up for some cheap publicity stunt. They didn’t seem to like that so two of them appeared on his doorstep to “check in on him”. They were turned away, but in the process another man he actually respected left as well. Oh well, the big guy will soon do the right thing and follow up with him soon enough. So yeah; Vanagor was found and around and basically existed in the galaxy that had forgotten him.
For the first time since coming out of the ice, he was fine with it.
His outlook did not change one iota though. The voiceless needed a voice. They needed a Vanguard. Not someone who was afraid to do the right thing because it might make them do something that they could be forgiven for anyway. No. The voiceless, the galaxy itself needed something that they were not getting. They needed a chance. They needed a chance to truly make a better life for themselves. Not simply relying on those who would show up and then chide them for their own choices and leave. The galaxy needed to be free from shackles, both inherent and potential.
That is where both sides had it wrong.
The Dark Side, the Bogan, whatever you want to call it. The original belief was rather noble and honorable in its form. To break free of what binds you and form your own path. Well, we all know how twisted this has become over the centuries, but that is a conversation for another time. The Dark Side of today has become about absolute power and destruction of any who might oppose it. This was first-hand shown with the destruction of Csilla, the practical razing of Lao-mon, everything that has been done. It needs to stop. It will stop. It was one-half of the wrong side.
The Ashla, the Light Side, whatever you want to call it. The original belief was to partner with and respect the life around you, a utopian feeling that is wonderful when you think about it. Of course, this has been twisted as well. Fear of your own natural feelings because of what it may do. Not allowing mistakes that will happen, and if so could serve as a blessing in strengthening your resolve in your plight if it does because of some ridiculous notion of becoming something evil. Those who do follow their path are so overzealous that their actions are more destructive than helpful. No this is just as bad in the light as the dark.
Do not even start with any “gray” area. No.
Where has Caltin been? No more tangents, he had returned to the Wellspring of Life to finish whatever transformation that he was going through. Allowing himself to be supervised by the very beings that had begun the process was new to him. The big man allowed himself to be a “lab rat” but realized that there was no choice. He would simply stay here until it seemed that everything that was going to happen, did. This was proving to be the right choice as it took him out of the galaxy for a while and allowed him to regain the perspective that he had lost so long ago. It does not matter right now what that is, it will be revealed soon enough. What is important is that there were no clouded thoughts in his mind and there were no questions. An old master told him something truly wise: “Everyone, EVERYONE is put in this galaxy for a grand purpose no matter how insignificant you think you may be. It is up to you to find out what that purpose is.” Sage words.
The big man used to go out into the galaxy to save it. Then over time, that plan morphed into something that was thought to be a bit more realistic. He went out into the galaxy to change it; to put it into a position where people could live their lives. That was foolish. Now? Now he did not want to change the galaxy. It was not up to him to do so anyway. “You could lead a Bantha to water, but you can’t make him drink.” No, he was done changing the galaxy, so he will simply change himself. He was going to be the change he wanted in the galaxy and let them decide.
It took some time, but there seemed to be nothing else that was going to happen, nothing monumental anyway so he got into his ship after saying his unnecessary goodbyes and he left. He left wiping the location of this place from the star charts on his ship just like he had done the last time (no one needs to know about where it is and he remembers vividly) and he set out into the galaxy again. There was someone out there that was about to do something that they were going to regret. He wanted to be there to see it, even if he had no idea who they were just yet.
Tag:
Kyric
