Reasons

[Cedric Grayson]

This place hurt.

The sounds of commerce filled Darius' ears as he strode up the steps of the Grand Temple. It was a hollow thing now, filled with the ghosts of those long since passed during the night of terror over a decade ago.. This was once a holy place; a home for the Jedi of Ession and their compatriots. Instead of providing the protection and comfort promised with refuge, the temple had become their tomb.

Evidence of the battle had long since been cleansed. Bodies were buried and rubble was removed. Blast marks were painted over; works of art were restored to their former splendor. Now, the temple was host to a few thousand refugees. The hall within which many young Jedi had passed through to begin their training new served as a trade market. The hallowed floors were trod upon by crippled men and orphaned children. Until a new home could be found for these people, things would remain as they were.

Contrary to what one might think, it was not desecration. No, if anything this would have been what the fallen Jedi wanted of the temple. Their home could serve long after their own deaths, and what did the Jedi way embody if not eternal service?

Darius turned from the main hall into the old temple gardens. They were still tended to by the droids that had erected them so many years ago, and the small sea of vibrant colors was enough to drown out the pain of the broken spirits that still haunted these halls for a moment.

The rogue Jedi came to a halt near a bed of daises, a gloved hand running through his unkempt blonde hair. A faint smile was touched upon his lips, and his thought drifted momentarily from his situation to the beauty of the garden.

"Guess this is home now," the youth muttered, a quiet sigh falling from his lips.

 

[Arken Lussk]

It had barely been a full year since his father had lost his life.

Strangely enough, he wasn't sad like he'd seen other people react in the Holos. Jarvis had claimed it was because he was just one step closer to shedding his organic tendencies and becoming more... efficient. While Arken hadn't exactly liked that cause, he merely resorted to the age-old 'he didn't spend enough time with me' excuse. It was enough to keep people from asking too much about his last name, at least he hoped. When they did, he'd just gesture them away and Jarvis would handle the rest.

"Query: Are these flowers and other pieces of flora considered 'pretty' to organics?"

Arken glanced away from the datapad, "Yeah, I guess so." He shrugged, resuming the game he'd been playing.

As of late, he'd taken quite a liking to just hanging out in the gardens, away from the massive fleuries of people that so teemed throughout the temple corridors. Arken would just grab a datapad and charger, Jarvis in tow, and spent his time out there browsing the Holonet or gaming. There wasn't much else to do around here unless the temple guardians managed to snag hold of him and force him to work a shift in the kitchen or something like that. Tasks of that nature were far too menial for him and he did his best to shirk them off, though it seemed the guardians always knew where he was.

Another drawn out sigh escaped his lips.

Boring.

Out of the corner of his eye; movement. Jarvis shifted to react but Arken waved him down. Nothing of their concern.

[member="Darius Sedaire"]

 

[Cedric Grayson]

It'd been some time since he'd seen his adopted father. Would Julius approve of his choices? Would the Corellian Jedi berate him for sticking too close to tradition? Would he have agreed with Darius' choice to drop the flag of the Galactic Alliance and fly north?

A dozen similar questions drifted through the young knight's mind, and a quiet melancholy began to fall over him. Such unhappiness was easily forced away with meditation and service, but the temple was loud and there was little for him to do here. He had come in search of others that had come to the same conclusions after recent events. While he had found many people with a similar thought process to his own, to Darius' dismay, few called themselves Jedi. It was said that the newly appointed Archlord had once been a member of the order, but that man was beyond unreachable.

No, in this situation, Darius was utterly alone. He had no friends to watch his back; no connections to draw upon. Ession was a world of strangers that he still struggled to understand, and while it was satisfying to help the ailing world's people, he could not resign himself to such a role forever.

Further thoughts passed through his mind as the droid looked at him. Darius noticed the automaton from his peripherals, and immediately turned on it. Green eyes narrowed at they peered at the droid, curiousity replacing Darius' private musings.

Darius was all black leather and dark eyes. He most certainly did not look the way one might expect a Jedi Knight to, but then Master Sedaire had always taught him to retain his individuality. Not one for shyness, Darius did not hesitate in approaching the young man and his droid companion.

"Is that an HK model?" He asked, "I haven't seen many of their kind running around anymore, let alone out here..."

[member="Cadmon Lussk"]

 

[Arken Lussk]

Arken was just busying himself with the game. It was one of those first person shooters that was placed back in the old Hyperspace Wars. The chat was teeming with vulgar slurs, often of racial origin. A few seemingly Bith players had their own clan and were bantering back and forth with the rest of the players. Unfortunately, Arken didn't happen to be on their team and the Bith clan proved quite skilled in holding their territory before advancing to conquer even more. Jaw growing taut with frustration, he didn't even notice the other person in the garden until Jarvis shifted again as the man drew nearer.

But as Arken focused on his presence, he could feel something else. Like a tidal wave of emotion before it crashed down, dissolving into clarity.

Strange.

He sent his hazel hues to survey the man with a cursory glance before fixating them back on the datapad. "Yeah," he responded, "Just got a TranLanq III comm mod for him as well as an upgraded specialized subprocessor." Arken twisted against the stone wall he was leaning against, cracking his back with a satisfying grunt. "Jarv, show him what you can do."

"Acknowledgement: Yes, master. Aliha sel valle volgoth? <<What do you want?>>"

While Arken had no idea what the bot had said, he recognized the tone as Old Corellian. Dad had a tendency of dropping curses in it back when he was younger, specifically so Arken wouldn't catch on - but he did.

"If you understood that and he said anything offensive, I apologize." Arken flashed a smirk, more so from ending an entire squad on his game rather than his droid's verbal tendencies.

[member="Darius Sedaire"]

 

[Cedric Grayson]

Arms folded behind the Jedi Knight's back as he peered down at the kid's game. He'd never been particularly interested in such things; it was hard to find time for hobbies like that when you were more or less always busy. Well, at least back when he was that busy. Things were different these days. Might be worth picking up something of the sort, if nothing else than for the sake of passing time. Gods knew that Darius tended to run himself a little ragged when all he had on schedule was work.

"The old speak?" Darius asked, blinking out of his momentary daze to peer at the droid, a brow raised. It was by simple luck that the droid happened to speak old corellian. It was one of the few languages Darius had a cursory understanding of, considering his adoptive father and mentor was a full-blooded Corellian with a hard-on for his planet's history. Darius could have recognized the tones of the droid's speech from the inside of a engine room. An amused little grin formed on the Jedi Knight's features, and he turned to address the droid.

"Not sure what I want, you just interested me," Darius shrugged, "My name's Darius. You guys refugees? You don't look Atrisian. Not enough robes, or...well, whores nearby."

The rogue knight flashed the duo a mischievous grin.

[member="Cadmon Lussk"]

 

[Arken Lussk]

Arken's character was halfway across the battlefield, sprinting towards the gunfire as Sith and Krath forces fired upon the great Jedi heroes of old. Blasterfire was everywhere, players whined in the chat, and the voice network was filled with the rage of teenage gamers. His character raised his rifle, sighting the crosshairs on a Krath war droid and squeezed the trigger.

Nothing happened. The game blacked out, with only two words flashing on the screen: LOW BATTERY.

With a disgruntled sigh, Arken closed the game application before pocketing the datapad and finally turning his eyes back up their new acquaintance.

"Refugees of sorts, I guess. You guys picked me up after some battle, I can't remember which."

As much as he wanted to be lazy now, he couldn't afford it. This man looked like one of the temple guardians and he was sure he was about to get assigned to some menial detail. Oh well, at least Jarvis could entertain him with music or podcasts while he worked. With that in mind, Arken resigned to facing defeat head-on and rose to his feet.

Hand extended. "I'm Arken, Arken Lussk. This is Jarvis." The droid didn't move. Most of the time, he appeared to be content with rambling about murdering things or simply observing his master go about his daily routine. It seemed the latter tendency suited him at the moment.

"Why're you here? Are you one of the temple guardians?"

[member="Darius Sedaire"]

 

[Cedric Grayson]

Temple Guardian?

Darius blinked at the boy, evidently rather confused by the question. His gaze fell to his attire, and things began to make a bit more sense. he most certainly looked the part, not to mention the rather obvious lightsaber hanging from his belt. He hadn't taken many precautions to hide his status as a Jedi Knight here. Considering how rare the Jedi were on Ession, he'd thought that it might instill a sense of security in those that came across him. If nothing else, it kept people from trying to peddle goods on him as he walked through the central hall, so that was reason enough.

His arms folded about his chest as he turned to regard the garden. "I'm not employed by the temple. Well, technically I am, but not in the usual sense," his brow furrowed, and he found himself chewing on the inside of his cheek as he pondered an adequate answer. "The Dominion accomplished some things that I agreed with. That, and the people I called allies did a few things that I most certainly did not agree with. To put it simply, I'm just along for the ride too."

Green eyes shifted warily to the HK droid as the hand was taken. "I'm a Jedi Knight. Well, one of the few left anyway. We're all split up into different sects. The order is divided; we're just begging for someone to conquer us. I left my sect to come out here, not that I was much of an active member anyway," his shoulders lifted in a slight shrug. "I came to offer whatever help I could, but most folks out here need people with technical skills. Engineering, cooking, managers," Darius tapped each profession off on his fingers, "I'm not good for any of that. I stopped a few thugs the other day, but..."

Darius shrugged.

"Most folks don't wander around with an assassination droid at their side," he murmured, tilting his head toward the droid in question.

[member="Cadmon Lussk"]

 

[Arken Lussk]

Arken guessed he was a refugee now - and an orphan at that. Be that as it may, he was just a year away from being considered an adult under the eyes of the law so he saw no reason to publically indicate his status as such. It was unbecoming of the final heir to his family's legacy. After all, it wasn't that they'd become a noble Sith family over the course of a single day. It had taken father and his parents long decades of hardship, work, and strife to build up their status. He'd been treated like a nobleman's son his entire life and now he was waiting in line for thin soup, bread, and whatever else these people would give him. His only possessions comprised entirely of his grey jumpsuit, a utility belt, and the droid that never left his side.

The Dominion. The name had a familiar ring to it, but he cast the name away after another thought of appraisal. Probably some backwater government that had waged war against father and his dubious allies as they plotted to conquer the galaxy. After all, this man was indeed a Jedi, so there was no doubting his involvement in the countless battles that had waged on.

"Dad never liked the fact that I enjoyed exploring, and ended up getting into trouble," he shrugged, "So I guess this was his form of a babysitter."

"Correction: I am your protector, master."

"Dad always liked droids with guns." Arken flashed Jarvis a wry grin, to which he received a flaring of his crimson photoreceptors. Dad had tasked the bot with protecting the young boy as a child and had spent his entire life with him. However, that never stopped the young Lussk from using the droid to get into even more mischief and debauchery as a young teen. Most people assumed he was but a mere service or protocol droid, and he played the part well except for when he found it pertinent that he carry around a blaster rifle - like he was currently.

Arken's eyes grew thin as he stared at the lightsaber, cocking his head at it. "And most people don't carry around some lasersword. Why are the Jedi here?"

[member="Darius Sedaire"]

 

[Cedric Grayson]

Darius took the boy's response as his sign to sit down. With a bit of adjusting, the Jedi managed to get his long leather coat properly beneath himself and settle down alongside the boy. Gloved fingers found one of the cigars Darius had been carrying within his coat pocket. A simple motion with his lighter sparked the rube of intoxicants, thin clouds of smoke that smelled of grapes curling up from between Darius' fingers. He drew the focus of his addiction up to his lips, and pulled back a slow, drafty puff.

The smoke rolled from thin lips in a circular motion. The rogue couldn't help but grin at the success of his parlor trip, and canted his head toward Arken and his companion. "My dad was like that too. He wanted me to grow, but he always wanted to keep me safe too. Ended up leaving the picture more than once," Darius made a point to blow his smoke away from Arken as he took a pause. "Well, not my real dad. My real dad was some Mandalorian guy that I don't have any real intentions of meeting. Might as well have been a sperm donor given all his involvement."

The cigar made a quiet crunching noise as Darius bit down on unlit end. He leaned forward, digging about in his jacket for something of particular note. After a few moments of searching, Darius produced two objects: a still holoimage printed on a sheet of flimsi and a candy sucked. His head was tilted toward the picture, but the corner of his mouth on Arken's side was pulled back in a little smirk. "I was raised by a Jedi: a Corellian Jedi to be specific. He taught me most of what I know, but we made some differing choices. He wasn't around to finish my training. I did that myself."

Darius held the flimsi out for Arken to see. It was a still of a young boy in heavy clothing that clung to the side of a much larger man. The man wore an easygoing smile, and looked more like someone from a rogue's gallery than a Jedi Knight. "That's [member="Julius Sedaire"], and he's the closest thing to a dad I've got. I can't really talk to him anymore, but I still love him. Not sure what he's up to these days."

The rogue knight drew another quiet puff as he stuffed the picture away. "Who's your old man Arken?"

[member="Cadmon Lussk"]

 

[Arken Lussk]

It was quiet, peaceful conversation within the greatest of gardens on Ession. This man, Mister Darius, took it upon himself to approach Arken and Jarvis with seemingly no intent on forcing him to work another shift here at the temple. Be that as it may, Arken knew there was more than met the eye with this man. Through all of his talk of his past, he still hadn't answered his question asking why exactly the Jedi were here on Ession. Of course he knew they traveled the galaxy in search of darkness to defeat or people to help.

That probably could've been it: the refugees. But what good was a single man when there were quite possibly thousands of people living in a temple only meant for hundreds?

Julius Sedaire. The name meant nothing to Arken but he nodded as if he was of great importance, stowing the name away for later.

Then Darius asked about his own father. Arken stole a glance towards Jarvis, but apparently the droid hadn't caught on. It was never a good practice to just start telling everyone your father used to be the Sith Emperor - especially when that someone was a Jedi. For all he knew, Darius could've been here to end his life and ensure that he wouldn't reel in the reigns of a collapsing empire. Arken widened his eyes at Jarvis once again. Thankfully he responded this time, slowly inching his durasteel fingers for the blaster rifle slung across his back.

But Darius hadn't reacted when he'd given his last name. Surely he wouldn't recognize the name even with the first thrown into the mix, right?

"Dranok Lussk was my father."

[member="Darius Sedaire"]

 

[Cedric Grayson]

"No clue who that guy is, but you say his name like he's important." Darius chimed in, an easy smile upon his lips. He took the time to douse his cigar on a piece of plating he wore over his right knee, and waved a hand about in a gesture of apathy. Many might have heard of the Lussk name. Some surely flinched when they heard the name, knowing that it was the moniker of a rather powerful sith family. That name has once shaken worlds, and there were many yet that would follow it into oblivion.

Darius though? Not so much. The errant Jedi had been raised on the outer rim, and the tale she'd learned of the far north rarely revolved around the Sith. Their war was a distant thing that few people cared for in the far south, and those that did were generally ignored. If it weren't for the Galactic Alliance's rather unhealthy obsession with eradicating the Sith to a man, Darius wouldn't have thought much of them to begin with. They were just another ruling group in some distant part of the galaxy so far as he was concerned.

Shaking his head, Darius turned to face the younger of the two men. Arken was probably in his late teens and likely not much younger than Darius himself, but the Jedi still had seniority here. He'd felt something from the youth, a flicker of destiny in his heart. Arken felt the force, that much Darius knew, but what were the odds of one of the refugees being force sensitive? Next to none really. Keeping the boy uninformed was a disservice both to him, and Darius' internal desire to restore things to their former glory.

"You've got the force, but I think you already knew that. S'what drew my interest. That an bucket head over here," Darius gestured toward the HK unit with a dip of his shoulder.

[member="Cadmon Lussk"]

 

[Arken Lussk]

Arken breathed a sigh of relief. Some people knew who Dranok was and others didn't - and he was always looking for the latter group to call friends or allies. He'd already instructed Jarvis several times on his policy with disclosing familial information and the automaton had efficiently executed the orders with mechanical precision; as expected, of course.

Luckily, as the pair journeyed further and further away from his father's previous sphere of influence, most people had no idea of who he was and didn't quite care. It just made life easier for him as the young man tried to figure out what he wanted to do. Money wasn't important and his father had left more than enough for him, though he could only access it once he was old enough. Just a few more years and untold fortunes would be just given to him, no work necessary whatsoever. If he spent it wisely then he could've probably spent his entire life without working at all.

But that wasn't what he wanted. Jarvis didn't want that either, killing things was, you know, his thing.

The Force thing didn't surprise him either. His father was surprised to discover that when he was just a toddler, apparently, but he'd never acted upon it. Strangely enough, Arken was glad he didn't. He didn't really care for all of that wizardry, all of that responsibility that came with being unique. Building and creating things was enough for him. Mechanical contraptions, starships, droids. Anything with circuits, wires, or cogs.

"Yeah, I know." He answered softly. "Dad told me I was but nothing ever came of it. I'm just a normal guy, I guess. Just trying to go back home eventually and find work, or go back to school."

[member="Darius Sedaire"]

 

[Cedric Grayson]

"Makes sense. I probably would have done the same were it not for the war," Darius answered honestly. He had dove headfirst into the Jedi teachings, but sticking to them had required the catalyst of violence in the background. He had been training to prepare for a great conflict; a righteous conflict. Fortunately for Darius, or unfortunately depending on how one might look at it, that conflict had ended before his training was complete. The war with the One Sith came to a rather explosive close while Darius was off on the opposite end of the galaxy trying to help a nightsister save her clan.

There was a large part of the young man that regretted not taking action. The other part was glad that he had not been on Coruscant went it finally fell. Darius likely would have been killed in the short conflict that followed, and his presence likely would have made very little difference at the time given his place within the order. No, his trials were better carried out on a more personal level upon the world of Dathomir. Recalling the world made him visibly cringe, his nose scrunching up in obvious displeasure.

"I'll be in town for a little while. I could teach you a few tricks. I hear the Sith are cropping up again; learning to hide your presence will keep them from breaking down your door in search of another sycophant." It was a very real threat that Darius hoped to address. He was in no position to go about rebuilding the order, let alone offering any teaching beyond what little he knew. He was barely a Jedi Knight, and reforging the Jedi Order within Dominion space was the job for a master.

How could anyone even be judged a master anymore? It wasn't like there was a council to appoint the position to a worthy soul.

"Up to you, of course," he added, rising up from his seat. He stretched his arms out high toward the sky, and nodded toward the inner sanctum of the temple. "This temple used to belong to the order. It's a good place to expand your mind if you're not busy with anything else."

[member="Arken Lussk"]

 

[Arken Lussk]

Arken shrugged. He was all nonchalance and boredom these days. So many things had happened so quickly, so many important events had occurred during the short few months he'd been taken from his home. It was all quite a lot to process and he figured being around Jarvis so much wasn't helping things. Perhaps he was becoming far too mechanical, far too calculating and cold for his own good. He usually wasn't like that, but then again, he didn't really have any of his childhood friends around here nor did any of the kids here his age wanted anything to do with him. They had far more important things to do like take care of their families.

"Proposition: Master, I think we should go along with the meatbag." Jarvis craned his durasteel dome to peer at the two. "It will surely be far more interesting than lazing around here."

Arken nodded, flashing the bot a wry grin.

"Yeah, I'll tag along."

[member="Darius Sedaire"]

 

[Cedric Grayson]

"Good plan." Darius replied simply, his head tilting toward the inner sanctum. It wouldn't be the first time he explained things to a novice. Mediha's followers had all be rather vanilla when she had found them, and Darius had wanted to keep them from the brutally pure Nightsister teachings. A number of them had become temporary students for the few months that Darius remained on Dathomir. Eventually though, the greater galaxy had called. Darius' future was not on Dathomir with Mediah, but with the greater galaxy as a whole.

A quiet pang of regret passed through the confines of his heart as he thought of the angry little witch. She had hated him at first, though that aggression had melted away to basic misandry after a time. Eventually, that grew into friendship, and even a semblance of infatuation between the two. He knew Mediha wished to restore her clan, and he knew why she had wanted him to stay, even in her rather hostile way, on Dathomir. It was a life he had found himself wanting at the time, but to confine himself to it would be a betrayal of his teachings. Mediha and her fledgling clan had been left on Dathomir, and Darius had left his heart with her. It was doubtful they would ever be seeing on another ever again, yet that private anguish struck all the same.

The droid's mechanized speech pulled him from his gloomy musings. Leaving Dathomir had broken the chains he had built for himself, and now nothing stood in the way of his service. This boy, Arken, might be his first great task to follow that past journey.

"I guess to start," Darius motioned for Arken and the droid to follow him, "I'll need to know what you know. Don't want to try and teach you something you already understand." Darius flashed passerby's his characteristically friendly smile as they strolled toward the old dueling grounds. The chamber waited just ahead at the western end of the garden. "Any training at all?"

[member="Arken Lussk"]

 

[Arken Lussk]

Arken rose promptly, agreeing with their new decided course of action. He had very little possessions. Just a bag full of clothes and other living necessities, his datapad and other little tools and gadgets, and Jarvis. Otherwise, everything he owned was still... actually, he had no idea where any of it was. Last he'd heard, Dromund Kaas had been annihilated nearly three times over and quite possibly didn't even have anything left at all. Sighing inwardly, he knew it wasn't that bad. He didn't need or want much, but it was always nice to have immediate access to the things his family did.

"Nothing, really," Arken replied with an embarrassed shrug. Of course he should've known about himself, but he'd never really experienced the Force other than faint murmurs or echoes. Sometimes he could really feel it, like it was an entirely new sense tacked on with the other seven. But most of the time, he even forget he was sensitive to its great power and hadn't had to rely on it at all. Arken liked droids and tinkering with mechanical objects, a savant talent that his family had noticed even during his infanthood.

"I know some self defense stuff. Teras kasi, I think. Dad made me take lessons because he said it would be good to get outside and actually do something." Arken smiled. "It was pretty fun. I guess I'm pretty okay at it. Far from an expert but I'm no newbie."

[member="Darius Sedaire"]

 

[Cedric Grayson]

How to explain something as vast as the force to a relative stranger? Darius was no master, and the lessons he had always given were to individuals already somewhat skilled within the realm of the ethereal. Working with a novice was something he had never tried before, though he supposed it was not beyond him. He had taken this burden upon himself by inviting the young Lussk, after all. if nothing else, it was going to get his mind off of more depressing matters. Gods knew Darius didn't need to spend anymore time dwelling on the negatives.

"Teras Kasi has something to do with the force, but I couldn't really tell you what." Darius answered honestly, his shoulders raising in a slight shrug. "I never learned much about their practices and techniques. Just Jedi things really, but I think that should be enough to help you get your head around things. The force is..." his brow furrowed. How had the old masters often worded it? Like an ocean? "The force is like an ocean." Yep. "It's all around us, though you can't really see it. Gets into just about everything too. The only things immune to its presence are the force dead, but those are few and far between."

Boots crunched across dead grass and concrete. By the time they entered the dueling chambers, Darius had finally managed to find the right words. "It passes through everything like a current. The Sith bend it to their will via mental dominance. The force responds strongly to emotions, particularly negative ones. Those emotions give the user more power over the force, allowing the Sith to do what they will. We Jedi see things a bit differently."

The chamber resembled an old gymnasium. The floors were the color of salt and cracked in a few areas. Great white columns held up the massive ceiling, and rings that dug a few feet into the earth were spaced out along the floor. These were the dueling rings. "The force flows through everything, like I said. If we open ourselves to it, we can ask things of it without forcing it to respond. We take longer to get in tune with things, but we do reach that point overtime. It just requires training and dedication. In time, we learn to use our emotions too, though Jedi rely on the positive ones like love and friendship. They can be just as strong as the negative, but they don't leave nearly as violent an impression upon the force or the user."

"The Dark Side damages people just as much as it damages the force. You're effectively enslaving a natural occurrence for your benefit - like burning coal for fuel. It works, and it's powerful, but it's going to kill your environment eventually. The Ashla takes longer, and a lot more dedicaiton, but you get to keep yourself in the end. I think that's worth it." Darius found himself grinning as he peered out over the hall. "Sorry. You wanted to know about the force, not about philosophy right?"

[member="Arken Lussk"]

 

[Arken Lussk]

Arken and Jarvis trailed the Jedi Knight accordingly. Arken with his eyes surveying the temple, zoning out as he actively listened to Darius, and Jarvis made do with scanning and analyzing their current surroundings for everything tactical. Granted, there was absolutely no need, but it was just something hard-coded into his primary functions. Whatever it was, Arken was ever grateful that at least someone had the great idea to watch their backs. He was just a kid, really, almost a man. Training of any sort was beyond him. School and friends was all he ever knew.

He had a pretty normal life given his past circumstances.

"Emotions?" Arken arched a brow, striding alongside the Knight. "What if someone doesn't really feel any strong emotions at all? Stoic and impassive?"

He was chiefly referring to himself. Inciting strong emotions out of him was nigh impossible. He doubted he'd cried since birth, and his only bouts of sadness came from not scoring so well on the standardized testing they had the kids do back in the middle grades. Otherwise, it was always neutral or fairly happy. Grinning was just something he did to ease others, a habit of his to make things seem that much more natural. Jarvis concluded that lots of his behavior was efficient in the expenditure of his 'calorie store.'

"And the dark side seems more powerful than the light. Is it not possible to harness both without falling completely into the darkness?"

[member="Darius Sedaire"]

 

[Cedric Grayson]

"Well, the old Jedi way was peace. It's what I practice," Darius intoned, his lips pulling back in an amused little grin as he watched the HK droid take a check of its surroundings. He knew that it was in the droid's nature to do so, but it still brought him a quiet laugh. This temple was likely the safest place on Ession right now. Most of the refugees were well cared for, and those that weren't had themselves provided for by the rest of their community. There had been scant few attempts at robbery, and no one in their right mind was going to be pulling a gun on Darius. They knew what the lightsaber meant.

"Having muted emotions is okay. When I said you could reach a certain harmony with the force, I meant clearing your mind. When you feel little, you become focused. When you're focused, the force will come to you easily. If you can control yourselves, Jedi teachings would come easily to you." Darius continued, waving all around as he stepped into the center of the hall. "This is where a lot of youths would have come to practice back in the day. I feel at home here."

He turned back to face Arken.

"It isn't more powerful. Neither is greater than the other. The Dark Side is easier to use, but comes at a great cost. The Light is safer, more pure, but it requires dedication. The Light also lets you retain who you are. The Dark generally warps you into its tool. Few can master it, and those that do usually find themselves alone." The errant knight continued to explain. "There are some that can call upon both, but those are a rare few. They are the greatest of masters, and both sides generally see them as heretics. The founder of the Dominion was one of them."

He paused, meeting Arken's gaze. "The amount of men in the galaxy that could master the bogan without being driven to depravity could be counted on both your hands. It is the easy path, and it's also the most destructive. Their mantra alone promotes selfishness, and while some Sith can be good people, the vast majority are monsters. Jedi promote the opposite, but sometimes they get so caught up in their desire to destroy the dark side that they come to embody it. They become zealots incapable of seeing any form of reason. They too become monsters."

Darius paused, "The Dominion allows Sith within its ranks, and while I will work with them, I could never agree with their beliefs. There's too much pain and too much death on that path. Their way is a slippery slope that no man should take lightly."

[member="Arken Lussk"]

 

[Arken Lussk]

It was all philosophy. Straight philosophical musings of wise Sith and Jedi, moral battles that were both internal and external, and a galaxy that had a tendency to wage war nearly every single year. Arken didn't like that. It was too complicated, too wrapped up in what could be considered the numerous grey areas of life. Nothing was white or black, everything was just a differing shade of grey. Jarvis had explained to him that everything was white or black. Life was simpler when you looked at it mechanically. Efficiency trumped all. If you couldn't do your part, then you were worthless.

But that was the problem: Arken absolutely wasn't doing his part. There was no goal. There was nothing he had to live for except his biological urge to continue living until he died. Live long and healthy, reproduce, and then die. Humans were nothing but mammals, nothing but animals.

"Complicated stuff." He mumbled as they entered the center of the great hall. "It seems like neither has any real benefit. Jedi have that satisfaction of doing the right thing but don't seem to have as much strength and power. Sith are the opposite, pure power but they do things that are considered morally wrong."

Arken shook his head, rubbing his eyes. This was too much. If he was going to be one of these Force guys, then neither of them seemed like the perfect fit for him. There was no middle ground, however, only those who'd spent lifetimes training and practicing with the Force could harness the power of both and still remain the same person they are.

"Whatever this whole Force thing is, I want to learn about it. I want it." Jarvis shifted to his right, crimson photoreceptors gleaming at his master. "Can you teach me?"

[member="Darius Sedaire"]