"Uh," Thom glanced between everyone present as they went back and forth, more certain than ever that this fragmented Jedi Order was far from the one he had heard about. There would be much rebuilding to do, and before that, he would have to formally request to join the order. If they even had a use for someone who was already his age.
"Excuse me," he raised his voice slightly, "excuse me!"
Everyone was so busy quarreling, bickering, and ultimately derailing what Master Arenais was getting at over semantics that he wondered if these Silver Jedi wanted to be allies, or just push an agenda. It wasn't his call to make, but he would have banked on the latter.
"So, I'm not really a Jedi," Thom stated up front, "not yet, but I have had it in my mind to be for a long time. What I'm seeing right now, this isn't exactly the Jedi Order I've heard stories about, and it's definitely not the same, strong Jedi Order that once helped maintain peace throughout the galaxy."
He sunk his head slightly, knowing that all the eyes would fall on him the instant he gave his opinion. Most people would write him off the moment he'd said he wasn't a Jedi. Others would think him out of line. He didn't care- they needed to know how they sounded, objectively. Was this really the message they wanted to send?
"For a bit there, I was starting to think I was in the wrong place," he admitted with a slight chuckle. "Militarization, taking the fight to the Sith-" his eyes flashed to Arisa Yune, the self-proclaimed Grandmaster of the Silver Jedi. He was not as impressed as she probably would have liked. "-with respect, isn't conflict exactly what the Sith want? Aren't these open wars and widespread chaos just playing into their galactic games?" He looked back to [member="Veiere Arenais"] now and gestured toward the Master. "The man has offered aid in what capacity he believes is right, and I feel like that's more than generous of him. He could just as easily refused anything at all."
Thom sighed. "I'm Thom, by the way," he greeted as he ducked Master Arenais' gaze. "Thom Arden."