He stopped to look at her for a moment. And for a moment, he smiled. "Was that what you were worried about?" He would ask, his mood seeming to rise a little as he would nudge Alexa playfully. "No... Even for slavers, my policy for a defenseless opponent stays the same. I refuse to kill a defenseless opponent, that's not the Jedi Way, no" He would agree, shaking his head. In normal circumstances, if Josh was forced to use his lightsaber, he'd either deflect bolts back at the enemy in hopes of just disabling them, or would go for the side, rendering them unable to fight, but still able to go on living. He never went for anything vital if he could help it. When he didn't have to use his lightsaber, he'd generally go completely non-lethal, using hand to hand and force powers in order to knock his opponents out. His style had changed dramatically from when he had gone to war - he'd grown up, he'd realized that he was a Jedi, not a soldier. He wasn't there to mercilessly kill people for political reasons... But at the same time, it was also because he'd lost people for the same reasons he had gone into battle and killed people. He had endured pain and suffering because for non-personal reasons, people had killed the people he had cared about. They didn't care about if they had a lover, or friends that cared about them... Or a mother, a father, a brother, a sister, a son, a daughter, a husband, a wife... It just didn't matter to them, and when that fact hit him, he realized how folly he had been. That was around when the Republic Jedi started to sour on him, he noted. As soon as he stopped becoming a killer... Everything changed. But he didn't regret it one bit.
Unfortunately, slavers were a different story. While he wouldn't kill a helpless opponent, even a slaver, in battle, all bets were off. They didn't deserve that same system of honor and mercy that he gave anyone else. Even a Sith could be reformed... But a slaver, it didn't matter how many times you defeated them or locked them up. They had that mindset in them that they had the right to own other beings as property, to sell them like possessions, and use them as servants without a wage. It was sickening.
But a surrendering opponent.. No matter who, it didn't matter. He wouldn't stoop to that level.
"If they surrender, they live. Simple as that. If they don't... Well, if they attack and threaten our lives and the lives of the slaves we're freeing, I don't really have much choice" Josh would add, his tone growing serious again for the moment. "It doesn't matter how many times I go through the effort to go nonlethal with them in battle, they'll just continue to have this impression that they can own other beings like property... Sell them like assets, and use them as nonpaid servants. And they'll continue to trade in slaves. I don't like it one bit, but if I deal with a slaver in battle, I don't regret killing them. If they surrender... Then they'll just be arrested and tried by law, and hope it works, and the process will repeat itself for the few who surrender until they finally end up getting themselves killed. If they provoke me physically... Then they're not defenseless anymore. If they provoke me verbally... Then chances are I'll toss them a weapon, and they'll no longer be defenseless then either. Just because the circumstances are different doesn't change who I am. I'll still fight the same honorable way I always do" He corrected, staring a hole through her. "I'll never kill a defenseless opponent unless it's for the most extreme of reasons. Reasons which I haven't encountered yet. I hope it stays that way"
"As for your reasonings earlier... There's a heavy difference between the Sith species and slavers. Wiping out the Sith species was a bad judgement call. Slavers... Only good can come of scaring people away from the slave trade"
[member="Emilia Marean"]
