Personal Space

Posted on Thu Nov 22nd, 2012 @ 9:17am by Sotah & Thane
Edited on on Tue May 29th, 2018 @ 3:39pm

2,695 words; about a 13 minute read

Chapter: Chapter II: Era's Dawn
Location: Jedi Temple, Coruscant
Timeline: 1000 (Local Time), Day Six

OLD

He began to make his way up the steps but paused a short way up, glancing back, "If I don't get the chance to say so later, take care of yourself and keep Bomoor close."

He turned and carried on, adding to himself, Together, I believe you might stand a chance against the darkness.

NEW

The sheer size of the Jedi Temple alone was enough to scare fledgeling members of the Reborn Jedi Order into absolute submission when they first arrived at their new place of learning, at whatever tender young age they had been taken from their families. Indeed, visitors to the Temple rarely strayed from the obvious sections, such as meeting rooms, the Council Chambers or the Archives, but it was still easy for one to lose their way, and even some Padawans managed to stumble into the wrong areas, despite some years at the Temple.

Thane was considering now how much of the Temple he, himself, must have missed in his years of membership to the Jedi Order. When a youngling (and later as a Padawan), his curiosity had led him on many grand adventures throughout the Temple, seeking out hidden places, sneaking into restricted areas and, of course, being called to places to answer for his misdeeds. He had not been baldy-behaved, he simply did not always agree to not go into interesting areas of the Temple, but even so, he had still not seen a fraction of the dormitory section of the Order's headquarters. Given the sheer number of Jedi both in training or simply in residence at the Temple, there were literally hundreds upon hundreds of rooms throughout a large section of the building, where Jedi of all ages resided.

Some, like Thane, still maintained a room at the Temple despite spending more time on assignment in the galaxy, which served to house their belongings as well as a certain place of rest when not gallivanting about the Third Republic on the Council's whims. It was there he was heading now, as he strode with purpose along one of the narrow corridors of the labyrinthine dormitory area towards his own room, his black greatcoat flapping behind him as he continued onwards. As he stepped through a door into the next string of rooms that faced each other on either side, a Jedi Padawan, just a few years younger than the Jedi Knight, gave Thane a peculiar look, almost as if he did not recognise the Human as a member of the Order, but then spotted the electrum-styled lightsaber hilt swinging from his belt.

If anything, it did more to narrow the Togruta Padawan's eyes, who was seemingly bothered by this dark figure being counted amongst his number. In response, Thane was equally angered by the younger Jedi-in-training, who was likely as incapable as most of the Order in most ordeals, bowing down only to the Council, rather than answering a true moral code. He was pleased when the Togruta entered his room, giving Thane more space to walk a few yards further along until he reached his own room. He input the code and the doors swished open, revealing the basic room each Jedi was warranted.

The original design was nothing but spartan, but Thane had managed to turn it into something more personal. Remembering his short life on his homeworld and fully aware of his noble birth, he had collected a few small tokens relating to Caanus and his noble house (as much as the Jedi Order frowned upon it), alongside various trinkets he found an appreciation for. Namely, pieces of art he had bought, given he still had access to his father's accounts (which was hearty enough, given his status as Archae of Caanus, as well as a former Republic Senator), and various tomes, some of which were deemed illegal - or simply so extortionately rare or wanted that there were massive taxes on them - that were standing upon a variety of shelves he had put up. The area that the Order expected residents to use for meditation and reflection had been minimised by Thane's additions of objects of lore, although he still used the mat for some personal reflections.

From the previous night he had spent here, the book he had been leafing through - being amongst those who preferred paper pages to datapads - was still on the small table by his made bed, a volume of a trilogy of books concerning Grand Admiral Thrawn, a Chiss of some renown from the First Galactic Empire, who had been the only Non-Human to rise through the ranks of the Imperial Navy to the prestigious rank of grand admiral, and had also been the one to nearly topple the fledgeling "New" Republic (now better known as the Second Republic). The three volumes had been hard to come by, but Thane had managed to make some contacts with historians and collectors who liked both having a Jedi on their side, and having a rich Jedi on their side, and so had acquired them a short while back. The most recent volume even had a few excerpts by Admiral Thrawn himself, detailing some of his philosophies and tactics, but the man had never been an author and had never published any of his ideals or thoughts; everything in the volume was taken from other recordings and what history recalled, whilst historians recounted events surrounding the Chiss.

Information concerning the galaxy's Imperial periods was common knowledge, but little that was in-depth was readily available in such works; the Third Republic sought to establish itself as a beacon of democracy and righteousness, whilst the Reborn Jedi Order often sought paths that led away from any history that dealt too much with the Sith, who were often involved, at least on some level, with the Imperial times. Thane could not help but feel some sort of affinity for the time period. Whilst the Galactic Empires often had policies that he disagreed with, and had leaders that were more interested in personal glory than true achievements, there was still a sense of order that appealed to him, and it was true that these Empires birthed a great many fantastic minds and people, both on and against their respective sides.

Naturally, volumes on the 'amazing' Luke Skywalker were readily available, and although the current Jedi Order had deviated from the late Grand Master's teachings and ideals, preferring the original system of the First Order, he was still venerated and held in high regard. Thane did not quite share this attitude, and rarely found himself seeking out information about the Jedi during his intellectual pursuits. Enough of his time in the Archives had been spent scouring for any more interesting and useful information, which had led to him learning a lot about matters he did not care much for, in the past, and he had no wish to hear again what the Masters had already preached to him.

As he regarded his room, he found himself thinking more and more about the new option that had recently presented itself to him, which was becoming more and more obvious with every minute he considered how the Council acted, and particularly with the effect they had had on Bomoor. Such an occurrence was nearly unknown to him, and it angered him that they, in their supposed wisdom, would deign to behave in such a manner, turning a strong and rational individual to such upset, and it clearly involved him. Thane had considered a variety of things they may have suggested, but he was growing to believe he would rather not know.

Leaving the Order was certainly an option, as unappealing as it was in many ways. After all, the Jedi had been a family to him, and they had tried to work with him, to help him and provide him with a future, only they seemed to contradict their own teachings. His moral compass was most certainly developed, but they no longer seemed to register on it, and it was almost like a betrayal of themselves. Most were good people, but so misguided and wrapped in misplaced loyalties and traditionalism; despite being 'good' people, they were rarely intelligent people, a conclusion he had drawn of late. Their own incompetence undermined any hope of taking a more active role in the Republic, to ensure it prospered safely. Equally, they would fail to ever achieve their full potential, as a result. No glory would come to most, unless they seized the opportunity.

And that was the problem: neither the Jedi nor the Order as a whole were willing to seize anything.

There was also the matter of Bería: if their vision had been anything to go by, her training and control would be quintiessential to preventing the spread of true malice, but the Jedi would never permit her training, their own rules designed to protect instead damning many to darkness and suffering.

Considering all of that, Thane let an unamused smile grow on his face as he walked over to a metal box on his table, an old and battered piece that had his initials on it, as well as various other scrapes and marks as a result of its age. He unclasped the lock and opened it, revealing a cylindrical metal object resting upon a makeshift protective cushion. His first lightsaber.

"Thinking of going back to blue?" The familiar voice interrupted the Human's thoughts, its lisp-like and gurgling hissing indicative of its owners aquatic origins. Standing in the doorway, garbed in his blue take on the traditional Jedi robes, was Master Sotah, Thane's Selkath Jedi mentor, and one of the few people he seemed to genuinely respect, despite their extreme divergences in Jedi abilities. Where Thane had more interest in the blade, Sotah's was more on the power of the Force, and how it flowed through all things in life.

"Hardly," Thane responded, locking the box shot and dropping it over onto his bed, "just evaluating a few things." As Sotah made a gesture requesting to come further in, a man who understood Thane's deep desire for privacy, the Human nodded.

"My old Padawan, I know this must be a very troubling time for you, with the appearance of Axion and his cult - the opening of old wounds." Sotah stingray-esque face gave as much show of emotion as it could to a human, a rough approximation of sympathy. "I shan't sit here and patronise you, though, about feelings you are already aware of, just know that I am on your side in this matter. The Council has been too rash, but I am a minority in their decisions, and I fear I am often overlooked."

That made Thane wince. "Then why are you a part of it - why do you stand for it?" To him, that was amongst the problems he found with the Jedi, even those he was closer to.

"Because being on the Council and having little effect is better than not being on the Council and having no effect, Thane," Sotah replied evenly, no trace of malice or aggression in his Selkath tones. "I understand your plight and your concerns, friend. Inaction, incompetence, indecision, yes? But I feel that, given our intrinsic link to all thinks in this universe, one cannot make rash decisions, for fear of doing more harm to the subtle balance of the Force. Sometimes, no action is greater than trying to do something you may believe to be right."

Shaking his head, Thane said, "I can't believe that, but I know you do, but I also think the Council is rather simplifying things too. There's a lot of darkness out there already, and they're always arguing that it is our mandate to reduce that darkness, but then refuse to do something about, often through fear of a greater darkness developing." He waved his hand about his head, and put on a pained expression, grimacing. "They're always contradicting themselves, going around in circles, damning this thing, but praising its twin right before smashing up something else. It's not a case I can't keep up with it, it's simply a case they're overcomplicating things and when it gets down to it, I think they are weakening things, both the Order and the Republic." He sat himself down on his bed heavily, moving the lightsaber box slightly away from him.

Sotah gave a slow nod, stroking one of the lobes that stretched down on his side of his mouth, much like a Human would with a moustache. "You're not a fool, Thane, but neither are the Jedi Masters. They are, after all, Masters. Don't mistake me, though: I have struggled to make my points to the Council at times, often finding myself on a defensive I had no intention to be on, when simply arguing a case for more openness with Padawans, say, or involving ourselves in otherwise 'menial' tasks. There is a lot in the galaxy to be handling, and whilst you would argue the Council does not think big enough, I argue that you think too big, and that they do not think small enough." The Selkath stretched out a blue hand to grasp a palm-sized golden globe, presumably of Coruscant, and turned it in his grip. "As we often did during our missions together in your apprenticeship, I would always advocate going out of one's way to help the poor mother begging at the wayside. After all, if you did not pause to give her a piece of fruit, say, you would never have discovered a nugget of information that could lead you to your objectives, potentially saving more lives."

The Master placed the globe back down before planting a hand upon his old Padawan's shoulder, giving a friendly squeeze. "You are a good man, Thane, with a strong sense of right and wrong, but don't let it go too far, and think on what I have said before you make your decision." Given the expression he was giving the Human that he knew so well, he was certain Sotah had gathered was he had been thinking. "You still have a lot to offer the Order; it's good to challenge the status quo, so long as you don't lose sight of why you challenge the status quo." He made towards the door before looking back to Thane again. "If not before, I shall see you at tomorrow morning's Council meeting with Bomoor. There is bound to be much you should hear, even if you don't wish to."

Thane had kept largely silent through his mentor's explanations, contemplating the points, as well as the plethora of other ideas flooding through his mind, but he managed a small nod and smile to Sotah, blue eyes responding to his friend and Master's words before he departed, but they soon dropped after Sotah left. He found himself looking about his room again, eyes passing from one possession to the next, and of how he would fit the belongings into his bunk on the Red Raptor. Finally, his eyes set onto the golden globe Sotah had held just moments before, and he picked it up himself, turning it in the hand that had suffered electric burns just a few days before at the hands of Axion.

Holding Coruscant in his hand gave him a peculiar feeling, imagining holding the genuine world in itself, of what Sotah said could be taken in such a different way, of how manipulating something small could yield results on a bigger scale but - in a manner of speaking - most things were simply small, and that was a fault he found with most people. They thought themselves so important, their lives meaningful when, in reality, they were like small globes in one's hand, too, as easily polished as they are thrown away by the owner.

Shaking his head, he planted the globe back on its old resting place and leant back, letting out a heavy sigh, too many thoughts on his mind as usual.

He needed to go out.

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