@[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]
Aleidis narrowed her eyes, her head darting towards Joshua as he spoke. In an instant, her considerable mental defenses went up - she'd come in with them down, to be polite, but that courtesy had been taken advantage of and would no longer be extended. "With all due respect, Master Dragonsflame, if I'd intended to have a private conversation with you, I would have done so over holovid." The Ghostling replied curtly, impatiently. How rude someone must be, to just try and speak into your mind without permission. From this point forward, her mind was an iron fortress, defended by the will of a Master specialized in doing exactly this sort of thing. "For the sake of being polite to the remainder of the Council..."
Aleidis gestured to her right, where a shimmering representation of Joshua - formed by the White Current - came into being beside her. The illusion wasn't perfect, but it didn't have to be. The illusion spoke with his voice, reciting his message... save for the endearment that began it. After all, she didn't want to embarrass him by giving the Council the idea that his vision was clouded by their past.
Joshua DragonsFlame said:
"I hate to interrupt you, it's why I'm doing this mentally so I don't have to. But we've been discussing this since O'Reen. We've talked to the Chancellor, we've talked to the Republic, we've talked amongst ourselves. The "warmongering" has stopped, there won't be any declared without a necessity, such as the Sith war, which was a necessity as much as I hate to admit.. Sadly, people don't seem to have gotten the memo, and continue to bring talks such as this as if we'd just declared war on everybody and razed your homes and soiled your crops. As for the land grab, I know there's a plan for that to end once our current missions on certain planets have ended, if that brings any comfort. You go ahead and say what you have to. I'll let the rest of the Council say their piece"
It's missive finished, the illusion faded away like smoke. "If I've misrepresented your words at all, Master Dragonsflame, feel free to speak up and correct them." Aleidis invited flatly. "This is the Jedi Council - not a tweenage classroom. Furtively passing notes under the table is beneath the decorum I'd expect from a Jedi Councilor."
"Master Dragonflame's assurances that decisions have been made and talks have been had do little to sway my opinion." Aleidis explained, slipping her hands behind her back again as she addressed the rest of the Council in turn. "I'm sure you
have talked it over, and I'm sure you're all sick to death of heating about how horrible people think you are. Mayhap there's a nugget of truth in there, maybe there isn't. But your talks, and your exasperation won't comfort the dead on O'Reen. They will not bring peace to Metalorn. The people napalmed on Tund rest no easier because you've been inconvenienced by people who think you've not only abandoned your duties, but perverted them entirely and become a farce of what a Jedi
aught to be!"
"No, Joshua - I didn't 'get the memo' that the Republic decided to calm the heck down, and it wouldn't have changed this visit a whit if I had. I am not here to negotiate or hear justifications, I am here to do what I have done for years, now: writing a wrong that aught to have never occurred." Aleidis promised intently. "When I left the Republic - or was fired, whichever you prefer - I'd managed to organize Galactic peace. Tenuous peace, peace which required a great deal of upkeep, but peace nonetheless. I sacrificed my career, my aspirations, my health - I sacrificed every plan I'd made for my life, without hesitation, because it was for the good of the Republic."
"And I hadn't been gone
half a year before you yahoos got your blood up and
messed it up!" Aleidis accused heatedly. "Did you send any diplomats or mediators to the Sith Empire before you made invasion plans and sent the already frail organization into a complete tailspin? You attacked an allied government because they absorbed a smaller nation, and only expressed your concerns on who they'd absorbed after
how many soldiers died?" She asked. "No, Master Dragonsflame. I didn't see the memo. I saw a mad scramble to spitefully sit on Korriban after a war that could have been avoided and should not have been. I saw chaos in the rim planets when the only thing close to a central government - a badly formed, imperfect government - fell like a house of cards before the military might of the Jedi Order." The Ghostling drew herself up to her full height (which wasn't much) and took in a deep breath. "When did your solution to Darkness become a beheading instead of a guiding light? Evil is a choice, Joshua - you know this better than most. With our help, the Sith Empire was slowly reforming, moving away from tyranny. They'd abolished slavery, for light's sake! And rather than showing them a better way through example, or helping them walk a better path, you knocked them out of the Galaxy and made martyrs of them. Your children and your children's children will have to deal with the countless enemies, grudges and hatred that single conflict has created. Rather than try and mend a rift, you did what has been done and done over since time immemorial - you stooped to their level, covered yourself in their filth, and now you complain because people think you dirty."
"How
dare you be flippant about this." Aleids hissed, glaring at the blond man who'd at one point been her closest confidante. "Don't you have any
shame? I can see the question burning in the back of your eyes, Joshua, so you may as well ask it. Ask me why I was on O'Reen, fighting for the other side. Ask me why I - who's moral compass you've always trusted, who has laid down life and limb for the greater good enough times to carry herself proudly - took up arms against the Republic on O'Reen." She let her arms fall to her sides, then, stopping the wild gesturing that had accompanied her little speech. "If you can look me in the eyes and ask me the questions you should already know the answers to, then you're not half the man I knew."
"And if you think my business about being a monkeywrench for any subsequent expansion the Republic intends to do was in any way up for conversation or negotiation, you're sadly mistaken. The wheels are in place and rolling, regardless of what happens here today. I'm merely here to deliver the message. To tell you
how things are going to be - because when somebody you love has messed their pants, you don't suggest they might do well to go change, you tell them to clean themselves up. And when a dog has turned bad and starts biting, you don't shoot it before you find out what's wrong - but you sure as heck put it in a cage fore it hurts anyone else." Aleidis finished sternly.