Private In my Father's House

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

His blade spun upwards, coming to a stop above his head. The faint shimmer of the emerald blade washed over his face, causing a green tint to his determined looking brown eyes. His foot fell back slightly, preparing for a potential second strike from the other Jedi.

"I am doing the Jedi thing, Miri," Brandyn said. His tone was resolute.

"It is not controlling me. Destroying itself is not its goal. Your desire to preserve it tells me you are either misguided...arrogant...or being manipulated," he said.

Brandyn stepped forward, showing as if to strike from above before thrusting his hand forwards to push her away. His swing continued downwards toward the artifact.

| Miri Nimdok |​

 

[Miri Nimdok]

"I am doing the Jedi thing, Miri."

"It is not controlling me. Destroying itself is not its goal. Your desire to preserve it tells me you are either misguided... arrogant... or being manipulated."

Miri was left almost at a loss for words. This situation was so strange, so unexpected. Here she was, defending a Dark Side artifact, one powerful enough to break down her mental defenses. And why? Was she still under its influence? No. She was in her right mind now. Then was it simply a kneejerk reaction to the idea of destroying anything old and rare and irreplaceable?

Was preservation of the past not a noble, worthwhile goal? Was knowledge not worth having, even if it was knowledge of an evil thing? She thought of her father, how he had fought to save the Sith relics locked away in the Jedi archives. "I am a teacher first, a Jedi second," he'd said. Was that what she was? An archaeologist first, a Jedi second?

"Just because you are doing the opposite of what it wants does not make it right!" Miri retorted. "What consciousness or entity wouldn't want to preserve itself? Do you want your existence to end? Do you think I do?—"

Her words were abruptly cut off as he reached out and pushed her back. The Force was behind his gesture, causing her to slide across the smooth polished floor against her will. Meanwhile Brandyn brought his blade crashing down toward the necklace, ready to destroy it and all the knowledge it contained.

There was no time to lose. With a swiftness that astonished even Miri herself, she pulled the stun pistol from its holster at her hip and fired twice at Brandyn, praying at least one of the shots would hit its mark.

Brandyn Sal-Soren​

 

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

Though Brandyn's blade had a fairly set trajectory, he was able to block the first of two stun rings fired his way. Momentum had carried his blade to far away from where it needed to be for the second, thus the stun ring hit its intended target and Brandyn's body betrayed him.

Like a curtain quickly pulled, Brandyn felt his mind uncooperative as his limbs went numb, and then his eyes. The Jedi-turned-ragdoll dropped to the ground, saber hilt rolling from his loosened grasp. The blade began to retract as if in perfect timing with the hilts fall to the ground, leaving the artifact unscathed even as the still warm emitter of Brandyn's lightsaber hit the golden relic.

There was no time for complaint. Only darkness.

| Miri Nimdok |​