Braze let the last answer settle into the room, his gaze moving over the gathered students, lingering just long enough to make it clear he had listened intently to each of them… and weighed the answers given.
He
did glance up at
Elora Praithwyn
as she entered the room, though he made no move to admonish her for arriving late. Instead, he offered her a pleasant smile, as though simply pleased she had chosen to attend. He paused just long enough for her to settle before continuing, allowing her the full benefit of his words.
"You have all given answers that sound defensible," he said at last.
"That is what makes Form Zero dangerous." He spoke simply, as though drawing back the veil from some truth hidden within the idea.
"The wrong choice is often obscured by a mask of virtue."
He stepped forward from the front of the room, and yes, as far as
Casaana
saw, since her droid had so unceremoniously stolen his socks, he had not replaced them. His feet were still bare at the toes and heels, having forgone anything resembling proper shoes in favor of trapeze boots that protected the instep and arches, but otherwise left the rest exposed.
"To kill swiftly can be called decisiveness. To spare can be called mercy. To stun can be called restraint. To seek a way where no one suffers can be called wisdom. All of those may be true… and any of them may become excuses."
He turned his attention across the room, looking to each student in turn, addressing each stance as best he could without seeking to resolve the debate outright. He meant instead to press against the edges of their thinking, and to test how far those ideas could bear weight.
"If you kill too quickly, you may call fear clarity. If you hesitate too long, you may call cowardice compassion. If you cling to nonviolence when others will die for it, you have chosen your own conscience over their safety. If you speak as though a true Jedi should always find a perfect answer, then you may be in love with innocence more than reality..."
A small pause followed as he let out a soft sigh, his expression settling into something more serious letting his words sink in.
"Form Zero is the burden of choosing what stain on your hands you are willing to carry… and why. Not every situation will be black and white, and not every answer will come cleanly. You cannot control everything another will do, nor should you be expected to carry blame for actions, or inaction, that are not your own. Mercy without responsibility is sentiment. Protection without restraint is brutality... and a Jedi is asked to walk between them while the ground gives way beneath their feet."
His gaze swept the room once more studying the students expressions.
"Very good, Diogo … the situation changes when we possess special knowledge of our opponent... Though I will caution you against speaking the Butcher King's name as it draws' his attention. " Braze's tone remained even, though the lesson beneath it revealed it's teeth.
"For those of you unaware,
Darth Carnifex
is an imposing figure of immense power; A Dark Lord seated high within the present-day Sith power structure, and he is no fool. Death is an inevitability he fears so deeply that he has layered himself in ritualized esoteric protections, and amassed a degree of power and control few could hope to match. He is not so easily dealt with as a fruit vendor on Tatooine. To defeat such an enemy requires tact, judgment, and understanding beyond what most ever need to cultivate."
He paused considering what else to impart on those gathered as this was not an intended subject for today's lessons but a good point that was raised.
"But you are right to note the difference. He is precisely the sort of being who delights in making these types of situations far more difficult to deal with. He sows despair because despair serves him. The Sith understand the unfair edge the dark side may grant them against those who serve the Light, and they waste no time in abusing it. Not merely to kill, but to corrupt the space around the killing. Innocents are butchered not only to remove them, but to leave abject terror behind in those forced to watch. Fear bends people to their knees and grief weakens them, whilst guilt lingers."
His eyes narrowed slightly with the seriousness of the subject.
"So do not be too quick to believe you could have stopped his hand every time, or prevented every death, and do not claim his sins as your own. That is one of the oldest snares such monsters lay before you. They want you off balance, and to be burdened by helplessness. They want your spirit to stagger before your body ever does. And they want you to feel rage at their actions because then they win. YOU will never find a 'fair' fight with them."
His voice lowered then, though it did not soften in tone or edge as he continued to give his final note on this particular subject.
"It is a hard thing to face… and even Masters may struggle beneath the sight of such immense cruelty. What you witness in those moments can shake your footing more severely than any blow..." he trailed as that pale jade green gaze became distant perhaps at the stir of old memories.
"That is why you must learn to see the trap for what it is; fear makes the wolf loom larger than he is. The point has been illustrated well enough, I think, so I will set Dark Lords of the Sith aside for now. That path would carry us too far from the lesson at hand and into deeper theory than I mean to burden you with today. If any of you wish to pursue the matter further, I will remain after class to discuss it."
He said in conclusion on that topic.
"So... let us make the question uglier." He paced from one side of the room to the other, gesturing lightly with his hands as he spoke.
"The person before you in this scenario is armed. They have one hostage in hand and others behind them. You have but one single instant. " He said raising his index finger and holding his hand up to emphasize this part.
"A clean stun may fail, and a disarming strike may cripple, and a killing blow may save everyone else.... But.... They are afraid, desperate, and not yet beyond reach… but if you misjudge them, someone innocent may die."
He tilted his head slightly, letting the new scenario take shape in the theater of the mind.
"What do you choose now… and what consequence would you accept for choosing it?"
He gave them all ample time to offer their suggestions or words before he crossed the room, rather than pacing the room at large, he closed the distance one student at a time to offer a few of them more specific questions geared towards their answers.
He came to a stop before
Eloise Dinn
, his attention settling fully upon her.
"And if you kill to protect five, only to learn later the threat might have been stopped another way… what has that choice made of you?"
He turned next toward
Valor the Forsaken
, drawing nearer until the question no longer belonged to the room, but to him.
"How long do you permit yourself to think before thought becomes delay...? And if you stay your hand because you see fear in them. In that instant, they strike past you at someone smaller, slower, weaker. Is that blood partly yours?"
When he came before
Kael Venn
, he paused again,
"Do the people behind your enemy not deserve mercy too? When does sparing one become abandoning another?"
He moved again, the turn of his body carrying him toward
Dirk
"If saving the fabool means crippling the one before you, do you do it? There are two innocent Fabools... not one. One is beside you. One is farther away. You can only reach one in time. Who receives your protection first?"
From there he stepped toward
Casaana
, the faintest trace of awareness passing through the line of his mouth as though he had not forgotten her droid's earlier theft in the slightest… but the humor did not linger as this was a very serious lesson.
"Usually is not always. What do you do when stunning fails? The target is armored against stun, half concealed behind a hostage, and already injured enough that another shock may stop their heart. What now?"
At last he turned toward
Oryn Selvar
,
"What do you call the Jedi who arrives too late through no fault of his own? Does calling it failure help the innocent survive it?"
He paused briefly letting the first two questions settle before pressing harder with the next,
"Say you arrive after the 'failure'... The fire is already burning.... A blade is already raised.... And there is no earlier intervention left to you; What does your philosophy offer now?"
Only then did Braze let his gaze leave the last student and pass once more over the room as a whole.
"Not what comforts you," he said softly.
"Not what flatters the image you hold of yourself as a Jedi. What do you offer now… when the moment has already soured in your hands, and still demands that you choose?" 
Kitter Bitters
Diogo
Ko Vuto
Leos
