Faction The Precipice [NJO]

[Jem Fossk]

Jem had given up when no one could give her answers. At least she had got the conversation going, which was half the point of her speaking up to begin with. People were engaging with the problem now, which was forward motion at the very least. Whatever they decided, she trusted Dagon to make the right call. For both of them.

She had fallen silent, practicing pained, slow breaths to calm herself down when another voice cut in.

"Hey, Uncle D,"

Jem leaned to the side, her golden skin appearing around Dagon's shoulder as she took in the new face. Intense, blue eyes followed his movement as he talked, her ears perked for a clue in there she could unravel on her own. This involved her father, she could tell.

"Do you know what he's talking about?" She pried.

Dagon Kaze Kyric

 

[Dagon Kaze]

THE PRECIPICE
THE GREAT ERROR vol. II
Issue #12 w/ Kyric Jem Fossk

Dag silently chuckled, wondering where exactly did Kyric store all these things. Field efficiency, he'd heard a combat medic say it once and Ryv reiterating it at some time during the Stygian Campaign. Part of the numerous little details Dagon had picked up from the man subconsciously and employed in his own crime-fighting duty on Denon.

Taking the note, he brought it closer for inspection, with one hand scrubbing his chin. Mike. Bravo. Uniform. Oscar. Sierra. The DF phonetic alphabet everyone among the New Jedi had learned. It could've meant anything if it wasn't for the small, barely visible, asterisk at the bottom of the paper. Code for a star system.

The Jedi tapped his wristpad, then with a few waves of the hand a list of worlds within the Maw's control appeared. They were half - maybe less - of all the systems in the Unknown Regions, at best. It was all the Alliance had been able to map and Dagon could only assume Ryv was working using that database. The bolded-out letters were absolute references, solid in their placement. Had to be.

A little shuffle of the three codes in between the absolute references and only one star system remained.

"Give me everything on this for later, Arthur." he whispered, stealing a glance at the convention behind him. There were probably a lot of reasons why the Sword had opted to operate solo, leaving cryptic messages behind only for the few. And yet, Dag couldn't help but wonder how much of Ryv's suspicions were exaggerated into paranoia. This was the Order he had led, and frankly - he had shaped. The raven-haired Knight wasn't one to judge - he, himself, had been going pretty paranoid lately.

:: Yes, Master Kaze. :: the A.I's voice replied back through the earpiece as Dag shut the projection off.

"Tricky situation," Kyric said aloud to no one in particular. "Tricky, tricky..." he sighed and looked back to Dagon. "He mentioned an end to an era. I did some digging, tried to ascertain precisely what age he referred to, but I don't think it's literal. It's gotta be metaphorical. I just don't have enough evidence yet to piece it all together," he crossed his arms. "I think this goes without saying, but the old man trusts you. Give him some room to work, y'know he won't let you down."

End to an era?

"Do you know what he's talking about?" Jem pried from behind, taking Dagon's attention, "Almost." he bit his lip looking for words. Ryv hadn't left him with just a simple location otherwise, Kyric wouldn't have been the messenger. The messenger was, in fact, part of the message. The second part of what Ryv had left to him.

"We'll have plenty of time to piece it all together on the way back to Denon, Kyric." he finally said after a long moment of silence, "And some more when we get together at the End of the Road." throwing a glance at Jem, then back to Kyric, "There's room for two more, right?" there were three more orphans there - Kyric's siblings, the remaining wards of Ryv.

If Dagon was assuming this was Ryv's final contingency, then it was up to the raven-haired Knight to facilitate setting the foundations for the Sword's legacy. He could feel his feet itch. A year ago, Dag would've just jumped into wild pursuit after Ryv. Stop him, talk him out of it, figure another way. A year later, he had learned to see the bigger picture, no matter how much he disliked it.

Oh, man.

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Were they… Oh, for the love of—

Aeris snapped her fingers aggressively at Dagon, Kyric, and Jem.

"Hey! Focus. Maybe take these talks somewhere else? So far we only have two items and five clarifications on our first draft for this. Straying from the topic will only hinder us." Aeris said and shook her head. "A lot of good ideas have been brought forth regarding what we will expect of the Alliance and what they can expect of us. If no-one can come up with something more solid, these will be the items that I will bring forward when the time comes to present it."

Her eyes wandered across the crowd for a moment before she withdrew a datapad and began to write the notes down.

1. The Jedi will not be judged as a group based on the actions of an individual.
   
   1. Vice versa, the actions of individuals within the Alliance does not speak for the entirety of the Alliance or its institutions.
   2. Capital punishment will not be submitted to under any circumstance unless undeniable proof of Jedi corruption can be provided.
2. In the case that a Jedi is guilty of crimes within the borders of the Alliance they are to be handed over for due justice if sufficient proof can be provided of their guilt.
   
   1. The Jedi are Jedi first and foremost, but they do not act above the laws of the Galactic Alliance.
   2. The Jedi reserve the right to refuse orders that contradict that of their beliefs and core tenets.
   3. The Alliance is within its power to strip Jedi of rank within their structures in the case that they believe said Jedi have acted in such a way that gives just cause for it.

"Now, I am not any lawyer or someone who can claim any extended legal knowledge, but I know how to structure my notes. How does everyone…" She hung on the 'n' for a moment before she hit 'share' and let the others see what she had written down on their own pads. "Feel about that?"

 

[Iris Arani]

"Hey! Focus.-"

Iris practically jumped out of her skin. It was an almost programed response with how often she lost focus. The Padawan stood right up, near dripping with paint at this point to focus on what Aeris Lashiec was saying. Didn't matter the Jedi wasn't talking to her specifically. Though she was quickly lost again. What were they talking about? Something to do with the Alliance.

She really needed to learn politics.

Her gaze fell to the datapad on her hip as it blinked. A message? Oh. That's what they were talking about.

"Uhm, why would a Jedi break a law?"

 

[Kyric]

Kyric blinked at the interruption. He turned to look at Aeris, his gaze a mix of confusion and something kind of like a bear who'd been caught pawing about in a beehive.

"We're doing the whole," he raised a hand beside his mouth, almost like he were speaking directly to her. "Whisper thing. Y'know, as not to interrupt this awesome chat session you guys have going on," his attention shifted from Aeris to the rest of the room. "Or had going on, I guess. Now that everyone is in idle sim mode, I'm not so sure it's us you should be snapping at."

At Iris' question, he shifted focus from reprimanding the librarian to the padawan.

"Lots of reasons," Kyric clapped his hands together like his answer was the answer. "Laws don't benefit the individual. They benefit the system. That often means the little guy ends up falling between the cracks of society, left to wither away and die a forgotten orphan in the slums, lorded over by an abusive drug kingpin with an abject hatred for children," he fell in beside Dagon. "Sometimes, if you wanna do the right thing, you're gonna give a big ol' middle finger to the law and do the right thing."

He looked back to Aeris. "I'm only just showin' up, and to be honest with you, to say I'm a member of the Order is a bit of a stretch, but your second 'item' seems like an excellent way to scapegoat a fellow Jedi who's stuck in an awful position. Decisions are tough enough. Knowing the Order will abandon you cause you decided to do the right thing? Sheeeeesh."

Unsure of what else to say, Kyric simply shrugged. "That's probably a harsh criticism, though. I assume in the case of an extreme scenario, say, slumlords and gangsters doing terrible things while using the law as a shield, there'd be special circumstances for someone who swept through them like a hurricane, dismantled said organization, and did the whole," he raised a hand and mimicked an execution so precisely, you've got to wonder if he'd been unlucky enough to see one, "-permanent solution."

He straightened, lighting up like a Life Day Tree on Life Day Eve.

"Oh! Maybe we can introduce that to our little list! Something like, 'We will protect our own in the event of unjust rulings in the eyes of the Code!'"

Kyric looked back to Dagon. "I'm on a roll today, Uncle D. Can we stop at Hutta Burger after this? I have a coupon for a free shake with a purchase of any Double Decker that's gonna expire tomorrow."

Spoiler

Aeris Lashiec | Iris Arani | Dagon Kaze | Jem Fossk | Kai Bamarri | Traden Avarice | Soren Dar
I tagged everyone I remember. Sorry if I forgot you, you're still a star that belongs on the top of the Life Day tree.

 

[Zaka]

BLACKFANG - THE (NEW) JEDI vol. II
Issue #3 - Precipice
Dagon Kaze Kyric Aeris Lashiec Soren Dar Keiran Varn Traden Avarice Iris Arani Jem Fossk Kai Bamarri

​

"He's right," Zaka said, lightly nodding in the direction of the new kid by Dagon. He hadn't moved far after he had last spoken to the Knight, just remained in the general proximity. Observing. Listening. Vaguely overhearing about a friend on their own in the unknown caused an instinctive frown to crease his forehead before he had spoken.

He'd stop me, but let some guy go off?

A near imperceptible slight that called his own abilities in to question he perceived.

Still, he continued.

"If the law gets in the way of doing what's right, a Jedi should go above it... And the Alliance cannot be allowed to meddle in the affairs of Jedi. From what I gather, that's how we got here in the first place." Blinking, "Barring someone going rogue and slaughtering people, of course."

 

[Dagon Kaze]

THE PRECIPICE
THE GREAT ERROR vol. II
Issue #12 w/ Kyric Jem Fossk Aeris Lashiec Zaka

If one migraine wasn't enough - in the form of Jem - fate decreed it was to be doubled with Kyric. Still, much like Jem, Kyric brought a valid point in the conversation. Both of them just suffered from the youthful inability to deliver it... differently. Then again, Dag would be a hypocrite, if he claimed he didn't suffer from the same drawback. The Force really did a number on 'em, lumping 'em together, huh.

"Only if both of you breathe when you order." he murmured, a grin curling his lips before he turned back to Aeris. Serious matters at hand, "I-- we can't do what we do within the confines of the law, Aeris, you know that. With how corrupt judges are on Denon, good luck ever getting a warrant, let alone a wiretap order signed. And that's hardly a case unique for Denon, too." he shook his head, "No. The law keeps my hands too tied to get anything right done."

 

[Jem Fossk]

And the Alliance cannot be allowed to meddle in the affairs of Jedi. From what I gather, that's how we got here in the first place."

"...No more lock ins?" Jem dared to utter, the simple sentence containing a multitude of pain burred in.

 

[Iris Arani]

Oh. That made se- Oh no.

Kyric answered her question, then kept going. And going. Iris's already short attention span had her spacing off again as the new arrival kept on talking. Only for a moment, but she was pretty sure she missed something important. Yet rather than ask that her gaze shifted to Jem Fossk .

".. Lock ins?"

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

It was just a teenager. Teenagers were hormonal and utterly stupid. Aeris had been one too, it was just a phase. They grew up, eventually. Deep breath, slow nod towards Kyric to acknowledge that he had some good points, or at the very least contributed.

Encourage the good aspects, Aeris.

"These are some solid points, Padadwan Kyric. Although maybe a bit blunt." She slowly inhaled and continued to nod as her pen began to shuffle some of the notes around back into a disheveled pile of text. Not that the others would see this. She began to write down the worries of the more… Independently-driven members of the Order. In the end it would be a question of whether or not their approach was Jedi-like or not, but hey, they had already established that this was not the time or place for that particular discussion — and in truth Aeris really, really couldn't be bothered with it right now.

"Uh, lock-ins as in when they placed our entire under order shortly before we were attacked by the Sith." Aeris smiled at Iris before she turned to look at Jem again. "We covered that one already, but yes, Jem — no more locking down the entire Order over the actions of the few."

"Look, I understand that in certain aspects we would hinder ourselves if we had a blind adherence to law and order, I am not an idiot." Aeris exhaled. "But if we went around dictating which law is worthwhile to follow in order to actually execute the law, we would fall consciously into a belief where we just assume that we know what is best."

"And because I am not one for such blatantly obvious arrogance, how about instead of telling me why this is a bad idea, give the rest of us of an idea of how we could codify something to aid you in your endeavours."

And before any uppity teenagers could respond, "Something more than 'We will protect our own in the event of unjust rulings in the eyes of the Code!' We need compromises, not demands."

 

[Soren Dar]

JOURNEY'S END, TYTHON

Soren's Post 5
"Reassessment"

"Sister Aeris Lashiec , if one is to commit to a cause, they should do so but also accept the consequences going hand in hand with it. If you are working under the jurisdiction of the Alliance, you are bound by its laws. If you are working for a local government, you will be bound by their laws. We Jedi are not elevating ourselves above the law and if any of our order violates the law, then the jurisdiction of the government applies. They will have the right to hold court over the being, Jedi or not.

It is wrong of them to assume that one Jedi represents all Jedi. It is wrong to assume that all Jedi follow the same ideals in their daily approach. It is not upon few outgoing individuals here and today to assume they know better than all of us of what to do just because we can raise our voices to express our opinion and view. Therefore dedicating to a decision or declaration process here and now, is not in our abilities and responsibility.

Yet we have to assume that all members of the Jedi are devoted to the Light side and our Code, that is what unifies us. The Alliance has all the authority on their worlds, just like the New Imperial Order or Eternal Empire and can pass judgement on those who violate law and order by their means of laws.

Speaking for myself, I will not hand anyone over to any authorities because I do not have authority over my brothers and sisters. None of us has. But as stated already, the law is the law and if a Jedi violates it, I would personally expect that Jedi to stand trial in front of the representation of the law he or she broke. Otherwise the path of the Jedi might have to be reconsidered.

From within my heart and conscience I must disagree with your entire summary points, because they are either not in our reach to influence nor decide. We are not making any laws, we are supporting them, we are supporting the laws of freedom, peace and harmony, and we, as declared, have no intention to put ourselves above or outside of these laws. We have to adhere to them. We are citizens of this Galaxy, just as any other being.

I want to advocate again for a less concentrated and centralized solution here. There are those among us who see their duty to support the war effort pro-actively. There are those, like myself, who roam the galaxy to help and aid those who are suffering indirectly from constant war and instability. There are others who are in the pursuit of knowledge and to preserve everything for future generations. Instead of attempting to phrase a manifesto for the entirety of the Jedi, we should let the Force guide us, let each and everyone do what they are best at and those who wish to organize and centralize can send their call out for aid. Calls which I am certain will not go unanswered."

Dagon Kaze , Jem Fossk , Traden Avarice , Keiran Varn , Aeris Lashiec , Zaka , Iris Arani , Kai Bamarri , Bernard of Arca
​

 

[Kyric]

"Oh, uh, Kyric is fine. I'm not really a padawan yet," Kyric smiled.

As Soren began to speak, Kyric fell back into silence. He allowed himself to ponder Aeris' points rather than directly fire off a response.

Compromise, huh?

That's silly. Most people in the Alliance are too stupid to know the difference between a Sith, a Rogue, or a Dark Jedi.

What he said. Why are we even chasing the approval of a government anyway? Fuck em.

Hell yeah.

"Shut up," Kyric mumbled.

After Soren finished, Kyric cleared his throat.

He looked back to Aeris and nodded slowly. "When negotiating, compromise is a powerful tool. But sometimes there is some ground you just can't give. In this case, maybe we can stand by my initial idea, but create a set of guidelines or checks and balances we have to personally adhere to. If we, the acting party, can justify said actions, but you, the Circle, cannot justify the actions taken based on said guidelines, then we can turn over whoever to whatever party you think is best," he paused. "The Alliance, I guess."

It was clear the diversion of thought had kept him from keying in too deeply to anything Soren said. Sorry man.

Boo! Tell her to fuck off!

Kyric looked past Dagon on his left, his attention seemingly diverted to nothing at all. "Shut the fuck up," he mumbled again, loud enough for Dagon to make out. Maybe.

Dagon Kaze | Iris Arani | Aeris Lashiec | Soren Dar | Zaka | Jem Fossk​

 

[Iris Arani]

"Uhm.. Can we talk without so many words? It's really hard to focus."

 

[Kyric]

Kyric does one of these, points at Iris when finished, and nods in agreement.

 

[Kai Bamarri]

At the mention of going to Hutta Burger afterwards, Kai sagged in disappointment. He wasn’t even in the same system as them, therefore he was barred from indulging in fast food. No doubt much to his elders’ relief.

Iris continued to be confused. Kai scribbled IRIS WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE? on his board, waved it in front of her distracted face with a grin. That smile faded as he listened to the others.

DAG, to get the Knight’s attention.

COMICS ARE COOL, BUT WE AREN’T IN ONE. FIND ONE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE, AND GET A REAL JOB.

He knew the board’s limited space was truncating his words, but he hoped his meaning had gotten through. None of them could afford to be acting like vigilantes, no matter how frustrating it was to deal within the limits of the law.

On the other hand, the law had screwed them over. He knew that, had seen the effects of it with his own eyes. If anything, he should’ve been on the side of the other fiery young Padawans who wanted to rebel against authority. But he wasn’t. Maybe it was the lack of teenage hormones coursing through his tainted bloodstream (after all, he often felt either far too young or far too old to understand the perspective of most other Jedi, caught somewhere in the middle between innocence and wisdom), or the fact that he existed now, as this thing, because of someone who didn’t care about any laws. Or maybe he just didn’t like the idea of tumbling casually over the edge of an abyss of unknowns.

Aeris was right. If they relied on their own personal judgment to decide which laws were worth following, the law might as well not matter. To that end, Kai didn’t understand where Soren was coming from. Was he afraid the Jedi would use it against each other, accusing a rival of breaking the law in order to get rid of them, or something like that? Surely that was—

Kai’s gaze shifted toward Jem.

…A ridiculous idea.

WE’RE SUPPOSED TO FOLLOW THE CODE. LET THE CODE BE OUR GUIDELINES. APPOINT PEOPLE THAT MUST INTERPRET THE CODE AND FIGURE OUT IF IT’S BEEN BROKEN. IT IS A MORAL CODE, NOT LAWS. IF ANYTHING THE CODE IS STRICTER. SO THERE SHOULDN’T BE CONFLICT BETWEEN LAW AND CODE.

Zaka Dagon Kaze Jem Fossk Aeris Lashiec Traden Avarice Soren Dar Iris Arani Kyric​

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Aeris was not one to show any real strong emotion. Not because of the whole 'Jedi are rigid robots' thing, but because there was never any good reason to lose her calm. Often times when things looked dire she liked to pride herself on the fact that for as long as she took a deep breath she could always count on the fact that being calm was the only way to get anything done. This situation was different and yet not really.

The only person in this room who had any chance at seeing the small cracks appear was Dagon. She looked over at him as Soren spoke before she glanced back at the knight who advocated that they moved to a more decentralized structure, which arguably was exactly how they had ended up where they were today. The Circle was a perception of power; the members of the order had almost always simply done what they wished and Aeris had no desire to really change that.

But she refrained from voicing this, all too aware that her own embittered opinion risked bleeding through into the conversation. She gave the Knight a quiet nod, but as she was about to answer him she was cut off with a surprisingly inspired suggestion by Kyric.

"Excellent sugges—" She began before the growing smile on her lips faded into complete confusion. She had seen the other younglings do those dances, but it had been maybe a fortnight or two since then. "Good idea from, uhhh, both Kyric and Iris. You too, Soren."

Inhale. She saw the message on Kai's board. Never before had she ever wanted to hug someone as tight as she wanted to hug that stupid little kid right now.

Exhale.

"This is not a set of laws we are drafting, or a new addition to the code, or anything like that." She explained, carefully. "The autonomy of the New Jedi Order is safe, we are not looking to arrange ourselves alongside the Alliance entirely. What we are doing is setting up guidelines to further cement the how's and the why's that would go into smoothly working alongside the Alliance again, because it clearly has reached a point where such measures are called for."

"And, as such, yes. The law already have applied to us, and yes, we clearly need something in place to protect ourselves from the Alliance just as much as we need something to protect the Alliance from us."

"What Kyric said is a very good idea. We should be thinking about checks and balances to ensure that we do not start to consider ourselves the de facto lawmakers of a whole galactic nation that have their own people for that."

 

[Jem Fossk]

"And, as such, yes. The law already have applied to us, and yes, we clearly need something in place to protect ourselves from the Alliance just as much as we need something to protect the Alliance from us."

Action, no chance of lock ins, more autonomy, that was all Jem wanted to hear. She didn't trust the senate, not with a ten foot banta pole ever since the order.

She wasn't stupid enough to think her father would walk away from the position without measures in place to keep the senate in maw control. Power was everything, and the risk of that power hurting or miss using the jedi further...

Well Jem knew the plan. It was only a matter a time.

I will take everything--

She snapped herself out of the memory, a spark of anxiety channeling into pettiness ... that force-flicked Kai Bamarri 's hologram off. It was the tiniest ripple in the force. No way anyone could trace it to her.

Right?

 

[Kyric]

Kyric lazily waved his hand in the direction of the hologram and reactivated it.

Kai Bamarri​

 

[Dagon Kaze]

THE PRECIPICE
THE GREAT ERROR vol. II
Issue #12 w/ Kyric Jem Fossk Aeris Lashiec Zaka Soren Dar

"Compromise??--" he flared up, revving up the same engines he'd promised not to before cooling off once he noticed the little crevices forming on Aeris' face. She was standing there, right in the middle of it, as a thousand opinions and views sought to tip the balance one way or the other. Balance. If there was anyone among the New Jedi to play that role of a mediator, that was her. The librarian whose social life amounted to a walk from aisle one to aisle twenty. Little did Dagon know of her 'adventures' with Yula some time ago.

Catching Kai's writings on the board, a thin, somber smile tugged at his lips. If only it was that easy.

"Shut the fuck up,"

"Kyric?" he frowned, unsure who the teenager was talking to.

Then, Jem jittered out of something and the Knight arched a confused eyebrow, "Jem-- you two ok--..." a sigh escaped his lips, his attention was being diverted too easily, "...nevermind."

"What checks and balances, Aeris? The Code's not enough?" he asked, voice composed.

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris was trying to pay attention. Really, really trying. She'd gotten distracted nearly immediately by the tree, sure. But it was pretty! She just had to draw it. But now she was paying attention! Or, was.

IRIS WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE?

She caught it just before the image flickered on and off. A pout formed as she turned back to her painting, going back to that instead. It's not like she really understood what was going on, and at least she could focus on the paint.