Music OOC [Recurring]
As Vayla’s peeled eyes lingered on the holograms, the horrors were peeled back like skin and flesh. The situation was certainly worse than anticipated, and Vayla remembered her statement back in the temple of how it was in some way fortunate that Durr the Hutt had broadcasted these Force adepts. The Jedi Order was better off knowing about these transgressions sooner rather than later, even with the consequences to themselves, and sure enough that broadcast was not alone. Nar Shaddaa. Mustafar. Mimban. Ukio. Where does it end? What else have we yet to see? Sith. Dark Jedi. Knights of Ren. These were dark times indeed.
As the questions were voiced one after the other, Vayla shared her apprentice’s position in remaining silent and listening, sipping tea. There was a well of information to process and partition, from the display of a masked swordsman to the notion that these individuals, or indeed groups, were at least in part posing as members of the Jedi Order for the purpose of deception. Mila spoke Vayla’s thoughts regarding whether these attacks were unified or isolated. Different times. Different places. Different shades. Yet, the same shadow. The same darkness. The same wound that girdles the Force so tightly I can feel it in my chest.
Vayla took in a deep breath to loosen her lungs as she digested Ky Maryk’s words, pocketing a datacard when it came her way. What the Jedi Knight was suggesting had been suggested at least once before, back in the meeting called by Oren Zapan, and all the better that it should be emphasized here and now. The Jedi needed to be Jedi, not stop, not hide or run or fight, but help and repair and show what the Jedi Order was both to and for this galaxy. If darkness was creeping between the stars then it was up to the guardians of the light to keep those stars bright. Darkness rises and the light must rise to meet it.
“One question, Knight Maryk.” Vayla held up her hand to make it easier for him to find her, but hesitated. A red blade burning with hate. Blue blades. Vibroblades… “While I believe that none in our family would actively seek confrontation with these darksiders, or whatever it is we want to group them as, neither them nor us can ensure that any encounter will result in merely a report...”
As she spoke, she became less sure of where her words were going, though sure enough that she wasn’t appealing to the Council. Still, this needed to be considered, and so she found herself looking across the countenances around her rather than only one.
“If these individuals would slaughter with abandon, massacre a village, potentially even pose as one of us then, Force forbid, if we cross paths we may also cross blades... Are we ready for that? To take on these individuals in combat—one or five or however many more—if it comes to it?”
It wasn’t a question of whether any of them had the capability but how each of them would respond. Already, certain Jedi had encountered these distant souls, whether they were the same ones in the videos or not. Future encounters might be sparse so early on, but care and caution could not be understated terms. Every action would have a reaction, and the latter could easily trump the former. Ky had said it all: dark times. Times that none of us have truly experienced before.
"If it takes a sword to end a life then it may also take a sword to save one. Darkness rises and the light must rise to meet it. All I'm saying, my friends, is to be resolved that, sooner or later, the light of our sabers may be what rises—against this shadow that falls."
Vayla ended her speech there and took a drink of tea to settle her tension, her thoughts already at war with one another. Master... Where are you now? Why is it your own lightsaber that I feel burning inside my chest?
