Path to Legacy Interludes 3 and 4
The Thief
The concept of theft, the philosophy of it was interesting…it started with the concept of ownership. To steal was to take ownership of something someone else claimed ownership of…but what was it to own something…
Everything came from nature in the end, when the first sentients made tools did they not steal them from the plants and rocks, did they pay for it? Did they offer compensation when they mined and farmed to the planets they abused? Did not the predator take the flesh of the prey, was that theft, certainly no prey would willingly give its flesh in trade.
Why now on these worlds ask for forgiveness or to repay the environment from what had been taken…civilization had never asked before. It just took.
It was a law of nature, it had no moral dimension, to take that which was there…even the simplest prokaryote did that with no regards to who else might own or possess an errant protein.
He should write a book on that one day. He thought of opening a text application to start…ah but where would it finish, what could it tell that people didn’t already know in their hearts to be true.
He went back to his main task, before him a wall of blue lit screens filled with the code and rules that made Coruscant Savings and Loans run. The formula’s of an organization that could make or break a life by approving or rejecting a loan or payment extension stood before him…implacable logic of virtual intelligences that assessed a man’s worth by his capacity to repay…all just theft by another name.
“That one,” his companion pointed,
He nodded,
“should work…I’ll check how much…” he input a few parameters into a search function, transaction size 50,000 credits plus, transaction timing within 6 hours, COUNT….a thin white circle spun, then the result, 22 million transactions a day, processing fee 3 credits appeared on the centre screen. A small price for a fast secure payment.
“Make it 5,” his companion ordered,
He plugged in the smallest of changes a 3 to a 5, then adjusted the fee collection schedule and it was done.
“urrgggh” in the corner the President of Courascant Savings and Loans was stirring again….his companion flicked a glance at him sending him back to sleep. For the President this was all just a strange dream in which he and two strange furry animals had gotten up at midnight, gone into the office, used the biometric scanner to access to computer core, then he would awake back in his own apartment and think nothing of it.
Meanwhile hidden in the depths of the automatic systems, every day small fees would be charged and increased for different transactions, 1 credit for a loan approval, 2 for an early repayment and now 2 for a 6 hour transfer of 50,000 plus. And the extra credits from these increased fees would be siphoned through various accounts to the Indigenous Peoples Habitat Reclamation Charity, of which he and his companion were the sole owners, employees and beneficiaries.
At this rate they would be reaping 150 million credits a day from 1 or 2 credit fees on the millions of transactions that occurred across Coruscant each day – and that was just from this bank!
They were just taking the fat nature offered, like scavengers taking the leavings on a large kills after the prime predators had left. It was barely stealing…people willingly paid the fee after all for the service, did it matter it didn’t all go back to the bank…wasn’t their efforts in kidnapping the president worth a good return?
And in the end, who didn’t steal from nature, they were just taking their cut.
The Orthodox
He did not want to see the Jedi destroyed, from without or within. That was why he had to do this…he didn’t want to but it was necessary.
Zhe had been a good Knight, dedicated and obedient to the Council…but over time zher defiance had grown in subtle ways…now he was forced to this. The Knight he had chosen to bring zher in was little better, everyone could see the armour he wore under his robe, and got a glimpse of the blasters he carried…but his unorthodoxy was in appearance and tools not in philosophy so far as he could tell.
There was nothing explicitly against wearing armour or using blasters in the Jedi code or ordinances, it was more tradition…he knew if he came down too hard on minor infractions he would create a system so rigid it would snap…this was the first threat that could destroy the Jedi…an unbending discipline that broke its own back.
Yet this was the path he knew he was treading ever so gradually…it was as he determined the lesser of the two evils.
The second threat was more insidious, more subtle, yet for more dangerous. To allow deviations, so called ‘progressive’ ideas infiltrate and change the Jedi would cause them to become diluted, their beliefs would become little more than ‘guidelines’, their code a quaint tradition paid only lip service…to stem this kind of pernicious thinking he had exiled the Gray. Cultural osmosis would turn them into little more than regular citizens with odd power, a talented, but indistinguishable police force.
Within two or three generations, everything that made them Jedi would be lost. Accommodation to individual desires and trends of the time would lead to the allowance of relationships and collaborations, creating inevitable conflicts of interest whilst also reducing the pull to side with the Jedi in that event…they would gain some with a more accepting outlook, but over time they would vanish as the distinction between a citizen and a Jedi dwindled to nothing.
And so he had to send this Knight to bring in another…zhe had been sent to investigate and report on the activities of the Sons of Kessel not join them. Whatever the arguments it was not the Jedi’s place to impose Republic law and morality on non-republic worlds.
He chuckled, it was ironic, he feared the gradual spread of ideas over time would dilute and destroy the Jedi, yet was banking on such a gradual spread of Republic values into Hutt space and the outer rim to end slavery there.
“You understand,” he said to the Knight, “I want this resolved peacefully if possible…”
The Knight was one of the most intelligent “but…” he replied knowing there was a caveat
“I cannot tolerate two things,” he leaned forward in his council seat, they were the only two in the chamber as the sunset outside casting orange shadows across half their faces “one a rogue Jedi in the Outer rim actively attacking non-Republic assets, and two…”
he paused to consider how best to say this without being explicit about how he really wanted this to end,
“a rogue Jedi within the temple recruiting others to attack non-Republic assets,”
“I see,” the knight said, he could sense little from this knight at the best of times, he nodded, “I’ll take care of it master”, with a brief nod he departed.
It was a fine balancing act, to keep the Jedi between these two fates, breaking and dissolving…but he knew he was the only one who could do it.
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“You joined zher on the mission?,” a master to the far end asked
“Yes, zhe insisted on going, I had to follow, also I thought perhaps I might get an understanding of what zhe was doing and thus be better informed in how to convince zher to return”
“and how did zhe die?” the master beside him asked
“unfortunately master, it was as simple as a stray blaster bolt during the fighting…”
The master hung his head, “that is unfortunate.”
He didn’t know if that was true or not, the body had been brought back with the blaster wounds, whether it had been simply the battle or the Knight they were now debriefing had had a hand in it would never be known. He didn’t really care.
“Zhe will be remembered,” he spoke up, “Though we disagreed, zher heart was in the right place, but let this remind us how following our feelings can be so dangerous,”
The masters and the Knight bowed their head in mourning. He wasn’t happy with the outcome, zhe should never have left, but perhaps zher death would serve as a warning to others to remain within the Jedi, to keep to the path.
It may be a narrow path, and many needed correction to remain upon it, but he knew it was the right one.