>>5655890“Regardless,” you say, sipping at your drink, “Killing her would have alienated the other Jedi – I need teachers for the remaining younglings we have. And I’m not about to do the Empire’s dirty work for them when there are so few of us left.”
Kreia’s eyes seem to glitter with intent. “And yet is it not the duty of the Shadows to hunt down and eliminate adherents of the Dark Side? By any standard, she had Fallen to the Dark Side the moment she attacked you. In sparing her, you have evaded duty and responsibility.”
“It isn’t my place to judge her.”
“If not you, then who?”
“My Master,” you say with confidence, “He and the Triumvirate will pass judgement on Potkin.”
The image seems to waver at the mention of the Triumvirate, but quickly stabilizes. “You are merely shirking your responsibility. And even then, what what will be their judgement? A slap on the wrist, a lecture on the dangers of falling to one’s emotions, or a temporary expulsion from the order? You cannot rely on them to make the choices that are necessary to save the galaxy.”
Master Larid certainly would have made mincemeat out of Potkin. But whether or not he’d take her prisoner in an effort to redeem or get her to see the error of his ways…that’s a coin toss that could go in either direction.
But she’s wrong about shirking responsibility. Not when you’re making fast tracks towards Amagi. If nothing else, this whole mess will set a precedent for you to have carte blanche to deal with like-minded enemies.
“So you think that I should have killed her,” you accuse her.
Kreia spreads her hands. “It matters not what I think you should have done, but that we must now live with your choice and the consequences that flow downstream of them. What will be the consequences of sparing her? Will she forgive you for your maiming and humiliation, or will she see you as weak? Will she seek revenge, biding her time for the opportune moment to strike?
“You say you are unwilling to do the Empire’s work for them, but there is a greater evil in letting a gangrenous rot spread through what remains of the Jedi. And left untreated, it might very well spell the doom of the order.”
You direct a flat look. “Using your analogy, it would be extreme to amputate when antibiotics would fit the illness.”
“And yet, when the infection is deep-seated and has resisted all attempts at cure, what then? ‘Antibiotics’ can only do so much for a disease…or a recalcitrant patient that refuses to cooperate. And when the head healer is nowhere to be found, it is the obligation of the most local authority to make a decision to save the body.”
<span class="mu-i">“GIVE HER BACK! GIVE US BACK OUR SISTER!</span>
As if she could read your mind, Kreia muses dryly: “There are worlds of difference between Torok Lamal and Shadday Potkin. His massacre of the Tof slavers has undoubtably made the galaxy a safer place for all of sentient life.
(cont.)
