Jedi Academy

Silas had said it was likely a wise idea to talk to one of the Masters, still no one had seemed particularly interested in that, so in time he decided to go himself. Master Din should still be awake at this hour after all, and he was the first to come to mind this late. Well, honestly Knight Farissa had been, but she was probably getting ready for bed, and girls needed their beauty rest.

Master Din could get by on rugged good looks and lack of sleep. So stepping up to the master's Hotel room , he knocked firmly. "Master Din, are you awake?"

A moment passed, and the door opened. Orgus stood there, dressed in his day-clothes. It could be because he was still wearing them, or because it took about two seconds to put on.

He gave Silas a nod. "Good evening Silas. What can I do for you?" He stepped to the side, waving an inviting hand inside.

"Umm, there were a few things actually." The young man admitted, as he stepped into the room, a slight frown on his features.

"I suppose we'll start with the obvious though. I'm sure you know but there is a Sith presence on this planet."

If Silas had intended to disturb no ladies, he would be out of luck. Master Chriala was there as well, sitting on her bed, clearly meditating, dressed in a casual evening robe. She said nothing, and didn't seem to acknowledge Silas at all.

Orgus waved Silas towards a seat; he sat on his own bed. "Yeah. We know. We didn't know they'd be here, but it's not really a surprise. Did you have an encounter with them?"

Master Chriala didnt realky count as a girl, at least in Silas' head. She was closer to a mom then anything else. Still he was surprised to see the Masters sharing rooms.

"Several." He admitted after a moment. "A couple this morning, and one this evening... Well, I'm not certain that one of them was a Sith, but he had a Imperial accent, and was poking around outside our rooms."

That made Orgus frown. "Poking around your rooms? That's more concerning. Did he try to get inside them?"

"No, he seemed not to have found what he wanted, so we went up the elevator." There was a small frown. "Or it might of been down the elevator."

He looked down. "I was trying to see, but then someone came to talk to me."

Orgus smiled. "I'd be really concerned if it wasn't up or down."

He gave Silas a nod. "But it sounds like there's more to your story. Go ahead." He said, his tone warmly encouraging.

"Ah..." He frowned softly. "We met a whole mess of Sith kids when looking for a place to eat too. They were harassing the owners of this restaurant."

"We managed to get them to leave without fighting, but..." His smile faded from his lips as he looked down towards the ground.

Grunting, Orgus nodded acknowledgement. "The Dark Side encourages that sort of behavior among those who follow it. As does the Empire. It sounds like you did the right thing." He smiled. "Just as we'd expect from you students."

Another encouraging nod. "Go ahead, Silas. I'm not going to judge you for what you say." It wasn't entirely true; the trials were still on, after all. But it was true from a certain point of view.

"Well, we argued afterwards. Or some of us did, it was rather disconcerting. We had just done something good, but then several of us were bickering."

"Do you think it was some sort of influence from the dark side at play?"

Orgus crossed his arms, frowning thoughtfully. "It's not impossible. But I don't know. It might be, or it might be an indirect influence." He shrugged. "Or it could just be nerves. People not getting along. Why don't you tell me a bit more about it?"

"Well, it's kinda hard to explain, really. I'll try though."
This was followed by a short pause as he put his thoughts together. "The Sith were leaving, and Byron suggested that they could work together with him on some sort of project he is working on."

"Which is something else I have concerns about, but that's for later." The young man mused.

"Then the girl said something about us watching our backs and left. That's when the arguing started. Byron said something about punching people in the face to straighten them out. Then Mir countered that those type of actions beg for reprisal, and that if you are going to act with violence you should just kill them."

"Then Byron started lecturing him about that usnt proper Jedi behavior, and Mir countered with how violence is violence and left. That's when Zanja chimed in to say that going on about showing people the power of the force hand in hand with the sith, had not been a wise thing for Byron to say either." He sighed and shook his head. "That's when the rest of us more or less got everyone to calm down, and we broke off to eat dinner."

"Though I just came back to the hotel. I wasnt very hungry after all that."

Master Orgus took all this in, a serious expression on his face.

Finally, he nodded. "Well, first things first. Did you ever eat? Are you hungry now?"

"I ordered a pizza" Silas said with a thumbs up, a little liveliness coming back to his features. "They didn't have a Pizza Hutt though." Still it had been cheesy and delicious.

"Alright, then." Orgus nodded. "That's something, anyway. It's no good going hungry, especially if something's bothering you."

He sighed. "How do you feel about all of this?"

"Um, I think both Mir and Byron are wrong, at least in some ways. It's not smart to use violence and make enemies that you'll leave behind you. Your first instinct shouldn't be to kill though."

There was a short pause. "I think Byron is wrong about wanting to work together with the Sith too. If he wanted to try it on his own, then I might think its okay to let him make his own mistakes. But he won't go alone. Several of the other trainees trust Byron and will go with him, others will go to try and protect him, it could be quite dangerous for several of them."

He frowned. "Then there is the fall out it could have with the local population. If things dont go well it could severely damage our reputation here."

Orgus nodded. "Violence isn't a tool for learning. It is a Jedi's last resort. One of the reasons our weapon is so lethal is that if we are using it, the need must be great. Even then, it is for defense and protection."

He grunted. "The Sith are dangerous, and the Dark Side can be seductive. It may be that it is a mistake to reach out to the Sith. But it may not be. As long as the risks are known to everyone. Do you think Byron is fully aware of the risks? And the others?"

"I think they underestimate them. The risks that is." Silas offered after a few moments. "The girl that was their leader seemed to be Sith nobility. She said her name was Lady Malveaux. I can't say I know much about the Sith Empire, but I'm pretty sure you can be a noble without being full dedicated to their beliefs"

"I think there is no way trusting her would go well. Not for anyone involved."

Orgus nodded. "They take their code as seriously as we do ours. Do you know the Sith code? The first line is 'Peace is a lie, there is only passion'." He shrugged. "If I was writing it, it wouldn't be quite such a knockoff, but then, I'm not a Sith."

He shook his head. "No. She shouldn't be trusted. But that doesn't mean she needs to be shunned. Defining themselves as our opposites means that there might be more common ground than you think." He shrugged again. "And if you're talking to her, she'll at least be in front of you. That's the safest place for a Sith to be."