milliways_bar | (no subject)

(no subject)

We're sorry, Milliways.

But Obi-Wan Kenobi has a song stuck in his head.

He's not doing anything crass like humming or singing it out loud. In fact, he's just sitting quietly at the bar, reading from a datapad and drinking.

It's just that the Force is now echoing with it, and as we all know the Force can have a strong influence on the weak minded, so...

....we're sorry, Milliways.

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"We're none of us just what we were made for," Obi-Wan observes.

Although he knows and understands the clones and their dedication, he also knows how different they are from each other and how they all have things they do in their down time.

"No," Jin Guangyao says. "But he seems to take pride in what he is. Those are the best soldiers, of course."

"They are the only soldiers I know," Obi-Wan says, non-committally. "Do you have much experience?"

"Yes," Jin Guangyao says. "There was a large magical war in our world some years ago; I wasn't a soldier, though, but a spy in the enemy's headquarters."

"Very different skillsets, I imagine."

He knows - he's a pretty good spy himself. Given he's famous galaxy-wide, one might say unnaturally good at undercover. But it doesn't make him an expert on soliders.

"Oh yes, it is," Jin Guangyao says. "It causes the occasional rift between me and the - friend of mine who commanded the army."

"Really?"

Obi-Wan can imagine Anakin beingg frustrated with his own spy-like tendencies, but he doesn't mention it.

"He is used to marching in and taking care of things with his sabre," Jin Guangyao says. "Staying put, lying, and sneaking make a spy untrustworthy, in his eyes. He thinks me a little snake now, and nothing I might do can really un-snake me."

"There's a time and a place for both, I always found," Obi-Wan says. "Sometimes a little deception is necessary to avoid too much blood on one's saber."

"His sabre likes blood, that is part of the problem," Jin Guangyao says, shrugging.

"That's really no excuse to give it to it."

Jin Guangyao gives a very cynical little chuckle.

"Something funny?"

"Feeding the sabres resentful energy by letting them kill is part of the Nie sect's cultivation," Jin Guangyao says. It's not as if this compatriot of Fives' was going to do anything with the information. An open secret is no secret at all when it has no connection to the person you tell it to.

"It's not good for their qi on the long run, but it makes them incredibly powerful at fighting, and at hunting monsters."

Well, doesn't that sound - sithy?

He raises an eyebrow and his tea cup. "Not good for their qi, how?"

- he can guess.

"Eventually, it will become too strong for their own bodies, and deviates, that is, leave the meridians, turn around on itself, and destroy the entire system they had cultivated, killing them," Jin Guangyao explains.

It's all very similar to turning to the Dark side - not identical, but close enough.

"Now, that doesn't sound worth the risk for a temporary boost of power."

"They try to hold the balance as long as possible," Jin Guangyao explains. "There are enough soothing and calming techniques they can use to keep their qi from deviating. We're doing all we can to help our friend with it."

"Have you tried suggesting he doesn't feed the dark energy?"

Delaying it as long as possible when it sonds entirely like something he does to himself seems like a futile exercise.

"That would be tantamount to telling him not to cultivate his qi at all," Jin Guangyao says. "He might get so angry, he'd only deviate sooner."

"Like spice," Obi-Wan reflects. "An addiction."

"Yes, you may say the Nie style of sabre cultivation like an overblown attachment to alcohol, sex, or intoxicating herbs," Jin Guangyao nods. "Once you start, you need to do it more. And in the end, it can kill you."

Edited 2021-01-29 21:17 (UTC)

"True of all attachment," muses the Jedi Master. "Especially true of some."

But the idea that people would know the risks, accept the call of the Dark Side and just... do it anyway, that's disturbing.

"I don't mind being attached to some good people I know," Jin Guangyao says. "Living alone in a cave, practising inedia and meditating for years may free your soul from attachment and give you amazing powers, but what is it good for if you are, ultimately, living in a cave by yourself?"

Edited 2021-01-29 23:08 (UTC)

"A life free of attachment is not a life without connection," Obi-Wan remarks pleasantly.