Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order_ Dark Tide 02_ Ruin - Michael A. Stackpole [14]
A wave of surprise pulsed off Kyp, then was cut off immediately. From the back of the room Mara gave Luke a nod. To his right, Kam and Corran came to the edge of the stage, then jumped down to the floor to keep themselves lower than he was. This pressured Kyp and his confederates to do the same thing, though Daeshara’cor seated herself on the edge of the stage and gathered her lekku around her like a shawl.
“Thanks for joining me. You worked hard setting this up, but I didn’t really want it to be too formal. It made this too much of a council of war. What we need is a meeting of sapient beings who will decide the course of our future.”
“Master, you are first among equals.” Kyp bowed his head to Luke. “Your wisdom will guide us.”
Oh, Kyp, how surprised you would be if I used that opening to dictate what we will do. Luke could feel a sense of quick victory boiling off Corran, urging him to snare Kyp in his own web, but he shook his head. “Insight granted by the Force is not mine alone.”
Wurth Skidder smiled carefully. “You suggested, Master, that this is not a council of war, yet we find ourselves at war with an enemy that is merciless and invading the New Republic. Is it not to counter threats like this that the Jedi were created?”
“That is our goal, yes. How we get there is what we need to discuss.” Luke pressed his hands together and fell silent for a moment. “The Jedi are meant to protect and defend the people of the galaxy. The distinction between protectors and warriors is critical to avoid the seduction of the dark side.”
Ganner Rhysode, tall and dark, with a hard, blue-eyed gaze, eclipsed Skidder. “Perhaps, Master, the confusion we suffer comes from the point where an offensive action can be defensive. A preemptive strike at a target, for example, is merely proactive defense.”
Corran ran a hand over his mouth before speaking. “It’s semantic games you’re using there, Ganner. The way you frame that statement doesn’t take into account the scope of the operations you’re talking about. In a tactical situation where disabling an enemy’s ability to respond would guarantee the safety of others, you’re right, the strike is defensive. Staging a planetary assault to root out the Vong before they can spread and hit other worlds, on the other hand, is distinctly offensive in nature.”
“Corran, your argument plays exactly to my point: what are the guidelines that determine where offense and defense switch one to another? I look for intent, you look at size. All of these variables must be balanced, clearly, and I think we all seek wisdom in marking the difference.”
“A very good point, Ganner.” Luke smiled at him, then looked out at the Jedi gathered there. Humans and aliens of all genders, they projected keen interest, with concern tainting the edges. The Jedi Master nodded thoughtfully, felt the concern begin to drain away, then looked up.
“The point of balance comes with the focus of the danger. The Yuuzhan Vong have taken a number of worlds. Now many beings are in jeopardy, but that jeopardy is unfocused. Until the threat goes from general to specific, we can’t use proactively defensive tactics against it. Corran’s example points out that on a tactical level, finding the danger’s focus is much easier than on some grander scale.”
The green-fleshed Twi’lek’s head-tails twitched. “Then you are saying that until we detect this focus, we can do nothing?”
Luke held his hands up. “Not what I’m saying at all. We do have things to do. We need to be out there, on the front, so we can be ready to react when a focus is detected. We have to be out there helping calm the refugees, inspiring them to take heart.”
Kyp frowned. “But, Master, if we are not out there fighting the Yuuzhan Vong directly, how can we inspire? Will we not be seen as weaklings who are just as afraid of the enemy as the refugees are?”
“Those very questions, Kyp, go back to a wrong way of looking at the Jedi.