Light of the Jedi

Peace without justice is flawed, hollow at its core. It is the peace provided by tyranny.

Being a Jedi was not about saving oneself. It was about saving others.

Why has the Force called us to fight today?” Loden said. “For life and the light,” Bell replied.

When someone was hurting, you did what you could to heal them. When someone was lost, you found them.

You could not solve those problems individually. It was ridiculous to even try. What you could do, however, was make the various people of this high era of the Galactic Republic see one another as people. As brothers and sisters and cousins and friends, or if nothing else, just as colleagues in a shared goal of building a galaxy that welcomed all, heard all, and did its best to avoid hurting anyone. Truly tried its best. If you could make that happen, then problems didn't have to be solved. Many would solve themselves, because people believed in the Republic more than they believed in their own goals, and would be open to that magical word--compromise.

There was nothing so big it could not be swallowed up. Nothing so strong it could not be humbled. Nothing so tall it could not be made small. Not a mountain, and not the Republic.

the galaxy didn’t care what you thought couldn’t be broken. It would break things just to show you it could.

No matter what a person was on the outside. Inside, everyone was made of light.

Her lightsaber, ugly as it was, served as a perfect reflection of the great truth of the Force: no matter what a person was on the outside… …inside, everyone was made of light.

Chancellor Soh’s Republic wasn’t perfect—no government was or ever could be—but it was a system that gave people room to dream. No, even better. It encouraged dreams, big and small. The Republic had its flaws, but really, things could be a hell of a lot worse.

He closed his eyes and opened his spirit, and there it was, the small light within him that never stopped burning. Always at least a candle flame, and sometimes, if he concentrated, it could surge up into a blaze. A few times, he’d felt as bright as the sun, so much light pouring through him he was afraid he might go blind. Honestly, though, it didn’t matter. From spark to inferno—any connection to the Force chased away the shadows.

If I do everything, no one learns anything,

This is Jedi Master Avar Kriss. Help is on the way.” That one thing. Hope.

A thoughtful question from time to time wasn’t exactly insubordination.

He’d read a few—they were all set at outposts on the far Republic frontiers, full of unrequited love and longing glances…the only action was the lightsaber battles that were clearly a substitute for what the characters really wanted to do.

The Jedi’s lightsabers would not save Hetzal. It would be the Jedi themselves.

If there was injustice out there, well...they would bring justice. The Jedi were justice.

Worlds seemed unbreakable when you were standing on them, but Te’Ami had seen things in her day...the galaxy didn’t care what you thought couldn’t be broken. It would break things just to show you it could.

We’re all the Republic,” he said. “We’re all the Republic,” Innamin replied. “We’re all dead if we don’t finish searching the station

Lightsabers were designed to end conflicts. They were designed to injure no more than necessary, and in the horrible circumstance where death was the only possible outcome, they would kill quickly. No more damage would be done by a lightsaber than its wielder chose.

Beyond that, they had three Vectors containing four space wizards, and he’d always been a little fuzzy on what they were actually capable of.

Two Jedi falling from the sky got noticed, even in the desperate circumstances these people found themselves dealing with.

Marlowe and Vellis, the scion of the San Tekka empire and his husband.

Is that really helpful?” said his copilot, Pikka Adren, second-in-command of the Aurora III and first-in-command of his heart.

Elzar Mann’s general unwillingness to take the time to explain whatever he was trying to do … well, some in the Order found him frustrating to deal with. Avar believed that might explain his continued status as a Jedi Knight rather than a Master.

Avar Kriss was still on the ship’s bridge, still serving as the point of connection for the Jedi in the system, letting them sense one another’s presence and location and emotional states.

It’s full of people,” Nib finished. “And they’re alive.

Bright sighed. Peeples’s species had a radically unique understanding of humor—not the jokes themselves, which were often decent enough, but the appropriate moment to deploy them.