Zach's letter to Zane

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In this year after the seventh battle of Ruusan One Thousand and Four, on Firstday of Sevenmonth, I your friend Zach Ouichee mark and proclaim this record. I know you read my journals, so I write this in High Galactic for you.

It is wonderful to hear from you again! I know I've been gone longer than I intended. This old Consular cruiser is no Wayfarer, and I've been to the outermost edges of the Rim. I'm on my way home, though, at last. I kept going after Taryn departed, heading straight away from the Core. She journeyed back as she must, and I am glad for that time we had wandering; it did the both of us good. She is in my thoughts, and I am glad that Pel is near her.

Where is Jolee? Has anyone had word? Let us hope she finds peace. Talia and Pel, I am sure, are fulfilling every duty they can lay hands on. Are they well? I confess could not forsee their paths, and I am curious.

It was wearying to be so recognized, so preconceived, so focused upon. We have found some few dozens of Omwati refugees here and there, and you have probably met some of them by now. I spent as long as I could in the more established settlements, but the rim called me outwards.

I wandered into Mina on Dantooine while I was on my way to Muunilist, and she has found secrets and treasures. Most of them treasures are secrets, of course. We spoke long about the Force, amongst other things. I have found a new and potent technique. Go to the space between galactic arms, far away from any space lanes. Stock an exosuit with several hours of air, and maroon yourself with your ship set to come back in a day or two, and enter a trance. If you can do it properly, you can feel the Force more clearly than I had imagined. I have met someone named Qui-Gon in that deep trance. I wish I could introduce him to you.

Joy of joys! We may have a new and honored resident at one of our academies. Bowana has seedlings. Do not tell Rolana, for I would surprise her. Bowana says that groves can become force-sensitive. It is difficult to be patient, and I find myself constructing planters in my mind.

I have attached an account of the Battle of Yavin for your sister’s book. This is for you. Share it if you like, but I trust you will understand it better than most.

It was on that rocky planet in the Core that the Battle of Yavin starts, and it is there that my perspective diverges from the others'. We were all sick then, with the taint of the Dark Side, with the radiation, with the war, and with how close we were on Naboo to losing millions. I'll try to explain now what I couldn't explain then. Perhaps I cannot fully explain it now.

It is worth remembering that the Sith weren't always all monsters. When there were more, when they were a movement instead of a conspiracy, most of them were just confused and scared and hurt. It was only their elite who posed a threat to the galaxy, and it was only ever their titans who could touch the Force directly, as our masters can. What distinguishes those few, what defines a Sith Lord is a rejection of peace, of compromise. Consuming only makes them hunger more - a Sith Lord strives to make his core a pearl of greed or anger or simple want. That is their essence, that is their truest name. To learn their tongue is to have to learn that name. Do not learn it unless you are willing to learn something profane that you can never unlearn.

What we've oft seen from the Sith is a regular sort of evil. Anyone could do as much, perhaps not as well, but the same in kind. Conquest, murder, genocide, these are the crimes that for all their suffering and danger that most sapients could commit were they swept along with a great current. With attempted mastery of the Force and with their dedication, the Sith Lords can commit blasphemies that none others can.

I only realized it in that Alchemical temple in the core. The Emperor was the purest Sith, and he would commit violence against the very Living Force. Remember everything I have said about the Living Force, that joyous union of all things. Realize that the Emperor would have violated that union, not for any goal, but to feed the demon he had become. That temple was a wrought testament to that, and I am not sure the Living Force did not bid us cleanse it with fire.

That is what we walked into. I argued for bringing Anakin because I could not conceive of two such beasts living without killing each other, so he must be in some part a man. Anakin was no beast at all in the end, but had at his core a pearl of another sort. He was a Jedi Master and a loving father like Master Se’ol.

When we landed, I went to the children. That fight was my test that day and the closest I have ever come to the Dark Side. The Force knows what they mean to me and why I reach out to them each day. Peace be in their thoughts and Force be with them.

The fight against the Emperor was easier and harder than I had forseen. He had no cunning words for us or subtle tricks to cloud our minds. He simply had raw power and desperation, but he had those in plenty.

As you will no doubt be shocked to hear, I pressed on, using my saber. If Ataru can be attained when one recognizes the Force as an ally and accepts help and Juyo comes when one recognizes the Force as master and does as it bids, Vapaad is that certainty that we are already one with the Force. Words cannot teach it, but if you still intend to be a Master and a swordsman, you will know that with all your being.

For the rest of it, I played my smaller part. The facts of what happened are laid out, and I fell into a kind of meditation during the battle that makes me a poor witness. I have only one more insight: the Sith will be back. The Force has seen fit to tolerate their perversion for millennia and there is one who still knows their teachings. They rise from the ashes just as the Jedi do, and they will be back. Remember these things, and if you find truth pass it on when I am gone. They will be back.

The Force has seen fit to guide me towards some Miraluka at last. It has been so long and I have changed so much that I do not know if it will be a joy or an empty gesture. We had something, once, to give the Galaxy, and I would that the last of us did not have a life of blood and yearning to offer as a last story.  Is that selfish?  I do not know.

I do not mind telling you in confidence that it has been rather more thousands of years than I would prefer since I have felt a woman of Miraluk perceive me in my fullness.

At last, I have a small request. Please send a fast ship with several guns to the planet Dreau, just a few dozen parsecs spinward of Bespin. Dreau is a hiveworld where I found a Bothan claiming to know how to find dozens of Miraluka, and I found him enslaved in a pirate’s camp. I am leading many slaves through the undercity, but the pirates will find us soon and I risk terrible losses were I to confront them without air support.  I have perhaps three weeks that we can hold out, after which I will have to strike.

Force willing, I will see you on Life Day. I miss you all and look forward to living simply as a friend and teacher.  Give my love to those around you, and Force be with you, Zane.  I am proud of you.

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