[Solved] (NJO) Lesson III: Self-Discipline

Please read the chapter on Self-Discipline in the The Jedi Path. Accompanying notes from Jedi Instructors follow.

 

"If you have not the strength, the practice, and the skill to stand against evil, to strike down the wicked and intervene in danger . . . then it matters little how kind and wise you have become.

Jedi are warriors.

Do not look out in your kindness and naively perceive a galaxy plastered over with good will. There is evil everywhere, evil that cannot be rationalized and will not listen to your understanding words. Evil that preys on those whose compassion makes them slow to act, who lack readiness and conviction. There is a time for diplomatic speech, but your weapon is your life. The weak are always in danger; it is your duty to serve as their defense. You will be of service to no one if you fail to give yourself to learning the ways of the Jedi warrior. 

Self-Discipline and combat are not the same. One only need observe Jedi Jin-Wa to see this.

No, Self-Discipline is a pillar for a reason; it is mastering your every inclination, your desires, your thoughts, your instincts, your fears. It requires the Jedi to practice unwavering mindfulness and unflinching self-knowledge. The undisciplined let their circumstances rule their mind and spirit, pulling them this way and that, blown by the winds of their surroundings. You must choose to rule your mind and spirit with your own will, regardless of the hardships you face. Jedi do not whine. Jedi do not complain. Jedi consider their obstacles, and then overcome them. If the cold stings you, if hunger burns you, you must arrive at a place inside yourself where these material concerns cannot penetrate. If foolishness threatens, if fear invades, you must stand fast in your mind against your own weakness. You must be ready to remind yourself of the truth. You must develop a strength that cannot be touched. Meditation will serve you well, but true growth comes from suffering and hardship. The shaping of the crucible's fires. The carving of the blade.

Suffer well, Jedi."

—Jedi Aemos Suurm-Xachus

Aemos reached out, closed his eyes, and provided one last prompting with the Force.
Asa and Rudy cheered as, for what was probably the first time in centuries, the ancient Orrery came to life. Its old joints creaked as it straightened, splayed out, and began swirling in gyroscopic rotations.
The three occupants of the observatory tower watched the gleaming old contraption work, hypnotized by its movements.

"Isn't that something?" Asa said, nodding appreciatively.

"We owe the ancients our gratitude," intoned Aemos, his ice-cold eyes fastened on its progress. "And I owe you mine." He turned to look at the engineer and the droid, and bowed solemnly. "Without your help, Quartermaster, it might have been weeks before we could map the storms," he rumbled, in his subterranean voice. "Now I will have useable data by nightfall."

Asa shrugged it off with an easy grin. "You and I have worked together since Yavin IV; its probably time you call me Asa. But don't mention it, Aemos. Glad to lend a hand. Besides, Rudy did most of the calculations."

"Hrm . . . yes," Aemos chewed on the word, looking as though he would rather not address the droid. "You have my thanks, RU-D4."

Rudy, as always, was jittering with excitement. "Hah, it was nothing! Lynus never let me touch this stuff before, but that's his loss, I say. Obviously I have a natural talent for millennia-old machinery."

Asa nodded. "Yeah, I've never worked on anything this old, either. Real interesting exercise. Hard to believe these storms have been around so long."

"All the more considering their hypothesized supernatural origin," Aemos added, turning to gaze imperiously out the window at the setting sun. "Another mystery on a planet rank with them. May the Force give us wisdom to untangle them all."

Asa packed up his things and beckoned for Rudy to follow him. He knew it was better to leave Aemos alone whenever the purpose of the conversation started to fade, posing the danger of turning into small talk.

"Let us know if you need anything else! We'll be down in the Cistern."

Rudy cocked her giant disc-shaped head like a curious dog. "We will?"

"Yeah, you gotta help me with those glider wings. Lift and thermal calculations, remember?"

"Oh, yeah!" gushed the droid, latching onto the new task. She looked back up at Aemos to say, "Please tell me if you have anything else you need fixed!" before Asa waved farewell and herded the droid down the stairs, leaving the Jedi Knight to his silent tower.

Aemos took the moment to meditate as he watched the sky, blazing in its daily death. Gradually, the light faded, replaced by a black expanse stained with the Kathol Rift above.

He turned and swept across the room, sparing a glance to the still-rotating Orrery standing sentinel in its center. As it spun, a needle point carved sigils into a fresh stone tablet, leaving markings in a language Aemos was coming to understand as a form of atmospheric datum. Untranslated tomes sat in organized piles on his desk alongside scrolls marked up with his efforts to understand. It seemed the Orrery still required time to finish its task. He had a moment, he decided, to pursue a different course of study. One of personal interest.

The Jedi tossed a glowering glance around the room, as though there was any doubt he was alone. Still, it was best to be sure. He reached into the crevices of cracked temple stone, drawing out a scroll he had hidden there.

He withdrew the Planarsarium. His heart sped up slightly as he held it in his hands.

"Rank with mysteries, indeed," he muttered to himself.

He unfurled it, his pale eyes searching its symbols. The Force was helping him to grasp its contents, there was no other explanation. He found what he needed - more impression than literal, transcribed information. Reading such things was a new challenge for him. He preferred things spelled out plainly, but that was rare in the life of a Jedi, especially on this confounding world. The contents of this scroll were old knowledge, only accessible through a connection to the Force. He absorbed it in an almost spiritual sense.

Aemos sat down on the cold, hard stone of the Observatory's meditation stone, his heavy robes encompassing him. He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.

Blue light flooded his senses. His eyes rolled up into his head as his consciousness left his body, and then common existence itself. Darkness surrounded him as his mind plunged into the surging depths of the Cosmic Force, finding itself mirrored in what it found there. Finding itself laid bare. Once again, his mind collapsed into this haunted looking glass, this frenzied plane where his past and the Force were one.

He saw again the glassy river enshrouded by reeds on both of its banks, and the reflection in its still surface of the flames and towers of putrid smoke. He saw the burning palace in the distance, felt the iron clasp of his servant Gorosh's hand on his shoulder. Heard screams echoing through the humid early evening air. He felt warm tears roll down his face, smoother, younger than it was now. Felt again the ripping anguish he felt then - and had felt many nights since. His desperate servant pulled him away from the site of the slaughter. He fought against him, trying with all his strength to turn back.

He saw the dark side surrounding the home of his youth. He could not see the light. He could not see the meaning. All he could see was everything he knew and loved being torn away, unjustly, unfairly. What purpose did it all serve?

He would not find out tonight, but he would return here again. He would not stop until he understood.