Bankor

Ashla walked in to the med bay and sat by Eralynn's bed, looking through her medical report.

The report showed no incidents today, unlike her earlier days in internment. Her ravings had forced prior staff to sedate her. Now, however, she was in a state of relative calm. She opened her eyes from a light slumber and looked over at Ashla. "Jedi never seem to let me rest," she said with a sour smile.

"Well, bothering people is like the second thing that they teach you in the Order." Ashla puts her papers down. "But if it makes you feel better, I actually am doctor. Sort of."

"If you killed me due to malpractice, then you would be aiding me." She lifted her arms in a moot fashion due to the bindings. "The shame of captivity."

The ghostly image of Spindral frowned and said, “She is a continued threat, end it now, you have all the means to do so. Don’t let the cowardice of the Order hold you back. Do what must be done.”

Damnit. Why now?

"There is no shame in living. In living, we can be redeemed."

“There is no redemption for her, stop deluding yourself. Do what needs to be done,” he said firmly.

Eralynn unknowingly went along with the argument. "You see redemption in me? What do you envision in that fantasy?" The woman tightened her fists and tried her best to lunge towards the Jedi, despite her bindings. "I would still see your teeth attached to my armor. I would still see Bankor and the rest of the Republic burn."

Ashla asked a simple question. "Why?"

"Your kind slaughtered my comrades, my husband. So I would see all of the Republic suffer through my grief too." She then closed her eyes and sighed. "But now I am confined. And my soul has not joined my husband's in the Manda, a fate worse than death." The prisoner smirked. "After all, I will never be free again, correct?"

“it could be crueler to leave her alive, to suffer her weakness. Still it would be more prudent and expedient to kill her. Do it… end it now,” Spindral hissed.

“She would certainly end you if the roles were reversed.”

Ugh. Why can't he just shut up?

"Violence begets violence. The people you slaughtered, their families feel as you do. Some might go to inflict atrocities on Mandolorians for your crimes. I don't want that. Revenge. Pain. They say these lead to the Dark Side. I doubt you care about that. And honestly, that's not the most important thing to me. I see those left behind. I want the cycle to stop, no matter how childish of a dream that may be."

Ashla sighs. "As for your freedom, that is way out of my hands. I'm just a padawan. People will listen to be about medicine, but that's about all. But personally, if you truly repented. If you truly sought a way to atone, I'd want to see you free. Maybe not without certain restrictions. But free nonetheless." Ashla looks at her hands which she noticed were locked. As if in prayer. "My father was a monster. I still love him. He was executed, and I was left behind. But if I could change it? I would want to see him live and maybe one day be cured of his insanity. Don't wish for death. You would leave others behind as well."

Ashla casually looks over to Spindral and looks back. "I'm not trying to play the role of the perfect Jedi or something. There's a voice telling to me to kill you. I'd be lying to say at least a part of be didn't want to. You deserve it. I have no doubt that you'd kill me if the roles were reverse. But I want it to stop here. I don't want to cause more pain in the galaxy than I have to. And I suspect your death would do that. Even if it is to my enemy."

Ashla gives a sad smile. "I want your pain to end too. Well, I know it never ends. But it does heal, even if the scars are always there. Though I suspect you don't really want to hear that from some Jedi Padawan." Ashla wonders how much this woman is similar to her. Had she taken the path down the Dark Side, would she have become like Eralynn.

Eralynn lied there in the bed after Ashla's words, her face showing nothing. She eventually opened her eyes and looked back up to the Jedi. "You love your father? I thought Jedi were supposed to forsake their attachments, forsake such emotions to avoid turning into a person just like me."

The woman looked to the side, away from the padawan. "My sister will come for me. I have no idea if she has arrived yet but she will demand my freedom. So regardless of killing me or not, this 'cycle' of violence you speak of will continue."

"The code says there is no death, but I am sure you know Jedi do die. It's not entirely literal. Some do try to become devoid of emotion. Me, I do not allow my emotions to rule me. I may love my father, but I accept what he had done was evil. I accept his fate even if I wish otherwise. I may think of the horrible things I have seen. The people I saved. The ones I didn't. All the suffering I have witnessed that you caused. And I feel hatred. But I will not allow it to control me. I will serve the Jedi and try to bring peace. Even to you."

Ashla pauses for a second. "And what would you do with that freedom?"

"If you set me free right now, I would try to kill you and everyone else on this station," she answered honestly, a soft smile on her face. She shifted in her bed to allow herself more comfort. "Who knows what my sister would do if you released me to her. She may try to take me away, she might even try to help me achieve my goal in killing you all. She always enjoyed a battle."

Well, at least she's honest.

"And after Bankor? Did you just plan on keep slaughtering until someone stopped you?"

"I never planned on being stopped in the first place, Jedi. I imagine you never came to this planet either expecting to fail." Eralynn sighed and stared at the ceiling. "I would have kept killing until I was satisfied. Perhaps I never would have been satisfied."

“See, she is beyond saving, even your foolish Jedi pride can see that. End her, be the hero your people deserve,” Spindral said.

"I see." Feeling there is nothing more to say, at least tonight, Ashla stands. "I'll let you get some sleep. May the F.... I'm not sure what Mandolorians say. Ashla shrugs. "May you find some peace in your life."

"Is reality too cruel for you, young Jedi? Did you expect to convert me simply by giving me some painkillers?" The woman turned her head away and closed her eyes to get more sleep.

But after a few moments, she said, "'Ret'urcye mhi' is what we say."

"No. If you were swayed that easily, we'd never have come to this point in the first place. It takes time."

Ashla starts to exist. "Ret'urcye mhi"

Later, when she gets somewhere alone.

"So, Spindral, do just happen to know when to come at the worst times? Or are you always watching me?"