A Test of Courage (Star Wars: The High Republic)

by Justina Ireland

The capacity to perceive the feelings of others was a rare Force ability, but these were marvelous times. More and more it seemed that the Jedi would spread their light throughout the galaxy and make life better for all. Wasn’t that why the Republic had undertaken construction of Starlight Beacon? Because of the benevolence of the Jedi?

“During the Sith Wars the Jedi also used lightwhips,” Vernestra said, clearing the path and walking forward at a brisker pace. Philosophical conversation or no, they still had a massive rainstorm bearing down on them, and they could not levitate leaves over their heads forever. “Have you read the testimonies of Cervil the Uncanny? She states that the whip was sometimes used to defend against the Sith Lords who used the Forbidden Forms.

Force users with fewer rules, like the Nightsisters and the Guardians of Javin, races and cults who found something of value in the chaotic, destructive side of the Force.

J-6 said. “Plus, you have me. I have managed to keep you alive for the past three years, and that is no minor feat, cheers to me.”

There would be no pilgrimage to Jedha to commune with the Force, before heading to the main temple on Coruscant and undertaking the trials.

day. The fact that it had crashed into the pirates, stranding them on Wevo, seemed to Vernestra to indicate that the Force was working in their favor. The Force naturally bent toward justice while in balance, and those pirates would have gotten away with their misdeeds if it hadn’t been for that giant rock destroying half their ship.

J-6 did not need to sleep, and she was able to charge herself by way of a charge port in the ship, so she paced around the Nihil with her blasters drawn, firing a warning shot into the air every time they looked a little too comfortable and taking a bit more joy in the shooting than Avon was comfortable with.

have gone to the dark side.” The Jedi Master chuckled a little. “The Force is not so simple, and neither are the emotions of living creatures. Most Jedi have felt the temptation of the dark side. It is only natural. But we resist it. It is a deliberate path to the dark, not a series of bad days. Being a Jedi is about choosing the light over and over again.”