She glanced at Sskeer, sitting across the table from her, watching silently, his long, clawed arms folded across his chest. He looked imposing, as always, a slab of scaled muscle and sharp teeth in Jedi robes. Trandoshan Jedi were rare, because the planet’s culture was built around predation and supremacy, ideals that did not always mesh well with the precepts of the Order. Even when Trandoshan children did have an affinity for the Force, it was unusual for them to be brought to the Jedi Temple for training. But Sskeer had not only made it to Coruscant, but had also excelled, becoming a full-fledged Jedi Master. All things were possible.

Jora didn’t imagine she would have direct need of him during this Council meeting, and she thought he knew that, too—but Sskeer was never far, and it was often when she’d thought she’d have no need for him at all that he’d come in most handy. Sskeer had personally saved her life four times.

And counting, she assumed.

The meeting began—and the matter to be discussed truly was important. The chancellor of the Republic, Lina Soh, had asked the Jedi to participate directly in a mission she had authorized for the Republic Defense Coalition to hunt down and either imprison or eradicate a group of Outer Rim raiders who called themselves the Nihil.

These people had interfered with the galactic hyperspace lanes in what appeared to be an effort to extort systems out of enormous sums of money. Bad enough, but their actions had also caused the deaths of billions of people and paralyzed a wide swath of the galaxy.

The Nihil must be dealt with. The only question was the role of the Jedi in that action.

Jora listened as the various Council members presented their arguments. Great emphasis was placed on interpreting the will of the Force, listening for the voice of the Force, taking direction from the Force, and so on. Jora found that a little tiresome. A philosophical vortex.

For her, it was very simple. The Jedi were deeply connected to the light side of the Force. Whatever choice any Jedi made was, therefore, the will of the Force. Study and focus allowed the Jedi to become better instruments of that will, certainly, in much the way that a well-maintained lightsaber functioned better than one that had fallen into disrepair—but getting caught up in an endless debate about what the Force might want was paralyzing. A waste of time.

“This is a military action,” Master Adampo said, stroking the long white whiskers dangling from her chin, her voice strong and direct. “The Jedi are not a military force. I believe it is that simple.”

“But we have been a military force in the past,” said Oppo Rancisis. “In fact, our predecessors waged and won the Great Sith War. There is endless precedent in the chronicles for this sort of thing.”