"Everything is made of atoms, but that doesn't make everything the same thing. Why is the fear of death more real or important or fundamental to who a person is than all the other parts?"

"It is the common thread. The unity that connects all life. Not just fear of death, but desire to continue. The urge of self-propagation. This is what the Jedi and Sith tap, in their enweaving. A Jedi would not fear the plunge, his Code teaches 'there is no death'. A Sith would spit in your face, confident that her power in the Force will free her. What answer do you have, confronted by that?"

"It's what connects all life, yes, but the important thing about people isn't being alive—plants are, bacteria are, life isn't what makes people people. I don't have an answer to that because there is no universal answer. If you have the power to prevent your own death and the desire to do so, you will, and not otherwise. What other answer makes sense?"

"It's not about making sense. It is about protecting and spreading your ideas. You have this marvelous notion that will change the landscape of galactic culture and ensure everyone is happy. Wonderful. But suppose I come up to one of your followers and say to them, do what I want, ignoring your own preferences, or I will kill you. What response can they give? If I am stronger than whoever they call on to defend them, they have none. And then I say, the only way to prevent your own death is to do unto others this same thing."

"Then I first get enough power that I can protect everyone, and after that I make sure none are vulnerable to this sort of extortion. The Jedi do exist, in defiance of this conclusion of yours."

"The Jedi exist because their Code innoculates them against this attack. They do not fear death because they believe they will live on in the Force. They have an answer."

"And people who are not Force sensitive are neither Jedi nor Sith and can lead great lives without having to conform to these monolithic philosophies."

"Only for so long as they are ignored. Look at the third of the galaxy controlled by the Hutts. No Force users there, beings still live in thrall to those who command fear and offer survival."

"Yeah, but that's because the Jedi are only marginally better than mud and lack the tiniest smidgen of altruism."

"So say the Jedi did sweep in and drive off the Hutts. What then? Someone like the Hutts will come along again and then you will be in exactly the same situation."

"Well, they install a better government, train a military force that will prevent someone like the Hutts from coming, divide the different kinds of political and military power to keep each other in check, decentralise it all, focus on education and cultural outreach so people don't make the same mistakes again..."

"So the Hutts are gone, well and good, but now the Jedi have stepped into their place, telling people how to arrange their lives because they know how best to do that. These institutions won't appear overnight, and if you don't supervise their formation, they won't be in a form you approve of. Bad habits left over from the previous regime. But say you get everything arranged, and then the Jedi step back, peaceful transfer of power accomplished. This region of the galaxy now looks like it did before the Hutts, many small, mostly independent polities with a degree of military power. You still haven't solved the problem."

"I will presumably have installed a greater degree of military force and a way of fighting them off, and I only used the Jedi as an example, they'd actually be terrible at it. My point is—this has gotten nuanced, these answers aren't simple and straightforward and I don't claim to know exactly what the best thing to do is right now, and I see that as a fundamentally superior alternative to the Jedi and Sith philosophies that say they do know and are actually wrong about it and cause much more suffering than they alleviate."

"A fine sentiment, if you intend to go sit in a cave in a swamp somewhere and meditate on the ideal nature of society. But if you want to effect change in the galaxy, professed knowledge will trump acknowledged ignorance every time. You can shout from the rooftops how wrong and evil the current ways of thinking are, but unless you have an alternative to offer, no one will listen to you. Lacking answers is their default state, they have no desire to return."

"Alright, talk to me in fifty years and we'll see."

"Assuming you survive so long."

"Sure."

"I'd give her better odds on making it that far than you, Sith."

"I'm just saying, huh."

"I can't imagine going on revenge quests against Sith Lords is good for your life expectancy."

"He's the one who should worry."

"That's the spirit."

Occlus zaps her. Briefly.

"Mind your tone."

She doesn't yelp, but only because she'd been expecting this. "Can you teach me that?"