• STAR WARS
    THE QUESTIONING
    By: Lady_Ivra

    [RECORDING STARTS]

    [Static then a brief pause]
    This is Investigator C’blain recording my questioning of the supposed Dark Jedi known as “Lady Ivra” on behalf of the Jedi Council. This “Lady Ivra” was captured on Renvus Prime, a plains planet on the edge of the galaxy after she murdered several important Senators. It is guessed that she lured the Senators there, but that lure is unknown. I should mention that this Ivra is neither a Jedi nor the legendary Sith, but something in between the two, although her actions would have her in the same category as a Sith. While having someone who uses the Dark Side of the Force in custody is a risk, I aim to discover what led Ivra to become what she is and what her reason was for her acts on Renvus Prime. Jedi Masters Mace Windu and Yoda will be observing this questioning and will give advice as they see fit.

    [SESSION ONE]

    [Pause for around two minutes]

    [Dry laughter]

    LADY IVRA: Well, well, well. I was wondering how long that Council was going to bring in a famous Investigator. What can I do for you?

    INVESTIGATOR C’BLAIN: Lady Ivra, do you understand why I’m here?

    LI: [sighs] Of course. I’m not flat-brained. You’re here because you want to dredge any little bit of information from my brain you can get your hands on. Or rather, the Jedi Council wants to, but they daren’t get their hands dirty.

    IC: Good. Let’s start with the planet Teukarn.

    LI: Oh, that little chunk of rock? [Scoffs] My, we’re going back a ways, aren’t we?

    IC: Tell me what you know about it.

    LI: You’re the Investigator, you tell me.

    [Silence]

    [A loud smirk]

    LI: Oh, don’t get that nice, orderly head of yours tangled up.

    Teukarn’s the only planet of the Harjbor system. No life on it for thousands of years. Lord Kaan used it as a secret base prior to the battle of Ruusan. It stores many vaults of Sith artifacts which were quite useful, by the way.

    IC: What were you doing there?

    LI: Studying teachings other than the ways of the Jedi. What else? They are watching this, am I right?

    IC: They aren’t of concern here—

    LI Oh, but they are. [Sound of person leaning forward] You see, I only let myself be captured because I wanted to prove how utterly stupid they’ve become. They are as blind as babies and arrogant as anyone could be. I give them credit; they’re even more self-absorbed than the Sith ever were.

    IC: Interesting observation. However, I must ask you different questions. Why were you on Renvus Prime?

    LI: Hmm. There were certain…loose ends I had to take care of.

    IC: Loose ends?

    LI: Exactly.

    IC: Loose ends from your previous activity here on Coruscant?

    LI: I’d prefer not to discuss that with a worthless person like you.

    IC: You have no choice because I would like to hear your reasons. [Blip of a datapad] One of the persons killed was Senator Krrinisskrr from Kashyyk.

    LI: Really? I had no idea.

    IC: What cause did he give for you to murder him?

    LI: Murder? That’s a rather harsh word. A stronger Dark Side user was manipulating the Wookie. The rest were also being manipulated.

    IC: Manipulated?

    LI: Of course. As in being used, deceived by a Sith.

    IC: Sith? They’re extinct.

    LI: You wish. Further proof of how ignorant you are.

    IC: What made you turn from being a Padawan?

    [Chair shifts]

    LI: I’ve decided that I don’t want to talk to you anymore. If, however, you send in a Jedi, maybe I’ll talk some more.

    IC: I’m afraid you can’t talk to anyone else.

    [Silence]

    IC: Lady Ivra?

    [Silence continues for a full minute]

    IC: Very well.

    [END SESSION ONE]

    NOTES: I’m afraid that Lady Ivra is quite resilient when faced with interrogation. However, I think I saw an opening when I asked her about why she left the Order as a Padawan. She still has the learner’s braid beneath her tangled brown hair. I think I will ask Master Windu to continue questioning her. Lady Ivra was his very first Padawan, after all.

    [SESSION TWO]

    [Silence then the sound of force field deactivating and activating]

    LADY IVRA: [Inhales sharply] This is a pleasant surprise. Hello, Master Windu.

    MACE WINDU: Ivra. Investigator C’blain informed me you’re being uncooperative.

    LI: [Bark of laughter] I guess that doesn’t surprise you, then. As a matter of fact, nothing ever did, if I remember right.

    MW: Your point?

    LI: My point, Mace Windu, is that someone of your claimed unity with the Force should have seen how the Dark Side was gathering around the Jedi Order, around me.

    MW: If there was a danger, the Council would have sensed it.

    LI: Are you sure?

    MW: Is that why you left the Order?

    LI: I left because you were leaving countless younglings out where the Dark Side could grab them because they were “too old.” Plus some other reasons I’m sure you can figure out.

    MW: If that’s the truth, then why did you murder the Senators on Renvus Prime?

    LI: Simple: I was doing what you Jedi are afraid of doing and too afraid to see. You’re the Master of Vaapad and you haven’t noticed? A pity.

    MW: Noticed what?

    LI: You know what? I can give you the same answer all day and you still wouldn’t believe me, so why don’t you talk about something else?

    [Silence]

    MW: Very well. Five years ago you were on Renvus Prime prior to your attack. Intelligence operatives said you weren’t alone. Who was with you?

    LI: A few kids who’d been either overlooked by the Jedi because of their age or were kindly kicked out once they reached thirteen.

    MW: What were you doing there?

    LI: Showing them an alternate way of the Force.

    MW: By teaching them the Dark Side.

    LI: No! Don’t you get it? I was showing them how to use their emotions to better their connection with the Force!

    MW: Using your feelings with the Force opens up a path for the Dark Side. You were taught this.

    LI: But emotions are what make us sentient beings, not mindless droids. If we cut ourselves off from that, then we lose touch with the real Force. Have you heard the saying: “Evil done in the name of Good is still Evil, and Good done in the name of Evil is still Good?”

    MW: The whole purpose of avoiding using our feelings is so we don’t become conflicted. With no ties to anyone or anything, a Jedi can follow the will of the Force without hindrance.

    LI: Don’t preach that load of poodoo to me, Mace. It makes me sick. I don’t expect you to understand, anyway.

    MW: What did you intend on doing once they were finished?

    LI: Find the heart of the Dark Side on this planet and cut it out, of course.

    MW: But you serve the Dark Side.

    LI: More of a Gray Side, actually.

    MW: The difference?

    LI: I don’t share the so-called pure intentions and beliefs of the Jedi, but I also don’t plan on taking over the galaxy or exterminating the Jedi, either.

    MW: And where are the others now?

    LI: Wouldn’t you like to know?

    MW: Tell me where they are.

    LI: No. Even if I knew where they went, I wouldn’t tell you.

    MW: During your occupation of Renvus Prime, you received an ex-Jedi by the name of Kandar Scilros—

    LI: [Voice hardens] How would you know that?

    MW: During those five years, Kandar managed to gain your respect and oversaw recruiting other Force-sensitive children. Then he went missing four years into your campaign.

    LI: [Voice sounds a little pained] Clever of you to guess, but I fail to see what this has to do with anything.

    MW: Kandar Scilros was a Jedi Master named Qui-Gon Jinn. The Council sent him in order to keep your plan from succeeding.

    LI: You’re lying! [Sound of standing up and voice is waspish]

    MW: For three months before you met him, the Council has been aware of your activities but failed to produce a way to infiltrate your base. Qui-Gon volunteered because his view of the Jedi Code is different enough that he wouldn’t arouse suspicion.

    LI: Under normal circumstances I would believe you capable of coming up with that, but unless I see proof, you’re just trying to get me to say something I won’t tell you. Kandar was loyal and did not have the gumption to be a Jedi!

    [END SESSION TWO]

    NOTES: This is Investigator C’blain. Lady Ivra refused to speak after Master Windu told her about Master Qui-Gon Jinn. From my observations, she seemed quite shaken up and stubbornly defiant of the truth. I personally think Lady Ivra had some feelings for Master Jinn, or Kandar, as she knew him. Master Windu is attempting to locate Master Jinn and attempt to convince him to finish Lady Ivra’s questioning.

    [SESSION THREE]

    [Force-field deactivates then activates]

    [Silence for a moment]

    LADY IVRA: So, Master Windu, you’ve come back to taunt me and dig through my head?

    QUI-GON JINN: Hello, Ivra.

    LI: [Inhales sharply] No. This isn’t possible. You aren’t Kandar. Kandar doesn’t believe in the Jedi Code.

    QGJ: Nevertheless, it is I, Ivra, although I apologize for the deception.

    [Silence]

    QGJ: Ivra?

    LI: I’m sorry, but even this trick is beneath the Jedi. I won’t believe—

    QGJ: When I first arrived on Renvus Prime, I was the only one to knock you off your feet during the test. Tyrus had bet on you winning and lost his hard-won sabacc money.

    LI: [Voice is tight] So? That only means you’re smart and have a good spy.

    QGJ: Before I left for Coruscant, I told you that quote about Good done in the name of Evil.

    LI: How—How do you know that?

    QGJ: I was the one who said it.

    [Quiet except for labored breathing, as if LI is trying to keep her anger in check.]

    LI: Why, Master Jinn?

    QGJ: What you were doing was wrong, Ivra. While it’s true some of the things the Council does may not seem right by some people, raising an army who serves the Dark Side isn’t the answer.

    LI: It was not an army, Jinn! I explained to you and everyone else how Coruscant is practically surrounded by the Dark Side and you agreed! We were only going to go after the ones really responsible for this and they weren’t Jedi.

    QGJ: Then who do you think it is?

    LI: If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. Besides, I thought you were enough into the Gray Jedi category that you could sense it for yourself.

    QGJ: Ivra, you’re not helping yourself if you don’t give straight answers.

    LI: Help? Oh please. As soon as the Council’s done with me, they’ll either lock me up for the rest of my life or kill me.

    QGJ: Unless you turn from the Dark Side.

    LI: [Bitter laugh] You know, Jinn? I was never able to use the Light Side. Not once. The Dark Side is all I can use.

    QGJ: That’s not true. You can always turn your dark power to the light.

    LI: I hear you have a new Padawan. Obi-Wan Kenobi, is it?

    QGJ: How did you know that?

    LI: Easy. Everyone has a touch of Dark Side in him or her. All I have to do is listen and I learn things.

    QGJ: What kind of things?

    LI: Let’s see…your young Padawan’s currently having lunch with some of his friends. More than that, I can almost see how the Dark Side has gathered on this planet. If you want, I can show you what I’m talking about.

    QGJ: Ivra, what made you decide to lure the Senators to Renvus Prime?

    LI: It was obvious I wasn’t going to convince the Jedi of what I was seeing, so I found a noticeable way.

    QGJ: Why do you have an aversion to the Jedi Order?

    LI: Because it’s stifling, Jinn. You can’t do what you want, feel what you want, and learn how you want, or even voice your own observations because you’re just a Padawan.

    QGJ: [Voice gets quieter] Is that the only reason why?

    LI: [Voice is shaky] Yes.

    QGJ: I don’t think you mean that.

    LI: What am I thinking?

    QGJ: There is a deeper, more personal reason for your leaving, but you treasure your privacy too much. You’re afraid of letting others discover your secret. You’re afraid of trusting people.

    [Silence for a long while]

    LI: [Clears throat] Well, you sure have a way of getting to people, Jinn.

    QGJ: Can you tell me?

    LI: Do I have a choice?

    QGJ: I promise that only a few people are going to know what you say.
    [Silence again, but only for half a minute]

    LI: Very well. I left because I couldn’t bear not being able to express my real feelings to certain people in the Order. Even if I could, there was no chance of them being returned.

    QGJ: You were in love with someone.

    LI: [Smile in her voice] Yes. The funny thing is, I fell for him again when I was dumped on my butt five years ago.

    [Silence]

    LI: You see what I’m getting at? Even mentioning that’s making you back off. Feeling things like love is only human, but what’s the use of having them when no one else can understand?

    [Sound of QGJ standing up and leaving]

    [END SESSION THREE]

    NOTES: Now that’s a development I didn’t expect. Both Lady Ivra and Qui-Gon Jinn were subdued for hours. Lady Ivra even seemed to change from a bitter Dark Jedi to a broken woman. I can’t help but feel a little pity for her, but I’m overstepping my aim of being an observer.

    Qui-Gon Jinn wishes to speak to Lady Ivra again.

    [SESSION FOUR]

    [A shaky breath after a while after Qui-Gon Jinn enters the cell]

    LADY IVRA: So, Qui-Gon. Have you come to try and bring me back? [Voice is bleak with no life]

    QUI-GON JINN: No, Ivra.

    LI: Then why are you here?

    QGJ: I don’t know.

    LI: Then you haven’t come to tell me to ignore my feelings? Too late, I can’t.

    QGJ: I haven’t come to do that.

    LI: Good.

    [Silence]

    LI: So. What’s the Council going to do to me?

    QGJ: The Council has decided that you’re too dangerous to release—

    LI: So it’s a cage, then, unless I become all pure and good again.

    QGJ: If you want to put it like that.

    LI: Look, I know you’ve been the perfect Jedi Master for a while, despite your different ways of doing things, but I need to know for sure.

    QGJ: I understand.

    [Silence then the recording pauses]

    FINAL NOTES: I regret to inform that Lady Ivra is dead. With permission from the Council, the recording was paused to allow privacy in the hopes that some sort of truth would be revealed. I’m not at liberty to discuss what Qui-Gon Jinn and Lady Ivra discussed at this time. All I can say is that after several minutes, Ivra suddenly took Qui-Gon’s lightsaber and killed herself. I find it an unfortunate and regrettable incident. We could have retrieved a wonderful Force-user and person.

    This recording is to be sealed in the deepest areas of the Archive here in the Jedi Temple. It is not to be opened unless by a Jedi Master, or forty years have passed. It has been decided that forty years is enough time to let this moment recede into a less-painful part of the minds of those involved.

    This is Investigator C’blain signing out.

    [END RECORDING]