(Sorry for delay.)
Andro fights back revulsion, and holds his toungue as Sienar speaks of events on Spiridos and the power he holds over them. He is right of course, Andro sees now. This is the first time he can see the full measure of Seinar's terrible condition. The worst truth was the surprise and fear. Andro knows now he could have defeated Seinar, saved Gallagher, had he seen through the ruse, or at least been able to react when the veil was lifted. Seeing the red-bladed saber in Seinar's hand had been a shocking surprise, and that moment was all Seinar needed.
But Seinar is still the most powerful foe he has faced, but this time the power is political, simple words and a twist of appearances and truths. No, Seinar could not attack them here, now, but nor could they him. Damn.
"So where do we go from here? I can see now you will not likely last much longer, and for whatever purpose, you may do much good with the time remaining. Why? What do you have to gain? And how are you going to keep us from seeing Gallagher? I certainly do not accept 'When he wishes it.' We wish it, and we will uless stopped. What say you?"
(Oh, crap. My bad. Yeah, here goes🙂
"So, where do we go from here? Are we to just let you carry your mission, then bring you to justice? Why would someone like you be doing this, what have you to gain? And how are you going to keep us from Gallagher? I certainly do not accept 'When he wishes it.' We wish it, and so we shall unless you have a way to stop us. What say you?"
"To strike you down now would be a success for you, for you would have goaded us into killing out of anger, or out of lust for vengeance. But you are not alone, I have met your type before, and I am standing here now, pure, and they are not. We will continue our investigation. You can wish our failure, but you are as powerless as you think we are. You cannot interfere, that would raise suspicion on yourself. You cannot kill us here; that would implicate you even more. But you are subtle. I do not underestimate you. You advised Mirani to flee after your starship has touched down. I will keep searching for your subtle touch Sienar. And it will lead Andro to redemption, Gallagher to freedom and us to victory. Now, let us be on our way. Until next time, because I know that we shall meet again, and by the force, it will be on our terms."
Sienar gives a wide and horrible smile.
"No, Roan. You are more wrong than you could possibly imagine. You've never met anyone like me before. Never. And you do not understand how weak your position is. You will fail, and you will fail because you have deliberately made yourself weak with your Jedi ways. I know this as certainly as I know there are stars in the sky. My grand plan... will succeed. You cannot and will not stop it."
Andro listens to Seinar shoot Roan down, and feels his blood begin to boil. He takes a firm grip on his lightsaber handle, takes a step forward and turns his back on Seinar, facing the other Jedi.
"Then why don't we stop him here?! What he said just now is as much of an admission of guilt as I need. That on top of what I witnessed on Spiridos!" His voice raising, he continues, "You know as well as I that Mirani is probably dead. Someone this calculating would not leave such a loose end! If we trace Mirani, we'll likely find he was killed by a thug in a mugging, no connection back to Seinar.
Today we can destroy a powerful Dark Jedi, one who we know to have comitted a great atrcoity, who has attacked and kidnapped Jedi, and who now speaks of a Master Plan that the Jedi will count as a failure." He turns to face Seinar, matching his stare, but still speaks to Roan and Jelena. "His kind have been taken down for far less throughout history. The Jedi can take the case of the citezens of this sector to the Senate. If the words of the Jedi, whether for reporting of crimes against the Republic's citezens, or pleas for the salvation of even more of it's people's lives, are not taken seriously by the Senate, then the Order is doomed and the Galaxy with it."
"Andro speaks truly," says Sienar. "He and I share a certain... distaste for offical methods, however necessary they may be sometimes. I am afraid his confidence in the atitude of the people may be misplaced... whilst I have achieved my position by deceit, the fact of the matetr is that I am loved by the people, I am the representative of a relgion to billions, and a prospective head of state; I have the backing of many charitiable organisations and my enemies are those whom the people hate- corporations, greedy merchants and the like. And of course many know of the distrust between the Synod and the Jedi. I feel you will indeed find yuo are not taken seriously.
"But then you don't do your job for public adulation, do you? It's a public duty, and you have your responsibillities to the Light Side of the Force to consdier as well. Unfortunately... it is your civic responsibilities that are the reason for your failure.
"You see, unlike many juvenile adherents to my way of using the Force, I have never for one moment had the delusion that the Dark Side is stronger than the Light. That somewhat fies in the face of history. The impatient may mistake ease of access for strength; such people are fit only dfor disposable use.
"No. Not stronger. But the Dark Side gives me what I need. Purity. Freedom. To be on the Light... to be a Jedi... limits your actions. Those limits are what hold you back."
"My duty to the greater good in this Galaxy does not hold me back," Jelena says. "It keeps me moral and in control of myself. With inhibitions removed and power delivered... that is what corrupts us and leads to the Dark Side. As you've said, history shows that the Dark Side never succeeds, not completely."
She looks at Andro.
"To strike him down now would not be the Jedi way," Jelena says. "We have a duty to the law that we cannot simply bypass. Sienar must stand trial unless he threatens our lives more personally. But we cannot bring him in. Not yet. Not to mention the issue of the coming famine that he apparently wishes to halt. The Jedi Order does not hold the respect that the Synod does, in this day and age, which is unfortunate. We could not continue Sienar's efforts."
Jelena looks back to Sienar.
"Why is it that you think our restrictions will cause us to fail completely here on Mandragos?"
Andro interrupts, "Fine, we'll apprehend him then, though I doubt he goes quietly. He has still captured Gallagher and holds him here. We have not seen nor heard from Gallagher since Seinar took him from Spiridos. We only have a Derk Sider's word that Gallagher is here freely. I would have Gallagher stand here before us and tell us that he wishes to stay and why.
And though we are bound by law, we are also meant to do good, to right wrongs, to protect the Galaxy. The law won't allow me to stike. But what if his plans, when he succeeds, have catastrophic results? If he... does whatever terrible thing he may, is it consolation to the victims that the Jedi who could have stopped him obeyed the law? I'm not a renegade, I only seek to do what's best. Can any either of you tell me that letting him go free and unchecked will be in the Galaxy's best interest?"
"The situation is very simple, Jelena. You think that your investigation must inevitably succeed, that you will find things out, or get information from Spiridos. And if you do it that way, the slow way, the official way... the Jedi way... you will fail. You will find out what you need... but too late. Too late to stop my plan. I have already done everything illicit that needs to be done, you see; the rest I can do through entirely legal and natural ways, and it will not take long.
"You will not decipher my plan in time because you laws and your obligations prevent you from doing what you must to to stop me. Thererfore, even though you wisah to stop me, you cannot because of restrictions you place upon yourselves. That is your weakness. That is why my victory is inevitable. We shall carry on this dance of diplomacy ajnd politics, but contrary to what you may have thought, time is on my side and the seconds are ticking away until I am done.
"Andro..." he says, becking to you with a crippled hand, which has several fingers missing. "Come hear what I have to say..."
"It will be okay." Andro assures the others, befoer they can protest. He does not trust Seinar, but there is no other choice but to hear him out. If they cannot find a third option, it will mean a confrontation. Unless Andro sees new evidence, he must attempt to stop Seinar. He cannot stand by and let the monster's plans come to fruition. He cannot know what the outcome of the Senate's discussions will be. He must act on the evidence at hand. Keeping his hand near the hilt of his saber, he moves to Seinar...
Sienar speaks in a whisper that sounds somehow still powerful.
"You and I, Andro... like I say, we are alike. I mean, don't you just hate all of this bureaucratic posturing? Senators, lawmakers, procedures, regulations... it's all just a cover and a delay for what this is all about, Wouldn't you rather just get to the point? Avoid all this... meandering around? I can help you."
But Gallagher does not rely on his negative emotions for power. He killed one man out of anger, but that man had committed murder himself. The Jedi are meant to respect life and make arrests when possible, but... he was a killer! He would have tried to kill Gallagher next, just as his Dark Jedi companions did.