{"id":1246,"date":"2023-06-24T16:23:54","date_gmt":"2023-06-24T16:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ordcantrell.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/24\/merchantates-herd-meets-crisis-in-morobe\/"},"modified":"2023-06-24T16:23:54","modified_gmt":"2023-06-24T16:23:54","slug":"merchantates-herd-meets-crisis-in-morobe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ordcantrell.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/24\/merchantates-herd-meets-crisis-in-morobe\/","title":{"rendered":"Merchantates Herd Meets Crisis in Morobe!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The holo springs to life with a familiar hexagonal lotus icon. A stirring theme plays on woodwinds and strings. <\/i> An EV droid stands before the camera, behind him a beautiful, inter-faith chapel. Jedi statuary, an Ithorian terrarium growing black-leafed bafforr tree seedlings, and an alter of Jou all adorn the space. The windows look out over the Morobe system<\/a>, with stunning views of the planet Moroa on one side, and the hospital platform “The Grace of Jou” on the other. In an alcove, you see a pair of comfortable chairs. A coffee table between them bears a friendly sign: “The Chaplain is in.”<\/i><\/p>\n

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“Welcome, sentients! I’m onboard the Merchantates<\/a> (currently in the Morobe system), standing here in the Chapel. We are about to welcome three of our resident religious leaders. Slag Laka is our Ithorian Jungle Priest, was stationed here and ordained by the Oracle when we launched. We also have two newer arrivals: Jedi Knight Rannek Sarden, our recently-installed Jedi Chaplain, and Morto Anemis, a priest of Jou<\/a> who just returned from Zrak<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

The camera pans over to two robed humans flanking an Ithorian.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Gentlemen, the three of you represent very different religious traditions. How do you get along sharing an inter-faith chapel together?\u201d<\/p>\n

All three inhale, ready to answer the question, but are interrupted by an emergency alarm. A high pitched Jawa voice chitters in broken basic, \u201cBig issue! Big issue! Old people with staves come to the overpass. Very now!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy does he want elderly people with canes?\u201d Mort asks.<\/p>\n

The Jungle priest shakes his head. \u201cHe either means \u2018Experienced Force Users\u2019 or \u2018Senior staff members to the bridge.\u2019 Either way, let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Looks like this just became Breaking News!” the EV droid says, gleefully. Not one to miss an interesting moment, the camera droid and EV unit follow the three sentients as they run out of the chapel, down the corridors, and ride the lift up to the bridge.<\/p>\n

Shiv Monite<\/strong>, the diminutive captain of The Merchantates, can be seen with his furry feet poking out from a maintenance hatch where he is feverishly working. \u201cLook at screen and tell me how you perspective!<\/em>\u201d he calls as they enter.<\/p>\n

The Jedi takes a look at the scanners. \u201cOh dear \u2014 there\u2019s a rogue asteroid heading right for that hospital station<\/strong>!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCan we use our tractor beams to change its trajectory?\u201d The jungle priest asks, his translation unit not quite conveying the anxiety his double-mouths betray.<\/p>\n

\u201cNegative one,<\/em>\u201d chirps the Jawa from under the panel. “Ship suck beams juiced by light-zoom vroom box. Box no work. Jawa fix take more hands. Maybe shift reservoir juice can just make it, but probably crash and boom if do that.<\/em>“<\/p>\n

The two humans turn to the Jungle Priest, expectantly. \u201cHe means \u2018No. The tractor beams get their power from the hyperdrive, which is shut down for repairs right now. It sounds like… I guess there\u2019s not time to bring them back online? If we re-route the little power we have in reserve, we could just barely nudge it off course, but \u2026\u201d he brings up another view on the scanner. A T-6 shuttle languishes nearby, its own engines clearly in need of repair as well. \u201c\u2026it would absolutely careen into this shuttle.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The chaplain stiffens. \u201cWait \u2014 That\u2019s my shuttle, and my Padawan is onboard. How did it get disabled?\u201d He pulls out his comm, \u201cChris. Chris! Do you hear me? You need to get to your escape pod. Abandon the shuttle \u2014 there\u2019s an asteroid coming your way! Chris, do you copy?\u201d There\u2019s no response.<\/p>\n

Rannek shakes his head. \u201cHis comms must be down as well.\u201d Morto puts his hand on the Jedi\u2019s shoulder. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry for your loss. But know that, even though he may not realize it, his sacrifice will save thousands of lives. It\u2019s very Jedi of him, and of you, to put the greater good ahead of yourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rannek looks shocked. \u201cWhat do you mean? We\u2019re not sending the asteroid to kill him, obviously. If he could hear us and escape, certainly \u2014 but he can\u2019t. Throwing that asteroid at him would be murder! I cannot in good conscience intentionally cause harm to an innocent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morto returns the shocked expression. \u201cThe only way to achieve a better galaxy is for us all to do as much good as we can for as many people as we can. In this case, the greatest amount of good we can do is save the many lives onboard the station. Those thousands of lives clearly outweigh one padawan. Yes, there\u2019s a cost, but the math is clear. And I’m sure he would want to save them if he could.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slag muses, \u201cRannek, would you be as opposed to changing the asteroid’s course if it wasn\u2019t your Padawan onboard? Jedi are supposed to be free from attachments for exactly situations like this, are they not? But it sounds like you may be letting your personal relationship color your judgement here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rannek shakes his head. \u201cIt\u2019s not an attachment that guides me, it is the Jedi Code. Our code calls us to \u2018Resist your Passion, and live with serenity.\u2019 I am not the one acting out of passion here, Morto is. Certainly, his desire to save the lives onboard the hospital station is right and good. But how can we justify saving anyone if the way to do so requires us to murder another innocent? Would we let our passion for the lives on the hospital station turn us into cold-blooded killers?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAn interesting question.\u201d Slag says, turning, \u201cMorto, are you prepared to snuff out one life in order to save others?\u201d<\/p>\n

Morto huffs, a slight growl in his voice. \u201cWouldn’t failing to act would make me just as much a murderer? The real question is: are we prepared to make ourselves murderers-times-a-thousand by doing nothing for the station? I most certainly am not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rannek looks distraught, but his voice is clam and even. \u201cThere are tragedies around us every day. It is not within the power of even the greatest Jedi Master to prevent them all, and this is one of those situations. Diverting the asteroid, and thereby murdering an innocent, is simply not an option, morally. That doesn\u2019t make the collision with the trade station our fault. It just makes it a tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

A voice sighs from below the maintenance hatch, \u201cYou know, big-talk on ethicality is not reason I called alert<\/em>\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe captain is right,\u201d Morto insists. \u201cTime is running out! We must act now. The weight of those thousand lives rests on our shoulders. We cannot be paralyzed by philosophical debates while lives hang in the balance. Are we going to make a better world, or through inaction make it worse?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rannek sighs. \u201cI sympathize with that desire, but our duty to protect life without intentionally causing harm sometimes puts us in a place where we have to do things that may appear uncaring.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSurely,\u201d Slag says, \u201cthere\u2019s a way to ensure the preservation of all these lives while upholding the integrity of our beliefs? We all want to make the universe (and ourselves) better every day, and neither of these options seem to enable us to do that…\u201d<\/p>\n

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The debate continues as the camera turns back to the EV droid. “There you have it folks. Crisis on the Merchantates, desperately attempting to apply<\/a><\/span> moral<\/a><\/span> philosophy<\/a><\/span> in the Morobe system<\/a>. While our clerics deliberate, please visit the Merchantates<\/a>‘ proud sponsors: \"\"<\/p>\n

Platinum Sponsors:<\/h2>\n