Vengeance or justice... why can't it be both?
theatrical_muse topic: Who would you like to see get their final comeuppance? Who is it and just what would you do with them?
From a purely practical view, there is one person in the universe who deserves to die... not only for what they have done, but for what they are. And no, it's not who you might think. Not Scorpius, or Grayza, or even the Scarran emperor or War Minister Ahkna.
Don't misunderstand. If I ever lay hands on Grayza, there will be justice for John. But death, perhaps not... Death would be far too quick and easy, and with Grayza, it's personal. It shouldn't be, but it is nonetheless.
I'm also not downplaying the Scarran threat to the universe; but Staleek's motives are straightforward. He covets power, he has massive military might at his disposal, and he's putting it to use. Were I still a Peacekeeper, I would fight alongside my comrades, shed my blood to help defeat the Scarran Imperium and protect the Sebacean people.
But the death of an enemy in battle is hardly a "final comeuppance." It's what those raised and sworn to military service live to do---fight and die.
As for Scorpius... it's complicated. Maybe once, maybe back in the beginning on the Gammak base, or even later at the shadow depository, it might have been a clean and simple kill; a relief to all of us. But not now. John---this John---spared his life on the command carrier, and has had chance after chance since then to rethink that mercy; yet Scorpius lives.
Our lives are no longer that simple. Now we have to consider interspecies politics and the balance of power in the universe, the implications of every major decision we might make, every action we might take. And despite his reputation, despite what he's been forced to become... John is not a killer.
I am. I can kill; I have killed. But I've changed, too. I never used to think of the bigger picture. I didn't even know there was a bigger picture, beyond what High Command told me to envision.
I can see with my own eyes, now. I can recognize a threat and analzye its potential impact and devise a plan to counter it, to remove it permanently. And I’ve seen what wormholes can do, what John was able to make with them. He created a weapon of such power, nothing remained of what it touched. Nothing at all.
It’s ironic that someone else---one person who is not John Crichton---can wreak the same unimaginable havoc in the universe. One person without any loyalty whatsoever, except to currency. One person who can see the bigger picture, and still chooses to sell information and technology to anyone who can pay enough. A traitor.
One person who betrayed John Crichton, who sold his knowledge to the Scarrans and left him behind to die. One person who fooled me---who I misjudged so very badly that the Ancient, Jack, was left alone and vulnerable, at the cost of his life.
For those two deaths alone, Furlow deserves to die, herself. But it is because she has wormhole data---John's knowledge, information that he was tortured and suffered for, and went mad to conceal---that she will die, when I lay eyes on her again. With wormhole knowledge, and no hesitation to furnish it to anyone and everyone who can satisfy her greed, Furlow threatens the stability of the entire universe.
No one should have that kind of power.
If killing Furlow also allows me to avenge John... what of it?
From a purely practical view, there is one person in the universe who deserves to die... not only for what they have done, but for what they are. And no, it's not who you might think. Not Scorpius, or Grayza, or even the Scarran emperor or War Minister Ahkna.
Don't misunderstand. If I ever lay hands on Grayza, there will be justice for John. But death, perhaps not... Death would be far too quick and easy, and with Grayza, it's personal. It shouldn't be, but it is nonetheless.
I'm also not downplaying the Scarran threat to the universe; but Staleek's motives are straightforward. He covets power, he has massive military might at his disposal, and he's putting it to use. Were I still a Peacekeeper, I would fight alongside my comrades, shed my blood to help defeat the Scarran Imperium and protect the Sebacean people.
But the death of an enemy in battle is hardly a "final comeuppance." It's what those raised and sworn to military service live to do---fight and die.
As for Scorpius... it's complicated. Maybe once, maybe back in the beginning on the Gammak base, or even later at the shadow depository, it might have been a clean and simple kill; a relief to all of us. But not now. John---this John---spared his life on the command carrier, and has had chance after chance since then to rethink that mercy; yet Scorpius lives.
Our lives are no longer that simple. Now we have to consider interspecies politics and the balance of power in the universe, the implications of every major decision we might make, every action we might take. And despite his reputation, despite what he's been forced to become... John is not a killer.
I am. I can kill; I have killed. But I've changed, too. I never used to think of the bigger picture. I didn't even know there was a bigger picture, beyond what High Command told me to envision.
I can see with my own eyes, now. I can recognize a threat and analzye its potential impact and devise a plan to counter it, to remove it permanently. And I’ve seen what wormholes can do, what John was able to make with them. He created a weapon of such power, nothing remained of what it touched. Nothing at all.
It’s ironic that someone else---one person who is not John Crichton---can wreak the same unimaginable havoc in the universe. One person without any loyalty whatsoever, except to currency. One person who can see the bigger picture, and still chooses to sell information and technology to anyone who can pay enough. A traitor.
One person who betrayed John Crichton, who sold his knowledge to the Scarrans and left him behind to die. One person who fooled me---who I misjudged so very badly that the Ancient, Jack, was left alone and vulnerable, at the cost of his life.
For those two deaths alone, Furlow deserves to die, herself. But it is because she has wormhole data---John's knowledge, information that he was tortured and suffered for, and went mad to conceal---that she will die, when I lay eyes on her again. With wormhole knowledge, and no hesitation to furnish it to anyone and everyone who can satisfy her greed, Furlow threatens the stability of the entire universe.
No one should have that kind of power.
If killing Furlow also allows me to avenge John... what of it?