How are you thinking of managing the juxtaposition of all that the Jedi stand for with becoming an Assassin?
It's not a choice she ever consciously made, the way I see it.
You start out on the street, with no friends, no shelter, no food.
You get kicked around a bit, get hungry, maybe have to steal food to keep yourself going.
You try to wear other faces when you can, to blend in, but you're still young, can't sustain them for long.
Some 'kind' soul offers you food and a place to stay. You don't trust them, but you're desperate.
They keep you warm, keep you off the street for a bit, they're kind in small ways.
They ask little favours of you, small recompense for what they've given you.
You get used to doing as they ask.
The jobs get bigger as time goes by, but you're getting older, tougher, more able.
You make friends in the crew, other kids that've been helped out.
There are other gangs though, that want what you have, want to hurt you and yours.
People get hurt. Your people. Your handler tells you how you might help them get even.
You wear the right faces, plant the right evidence, steal the right things.
People get hurt. Their people. Everyone's very pleased with you back home.
Full grown, you're fit, tough, big enough to wear most anyone's face convincingly.
You get better and better at it, until you can even sleep in someone else's skin.
The jobs get more and more difficult, but you like that. It's a challenge.
Better jobs get you better presents, too. All sorts of shiny sharp toys, fancy outfits, good food.
One day your closest friend gets hurt. Really hurt. Gone.
Your handler is there for you, in your grief and anger. Calms you down, promises to find out who did it.
They give you a name, but say it's too dangerous. You have to beg them to let you go after them.
They relent, but you'll have to promise to do it their way, to be safe. And you'll owe them big time.
Afterwards you feel empty, hollowed out by grief and pain.
Your victim never even admitted what they'd done, didn't even know your friend's name.
Your handler offered you some time to yourself, but you needed to keep occupied.
Of course they had a job you could do.
Jesus. I'm ready to top myself just reading that! Or get really angry!
Sorry
Only kidding! But I like the angle and depth it brings.
Cho probably seems like she was always a bit of a monster, but I wanted to make the point that just about anyone could've wound up like her with the right/wrong guidance.
She's been lied to, manipulated, shaped into the kind of useful monster they needed, left with few illusions about what she will or will not do to survive and to prosper in this world.
Maybe that's why she hasn't listened too hard to what the Force has told her over the years; she didn't want to see her friends and mentors for what they were, didn't want to know why they did what they did.
I kind of like that. She doesn't even trust the force!
On some level she understands, though, and maybe that's why she started distancing herself, actively working to pay off old debts and gain some semblance of independance. She's still fond of her handlers and friends in the organisation, despite it all; it's hard to shake such ingrained feelings, but maybe it's time she surrounded herself with better people.
Definitely a good direction.
In fact I'd like to know more about Cho's moral code in this area.
Are there any jobs that she would not take?
If so why?
How does she rationalise the killing of people for money?
Is it True Lies - "Have you ever killed anyone? Yes, but they were all bad!"?
If so where did she get this moral code from?
Long years being worked on by one or two Black Sun (or Crimson Dawn, or whoever) handlers, I'd guess. To start with targets were painted as bad guys, but they made less and less a feature of that. Eventually you realise there are few real innocents in this galaxy.
Anyone can have someone killed if they've the means. Even the Jedi weren't safe, so why should anyone else be?
If someone can afford Cho, they can definitely afford messier means, and no doubt would use them At least she's professional about it, doesn't leave any more mess than necessary.
Jobs she wouldn't take for moral reasons? Kids, probably, but thankfully there's little demand there. The age-old "Please, I have a family!" still causes her pangs of conscience, doesn't like leaving dependents without support as she once was, but mostly she tries to avoid conversing with marks while killing them. Nothing good comes of it.
Not sure there would be little demand. Revenge killings often include the whole family. But easily avoided I would think. Some in your profession might even give a discount if they could kill the children...
Oddly enough, killing an entire family would probably be easier to swallow. At least no-one's left alone at the end. Still, mass killings like that are probably best passed on to someone else; Cho prefers individual hits where she can take her time finding the right moment and method, treat it more like a puzzle than a massacre.
An interesting twist on her personality. I had not seen a cold and calculating side of her. I think that would be worth encapsulating into aspect, motivation or some such.
I don't know that I'd call her cold per se, but definitely able to distance herself from potential targets emotionally. For the sake of her own sanity, they have to be looked at as puzzles, a tangle of relationships and routines viewed through the prism of what's exploitable to get close and how.
Feeds into her general wish to convince herself and the world at large that she's one of the predators now, rather than prey; she'll act callous deliberately, try to keep people on the back foot, etc. "Cho the Professional Killer" is just another role to play, to the world and to herself, and one that she tries to portray as far less vulnerable than she might actually be.
She did as her Master bid, one last time. She ran, and hid, and wore another face. Night fell on the Republic and the Jedi, and Cho was left alone again.
Cool. I can imagine her being terrified, running from Clone Troopers searching for her. Knowing they wanted to kill her. Maybe this is the point she decided she never wanted to be afraid again. That she would not be the hunted. She would do the hunting?
There's definitely an element of that, of being the predator rather than the prey now, which would appeal to her instincts. As mentioned earlier in the email tho', it's been more of a gradual slide into her present career. Few people decide to go into the business of murder overnight.
No true. But now I think she is a sleek hunter, comfortable in her body, graceful, deadly. I think "Predator, Not Prey" would make a lovely Aspect...