Reaching Through Darkness

[JediKaren]

Reaching through Darkness
Sequel to The Hidden Secret

Also known as the Emotional Battle
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Ch1
Karen
Adventure: It wasn't something a Jedi craved, daydreamed, or furiously worked to make happen. Yet, here I was, on a ship in hyperspace, sailing through space and time to a planet that was full of adventure and I loved and craved it. I loved the excitement, the unknown events waiting to happen, the real danger, and the speed of a trip. I was a veteran traveler who knew that adventure was not all thrills and included late or missed meals, sickness, lack of sleep, and the dull moments that were in all trips. I knew all there was to know about travel, like travel days.

Travel days were guaranteed to bore anyone to sleep and make them wish they were back home doing something useful and vaguely exciting with their life rather than do the tedious job of sitting in a cramped seat in a cramped ship, next to an equally cramped, unentertaining Jedi Master named Mirmo. I had to admit that at least I did not have to sit the whole time or sleep in that chair like I might have done back on my home planet which was far backwards and unknown to the rest of the galaxy. The small ship contained a compartment of one bed in the back, a tiny galley of one burner with one pot to cook, a tiny sink to clean everything, including myself and my master, and a tiny cupboard to store protein bars which I quickly grew to hate.

Travel days were also a logical must in order to have an adventure. There was no possible way to get from point A to point B without the weariness of travel unless one knew the secrets of teleportation and I was mentally working on the physics of that. I forced my addicted to depression mind to look for something positive about where I was and what I was doing. There was one nice point about travel. It gave me plenty of time to reflect on my past life on my home planet compared to my life now and how I had changed, and more importantly the relationship between me and the man sitting next to me.

Master Mirmo was my one true and beloved master who took me on six months during my first scary meeting with the council. It was funny to say, but I was starting to believe that Mirmo loved me as his apprentice. I think he saw me as the daughter he never and will never have. I wanted to say deep in his heart he loved me the way I had grown up to believe is right and true; somehow I couldn't see this feeling in him. He might have been sitting half an arm's length away, but it felt like he was galaxies further. My natural emotional hungry heart reached out to him, for his strength, support, and wisdom. All I got was coldness, like a turned back, wondering eyes and a blank, unreadable face that evaded the best my scanning abilities could produce. This distance hurt me because I knew I had hurt him. He had said in front of the council he had forgave me and asked me to accept his apologize. It seemed now he had forgotten those easy words and withdrawn from all around him.

The worst part of sitting in that small, cold metal chair was my mind wouldn't leave the past. Again and again, I saw myself run through the jungle, look into the misleading eyes of my role model, hearing the words that stung so clearly with truth, and when I felt I was done and had won, see the feelings and thoughts of my master as he picked up and carried me back home. I thought I was done with this pain and this past haunting me. I had found my inner child as some would say. I had started to genuinely heal myself, something even Mirmo couldn't get me to do. Did my master not see this process begin? If he did, then why did he stop caring for me? Why didn't he talk to me? He said we had much to talk about and now would be the perfect time to talk. He begged so many questions in this awkward silence. There was so much confusion in the air, I felt like I could reach out and touch it with my fingers.

I looked over my right shoulder to peer at Mirmo. His body posture was relaxed, forming to the ridge chair. His face was composed when he meditated. I noticed his eye lids weren't moving, which told me he was not asleep and therefore was doing his customary meditation that he was so fond of doing. I moved in my chair, dying to get up and stretch, but I didn't dare it. With our relationship being so rocky and traveling a path I knew nothing about how to navigate, it was better I didn't disturb him and end up annoying him. I stretched what little I could by flexing my legs and arching my back to get the kinks out, but that did nothing to relieve my restlessness. My eyes turned away from his peaceful outward look and glazed out the small window of the front of the ship. Billions of streaks that I had to guess were stars zoomed pass the window. The space between the streaks was the blackest black I had ever seen. The view was gorgeous to me who had never seen space. My trip to the Jedi academy on Yavin Four from my home planet was spent asleep or eating, so this was the first time I had ever seen space with my own two eyes.

Again, I forced myself to think of something else, something cheerful. I allowed myself the brief joyous feeling of where we were going which was the biggest city ever made. In my travel, I had been to a fair amount of cities. My house was about an hour away from the capital of the area I lived. I had learned that big, important cities where not all what people made them, which was of two ideas. The first idea that cities where a place of unlimited wealth, with the streets paved in gold, everyone was dressed in unspeakable riches, and smiles where to be seen everywhere. The second impression everyone had about cities who didn't live in or near one, was that cities where the most dangerous places to live. If you weren't mugged on the street during broad daylight, raped during the night, and then shot and never found again, you were most likely going to die of poverty and some hideous disease. In my experience, cities were not just one or the other, but had a bit of both and then more.

A sigh escaped past my mouth with a twitch of my body. Impatience and worry made me restless. I stared out in the dark nothingness that our ship soared through, hoping the trip was over soon. It hurt so much to sit next to a stranger.

A sigh escaped past my mouth with a twitch of my body. Impatience and worry made me restless. I stared out in the dark nothingness that our ship soared through, hoping the trip was over soon. It hurt so much to sit next to stranger.

[JediKaren]

Chp 2
Master Mirmo

Many people have told me meditation is a waste of time, a tedious experience that puts them to sleep, but that is because they perform it incorrectly, like my apprentice. If done correctly with careful, constant practice, another thing my apprentice refuses to do, one can achieve universal oneness with the Force. Most people yawn at this point and change the topic to something more interesting like the weather, or the newest fashion trend for hutts. I do not get discouraged by this. I know I am not everyone and I am glad of that. I have always been told how wonderful it must be to always be calm when placed in a testing situation, which my apprentice frequently places me into, such as now.

Do not get the impression that I do not care, I deeply care that is, for Karen. She truly was an amazing student when she wanted to and cleverer, fastest learner when she fancied, probably one of the strongest people that I have ever known, ranking close to Master Skywalker, but she does severely push my limits from time to time. I love her like a father loves a daughter, and I feverishly hope I have treated her far better than her father did. The memories she shared with me only days ago had caused me unpleasant dreams, and I can not understand how she manages to hold back her screams at night. She claimed during the council meeting that she no longer had nightmares, but from the experiences that I had been suffering from, I had to wonder if that was not said for saving face.

I had hope this voyage would provide both of us an opportunity to get to know each other and resolve the uncertain and strained feeling between us. There was also the hope that this trip would teach her things that a classroom could not, but she was focusing on the less positive aspects of travel and was making the worse of it. I had hoped during the time spent traveling, we could talk, but so far we have only said the bare minimum. As the master, one would assume it was my responsibility to initiate the conversation. Because Karen was the one that left me with no note or idea of where she was or why she left, or if she needed me, I felt it was up to her to start the conversation. She seemed to radiate a feeling of very tense confusion and she was withdrawn, perhaps hurt by the lack of communication between us.

This is why I was sitting in front of the blinking green and red console, eyes closed, mind empty being one with the galaxy, searching for the a deeper truth of life and Force. I had nearly reached the desired state of mind for the meditation when I noticed something in the small room. Mentally, I pulled out of this state and called upon the Force to search for the cause of the interruption with my eyes still closed. The life energy that gave all Jedi their endless power hinted to me it was my restless apprentice squirming again in her seat. My plan to spend the trip peacefully meditating the time away had a few holes. I held a sigh and opened my eyes. One amazing talent she had was being able to ignore my glaze for a full five minutes. When she stopped pretending that she had not noticed me, I asked her if something was wrong.

“Oh. Um no, nothing is wrong.”

I nodded at her startled voice and went back to my meditation. I breathed slowing, felling blessed peace clear my mind and soul. My conscious left the ship, extended to the fringes of the galactic arms, through space, coldness, and the warmth of trillions of lives. I was with the stars, gases, light, and rock that made up the universe. I was with the almighty Force. I was one with the universe for about ten minutes before I sensed some movement very close to me. I let out another sigh of frustration. It looked like my apprentice was not going to let me meditate. This was going to be longest trip I had ever taken.

I opened my eyes and stared hard at Karen. She became responsive of my attention placed on her soon enough and blushed. I took a deep breath, held it, and released the anger I felt towards her out of my system. With a calm, controlled voice of someone I hoped sounded wise and all knowing, I suggested that she try meditation. The glaring look on her face told me I suggested something along the lines of watching paint dry on a wall. This would not do. I knew all too well she was not fond of meditation, but her response was becoming a trained one and not one of a future knight. Most of the time her behavior was excusable on the grounds she had a rough life or did not know better, except this time was not most of the time.

Her frown is what promoted a long lecture from me. I patiently explained to her we still had another day of travel ahead of us and she knew as much as I did what could be done in the small space the ship provided. I would not let her sleep the entire time like she had done coming to the temple. One can only eat so much and we did not have unlimited protein bars, I noticed she had come to the quick conclusion by the expression on her face that everyone makes about them. I offered to have a stretching session if she was suffering from cramped muscles, but she refused. I offer to teach her some history of the planet, but she declined that as well. We could go over the map of the galaxy or show her how to go into hyperspace, but none of that appealed to her. I grew impatient with her lack of trying to find something for her to do. I turned back to reasoning the practice of meditation. If her mind could not keep her entertained with daydreaming and the hyper thoughts that bounced around in her head like a child that has had too much sugar, then she could work on conditioning her mind to something more useful and focused.

Karen did not say anything and did not have to. The look on her face told me of many silent curses being directed at me. I ignored this and kept up my holier then thou expression to remind her she was a Jedi and I would not put up with less. She did not sigh, growl, or even glare, but gave in by closing her eyes and slightly opened her mouth to start controlled breathing. I waited for two minutes, carefully watching for signs of a show and was satisfied.

I did not take her to become her baby sitter or entertainer, but to help her and to teach her the ways of a path she so dearly wanted. My part was being done to the best of my ability. It was up to the student to put forth the effort and I as the teacher should not be made to lecture her every other day about her responsibility. I breathed in and breathed out. My mind wondered through the galaxy, traveling to places I had never heard of, found and learned many truths, but in the end, I came back to the thought I started with: my beloved apprentice.

[JediKaren]

Ch3
Karen

When this began
I had nothing to say
And I'd get lost in the nothingness inside of me
I was confused
And I'd let it all out to find
That I'm not the only person with these things in mind
Inside of me
When all the vacancy the words revealed
Is the only real thing that I've got left to feel
Nothing to loose
Just stuck, hollow, and alone
And the fault is my own and the fault is my own

I wanna heal
I wanna feel
What I thought was never real
I want to let go of the pain I felt so long
Erase all the pain till its gone
I wanna heal
I wanna feel
Like I’m close to something real
I want to find something I've wanted all along
Somewhere I belong

And I've got nothing to say
I can't believe I didn’t fall right down on my face
I was confused
Looking everywhere only to find
That it's not the way I had imagined it all in my mind
So what am I
What do I have but negativity
’Cause I cant justify the way everyone is looking at me
Nothing to loose
Nothing to gain, hollow, and alone
And the fault is my own and the fault is my own

I wanna heal
I wanna feel
What I thought was never real
I want to let go of the pain I felt so long
Erase all the pain ‘til its gone
I wanna heal
I wanna feel
Like I’m close to something real
I want to find something I’ve wanted all along
Somewhere I belong

I will never know
Myself until I do this on my own
And I will never feel
Anything else, until my wounds are healed
I will never be anything
’till I break away from me
I will break away
I'll find myself today

I wanna heal
I wanna feel
What I thought was never real
I want to let go of the pain I felt so long
Erase all the pain till it's gone
I wanna heal
I wanna feel
Like I’m close to something real
I want to find something I’ve wanted all along
Somewhere I belong

I wanna heal
I wanna feel
I wanna feel like I'm somewhere I belong

Somewhere I belong

I took the earpieces off and stared off into the black sea of space through the glass window, contemplating the significance of the song. It was my new favorite song because I could relate to it so much. The song talked about healing, a road I was just beginning, and also talked about belonging somewhere, an aching matter in my life. I was accepted and trained at the Jedi academy, but I didn’t feel a part of the family, the group. I still felt like if I were to break a rule that was taboo to them at least to the old order, like getting pregnant or married, I would be exiled in a flash. Perhaps, my master might try to held me survive, but it would be difficult for him and I wasn’t sure I would let him go through so much trouble.

All my life, I have never belonged to anything or fit in with any group. I am the exception of any statistic. One can’t just place a number on me and predict that I will do as that number says. My early birth said many problems would come and stay in my future. I over came almost all of them. There is some statistic that said I should have been heavily dependent on drugs since they were all around me, yet I had never smoked or drank. My scores to get into a higher education supposed I would not survive my first year, but I did and did well. The abusive history that runs through my family tells I should be abusive towards any children and pets. Obviously, that was wrong for I dearly loved all animals and children. My abilities separated me from the rest of society in a way I still can’t explain, increasing the feeling I didn’t belong anywhere. I found myself unable to stand human contact for long and groups larger than a hundred were unbearable. The ability to see through people like they are made of glass made me like them even less as I saw most people to be dull, boring, and completely unaware and purposely trying to avoid the things that matter in life. My teachers, at least the ones that bother to really teach us something, said I was already on a higher plane of thinking and they hardly knew how close they hit the mark.

I didn’t just think on a higher plane, I lived and studied a plane of reality so advance and complex, no amount of words could capture the beauty and wonder of the design. I, at the young age of twenty one, had access to something that was the cause of the wipe out of the Jedi. I knew of the “beyond life and death” that so many people, Jedi and not, spent their whole life searching for, willing to kill and get killed for. The price of this knowledge was a steep one that few, if they know, would take. The strength of character, of will, of heart, and determination must be immense for anyone who has not died and become one with the Force to even be considered to be told about, not to mention hands on study. The hardest part about the special training was I couldn’t freely share the information I was learning about with just anyone. In fact, during my time spent at the academy, I couldn’t tell a soul, not even my master, until I was separated from the person and they couldn’t contact me. So far, the only Jedi I was able to tell was Luke Skywalker and I was light years away from him.

My thoughts wondered to the letter I gave him right before I left. The night before the trip, once the council had cleared my name, my little packing was finished; a plan was fashioned and reviewed to look for holes. I went to sleep and was given permission to reveal my secret truth to Master Skywalker. What is sad is I couldn’t even go into details of the how I got the permission other than Force spirit of Master Yoda told me it was ok to tell Luke the next morning. I was far too nervous to verbally tell Luke, as I called him from habit and not from lack of respect. So I wrote a letter and gave it to him, hoping he could understand what I had to say. In the letter, I offered to bring him to this higher plane. I wanted to give details, but one letter just wasn’t enough and would’ve been several pages long, trying to get the basic meaning across.

I wasn’t sure if I could reach him now, not sure if hyperspace effect projecting my soul from and out of my body to where ever Luke was at that moment. Furthermore, I preferred to do this when he was asleep or close. I made a mental note that when we were on planet, should that ever happen, to not give my mind any peace until an attempt had been made. There was no certainty that this could be done, because I had never pulled a soul out of someone’s body and another reason was while I knew people that could and did, I hardly approved of the practice. I felt that by helping someone do something so personal and meaningful, the first experience would loose the powerful meaning and teach the person to depend on someone else. One fault many people had when trying to project was they didn’t know their soul well and could not control it in order to have the soul leave the body. I may have not wanted to know myself, even went to far extremes to avoid looking in, I still was in touch and had control.

An angry red light blinked fast and brighter than the rest of the lights, accompanied with a shrieking whistle. The sound startled me out of my rambling thoughts about the complexity of the Force and the effects it had on the soul. I stared at the board in front of me, unsure of what to do, wondering if my sleeping master could hear this and would come soon. Several minutes went by and the sound would not go away as I hoped. I began to wonder if something was deadly wrong with the ship and rose to wake Mirmo up.

“Sit back down. There is nothing to be alarmed about. The ship is programmed to warn the pilot ten minutes before reaching the destination and to start getting ready to come out of hyperspace. In other words, my young, overly worried apprentice, we are finally here.”

[JediKaren]

Ch4
Mirmo

With blessed, suppressed relief, I pulled the small, weaponless ship out of hyperspace. The bright streaking stars suddenly came into focus; the ship shuddered, causing both us to be jolted painfully on the cold metal of the chairs. A frown formed in my face at the performance of the ship. If pirates were to seek us out, I doubted the ship could endure the hard run I would need to take. Luke Sykwalker, or Master Sykwalker to me, had apolitically informed me this was the only ship the fledging order could afford to lend us for our mission and he wisely advised us to avoid trouble if possible. There was luck with us, for the galaxy lived in a relatively peaceful period of rest from war and inclining prosperity. Piracy and homicide activity was rarer than usual while traveling, promoting business and increasing trade. It was a good time for a simple first mission of the two of us.

A gasp from Karen broke the silence that filled the room after the rough maneuver. I spared a glance over my left shoulder to observe the wide eyes, the leaning forward body, and the slightly opened mouth in awe by someone who never had ventured into space and the core of the galaxy. My attention turned back to manually steering the craft through a course coordinated and dictated by the computer. A black sphere came into view and hurriedly enlarged itself by the second. My apprentice could not hold back her amazement any longer.

“Oh look! Is…is that the famous Coruscant?”

I confirmed her inquire. Indeed, Coruscant was extremely famous for the entire planet housed the capital city of the enormous galaxy. The planet was the home of over a trillion living beings, a billion types of life, both animal and plants, and an assortment of structured cells.

“It’s so darn… menacing and it’s so big! I’ve never seen anything like it and I’ve seen big cities before back at my home. Why is it so dark? Are we seeing this side of the planet at night?”

It was said the planet was the shadow of a god by the beliefs of various religions. I explained to my apprentice how the planet only seemed sinister, but once one entered the atmosphere, one would see they were being misled by the outer appearance. She, like the first time I journeyed this way, did not believe me, but in time she would.

A stream of ships crisscrossed above the surface of the planet. I pressed a button and turned a knob to activate and tune the pilot com to inform the biggest and most famous of landing station of Coruscant our arrival and request a dock to land in. I chose the bay for two reasons. The first reason was to educate the girl, allowing her to see what a typical station was like and to give an impression of how big the population really was. If I gave Karen a number, her mind would not comprehend it, but seeing a trillion people moving about would mean something. She would be introduced to a wide variety of ships and species, getting that shock over. The second reason was one of safety. A busy and one of the largest stations ever made would have mass confusion, letting us remain unnoticed in the crowds and not seen as a threat.

The planet may now be under Republic political control, but many of the citizens bitterly had not forgotten the days of Emperical rule. There were extremely few people, mostly species who lived longer than humans and disliked by the Empire, who were alive before the great war and those who survived were old, powerless, and fearfully silent. My research showed me the ancient Jedi Order’s reputation had died during the war when their numbers could not stand the duration and intensity of the bloodshed spread out on almost all planets. The purge of the Jedi ordered by the Sith had affirmed the opinions of parties against the Jedi and the old Republic. Soon, the word that once held unquestionable respect and unbound honor was uttered as an insulting curse. This attitude had faded during the rebellion with the help of the grinding grip of the power hungry Emperor, yet had failed to completely disappear. I wasn’t sure how the public on would view the new Jedi, but for now I did not want to find out in the wrong circumstances.

The ship passed through the off planet traffic, slanting downward. In mere seconds, the oppressive darkness that my apprentice had remarked on faced away into bright light blue with the sun rays reflecting on the millions of buildings. Colors flashed, vehicles zoomed all around in organized patterns, and noises of all sorts assaulted our ears, making me check to see how Karen was taking this. She was still excited as ever, unable to look everywhere, or get enough of the scene laid before us. I reminded her to put on her safety harness just incase anything went wrong with the landing.

The ship glided its way, slowing down as it got deep into the chaos of traffic hovering around the landing station. I set the ship into the landing cycle and in seconds we felt the impact of the landing supports touching the duracrete floor. Karen undid her harness as fast as she could figure out. After two minutes of hearing her struggle with the devise, I leaned over and squeezed a button to release the catch. There was a look of half covered up embarrassment as she made eye contact and jumped out of her seat. She quickly headed for the narrow hallway were the ramp was. I called out to her to wait a minute as I had a few shut down procedures to accomplish. The feeling of “now” came from her so strong; I could have seen the words glowing from her if the Force permitted it. I grabbed our packs which she had forgotten about in her impatience and accessed the ramp. She peered eagerly down the ramp and outside. A smile formed on my lips and I let her go first. It was like watching a kid explore a new house, only this was a dangerous house that I wanted to keep all sharp objects away from her. I led her through the buzzing crowds to the station’s center to pay our landing and keeping fee with credits from my own private account that Master Skywalker had transferred into. Being a Jedi was not a well paying job; however the New Republic was supportive of our cause and generous with grants.

Once we were finically cleared, I located a holographic map of the city and located our destination. I committed the location to memory and turned around to tell Karen what our next step was. The only problem was Karen wasn’t next to me, but had wondered off some twenty meters away, staring glassy eyed at some sleek ship among the other thirty ships which were in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Admittedly, the ship was a real beauty and for what little Karen knew of ships, I was glad to see she had an eye for taste and wealth. This assured me she could pass for someone who had lived in this region all her life. I wanted us to blend in with the crowds as much as possible and look less like tourists.

I walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. She jumped; she had yet to learn to suppress that reaction, surprise, and looked at me with guilt written all over her face. I wanted to laugh, remembering myself at that age, new to the galaxy and all, never the less, it was not appropriate for my role and I had to swallow the feeling down. Instead, I told her to stick near me. There would be plenty of time to sightsee. First, we needed to find my friend and a place to sleep, his house if possible.

[snowind]

Looking good Karen, liking the whole chapter per character thingy. Just read them really quick, I'll read them more throughly sometime soon I promise. And it's true, there are certain people that are just the anti-thesis of Statistics... but seriously, statistics are meant to be broken, studying them right now as a matter of fact... there are a lot of factors so it's only math that something will go wrong.

[JediKaren]

Ch 5
Karen

In my travels I had visited cites, the big important ones. I thought of them were far too huge, and overwhelming, not a place I would want to live in, yet I knew nothing about what big really meant until I had stepped off our small ship.

There was so much to see and all of it seemed to go by so fast, I wanted to chase after each ship and person to discover who they were and where they were going, even if it was impossible. I hardly noticed myself drifting away from Mirmo when he went to a map to figure out where we were going. Admittedly, I should have been with him, studying the map, but maps have never interested me despite my father’s best efforts and I doubt I could understand how to read the map when I knew absolutely nothing about reading a holographic one.

Master Mirmo’s talk about keeping close to him in a crowded station brought me back into a mode I hadn’t been in for years. When my father would take me to these so called big cities, it was understood that I was to stay near him at all times and not wonder off. As Mirmo turned around and started walking towards some unknown point, I shook my head at myself and followed his feet. The trip mode that I had developed over years was one of serious alertness, taking in everything, but letting nothing dominate my attention for more than a second or two, unless it was interesting enough to point out to my father. If my father agreed, then we would stop and watch if we had the time. Usually if I knew we didn’t have time, I wouldn’t let myself get interested in anything for too long, even on the first day.

My master weaved through the crowd to a huge exit area and across this walkway where there were some sort of car like vehicles, floating above the steel duracrate floor next to what looked like a cab driver. My master approached one of the cab drivers told a short, fat human guy with greasy hair who looked bored and poor, where we needed to go. It was strange to comment he was human, but after a nasty shock of seeing millions of different aliens in a few seconds, I felt myself cling to the relief and need to associate with my kind.

“Ya, I ca take ya there, but th’ gal thare will be a’ extra twenty.”

The driver’s accent was so thick and clearly lower class compared to what I overheard from the hundreds of people walking by us, I was surprised and strained to understand him. Mirmo had gone back to his more quiet, conserved mood that I first met him and agreed to the addition in price.

“Ca I take ‘yur bag Missy?”

I caught the words “take” and “bag” and held my backpack even tighter as a first reaction. I glared at the man, threatening in a non verbal way he would loose a tooth if he thought of doing such again, not to mention even try.

“It is ok Karen. Let him have it. See, he has mine and is going to put in the back. Sorry Sir. I am taking my niece to visit a real city and she does not know how things are done here.”

Mirmo’s assured voice cut through my defensive move and calmed my fears. I shrugged the bag off my shoulders and handed it to the man, who gave half a nod with a grunt. When the bags were locked and we were seated, the driver slide in the front and took off.

I had no idea what the thing we were riding was called but I knew it wasn’t a car and it flew through air, but wasn’t an airplane. An airplane was the size of a ship twice as big as the one we flew to get to this planet and you couldn’t feel too much of the small movements it made. Furthermore, an airplane didn’t make small movements. This did and my stomach regretted each one. I felt extremely uneasy about having nothing under us and each rise or fall made me swear we were about to crash to our death. I could not help the whiteness in my face or the racing blood of my pulse. I didn’t want Mirmo, who was busy staring out the window of the covered taxi, to notice my nervousness, so I followed his example and looked out my window. That was the second mistake I had made in less than an hour. No one had said “don’t look down” but they might as well because I had to wonder how far away we were from the ground. I pressed nose to the glass and tried to sit up as much as my back would allow in order to see as far as I could from the angle I sat in. If there was a ground, I never saw it. Instead, I saw layers and layers of traffic, buildings, and air. The thought of no ground scared me so bad that I scooted away from the side of the taxi and brushed my master. He turned away, with a slightly bored look on his face like someone who had seen this and wasn’t impressed, and looked at me, searching for something that was wrong.

“What is the matter?”

I stared at him speechless, unable to think of how to explain to him there was no ground.

“Somethin’ wrong Missy?”

I wanted to groan and melt into the seat. Now I had attracted the attention of the driver, who I wished would pay more attention to his steering as my stomach knotted and flipped with the worst dive yet. I told both of them in an embarrassed mumble that everything was ok.

“Neve bin n’ one of these cloud cars eh?”

Mirmo’s eyebrow rose slightly and an amused smile was sketched on his calm face. I cursed him silently and told the driver I hadn’t. The driver laughed, the car rocketed, and I nearly threw up.

“Ah, sir, could you be so kind to refrain from such rocky moves. I believe my niece's stomach and my wallet would appreciate it.”

I took back the curses and made a mental note to thank Mirmo when we got off, should we survive. The rest of the trip was not long, though the quality of the driving hadn’t improved much. We landed at a busy, but small outcrop of duracrete. The driver got out of the car, opened the back where our packs were stored and handed them to us as Mirmo opened the door. I took mine, set it on the ground and knelt, pretending to look for something in the back of my pack. What I really was doing was trying to center my stomach and nerves. Mirmo paid the driver and gave me hand to pull myself from my crouch.

“Not all drivers are that bad, if that helps your stomach.”

I nodded, but was silent. Wearily, I glanced over the side of the railing of the sidewalk and felt my nerves rise again.

“You will also be happy to note we will walk from here and there will not be any more shocking transportation to take. The only thing you will have to deal with is stairs. Can you handle that?”

I had to grin and cheerfully say yes. He nodded again in approval and started our trek. Coruscant was a city of nearly all air or building and if you were on a building, you used the walkways that connected all buildings to get around. Mirmo had proven to tell the truth when he said I only had to deal with stairs. Our walk was a fast long one, but there was so much to see, I hardly minded the exercise. There was no one thing that caught my eye, but everything and everyone. I could have easily spent a month studying the people and their clothing in one hall, but Mirmo didn’t allow that. There were signs flickering and popping up in your face, demanding that you read them and did whatever they wanted, which of course was to spend all your money. Species all of sorts used whatever they had to get your attention and buy whatever they had for sale, but my past traveling with my father taught me never to make eye contact with these sale persons, but to observe their merchandise out of the corner of your eye or to look when they weren’t looking at you.

Finally, Mirmo stopped at this one door, pressed a button, and received a small oval ball attached to a metal stick that peered at both of us.

“I am Mirmo, Jedi Knight and friend of Walne. I request that I be allowed to visit him.”

The strange droid made whizzing and beeping sounds for a full minute before withdrawing and the door slide sideways. Mirmo turned to me and gestured me into the home of Walne, whoever he was.

[JediKaren]

Ch 6
Mirmo

While I permit Karen enter first, I moved ahead to be the first person my dear friend Nea Walne saw to avoid confusion. I stood in the dark hallway of his medium size apartment, peering through dark green walls by the light from the other rooms’ cast out. I was not sure how he might take my apprentice and hoped my presence would smooth over any awkwardness that might occur.

“Mirmo, is that you ol’ buddy?”

I called that it was I. The meter and a half bulk of humanoid pale flesh that gave off a glow of near white light came out from the left hand doorway and stopped. I could see the glint of grass green eyes also straining in the inadequate light, trying to make out my features.

“Oh what in the names of the seven curses of the Sith are we standing here like a bunch of drunken nerfs. Ah, give me a second my friend as I try to find this blast light switch.”

That was Nea alright; a man who cursed enough, even in polite company, to make a hutt blush and vow never to use such vivid language again. I heard his five sizes larger feet stomp on the bare thread carpeted floor on smelly, rotting wooden floor, bumping on unseen junk. After many heartbeats he found the light activator and a single, but surprisingly bright light came on and blinded me momentarily. The time my vision adjusted to the light, there was nothing to see except for a multi color stained and oddly smelling like spice tunic that belonged only to my friend as he fiercely gripped me in a near fainting hug. I gathered what little Force my air deprived mind could gather and directed the energy to ease the strength of my friend’s arms. With a gulp of air, I pounded his drug enhanced muscled back until he let go, but held me at arm’s length. He carefully studied me, as if to make sure I was who he thought I was. Yep, I thought to myself, this was the same Nea I knew so well.

“Ah, Mirmo, it has been too long. Still playing meditating Jedi? I hope you can remember to feed yourself now and again.”

I said yes and grinned sheepishly, remembering the early days of when he knew me.

“Well, I still have yet to see the point in all this running around and pretending to wave a lightsaber. If you were sensible like me, you would be settled in an apartment, with a few girls around you at all times, having the life you have always wanted. Now, tell me, my fine friend, why be a Jedi when one can live the life of luxuries?”

My grin turned into a playful ground and I answered him in a quick grab of the wrist and a twist of the arm.

“Ah, still think you can out do me in this little game aye?”

As fast as I moved, he moved faster without the aid of the Force. It took all of three seconds for him to have me on the ground. Yet, my Jedi training and teachings from my old instructor had taught me well and the tumble was not over. Our rough play soon covered the whole hall and anything became a tool in the goal of victory. The only thing that stopped us from beating each other up was the high pitch sound of Karen squeaking when we nearly knocked her down. We both stopped and look up at her. I managed to see her despite the massive arm that covered half my face and Nea ignored the sharp heel of my heavy boot that was busy crushing his foot.

“You should have told me there was a lady in the house!”

When our limbs untangled from each other and bruises had be tenderly rubbed, we straightened up and I moved slightly to my frowning apprentice whose body language told me the shock and the disapproval she had for our host. I cleared my throat and introduced my apprentice, Karen Nightingstar, to Nea Walne. Karen coolly welcomed him and stuck her hand out, for what I was not sure. She must have been using a custom from her planet. Nea was not thrown off by the gesture, but gently took her hand and kissed it was taking a step back with his right foot and bowed. I noticed the frown lengthened downward on her face as she took her hand back. I also noticed she hide her hand behind her back and wiped it on her brown Jedi clothes. Perhaps, I should make a metal note to explain to her proper greeting manners and rituals when we had time.

“Ah, so you Jedi are growing! Who knew your crazy idea would work and the galaxy would actually want some righteous goody goodies sticking their naïve noises into criminals minding their own business like me?”

He nudged me in the ribs and I playfully bumped him hard on the shoulder, pushing him slightly off his feet. His booming laugh was well welcomed, but a sour look on Karen’s face told me how obviously she wished he would shut up. I focused my glaze on her, sending her a look of reproach and a silent plea for her to remember her manners. It would not due for us to be shepherded off if Nea was offended by her rudeness.

“Well my fair lady, no need to be so stiff and formal. There is no Jedi teachers to scold at you should you relax a bit. Say, let me take that pack there and show you into my humble living room. Mirmo, have you fed this young lady or letting her suffer under your own ill habits that I once had to rescue you from?”

He was a man that could find and abuse a weakness to no end, humble the richest man alive, and the only one who put the Emperor to shame and lived to brag about it. Nea was a valuable friend that anyone could have.

The so called living room was shared by a small kitchen. There were two chairs that were old, tattered, and no doubt had been gotten off the black market in exchange for a spice distillery. The medium blue paint on the walls were peeling and the fakes were scattered on the dusty red carpet. The sink was stacked with dirty pots and cups, flies included. The room gave off a strong smell of something sour that I concluded came from the frid unit. There were two lights on, one flickering, giving off the sensation of a fire and the smoke coming from one pot simmering the cooking unit sealed the impression into my mind. We were begged to take the two seats, being told to rest, while he moved his ungraceful self in the tiny room of the kitchen, turning down the heat. I politely told him that we had not eaten yet, but would gladly pay for the meal.

“What? Are you saying that a retired spice cooker and dealer could not afford to feed his best friend and this lovely young lady?”

A half covered sniff of held back irritation told me what Karen thought. For once, I agreed. I took a jab at him and reminded him he was hardly retired while staring straight at the steaming pot that had the unmistakable chemical smell of an illegal drug.

“Oh that. It does not count you see. Even a retired jack like me has to keep something on the stove to keep alive. Still, I will pay for dinner. Unfortunately I was not expecting such company or I haul something out of that there frid unit, so wait a minute while I find that comn that is underneath my bed and we will have order in. Has she ever had Hoth ‘lish steaks?”

Considering the only food from this galaxy Karen had ever eaten outside of her home planet was what was served at the cafeteria at the Temple, I doubted she had. I looked at her to see if she had any idea of what he was talking about, but what he said could have been in Jawish for all she knew. I told him ‘lish steaks would be fine, knowing this was going to cost him a week’s worth of spice.

“Then ‘lish steaks it is. I will be right back and Karen, before you know it, you will have tasted your first delicious ‘lish steak.”

I could tell Karen was straining not to say anything while he was rummaging through his room, cursing the whole time. I smiled at her, keeping silent. As promised, soon we were all sitting, Nea was sprawled out on the floor, eating Hoth ‘lish steaks and sipping a red wine, Karen requested water. To evade questions I told him the Jedi preferred their apprentice to refrain from all forms of alcohol to keep a clear connection to the Force. This went unchallenged.

“Tell me, what brings two Jedi to my door. I hope this is not official business or another drug bust, because then I am going to have to politely kick you all out.”

I assured him no and explained this was a trip for my apprentice and hopefully for me to get reacquainted with the highs and lows of the planet. He laughed, causing the plate to shake and making Karen even more unhappy.

“Got sick of all that waste of time meditating huh? Well, I do not blame you there. I have been trying to tell you for years that if you want to live life, you have got to seek it at its lowest end to get full value. We drug dealers are the richest of society, far better off than those snobby senators. Sure, we do not have Naboo silk purple robes or cloud cars costly enough to buy ten slaves, but our experiences and culture outrank everyone and everything, including that Force stuff you Jedi are slaved to.”

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Karen yawn after eating half of her steak. I was not sure if it was the food or the company that kept her from inhaling her food like usual. I casually told him our trip had been long and hard on her and we should be getting some sleep. Karen rose out of her chair, turned to the door, evidently thinking we would sleep elsewhere than this dingy apartment. I shook my head slightly and held my hand to pause her in her tracks. I asked him if he still had a bed in the back room.

“Yeah, sure I do, but there is only one.”

With a gesture of my head, I indicted for Karen to head to the back and get her much needed sleep. She hesitated, if asking where I would sleep. I gave her half a smile and excused myself from the room. She led the way to the room, waited for me to enter, and closed the door.

“Master, this guy…well I don’t like him. I don’t really trust him.”

I told her he was a friend from the old days when I was still learning how to be a Jedi. I would and did trust him with my life as should she. She tried to hide her doubtful look. I told her to go to bed. There was a bit of a stubborn look, lacking the strength to hold from her tiredness. I walked out the door to give her privacy and went back to the living room to catch up on each other’s past all through the night.

[JediKaren]

Ch7
Karen

“Karen, time to get up.”

I stirred in my sleep, indistinctly conscious of Mirmo’s voice piercing the grip sleep had on me. A curious grunt came out as if questioning the bed and location of the room I was in. I came to the deduction that the bed more resembled a sack than a mattress and the blankets that were tightly rolled up around me were of old thick and massive shirts than soft cloth. Slowly I opened my eyes with a loud yawn and sharply shut my mouth to keep out the smell. Memories of the night before rushed through my head and a shudder over took me.

Tottering, I stepped over the junk, stuff I was glad I couldn’t recognize, to head out into the hall and to the bathroom. I opened the door and wish I hadn’t. My eyes distinctly found the toilet. Men, I thought. One would have an easier time teaching an eighty year old to feel and use the Force than to teach a guy to flush when they were done. I took a deep breath and moved quickly to push down the button. I only let out my breath when the stinky contents were gone and closed the door. In a few minutes I was happily taking my first shower since four days ago, lavishing in the wondrous feeling of being clean and smelling like fresh outdoors.

I stepped out of the steamy bathroom with a barrowed towel around me to dash into my room again. On my bed was shiny black leather pants and small, but tight shirt, both folded with care. To complete the outfit, there were knee high sleek boots that had pointed narrow heads neatly placed on the floor that were just my size with low heels. I turned over the shirt and saw that there was an artistically dip in the black, leaving my upper back mostly exposed. I put them on to find the pants fit fine, but the shirt was tight, so close fitting I had trouble putting the garment on. I knew this was the choice of that devious Nea guy who Mirmo liked so much. I put a hand on my slightly bare stomach, knowing the shirt was meant to be too small. The image in the mirror showed a young slim woman dressed in a sexy black outfit with wet dark brown hair dangling around her shoulders, curling around her upper part of her back and dripping water down her bare skin. I toweled my hair and brushed it out well until it shined. If this questionable being wanted me to look attractive and my master hadn’t stopped him, I should go the full lengths. When I stepped out of my small messed up room, my hair had been braided from the top of my head downward. I walked through the hallway and turned into the living room where Mirmo was sitting in the chair like the night before, drinking a mug of something that smelled like strong coffee and Nea was busy in the kitchen area. Both had stopped their actives and looked up at me.

“Oh M’lady, how lovely you look in those clothes. See Mir, I told you they would fit.”

I resumed my cold icy gaze at him, but he took no notice. I did not like him giving my master nicknames I knew nothing about. Mirmo glazed up and down, to decide if I was appropriately dressed.

“Apprentice, being sleepy gives you no right to stare our guest into a standing ice sickle. You will have to forgive her. Karen tends to be rather grumpy if woken up too early.”

My master returned my look with a harder stare than me, sending my eyes to the ground. An arm from my right handed me a mug of some dark liquid. I accepted the mug and sniffed. A color aroma of sweet spices came rolling out of the steam and drifted into my nose, awaking my senses and stomach. A small sip of the sweet, rich tasting liquid was enough to make my lick my lips and want to purr like a cat.

“It seems that our darling dear agrees with the Falleen bark tea.”

Nea laughed and I worked hard not to choke on a big gulp of the delicious tea.

“Well, she does love her sweets as I have found many of bags of stolen candy under her pillow at the academy.”

Mirmo shot me half a smile. I resisted the urge to calmly down the hot tea over his head and continue drinking.

“A Jedi stealing eh? I thought you all were teaching the young to sit and stare at rocks all day?”

I pitched in that some of us had learned skills before coming to the temple and weren’t so pampered and good as the Jedi dreamed us to be. This sent Nea into another fit of laughter that shook the liquid in my mug.

“I do like her and that sharp tongue of hers. Listen my sweetums, you take a seat over there and I will finish up this breakfast I am sure you will love as much as you do that tea.”

The old battered bluish arm chair creaked under my weight and lowered me almost to the ground. I set the finished tea mug on the filthy carpet and looked over my shoulder to Mirmo to see if I could pick up on what he was thinking. His face was bland; his eyes looked a bit bloodshot, making me wonder if he slept at all. In all honestly, this was not the person I knew. He seemed more relaxed, younger, and more at ease with his surroundings than he was at the temple. His cheeks were burning brightly, the dim light dazzled, and I noticed he was sprawled out in the chair, with one leg hung over the arm of the chair. Never had I seen my master so open in his manner and pose. Even his voice was full of beaming laughter and forever lasting youth. Through the Force I could tell he saw me more as a younger companion and not his apprentice. I was slightly hurt by the distance he set up around him. I covered my feelings and asked what we were going to do today. Nea turned around to hand me a plate of food and answered my question.

“Your master and I got talking last night, late last night, and decided he wanted to catch up with some of his friends from the old days. So after you are done eating, we are going in my car and head down to the lower levels.”

Mirmo got up, put both his and my mug in the somewhat cleaner sink.

“Then I suggest we get going. Karen, would you be so kind as to get your lightsaber so I can deal with it? It would be best if you did not have it in full display.”

I nodded and walked to my room again to retrieve the metal hit of the lightsaber loaned to me for the purpose of this trip. I grabbed the hilt from next to my pillow and was about to turn around when I sensed Mirmo come in. He closed the door and took a step forward. There was a pause of silence between us. It was very clear I was to speak my mind now or hold my tongue. I explained to my master we were dealing with a poor slob of a drug dealer. If the Jedi wanted a better reputation, then we shouldn’t be dealing with this kind of low life that could barely feed us dinner. Mirmo patiently listened to my little rant, staring at me with dull, bored eyes as if I were some spoiled child demanding something unreasonable.

“Do you have any idea how much those steaks cost apprentice?

No, I didn’t, but I did know that when one said the word steak, one meant a hunk of meat and meat universally was expensive.

“Correct. One of those steaks could have bought this entire apartment. Now could I have that lightsaber that is in your hand?”

He said that so calmly, I had to wonder if he was joking. Could this pitiful excuse of a law breaker be so rich as to afford such a costly meal for a mere friend and his apprentice? If he was so rich, then why live in such poor conditions?

“Looks are deceiving my naive friend.”

With that, Mirmo took my lightsaber, hooked it on to his belt next to his and pulled his slightly long tunic over them. He then turned and walked out the door to announce we were ready. I followed him, looking around for hidden treasures.

“Follow me and stick close my dear. Would not want to loose such a fine looking lady.”

The need to snarl at him was intense, but Jedi training held that urge back. Once we were outside of his front door, I stuck close to Mirmo’s left side. We didn’t go far, but to a small elevator shaft. Nea pressed his hand on a grey pad, until it blinked green and the door opened. Was this Nea’s? Was he rich enough to afford a private one? I thought back to the security droid and realized that wasn’t cheap to install. I felt the fine leather of my clothes and the fact dawned on me I was wearing all real leather. These clothes were not cheap either. Apparently Mirmo’s friend liked to show his wealth in subtle ways to avoid unwanted jealousy.

Nea’s cloud car was close to what I now expected. Glossy, sleek, smooth, and above all, fast. Nea opened the door to the passenger side of the front and waved me in. The seats were cushioned with purple soft cloth and thick upholstery. There was plenty of space to stretch out. I turned my head to check out the back and saw the same pattern. The car screamed of richness and comfort. Once Nea sat down in the driver’s seat, a tinted glass covering locked us inside and the engines came to life with a purr.

“Off to the lower and fun side of underground.”

[JediKaren]

Ch 8
Mirmo

The ride downward to the lower levels of the enormous city was non eventful, if not a bit depressive, at least to me who had seen more than my taste of all cities poorest levels. Through our Force bond, I sensed the excitement and wonder radiating from my apprentice. There was no way to disregard the soft words of bewilderment or feeling her movements as she twisted around to look behind us. I shook my head and wondered for the forth time if this was a good idea. Karen, tough as she was, knew nothing about crime or the criminal underworld and I worried her reaction to where I was taking her. I vowed silently to myself to keep her close to me once we landed.

I was thankful that Nea stopped the car in a dark corner by a falling down building with a sign that had four letters missing, one letter out, and the rest of the letter flickered giving little, untrustworthy light. The smell of the street was enough to inform me that I did not want to see what had died near by. Karen gagged loudly, startling me. I turned grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. In a stern, no nonsense tone told her to keep by my side at all times and if anything does happen, let me make the decisions and take the lead. She was to follow me and do whatever I said, no matter what. And above all, keep quiet. Being unheard could mean being unseen, something that was much wanted here. Nea locked up the car and tucked the small remote key deep within his clothing.

“Well buddy, I say we get ourselves moving and not stand here being prey for Rat birds if you know what I mean. My lady, allow me the honors of escorting you through the less pleasant parts of this area.”

In the dim, uncertain light, I saw Nea take Karen’s arm under his and nodded to myself. Nea was a smart guy in making sure Karen could not wonder or being wondered off. Our pace was slow and careful. Each street was examined, searched for unwanted eyes, and if secure, passed in a hurried pace. The streets were the same, narrow, dark, stunk of rot and death with flickering lights over head. The uneasy silence was broken with the sharp loud sound of a cry or glass breaking. I actually jumped in front of Karen and Nea with my hand on my lightsaber when I heard the unmistakable screech of a blaster ripping through air and the final cry of the victim. We all held our breath, eyes rapidly scanning the area and when my hand left my right side, did we proceed onward. After that incident there was an anonymous agreement to get out of the area. We head up a level, to a noisier, crowded area, with air that stunk less, more light to see the dirt by, and more buildings were intact. I felt the small group relax with a deep breath of relief, yet I still remained tense. Karen stopped, pulling Nea back, starting at the markets. A frown formed on my face as I walked back to her, grabbing the back of her leather shirt to jerk her from her stance. In that moment we were knocked with considerable by someone who forced his way through our touch. Not a second went by before I regained focus and found the man racing through the thick crowd. My hand went to my lightsaber, but something felt wrong. I pulled my long shirt up to reveal Karen’s lightsaber still there. Karen shouted after him once and then took off in his direction before I could say anything to stop her. I cursed her in several different languages and looked at Nea. He shrugged.

“Kids. What can you do? Go after her. Comm me when you get your lightsaber back and we will meet up.”

I took off after Karen, weaving through the crowd, gathering the Force around me and throwing the energy back out at people near were gently pushed aside with a suggestion of the accident never happened. It was not long before I caught up with Karen. She was in arm’s length of our desperate running man. Her ragged breathes told me she would not run for much longer and did not. She jumped forward, reaching for the man’s right arm and twisted him backwards so he was facing me. The movement cost Karen her balance and both fell on their backs. The man was quicker to react than she and started moving again. I put a firm hand on his upper arm and squeezed. The man yelped and stopped moving. Karen had gotten up and pulled back his dark blue jacket and quickly found the lightsaber.

“You fool! You stupid, dump, low cut fool. What in the sith were you thinking?”

Karen’s angry voice was followed with a hard smack of the lightsaber smashing into the man’s jaw. I winced for the poor fellow, but did not lessen my grip. I commanded my apprentice to stop. The man went limp and seemed to want to shrink in the wrath of my apprentice. I did not blame him.

“Now missee, I didn’t mean no harm. I wa’ just trin’ to get through ya see an’ me hand just grabbed something, I dunno wha’ and next thing I knew you was on me and we were on the ground. Now be fair missee. That aint no reason faer hittin me like that with tha’ pretty lightsaber of yours.”

Karen would have attacked him again if I did not hold her still with the Force and a more powerful glare.

“For your information this is not my lightsaber, nor yours for that matter. You knew exactly what you were grabbing and you knew you shouldn’t grabbed it, you-“

I silenced her with one look. Her display of petty anger would do us no good. I released the man who rubbed his arm, but did not move. I questioned him on who he was and how did he know I was carrying a lightsaber.

“Ah, my sir, ya see you didn’t look like ya belonged here and ya seemed to be armed so I had me a guess and I got more than wha I guess, you understand sir.”

I breathed in relief. The man knew nothing of who we were up until now. If I was lucky I could still hold our cover. I told the man I had come into possession of a lightsaber and wanted to sell it to buy my daughter a nice dress. I was on my way to find a buyer when he bumped into us so to speak. I politely asked him if he knew of a buyer, one that would not ask too many question and give us a decent price. Karen opened her mouth once and then closed it. I hoped she had caught on to my idea.

“Funny. I wa’ on me way to a buyer too and I’ll take ya and yor missee there if ya want. That’s if ya keep her off o’ me.”

I told him that condition would be based on his behavior and safe guiding to our location. The man turned around and led us through the crowd. I pulled the comm out of my belt and activated it. I told Nea where we were headed and to my surprise, Nea told us that was our original location. Our thief was a good guide who knew the basic law of street walking: safety comes first. We followed his darting example and Karen had learned her lesson about keeping close to me at all times. We descended two levels to the bowels of the city, truly the rancid waste of crime and barely alive beings. Our man stopped at the grate of a sewer and I groaned. For what ever reason, criminals no matter where I traveled picked their hideout in sewers. Karen gagged again, staring death into both me and the man. The thief shrugged, pulled the man size grate out and had us climb in. Karen was fortunate enough so she could walk up straight, but I had to trot in filth with my shoulders and head bent over, bringing my nose that much closer to the putrid smell.

At last we reached our destination. The tunnel had opened up into a small room with the openings of other tunnels blocked off with grates. The room contained a ragged group of men and Nea standing among them, grinning like there was something funny about our appearance. Nea stepped forward with his arms out to represent the group behind him.

“Mirmo, welcome back to the good old days. You do not seem to recognize any of my friends, but these men are what left of the Dawners.”

[JediKaren]

Ch 9
Karen

The Dawners? Who were the Dawners? There was a slight shift in emotions that I sensed through the Force and then noticed everyone was looking at me. I realized I had mused my thoughts out loud. My cheeks went red and I found myself needing to move about. The crowd before me was one of mostly humans, dressed in rags of various colors of grey and brown. They were a sad, skinny crowd; each person had the look of hunger in their eyes or as I feared the hunger for me. I remembered the fact that my tight skimpy shirt tempted many eyes of men who had not had seen the presence of a female for some time. I sent out a warning through my Force bond to my master. He got the message and stood in front of me, protecting me.

“Oh yes, the Dawners, back from the days on Zabreen, my home planet.”

There was a murmmer in the crowd. Eyes narrowed and questioned my master. A large, fatter man than the rest stepped forward. His appearance was the best kept with clean, combed back hair of graying brown, tall muscular, his clothes were tattared, but clean and had once been hansom. He was the only one to have boots on, the rest had bound together bits of shoes or rags tied thickly on gnarled and bloody feet. His accent was far clearer than the rest and showed he had been educated.

“You claim to be Mirmo, our great leader of the Dawners, but we do not recognize you. Prove yourself.”

Nea took offense to the man’s words and stepped towards Mirmo with glaring eyes.

“I was the one who told you Mirmo was coming back and here I present him to you. My word should be enough.”

“Silence, old spicer. We respect you and your word, but it is he before us that I asked a question to and it is he who will answer.”

Nea grunted with disgruntlement, but stayed silent. The Force swirled around the room and centered on my master. Clashes of will were taking place and without the Force I wouldn’t have known. Mirmo bowed his head as if in deep thought and then went down on one knee. I heard him mumble some words that I had no idea what meant.

“Qea meno ye talos nu Fortalos sano Commandos.”

Those words were followed with a gasp of recognition and fear, for several of the men started moving back to the wall, as if to escape some horrible feat about to come. I tilted my head in confused. A sudden blast of the Force rolled off my master in powerful waves like the waves of a sonic blast, knocking everyone off their feet, except for Nea, who seemed to be unsettled by the Force, but still standing.

“I am Mirmo, the Force user, blessed by Liviani and known as the New Jedi. I serve, not lead. I protect, not fight. I live, not die. I rise with the dawn of hope and good to a new day, a new ear, to a new way. That is the code of the Dawners.”

Master’s Mirmo’s voice was one like when he taught class, calm and quiet, demanding attention, and hinting wisdom. The effect he has on students was the same here in the room. People pulled themselves from the ground in a hurry. Faces rose to meet his eyes. Their glaze cleared and muscles flexed. Backs straightened in old remembered pride. The group moved in closer to Mirmo and to their selves.

“Aye, it is you Mirmo. Forgive me my leader; your appearance has changed quiet a bit.”

The man went down on knee like Mirmo did with a fist to his forehead. The rest of the men, including Nea followed the gesture of respect and obedience. I stood behind Mirmo, not sure what exactly was going on. I remembered my Master’s past and how he once led a group of rebels on his planet, but surely this was not them? How could heroes of the past fall this low? My answers were quickly found.

“Mirmo, if you would so kind, I think the group would like you to introduce the young lady you have brought with you.”

Mirmo smiled and stepped aside. He waved his hand to me to step forward so all could view me.

“This is my apprentice, Karen Nightingstar from the Jedi Academy. She is here to learn about the galaxy and about this planet. Consider her your little sister who is to be protected and looked out for at all costs. Her life is as valuable as mine.”

The man came forth to me and knelt before me. I stood still, uncertain what to do or how to act. I nodded to him when his eyes meet mine.

“My lady, I swear to the Force I will do everything I can to keep you safe. Not a harmful or evil hand will be laid on you as long you stay with us. It is an honor to have another Jedi in our humble group. Qea meno ye talos nu Fortalos sano Commandos. It means may the Force be with you in our language.”

I thanked him and said nothing else. The man stood and asked Mirmo if I was to take his place when he could no longer lead the group. I turned my head to my master, wondering what I was getting myself into.

“That will depend on Karen if she wishes to or not. But, let us not worry about that until that unthinkable day comes. Tell me, how did you all end up on this planet and uh, in this shape? I suppose you are the leader?”

“Yes, I am the leader. I am Vendice Neehatro, but everyone calls me Ven, as both of you can. You probably do not remember me since I came to be a Dawner in the last days that you spent with us. A temporary leader was voted on until a real leader could confirmed by their actions and character. I started leading several small successful missions and earned my title with popularity.

"The group lasted for another eight months after you left and then the government fell out of favor with us. They saw us a group with weapons, winning the loyalty of the population when the politicians could not do the same. We were a threat in their corrupted eyes and took away our power. The government formed a secret group to hunt us down and arrested us for being part of an illegal group. The people the escaped the hunters were forced underground again or off planet. Over time the group lost its meaning and dispatched all together. A lot of us turned back to the life we knew before: crime and poverty. I myself went back to the middle class that I came from, changed my name, got a fake id, and went back to working some meaningless job. Then a year ago the government officials had gone crazy, thinking we were reforming the Dawners again and started hunting us down. Many of our more spoken members were captured, questioned, and then murdered. I took this hint, found what little was left of the original group and got them off planet and to here where we would remain safe and unnoticed.

"What I forgot to remember was I was traveling with a bunch of criminals, who when given the chance, would do what criminals do. I moved them from one small planet that they knew well, but were also known well, to a planet they could run around in and get away with more crimes. Once I realized my mistake I cracked down on them and taught the men morals and discipline. The ones that survived my teachings are some of the toughest men you will have ever met, and also some of the best men despite their appearances. They might look like your typical criminals, but by the code, they would not even think of breaking the law unless I told them to and why.

"Sadly, in this city, it is hard to define our mission and how we would complete it. The criminal system here is not like the one on Zabreen. The system is far bigger, more complex, and hard to infiltrate. I have worked the men as hard as I can, but feeding them has become a problem and up until you arrived, I feared the future. You have no idea what your presence means Fortalos Mirmo.”

What a story. What a history, both inspiring and saddening. Mirmo never told me much about his mission on his planet of what had become of them. It sounded like after the death of his mentor he never looked back on his planet, and the planet suffered his neglect. I looked at my master to see what his reaction to this news. His head was down in contemplation and the features on his face spoke of sorrow for his mistake. When he spoke, his voice was soft as ever, but I sensed he used the Force to carry his words out.

“I am truly sorry for your troubles and I ask that you accept my apology for my absence. I have no excuse to offer other than I could not return to that planet. I did not want to be anywhere near the death place of our true, first leader. If you will accept my words, I promise to try to help you with your mission, but I am afraid I can not be your leader. I have sworn my energy, will, and focus with the Jedi Order, but as Jedi, I will do what I can to help you with your cause.”

Ven came close to Mirmo and embraced him fiercely. When he was done, he put his fist to his forehead.

“We would be more than honored to accept your apology and any help you could lend us. We offer you food and shelter, what little we can give.”

Mirmo put his fist to his forehead with a slight bow, accepting the offer. Ven offered us one more thing.

“There is a meeting tonight at the local canteen and we wish to invite you and your apprentice to come and meet the rest of the Dawners.”

Mirmo’s eyes flickered to me. I mentally shrugged, silently saying I had no feelings one way or the other.

“We accept. If you can give us the location we will be there.”

“Good. Oh and do not worry about clothing. It is an informal gathering.”

Mirmo nodded and both leaders gestured goodbye with their fists. Mirmo turned around and headed back through the stinky sewer tunnels and back to the cloud car with Nea and I following behind him.

[snowind]

I'm so sorry for not being reading the story as fast as I should... a lot is happening in my personal life lately so I haven't been that much around in the forums... Hopefully it will resolve soon... Anyway I read what I could because I have to make an essay about tabbaco companies and the ethics... and I really have to do it... but I promise I'll read them through soon

[JediKaren]

Sorry for the wait. I've been busy and had bad carpal tunnel forever.

Ch 10
Mirmo

We entered the dingy, small apartment and everyone settled into the living room/kitchen area. Nea got out his com link and ordered the midday meal for us, I suspected something as costly as the steaks we had the night before were. I did not approve of him spending so much money on just a meal, but I remained silent. Perhaps Karen would cheer up with some good food. She certainly needed something. I asked Nea to make some more Fallen Bark tea. As Nea got busy with finding a clean pot that was not stinking of old spice, I looked over to the tired, unhappy figure of my apprentice. I asked her if she was OK.

“Yeah, I am.”

Her easy sounding word did not convince me of the truth. I narrowed my eyes at her, determined to real answer out of her. She shifted in her seat as if trying to decide if she wanted to talk to me or not. I waited her decision making out, which did not take long. She finally sat up with a typical sigh of hers and looked past me, at the peeling walls.

“It’s about that group back there. I don’t want to be their leader. I’m a Jedi, not a leader of a gang of dirty, starving, useless thieves and drug dealer.”

Nea made a sound of protest. Both of us ignore this and Karen continued.

“I saw the look in Ven’s eyes. I know who he is, Master. He’s a desperate man in a desperate situation. You heard him talk about how his men were about to revolt on him and how he was so happy when you showed up. What do you think he’s going to do? He’s trapping you, enlisting you to his job, a job that has lost all its glory, the dirty work he didn’t want to sign up for. But he’s wrong isn’t he? I mean, you’re not going to lead them are you? You’re a Jedi. No offense to you, but you can do better than that group. There are people, millions of people, who need your help who are far better than that group.”

I smiled and held up hand to signal for her to let me explain. She clearly came from an upper class society despite some of her barbarous eating habits and fierily, explosive temper. It didn’t help that at the temple, no class system existed. Everyone was equal in the Force. Money did not factor into light-saber battles. In fact, Jedi were taught to let go of their habits of buying material goods for the sake of having them. Yet, there was a whole galaxy that did not believe in this.

Sometimes, the best way to understand society is to study the lower classes that are faced with the most serious problems such as find the next meal, taking care of a sick child, or dealing with the lost of a job that was supporting the whole family. If the government is doing well, the lower classes will have fewer problems. If the upper class has given in to corruption, basic needs for the lower classes become scarce and poverty takes place. If this is the case, as it was on my home planet, it is import to look for the root cause. It all cases, one then look up to the government and high classes to see what they are doing or not doing. When that answer has been obtained, one goes back to the lower classes and educates them about the problem and possible solutions. The process is long, but if the lower classes can work together, then society can fix itself.

I could tell Karen was slightly uninterested in my lecture. She never had been one for economics or government. She once told me she saw government as a group of over-sized kids arguing over who was the most popular and seeing who could come up with the most impressive sounding word to gain more popularity and power. I laughed when she said that, but told her government was far more complex that than. She shook her head and changed topics.

“OK, so how bad are the lower classes?”

I told her it was hard for me to tell. One group, a new group at that, should not be used when judging a whole planet. This up coming meeting should give me a better idea of what they were facing. It did bother me that a group of experienced thieves could not find enough food to feed themselves. I also had to wonder what was the real reason behind Nea’s faked retirement. He was not that old and the fact he was hiding his wealth made me feel uneasy. Nea was the type of guy who liked to show off what he want and liked to share his wealth when he could afford it. It looked although he had not had anyone to share with for quite some time. There was definitely something up.

“The food is here. Hey, Mir, mind coming out of your Force trance there and give me a hand with the food?”

I shook my head and helped Nea with the carry out while he rummaged through his apartment for credits to pay the delivery droid. Nea handed out a hot bag to each of us. By the waffling smell coming from the steam, Nea had ordered us some Cor’ lobs, which was grilled strips of nerf meat, smothered in melted green nerf cheese, between two home baked slices of puffy bread. A sparkling spring flower water was included. I had begun to unwrap my sandwich, when I looked over to see Karen a quarter through her meal. That girl could eat an entire Hutt in an hour if she wanted. I asked her once if her father ever withheld meals as a form of punishment, but she said no. She ate so fast and so much, it seemed like she was scared all the food would be gone if she did not fast enough. She said that food was never hogged and there was plenty, but I still wondered. I knew there were still things in her past she had not told me about. Yet, from personal experience, I knew if I gave her time, she would eventually tell me.

“I’m done. What’s next?”

Nea chuckled and nearly caused me to spill my water on me. He looked at his chronometer and got up from his seat on the counter. This time my water spilled down my shirt from the vibrations in the room.

“Well, my dear, we have a bit of time before the meeting. Why not change into something more suitable for such an occasion.”

Nea held out a brown lumpy clothe package towards my apprentice. She hesitated and took it.

“Go open it in your room, and try it on.”

Oh great, more clothing. I wondered what skimpy outfit Nea had gotten for her this time. Karen walked off to her room with a doubtful look on her face. I took this time to interview Nea on the meaning of his retirement.

“Oh that? Come on, now. Look at me Mirmo. I am not young anymore. I can not go running around in the thick of things. Besides, I am tired of you gangs, next fighting over the latest drug run and who’s fault was it when they got busted.”

Ah, so there was a problem with the police. Usually, the planet’s police system did not bother with the gangs as long as they kept their illegal activities to themselves and did not get involved with the upper classes and the government. This was not a problem. Usually, the upper classes would have little to do with the black market, unless there was corruption as hand. I asked him what was the latest law that had just been passed.

“Ah Mirmo, you are a smart one. There is a new act on illegal drugs. Apparently a couple of senators were caught with some drugs, sold by some new gang. Not our gang, we are too smart for that, but it does not matter. So the senate turned around and voted on a new anti drug act. The police are hammering down on the black market, trying to clean up the lower levels of the city. But you know as well as I do, that is not a smart idea. Never try to get rid of the black market and drugs are what I have always said. Weather those air head rich brats like it or not, society needs its drugs and needs a way to get them cheap. Well, anyway, the police are making people nervous so there are less venders to find food and prices are skyrocketing. No one trusts anyone, not like they did before, but it is worse now. There have been more shootings because each group blames the next. Really, it is a mess.”

Interesting, but not unusual. The rich, like the poor, need drugs as Nea said. Maybe the presence of the Jedi could help smooth things over and organize people.

“A Jedi would be nice, but I am not sure how you and Karen will go over. We will just have to find out at the meeting tonight.”

Before I could speak again, Karen came out and stood next to the doorway of the living room. She was dressed in a pale green skirt that was cut very short at the front, coming to about the middle of her thighs, but lengthened at the back. The light weight cloth trailed down to heels of her tight, dark green boots. Her top was dark green like her boots and tied around her neck in a long, draping bow, leaving her slim shoulders bare. I could see the scars of her horrible acme from the days with her parents shining a bit on her arms and back. A sense of guilt and compassion went for her. The top part of her hair had been gathered and tied. She came off as a gentle girl, soft and innocent. She was beautiful.

“Oh my sweet dear. That outfit is lovely.”

Karen blushed silently. I could see a peek of girly-girl glow from her. For once she was not all muscle and hardness, but sweet and caring. Nea looked at the time and got up once again.

“Let us take my car and go on a bit of a drive before the meeting.”

He went over to Karen and offered his thick arm.

“Shall we, M’ Lady?”

That got a giggle out of my pink-faced apprentice. She slipped a thin arm through his and they proceeded through the door. I smiled a bit, watching the back of the skirt swish back and forth, dusting the dirty floor. Karen really was something when she wanted to be.

[The Adfeng]

Nice one. I edited it :-P. You did a nice job, I can't wait till the next installment. This is like me waiting for kingdom hearts 3 to come out.

[JediKaren]

Ch11
Karen

I had to admit I felt pretty. I felt like a lady rather than a butt kicking force using Jedi. I looked beautiful and my master did admit that much with his long lasting stare. I also had to admit that Nea had a way of making my face blush red and giggle. Something that Mirmo couldn’t do. Maybe, just maybe Nea wasn’t such a bad guy. His car was certainly nice, as was the ride.

For the first time we headed up, rather than down the city. I much preferred going up and staying up. For one thing we were much safer. There were more cloud cars, richer, newer, less battered cars, more friendly people, and less insane drivers. The buildings were in better repair, some were even gleaming in the light. There were more signs flashing advertisements. It seemed the higher we went the more government looking buildings we came across. The city was divided up into different zones according to Mirmo, who was giving me another lecture. Each zone had a different look to it, with different stores and businesses. Although all zones had basic stores to buy food and clothing, but each one specialized in something. The center of the city was the Republican Capital where the senate and galactic leader, the proper title being Chief of State, Leia Solo, where governing the galaxy. Around highest levels of the Republican capital were a million expensive cafes and fancy clothing stores showing off clothes. I didn’t even want to think about the price of a few high class hotels. As we drove further from the government center there were more apartments and small businesses. Sometimes there would be a break in housing and there would be a block of pure shops, bars, restaurants, and entertainment centers. It was late in the afternoon, about time when work ended for most people. As a result, there was heavy traffic. Nea was in no rush, so he would go around the blocks avoiding the stop and go cars. Strange, even though I was billions of light years away from my home planet, bad traffic still existed.

Sadly, the time came to head back down to the seedy underworld to make it on time for the meeting. Mirmo promised me that if things went right during the meeting, we would be back up in a day or two. That cheered me up and made it more sufferable as the glamour of the buildings faded away. Hard dirty reality seemed to set in, the lower we went. The quality of the air dropped, and soon I found myself holding my hand to my nose as we flew pass reeking vents.

“This is it.”

We stopped at this dirty and loud canteen. The walls of the stone building seemed to shake with the beat of the music and vibrated my ears. I saw flashing blinding lights through the cracks of the window from the front with many mugs hurled at it. I waited for Nea to come around and open the door. I could’ve opened the door myself but Master Mirmo made it very clear that my safety came first in a neighborhood like this. A thick but not human hand was offered in front of my face. I shook my head and took it to climb out of the car's low ceiling. Once the car was locked up and the place was checked out to be declared safe, we approached the door. A mass of leathery dark skin and massive muscles, armed with tough armor, teeth, and vicious looking claws standing in our way of the door. Ah, this must be the security, I thought. Between the untamed spikes of fur and hair, I saw two small beaded black eyes squint at us suspiciously. Ah, this was the not very bright but surely tough security. Even Nea, who was huge in my eyes seemed weak and small compared to this being. Still, I noticed it was Nea who stepped forward with confidence. Mirmo drew closer to me without moving. His hand twitched next to where our lightsabers were hidden.

“Hello good sir. A fine evening, would you not agree?”

The guard grunted. I doubted that this being understood what Nea was talking about. I was pretty sure this living mass knew one thing and that was to kill anyone who bothered him. I fervently hoped Nea knew this as well.

“Yes, yes I agree completely."

"Well my good sir, we are part of the Dawners and have been invited to this little party, so if you would kindly let us in. That would be swell.”

The guard grunted and squinted some more. Several minutes of silence had passed. No one moved.

I say “Sir, we were invited to the Happy Mug canteen. You can check with the manager if you want.”

More grunts, more silence, and still no movement. Nea didn’t seem to be getting very far with this.

“D’Than, whatcha goin’ on here? Who ar’ these folks?”

A balding, short and fat man appeared at the doorway. He looked at the guard and then at our small party. His eyes widened, and he jumped back once he recognized us.

“M’ dear love! Mirmo! Nea! Oh, m, dear three hearts. How could I’ve not noticed. Oh forgive me gentlemen. D’Than, move aside for these rare honorable beings of power and riches. No one told me you two were showing up here at this gathering. No wonder why they wanted higher security. Right this way, gentlemen.”

We were lead in to the crowded and noisy canteen. There was one large room with a bar table on the back wall. A center square filled with people dancing and tables all around the walls with the drunk or with species getting drunk. They were talking, laughing, shouting, and of course drinking. Thick smoke filled the room making me choke. My eyes watered. There were two other doors that could be seen in the flashing lights. One was guarded by the same specie as the pervious guard. There were tons of weapons being displayed in the open. Mostly blasters, but some knives and something that looked like a battle axe. Also types of throwing stars. I could hardly believe Mirmo was taking me here when he was so worried about my safety.

“As you can see Dawner Mirmo, the meeting has not started yet. We are waiting for the boss from the Darkies to show up. I say you have about half an hour to tank up before he shows up.”

The short man had to stand on his tip toes and shout as loud as he could to be heard. Even then he wasn’t all that clear. Mirmo nodded, then turned away and walked to the bar in the back. I hurried and followed him. He found the bar tender and gestured. Within a few seconds a drink was produced and handed to him. I gathered near Mirmo and looked at him, wondering what to do. He smiled and looked directly at the dancing square and then looked back at me. I guessed he wanted me to go dance and enjoy myself. I took a few steps towards the dancers then stopped. Some of the dancers were clinging close to the opposite sex. Others seemed to dance alone but in close proximity of someone else, male or female.

The moves of the dance were simple; fast side to side movements was the basic step. If that could be mastered, add moving up and down while side to side. This was the sort of dancing I was use to in my school dances back before the academy. Surely I could fit in nicely. Yet, I couldn’t get myself to move. Finally, a hand coming from no where grabbed me and drawn me into the tightly packed crowd. I saw that a human, tall and blond male had caught me and started moving to the beat. I joined his dance. When the song ended, he leaned over and shouted in my ear asking my name. I shouted back what my name was. He said that it sounded pretty and put his hands on my waist as the next song continued. We danced again to a different song but with the same beat. Once the song was over, the DJ seemed to have something to say.

“A free drink will go to whoever can prove they are the best creativity dancer.”

Cheers and calls blasted my ears. I waited for the first people to make their claim. I then looked over at Mirmo. I knew he had been watching me the whole time while sipping his drink. He picked up on my question and nodded an approval. I raised my hand and called out that I could out do any man in the building.

“Will ya look at this men, a young lady would like the challenge you all.”

Cheers and cries of disbelief had met my challenge. I placed my hands on my hips and held a steady glaze. I said that I would be the last to dance. Everyone did agree to this. The dance of the men varied in quality. Some of the dancers were far too drunk to even move, not to mention dancing. Some were still sober enough to move pretty well. Still, none of them matched the speed, the balance, and the grace of what I could pull off. When it was my turn, I asked the DJ for a fair fast beat. One that was good for footwork. He gave me an interesting look, but obeyed my request. The dance floor had been cleared to give me space. So I took my place. I waited for the introduction of the song to play while bouncing my knees to the beat. Then I danced. It was the same type of dancing that caught Master Mirmo’s eye before he took me as his apprentice. The dancing was complex, no move was repeated in a row. The whole floor space was used. I used all levels and all angles. I danced forward and backwards. I threw in a few jumps just for fun. In the end, I sensed that the song was going to end and timed my final pose. There was a roar of approval from the crowed. I bowed like I had been taught in lightsaber class and moved to the side. The DJ asked for my name.

“Well men, I think our pretty Karen Nightingstar has earned her drink for tonight.”

There was more shouting and whistling. I left the dance floor for Mirmo, who offered me a mug of something. I accepted it and downed it eagerly. He handed me another but when I raised it to my mouth, he flashed a warning in his bright eyes. I put the mug to my mouth but didn’t drink any. When I lowered the mug Mirmo leaned over and quietly said:

“It is ale. Weak, but I don’t think you would want to drink it. You need to have this for the meeting. Pretend to sip it throughout the meeting and keep quiet. Do not attract attention to yourself, just follow my lead.”

I nodded, picked up my mug and followed him to the guarded door.

[snowind]

Party Jedi! ... It's cool Although I can't dance to save my life.... I also have childhood issues about that.... so I don't enjoy dancing

Good writting even though I have to use my fast reading skills... it's 12:44 in the morning in a saturday and it's my only free hour so go figure... But I did said I would read it over the weekend...

And Mirmo is a good advicer you never know what the drinks have at those bars ...