Ask Coruscant The Force Finds a Way

Lyra

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Feng Mian
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Lyra wandered between the shelves of the library. Walls of archives and rows of rust-colored books loomed around her, watching her as she passed with padded steps. In each and every document, manuscript and holo-recorder catalogued in the library, there was a story. Studies on ancient Sith artifacts, reports about battles from hundreds of years ago, or accounts of legends like Rey Skywalker.

Or Emperor Palpatine.

Lyra had read almost everything about them. What they did, or the tremendous impact they left on the galaxy. If she were being honest, she read almost every text in the library. In her spare time, under the lamplight of her bed, she thumbed through books she took home with her. It passed the time, and gave her a taste of something she never had.

A story worth writing.

She had no real family to look to and no gifts or talents to help ferry her away from Coruscant. She was stranded in the city. She was stuck, with nowhere else to go but where she was now: between the shelves, checking for another story to read other than her own.

Lyra stopped. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a shadow of movement. In a slit between two books, in the other aisle across from her, she noticed a hooded man pluck a book off the shelf. She leaned in closer to see, much too curious to ignore.

Whatever he was up to, she had a strange feeling it wasn’t good.

The man took a small data chip out of his pocket, opened the book, and tucked it behind the cover before sliding it back onto the shelf. An eyebrow raised, she wondered, what was he doing? Storing an item for safekeeping, or making some kind of discreet trade? It was better for her not to stick her nose into where it wasn’t wanted.

But she wanted to know.

Besides, the last thing Lyra wanted was the library to become host to illegal data trafficking. That would mean a shutdown, and she would be out of a job and out of options. That, and something was calling her to it. A gut feeling or a an unknown force, she couldn’t say what.

She retreated away from the shelf when the man looked around, paranoid, but he was gone moments later. When Lyra was sure of it, she slipped out of the aisle where she was, and into where the chip was held. With careful, quiet steps, she found the book in question, snagging it off the shelf like it were a ticking time bomb.

Before she could open it and examine the contents, Lyra caught something else. A figure closing in. Her heart skipped a beat. She tucked the book under her arm, but she was relieved to see it wasn’t the hooded man coming back for what he had hidden away. It was someone else. Looking for a book, she suspected.

Oh, I'm sorry, didn’t see you there,” said Lyra. “Can I help you with something?

@TWD26
 

Oren Zapan

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I really help Nara is okay, I probably should have brought her with me. She's still so new to this whole experience. He thought to himself as he made his way across the crowded platforms of Coruscant. He had never been to the city planet before, to feel the planet teeming with so much life and the force, it felt practically unbearable at first, but the Knight would quickly grow used to such stimulus. He wasn't sure why he picked the core worlds to come to, maybe it was because he had never been this far into the galaxy before, or maybe there was something pulling him to the planet.

Whatever the reason, he was here now. They said that city planets like these were always full of those who could use a gentle helping hand. He wasn't here to make his presence known. He wanted to be a good Samaritan and simply help someone in need and return home. The near human had hidden his identity and was dressed in standard street clothing--a synth hide jacket, with a pair of captain's trousers and a black set of polished boots. His lightsaber was hidden away in his jacket and instead a blaster rested in a hilt on his side.

His eyes would cast over the rows of buildings, catching sight of the word library. Hmm, a library out this far, let's see how it compares to the temple. He'd contemplate, running up the steps and into the halls of the library. It was large and expansive with rows of shelves that seemed to stretch for as far as he could see.

He'd pick a random aisle, starting down it with some curiosity. He seemed at peace and with little concern, that was when he heard a voice. He'd peer down, noting the black haired woman. She seemed uneasy or at least worried about something. A small smile would form on the Jedi's face as he shook his head, "No...No, I think I'm okay," he'd say in a soft tone, "I think I'm going to take a look around, enjoy yourself." He'd step aside and continue down the line of shelves.

tag: @Feng Mian
 

Lyra

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Jedi Order
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Feng Mian
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There was a lightness about him. A feeling of comfort and mystery, like he had stepped out of a dream. Anyone else might have blamed it on his dashing looks, or his winning smile or cushioned voice, but Lyra knew it was something else entirely. She couldn’t place a finger on it, only that she had nothing to fear from it, and it was all that mattered.

She tried not to stare for too long.

Oh, alright,” she finally said, her pale hands gripping the book over her chest. “Well, if you need anything, my name’s Lyra, or you can use the archive database just around the corner.” She pointed left and down the aisle, then nodded and retreated away, leaving the man to his own devices.

As she moved to escape to somewhere more private, checking her surroundings ever so often, Lyra stuck a finger under the book’s cover and peered inside. Before she could see the chip inside, however, she was met with another surprise.

It was her Nana, Liu Zheng, the one woman she learned to love and respect. Even if they didn’t share the same blood, to Lyra, she was family.

“Lyra, you’re still here?” said Liu, smiling softly. “Your shift ended ten minutes ago. Go home and get some rest, before you end up working yourself to death.”

Sorry Nana, I kinda lost track of time.” Lyra said, forcing a soft laugh and smile. Liu Zheng responded in kind but with a sincerity that Lyra lacked. “Aha, of course you did,” the old woman said, noticing the book she was hiding underneath her arm. “You and your books. What’s this one about now, another legendary Jedi Master?”

Lyra shook her head, and trying to dodge the question, danced around the bush and said, “Goodnight, Nana. See you tomorrow. And make sure you get some rest too, okay?” She gave her a quick hug, wanting to hurry off home to see just what she had intercepted from the hooded man, then she moved for the library’s exit. Something she would come to soon regret.

Because the man she had been trying to avoid watched her go.

@TWD26
 

Oren Zapan

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Oren would nod, peering over towards the archive database. "Ah, I see," he'd pause turning back to catch a glance at the girl, who seemed to had let her eyes linger on his own face for a bit too long. It must be the markings, he thought to himself as he slid his hands into his jacket, trying to come across as a normal functioning member of society. I think I nailed it, he'd bemuse himself as he bid the woman a fair well.

He could sense her lingering energy in the force, though he was unsure of her capabilities. He wouldn't press such an idea on the woman, but instead focus on finding the meaning behind why he felt the call to the planet. Surely it wasn't this girl, why Coruscant of all places? There was plenty of holes in the galaxy that one could find a force sensitive. There had to be more to it, he thought to himself as he walked alone and down the aisles--not really paying too much attention to any particular book.

Yet, something caught his interest. He watched as the dark haired girl, Lyra, departing for the door, a cloaked figure had moved out from the shadows and followed the woman out the door. Strange, he thought to himself, "It couldn't hurt to follow," he'd whisper to himself as he slid out from the aisle and down towards the direction that the two had departed--unknown to Oren, things were about to become very interesting.

tag: @Feng Mian
 

Lyra

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Feng Mian
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Lyra stepped from the library threshold and into the city streets of Coruscant. Murky puddles and trash bags rifled through by starving junkies were littered at her feet as she walked from the light and safety of her workplace and deeper into the starless, polluted night. Neon advertisements and passing speeders flashed above her.

Another nightly stroll in the worst city in the galaxy.

Lyra felt for the book she had taken with her and traced a finger over its reddened spine. She was too focused on what was in her hands that she failed to see what was shadowing her every move. Something she rarely ever did, but there was something about the book, and the chip inside, that called to her.

She was an idiot for taking it, Lyra knew, but it was like a voice in the back of her head was poking at her, guiding her every move. And naturally, she followed her gut. If it meant a change in pace, a taste of adventure, then what was the harm of taking one bite?

Of course, what Lyra was doing was nothing close to dabbling. More like impulsively, recklessly, diving headfirst into trouble.

As the streets thinned out, Lyra decided to take her usual shortcut home. Down a secluded alley, where she believed nobody could bother her. When she did, on impulse she unfolded the cover of the book, and voila, the data chip laid tucked between the pages. Plucking it out with two fingers, Lyra inspected the strange device.

Then she felt it. The barrel of a gun against her hip.

“Didn’t your mother ever teach you it’s not nice to steal from strangers?” said the man, and Lyra’s heart took a three-story drop. Her stomach twisted. “That chip wasn’t for you, girl,” he said. “Just who do you think you are? Who do you work for?”

She was nobody and she worked for no one, but there was no way the man would believe her. Lyra had made a terrible mistake. She could die because of it.

But not if she had anything to say about it.

You don’t want to do this,” she warned him, but the man only pressed his blaster further. “Wrong answer.”
 

Oren Zapan

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Oren stepped out into the rain, his brown eyes peering up towards the various walking platforms that seemed to ascend higher and higher. Airspeeders swooshed through the haze of the night sky, as lights twinkled from towering scrapers. He could feel the acidic drops hitting against his tan face, running down his narrow cheeks. The force felt like it was missing here, there was only sadness and broken dreams.

He had heard that the Jedi once lived here on this planet, and it seemed strange and unnatural. How could one meditate when this feeling of emotion clung to the air. To be surrounded by so many and to be so alone at the same time, it felt nearly paradoxical to the man. Regardless he would opt towards the street, walking down the dingy and murky platform, not caring too much if the rain drenched him.

The smells and sights were extremely alien to the Jedi, and with every passer by he would find himself turning and watching, forgetting entirely on why he had ventured out of the Library to begin with. But, with so much new experiences and a certain frying smell caught his attention more than the force.

An Anx was chopping away, frying some sort of noodle like substance on a dirty grill, various patrons sat on small stools outside of the cart. "Jun gat, Jun gat, un gat tooo", the alien would call out beckoning the Jedi to venture in for a bite. He would step towards the cart, taking in a bit of the aroma that filled the area. He'd quickly slide out a few credits, watching as the alien worked away at his food--unaware of the grave danger the girl was in.

tag: @Feng Mian
 

Lyra

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Feng Mian
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“I’m going to count from three, and if you don’t tell me who it is you’re working for, you’re dead,” said the man, his blaster tight against Lyra’s waist. Even if she wasn’t looking, she could feel his finger hovering over the trigger. One quick squeeze would end everything. Her life, her visits with Nana, her wandering between the library shelves.

This whole, makeshift, short-lived adventure.

Lyra thought she did right by intercepting the data chip, by letting her curiosity get the better of her, but she had fallen into a pit with no way to claw out. Better to answer the man truthfully, but she would be an idiot to believe he’d let her go so easily, and Lyra was no idiot.

So she had something else in mind.

“Three,” the man counted down. “Two.” No answer, no crack of her lips. “One.”

Lyra whipped around with incredible, unnatural speed. She couldn’t explain how, but she didn’t even give a single thought about it. She just did. And mid-step, mid-spin, Lyra smacked aside the blaster a second before it went off. The shot echoed loud in the alleyway, finding its mark in a ventilation chute winding up the walls. Smoke hissed out.

With her other hand, Lyra did something even crazier. Inexplainable. She slammed the man with her palm, but it was no ordinary blow. A power, deep inside her, burst forward and struck the man as she did. Instantly, he pitched back several meters, stumbling onto the pavement in shock.

Voices whispered in her head as if she had stepped into the light of a stage, and around her were hundreds, thousands, of people watching. Lyra, stunned, looked down at her hand. What had just happened? What had she just done?

No time to think.

Holding onto the book and the chip inside, she ran. Swallowed by the smoke, she sprinted down the alley and eventually stumbled out onto a busy street, where she might blend in and escape. Except, there was no easy escape. The man, alive and shaking off his surprise, at her strength, had called in some friends.

A lot of friends.
 

Oren Zapan

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What exactly were in these noodles? They looked rather normal, steamed and marinated within some sort of meat broth, but they had an insidious spice that seemed to kick with each bite. He would cough as he motioned for some blue milk to down the taste. Kriff that kicks, he thought to himself as he pushed the bowl away, seriously contemplating on how he'd finish off the food.

Yet, it seemed the force willed it not to be. He heard what sounded like a blaster shot off towards an alleyway, and a whole score of people turned to watch something. He'd place a few credits down before jogging towards the scene, finding that a whole group of men had begun to arrive.

The girl he had seen earlier was taking off down the street, the men quickly chasing after her. Oh brother, what are we getting ourselves into now? He'd quickly follow suit, keeping a bit of distance behind them, the group would dodge and weave through the crowd, following after the girl who seemed to lead them down more sparse and obscure alleys.

Maybe she was scared or maybe she had a plan, but she would turn down a back alley that ended with a dead end. She was quickly surrounded. Oren would skid through the grime of the platform, his hand reaching out to pull out his saber. He'd bring it to hand, thinking little of the consequences of potentially being seen. With a flick of a button the Jedi would ignite his blade, a purple hue lighting up the alley. He'd take a defensive stance, "Come on boys, can't we play nice?" He'd smile.

tag: @Feng Mian
 

Lyra

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Feng Mian
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Excuse me, sorry!” said Lyra to every bystander she brushed aside or passed in her fumbling, desperate attempt at a daring escape. “Excuse me!” Though her ramblings did very little to part the crowd, only slowing her movement as the mysterious man and his counterparts descended. She wondered if the crowds would even stop them from tearing her apart in the middle of the street.

Probably not.

Afraid and unfocused, Lyra took a sharp turn into an alley, followed by another, towards what she imagined would be a clean exit. Her imagination, however, was a little unrealistic, because once she spun the corner of another empty backstreet, she met a brick wall. Literally. A dead-end with no other passage to squeeze through or street to escape on.

Turning around, Lyra held onto the book.

She thought about praying, asking any god, or even the Force, to save her but Lyra knew better. If she wanted to get out of the pit she dug herself into, she had to do it on her own. Chin raised, she stared down the six men who had cornered her. More than she expected.

A handful, she realized, but Lyra would make do with what she had.

But by sheer luck, by the Force, she wasn’t alone. Behind the group of men, Lyra caught somebody else. A familiar face amid the nameless strangers, and in his hand, a lightsaber. A deep shade of purple, bright and radiant under the dark shadows of the alley. Her heart lifted.

The other men recoiled, shocked by the revelation of a Jedi. A few looked ready to cower away in fear, but whatever was in the data chip, surprisingly, they had resolved to stay. Murmurs passed between them, but in seconds, they had blasters in hands and switchblades in fingers. Then, the man who had pursued her said plainly, “Kill the Jedi. The girl’s mine.

Lyra drew a deep breath. Playtime was over.

@TWD26
 

Oren Zapan

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I fear nothing, for the force has willed it to be. I trust in the force and give myself completely to it. He'd tell himself as he closed his eyes, centering himself as his saber stood in a defensive position. Slowly everything would melt away, the faces, the noises, his thoughts and actions. He felt at peace, even if he knew that it could very well be his death.

Opening his eyes he'd shift his saber to the left, blocking a side shot from an Ithorian thug that stood before him. With a twirl of his wrists he'd cut through the man's blaster rifle, his hand reaching out in the force to push him into a wall, leaving him with four men left. The group would turn towards him, raising their blasters quickly firing a hail of blasters. The force has willed it to be. The words would echo through his head as his saber shifted up and down, left and right deflecting several blaster shots. Though with so much fire power a few would escape, striking him against his upper shoulder, causing him to stumble slightly.

Reaching out with the force, he'd pull two of the men towards him, his saber sweeping out towards their legs, dismembering them at the knees. They'd fall wreathing in pain, but they would survive the ordeal. The other two looked towards each other, before dropping their blasters and taking off.

Oren's breathing grew heavy as he felt the pain in his shoulder kicking in, "Let...her...go," he'd say his face aching in pain as held up his saber.

tag: @Feng Mian
 

Lyra

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Feng Mian
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Of all the people she expected, even if she wasn’t expecting anyone, Lyra was still dumbfounded that a Jedi had come to her rescue. A lightsaber-wielding wizard in the flesh. Someone who mastered the ways of the Force. Someone who carried with them generations of ancient knowledge no city library could possess.

Someone Lyra could trust to help.

Although, for the time being, she had to fend for herself. While the mysterious Jedi took on the six armed men, which was an incredible feat in itself, Lyra was left with what she assumed was their ringleader. A man, who upon closer inspection, bore scars too numerous for her to count, and his eyes were like that of a snake, prepared to strike.

He lunged at her suddenly.

With a knife in hand, he slashed at her stomach, but Lyra, much too quick, sidestepped him effortlessly and with a grace that came naturally. The man huffed, only to try again but to no avail. This time, Lyra used the book to smack the knife aside before striking the spine against his temple. The man stumbled.

Now was her chance.

Lyra moved closer to strike again, to beat him unconscious with the heavy textbook, but she realized too late it was a trick. She had underestimated how quick he regained his balance, and in the blink of an eye, he was behind her. In another blink, his knife was set to her throat. One jab and it would break through the skin. Instant death.

Shocked, Lyra didn’t move, eyes falling back to the Jedi. Wounded but alive.

“How about no?” the man said, gripping the knife tightly. “How about, instead, you drop that little toy of yours and kick it over?” Lyra felt the knife press closer. “And don’t think of anything clever. Jedi or not, I will slit this girl’s throat if you don’t do what I ask.”

Lyra squeezed her eyes shut. This was her fault. None of this would have happened if she wasn’t an idiot, desperate for an adventure, looking for answers when there was none. She was hopeless, and now, she would pay the ultimate price for it.

“You have three seconds pal,” the man said, smiling victoriously. “Three.”

She wondered what Nana would say, what she might think, at knowing what Lyra had done. How she would react at seeing her cold, dead body on the concrete. A pool of blood gathered around her back like unfurled wings. Maybe she’d never find her at all. Maybe she’d stay at home and wonder where Lyra had gone or why she left.

“Two.”

This was the end of the line. Her final page. Terribly anti-climactic. A boring twenty years of life leading up to this moment, of her clinging to a worn textbook and a stupid metal disc apparently worth more than her life. She sighed. This wasn’t the way Lyra had wanted her story to end.

“One.”

She couldn’t let it end this way.

A drop of water out of a drainage pipe. A quiet whir of a power generator. An echo from a faraway speeder. The smallest, imperceptible details. Everything slowed down to the fraction of a moment. The tip of the knife on her neck or the hum from the Jedi’s lightsaber. With closed eyes and bated breath, Lyra connected with what she only knew as the Force.

Then she let go.

A wave of unexplainable power swept around her. Puddles on the ground evaporated, pipelines trembled and the man behind her flew backwards. A rag doll into the wall. His grip slid from the knife, still left mid-air by her neck before clattering onto the pavement, and his body slammed against brick. He was out like a light, and Lyra?

Out of breath, she opened her eyes and looked around her. What just happened?

"W...What?" She looked at her bare hands, then to the ground where the book laid in wait. The leather cover, in an ironic and twisted turn, said plainly, "101: A Beginner's Guide to the Force."

@TWD26
 

Oren Zapan

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With a flick of a button, Oren's blade would retract back into his blade. He'd take a deep breath, as he felt a burning sensation in his shoulder, the jacket he was wearing clearly burning with a blaster shot. His eyes shifted towards the girl, his breath heavy as he coughed slightly, "You don't see that...every day," he'd wince as he slid his blade back into his jacket.

"That ability, it's no surprise...it's called the force," he'd sigh as he leaned up against the wall, "It connects all of us, and there is more to it than simply pushing and pulling. "

He'd pull himself up from the wall, limping towards the woman, "My name is Jedi Knight, Oren Zapan, and if you wish..I can bring you to those who can teach you about your gift..."

tag: @Feng Mian
 

Lyra

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Feng Mian
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The Force.

She had read about it before. In old records from the Republic, from outsourced Jedi texts and history books, from legends like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. It was a kind of energy which bound all living things together, an aura that surrounded everything, herself included. At hearing that she was also a conduit of the Force, Lyra was stunned.

Everything she dreamed now a reality.

Quickly, she pinched her arm and closed her eyes. She fully expected to wake up now, tears in her eyes and staring up at the blank face of her bedroom ceiling, but when she looked up again, the Jedi was still there and everything that had transpired remained. It was incredible. And yet, she still struggled to believe it was true.

Blinking, Lyra retreated a few steps back, afraid. “The Force?” she said, running her palm over her forehead and through strands of black hair. “The Jedi?” She took an indrawn breath, as if she hadn’t for sometime. “No, this can’t be right. I’m just an ordinary girl who stumbled in the wrong place in the wrong time.

She looked up to the Jedi, Oren, no less confused and lost than before. “I’m nobody.

Right?

@TWD26
 

Oren Zapan

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"It wasn't a mistake," he'd smile, "It was clear that you used the force, it binds everything and everyone, and exists in all of us. There are those who can wield it too, and it comes at different stages in everyone's life." He'd move towards the girl, placing a hand on her shoulder, a sense of light running through his hand.

He was still in pain from the blaster shot, but he'd be able to manage. His teeth clenched slightly, "You are someone, everyone is..the force guides you, it lives in you, and me." He'd pull his hand away, "I can bring you to our order or I can take you somewhere safe...regardless, whoever these people were...they will come for you." His words were hesitant and serious. The damage he caused to the men here would attract attention. He would hold out his hand towards the girl, if she chose to take it, her life would begin down a path of changing drastically.

tag: @Feng Mian
 

Lyra

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Jedi Order
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Feng Mian
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Bewildered, confused, and almost afraid. They were words that best described how Lyra was feeling in that moment. Her mind was a whirlpool of thoughts as she swam from one doubt and concern to another. Had she died and gone up to live her dreams in some kind of twisted purgatory? Why wasn’t she waking up?

Had she really been living her entire life thinking she was nothing, when the truth had always been within reach? How could she have been so stupid, so blind?

She blinked, and there it was: a hand. A ray of sunshine, somebody to pull her out from the storm of questions which had swept across her mind. Lyra glanced up to its source, back to the Jedi who called himself Oren and the man who had saved her. Her heart thudded in her chest and her hand wavered at her side.

I…” she murmured. She lifted her right hand and inched towards his, but paused in a moment of hesitation. Around her, the men who pursued her were unconscious heaps, including their ringleader, still slumped against the wall. With her other hand, she felt the data chip which she had secretly pocketed. What was in store for her? What would her Nana say? What would her parents, whoever and wherever they were, think?

No.

No more questions.

Lyra had her answer.

She took his hand, palm to palm, one Force user to another. Instantly, she felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and the dark clouds around her vision had evaporated into thin air. Light threaded through to her chest. “I’ll go with you. Wherever I have to.
 
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