Ask In Search of Master Mi'la

[Brahe Sienar]

It had been quite some time since they were all together at the same time. Giran, Mila, Fiach, and himself had found the passage of time to be quite troublesome, the others having gone missing as of late. It worried Brahe quite significantly, and to say it didn’t have a profound effect on the young man was quite the understatement. Mi’la’s absence especially, had been felt the most severely. It had caused Brahe to go into a self-imposed exile of his own as he contemplated life without his master. It had been hard to adjust, and to be fair, perhaps not the most considerate of his fellow padawan and friend, Fiach, but hopefully, she’d understand just how hard hit he was with Mila’s disappearance.

Brahe had finally regained a measure of resolve though, and he had returned, this time a bit more….grounded than he had been before. He had specifically requested to meet with Fiach on one of the high rise districts of Coruscant- an area known for it’s more upper class arrangements. Brahe looked out towards the horizon, contemplating the whereabouts of their master. A lead had been found, and he intended to share it with her. He wore his Jedi robes today, the black and grey accented by a new pair of lightsabers. One was shorter than the other, a shorter parrying blade to pair with the other. Brahe had been learning a new style in his temporary absence.

When she’d arrive he’d turn to greet her, a look of uncertainty in his eyes. Was she angry at him? Glad to see him? Or perhaps indifferent? He wasn’t entirely sure. Fiach was somewhat hard for him to read, after all. It had been a couple months since Mila’s disappearance and his subsequent long absence. He hoped she’d at least forgive him…but if not, he at least felt he understood, and probably deserved it.

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

A fellow Padawan had asked what it was like to see people come and go. For her, it seemed, this was going to be a problem when fitting into Jedi life. Maybe that was because she’d known attachment on a different level to Fiach.

Being an alien on her ‘home’ planet, she had no real friends and although she supposed she loved her parents, she had not necessarily missed them since she’d left Klatooine. What she was doing was more important than personal happiness. At least in her eyes.

So the disappearance of her Master and the drifting apart of the three Padawans in her care was something Fiach simply took in her stride. Force permitting, they would meet up again.

Which was why she was not completely surprised to hear from Brahe, but his choice of venue was not expected.

So, she walked through the planet she found most unlike home since she’d been a member of the Order and found her neck was sore from being constantly craned to look up.

Fortunately, she arrived at the meeting-place before permanent damage set in and a very, very, very long lift-ride later she found herself almost literally in the clouds as she approached Brahe and saw him turn to meet her. He looked more formal than she remembered, and he now wore two sabers.

She bowed just before she reached him and, straightening, her usual smile was in place.

“Hello again,” she said. “How are you?” Her matter-of-fact voice sounded as though their lack of contact had been no more than a couple of days.

@Noctyr

 

[Brahe Sienar]

Brahe smiled, a bit surprised, sighing at his own uncertainty about her reaction to his absence. This was a typical Fiach response- how could he have forgotten what she was usually like? He stepped forward towards her and attempted to give her a hug.

“I’m glad to see you again!” He pulled away from her after this and turned, looking out at the cityscape. His eyes were those of a wandering soul, wondering where his master had gone.

“I have a lead on Master Mila’s whereabouts…a distress signal coming from Mustafar, specifically the remnants of Vader’s Castle. But there’s more- I got word that she might be here in the lower levels of Coruscant, based off of info from the Hutt Cartels…”

He pulled a small holo projector from his pocket and held it out to her, the planet Mustafar coming into view. It then transitioned to a blow up of the lower level levels of Coruscant, specifically level 3891. At that depth, the city was in a perpetual, artificially created night life. The perfect place for criminals and despots to reside.

“This might be our chance to finally find her, and maybe even save her!”

His eyes lit up with the possibility of seeing Mila again.

“Will you help me find her? I’m not sure I can do it without help….and with the return of the Sith, the galaxy has become more dangerous than before…..”

The spark of hope lit up in his expression, hoping that Fiach would take him up on the offer.

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Speeders, swoops, and aircars roared above them in unending streams, the motorised circulatory system of the former Republic’s heart. Skyrises, bridges, lifts, and plazas covered the entire surface of Coruscant to a height of kilometres, all of it the trappings of a wealthy, decadent civilization, a sheath that sought to hide the rot in a cocoon of duracrete and transparisteel. It was not a place she enjoyed visiting – in a sense it was worse than Nar Shaddaa, given the huge differential between the haves and the have-nots.

Fiach’s smile was ever-present. She was a young woman who was in many way unchanged from the teenager that left Klatooine to join the Order. Superficially, at least, she was the same person. What had changed was her perspective on the world. She’d witnessed things and had to make decisions that were not typical for anyone of her age – and that knowledge guided her thinking more than she probably realised.

Some changes were still embryonic. She was beginning to understand – if not appreciate – pop culture. She was also coming to terms with physical contact. So she would never choose to hug someone, but neither would she show any negativity if someone looked to cuddle her. Thus, she was relatively relaxed as Brahe embraced her and she nodded as he expressed his pleasure at seeing her.

“It’s been a while,” she responded, “But I’m glad you’re still safe.”

She listened intently at his news and although her nose wrinkled a couple of times, she allowed him to finish before she spoke.

“Those are two very different leads. Maybe she has been at both, maybe they’re both false. Either way, I suggest we owe it to her to find out and…given we’re here now…we might as well begin here.”

She paused and added, “Dare I ask where you got this information?”

@Noctyr

 

[Brahe Sienar]

Brahe’s eyes averted from Fiach when she asked him where he had gotten the information. Truth be told, it wasn’t exactly pretty- information exchanged for credits AND work through the Hutt Cartel. Not the most egregious of crimes, but participating in the criminal underworld wasn’t exactly the safest thing to do alone. The work itself was rather shady, if not highly dangerous- Brahe had been a skilled pilot as long as he could remember to walk, and he had agreed to win some illegal street races in order to gain favor from the Hutts and to provide entertainment.

“How I found the information….it’s….” He curled his lower lip, lightly biting it. “It’s not important. I just care about finding Master Mi’la.”

He gestured over the balcony towards the cityscape below, in the direction of the traffic pit that denoted the lower levels of Coruscant. It was a massive drop in height from their location on the tower. “I do agree though. If we start here on Coruscant, I think that hopefully we can find her. Mustafar can be the second destination if we don’t find evidence here.”

He began to walk to the other side of the balcony, before tapping a button on his wrist mounted computer to hail a speeder which would take them to the lower levels. He looked at Fiach again, giving her a light smile.

“How’re you so calm all the time?” He chuckled to himself. “I feel like I could use a bit of that calmness sometimes. Master Mi’la did tell me once, that I should be more like you- calm and collected on the surface.”

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Fiach knew that many at the Order – especially fellow Padawans – felt she often took the moral high ground in situations. Of course, she did not see it that way – in her eyes she followed the Code, pure and simple. There was rarely room for manoeuvre and despite her lack of emotion, she always knew in her heart if a decision was the right one. Not that she actually believed her heart was telling her anything, but it was a concept she understood and applied. For Fiach, the end never justified the means and that was how she lived her life. But despite this, she was also surprisingly tolerant of others. She travelled her path, as she described it. Others walked a slightly different route and would no doubt end up at the same destination. She did not tell them how to travel their journey any more than she expected them to follow hers. Advice was different – and was asked for and given when requested. But she was, perhaps, unexpectedly non-judgmental.

So, when Brahe chose not to share the full details of his source, Fiach did not press the matter. She may not condone whatever it was – given his reluctance – but that was a matter for his heart to resolve with the Force.

She followed him out onto the balcony. It was a strange planet in many ways. She was amazed at the density of occupancy – and given this was the Jedi headquarters historically, she was appalled by the disparity between the haves and have-nots. And there was an energy here unlike any other planet. Maybe it was the trillion plus souls all crowded together? Maybe, but not quite. There was something else…something intangible that preyed on the periphery of her consciousness. Like a shadow that always disappeared when you looked for it. But she pushed that from her mind for now and focused on the here and now.

She nodded as he spoke and smiled too. As the speeder approached, she cocked her head to one side before righting it and replying. “Calmness is more than a façade,” she shared. “At least for me. I centre myself to generate that calm and it radiates out – like ripples on a pool. The important thing is to be yourself. Be true to yourself and don’t seek to be who you’re not. Just be the best Brahe you can – that’s all anyone can ask of you.”

She chuckled, “Do I sound wise and enigmatic, like a Master back at the academy? Or do I sound like I’ve just spouted something I read in a fortune cookie?”

@Noctyr

 

[Brahe Sienar]

He laughed.

"You sound just like Master Mila!"

It wasn’t long before the speeder arrived, the astromech droid piloting the craft letting out a couple cheerful chirps and beeps as it arrived, as if to signal its excitement at having new customers. Brahe climbed in to the passenger compartment, and once Fiach followed, the speeder would begin it’s descent to the intended target- the lower levels of coruscant.

“You’re right that we should just be the best people we can be, although lately, to be honest Fiach….my faith in the Jedi code has been…somewhat shaken. I am still a Jedi of course- but sometimes I feel like the code doesn’t give me all the answers I seek. I’m…..I’m only telling this because you’re my friend and I trust you.”

He smiled, a solemn happiness in his eyes.

“But at the end of the day, I just really care about everyone. Master Mila, Giran, you.”

The speeder continued to descend, the light of the surface beginning to give way to the dark shadows cast by the buildings and infrastructure surrounding the pit that denoted the entrance to the lower levels.

@Corbeau

 

[Fiach Dubh]

Fiach’s eyebrows raised. She was sure Brahe’s comment was a compliment – at least she hoped so. Not wishing to press the point, she climbed into the speeder after her fellow Padawan and thanked the droid for picking them up. Fiach found politeness one of those habits she would never be able to break.

“The Code is…” she paused as if searching for the correct words, “absolute in terms of words and meaning but somewhat hazy in terms of their interpretation. I initially saw this as a weakness. As you know, I prefer things black and white. But I have come to understand that we are not all cloned from the same mould. In fact, history has shown the weakness in that approach. We are individuals and the Code will mean something slightly different for each of us. Not wildly different, just subtly so. And searching for that specific meaning is a good thing and should be embraced, not apologised for.”

“At least, that’s what I think,” she added. “And I don’t plan to share your thoughts with anyone. Although caring for people sounds like a Jedi trait to me.”

@Noctyr