Ask Coruscant Something Different

[Lyra]

What day was it? Lyra couldn’t remember. The day felt like yesterday, the day before, and the day before that all at the same time. It didn’t make very much sense, Lyra knew, but her perception of time was blurred, like she was reliving the same day over and over again. A train stuck in an endless loop of tracks.

That was her life.

First, she woke up. Her eyes blinking at her ceiling fan and watching it hum in circles. The other half of her mind was busy grasping threads from last night’s dream, but as hard as she tried to stick with it, the dream never stayed. Five minutes later, Lyra was out of bed.

Next, once she was dressed, she left her tiny apartment for the library where she worked. Home to one of the largest book collections in the galaxy, a vast wealth of knowledge, and Lyra was just another archivist. A glorified accountant. She collected, recorded and organized. On some occasions, she dusted antiques from the days of the Old Republic. Hollow lightsabers and blunted daggers. Things she admired, things she wished she could hold with her own two hands.

Things she’d never have.

Then, when her shift was over, she went home. Some nights, she visited her Nana, her only real friend and family, but tonight was not one of those nights. Lyra was alone. Hands in her pockets and a book bag over her shoulder, she walked between the alleys. Puddles splashed and balled-up papers crinkled at her feet. A ventilation shaft hissed right above her head. Creepy, maybe, but the alleys were the fastest way home, and she got to avoid the crowds, and she rarely met trouble.

But again, tonight was not one of those nights.

Three men. Two in front, one behind. Neon lights flashed from the street ahead and their shadows were suddenly distorted on the walls. One man stepped up and said to her, “That looks like a pretty heavy bag you got there, miss. Did you need a hand with that?”

Naturally, Lyra recoiled, but she could feel the third man looming somewhere behind her. She clutched at her book bag. “I’m fine,” she said, honestly. “It’s just a few books.” Lyra tried to move forward. The first man was blocking her path. “Mind if we have a look?”

When Lyra wished her day-to-day life would be even a little different, this wasn’t what she had in mind.

 

[Byron Alduun]

_

Coruscant wasn’t the place it used to be.

That was the first thought that bubbled to the surface of his mind. To think that this place was once so far ahead of the competition for the center of civilisation baffled him. Though perhaps that was because the Jedi had been relegated to the alleys and streets of below. From here, he could barely make out the stars, let alone the towering buildings littering his view.

He had arrived for the same reason as anyone else had arrived on Coruscant: for personal gain. Though for Byron, it was in the form of a starship. Outside of Corellia, this was the place to find the best bargains, and it was well worth the hefty trip from Ajan Kloss – if anything, the use of public transport had only resulted in the allure of a private starship growing. The settled Jedi Order hadn’t received many favours from the Alliance, but of the few it could count, a public transport ship to its capital was one of them.

Anything remotely connected to a Jedi were relics these days. They were advised by the Order not to wear anything that could identify them as Jedi – particularly in the Core Worlds. Not out of fear of the reception, but rather treading on any toes was a strict no-no, especially the Alliance’s.

The circling predators had caught his eye almost immediately. (Honestly, it was as if he was a magnet for trouble these days. Every corner he took, it was there, lying in wait.) Though, just like the vermin that scurried across the gritty streets, as soon as they heard the “Hey! Leave her alone!” They had scattered, almost as quickly as they had approached, looking for another prey to latch onto.

Long strides had him catch up with the woman in a swift fashion. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” he asks, keeping his distance. He didn’t want her to think he was just a bigger predator, ready to swallow her whole. Immediately, the Jedi had taken over him. Like a poltergeist, opening his mouth and speaking. “You shouldn’t be walking around here on your own. It’s dangerous.”

@Feng Mian​

_

 

[Lyra]

Her grip on the leather strap of her book bag tightened. Under one of the men’s sleeves, she caught the glint of something sharp. A switchblade or another weapon, Lyra found it hard to tell, but she did her best to show no fear. Blank-faced, she stared them down. Already, she was drumming up a plan.

Considering the two men in front and the one behind, she was outnumbered. Outmatched. Lyra would have to resort to using her bare hands, or her book bag, to cut out a path into the safe arms of the night. She considered planting a kick to the first man’s knee and using her bag to smack aside the second, but would it be enough? The stranger behind her might catch her first.

Didn’t matter. She had to try.

Lyra took a deep breath in, thought about her Nana, how important it was not to lose the precious books she had stowed away, then pulled her right leg back. Time to strike.

Or maybe not.

A threatening voice called out. It was someone she didn’t recognize, and yet they felt so strangely familiar, like something she heard in a dream. The men, suddenly afraid they had been caught red-handed by some undercover cop, scattered like roaches and fell into the night, leaving Lyra to her own.

Though she wasn’t alone, not anymore.

She turned to her mystery savior and checked her bag. Nothing stolen, everything in order, and Lyra was unshaken. It wasn’t the first time she’d been confronted by thugs on the street, and she had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last time, either.

“I’m good,” she said. “I’m fine.” Lyra adjusted the strap on her shoulder. “But you didn’t have to do that, I had it under control.” A little white lie, but she was afraid the newcomer meant bigger fish. Hard to trust anyone in the city, no matter how kind-hearted they seemed or sounded.

“And I know it’s dangerous,” she said. “It’s Coruscant.” Lyra averted eye contact with the stranger, not sure of his intentions. “Besides, if I can’t be walking anywhere around on my own, then how are you any different?” Lyra knew she was being much too hostile to a man who had just saved her, but she wanted the whole ordeal to be over with.

It was time to go back home, her normal life, and rinse, wash and repeat. Though, strangely, a hidden part of her hoped that wouldn't be the case. @Turtleneck

 

[Byron Alduun]

_

Honestly, he expected her to be a little more scared. But if anything, she was relieved. Almost as if she was preparing for an entirely different situation, one far more terrifying to picture, and he had only interrupted it.

Until now, she was only a silhouette guised in the shadows of Coruscant’s callous capitalism. Though as he neared, he had realised that she was older than he had realised. From afar, he imagined an adolescent attempting to fend off three thugs. Yet here she was: an adult.

“Questioning what has already happened is a waste of time,” he says, each word dipped in first-hand experience. He continued, “At least this way, no one had to get hurt.” If there was one thing Byron had learned since joining the Jedi Order, it was to never undermine or underestimate another’s strength. A lot of the time, his eyes deceived him.

“You know there’s danger, so why do you tread so closely to it?” he asks. The concern on his face was quickly massaged away as he rubbed his eyes with the side of his knuckles. “I know how to handle myself,” he says, honestly. “Evidently, so do you. So I’ll be on my way. Have a good evening.” He bowed his head casually, turning on his heel and walking away.

This was not the place to draw attention to yourself. (He could imagine the holocall now: Why are your Jedi parading around Coruscant as vigilantes?) It wasn’t what the Jedi needed, and it certainly wasn’t what he needed.

@Feng Mian​

_

 

[Lyra]

There was something about the man Lyra couldn’t pinpoint. A lightness about him, a feeling of wonder and mystery, tugging at her chest, pulling her closer to him. She almost did step closer, in fact, but her own attachment to normalcy, the status quo, chained her into place. The best she could do was nod and stare, like she had something to say but the words were lost in her throat.

Say something. Anything.

“Maybe there’s just nowhere else to tread,” Lyra said to his question, even though that was a lie, too. There were many paths she could take, different roads that led to her destination, but she always took the worst way she could. Why? Maybe, just maybe, she wanted trouble. An adventure. Something worth diving into other than the pages of a worn book.

Lyra blinked. Before she could add anything else, the man was already on his way. He seemed to respect her boundaries, whereas others could not, and wished her a last goodbye and moved on. His back turned to her, Lyra again wanted to say something. Buy him a drink, ask him if she could do something to repay him for his kindness.

But the status quo had sewn her lips closed, and she could reply,

"I... thank you!"

Adding nothing more, she watched the mysterious stranger melt away. A shadow, here then gone. Lyra would come to regret not calling him out further, she knew, but the Force would find a way back to her. It always did.