The Jedi Training of Siri Firestorm

[Lavi]

"Yeah. We were going to meet with his friends," the boy said, feeling a little more relieved by the change of topic.

"I don't think they'll be happy to see you around though: not many of us are particularly fond of Jedi in this part of the city," he explained. "They should be coming any minute now, so you should get going or something."

 

[Malon]

Siri nodded, pleased with the response; she now knew that there was more than one kid coming here. One of them may be the one that took Master Haar's credits.

"Alright, I understand." she said.

Siri realized that the kid wouldn't betray his friends, so she didn't ask him if she could hide nearby and look for the one who stole Haar's credits. She walked swiftly away and ducked into a connecting alleyway, out of the boy's sight. However, she was far from done with this mission. She sat at the edge of the corner, using the Force to enhance her sense of hearing so that she could monitor the boys' conversations and movements.

One thing was for sure, she couldn't believe it was taking all of this to get a few credits back, she would have to work on her interrogation skills later.

 

[Lavi]

It took a few more minutes until she could hear multiple individuals talk. Even as she listened in, the conversation was nothing strange. They greeted each other, talking about what they have been doing lately.

"Where are we going today?" one of them asked.

"I dunno. Jei told us that he saw two Jedi wandering in the area," another said. "We could see what they're up to."

"Why? It's not like they're going to rescue us from here, unless one of us is special," a third objected.

"Eh. Jei already decided to screw around with them. We should meet up with him, anyways," the second one said. "Come on. Let's go to his house."

The voices gradually receded as the group walked off.

 

[Malon]

Siri sighed in relief once they were gone.

"So this Jei is the one that took Master's credits." she thought to herself.

As quietly as she could, she slipped out of her hiding place and began to walk towards where the boys had been. Reaching out with the Force, she could still sense the boy she had met earlier, allowing her to find the group of kids wandering through the crowds back on the streets. Siri tried to remain hidden in the crowd, all the while keeping her senses trained on the boy and following the group wherever they went. With enough luck, she'd find this Jei-kid's house.

As she walked through the crowd, however, she couldn't help but dwell on what one of the boys had said earlier. Something about the Jedi not wanting to save them unless they were "special". Did they mean Force-sensitive? She still didn't know how the Jedi checked for Force-sensitivity herself, but she assumed there was a test for it. Maybe....

"No...!" Siri shouted at herself mentally. "I have to stay focused on the mission and not get personally involved in the affairs of those kids. I will help them if I can, as that's my duty as a Jedi, but I cannot allow myself to become emotionally involved."

Siri shook her head to clear her thoughts and noticed a sensation through the Force. The boys were moving away from the crowd now, probably for Jei's house. Checking her surroundings one last time, she too stepped out of the crowd and after the boys.

 

[Lavi]

The group walked at a leisurely pace, unconcerned with the prospect of others following them. Their discussions varied wildly, with a lot of laughing from jokes tossed back and forth. They eventually arrived at a local bar, named the Fiery Meteor.

Inside were a lot of gruff individuals, giving the place a somewhat gloomy atmosphere. The relative uncleanliness of the bar added to the dark appearance of the place. The boys were acknowledged by the customers and the bartender, and they filed upstairs, presumably to where Jei was.

 

[Malon]

"A bar?!" Siri nearly blurted out upon seeing the group enter the building.

Now is when things would get complicated. Siri had lived on Coruscant all her life, and had never heard of bars being a troubling place for Jedi, but it would get that way if she simply followed the boys wherever they were going.

Silently, Siri stepped into one of the adjacent alleys to go over her options. She observed the bar's outside, and looked for any backdoor entrances. That's when she noticed a rusty stairwell that led to a window on the second floor. It looked like it hadn't been used in years, and there was little sign of activity anywhere near it, so she decided that she would use it to infiltrate the bar.

Slipping back out from the alley, she made her way over to the stairwell, which was also in an alley on the opposite side of the bar. Grabbing on to the railing, she hoisted herself onto the rusty stairs and began her ascent to the top floor, trying to make as little noise as possible. Upon reaching the window, she ducked to the right, standing directly beside it, where no one inside could see her. She then opened up her sense of hearing to the Force, and tried to see if she could hear the boys' voices inside.

 

[Lavi]

The stairwell creaked as she placed her weight on it, though it didn't seem as though the boys inside noticed. They were still talking as Siri began listening in.

"--erd you messed around with the Jedi," one of the boys was saying.

"A little. The older one didn't seem like he cared at all when I ran into him," another, presumably Jei, answered. "I didn't see the look on the other's face, though. I had to keep appearances."

"Well, whatever. You should've waited, Jei," a third voice piped up. "I'd have loved to screw with the Jedi."

"C'mon, let's go back downstairs: Dad's about to call a meeting with his pals - I wanna hear what he's going to say," Jei said, cutting the discussion short.

They continued to talk, agreeing with Jei's proposal. Thumping sounds indicated that they were going back downstairs, into the bar.

 

[Malon]

Siri focused on what they just said.

"Dad..?" she whispered to herself. "He must be an important person here at the bar if he's making an 'announcement' of any sort. I need to check this out."

Siri descended the steps and leaped to the cold, hard concrete of the alleyway. She then casually made her way to the front of the bar. As she did, she hid her training lightsaber from sight, concealing it in her tunic, as she knew that a lightsaber would give her away and ruin the entire mission. She walked through the main entrance with little difficulty and entered the bar, which had neon lights on every counter top. The music that was playing was incredibly loud and images of swoop races were on every view screen. This was definitely not a place she would like to be on a regular basis. She preferred the silence and solitude of the Jedi Temple on Ossus or the meditation chambers in the Jedi Temple here on Coruscant.

As she made her way through the crowd, she spotted the boys sitting at a large circular table and made her way over to them. She decided not to get too close; not close enough for them to notice her presence and instead found herself a seat at one of the nearby bar counters. She kept a sharp eye on them, as well as an eye out for any danger to herself. Siri also hoped that the time it was taking her to get these credits wasn't worrying Master Haar.

 

[Lavi]

The bar slowly began to pick up in volume as people began piling in. It certainly seemed as though a meeting was about to start. Minutes passed, and eventually a man stood on a chair as a heavy thumping sound was heard, bringing attention to him.

"Today, Anaka's gang challenged us to a race. I don't know if they're just being sore losers from the last match or if they really want to lose again," the man said, attracting chuckles from some of the audience. "But I'm not a bad guy: I'll let them try again. What I want right now are two racers willing to duke it out with them so that I can issue the reply in an hour for tomorrow's race. That's all for now."

The bar quickly regained volume as the members of the pub began talking amongst themselves. The boys were sitting at the corner, talking about the announcement excitedly. Two of the boys looked alike: it would be difficult to tell them apart, especially for someone who did not know them.

 

[Malon]

So that was it. Their father was in a swoop gang and it seemed that most everyone in the bar either knew of them or was part of the gang themselves. Siri looked towards the boy's table, noticing the two nearly identical boys.

"Twins?" she thought. "That must be why I confused them earlier in the mission. They're twins!"

Now that the commotion was dying down, Siri got up from her seat and made her way over to their table, slowly and with a friendly face on. She needed to get these credits and get back. No need for her to get involved in a swoop race.

"Hello boys." she said, coming within their view. "I believe we met before."

She said that specifically eying the twins. "I've come to retrieve something that belongs to my master and I think you know what it is. If you'd please return the credits belong to my master, Jei, I will be on my way and leave you boys alone."

Though she didn't know which of the twins was Jei, she knew one of them had to be, and that one would respond to her. She just hoped this ended peacefully. The last thing she needed was a fight.

 

[Lavi]

"And what are you going to do if Jei refuses?" one the boys asked. "Mind-frak us?"

The others chuckled at the question, watching and waiting for the girl to answer.

 

[Malon]

Siri actually felt bad for the boys. They had such a messed up perception of Jedi. They thought of them as tyrants who used their powers to control others. This was her chance to show them a different side of the Jedi Order.

"I wouldn't mess with your minds. No, I've learned that you can't solve everything by using a Mind Trick." she joked with a smile, hoping to lighten the mood. "Honestly, I mean none of you any harm. It isn't the Jedi way to hurt innocent people, especially children. Those credits belong to my master. I'm trying to do the right thing by returning them to him. Surely you don't think what you did was right, do you?"

As she spoke to them, she couldn't help but feel sympathetic. Maybe they did think stealing was okay. One thing was for sure; she would not use the Force on them. She refused. If she didn't get the credits back, she would just deal with the consequences from Haar herself. To use the Force to influence the mind of a child wasn't right. She felt that to the core of her being.

 

[Lavi]

One of the twins shrugged. "It's hard to make any money on this side of town. The bosses either don't hire you or give you ridiculously low pays - barely enough to pay the taxes. Who'd hire from the slums? No one. We have to make money somehow to pay for food."

 

[Malon]

Siri inhaled and exhaled deeply. What was she to do? A part of her wanted to let the children keep the credits, but she knew that if she did, Master Haar wouldn't be pleased with her. She opened her mind to the Force and let it answer her questions.

"What if I give you some of my credits? I don't have much, as Jedi are forbidden to have personal wealth, but it should be enough to match what you took from my master. If I give you an equal sum of credits to what you took from my master, will you exchange it for my master's credits, so that I may return them to him?" she asked.

Like she had told them, Jedi were disallowed from having personal wealth. Perhaps by giving them the credits to help support themselves, she would be showing them a different side of the Jedi and maybe next time, they'd do what was right.

 

[Lavi]

The boys laughed.

"Now what would that achieve?" one of the twins asked. "You might as well give him your own credits!"

 

[Malon]

Siri had to admit, the boys had a point. She sighed; this was going to take awhile longer. She searched the Force one more time, looking for definitive answers. She knew one thing, she couldn't enter the swoop race. Number one, she was horrible with speeders, and number two, she was pretty sure that Jedi weren't allowed to enter swoop races. Still, she had to give it a try.

"Fair enough. If you won't give me the credits back that way, then maybe I can do something for you in exchange for those credits. Will that do?" she asked.

 

[Lavi]

"Do what, then?" one of the twins asked. "You said that you don't have much of anything valuable."

The other boys voiced their agreement. However, they didn't shut out the padawan completely. They waited for Siri to make some sort of proposal.

 

[Malon]

Siri sighed again. She knew what she had to do now; she only hoped her master didn't scold her for doing so later.

"What if I enter the swoop race for your dad and help him win it? The prize money from that, I can give to you in exchange for my Master's credits."

Siri somehow knew on the inside that this was the only way she could complete her master's request. She just hoped the boys...and their father...went for it.

 

[Lavi]

"Didn't you hear him right? They issued a challenge. There's no prize other than honor on the track," one of the boys said.

"Yeah," the first twin said. "My Dad's just going to show them who rocks the track. He's not going to let some random kid show the other gang who's boss."

It didn't seem like entering the race would be possible, seeing that Jei's dad was already talking to others, one of which seemed to be volunteering himself for the event.

 

[Malon]

At this point, Siri was out of ideas. The swoop race didn't have anything she could give them, nor were they willing to take any credits she offered them. She was very disheartened by this, and was tempted to turn away and return to Haar empty handed.

"Then tell me what - tell me what I can do for my master's credits." she said bluntly.