Ihe elder’s house in the Jedi Temple of Corust. An ued ining call, without prior annou, broke the meditative silence of the hall. It must be an urgent matter. The few masters who were currently in the middle of a general meeting were crudely interrupted by the repeating signal.

  “Where does this call inate from? you tell me Kenobi?” — Asked master Windu, already frustrated by the rude interruption.

  “It is from one of the atmospheric border stations. How curious. We never got a direct call from there before.”

  “Humph.” — Snorted Windu, showing little i iter.

  “Ahis call, we should, its rude to make the caller wait without proper reason.” — Grandmaster Yoda chided the arguing pair calmly.

  “Of course, grandmaster, I will redirect it to the tral holoprojector.”

  Soon enough, the semi-opaque form of a buard appeared before them.

  “Greetings, esteemed masters.” — The maed them while giving a slight bow with his head.

  As the you of the present masters, and with the title of infamous diplomat, General Kenobi naturally took over the lead in the versation.

  “Greetings to you too, sir. May I ask, what is the reason for your sudden call?”

  “Of course, master, we have located a wanted ship, waiting to enter Corust...”

  Windu interrupted the man’s long-winded monologue.

  “Then you should already be on your way to arrest the owner instead of calling the Jedi Temple, initiating idle chatter...”

  “Yes, master, and I would do so normally… As, there is no crime on record that the owner itted...”

  Hearing that ued statement, Windu eyebrows raised with evident surprise. He go the other masters, then slowly leaned bato his seat, nodding towards the man, aowledging his decision at st.

  “You stated that it is the ship which is wanted, not the owner. Why is the ship wanted?” — Windu asked, taking the matter seriously this time.

  The man visibly rexed as he sehe abrupt ge of tone, quickly tinuing his expnation.

  “The Jedi Temple provided a wish to buy this type of ship as a relic because of historical value. It is a dynamic-css freighter ship. Its code name is Ebon Hawk, the sed assembly date seems to be inal, certificated by the old republic. We are currently holding back the ship on the border.”

  There was silen the room. Kenobi and Windu simultaneously looked towards the grandmaster for advice.

  Yoda sidered this matter, clearly trying to remember such a deade by the Jedi cil in the distant past. His eyelids suddenly shot up, new insight mirrored in the old gaze.

  “Yes, I seem to remember that there was a warrant issued for that type of ship a few hundred years ago; sadly, there was no ship to find.”

  “The force works in mysterious ways. After so much time and futile effort, the ship es to us on its own accord. Captain, escort the ship to the Jedi Temple’s nding ptforms. We wish to speak with its owner personally.”

  The captain nodded happily, but he didn’t seem to leave just yet. — “Masters...” — He began slowly.

  Windu’s eyes narrowed on the holographic image. Then he said, after a weak shake of his head.

  “You will be pensated for yood work, captain. We expect it to tinue in a simirly effective manner.”

  The man couldn’t quite hide the spreading smile ing to his face.

  “Thank you, masters! Have a beautiful day!”

  Windu sighed and said after the call ended.

  “The greed of man holds no bounds.”

  There were a few minutes of silent ption after that. In the end, master Kenobi, broke the silence.

  “Holy, I am looking forward to this enter. What type of person uses such a relic as general transportation? Is it possible that they don’t even know how uheir ship is? Will we really buy it?”

  “We will give a reasonable price, but of course, we ot force them to sell their ship. It is their property, after all.” — Stated Yoda.

  “In case if the ship actually belongs to the current owner. I feel a strange disturban the force. There might be an ued surprise waiting for us.”

  Windu added his two credits sinisterly.

  “You might be right, old friend… Let’s wait and see what the future holds.” — The grandmaster closed the versation with a thoughtful expression.

  All hell broke loose ihe bridge of the Ebon Hawk, after a less than f call from the traffitrol station. In which a soldier expio them with an unusually cheerful tone of voice that they were io the Jedi Temple for a meeting with the elders he less.

  In the call there were careful but obvious hints that they should not try anything funny, like running away. The possibility of denying the invitation wasn’t even brought up as a few police fighter ships escorted them to the p until the very moment they nded on a big nding ptfht on the side of the temple.

  At which time, Nizzal was screaming hysterically while throwing random objects at the stoically sitting droid still trolling the ship.

  “YOU SCRAP PILE! I TOLD YOU THAT WE SHOULDN’T USE THIS DAMN SHIP! WHAT WILL I DO NOW? I ’T EVEN HIDE MY FORCE PRESENCE PROPERLY! AND THEY WAO SPEAK DIRECTLY WITH THE CIL I AM DONE FOR!”

  ‘Exhausted from my shouting aional crisis, I colpsed into a nearby chair at the end of my hysterical outburst...’

  “It’s not even a week after I became a master, and the jedi are about to capture me... All of this is because of you! And that dirty master of yours!”

  “(Logical assessment): They try to capture us. In that case, I will activate battle protocol. While I distract them, little-meatbag should be able to escape.”

  ‘I froze in my rant for a sed. Is this bastard seriously willing to do that for me? Even so… what he asks is impossible!’

  “As if! How do you expect me to escape from the heart of the Jedi Temple? You are crazy. We should try to escape with the ship. That is our only ce.”

  “(Statement): There are fhter escort ships still cirg around us; they are faster and mile umospheric pressure. Our shield geor is too obsolete; we would be destroyed in a few hits.”

  “Argh! Damn it! I hate this cursed ship!”

  “(Critical assessment): There was er ship in the hangar on Hoth.”

  “Maybe, but this way, we painted a giant target on our backs!”

  “(Troubleshooting logical dedu): There was no mistake in my logical analysis. Nor the jedi or the station guards should reize this ship, after thousands of years. The only pusible expnation is that an unknown factor was not included in my calcution. That is the only answer.”

  ‘I bli the idiot, uo uand the levels of idiocy that it produced i few seds.’ — “That is what is called being misinformed, you dummy —!”

  ‘My attention ulled away, before I could throw another empty serve at the fucker.’

  “Look, the temple’s door opened…” — ‘I sighed, giving up any ce of running away. Let’s hope that the st millennium of retive prosperity softehe jedi enough to nnize someoh siderable force presence, and ck of trol on it… All thanks to the st remaining side effects of that accursed ritual.’ — “We should go out ahem. Let us hope they won’t kill a child. Iypes of sarios, it is actually a boon to be a child.”

  ‘We walked down on the ramp towards the small delegate. They were temple guardians, two of them, with double-bded lightsabers proudly dispyed on their hips. Their faces were hidden under masks and hoods, equipped with some unpractical, ceremonial armor. Now as they got closer, I could see their general forms more clearly, and one of them was a man while the other was a woman. I watched them suspiciously, as HK-47 took its pce behind me, obviously intimidating the guards a bit.’

  ‘When I reached them, I bowed lightly in polite greeting, as a member of the high aristocracy would upoing jedi. They looked at me, surprised by my as clearly thrown off their rhythm. They didn’t expect to deal with aristocrats, nor with a child, which showed in their hesitance. One of them, the maually asked. While the woman tio not so subtly scrutinize me.’

  “The cil would like to speak with the owner of the ship.”

  ‘I noticed that the man directed his question towards the protocol droid, and I had a hard time to stop clig my to him. This fool btantly decided to ignore me over that rude tin-!’

  ‘As my annoya through the roof, I stated stubbornly.’

  “Thehe way.”

  ‘The guards exged a few knowing gnces as they turowards the weird protocol droid once again.’

  “(Informative statement) The master of the ship is currently not present. We came here with Miss Nizzal in the hopes of visiting the tral library to further her knowledge and update our databanks. You treat her as the sed best choice. She holds the highest authority betweewo of us.”

  ‘The guards nodded and finally turo me properly. This time the oke up, pointing towards the door.’

  “This lease.”

  ‘So, having no other option, I relutly followed them into the hearth of their temple.’

  ‘Soon enough, I felt hundreds of powerful force signals all arou was a strange experience. I kind of liked it, though.’

  ‘The tall bright halls and corridave away a strong and peaceful sensation, nothing like the sith temple I was used to with its pressuringly low ceilings and dark-dim rooms.’

  ‘This was a freeing experience, forcibly rexing my troubled mind. I closed my eyes for a few seds to take in this special feeling. When I opened my eyes again, I saw for a sed as the female temple guard was eyeing me carefully.’

  ‘Oh hell, I fot about myself... With a spike of fear, I started to reinforce my mental shields and did my best to erase my force presence, which came loose in the moment of self-fetting. As a rea, both of the guards stopped and looked at me. I saw as they touched their bdes, if only for a fra of a sed. Then they began to walk again, ag as if everything was normal.’

  ‘I have do again... Stupid, stupid, stupid... everyone has a force signal, even the people that ’t use force... If you erase your force presence suddenly, they will instantly realize that I am trained in the ways of the force... They are going to lock me up here... bye-bye tinas, bye-bye freedom...’

  ‘My shoulders dropped sadly as I realized that I am most likely screwed, yet again, I was screwed from the moment I came here... Time to figure out, how to escape, I looked back towards the door we came through... Maybe I make it back to the ship?’

  ‘The female guard caught my longing gaze and stepped in front of me, activating her yellow saber staff, warnih a strict voice.’

  “Don’t even think about it, girl.”

  “I turned around and saw the uard doing the same, log me and the droid betweewo of them. Being in the middle of corridor there was nowhere else to run.”

  “Uhm, would you sider letting me go if I asked?” — ‘I questioned with a small voice.’

  “No.” — ‘The woman stated, ation.’

  “Pretty please?” — ‘I added almost pleadingly.’

  ‘The woman snorted hearing that.’

  “You are a funny one. I like that, but the answer is still the same.” — ‘She stated the barest of humour lingering iherwise strict voice.’

  “Ugh...”

  ‘I looked towards HK-47. Attempting to vey my thoughts with my wide, scared eyes. It would be a good time to start that distra... Right about now...’

  ‘He was standing there unmoving, without a care in the world.’

  ‘Oh no, I am a damnable fool! I actually trusted in this pile of scrap! Of course, it won’t lift a fio help me.’

  ‘At that moment, it turs face towards me. I felt a fickle of hope igniting in my chest, then it looked away uedly.’

  “…”

  ‘My mouth opened with utter disbelief. I couldn’t even oppose whewo temple guards grabbed me under my arms and forcefully escorted me to the cil room.’

  ‘I am going to blow up that cursed droid. Si joined me, everythi downhill... The sadistic smile of Revan’s ghost reappeared before my eyes at this opportune moment. Then I realized… This droid doesn’t care about me having Revan’s memories...‘

  ‘This droid might not even care about Revan’s orders. It would never eveertain mine. I am just a plete nuisao it, just another meatbag... I started tle a little. I wao bst that thing to smithereens even if I couldn’t do it realistically...’

  “Ouch…” — ‘I whispered as the tightening hold of the guards jolted me out of my wishful thinking.’

  “Stling around, girl.” — ‘The man scolded me.’ — “Fine… I will stop.” — ‘I answered relutly but sighed, feeling relieved when they adjusted their hold’s strength.’

  ‘The female guard attempted to lighten the mood as we walked across the unending corridors.’

  “So, are you a run aadawan? I bet your master will be over the moon to catch up with you. I foresee a heavy scolding and some extremely b punishments in the near future, though.” — ‘The man chuckled on my other side, hearieasing tone.’

  ‘To my surprise, he also added a sentence.’ — “Your little act of aristocracy was quite ving, though. Only if you weren’t wearing armor… You should be using your talents for the right things, instead of running around and causing trouble, ss.”

  ‘Are they seriously thinking that I am a runaadawan? I decided to not answer either of those questions in the end.’

  ‘A few mier, we finally reached the cil room. The door opened, and we marched in, stopping in the middle of the room. The three jedi masters currently present looked towards us with an obvious frown.’

  ‘I also looked at them carefully... Two humans, and a goblin, that’s my luck.’

  ‘The bck-skinned human male on the right side was the most frustrated. No surprise there, since all of his hair was long go probably means he had a very short fuse... There you go, he almost immediately started the questioning. Where is your patience, master?’

  “What is the meaning of this interruption? We are waiting fuest. It is not the time to judge some misbehaving youngling!”

  ‘The male temple guard gave his answer without hesitation.’

  “Master, she is the guest you were waiting for.”

  ‘That surprised all three of the masters. There were a few seds of hesitant sileheher human tihe questioning.’

  “Then, allow me to ask, what is the reason for this otion?”

  ‘Now the female guard gave the answer.’

  “The girl is force sensitive and trained in the ways of the force. She could hide her force presence so well that we couldn’t se while standing right o her. Still, she seems tle to hide it sistently. She doing it at this very moment.”

  ‘Now, the three masters looked at me with calg and somewhat skeptical eyes. The one in the middle, the goblin, blurted out eventually.’

  “You are right about this, while you were ing towards the room; I only sehe two of you. Now, as I sciously focus, I sense her presence as well. She is shogly skilled in hiding, on a level of a knight or even a master. How troubling… troubling indeed…”

  ‘The temple guards hen looked at me with a new light glinting in their eyes.’

  ‘The strangely serene moment was destroyed by the female guard’s short sentence.’

  “Oh, and she tried to run away.”

  ‘The ge in the overall mood was quick. Damn that dy, that part was uncalled for. She avoided my betrayed gaze...’

  ‘I stamped with my right leg.’ — “I did not do such a thing!”

  ‘The woman was clearly surprised as she turned back looking down at me thanks to the differen height as she added calmly.’ — “Only because I stopped you before you could.”

  ‘I didn’t have a prepared ao that… and therefore I shut up, looking down at the floor in front of me.’

  ‘The master sitting on the left seemed amused by this, but he easily picked up the versation.’

  “How do you know that she is the actual owner of the ship?”

  ‘Both of the temple guards answered in unisohey twins or something?’

  “The protocol droid said so.”

  ‘I saw a momentary fusion in the eyes of the masters than the ohout hair asked.’

  “Where is this droid, then?”

  ‘All three of us turned around simultaneously; there was no droid behind us, only air.’

  ‘I facepalmed, to the particur amusement of the master sitting on the left from my perspective. The skinhead was less amused by this of events and began an infuriated rant.’

  “You mean to tell me that yht an uified droid into the temple and then lost it? This easily be a separatist plot. We are in the middle of a war! Find that droid immediately!” — ‘The door opened, and anuard run in hastily.’

  “What is it now?!” — ‘Shouted the still raging master.’

  ‘The additional guard was taken aback by the shouting master, but he soon posed himself and started his report.’

  “We have located an unauthorized breato the jedi archives, about ten minutes ago, and the ship that nded on the seveh nding pad just left without authorization.”

  ‘An even heavier silence fell on the room, a feard seds ter every persons-wandering gaze fell upon me. I could not stand their acg gazes filled with hostility and suspi. Uheir pierg eyes, I could only say.’

  “Oh, I am done for...” — ‘I said, realizing that the droid pletely screwed me over. It was his pn all along to use me as a distra to open a possibility of breaking into the jedi archives. I ’t believe I fell for it!’

  ‘But there was no helping now.’

  ‘After long seds of silehe third temple guard left silently. At st, the grandmaster tried to salvage what was left of the versation.’

  “Hmmm... Let us start this versation a new. What is your name, girl?”

  ‘I was truly grateful for this ce, therefore I answered quickly and holy.’

  “Nizzal, I am called Nizzal grandmaster.”

  “He smiled a bit. I see you know my position in the order. Where you trained in this temple, perce?”

  ‘Oh crap, I should have knowhis will lead to.’

  “No, grandmaster, but you are a well-known figure in the gaxy.”

  “He looked at me strangely. Tell me then who trained you, and where.”

  ‘I bit the inside of my lips. If I lie, they will know it, but I ’t tell the truth, so I decided to not a all.’

  “Did you not hear the question? Said the skinhead, angered by my presumed defiance.”

  ‘I looked at him and answered calmly.’

  “I heard it, but I have no io answer.”

  ‘The witty remark left my lips even before I realized it. Oh hell, not again, ugh, I already see the veins on his forehead popping out...’

  ‘He jumped to his feet, then started another rant, just as I expected.’

  “Hah, be careful girl, named Nizzal. It is your fate that is currently being judged. Yet I already see that you will not leave this temple today. You may have some skill with the force, yet you should not be that proud of your knowledge or it will be the downfall of you.”

  ‘Crap, I should get used to my ged personality. Those witty remarks were not my cup of tea until now...’

  ‘The other human master asked curiously.’

  “What is your full name?”

  ‘I answered that question, si was on enough.’

  “Nizzal Grey.”

  ‘All the masters used this name, after all, and it was a generally on name in the universe.’

  “Just like your skin color.” — ‘Observed the same human master with a pyful tone.’

  “Humph, and her force preseoo.” — ‘Said Yoda nontly.’

  “Now, show us yhtsaber, girl.” — ‘Ordered the oh the anger trolling issues.’

  ‘I froze hearing that ued demand.’

  ‘They stared at me expetly.’

  ‘Yoda spoke up, attempting to soothe my hesitand fear.’

  “We have already seen you reag towards yht sleeve multiple times, only to stop halfway. It is obvious what you have inside your sleeve, at least to our eyes. It is a habit we all share after all… humph… And oo be aware of, at all times. Which you evidently failed to do.”

  ‘I resigned and slowly took out my lightsaber, then activated it before everyone’s eyes.’

  ‘A silver bde ignited in the silent room, to the mild surprise of the masters and guards.’

  ‘There was another pting silence as the temple guards stepped back a few more steps, finally rexing somewhat.’

  “Than she is not one of them.” — ‘The grandmaster stated, clearly relieved for the time being.’

  “We ’t be entirely sure of that just yet.” — ‘The skinhead opposed that demediately.’

  ‘This guy must have some grudge towards me...’

  ‘The other, more sensible human master joihe versation at that moment.’

  “I agree with both of you, masters. We should watch over her to make sure of her affiliation… Before that, child, would you let me ask you something?” — ‘He looked at me with a deceptively warm smile ohat without a doubt would arose some level of sympathy in me if I was an ordinary girl. Unfortunately for him, I was not.’

  ‘Therefore, I blushed lightly and said, avoiding eye tact. Voice wavering a little at the edges.’ — “S-sure… Go a-ahead…”

  ‘The man chuckled, adding the question.’ — “Were you aware of the droid’s pn to break into the jedi archives?”

  ‘I was suddenly overe with anger and shouted blindly stomping my feet.’ — “No! I was most definitely not! That damned droid left me behind and stole my ship with all my items and money! I am gonna kill that fool if I ever get my hands on him again!”

  ‘The man smiled, seeing my genuiion.’

  “So the ship was really yours, at least.”

  “Of course!” — ‘I shouted.’

  “Where did the droid e from?”

  ‘I faltered for a sed. Trying to figure out a reasonable expnation.’ — “I-I found it in an abandoned ruin...”

  ‘That was actually the case, so they ’t sense a lie if there is none.’

  ‘The master tinued my questioning.’ — “A ruin? What sort of ruin was that, and where was it?”

  ‘I was getting frustrated with the overflow of questions, to which I had no answer…’ — “Well… I don’t really know? It was on a random p where we stopped fhtseeing…”

  “You say we stopped, but your only traveling panion is the missing droid?” — ‘The man asked ily.’

  ‘I was feeling the imaginary rope tightening around my neck with every sentence I spoke… This wasn’t going as pnned… at all…’

  “Well… that wasn’t always the case…” — ‘I said, sweating profusely.’

  “Who else were travelling with you then, and where are they now…”

  “…I… well, they are… at home, I guess?”

  “Where is that?” — ‘The man asked immediately.’

  “…” — ‘Good luck with finding the pce… I decided to not ahat particur question.’

  ‘Yoda frow that.’

  “I sehat you hold mas, and just as many questions yourself. We will tihis versation ter, Master Kenobi. I trust you to lead the youngling to a separate holding room.”

  ‘The man now named Kenobi stood up from his armchair, then called out to me.’

  “Nizzal Gray, you should know that you are under arrest for suspi of breaking into the jedi archive, holding baformation from official personals of the republic, illegal possession of a lightsaber, and unauthorized use of force abilities which are yet to be verified.”

  “Since you are underaged, without the bag of any legal guardian, or the willio name one.” — ’Wait… did he just smirked at me… the bastard?’ — “As an already trained force-sensitive of unknown caliber, the Jedi Order will take uardianship as yal wful guardian. Until the time you achieve proper mastery of said abilities and are no longer being sidered a child.”

  “All that is done in light of the possibility that you may pose dao others and yourself with a partially mastered trol over force abilities. You are expected to stay iemple until you receive proper qualification. An exception be made in the presence of a guide with proper qualification to guide you. Or until htful guardian or parent appears, taking over the responsibility from the order. They obviously o have a suffit evidence of their legal cim over you.“

  “Until the dotation is done and the archive breag suspi is cleared, you are ordered to hand over yhtsaber to the cil, effective immediately.”

  ‘He walked in front of me, waiting for me to turn off and hand over my lightsaber. I thought about my ces for a whole two seds, then tur off and dropped it into his open palm.’

  ‘With that gesture, the st bit of open hostility also disappeared from the hall. Then they silently led me to my minimalistic prison a me there without a word.’

  ‘I dropped on the bed instantly and buried my fato the pillow. I will destroy that damnable droid! Just wait, you dirty scrap pile! I will show you!’