Lessons of the Jedi
Learning curve
By Phil Hicks
Epilogue
MENACH: twelve years ago
Sirens. The droning wail surrounded the child as his mother cradled him tightly to her chest. He didn't know what the noise meant, but as soon as his mother had heard it, she had grabbed him and run into the streets, leaving their small house behind. The normally peaceful streets were choked with frantic people hurrying to leave the doomed city. Many had valuables in their grip, the heirlooms of a great grandparent from decades past. Others, like his own mother, had children wrapped in their arms. Suddenly, a louder, shriller siren joined the first. His mother looked up, dread spread across her face. She stumbled on a loose stone, shifting her grip on the boy as she tried to stay standing. He stretched up his neck to peer over her shoulder, something he hadn't been able to do before. The city they were in, Mustilla, was situated below tall cliffs that stretched into the sky. These cliffs were the reason the town was built. Most of the cliffs had magma tubes running through them, causing rare crystals to form deep below the surface. Several companies had set up mines in the cliffs, digging up these crystals. It was hot and dangerous work, but men and women risked their lives daily inside these mines. But as he watched, the cliffs shook and shuddered, burping forth large clouds of thick, black smoke. His mother heard the noise of crumbling rock and quickened her pace. The people around her did the same, shoving their way through the throngs of startled civilians. One such shove sent his mother stumbling forward. She slipped, regained her balance and kept running, but the stumble had allowed her child to see more of the skyline behind the city walls. The blackened cliffs suddenly burst open a sea of molten orange, and the child sensed that this was why his mother was so worried. They had almost reached the gates of the city when his mother twisted her ankle. Together, the mother and child fell to the cobblestones. Almost everyone had fled the city before them, only some of the oldest citizens remained. The mother screamed for help, but her words were swallowed up in the hubbub of noise surrounding them. On the top of the gates, the captain of the garrison yelled at his men to begin closing the gates, the only barrier between the molten danger and the people gathered outside the city. Neither seeing nor caring about the two citizens below them, the soldiers obeyed. But as the sea of lava raced towards the two figures, one soldier saw, just as the gates clunked closed, and he watched in horror as the mother looked at their fate in terror. But the child; he just stood up and stretched out his hand.
-I
t took the lava 3 days to cool enough for the people to begin slowly making their way back into the city. A Jedi taskforce had arrived to help with the rebuilding and to give medical attention to any who required it. There was a small camp off to the side with long lines of the injured. The soldier, Lieutenant Steven Kewi, knelt where he had last seen the mother and child. He should have said something to the commander, he knew. His wife had tried to comfort him, but he knew in his heart that the women's death was on his hands. A hand gently touched his shoulder, and he turned to find a young teenage Tholothian, her tentacle-like tendrils hanging loosely around her shoulders. She was focussed on the ground in front of him, and he realised she must be confused by his fascination with the place. He stood up to leave, embarrassed at his show of emotion, only to be stopped as she placed a hand on his chest. Calling over a tall, tattooed Pantoran, she gestured to the scorched ground. The Pantoran Jedi nodded to the young Tholothian padawan, and together, they ignited their blades, one blue, one green, and stabbed them into the ground, cutting a large circle in the volcanic surface. Steven watched in wonder as the ground lifted itself out, following the Jedi's movements. Puzzled, the soldier moved to look at what they had done. He found himself looking into a small air pocket, situated in the blackened surface beneath him. The unconscious mother lay unharmed, seeming to be resting for the time being. The child sat, legs crossed and eyes closed. Steven couldn't describe it, but there seemed to be a powerful aura emanating from the child. The Tholothian, who the soldier now realised must be a young Jedi learner, jumped into the hole. She touched the stones briefly, before standing and walking over to the child. With a start, he opened his eyes and looked around, finding himself confronted by a smiling stranger.
"Hello", he mumbled shyly, "who are you?"
"Hello there small one. I am Padawan Learner Stass Allie." Said the Tholothian, "and I believe you have just saved your mother. What is your name?"
He frowned, as if trying to remember, then grinned, "It's…"