Star Wars: The Padawan Years
Book 1: Unlikely Allies
By Noah T. Jagers
Nexus's POV
My name is Nexus Vor-Cal. I'm 12 years old. I'm from the planet Mandalore, but I've been training to be a Jedi at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant since age 2 so I can't really remember my home planet or my family. Recently, I passed the Initiate Trials so now I was waiting to see if I was to train under a Jedi Knight or Master as a Padawan. To prepare, I cut my long blond hair short and fashioned myself a Padawan braid that was decorated with Mandalorian beads. It itched but I ignored it. I hoped I would be chosen by a Jedi Master. I wanted to be a Jedi, like my father.
About a week after I passed the Initiate Trials, I was meditating in my sleeping quarters, when my 14-year-old cousin Jacob Starliner entered. "What do you want, Jacob? I'm trying to meditate." I said. "Master Yoda requests your presence in the High Council tower." Jacob said, a smile on his face. I perked up. Could this be it? I ran, almost tripping many times on my way to the Jedi High Council. I may finally become a Padawan and be one step closer to following in my dad's footsteps.
When I reached the High Council tower, it was empty except for the small, wrinkled, green Jedi Master Yoda and a female Mon Calimari Jedi. It was Bant Eerin, who was mentored by Jedi High Council member Kit Fisto, good friends with Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, and a good storyteller. Could she be the Jedi I was to train under? "Step forth, Nexus Vor-Cal. Speak with you, I must." Master Yoda said.
I stepped forward. "Heard, I did, that passed the Initiate Trials, you have." Master Yoda said, fixing his centuries-old gaze on me. I nodded. "Impressive. Deemed you worthy to be a Padawan, I have. Bant Eerin, your Master will be." Yoda said, gesturing behind him. I knew it! I bowed to Master Yoda, keeping my emotions under control. "Thank you, Master Yoda." I said. I turned to Master Eerin and bowed to her as well. "Master Eerin, I am honored that you have chosen me as your Padawan. I promise to follow your every instruction." I said. Master Eerin laughed. "Do not make promises you cannot keep, Nexus. Come, let us get to know each other better." She said.
Master Eerin and I walked throughout the Temple, getting to know one another. I knew many things about my new Master. How she lost her first master, Tahl, then completed her training under Kit Fisto, how she had been best friends with Master Kenobi for years, and how she needed humidified air or regular baths in order to survive on land. I told her that I was born on Mandalore, taken to the Jedi Temple at age 2 by Jedi Master Kristo Ferr, who was a friend of my father. When I told her about when I heard that my parents died in a speeder crash on Utapau, she stopped walking. "Master? Is something wrong?" I asked. "Nexus, I knew your father." She said.
I was surprised. "You did?" I asked. " Yes. Kiero Vor-Cal and I were friends since Initiate days. I was on Utapau when your parents died. Your mother, Shierra, died instantly, but your father survived... For a time anyway. Before he died, he gave me his lightsaber and told me to give it to you when you reached the rank of Padawan." Master Eerin said, reaching into her satchel and pulling out a single bladed standard lightsaber. I took it and examined it. Yep, it was my dad's lightsaber.
"Thank you, Master. Does it have a saber crystal?" I asked. Master Eerin smiled and shook her head. "No, Padawan. Your father thought that you should have the right to choose your own saber color." She said. My hand went to my utility belt. I pulled out an orange crystal that I found while exploring the Jedi Temple when I was 6. I'd been using the Force to imbue the blade ever since. I believed I was ready to put it in my lightsaber.
Using the Force, I dismantled my father's lightsaber. The crystal floated to the middle of the mess of floating lightsaber parts. "The crystal is the heart of the blade. The heart is the crystal of the Jedi. The Jedi is the crystal of the Force. The Force is the blade of the heart. All are intertwined: the crystal, the blade, the Jedi. We are one." I chanted. Slowly, I pieced the lightsaber back together. When it was complete, I held my breath and pressed the activation button. The orange blade elongated, and the saber did not explode. I was safe.
Soon after I completed my lightsaber, Master Eerin and I got our first mission. "Master Eerin and Nexus Vor-Cal, we are sending you and another Jedi team to Tatooine. There is a child, an orphaned Twi'lek named Orco Nogon in Mos Eisley. We believe him to be Force Sensitive. Master Yaddle says she saw him lift up a box with his mind to save a trapped elder. If he is Force Sensitive, bring him here. He may need training." Master Jedi Ki-Adi Mundi said. "Who is the other Jedi Team you are sending with us?" I asked. "Master Kristo Ferr and his Padawan, Jade Monek. They will meet you at the transport station." Master Mundi said.
"So, Nexus, a Padawan now, are you? Congrats. Your parents would be proud." Master Ferr said, clapping me on the shoulder. "Thank you, Master Ferr. It is great to see you again." I said. "This is my Padawan, Jade Monek." Master Ferr gestured behind him. Jade was about my age, she had blond hair, like me, sea blue eyes, and a lightsaber at her belt, like me. "Hello." I said. Jade looked at me as if I was a clumsy Gungan. She grumbled in Huttese. I only caught two words. Mandalorian slimeball. Then she stomped aboard the transport. What was her problem?
The rest of us boarded the transport, a praxeum ship, and we took off. I made sure to sit as far away from Jade as possible. Why did she hate me so much? What did I ever do to her? This was going to complicate things quite a bit. Master Eerin must have known something was wrong. "What troubles you, Nexus?" She asked. "It...it's nothing, Master I'm just...worried about you. Tatooine is a desert planet. How will you stay hydrated?" I felt bad lying to my Master, but I wasn't ready to discuss my troubles with Jade yet. "Do not worry, Padawan, I will be wearing a special breathing mask. You won't even notice it. It's kind of the opposite of the aquata breather in your utility belt." Master Eerin said.
A few hours later, we arrived on Tatooine. We landed about a mile outside Mos Eisley. I saw Master Eerin put on her breathing mask. As soon as she put it on, it disappeared from view. She smiled at me. "See? You won't notice it." She said. I donned a desert poncho to hide my Jedi robe and lightsaber. Anakin Skywalker told me that Jedi attract attention on Tatooine. As we approached Mos Eisley, I tried using the Force to find Orco. "If this Twi'lek is Force Sensitive, he must've learned how to mask his presence." I said.
"Psssst, blond boy, look this way." A voice whispered. I looked to my left and saw a 9 year old Twi'lek male poke his head out from behind a couple of crates. I motioned for my comrades to follow me. We walked to where the boy was hiding. "You the Jedi who have been sent to find me?" He asked. "We are. You must be Orco Nogon. We need you to come with us." Jade said.
"No. The thing is, I'm not Force Sensitive. What your Jedi thought she saw wasn't me using the Force. The box had metal components, there was a magnet on the back of a passing sandspeeder. The problem is, everyone saw me do it and now they think I'm a Jedi. I'm not welcome here anymore and I can't leave." Orco said. "Why not?" Master Ferr asked." My sister was captured by a pirate. He said if I didn't give him my family fortune, he'd strap my sister to a Podracer and send it speeding into a cliff." Orco said. "How rude." Jade said. "Look who's talkin'." I muttered in Shyriiwook.
Since evening was fast approaching, Orco offered us shelter. He led us to his house, a little spherical hut much like the one Anakin Skywalker used to live in. But this one, though small on the outside, led to an underground area that was huge. "My family 's been digging this area for generations. Sadly, most of these rooms are clothing, weapons, and treasure storage areas. I only have three sleeping quarters." Orco said. Orco got his own room, but Master Eerin made me share a room with Jade. I cursed. Sharing a sleeping quarters with someone who hated me wasn't what I had planned. Thankfully, Jade didn't diss me as we turned in that night.
The next day, we walked around town, trying to explain that Orco was no Jedi. "It was simple magnetism that lifted the box, not the Force." Jade said. "Oh, he probably just said that. Doesn't want to leave. Even if he did, he couldn't or see, he'd be nothing but Bantha food." an elderly street vendor said. After a while, Jade and I went to a cantina. We were hungry. Plus, cantinas are good information gathering areas. As we sat, a Ragged looking Wookie growled at Jade in Shyriiwook. "He says he doesn't like you." I said. "Well, I'm sorry." Jade said. Another growl, this one more threatening. "He says that he has the death sentence on 13 systems." I translated. Jade shrugged. The Wookie growled again. I cracked a smile as I translated. "He also says to get your carcass off of his seat. You'll contaminate it with your stink." Jade looked straight at the Wookie and said something in Shyriiwook so foul, Jocasta Nu would've washed her mouth out. The Wookie threw Jade into a table and pulled out a bowcaster. But before he could finish her off, I pulled out my lightsaber, cut the bowcaster in half, then used the Force to push him into a wall, knocking him out. Jade got up, looked at me with a blank expression on her face, then walked out of the cantina. "You're welcome." I said.
That night, I had a nightmare. I dreamed that a great darkness was covering the Jedi Temple. I saw Jedi after Jedi get struck down by an unseen enemy. Including Master Eerin. I woke up in a cold sweat. I looked at my chrono. It was nearly dawn. I wanted to clear my head. The nightmare had shaken me. I decided to practice my lightsaber skills . I called my lightsaber to my hand using the Force and tiptoed out off the room, careful not to wake Jade. Having to deal with someone who was cranky and hated me is not something I wanted to do.
As I exited the hut, I inhaled. Fresh air on Tatooine really opens your mind. The sand felt warm under my bare feet. I activated my lightsaber and practiced the basic moves I learned as a youngling. I had been wondering what form to specialize in, but as I practiced my moves, moving this way and that, making swift blocks and cuts, I felt that Form VI, Niman, was my ideal form of saber combat.
"Couldn't sleep either, Mandalore?" A voice said. I turned and saw Jade. She was wearing a teal nightgown, her hair was down to her shoulders, and like me, her feet were bare. I turned so my back faced her. "What do you want, Jade?" I asked angrily. "I want to apologize for my behavior, Nexus. The reason I was so bitter was because a member of the Deathwatch killed my mother and my baby sister, Kiya. I was 5 at the time. But now I see that not all Mandalorians are as bad as the Deathwatch." Jade said. "And what, may I ask, changed your mind?" I asked. "Two things, Nexus. When you saved my life today and when Master Ferr told me about your father." Jade said.
I turned around. "What about my father?" I asked. "Just how brave he was in the face of danger, how he never turned down a plea for help, and how he raised a son and managed to tend to his duties as the Jedi Council's most experienced Sentinel." Jade said. So, my dad was a Sentinel. I did not know that. Jade started to go back inside, but she stopped. "By the way, thanks for the save." She said. When she had gone, I suddenly felt a feeling grow inside me. I pushed it down deep inside me. That feeling was dangerous. No one, not even Jade must ever know of my growing feelings.
When everyone was up and active, Orco gave us the details about the pirate who kidnapped his sister. "His name is Mishaar Vor. He wields two pistols and...Nexus, are you alright?" Orco looked at with concern. I had gone as white as Hoth. Jade touched my hand, also concerned. "I...know that name. Mishaar Vor... Is my uncle." I said. "Vor-Cal is a combination of the Vors of Mandalore and the Cals of Naboo. Most of the family combines the two names in honor of the marriage of Jedi Grand Master Nexus Vor of Mandalore, who I'm named after, and Bellia Cal, a pilot from Naboo. Uncle Mishaar didn't like the fact that a great Jedi married a common pilot. So now he's a pirate. But he's also my uncle. Orco and I must face him alone." I said.
Jade grabbed my hand. "Nexus, I'm going with you. I owe you for saving my life." She said. I looked towards Master Eerin. "Any objections, Master?" I asked. "No, Padawan. Go and find your path." She said. Jade, Orco and I boarded the starship. As the landing ramp rose, Master Eerin sent me a silent message. "May the Force be with you, Nexus Vor-Cal." Then the ship took off and we were on our way to save Orco's sister and take out my uncle.
Don't miss Book 2: Pirate's Trap
Nexus had been gone for longer than he said he'd be. I was worried. "You know, you can't hid from me, Jade." Orco said, smiling at me from his sleeping couch. "Hide what, Orco?" I asked. "You LIKE Nexus, don't ya?" Orco fixed his mischievous gaze on me. "No. We're just... acquaintances." I said. Orco smiled. "Whatever, Jade. You may be able to hide it from me, but can you hide it from Nexus?" He said. He got me. Could I really hide it? Could I really hide the fact that... I loved Nexus Vor-Cal?