Kaala Zimtari
Yavin 4. A mass of lush jungle growth and filled with life, most would consider it beautiful.
There's something wrong here.
Yavin 4. In the growth, you could see the squarish peaks of sand-colored stone jutting out just above the trees. They were the ancient Massasi temples. Abandoned for centuries and built by a seemingly good and peaceful race.
I can't seem to pin-point it…
Yavin 4. The former base of the Rebel Alliance and where the Rebellion staged its first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. Now the largest of the Massasi temples houses the Jedi Academy, where Force-sensitive persons can learn to wield their powers for right, and re-establish Peace and Justice as did the Jedi of old.
The Jedi Academy…
Ah, yes. That's it.
Kaala Zimtari stood up and straightened her clothes. As she looked out at the orange-red gaseous planet of Yavin, she realizes she's late for yet another of Luke Skywalker's nightly teachings. She'd always found herself late for those. With the hundred-or-so Jedi Knights-in-training, it's hard to find time for oneself to meditate in quiet.
I'd better get going. I'm already 15 Standard minutes late as it is.
Kaala started to make her way down the long flight of familiar steps. She'd been here for eight years and knew all the temples within a 108- kilometer distance like she did the back of her hand.
Eight years…
She sighed and continued down the long journey to the first floor of the temple at a steady pace. No need to hurry. Master Skywalker won't miss me for a few more minutes. She grinned at the thought. No, of course he wouldn't miss her…exactly. He would, however, feel the loss of her presence and would probably lecture her after his teachings.
Ah, the life of a Jedi Knight.
The life…
It was her twelfth birthday, and Kaala's so-called parents had bought her a starship: A Z-95 Headhunter. That was a good effort on their part, seeing how hard it is to come by a top-condition and working Z-95 nowadays. But that's all it really was; an effort. A whole planet couldn't make up for the lies that they had told her.
Kaala had never really believed that the 30-some-year old couple had ever been her parents. Not even after seven years of herself being almost forced to accept that they were, in fact, her parents.
They stole seven years of my life. And in return, they give me a starship.
She thought about that for a moment, trying to keep her anger towards them at bay. After all, they seemed to be only trying to fill a void in their own lives.
But they are taking away mine in the process, Kaala thought. That is not acceptable.
As she donned her flight suit and a pair of old spacers' boots, she realized then what she had to do.
I'm leaving to fulfill my own destiny, whatever or wherever that may be.
She heard confidence creep its way into her thoughts.
And no one's gonna stop me.
Kaala was halfway down the long flight of temple stairs when she thought about that night on Dantooine. She remember climbing into her Headhunter, blasting her way through her homeplanet's atmosphere, and entering the mottled-bluish, abstract of stars that was hyperspace.
She smiled at the memory. I didn't have a destination then, and still don't have one today. Kaala's smile faded. If only I had known what I was getting myself into…
Damn! The preteen Kaala thought. I come outta hyperspace right into the path of some blasted starship's tractor beam! She looked over the steadily approaching hull, looking for markings of some kind… and finds a symbol. Uh oh… Crossbones underlying a Corellian death head. Space pirates!
She grimaced. Oh, this just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it? Can't wait to see what happens next..
Kaala looked over her control panel and realized there were no other options left. She would just have to –
…shut down. I'm going full power. This old ship can't take that much strain. They're not gonna get me without a fight.
She unstrapped her restraints and made her way to the back of the Z-95. She grapped her modified DL-44 BlasTech off of a shelf on her way as an after-thought.
This ship ain't worth losing my life over…I'm getting outta here.
Kaala climbed into an escape pod just as she heard the pirates board. She hit the button to close the door to the pod… and cursed in Huttese when it didn't close. "I don't have time for this!" Kaala muttered as she started pulling the access panel off. The tangled mess of multi-colored wires that lay there were far from encouraging.
Now I have to cross white with yellow…or was it green? She thought to herself.
The pirates footsteps were coming closer now.
Oh will you just pick one! She told herself firmly. Sweating, she stripped the plastic casing off the white wire with the edge of her blaster. Which one??? She sat back, thinking and looking around frantically for a clue.
Footsteps… Just down the hall…
All of a sudden, Kaala had a mental image of a red wire…
She quickly stripped the red casing off and twisted the two wires together…
Footsteps… A few feet away…
…And the door shut instantly.
Heaving a sigh of semi-relief, Kaala hastily strapped on her crash webbing… It ain't over yet…
THUD THUD THUD… Pounding on the pod door, just as Kaala hit the release button. The pod jettisoned out into space, an easy target for anyone who wanted to blast it to Dathomir. Luckily, on Dantooine, Kaala had made sure the pod didn't have a tracer on it. So, unless the pirates had extremely good vision, she wouldn't be found and shot down.
That, in it's own, presented another problem. The fact is, she probably wouldn't be found on the ground of this moon she was headed for, either. She gave a mental shrug. But such is life…
Kaala's pod entered the atmosphere of Yavin's fourth moon and the pod careened into a nauseating spin for about five seconds… Then, a very green ground came rushing upwards and-
Kaala had found herself on Yavin 4. She didn't remember exactly how she'd found the Academy; but she did remember being invited into a very large audience chamber and being introduced to a man that had the look and quiet patience of a priest.
Now, Kaala sat down in that same room on a chair towards the back, shifting her lightsaber into a more comfortable position on her hip.
She also found herself listening to Master Skywalker, who had resembled a priest to her so many years ago.
Skywalker caught Kaala's eye. And gave her a scolding, but semi-amused, glance. Yes, she thought, I will definitely be hearing a lecture afterwards…
She looked around her and took in all the different species.
To her left, sat a Quarren. He was watching Master Skywalker with a feigned intent. This Quarren, she could feel, had a wandering mind. Kaala tried to sense what it was he was thinking about, but his gently quivering mouth tendrils gave it away. He was wondering when would be an appropriate time to get up and water himself, as Quarren cannot stay outside their water tanks for more than seven hours at a time. This Quarren, Kaala also noted, judging by the look of his skin, has been out of his tank almost all day… Impressive.
To her right, Kaala saw Sabe, a Chadra'Fan she had always been fond of. Sabe is small, about three feet tall, and has the look of a two-legged bat. She is very focused for her species, Kaala realized. A lot more so than myself, at times, she thought wryly.
Behind Kaala, she sensed one of the tree-like natives to Yavin 4. She didn't know much about these creatures, except for the fact that they take turns coming here to the teachings, and then they bring back what they learned to others of their kind. The reason they do this, is that they exert so much energy uprooting themselves and moving from place to place. When this tree-like creature sitting behind her, goes back to its clan, it will have exerted so much energy that it will be immobile for the next nine months. I must remember to ask Master Skywalker about them sometime, she thought.
In front of Kaala, sits a reddish colored Twi'lek. Devious species, she observed, but this one seems well enough behaved. The Twi'leks long head- tails (called lekkus) twitched to an unheard rythym as he listened to the teachings.
Kaala turned her attention back to the whole of the audience before finally returning to Master Skywalker. The rest of the Jedi trainees had been here on Yavin for, at most, six years. I've been here the longest. She realized. I'm the only one besides Skywalker that owns a lightsaber…
Oh yes… There had been other Jedi here that owned lightsabers… But they had all gone off on their own journeys across the galaxy. They followed their instincts…
Skywalker was now introducing Tionne. Tionne is a fragile-looking women with wide, crystal-clear eyes and the most amazing voice. While she's Force-sensitive, she doesn't possess enough power to wield the Force. So, instead, she devotes her time to studying the history of the Jedi and puts the stories into words for music. She has been at every one of Skywalker's teachings, telling us of the long-dead Sith, and great Jedi Knights like Nomi Sunrider, and some even of Skywalker himself. She's probably the reason everyone makes an effort to be on time for these teachings, Kaala thought with an inward laugh. Kaala has yet to attend a teaching on time, late always for the past eight years.
Master Skywalker was walking towards the back of the chamber when Kaala sensed that he wanted her to follow him.
When they reached the outdoors, Kaala squeezed her eyes shut and thought, Oh no… Here it comes. This is the part where he starts lecturing me about how he-
"I want to ask a favor of you." He said instead.
Kaala's eyes flew open, shocked, What? No lecture?
"What? No lecture?" She asked.
Skywalker just grinned and went on. "My sister, Leia, has just told me that she has to leave Coruscant and go to Curio 3 to… well… 'recruit' Curio 3 into the New Republic."
Kaala frowned, no sure where this was going. "What does that have to do with me?"
"Patience," he said with another grin. "Leia recently talked to the head Ambassador at Curio and said he would only consider joining, only if the New Republic sent two of the 'legendary' Jedi to accompany Leia. I thought this might be a good experience for you, Kaala." Yet another amused grin on his part.
I can't take this anymore! Kaala thought.
"Alright… Out with it… What's the catch?" She asked.
He answered, "All I ask is this: That you make at least one of my teachings on time between now and when we leave in 3 days."
"I think you expect a lot of me." Kaala sighed, " But… you know me," looks up with a silly-looking lopsided grin, "always looking for excitement and adventure…"
Master Skywalker walked back into the temple laughing, leaving Kaala to watch the planet of Yavin disappear beneath the horizon.
But, as he walked away, Kaala could have sworn she heard him say, "A Jedi craves not these things…" Hadn't she?
The next night, Kaala Zimtari actually made it to the teachings early, for the first time in eight years.
Yavin 4. A mass of lush jungle growth and filled with life, most would consider it beautiful.
There's something wrong here.
Yavin 4. In the growth, you could see the squarish peaks of sand-colored stone jutting out just above the trees. They were the ancient Massasi temples. Abandoned for centuries and built by a seemingly good and peaceful race.
I can't seem to pin-point it…
Yavin 4. The former base of the Rebel Alliance and where the Rebellion staged its first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. Now the largest of the Massasi temples houses the Jedi Academy, where Force-sensitive persons can learn to wield their powers for right, and re-establish Peace and Justice as did the Jedi of old.
The Jedi Academy…
Ah, yes. That's it.
Kaala Zimtari stood up and straightened her clothes. As she looked out at the orange-red gaseous planet of Yavin, she realizes she's late for yet another of Luke Skywalker's nightly teachings. She'd always found herself late for those. With the hundred-or-so Jedi Knights-in-training, it's hard to find time for oneself to meditate in quiet.
I'd better get going. I'm already 15 Standard minutes late as it is.
Kaala started to make her way down the long flight of familiar steps. She'd been here for eight years and knew all the temples within a 108- kilometer distance like she did the back of her hand.
Eight years…
She sighed and continued down the long journey to the first floor of the temple at a steady pace. No need to hurry. Master Skywalker won't miss me for a few more minutes. She grinned at the thought. No, of course he wouldn't miss her…exactly. He would, however, feel the loss of her presence and would probably lecture her after his teachings.
Ah, the life of a Jedi Knight.
The life…
It was her twelfth birthday, and Kaala's so-called parents had bought her a starship: A Z-95 Headhunter. That was a good effort on their part, seeing how hard it is to come by a top-condition and working Z-95 nowadays. But that's all it really was; an effort. A whole planet couldn't make up for the lies that they had told her.
Kaala had never really believed that the 30-some-year old couple had ever been her parents. Not even after seven years of herself being almost forced to accept that they were, in fact, her parents.
They stole seven years of my life. And in return, they give me a starship.
She thought about that for a moment, trying to keep her anger towards them at bay. After all, they seemed to be only trying to fill a void in their own lives.
But they are taking away mine in the process, Kaala thought. That is not acceptable.
As she donned her flight suit and a pair of old spacers' boots, she realized then what she had to do.
I'm leaving to fulfill my own destiny, whatever or wherever that may be.
She heard confidence creep its way into her thoughts.
And no one's gonna stop me.
Kaala was halfway down the long flight of temple stairs when she thought about that night on Dantooine. She remember climbing into her Headhunter, blasting her way through her homeplanet's atmosphere, and entering the mottled-bluish, abstract of stars that was hyperspace.
She smiled at the memory. I didn't have a destination then, and still don't have one today. Kaala's smile faded. If only I had known what I was getting myself into…
Damn! The preteen Kaala thought. I come outta hyperspace right into the path of some blasted starship's tractor beam! She looked over the steadily approaching hull, looking for markings of some kind… and finds a symbol. Uh oh… Crossbones underlying a Corellian death head. Space pirates!
She grimaced. Oh, this just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it? Can't wait to see what happens next..
Kaala looked over her control panel and realized there were no other options left. She would just have to –
…shut down. I'm going full power. This old ship can't take that much strain. They're not gonna get me without a fight.
She unstrapped her restraints and made her way to the back of the Z-95. She grapped her modified DL-44 BlasTech off of a shelf on her way as an after-thought.
This ship ain't worth losing my life over…I'm getting outta here.
Kaala climbed into an escape pod just as she heard the pirates board. She hit the button to close the door to the pod… and cursed in Huttese when it didn't close. "I don't have time for this!" Kaala muttered as she started pulling the access panel off. The tangled mess of multi-colored wires that lay there were far from encouraging.
Now I have to cross white with yellow…or was it green? She thought to herself.
The pirates footsteps were coming closer now.
Oh will you just pick one! She told herself firmly. Sweating, she stripped the plastic casing off the white wire with the edge of her blaster. Which one??? She sat back, thinking and looking around frantically for a clue.
Footsteps… Just down the hall…
All of a sudden, Kaala had a mental image of a red wire…
She quickly stripped the red casing off and twisted the two wires together…
Footsteps… A few feet away…
…And the door shut instantly.
Heaving a sigh of semi-relief, Kaala hastily strapped on her crash webbing… It ain't over yet…
THUD THUD THUD… Pounding on the pod door, just as Kaala hit the release button. The pod jettisoned out into space, an easy target for anyone who wanted to blast it to Dathomir. Luckily, on Dantooine, Kaala had made sure the pod didn't have a tracer on it. So, unless the pirates had extremely good vision, she wouldn't be found and shot down.
That, in it's own, presented another problem. The fact is, she probably wouldn't be found on the ground of this moon she was headed for, either. She gave a mental shrug. But such is life…
Kaala's pod entered the atmosphere of Yavin's fourth moon and the pod careened into a nauseating spin for about five seconds… Then, a very green ground came rushing upwards and-
Kaala had found herself on Yavin 4. She didn't remember exactly how she'd found the Academy; but she did remember being invited into a very large audience chamber and being introduced to a man that had the look and quiet patience of a priest.
Now, Kaala sat down in that same room on a chair towards the back, shifting her lightsaber into a more comfortable position on her hip.
She also found herself listening to Master Skywalker, who had resembled a priest to her so many years ago.
Skywalker caught Kaala's eye. And gave her a scolding, but semi-amused, glance. Yes, she thought, I will definitely be hearing a lecture afterwards…
She looked around her and took in all the different species.
To her left, sat a Quarren. He was watching Master Skywalker with a feigned intent. This Quarren, she could feel, had a wandering mind. Kaala tried to sense what it was he was thinking about, but his gently quivering mouth tendrils gave it away. He was wondering when would be an appropriate time to get up and water himself, as Quarren cannot stay outside their water tanks for more than seven hours at a time. This Quarren, Kaala also noted, judging by the look of his skin, has been out of his tank almost all day… Impressive.
To her right, Kaala saw Sabe, a Chadra'Fan she had always been fond of. Sabe is small, about three feet tall, and has the look of a two-legged bat. She is very focused for her species, Kaala realized. A lot more so than myself, at times, she thought wryly.
Behind Kaala, she sensed one of the tree-like natives to Yavin 4. She didn't know much about these creatures, except for the fact that they take turns coming here to the teachings, and then they bring back what they learned to others of their kind. The reason they do this, is that they exert so much energy uprooting themselves and moving from place to place. When this tree-like creature sitting behind her, goes back to its clan, it will have exerted so much energy that it will be immobile for the next nine months. I must remember to ask Master Skywalker about them sometime, she thought.
In front of Kaala, sits a reddish colored Twi'lek. Devious species, she observed, but this one seems well enough behaved. The Twi'leks long head- tails (called lekkus) twitched to an unheard rythym as he listened to the teachings.
Kaala turned her attention back to the whole of the audience before finally returning to Master Skywalker. The rest of the Jedi trainees had been here on Yavin for, at most, six years. I've been here the longest. She realized. I'm the only one besides Skywalker that owns a lightsaber…
Oh yes… There had been other Jedi here that owned lightsabers… But they had all gone off on their own journeys across the galaxy. They followed their instincts…
Skywalker was now introducing Tionne. Tionne is a fragile-looking women with wide, crystal-clear eyes and the most amazing voice. While she's Force-sensitive, she doesn't possess enough power to wield the Force. So, instead, she devotes her time to studying the history of the Jedi and puts the stories into words for music. She has been at every one of Skywalker's teachings, telling us of the long-dead Sith, and great Jedi Knights like Nomi Sunrider, and some even of Skywalker himself. She's probably the reason everyone makes an effort to be on time for these teachings, Kaala thought with an inward laugh. Kaala has yet to attend a teaching on time, late always for the past eight years.
Master Skywalker was walking towards the back of the chamber when Kaala sensed that he wanted her to follow him.
When they reached the outdoors, Kaala squeezed her eyes shut and thought, Oh no… Here it comes. This is the part where he starts lecturing me about how he-
"I want to ask a favor of you." He said instead.
Kaala's eyes flew open, shocked, What? No lecture?
"What? No lecture?" She asked.
Skywalker just grinned and went on. "My sister, Leia, has just told me that she has to leave Coruscant and go to Curio 3 to… well… 'recruit' Curio 3 into the New Republic."
Kaala frowned, no sure where this was going. "What does that have to do with me?"
"Patience," he said with another grin. "Leia recently talked to the head Ambassador at Curio and said he would only consider joining, only if the New Republic sent two of the 'legendary' Jedi to accompany Leia. I thought this might be a good experience for you, Kaala." Yet another amused grin on his part.
I can't take this anymore! Kaala thought.
"Alright… Out with it… What's the catch?" She asked.
He answered, "All I ask is this: That you make at least one of my teachings on time between now and when we leave in 3 days."
"I think you expect a lot of me." Kaala sighed, " But… you know me," looks up with a silly-looking lopsided grin, "always looking for excitement and adventure…"
Master Skywalker walked back into the temple laughing, leaving Kaala to watch the planet of Yavin disappear beneath the horizon.
But, as he walked away, Kaala could have sworn she heard him say, "A Jedi craves not these things…" Hadn't she?
The next night, Kaala Zimtari actually made it to the teachings early, for the first time in eight years.