AN: The events in this story are set in approximately 38 BBY, six years before the Invasion of Naboo. This story will be added to as time permits, and beyond this story arc.
Legal disclaimer: Star Wars and associated franchise material (characters, locales, names etc) are the express and undisputed property of LucasFilm Ltd, and are their associated trademarks. This work is produced for non-profit entertainment purposes only in keeping with Fair Use and any other use is expressly prohibited by law, the author, and assumedly, the trademark owners. Thanks.
Wherever You Go: IntruderChapter I:
First Glance
Not a great many people could claim that afternoons on Coruscant were bright and full of energy, with thousands upon thousands of levels of overcrowded civilization choking its skies. However, here, the light of Coruscant's white-yellow sun shone through enormous clerestories, illuminating the corridors of the massive Jedi Temple with a soft, comforting light, only adding to the sense of warmth and peace that permeated the ancient edifice. The quiet steeples of the home of the defenders of the Republic dominated the skyline in all directions in this district, with a clear, unobstructed view as far as the great Senate Rotunda several kilometers to the south. With the sun up high, the gleaming dome was easily in view through one of the many arching windows aside promenades and tiny alcoves.
It was in one such alcove that twelve year-old Chev child Chana Hayliat sat, her legs folded under her in uneasy contemplation, her awareness drawn tight around herself, withheld from the rest of her surroundings. Though her eyes faced towards the spectacular display of Classic Republican architecture in the distance, they hardly focused on any of it; her young mind was wandering too far for her to even register those sights.
For all of her living memory, Chana had lived in this building, studying to become a Padawan learner so that one day, she could fulfill the path set before her since she was an infant and become a full-fledged Jedi Knight. Quiet and calm, and for the most part patient, but like all people with her own limits, she'd diligently followed the rigorous course of study, undergone intense conditioning like all the other younglings, and was raised by the Order. Her faintest, earliest memories were of the revered, stout and wizardly Master Yoda showing her and others her age—only toddlers—the basic fundaments of the Force inside the sacred Temple Spire.
Yet while many of her classmates and friends had already proven themselves, and gone on to be chosen as the apprentice of various knights and masters, Chana had been left behind, her thirteenth year of age not more than eight standard months away. If that time came and she was still not selected to receive the honor of becoming someone's Padawan, it was all but certain that she would be sent by the Reassignment Council to the Exploration or Agricultural Corps, or some other communitarian beneficiary of the Jedi, her potential unrealized.
Maybe it's just better that way, she mused, sighing deeply. I might have spent the last ten or so years training to be a Jedi, but being a farmer can't be that bad, can it?
As much as Chana tried to reassure herself that it was just as honorable and noble a path as being a Jedi Knight, the idea seemed a little bit empty. Or at the very least, unsatisfying. Her instructors were expecting a lot of her. Never demanding or authoritarian, but always encouraging, pushing her to her limits, probing for insights, and attempting to get her to expand her horizons in the time-honored Jedi tradition.
As uncertain, oftentimes shy and self-effacing as she tended to be, she had to admit she must have been trying her elders' patience, not the other way around. She did her tasks, and to her credit did them well, but it usually took more of a push than originally expected.
"Chana, aren't you being a little too relaxed, even for such an admittedly lovely afternoon?" an elderly, female voice crooned to her from behind.
Recognizing it instantly, Chana tried to hide her surprise at being snuck up on so deftly—not that she'd been paying such a great deal of attention to her surroundings in the first place, something she'd surely have been ragged on—and stood quickly. Her neatly cut, dark brown hair swirled behind her as she presented herself in her creased robes, hoping she didn't look too disheveled from sitting in a corner so long.
"Madame Nu, I'm sorry, I guess I sort of let my attention slip…" Chana said sheepishly, feeling her face grow warm with embarrassment. When her soft, pale violet eyes lifted up to make eye contact they quickly darted away.
Chief Librarian of the Jedi Archives, Jedi Master Jocasta Nu had something of a severe, however grandmotherly appearance. Easily distinguished from other prowlers of the temple by her ornately patterned Ansata robe and long, needle-like hair pins, her wrinkled features were helpful but to Chana, perpetually reproving.
"I should think a promising girl such as yourself would be a little more careful…" Madame Nu raised her nose slightly, commencing one of her customary lectures, but halted midway when she looked directly at the young pupil. "… Well now, no sense in being too strained. You seem you have a lot on your mind, child. I heard from Master Yoda that he wanted to see you today."
Chana had been hoping that Nu wouldn't bring that up. Truth be told, that was the reason she'd found this spot and glued herself to it since practically morning meal, absconding from two classes—something she normally would never do—and pondering what in the world the most respected member of the Jedi Council could have wanted with someone like her, a mere youngling.
"Y-yes, Madame." Hayliat nodded carefully. Her shoulders sagged. "I have no idea why either."
"Don't be so negative, child!" Nu insisted, leaning forward slightly so that she didn't quite tower over the girl. At twelve, Chana was of average Chev—and by extension—human height for her age, but it wasn't likely she was going to get much taller, and even the age-diminished form of the chief librarian was taller than her. "Master Yoda probably has some sort of special assignment for you. Perhaps this is your chance to shine, young one. Look forward to it. Be earnest."
Feeling the wisdom in the normally stuffy matron's words, and taking the old Jedi's advice to heart, Chana nodded more resolutely, feeling herself ease up—if only just a little. "Alright, Madame. Thank you. I'll be on my way now, if that's alright."
"Hurry along, child. Don't keep my old friend waiting!" Madame Nu ushered her along, practically sweeping her up in her flowing, hooped robes and sending Chana on her way. When she reached the end of the hallway, Chana felt like she'd been caught in a powerful draft of air after a quickly shut door.
As helpful and knowledgeable as the old woman was, she could be sometimes rather inhospitable. Or at least that was Chana's impression. For all she knew she was just paranoid. To her, many adults, especially the older ones, were a little beyond comprehension, or in some notable cases, reasoning with.
Master Yoda's instructions to her had been fairly simple. They lay out a place to meet him within one of the temple's numerous gardens, though not the exquisite Room of a Thousand Fountains. That particular site seemed to be reserved for more somber moments of Jedi reflection, at least amongst the members of its august High Council.
In short, a place that Chana felt she distinctly didn't belong in, which was more than fine with her.
Despite being less expansive, the naturally-lit, refreshing interior of the small arboretum she found herself at sometime later was much more to her liking. With large plaz windows framed by imperious columns, and a small array of stainplaz designs near its crown, the small sanctuary resembled more a rustic chapel than a place of meditation and greenery. Various plants were expertly taken care of nonetheless, from Alderaanian prairie ferns to a small tree that vaguely resembled the semi-sentient Baffors of Ithor, perhaps some genetic cousin of the much larger species.
However, she was not alone, she noticed upon entering the room. Sitting near one of the windows, or more precisely, on the molded carvings surrounding its lip, was a man with striking features. His hair was loose; long and black, but shot through liberally with platinum that didn't seem to come from old age at all, and his skin was a milky, light gold, as if he were an incredibly lifelike addition to the myriads of statues in the Jedi Temple. Dressed in neatly-arranged robes of various shades of gray and white and a heavy brown cloak, he seemed the image of meditative calm when she happened upon him, until of course, he opened his eyes slightly and spied her.
Feeling deeply embarrassed for having interrupted the knight's reverie, Chana bowed immediately, the clear membranes over her otherwise humanlike eyes nictitating quickly. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."
"Don't mention it. It was getting a little too quiet over here anyways. Won't you join me?" His voice was warm and strong, a lifting summer breeze passing through the self-contained arboretum.
Chana righted herself and saw him gesture with his chiseled features towards the window where a simple chair he'd obviously passed up lay unoccupied. "If you're sure, then I wouldn't mind."
"Come now, you don't have to be so polite!" The Jedi laughed softly, his arms folded over his strong-looking chest. Even with his flowing robes, Chana could see that this Jedi had the build of a fighter, someone on the front lines of the Jedi cause for peace and prosperity.
"Alright, if you say so." Chana offered her unnamed host an amused smile and took a seat by the viewing glass with him, raising her hand to block some of the bright rays of sunlight that irritated her eyes, before turning away from the window.
Unsure of how to proceed, she ventured, "Are you waiting for someone?"
The golden-skinned Jedi beamed mischievously. "Why yes, I am. Are you waiting for someone?"
Chana nodded her head reflexively. In all her life, the knighted members of the orders were as much her teachers as those that carried the title of Master; even if this upbeat, more senior Jedi were not her instructor she knew to treat him with the same respect and reserve. As such she found it difficult at first to strike up a conversation, if one was needed at all.
Jedi are supposed to be able to wait patiently and in silence, she thought to herself astutely. But she well knew that wasn't any fun…
One thing that occupied her attention, unfortunately for her sense of manners, was the peculiar appearance of the Jedi. His eyes were similar to hers, she observed, possessing no visible eyelids, though he was obviously not a Chev. Then she recalled a race she'd read about in the Jedi Archives during an assignment on worlds of the Outer Rim.
"Excuse me, sir, are you a…" She braced herself, wracking her brain, and hoping she was right, "…a Firrerreo?"
The amused Jedi favored her with a toothy, mirthful smile, his eyes lighting up in appreciation and mutual respect. Chana felt her two hearts skip a beat when she glimpsed his incredibly long canines. "Indeed I am! Excellent observation, child. I didn't think many people in the Core could recognize my race, but expect nothing less of a Jedi, hmm?"
"A student," she corrected self-mockingly, shaking her head. "I'm way too far from being a Jedi yet. I'm not even a Padawan yet."
"I see." The Firrerreo Jedi nodded thoughtfully, putting aside his showy—but somehow disarming—antics in lieu of a more pensive guise. He leaned heavily against the pillar behind him, sizing her up. His eyes lingered just above her shoulder, as if noticing the lack of a distinguishing Padawan braid there that most hair-growing or humanlike species wore during their apprenticeship in the Order.
"You'll become one soon enough, if that is the destiny you want and choose to follow," he intoned sagely, nodding again almost imperceptibly. His words were encouraging but not exacting; almost as if he were saying, It's okay not to be a Jedi, so long as you try and live fully, she could imagine.
Or maybe she was reading too much into what he was saying.
Chana returned the gesture. "I'll try and keep that in mind, Master."
"I'm not anyone's Mas—" the Firrerreo began sardonically, but stopped mid-sentence as the doors to the arboretum slid open with a melodic hiss, admitting the bright, powerful presence in the Force that virtually no one in the Temple would fail to recognize.
Master Yoda's presence wasn't overpowering, and it didn't even fill up a room like Chana had heard some Jedi's presences did, especially the charismatic, powerful ones. Instead, he was more like a quiet beacon in the Force, reassuring and nurturing. Since her faintest recollections, she knew she was instantly safe and at home in the company of the Order's most senior Master. He had looked over Chana as a mere toddler like practically all of the other living members of the Order.
Yoda, the wizened, leathery Grand Master of the Jedi plodded his way into the sanctuary with a few quiet huffs, showing his age unabashedly as he tended to do within the Temple grounds. Absent today was the hoverchair he sometimes used for longer treks through the halls, instead replaced by his gnarled brown cane. His heavily-lidded, rheumy eyes wandered over to the pair, full of energy despite his seemingly decrepit state. One didn't need the Force to tell the ancient master was smiling inside.
"My Master, it's good to see you again." The elder of the waiting pair in the garden said with a bow, Chana following suit.
"The same for you, I would say," Yoda nodded, raising a clawed finger, which he shook at both Chana and the Firrerreo. "Chana Hayliat, and Lazilo Trisk, new friends it seems you have made."
At the mention of their names, the two younger Jedi seemed to grow humbled. Chana realized that she hadn't even introduced herself during her brief exchange with Trisk, and perhaps the knight was thinking the very same. But right now that didn't matter. The formalities could always wait. It was obvious to both of them now who the other was waiting for.
"A bright child to be sure, Master." Trisk said calmly, moving aside from his standing position and kneeling near his previous seat to make way for his elder.
Chana blushed at the compliment, and could only nod in appreciation—or perhaps an odd denial—of the claim. Similarly, she waited for Yoda to take a position before offering anything.
When he did though, leaning against the chair she'd previously been perched on, Chana couldn't resist. "Master, if you have some business with Master Trisk, I can be made to wait elsewhere while you discuss…"
Somehow, she felt, despite the gurgling chuckle that emanated from the diminutive green Jedi, that her presence in the room wasn't appropriate. The two Jedi likely had some important matter to discuss that couldn't possibly involve a mere student like herself. If there had been, the Assignment Council would have given her a task already like the many she'd faced before.
"Stay and listen to our talk, you shall. Bear in mind our words, and learn, you will, how a Jedi's decisions are reached," Yoda stated quietly in his customarily convoluted speech. Since a small youngling, Chana often wondered if he did this to make people pay closer attention to his words, even if only subconsciously, or if he simply derived some mischievous amusement from it. However, as Master Yaddle was also given over to this habit, there was no being sure.
"Yes, Master." Chana said obediently, feeling humbly honored to be asked to watch and listen. She focused all of her attention on the two Jedi, putting aside her thoughts of unease and discomfiture from the morning and only concerning herself with the teachings.
Unobtrusively, she sat by the miniature Baffor look-alike, her hands folded over her lap, her breathing calm and controlled like she had been taught to best clear her mind, to slow her dual heartbeat, and gain center.
Lazilo Trisk, for his part, waited with equal, if not infinitely more patience, comfortably sitting against the pillar, his crisp green eyes nictitating every so often.
When Master Yoda felt he had both of their attentions fully, and was ready to address them, he began in his usual rasp. "Alarming secrets uncovered, the Temple Archives have. Gained nothing, did he, but into our system a slicer intruded."
Chana's curiosity and imagination were instantly piqued, and Trisk's question echoed her internal one exactly. He leaned forward, "A slicer, Master? In our system?"
Yoda rocked back and forth solemnly in the affirmative. "Strange and astounding this is, that is for certain. Files he did not take, but perhaps glimpsed our secrets he did."
"Someone attempting to gain information from the Jedi Archives without authorization—especially an outside source—is alarming indeed. Dangerous even." The Firrerreo mused, resting his chin in a golden palm. "Any number of ne're-do-wells and malcontents could have hired a slicer. If we're lucky, it may just be someone trying to prove they can."
Chana wasn't privy to what sort of secrets the Temple archives might have held, and couldn't quite imagine information one would want from them outright, but she had to agree with the wisdom of the two Jedi. If someone was going through the lengths of trying to take information from, or spy on the Jedi Order somehow, that wasn't good. It wasn't merely dishonest; it felt wrong to her.
"In either case, act, we must." Yoda replied, clasping his walking stick with both hands. His tiny form appeared to envelop the little stick as he swayed gently back and forth, his eyes closed for a introspective moment. Finally, "Investigate the slicer, you will, Lazilo. Perhaps dispel the mysterious threat you can."
Lazilo Trisk expressed his agreement freely, slipping his hands into opposite sleeves of his voluminous cloak. "Understood, Master. I have strong contacts in the slicing underworld, finding out who would want to invade our systems on little information shouldn't be as hard as it may appear."
Chana wondered just how Lazilo had acquired such contacts. To her, hanging around slicers and dubious information brokers in Coruscant's underworld seemed an unlikely and distinctly un-Jedi-like pastime. However, even at her age she had the wisdom not to point out this apparent discrepancy. More than likely, the Firrerreo did a lot of work like this for the Order.
"Good. Go to Chief Librarian Nu, and acquire from her your mission data. Much to discuss with our young companion, I have." Yoda gestured with his stubby fingers in Chana's direction meaningfully.
"Of course." Lazilo nodded yet again, and rose to his feet in a dignified fashion with a rustling of heavy fabrics. He bowed to them respectfully, adding in her direction, "It was a pleasure meeting you, Chana Hayliat."
"Same here," she murmured in response, feeling slightly awkward.
A moment later and the doors had parted to allow the Jedi Knight to go on his way and set upon the task given to him by Master Yoda. Now it was just them in the garden, listening to the sounds of a tiny fountain by the tree, ensconced in an air of tranquility.
"Much he can teach, my former apprentice Lazilo has." Yoda announced offhandedly, looking at Chana sidelong. He gave one of his trademark, crooning chortles, appearing quite entertained with himself, causing Chana to get a contagious smile herself. "But much to learn too, about the patience to teach."
"He doesn't have a Padawan of his own?" Chana ventured, wondering if she was prying too much.
Yoda shook his head glumly. "Taken an apprentice he has not. Avoided it. Very disappointing. Now, my young learner, how feel you?"
Chana drew her thoughts and awareness inward. She hadn't been expecting that, but the young Chev knew that Yoda was probably taking the scenic route to a very valid destination. She, like many other learners, had found out the difficult way that Yoda rarely fooled around for fooling's sake. He was 'teaching without teaching', as one instructor had once put it for her.
Chana affected a subtle frown. The first thing she knew for certain was that she wasn't satisfied with herself. Nearing the end of her learning period as a youngling and not being considered for apprenticeship had made her troubled and lowered her self-esteem. She knew, objectively, that she probably had some strengths she was overlooking, but the reality, that in not even a year's time, if she failed to become an apprentice, her hopes of becoming a Jedi would be dashed, made her feel as if she had no such finer points.
"Anxious, Master," she admitted freely, coming to her conclusion.
Yoda took this at face value. "To continue your training, you seek, but know not how. Perhaps that destiny, for you it is not, you think, hmm?"
She marveled at with how on so little information, he was able to find out her exact state of mind. But a tiny voice in her said that after so many centuries in schooling Jedi trainees such as herself, he probably had seen her type before.
The young Chev girl sighed. "There isn't any putting things past you, is there, Master?"
"Revealed your feelings are." Yoda confirmed. "However, uncommon they are not. Maybe thinking towards Exhibition Day will prove useful."
Chana bobbed her head slowly, reminded of the event in which initiates like her and Jedi Padawans put their skills on display for the Masters and Knights of the Order. It was as much a fun event, a chance to team up with friends and get active as it was a serious demonstration of what they had learned over the course of a year. If she did well this year, maybe she would get the attention of a master interested in training her. Yoda's suggestion was sparse, but very concise.
"Patience, young apprentice," the Jedi Master cautioned slowly. "Many destinies each of us have the potential for. Some heavier and greater than others; but all are important to the flow of the Force. A bridge made solely with large boulders, is not."
Thankful for the rare personal attention from the recognized leader of the Jedi Order, Chana bowed deeply, feeling more objective than she did before. He was right, she had no business getting impatient with herself and her training, and needed to take a better look at herself and ready herself. Moping about it, however, would do nothing positive.
"Thank you, Master Yoda." She answered finally. A smile came to her small lips, her young face showing more energy than it had the entire day. "I'll look forward to it then and do my best."
Chana was then dismissed, heading back towards the northwest corner of the Temple towards the classrooms, where she knew there would be at least one instructor with a bone to pick with her for disappearing for so long.
Yoda though, remained in the garden, watching the small version of the Ithorian Baffor stoically. The mission he had sent Lazilo Trisk on was very important, but the aged master felt he'd achieved something else that was important too, this day.
In the grand flow of the Force, there were no such things as 'accidents' and happenstance.