Alright, I want it known from the start that;
THIS WAS NOT MY CHOICE!
Anyone who knows me would know that. No, the glorious Master Windu decided that I should write this as a punishment for my latest prank and so he has an example of what Jedi are /I suppose to do. There really isn't much point in me writing this. Anytime Windu wants, I'm more then willing to wreck havoc around the Temple. In fact, I'm willing to ri-
Oops, his seriousness just read what I wrote. But that's okay, if he's going to make me write this, than he'll simply have to deal with the wonderful comments I make bout my former Jedi Master.
Speaking about that, I'd better clear somethings up about two old men, Mace Windu and Keiran Halcyon. I'm going to be complaining a lot about these two in this little narrative, so brace yourself for it.
Keiran Halcyon is my biological grandfather's, Nejaa Halcyon, brother which makes him my great Uncle. According to Windu, he use to be a complete Corellian back before the Jedi purge but you'd never guess it now. He routinely has the chance to yell at me after Windu does and can annoy the sith out of me. We're almost constantly bickering but someone made an observation about that a few months ago. This unnamed person thinks that our bickering is a way for us to hide our true feelings.
I've got no living relatives left except for him and he's just got me. I think you understand where I'm going with this so I'll move on.
Mace Windu. I haven't quite figured out who's been more of a disappointment to him; myself or Cloud Ritril. I'd be the first to say it; I may be a damned good pilot, and a decent Jedi, but I'm not exactly known for being brilliant enough to stay out of trouble. To quote Wes Janson from long ago, "Egotistical, self-centered, arrogant, insufferable,- you know, a typical Corellian." We Corellian Rouges got our revenge on him for that later.
But anyways, I was talking about Windu. We've had a constant war going on ever since I was knighted, and actually, if you want to get technical, before that too. I think I've got an advantage now though with Anakin Skywalker on my side. Windu refers to me as "the Council's biggest headache and a pain in the ass." In return, I refer to him as "that old windbag." But I shall take this time to say several things. Mace Windu was a great Jedi Master and I was extremely lucky to be his padawan. Believe it or not, I actually learned a hell of a lot during those ten years or so that I was his padawan.
I think he's going to have a heart attack over that. Either that, or he's having a rare laughing fit. Whether the read-over-my-shoulder-Windu wants to believe it or not, I did learn something.
But I should get on with the actual "story" I suppose. The sooner I finish writing this all down, the faster I can get back to playing pranks on the poor innocent people of Coruscaunt. So, I guess I should go back to when I first came to the Temple when I was just turning nine......
"Mirax Horn! Come down here for a minute, missy!"
I groaned. "Aww Grandpa! But I was playing CorSec!"
"You'll be doing the real thing all too soon, Mira. Now come down here."
Grumbling under my breath, I reholstered my 'blaster' and ran downstairs. I lived with my grandfather, Rostek Horn, my daddy's father. My mom had died when was two and my daddy had been killed just four months ago after a firefight with a bunch of smugglers. So that left me in my grandfather's care.
I stopped in the living room doorway. There were four humans wearing Jedi robes standing in there talking to my Grandpa. My hand unconsciously flew up to finger the medallion that I wore as a good luck charm. It had been my father's before he died.
"Grandpa, who are these people?" I frowned slightly and looked at each of them in turn. One was a boy who looked to be around my age or maybe a year older. He was standing behind a sandy-haired man and winked at me. I nodded in return and turned back to face my grandfather.
He sighed and gestured for everyone to sit down. "I'll let them explain Mirax." He smiled slightly at the really tall black man. "This could take awhile. She's definitely a Halcyon if you get my drift."
The big man nodded knowingly. "I remember Nejaa and Keiran." He glanced at the other two adults, a question in his expression. The woman nodded and turned to face me.
"Mirax, I'm Leia Organa Solo, that's my brother Luke Skywalker, that's Master Mace Windu, and the boy behind Luke is Alex Gallia."
I nodded, pairing each name with a face and fixing it permanently in my brain.
"All of us are Jedi and can use the Force. You can use the Force too."
My mouth dropped. "But only Jedi can do that! Grandpa had a Jedi friend, but he's not a Jedi. Horns always go into CorSec! Right Grandpa?" I looked over at him for confirmation, but I received none. His head was in his hands and he was slowly shaking his head.
The blonde man, Luke Skywalker, silently gestured for the boy to leave the room. Alex gave me sympathetic glance before disappearing.
I turned back to my grandfather. "Grandpa, what the sith is going on?"
"Watch your mouth young lady. And I'm going to explain in a moment. Or rather, Whistler will. Understand though, that your father and I were going to tell you when you were fifteen, but Hal made this recording just incase. Encryption code is Nejaa Halcyon."
I looked up at him, now confused and a bit angry. Before I said anything though, Whistler, my R2 unit, came rolling up. My voice a tad shaky, I said, "Whistler, explain. Oh yeah, encryption code is Nejaa Halcyon."
The droid tooted happily a holoprojection came to life in front of him, an image of my father. Then the hologram began to speak.
"Mirax, hopefully, we're both sitting here laughing at this hologram, saying how much younger I look. But if not, than something's happened to me which is why I made this recording in the first place. This is going to be a bit hard for you to accept, but you must know and understand.
Your grandfather, Rostek Horn, is not infact my father, but my stepfather. Your biological grandfather was Nejaa Halcyon and you also had or maybe I can correctly say have, a great uncle named Keiran Halcyon. My real father was killed shortly after the Clone Wars ended and Uncle Keiran disappeared shortly afterwards. The Jedi Order technically forbade marriages, but then again," the hologram grinned, "Since when did Corellians listen to the rules?"
My name was Valin Halcyon, but I became Hal Horn when my mother and I were taken in by Rostek. You're name is truly Mirax Halcyon, we just always said Mirax Horn to aide the façade.
If the Jedi order is indeed restored as I believe it will be, I strongly urge you to go and learn the Jedi ways. I love you my daughter, and may the Force be with you."
The hologram leaned forward to turn the recorder off, but then looks up again briefly. "Oh yes, and don't be too disappointed if you can't use telekinesis. It's a family trait and what we Halcyons can do instead is worth the loss."
He winked at me before the image disparated and left me staring at air. Tears started to brim in my eyes. I still missed my father, missed him a lot.
I looked sharply up at the man who I had always thought was my grandfather. "No, no I'm not going to believe this. This is all a trick. I'm not a Jedi and neither was Daddy. I'm not going to the Jedi Temple, I'm going to preparatory CorSec Academy next year, just like every other Horn has!"
The big man, Mace Windu his name was, looked sternly down at me. "Halcyon, this is not a trick. The Jedi do not joke about such serious things like this."
I jumped up. "My name is Mirax Horn! I'm not this Mirax Halcyon person!" I ran from the room and back up the stairs, not looking at anyone.
Behind me, I heard Master Windu sigh. "I'd forgotten how insufferably stubborn and obstinate these Corellians and Halcyons can be."
"I'll go talk to her. And Master Windu? You could've been a little easier on her. That was a big shock she received." That had been Leia Solo.
Master Windu said something that I couldn't hear and the sound of someone coming up the stairs met my ears. I sat cross legged on my bed, facing away from the door.
A quiet knock came at the door and then it opened. "Mirax?"
I didn't reply as Leia came to sit next to me on the bed. Neither of us said anything for a few minutes.
Finally, Leia said quietly. "It's hard isn't it?"
I snorted. "Hard is the understatement of the century. I find out that I'm a Jedi and that everyone's been lying to me for my entire life in the space of mere minutes. It's more than a bit of a shocker."
Leia smiled. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I found out that Luke was my twin brother, I could use the Force, and that Darth Vader was my father in about the same amount of time."
I finally turned to face her, my green eyes looking up into her soft brow ones. 'Darth Vader was your father?" I let out a low whistle. "How do you live with that? At least my family were Jedi."
"Well, he use to be a Jedi before the Emperor corrupted him. But that's a story for another day. Right now, you need to make some decisions."
I titled my head slightly to the left, thinking for a moment. "Is Master Windu always like that? Or just with Corellians?"
Leia laughed. "Oh, he's always rather strict."
"Are all Jedi masters like that?"
"No, he's just a bit tern. And if you do decide to become a jedi, he'll most likely be your Jedi master."
"What? Why?"
"Because he's one of the few who can teach you how to deal with and use the Halcyon trademark power. The only other Jedi that I'm absolutely sure of is Master Yoda and he doesn't normally take a padawan, he's in charge of the all the youngsters who don't have Masters yet."
I nodded, absorbing the information I was being given. I had no clue who this Master Yoda was, but I could find that out later. Quietly, I weighed the pros and cons of going to the Temple. The Pros: I would be a Jedi, I'd get a lightsaber, I could honor my father's legacy. The Cons: Wind would probably be my Master and I wouldn't be going into CorSec anytime soon, if ever.
'Would I be able to bring my X-Wing and Whistler? The X-Wing is- was my father's,"
Leia nodded. 'Of course, most of the Jedi do have their own craft."
I nodded once more. I looked up into the woman's face. "I guess I'll try it. If I really don't like it, I can probably come back here and go into CorSec."
She grinned at me, stood up, and offered me a hand. I took it and stood up beside her. I noticed, to my amusement that I came up to her shoulder. I quickly wiped my wet face on my sleeve and followed her back downstairs.
As we reentered the living room, the three men looked up from their conversation. Leia gave my shoulder and encouraging squeeze before letting go and going to sit next to her brother.
Master Windu raised an eyebrow at me. I licked my lips nervously and finally said, "I'll go to the Jedi Temple, sir. My Dad wanted me to go, so I'll uphold a Halcyon tradition."
He nodded in response to my decision and I turned to face my grandfather. He pulled me into a tight embrace.
"You're still Grandpa to me," I said quietly, "And does this mean that I might be tall now?"
He chuckled. "Sorry Mira, Nejaa wasn't much taller than your father. Now you run along and pack your things. Ask Leia to help you. Hopefully, I'll be able to find something of Nejaa's for you before you go. I think it'll be quite useful later on."
I nodded. "Alright Grandpa." I pulled away from him and looked pleadingly over at the woman. She smiled and nodded.
~I'll help you Mirax. And we're going to have to teach you how to Force talk soon.~
I only nodded and headed back upstairs again to pack.
About half of a standard hour later, I was packed and ready to go. I promised to comm my grandfather often. He pressed a small bundle to me.
"There were your father's CorSec blasters and your Grandpa Nejaa's lightsabers. You'll probably have to build your own lightsaber later on, but you can use this one until then. And take care of your ship and Whistler."
"I will Grandpa. If I didn't take care of Dad's X-Wing, Whistler would probably kill me."
"Good, that always was a smart droid. Now remember, even thought your surname is Halcyon now, you were raised a Horn."
"Does that make me a Halcyon-Horn?"
He laughed. "Alright, now scoot, you've got a Jedi Temple to get to!"
I grinned and followed the other four Jedi out of the house, waving goodbye and Whistler following behind me.
The trip to Coruscaunt was rather short and uneventful, which was good. It me time to mull over what I'd been told. It also gave me a chance to try and figure out what the Halcyon trademark power was. If we had given up telekinesis for it, than it had to be good. I mean really; who would willingly give up the ability to throw things around with only the power of their mind unless the return ability was twice as good. I'd already asked Leia a dozen times at least what the gift was but she had only laughed and shook her head, saying that she couldn't tell me.
I followed the other ships down to the landing platform of the Jedi Temple. As I got out of my X-Wing, I looked around at the city. I had heard about Coruscaunt and how it never sleeps and there had apparently been more truth to that than I had believed.
A few people who were outside the Temple shot odd looks towards me, or rather, towards my X-Wing. I'm not sure why though, I mean the ship was still painted green with the black and white trim, but that wasn't too odd. I swear, you'd think that they'd never seen CorSec colors before!
I carefully set my flight helmet on the pilot seat and started to climb out. As I made the final leap down from the s-foil, I turned around and came almost face to face with Master Windu and two being's whose specie I didn't know. Or rather, I came face to waist with Master Windu and face to air with the two other beings seeing how they didn't even come up to my shoulder. I've never been a tall person so that should give you a decent idea of how tall these two green Jedi were.
One smiled kindly at me and cleared his throat to speak. "A new padawan have we?"
I nodded dumbly, not saying anything for once.
"Master Yoda I am. Master Yaddle beside that is. Know Master Windu already, you do. Your name what is, youngster?" he asked.
I gulped nervously. "Mirax Horn, oh umm, I mean, Mirax Halcyon sir."
He nodded slowly. "Ah, related to Nejaa are you?"
"That's what they tell me, sir."
He nodded again and I thought I detected a twinkle in his eyes. He glanced over at the other alien and then up at Master Windu. Their expressions crossing their faces told me that there was a conversation going on even if their lips weren't moving. I frowned slightly and tried to 'hear' what they were discussing with the Force. I caught a few words; "stubborn Halcyons," "energy absorption," "train her I cannot," and "Mortochro master I am." I definitely needed to find someone to teach me how to Force talk.
I gave up on my Force using attempts for now and shifted from foot to foot, waiting for the three Jedi masters to finish 'talking.'
Finally, Master Yaddle looked back over at me. "Apologies, young Halcyon. Forgotten for the moment that untrained you are. Discussing your apprenticeship we were."
I nodded yet again, still keeping silent.
Yes, that's the quietest I've ever been and for the longest period of time I've ever been quiet. Sorry Council and Wedge, don't expect something like that to happen until after I'm dead, if even then. –
Mace Windu sent one last somewhat pleading glance down at master Yoda before sighing and saying, "You're going to be my padawan, Halcyon. There's not much choice about it. If you're like the other Halcyons, then either myself or Master Yoda needs to instruct you."
I nodded for what must be the third or fourth time. "Umm, Master Yoda?"
The small green Jedi Master looked up at me. "Yes youngling?"
I gulped nervously and then said, "Everyone's been hinting at this Halcyon trait to me. Any chance I could get to know what it is?"
Master Yoda smiled at me. "Learn that in time you will, young Mirax."
Master Yaddle turned and gestured towards an older girl I hadn't noticed before as I sighed with disappointment. I turned to face the girl who came over, looking her over, and trying to guess her planet of origin. She was about a foot taller than my 4'7 and had braided red hair and serious gray eyes. Under her outer brown Jedi robe, she wore something that I recognized as lizard hide armor and she sported a utility belt from which hung many things, a lightsaber and a blaster among them. I guessed Dathomiri, but I couldn't be sure until after I had heard her name.
"My apprentice, Astarta Siennt, this is Mirax," Yaddle said, gesturing up towards the girl.
Yup, I had been right; Dathomiri. Grandpa managed to teach me something about recognizing names and people after all.
"Guide you to your quarters she will," Yaddle finished.
We exchanged nods and I picked up my bag, which previously had lay at my feet. The three Masters moved off and I followed Astarta through the halls. I had to almost run to keep up with her long-legged walk.
"So, how long have you been here?" I asked, trying to start a conversation.
"Seven years," came the clipped response.
Silence.
"You're Dathomiri, right?"
"Correct."
"So are you like all the other women on your planet and think that men should be slaves?"
She stopped and turned abruptly to face me. "Dathomir is no longer a surpressed planet, Halcyon. Times have changed."
Oops, wrong question to ask.
Silence once more.
"How old are you?"
"Close to sixteen. And these are your rooms." She opened a door to our right and then gave me the passkey. She followed me inside and headed towards the computer terminal. I followed her.
"You'll be able to pull up a map and anything else you might need to know here. Any questions?"
I nodded. "Yeah, where do they keep the ships?"
"Yours will be with all the rest of the padawans' ships in the east hanger. Anything else?"
I shook my head and she nodded in return before leaving. I stood there for a moment and then went back over to the terminal. Where did padawans with free time go?
Time to see if there was any other prankster that I could team up with.
THIS WAS NOT MY CHOICE!
Anyone who knows me would know that. No, the glorious Master Windu decided that I should write this as a punishment for my latest prank and so he has an example of what Jedi are /I suppose to do. There really isn't much point in me writing this. Anytime Windu wants, I'm more then willing to wreck havoc around the Temple. In fact, I'm willing to ri-
Oops, his seriousness just read what I wrote. But that's okay, if he's going to make me write this, than he'll simply have to deal with the wonderful comments I make bout my former Jedi Master.
Speaking about that, I'd better clear somethings up about two old men, Mace Windu and Keiran Halcyon. I'm going to be complaining a lot about these two in this little narrative, so brace yourself for it.
Keiran Halcyon is my biological grandfather's, Nejaa Halcyon, brother which makes him my great Uncle. According to Windu, he use to be a complete Corellian back before the Jedi purge but you'd never guess it now. He routinely has the chance to yell at me after Windu does and can annoy the sith out of me. We're almost constantly bickering but someone made an observation about that a few months ago. This unnamed person thinks that our bickering is a way for us to hide our true feelings.
I've got no living relatives left except for him and he's just got me. I think you understand where I'm going with this so I'll move on.
Mace Windu. I haven't quite figured out who's been more of a disappointment to him; myself or Cloud Ritril. I'd be the first to say it; I may be a damned good pilot, and a decent Jedi, but I'm not exactly known for being brilliant enough to stay out of trouble. To quote Wes Janson from long ago, "Egotistical, self-centered, arrogant, insufferable,- you know, a typical Corellian." We Corellian Rouges got our revenge on him for that later.
But anyways, I was talking about Windu. We've had a constant war going on ever since I was knighted, and actually, if you want to get technical, before that too. I think I've got an advantage now though with Anakin Skywalker on my side. Windu refers to me as "the Council's biggest headache and a pain in the ass." In return, I refer to him as "that old windbag." But I shall take this time to say several things. Mace Windu was a great Jedi Master and I was extremely lucky to be his padawan. Believe it or not, I actually learned a hell of a lot during those ten years or so that I was his padawan.
I think he's going to have a heart attack over that. Either that, or he's having a rare laughing fit. Whether the read-over-my-shoulder-Windu wants to believe it or not, I did learn something.
But I should get on with the actual "story" I suppose. The sooner I finish writing this all down, the faster I can get back to playing pranks on the poor innocent people of Coruscaunt. So, I guess I should go back to when I first came to the Temple when I was just turning nine......
"Mirax Horn! Come down here for a minute, missy!"
I groaned. "Aww Grandpa! But I was playing CorSec!"
"You'll be doing the real thing all too soon, Mira. Now come down here."
Grumbling under my breath, I reholstered my 'blaster' and ran downstairs. I lived with my grandfather, Rostek Horn, my daddy's father. My mom had died when was two and my daddy had been killed just four months ago after a firefight with a bunch of smugglers. So that left me in my grandfather's care.
I stopped in the living room doorway. There were four humans wearing Jedi robes standing in there talking to my Grandpa. My hand unconsciously flew up to finger the medallion that I wore as a good luck charm. It had been my father's before he died.
"Grandpa, who are these people?" I frowned slightly and looked at each of them in turn. One was a boy who looked to be around my age or maybe a year older. He was standing behind a sandy-haired man and winked at me. I nodded in return and turned back to face my grandfather.
He sighed and gestured for everyone to sit down. "I'll let them explain Mirax." He smiled slightly at the really tall black man. "This could take awhile. She's definitely a Halcyon if you get my drift."
The big man nodded knowingly. "I remember Nejaa and Keiran." He glanced at the other two adults, a question in his expression. The woman nodded and turned to face me.
"Mirax, I'm Leia Organa Solo, that's my brother Luke Skywalker, that's Master Mace Windu, and the boy behind Luke is Alex Gallia."
I nodded, pairing each name with a face and fixing it permanently in my brain.
"All of us are Jedi and can use the Force. You can use the Force too."
My mouth dropped. "But only Jedi can do that! Grandpa had a Jedi friend, but he's not a Jedi. Horns always go into CorSec! Right Grandpa?" I looked over at him for confirmation, but I received none. His head was in his hands and he was slowly shaking his head.
The blonde man, Luke Skywalker, silently gestured for the boy to leave the room. Alex gave me sympathetic glance before disappearing.
I turned back to my grandfather. "Grandpa, what the sith is going on?"
"Watch your mouth young lady. And I'm going to explain in a moment. Or rather, Whistler will. Understand though, that your father and I were going to tell you when you were fifteen, but Hal made this recording just incase. Encryption code is Nejaa Halcyon."
I looked up at him, now confused and a bit angry. Before I said anything though, Whistler, my R2 unit, came rolling up. My voice a tad shaky, I said, "Whistler, explain. Oh yeah, encryption code is Nejaa Halcyon."
The droid tooted happily a holoprojection came to life in front of him, an image of my father. Then the hologram began to speak.
"Mirax, hopefully, we're both sitting here laughing at this hologram, saying how much younger I look. But if not, than something's happened to me which is why I made this recording in the first place. This is going to be a bit hard for you to accept, but you must know and understand.
Your grandfather, Rostek Horn, is not infact my father, but my stepfather. Your biological grandfather was Nejaa Halcyon and you also had or maybe I can correctly say have, a great uncle named Keiran Halcyon. My real father was killed shortly after the Clone Wars ended and Uncle Keiran disappeared shortly afterwards. The Jedi Order technically forbade marriages, but then again," the hologram grinned, "Since when did Corellians listen to the rules?"
My name was Valin Halcyon, but I became Hal Horn when my mother and I were taken in by Rostek. You're name is truly Mirax Halcyon, we just always said Mirax Horn to aide the façade.
If the Jedi order is indeed restored as I believe it will be, I strongly urge you to go and learn the Jedi ways. I love you my daughter, and may the Force be with you."
The hologram leaned forward to turn the recorder off, but then looks up again briefly. "Oh yes, and don't be too disappointed if you can't use telekinesis. It's a family trait and what we Halcyons can do instead is worth the loss."
He winked at me before the image disparated and left me staring at air. Tears started to brim in my eyes. I still missed my father, missed him a lot.
I looked sharply up at the man who I had always thought was my grandfather. "No, no I'm not going to believe this. This is all a trick. I'm not a Jedi and neither was Daddy. I'm not going to the Jedi Temple, I'm going to preparatory CorSec Academy next year, just like every other Horn has!"
The big man, Mace Windu his name was, looked sternly down at me. "Halcyon, this is not a trick. The Jedi do not joke about such serious things like this."
I jumped up. "My name is Mirax Horn! I'm not this Mirax Halcyon person!" I ran from the room and back up the stairs, not looking at anyone.
Behind me, I heard Master Windu sigh. "I'd forgotten how insufferably stubborn and obstinate these Corellians and Halcyons can be."
"I'll go talk to her. And Master Windu? You could've been a little easier on her. That was a big shock she received." That had been Leia Solo.
Master Windu said something that I couldn't hear and the sound of someone coming up the stairs met my ears. I sat cross legged on my bed, facing away from the door.
A quiet knock came at the door and then it opened. "Mirax?"
I didn't reply as Leia came to sit next to me on the bed. Neither of us said anything for a few minutes.
Finally, Leia said quietly. "It's hard isn't it?"
I snorted. "Hard is the understatement of the century. I find out that I'm a Jedi and that everyone's been lying to me for my entire life in the space of mere minutes. It's more than a bit of a shocker."
Leia smiled. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I found out that Luke was my twin brother, I could use the Force, and that Darth Vader was my father in about the same amount of time."
I finally turned to face her, my green eyes looking up into her soft brow ones. 'Darth Vader was your father?" I let out a low whistle. "How do you live with that? At least my family were Jedi."
"Well, he use to be a Jedi before the Emperor corrupted him. But that's a story for another day. Right now, you need to make some decisions."
I titled my head slightly to the left, thinking for a moment. "Is Master Windu always like that? Or just with Corellians?"
Leia laughed. "Oh, he's always rather strict."
"Are all Jedi masters like that?"
"No, he's just a bit tern. And if you do decide to become a jedi, he'll most likely be your Jedi master."
"What? Why?"
"Because he's one of the few who can teach you how to deal with and use the Halcyon trademark power. The only other Jedi that I'm absolutely sure of is Master Yoda and he doesn't normally take a padawan, he's in charge of the all the youngsters who don't have Masters yet."
I nodded, absorbing the information I was being given. I had no clue who this Master Yoda was, but I could find that out later. Quietly, I weighed the pros and cons of going to the Temple. The Pros: I would be a Jedi, I'd get a lightsaber, I could honor my father's legacy. The Cons: Wind would probably be my Master and I wouldn't be going into CorSec anytime soon, if ever.
'Would I be able to bring my X-Wing and Whistler? The X-Wing is- was my father's,"
Leia nodded. 'Of course, most of the Jedi do have their own craft."
I nodded once more. I looked up into the woman's face. "I guess I'll try it. If I really don't like it, I can probably come back here and go into CorSec."
She grinned at me, stood up, and offered me a hand. I took it and stood up beside her. I noticed, to my amusement that I came up to her shoulder. I quickly wiped my wet face on my sleeve and followed her back downstairs.
As we reentered the living room, the three men looked up from their conversation. Leia gave my shoulder and encouraging squeeze before letting go and going to sit next to her brother.
Master Windu raised an eyebrow at me. I licked my lips nervously and finally said, "I'll go to the Jedi Temple, sir. My Dad wanted me to go, so I'll uphold a Halcyon tradition."
He nodded in response to my decision and I turned to face my grandfather. He pulled me into a tight embrace.
"You're still Grandpa to me," I said quietly, "And does this mean that I might be tall now?"
He chuckled. "Sorry Mira, Nejaa wasn't much taller than your father. Now you run along and pack your things. Ask Leia to help you. Hopefully, I'll be able to find something of Nejaa's for you before you go. I think it'll be quite useful later on."
I nodded. "Alright Grandpa." I pulled away from him and looked pleadingly over at the woman. She smiled and nodded.
~I'll help you Mirax. And we're going to have to teach you how to Force talk soon.~
I only nodded and headed back upstairs again to pack.
About half of a standard hour later, I was packed and ready to go. I promised to comm my grandfather often. He pressed a small bundle to me.
"There were your father's CorSec blasters and your Grandpa Nejaa's lightsabers. You'll probably have to build your own lightsaber later on, but you can use this one until then. And take care of your ship and Whistler."
"I will Grandpa. If I didn't take care of Dad's X-Wing, Whistler would probably kill me."
"Good, that always was a smart droid. Now remember, even thought your surname is Halcyon now, you were raised a Horn."
"Does that make me a Halcyon-Horn?"
He laughed. "Alright, now scoot, you've got a Jedi Temple to get to!"
I grinned and followed the other four Jedi out of the house, waving goodbye and Whistler following behind me.
The trip to Coruscaunt was rather short and uneventful, which was good. It me time to mull over what I'd been told. It also gave me a chance to try and figure out what the Halcyon trademark power was. If we had given up telekinesis for it, than it had to be good. I mean really; who would willingly give up the ability to throw things around with only the power of their mind unless the return ability was twice as good. I'd already asked Leia a dozen times at least what the gift was but she had only laughed and shook her head, saying that she couldn't tell me.
I followed the other ships down to the landing platform of the Jedi Temple. As I got out of my X-Wing, I looked around at the city. I had heard about Coruscaunt and how it never sleeps and there had apparently been more truth to that than I had believed.
A few people who were outside the Temple shot odd looks towards me, or rather, towards my X-Wing. I'm not sure why though, I mean the ship was still painted green with the black and white trim, but that wasn't too odd. I swear, you'd think that they'd never seen CorSec colors before!
I carefully set my flight helmet on the pilot seat and started to climb out. As I made the final leap down from the s-foil, I turned around and came almost face to face with Master Windu and two being's whose specie I didn't know. Or rather, I came face to waist with Master Windu and face to air with the two other beings seeing how they didn't even come up to my shoulder. I've never been a tall person so that should give you a decent idea of how tall these two green Jedi were.
One smiled kindly at me and cleared his throat to speak. "A new padawan have we?"
I nodded dumbly, not saying anything for once.
"Master Yoda I am. Master Yaddle beside that is. Know Master Windu already, you do. Your name what is, youngster?" he asked.
I gulped nervously. "Mirax Horn, oh umm, I mean, Mirax Halcyon sir."
He nodded slowly. "Ah, related to Nejaa are you?"
"That's what they tell me, sir."
He nodded again and I thought I detected a twinkle in his eyes. He glanced over at the other alien and then up at Master Windu. Their expressions crossing their faces told me that there was a conversation going on even if their lips weren't moving. I frowned slightly and tried to 'hear' what they were discussing with the Force. I caught a few words; "stubborn Halcyons," "energy absorption," "train her I cannot," and "Mortochro master I am." I definitely needed to find someone to teach me how to Force talk.
I gave up on my Force using attempts for now and shifted from foot to foot, waiting for the three Jedi masters to finish 'talking.'
Finally, Master Yaddle looked back over at me. "Apologies, young Halcyon. Forgotten for the moment that untrained you are. Discussing your apprenticeship we were."
I nodded yet again, still keeping silent.
Yes, that's the quietest I've ever been and for the longest period of time I've ever been quiet. Sorry Council and Wedge, don't expect something like that to happen until after I'm dead, if even then. –
Mace Windu sent one last somewhat pleading glance down at master Yoda before sighing and saying, "You're going to be my padawan, Halcyon. There's not much choice about it. If you're like the other Halcyons, then either myself or Master Yoda needs to instruct you."
I nodded for what must be the third or fourth time. "Umm, Master Yoda?"
The small green Jedi Master looked up at me. "Yes youngling?"
I gulped nervously and then said, "Everyone's been hinting at this Halcyon trait to me. Any chance I could get to know what it is?"
Master Yoda smiled at me. "Learn that in time you will, young Mirax."
Master Yaddle turned and gestured towards an older girl I hadn't noticed before as I sighed with disappointment. I turned to face the girl who came over, looking her over, and trying to guess her planet of origin. She was about a foot taller than my 4'7 and had braided red hair and serious gray eyes. Under her outer brown Jedi robe, she wore something that I recognized as lizard hide armor and she sported a utility belt from which hung many things, a lightsaber and a blaster among them. I guessed Dathomiri, but I couldn't be sure until after I had heard her name.
"My apprentice, Astarta Siennt, this is Mirax," Yaddle said, gesturing up towards the girl.
Yup, I had been right; Dathomiri. Grandpa managed to teach me something about recognizing names and people after all.
"Guide you to your quarters she will," Yaddle finished.
We exchanged nods and I picked up my bag, which previously had lay at my feet. The three Masters moved off and I followed Astarta through the halls. I had to almost run to keep up with her long-legged walk.
"So, how long have you been here?" I asked, trying to start a conversation.
"Seven years," came the clipped response.
Silence.
"You're Dathomiri, right?"
"Correct."
"So are you like all the other women on your planet and think that men should be slaves?"
She stopped and turned abruptly to face me. "Dathomir is no longer a surpressed planet, Halcyon. Times have changed."
Oops, wrong question to ask.
Silence once more.
"How old are you?"
"Close to sixteen. And these are your rooms." She opened a door to our right and then gave me the passkey. She followed me inside and headed towards the computer terminal. I followed her.
"You'll be able to pull up a map and anything else you might need to know here. Any questions?"
I nodded. "Yeah, where do they keep the ships?"
"Yours will be with all the rest of the padawans' ships in the east hanger. Anything else?"
I shook my head and she nodded in return before leaving. I stood there for a moment and then went back over to the terminal. Where did padawans with free time go?
Time to see if there was any other prankster that I could team up with.
