Star Wars: The Unlikely Hero
--sparkvallen
Disclaimer: Star Wars is copyrighted by Lucasfilm and associated companies. I do not own any of the Star Wars characters, settings, etc.
Chapter Nine
The Chadra-Fan had constructed a network of catwalks that ordinarily lifted people above the bogs but with the flooding, most of these were either washed out or flooded enough to make little difference. The Jedi were quickly covered in mud and dirty water as they slogged through the muck.
"I don't know, Master. I think if I like… lived on this planet, I would have moved to the moon a long time ago, you know?" Falco remarked. He reached out to the support rail before he tripped and lost his balance. He was wet enough without falling into the ankle-deep water.
"Some say the same thing about the Temple, Falco," Kire joked.
"Nah. Only problem there is the food. There's a reason why I've taken to the vitamin packets."
"Here are two homes. Since we don't have much time, why don't you speak to one family and I'll speak to another."
"Um, actually I--"
"Remember that the objective is to convince them that they should evacuate for personal safety," Kire went on without acknowledging Falco's protest. "The shuttles are readied and they can return when the waters subside."
"But I--"
"May the Force be with you, Padawan." Kire said it in such a way to halt any further comments from Falco.
With a nod, the young Padawan went up to the second house and knocked on the door. Falco stood there feeling nervous and silly with the task he'd been charged with; a shout through the door startled him.
"WE'RE NOT LEAVING! YOU CAN JUST GO!"
"Um… like, I'm sure you have your reasons, but…" Falco made a face at the door, trying to think of what to say, "…well, I'm a Jedi. Can I at least talk to you without talking through the door?"
There was a soft hiss as the door slid open to reveal a Chadra-Fan family peering out at him. "You look too young to be a Jedi," the first, a male, observed.
Falco blushed. "I'm in training," he clarified. "Um… yeah. Do you know that you're about to be like… flooded out of here?"
"We're aware of the flooding," the male said.
"Um… not to be rude, but do you really want to live underwater or something?" he asked. His eyebrow raised in question.
"None of your business!" twin children cried out from behind their parents.
Falco thought that declaration was the strangest thing he'd ever heard. Stranger than Anakin offering him sparring lessons, stranger than the time another Jedi trainee had offered him a few credits if he'd eat Ronto stew and finish the bowl. Falco wondered how the children could possibly agree - why would any of them want to stay with the risk?
Cocking his head to the side, Falco looked at the family in confusion. He leaned against the door frame and suddenly asked, "You're not related to the Sarae's, are you?"
The male sniffed suspiciously at the Padawan. "Why do you ask that?"
"I… well… you remind me of my best friend. Jedi Siri Sarae," he said. "She… well, she grew up in the Temple but she was from Chad… and I just… well, you just reminded me of her, sorta."
"You know our Siri?" The female and the one Falco figured must be the mother of the family approached him cautiously.
"Uh-huh. She's my best friend at the Jedi Temple. I've known her all my life!"
The family grimaced and smiled with joy seemingly all at once. "We haven't seen her since--"
"Since she went to the Temple," Falco said, understanding. "Like how I never knew my parents. Well… yeah, she's a great person. Really nice and she helps me a lot!"
"Why didn't she--"
"That's what I wondered too. I mean, wouldn't it make sense for a Chadra-Fan Jedi to come to Chad because of the flood? But sometimes, the Council has ways of… deciding who goes on what missions." Falco paused, his mind whirling as inspiration struck. "But… I'm sure that Siri would want her birth family to get out of harm's way," he said. "Like… she might've come on this mission and you wouldn't have told your own Jedi daughter that you're going to stay and brave the flood, would you?"
The family members looked to each other, considering the Padawan's words. Falco waited, trying not to fidget or look too nervous. He hoped they'd agree with his logic, not wanting to face Siri and have her know that her birth family was swept away by a flood because he couldn't help them see they needed to evacuate! He thought that was about the worst thing that could ever happen!
"We will take a relief shuttle up to the moon, thank you," Siri's parents said in unison. "For our daughter, wherever in the galaxy she is…"
Falco breathed a huge sigh of relief. He offered them all a formal bow and went on to explain how the evacuation process was to work. The Sarae family quickly gathered the belongings they were allowed to take with them to the shuttle, mostly clothing and freeze-dried foodstuffs that were Chadra-Fan delicacies. He watched as they took the path up to the shuttle then waited for his Master. Kire Finelli stepped out of the residence he'd appealed to with the family just behind him; they were also convinced they needed to evacuate thanks to the Jedi Knight's powers of persuasion.
"Well, Padawan?"
"Siri's family! And yes! They agreed to go to the shuttle," Falco said proudly.
"Huh." Kire smiled, amused at how the Force worked, guiding his apprentice to the home of his best friend's family. "Let's move on to the next homesteads…"
Working together at some homes and independently at others, Kire and Falco worked to convince the Chadra-Fan people to evacuate. There were some who completely refused and forced the Jedi out of their homes; in those cases, they could only move on and hope that the flood waters didn't reach these residents. Master and Padawan were exhausted from hiking over the soggy land and working with the families over many, many hours. As they hiked from one homestead to the next in the lowlands, Falco brought up one issue that seemed to keep coming up from the families.
"Master Kire, have you like… noticed how the families are saying this kind of flooding just isn't right?" He frowned and stepped around a puddle that was quickly growing into a lake all its own. "They all know that Chad floods because of gravity pulls, but no one thinks it right that it's flooding now. Like this."
Kire nodded wearily. "I've thought the same, Falco, based on what I've heard. Hopefully we'll have the opportunity to learn more about this. In the meanwhile, keep your awareness sharp."
Falco nodded, trying to figure out what to look for as they progressed through the swampy terrain.
