-Darin-

The first thing that hit me was the dust. The entire place was covered in it. I sneezed almost immediately after closing the doors. The force of the sneeze created what looked like a miniature sandstorm. I watched as it flew around the room and eventually subsided.

This won't do. Not in the slightest. I walked out of the room and pushed a button requesting some cleaning droids. I stood there and waited by the doors until one of the droids came to me.

"This room needs to be dusted. Find me when you're done. I'll be at that desk over there." I pointed at an open desk that was tucked away in a corner. The droid beeped affirmatively and began cleaning. I grabbed my stuff and plugged the data file I'd requested into the desk. The holoprojection of the TAC popped up. I then pulled up the parts list, weapons list, armor rating, and all the other documents that were available to the mech droids. I began poring over the info. I was missing something, I could FEEL it.

Something beeped loudly and I practically jumped. It was the cleaning droid. I closed out of everything and took out the file. I looked around. I'd lost track of time. Again. The sun was no longer shining through the massive stained windows. Instead, the artificial light of Coruscant's city lit up the night sky. I reached into my pocket. The Jedi didn't normally put pockets on their robes, but I'd found some books and taught myself to sew. I pulled out some credits and handed them to the droid. The droid beeped in surprise and began thanking me.

"Yea yea. You're welcome. Treat yourself." The droid put the credits in a little storage compartment and wheeled off excitedly. I locked the door to the holocron room, made sure I had everything, and left the library. Exploring the holocrons would have to wait.

The Order provided us with a room, though we had to pay for rent and utilities. It was one of the perks of being a Jedi. It didn't sound like much, but housing was very limited in Coruscant. There were multiple buildings, each of which had a lot of different apartments. The younglings had their own building. Padawans usually were in the same building as their masters. There were multiple buildings dedicated to the average Jedi rank. The Council Members got their own building. And on and on. The rooms in the buildings were of similar quality, but quality between buildings differed drastically. The Scholars had one of the lowest quality buildings.

I reached my apartment building and took the lift to my floor. It moved painfully slow compared to the ones in the Temple. I used to live in a different building, but when I became a Scholar I had to move. Moving isn't very difficult. The Jedi Order doesn't like it's members to have too many personal possessions. I only cared as a Padawan.

I found my room and walked in. It was small and the walls were devoid of any decoration. There was a mat to one side and a bed to another. A small restroom could be seen to the right. A few datafiles lay on a table. I need to remember to return those. And right next to those files was a box, which I immediately opened. The pastries weren't warm anymore, but I didn't care. I grabbed one and devoured it, and almost kept going before thinking better of it and placing it in a small cooler I had for later. I had a feeling I was gonna need them later.

The room always had a dresser for robes, but I also had a closet where I kept a few coats and clothes I'd bought from the boutiques in the city. I had two jars on top of the dresser. One was full of chunks and one was full of slivers. I also had some mechanical scrap I would mess with. I took a seat at the table and emptied my bag. All the files and documents I placed with the older ones so that I could actually remember to take them back. Or more realistically, forget to return the ever growing stack.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my credits and the slivers I would find scattered randomly throughout the Hall. Slivers, chunks, and credits were the currency that the Order used, and that were used in all the systems that were a part of it. 100 slivers are equal to 1 chunk and 100 chunks are equal to 1 credit. The Jedi all got paid in credits. It was another one of the benefits of being part of the Order. And just like all the other benefits, they were based on rank. I made less than basically all other graduated Jedi. Significantly less. I made only enough to afford the essentials and to purchase the dust in the library. The cost of living here was atrocious.

I opened one of my clothes drawers and pulled out a small box. I opened it and turned it over on my bed. I watched a few credits fall out and bounce a little on the mattress. Their shiny surfaces reflected the light that shone through the window, giving them a gold glow and making them look like little suns in the otherwise dark room.

It wasn't gonna be enough for the rest of the month. I needed to get more credits.

I cursed myself. I need to stop giving credits away.

The few credits I handed the droid were probably how much that droid made all year. As far as I know I'm the only person who tips the droids.

There's no use crying over spent credits. What's done is done. Now I need to make sure I can pay for myself. I rifled through my closet until I found some street clothing, which consisted of a boring grey shirt and black pants. Why this was the average person's getup, I have no idea. I put a hooded cloak over top and found some gloves in the closet. Quietly, I opened the window. The windows don't normally open, but I made alterations to mine. I crawled through the window and got on the roof of the building right outside. I closed the window and ran across the roof. I spied a ledge on another building and jumped.

I slammed hard into the wall, but managed to keep hold of the ledge. I felt around for other hold points and made my way down the wall. I let go and dropped the last 6 meters. Once on the ground, I sprinted through the alleys until I found a large abandoned warehouse.

Abandoned might be the wrong word. Probably more like, repurposed.

A long line had formed outside the warehouse. A Gamorrean and a Trandoshan were guarding the door. I ignored the line and walked right up to the guards.

The Gamorrean stepped in front of me and grunted. The Trandoshan pointed at the line. "If you really want to sssskip the line, it'll cosssst ya."

I pulled off the hood. The Trandoshan recognized me and cackled. "Ohhh the bossss will be pleassssed."

He nodded at the Gamorrean to let me through.

"OH COME ON! YOU'RE LETTING HIM GO?!"

The Trandoshan hissed at the man in line. "He'sss the main attraction."

I made my way through the corridors until I came upon a female Twi'lek. She saw me and hurried my way.

"Bebo heard you were coming. He's very pleased. He has some guests he wants to impress."

I nodded. "Do I have a new partner? My last one-"

"Yes yes they didn't make it." She checked a holoscreen. "We do indeed. Bebo gave you two the Gauntlet."

"Bebo better be willing to pay. The Gauntlet is more dangerous than anything else."

"Oh he will. As I said, he wants to impress. Give them a spectacle, and he may be paying you triple."

I nodded. "Where's my partner?"

She pointed to a door. As I was about to leave, she remembered something. "She doesn't know. You mind filling her in?"

I stopped cold. If this person doesn't know, then they're not prepared. If they aren't prepared, they may back out. Then I'm gonna have to solo the Gauntlet. Today gets better and better.

I managed to nod.

I entered the changing room. After changing, I went to the prep room to meet my new partner. The prep room was the room where last minute sparring, studying, strategy, planning, or praying occured. It was the last stop before the arena. There were a few people inside. Someone in Mandalorian armor was having a shooting contest with someone wearing some old-school Deathtrooper armor. A Lasat was wrestling a Wookie. My money's on the Wookie, but the Lasat is no pushover. A Kaleesh was sparring with a Tusken. One person was looking at maps. And one guy was sitting against a wall and trying not to get sick. He probably owed Bebo a debt or something and this was his payment. Please don't make me pair up with him. Please please please. Not him.

I cleared my throat. Everyone turned to me, and I suddenly became rather conscious of how I looked.

"I was told that one of you was my partner." I managed to say this without my voice shaking. So far, so good.

The Mandalorian holstered her guns and walked my way. Everyone else resumed their activities.

I assume that she's Mandalorian. Then again, I have similar looking armor and I'm native to Coruscant.

Her armor was mainly orange and blue, but had some green and red mixed throughout. It had intricate designs in it that I never could have replicated. The jetpack was also colorful. I've never seen Mandalorians decorate their armor that way. Makes for an easier target in a majority of biomes. She took the helmet off. She was much younger than I expected. She looked to be about my age, maybe a little younger. Her dark brown hair was cut just short enough so that it wouldn't reach past her helmet, but still covered part of her face. Another odd choice. The hair could get in her eye, messing with her accuracy. To each their own I guess.

She stood about fifteen centimeters below me. She had two blasters, one on each hip, and wore the gauntlets Mandalorians usually wore in combat.

"I'm Sadie. Sadie Wren."

I nodded. "Darin. Darin Kravhenn."