I woke in the middle of the night, nerves tingling. I sat up, noticing that I was as wide awake as if it were midday. I reached for the force and found it there, reassuring, quiet. I dressed quickly, grabbed my lightsaber and blaster and went outside, enjoying the cool night air of the planet Takodana. I looked around, noting that the chill and the night made even the most restless sleepers sleep soundly. I walked up the hill toward the old Uneti tree that crowned the surrounding area. I climbed the tree swiftly, using the force to be certain that each step and each swing were safe. When I reached the top, I looked out over the Coagess Valley. The coagesses are a mostly female group of scientists (cotigers), workers (agerers), and philosophers (esserers). My mother, father, and I are all agerers. I also am the leader of Convor Squadron in the Resistance. A convor is a type of bird, and we named our squadron after it. My whole squadron has call signs: Convor 1, 2 , 3, and so on.
Squinting, I could just make out a person heading for the main library building. They kept to the shadows. You could only have seen them if you had known what to look for. I leapt to the roof of the nearest house from my treetop, and stayed just behind the person, as I leapt along the tops of houses. Testing the person with the Force, I noticed that they were definitely force-sensitive. As I knew almost everyone in this valley by sight, if not by name, I knew that they were not from around here. They were Togruta, I noted, as I could see the tops of their montrals through the hood of their cowl. Togruta have long head-tails and montrals, similar to horns. The head tails and montrols act as sensory organs.
They ran easily, more dexterity based than strength based, and they wore a black tunic with gold trim over matching leggings.
When they reached the library, they glanced around quickly, then inserted a data spike into the door controls. When the door hissed open and they went in, I hesitated. My friends Gemag or Penna (Convor two and three) would have barged right in, regardless of the risk. Shazm or Oria (Convor four and six) would have done some reconnaissance first, then snuck in (to not get their cover blown). I decided to take a path right down the middle.
They were in the holocron (Holocrons are ways to store information that can only be accessed by a force-user) library, reaching for one I had retrieved from Batuu. Unclipping my lightsaber, I activated it, almost smiling at the comforting purple light, and brought it up to their neck.
“Drop the holocron, take off your hood, and no fast moves,” I said, surprised at how even I sounded.
The togruta ducked with a snarl, twisting to kick my lightsaber out of my hands and grabbing the holocron in the same movement. Calling my lightsaber back to me, I took off after the thief. As they were about to jump off of a nearby balcony onto the speeders parked below, I brought my saber up and slashed down. The thief twisted, and a purple blade met a gray blade.
Well, well, I thought, We have a lightsaber.
“Get. Off!” yelled the togruta (they were a she) and attacked with a flurry of slashes. Even with the extensive lightsaber training I had, it was hard for me to keep up. I parried mechanically, waiting for an opening. When the thief brought her saber up and over, I used my strength to lever the locked lightsabers up, and slammed my shoulder into the thief, sending her sprawling. The holocron flew in a graceful arc through the air. I caught it, feeling automatically safer with it in my hand.
“You should really be more careful before you attack a strange, populated valley of force-users,” I said, putting the holocron back on the shelf. “Someone might surprise you.”
“The boss said that all threats were minimal,” said the Togruta. “But what would be a job without a challenge?”
She attacked, and once again I found myself barely able to keep up. While I do a lightsaber form that focuses mainly on strength and powerful blows, they were faster, more agile.
“Janaiya!” someone shouted. I recognized the voice of Veramai, a philosopher. Sometimes she liked to sleep in the library on a cot if she wanted to study late. “Who’s your friend?”
“No one good! Get Master Daeget. I need his help!” Veramai nodded and murmured into her comm.
The togruta thrust fast, and, before I had time to react, pushed me into a wall covered in Ancient Mandalorian carving rubbings. When I looked up again, a window hung open. I leapt out and rolled when I hit the ground. Looking around, I saw the heel of a boot disappear around a corner. I leapt up onto a building and jumped from one to the next. Looking up, I saw that the houses ended soon and the spaceport began.
“Shut down the spaceport!” I yelled into my comm. The alarms went on and lights flashed. I jumped from the last house to the thief, landing in front of her and tripping her. She flipped gracefully and kept running.
“Fine. You wanna dance?” I yelled. Banter is a trademark of fighting. “Let’s dance!” I pulled out my blaster, a Kueget LN-21 blaster pistol, and set it to stun. The togruta had to duck to dodge the bolts, and, while she was distracted, I leapt, landing in front of her, and activated my lightsaber.
“Let me go!” she said, activating her own lightsaber. “The boss will kill me if I die!”
“Really?” I asked, “Most crime bosses I know value the payload over the employees.”
“Not mine.”
“Fine. I’ll let you go, but only if you tell me who ‘the boss’ is and why he wants a holocron so much.”
“Only the boss part,” she responded.
“Fine.” I put one hand on my hip and cocked my head, trying to look intimidating. “Cough it up.”
“The boss is Yazm the nine-tailed fox, a syndicate boss. I’m one of his three commanders, along with the Owl and the Shadowerunner-”
“Ok, great. He has nine tails? That doesn’t seem very scary. Also, who are you? And can you hurry it up? It’s, like, midnight, and I miss my bunk.”
“The nine-tailed thing is just a name, since he has a fox mask. Never takes it off.” She glared at me, as if daring me to interrupt, and went on, “As for me, I’m Jaydas- Jayde. Now can I go? I’m so sorry for interrupting your beauty rest.”
“There’s another town out that way, so you could probably get a lift when the sun comes up, if you don’t have a ship anyway. Get out of here.”
I watched her streak off into the distance.
“Apprentice!” panted my Master, Daeget. He’s a 4 ft 4 Bothan, who took me as an apprentice a few years ago. “What happened? Veramai told me that there was a scary tall lady hitting you with a lightsaber! When I got to the library, you weren’t there.”
“Yes, a thief after the holocron I got from Batuu. I got the holocron back, but she escaped.” I crossed my fingers behind my back.
“Oh, well. I wish we could have caught her, but at least we still have the holocron. Get back to bed. Tomorrow you have a lesson on fighting fast opponents.”
I bowed to excuse myself and left, covering a yawn. As I lay in bed later, I couldn’t stop wondering who this Yazm was and why he wanted a holocron so badly.
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