The place where children were left was filled with these very children. They played, had fun, and laughed, running from side to side. Several nannies and older children supervised all this, occasionally glancing at the little ones. The weather on Tustra is beautiful, a light breeze gently and softly swayed the green grass. The sun warmed pleasantly, relaxing… Contrary to all other heroes, I didn't immediately go to meet everyone, even though I was introduced as a newcomer. I retreated into the shade, under a tree, and sat on the ground, hugging my knees. I don't like being in crowded places with children… Besides, I have something to think about… Now I believe that I was born somewhere between the hundredth year before the Battle of Yavin and the seventieth year before the same battle.
To be honest, I wasn't sure about the exact year. The reckoning in the canon was always based on the Battle of Yavin IV, where Luke Skywalker sent the First Death Star into history. It's still a long way off, I understood that for sure… Because they haven't even heard of Sheev Palpatine yet, not even as a Senator from Naboo. How far have I been thrown from the canonical events? It's important to understand… I don't want to participate in this meat grinder, I haven't even killed people. And I didn't even serve in the army. Why all this to me. Even as a Jedi, I would want to be a peacemaker, not a warrior, like Anakin… On the other hand, will I be allowed to choose such a path?
I have fourteen thousand midi-chlorians. More precisely, fourteen thousand one hundred and three… But the most important thing is that this is an anomalously high content, potentially I will not be inferior to many masters on the Council… And that's a fact, my Force potential is enormous. But do I want something like this? The "Celestial River" galaxy never asked its inhabitants if they wanted something specific or not. It always didn't care about such things… So what should I do in the end? I will definitely be made a Jedi, I need to develop a plan. My Force potential is immense, so I will have to develop Force techniques. Of the lightsaber fencing, I like Soresu the most.
Soresu, also known as Form III. The essence of this form is defense and attrition combat. I have a lot of Force, so I can fight for a long time and maintain defense. Soresu is the ideal option for defense… And attack? Is it needed? Why should I expose myself unnecessarily, I'd rather defend myself. Anakin almost killed himself on this form, Obi-Wan cut off all his limbs and could have easily finished him. And Grievous was repelled by Soresu… So, it's decided. I don't want to fight, I don't want to kill… But I want to live too, so I need skills, at a minimum, one way or another. As for Force techniques, they should be divided into those that I can definitely try now and those that are better to learn under the supervision of a teacher.
"You're Light, right?" a girl interrupted my thoughts.
Most likely, my peer. I'm not good at determining the age of others, and with girls, it's better to guess and think for a long time instead of giving the wrong answer. The girl looked like a classic Sephi. Unlike me and the Flaingstar lineage, which retained some human traits, as my lineage originated from humans. The girl already had long, thin fingers on her hands. And in the group, even among those who, as I understood, could be considered my peers, I was the shortest. The girl towered over me by half a head. Her black hair was neatly styled in the standard Sephi hairstyle – swirls. This is a separate topic, in short: Sephi believe in the divine nature of the wind and that the wind carries grace. To me, this seemed foolish, but there are many ritual greetings and farewells associated with the wind. Some historical sites claim that the Sephi once even had their own language, quite simple… Like the wind.
"I'm Rivi. Nice to meet you. Are you Mrs. Flaingstar's son?"
I nodded, examining the girl. It's too early to say anything about her yet. After all, she is clearly not older than me, so I can't say anything about Rivi. Maybe I should behave with her like a child? No… I myself need to pretend to be a child. I am a child, after all…
"I am Light Flaingstar," I introduced myself. "Nice to meet you, Rivi."
"Light?" asked a chubby boy, brazenly interrupting the conversation. "I'm Rozri Miral! My father hates your freak, half-breed…"
Right away? Although no, they are children, prisoners of their parents' opinions.
"By the way," another child began to say. "Isn't he the son of the Chief Maid? Does that mean he'll make a great butler and servant?" This boy was thin… I would even say scrawny.
"You're kidding!" Rozri smiled. "You'll serve us. You're the son of a servant."
Serve again? A similar picture flashed before my eyes… First, "parents" in the first world. In the distant galaxy "Milky Way." Then in the orphanage… Even at university and at work, I was always pushed around. Should I tolerate this… No, stop… Why not do something else? After all, it's good to follow the beaten path again, it's good to become a servant again so that they leave me alone. But then I will regret it… Rivi had already opened her mouth to say something.
"You're the son of a hangar technician, aren't you?" I said calmly, trying to look Rozri in the eyes, without breaking contact and speaking in a calm voice. "Why should the son of one servant serve the son of another servant? Or have you suddenly become the illegitimate son of someone from His Majesty's Family?"
Bastards are not honored in the aristocratic society of the Sefis. This is evidence not only of the infidelity of one of the spouses, but also of "animalism." And the Sefis are quite arrogant. This answer can even be considered an insult… But did Rozri also insult me? Why should I owe him anything? The hatred that this boy produces towards me was instilled in him by his father. Ronimu Mirall does not like the fact that the woman he was in love with… Or is in love with now, became my mother, but most importantly — became the wife of my father. Why? Because you can't command your heart. Mayla knew this perfectly well…
"BASTARD!" roared the chubby boy. "You're no better than a bastard yourself!"
In fact, the marriage between my mother and father is matrilineal. Only a girl and a woman can be a maid, at least, these are the rules established by who the hell knows which King, a couple of millennia ago… They say he had a hundred maids, each of whom he elevated to aristocracy and fathered under a thousand bastards… He made the position of maid hereditary, and only a girl with a specific surname can inherit it. In other words, I bear the surname "Flaingstar" only because I do not "have the right to inherit the surname Jori," which all females bear… Mother bears the surname Flaingstar because it is more convenient for her… Probably… I don't want to ask, let it be so. Although Grandma doesn't like it.
"Beat him, guys!" he shouted.
Yeah, children are terrible creatures, no matter how you look at it. Although it's better when a child runs out of arguments. Their fights are not as large-scale as adult wars. Rivi, by the way, decided to join my side, but was immediately knocked down by some girl. I, on the other hand, aimed for Rozri and gave him a good black eye, right in the eye. However, I also got hit, first by Rozri, and he hit quite hard. In childhood, chubby people always have an advantage in a fight, it's only later that the argument in the form of weight disappears. Everything swam before my eyes, and I fell on the grass. "Is this what you wanted?" a mocking voice sounded. "And if you had obeyed… As always…"
Obey? No… I must become better… Think… Exactly! This idiot offended my mother by calling her just a servant. Yes… And this is not the… "Mommy" that I had from the very beginning. No, I won't call her mother anymore. My mom is Mayla Flaingstar. So yes… With fury, I got up and tried to punch my opponent in the face, but then I was twisted by pain. I was hit in the stomach by a guy standing on the side. He kicked me, and I collapsed to the ground again. And that was a mistake. Blows rained down, from above. They kicked me… Very small children. I tried to protect my face…
"Stop!" a voice thundered. The children were pulled away. "What are you doing, Rozri!"
The salty taste of blood filled my mouth, I could barely feel my face. My nose was definitely broken, I can hardly see anything with my right eye… But I didn't back down in the face of danger.
"He started it!" Rozri wailed. "I… Navi, I'm telling the truth. He insulted me!"
"Is that true?" asked the same voice. I raised my head and examined the older one. This was already a fully formed, slender man, with black hair tied in the classic Sefi whirls. His clothes looked rich and pompous, unlike the simpler versions of the other children.
"No," I croaked. "He insulted my mom and me… KHA," I spat blood. "He wanted me to be his servant."
"But you are, indeed, the son of a servant," Navi said thoughtfully. "And you should serve… After all, your mother is Mayla Jori-Flaingstar?"
"But… Navi," I croaked.
"Call me 'Your Highness Navi,' just like you, Rozri. I am the nephew of Your King and cannot allow children to communicate with me as an equal… So what did you want to say, boy?"
"If I, a descendant of His Majesty's servant… Kha… Serve someone other than His Majesty's family, wouldn't that be a betrayal of His Majesty Alaric's family?" I looked at the man, praying that it would work. He is definitely a classic aristocrat, he believes in his exclusivity. And if this exclusivity is touched.
"Is that so," Navi hissed, turning to Rozri. "Rozri, my patience is overflowing, may the great Winds witness, you deserve punishment."
"But Navi!"
"Your Highness Navi!" said the man, hitting the Chief Technician's son on the head. "I will have a conversation with your father. Maybe he will show you your place. And you… Call him a med-droid, let them patch you up… Although your teeth," he looked disdainfully at the two knocked-out teeth, "you don't have to restore them, they were supposed to fall out anyway," he let out a disgusting laugh at his joke and walked away.
Rozri's company looked at me with malice…
"You're cool," Rivi's voice sounded. "You stood up to Rozri," I looked at the girl. She had clearly lost a lock of hair, and a couple of scratches appeared on her face. "Looks like I'll have to visit a med-droid too. This Rozri has been annoying everyone for a long time, Light. But I want to warn you: be careful with Navi. He's the King's Nephew and much more dangerous than all of them. He locks himself in the closet with our governess and does some things with her… She walks around all strange afterward."
I'm only five years old or so. But I perfectly understand what Navi can do with Erla in the closet. Perhaps it's too early to explain this to Rivi. Or why Erla might not like it… Although I am sure that Navi is the type who will surely say: you like it yourself, females. So why be shy?
"What happened?" Erla flew up to us, examining our bruised faces.
"Rozri," Rivi only replied. "He started picking on Light, and then he started a fight. Then Navi came and separated us."
"Your Highness Navi," Erla corrected her. "In any case, it doesn't matter. You should go to the emergency room… Light, your first day and already a fight…"
"Rozri started it," I repeated Rivi's words. "He started picking on me, and then insulted my mom."
"I'll have a serious talk with him," Erla promised. "And now — march to the emergency room. You need to be patched up, preferably before your parents come back for you after work. I don't want any more trouble from this side either," she sighed heavily.
It turned out to be unexpectedly interesting to talk to Rivi. She was clearly much more confident than me and many other children. And when she found out that I was gifted, she immediately asked me to show her a trick. And although Grandma asked me not to, I couldn't resist her sincere, childlike curiosity, despite all my desire and adult consciousness. The telekinesis trick, when I lifted pebbles over my head, came in handy. To be honest, even this trick was quite difficult. Just saying: there is no weight, there are only limitations in the mind — is impossible. Or rather, it's possible to say it, but… It's one thing to say it, and quite another to realize and apply it. Alas, I also told myself, during telekinesis lessons, that there is no weight. That all barriers are only in my head… But I was still incapable of anything more than two pebbles in the air. Of course, for the gifted, this seemed like a magnificent result… If they only knew that Master Yoda was capable of lifting a Star Destroyer into the air with the Force, and Galen Marek, even brought down an entire Star Destroyer on a planet… Although there are no Star Destroyers now, I would be wary of the name of this class.
In general, long after that remarkable event of meeting Navi, and especially Rozri, I began to be surrounded by fans. I became popular, largely thanks to my giftedness. Adults might say: "A future Jedi, so what?" But children didn't say that. They were interested in the Force, a peculiarity that allowed me to do what they were fundamentally incapable of… And yes, there is anti-gravity technology, starships, engines, with which pilots moved between the stars. But that was achieved with the help of technique and technology, not always understandable to children. And here Light Flaingstar raised his hand and pebbles began to fly on their own.
In parallel, separately from everyone at home, I began to try to strengthen my body with the Force. Now that's an experiment that will help in the future… Improved speed, reflexes, and striking power. And here it was incredibly difficult, as well as painful. The very first training session sent me almost into a coma. After the scolding from my mother, the experiment was interrupted. And then I realized my mistake. My body is not ready… Simply not the right muscles, and in general, everything is wrong. No matter how much I exercise, I grow in hothouse conditions, and this does not predispose me to having a sufficiently developed body. The Force simply amplified me too much, and as a result, I harmed myself.
The second experiment didn't help me much, I tried to concentrate and set up some kind of checkpoint… You can call it that. Only, as always, it turned out to be easy in words, but in practice… I am absolutely incapable of controlling the Force so subtly… Yes, the potential is incredible, but the control is zero. This is what I must learn first. For a couple of seconds, I even felt like Naruto from the first season, with an incredible chakra reactor in my belly and an absolute inability to use it for its intended purpose. Everything that Naruto achieved later was academic techniques, plus multiple shadow cloning, and then he learned the Rasengan. All I can do is lift a few pebbles into the air… And I definitely don't know control exercises. "Google it," purposefully search for it on the HoloNet? Well, yes, Jedi can be as kind guardians of peace as they want. But they won't make their techniques and methods publicly available, will they? Of course not… The only thing I found was holovideos of some Jedi at work. Here's one Jedi, demonstrating miracles of reflexes and speed, destroyed a whole gang shooting at him with blasters. Here's another who pushed someone with telekinesis… The only official thing I found was a book by some Mandalorian who taught how to handle a Lightsaber… Although these movements are somewhat strange, Jedi are clearly freer.
What else do I remember from the real Star Wars universe? I just hope I'm thrown into the legends, Disney's canon is complete garbage. Some things are still okay, but the rest is not. Rey is an overpowered Mary Sue, Kylo Ren, Han's son, is just a trans with permanent periods… Even for me, not the most self-confident person, Kylo seemed like a piece of shit. What can be said about the rest?
As for techniques… Combat foresight will definitely be useful for me, as a future adept of Soresu. Yes… I will definitely master Soresu as the original form. Tutaminis — energy absorption. Cruciatorn? Ignoring pain… Yes, it will be useful. I would like to be like Satele Shan, she absorbed the energy of Darth Malgus's Lightsaber (Author's note: https://youtu.be/MHW-wZmUOZY?t=57). There are many other diverse techniques, but I should focus on what will help protect me… Why do I want to be ready for battle? Just one night I realized that I'm unlikely to be sidelined, even if I join the Service Corps myself. My potential is incredible, yes, I'm not Anakin with his twenty thousand, and certainly not Arca Jeth, with his fifty thousand. But potentially I am strong and I must use my strength if I want to survive. After everything, I can think about where to hide, protect my loved ones. But until then, I must use every opportunity to become stronger. That's why I've been studying the Force as much as I could.
It's a pity I'm not such a nerd that I remember Jedi codes, they were probably used for meditation… Probably something like self-suggestion. For now, I'm just trying to meditate, sitting cross-legged and feeling my connection to the Force. Why is it so easy for me at the age of five? Again — talent and… I know what to look for. I remembered the feeling of using the Force almost immediately. As a result, the Force itself responds to my call in meditations. During one of these meditations, I even understood what year I was living in… Sixty-sixth year before the Battle of Yavin IV. It's just that the answer came to me during meditation. I wish I could get an answer to anything like that… But no, as I understood — the Force's answer is a random ability and it's only possible when you yourself try to find it, using the Force to search. So I, for example, tried to synchronize dates.
I searched for famous, well-known personalities. I even calculated when Yoda became a knight. The lists of Jedi Knights are updated on the website, it turns out. And it's done cleverly, it just indicates the name and the year from the Ruusan Reformation. There are no photos… But that was enough for me. I just started thinking hard, and during another meditation, my mind literally picked up the wind. I think such a state can be achieved by drinking a shot or two. But I got it through meditation. And in my head, a clear image burned: sixty-six… I immediately assumed that this was the number of years before the Battle of Yavin IV. The Clone Wars are even less than that… And before them, there were a couple more conflicts in which I could definitely become a participant. Or even die. But no! I don't want to die… Angered at myself for even relaxing lately: Rozri isn't bothering me, Rivi and a group of five other children only ask me to show them Force tricks, which are objectively my practice. I started to train my body vigorously.
Alas, I am not a biologist and certainly not a bodybuilder… But looking for guides, and asking my mom for money for a physical education book for our race didn't hurt. As a result, I gradually began to strengthen physically. The most important thing is to prepare my body for the coming catastrophes… This universe does not allow anyone with midi-chlorians above the average value to live normally. And it doesn't matter who I eventually become, if I don't train and learn — I will die again. To endure this pain again, to regret once more that I should have just become stronger and better… No! I'd rather try to live longer. And for that, I should become stronger now, not "someday later"!