Light Flaingstar… Son of Mayla and Dennis Flaingstars. Her son… He was always a strange and withdrawn boy, with a mania for becoming strong. Although many might think that the shy, quiet Light, on the contrary, wants to isolate himself from everything and run away. At least, Light, despite that incident with Rozri, grew up as non-confrontational as possible. But she, Mayla, and his father, Dennis, saw that their son, on the contrary, was trying to become stronger. To better observe their son, they hung hidden cameras in his room, which the boy never discovered, nor did he think that his parents would go to such a step. And what's wrong with that? He's their son…
Light meditated. He tried to increase the number of objects for telekinesis, and generally experimented with the Force. He and Dennis decided to let it go at that, especially since Light was doing quite well. Much of what they begin to learn in the Jedi Temple. How did Mayla know about this? She had a friend — a Jedi Knight… Unfortunately, deceased, but he, nevertheless, secretly shared a minimum, more or less, with Mayla. True, he shared it for another reason… To the same extent that she loved her son, she hated her beauty. Among the Sefis, she met all the standards and canons of beauty.
Tall, slender, with regular facial features, dark eyes and hair. And many aliens looked at her with lust. She did not like her beauty and suffered a lot from it. Being too beautiful is sometimes a greater torment than being ugly. It's the obsessive attention from the opposite sex. The evil glances of those she considered friends. She could choose absolutely any man, just beckon, and many would run themselves. But she chose Dennis… In terms of appearance, he was ordinary and quite modest. Now Light, to some extent, resembled him. Except that he strived for strength… But he is gifted, no matter how much she, Mayla, wanted it — Light would have to become a Jedi.
And he might die on some planet, chasing another carrion… No!
"So, you want to hire an instructor for him?" asked Dennis, checking something on the datapad screen, which was connected to their home droid Novik. "A good idea. Finally, you'll stop fussing over him like a bird over its eggs. Hand me the key… Hey!" Dennis dodged the steel key that almost flew into his head.
He can also be annoying with his directness and lack of tact. Although even so, he is far better than all other candidates, and was, and is.
Dennis's workshop, where she brought her husband food, was littered with various droid parts of completely different designs. If Dennis wanted anything from their son, it was that Light would inherit his talents in droid building… But, apparently, that didn't happen. Dennis took Light to the workshop a couple of times, but he treated it neutrally, only asking a little about some droids and their production limitations.
"You…" Mayla spat maliciously, sitting on the sofa, the only object of cleanliness in this place, which she sometimes called a junkyard. "I just want to hit you with something heavy."
"Well, you know," Dennis started to adjust something on the droid. "You don't get offended by the truth. And your character is quite strange. You've always been like this. You always have something wrong in your thoughts."
"Next time I'll hit you with this adjustable wrench," Mayla promised.
"And who will help you relax on dark and cold nights?" Dennis laughed.
"Bitch…" Mayla grumbled.
Immortal bastard. He knows how to push her buttons. But it's okay… She'll find a way to deal with him, and he'll pay for everything… Someday. First, she'll have to feed him, and then — have fun in bed… For five hours… Or six? It doesn't matter.
"Who do you suggest?" asked Dennis. "You want him to be as ready as possible for his visit? There's no doubt who might take our son. His age is suitable… And the Great Master Yoda himself, our King's best friend, is flying here. He will arrive in a couple of months on a diplomatic mission from the Republic," although it will look strange… Well, Jedi, despite all their obvious pros and cons, are quite strange creatures.
"I have a couple of acquaintances," Mayla replied evasively.
"From your former suitors?" Dennis asked, squeezing the key until it made a strange sound.
If there's anyone her husband truly hated, it was anyone who even thought of courting Mayla. He would even punch King Alaric in the face for such thoughts… Without even apologizing, he has no sense of tact. However, their King is incredibly wise and intelligent. Unlike his nephew Navi. That's who her subordinate maids would want to hit with something heavy.
Useless, weak man. Cowardly bastard… Navi is pathetic in everything, a pale shadow of his uncle. He ruined his body with alcohol and, as many have heard, drugs. Alas, Alaric was blind to his brother's son, who once died in one of the wars. He loves him as an uncle and therefore simply doesn't notice that Navi has long since gone off the rails. From everyone's favorite rogue, he has turned into a nobody. And now he will likely be appointed senator from their sector? However, this can hardly be influenced anymore, Navi has already been appointed. Let him go to Coruscant accompanied by teachers and advisors, he is unlikely to listen to them, although his uncle thinks otherwise.
"I can't say that my uncle, a former officer of His Majesty's Guard, is my suitor. He loves me, but exclusively as an uncle loves his favorite niece…"
"Who once used to steal cookies from the Royal Buffet, and he was supposed to cover for you so you wouldn't be punished," Dennis continued. "I know…"
"How?" Mayla smiled tensely.
"We drank together a couple of times in the cantina, and he told me about your childhood," Dennis said calmly. "What?" he asked when Mayla approached him.
"Dennis… Can you tell me what else he told you about me?" she asked softly. Although in this pleasant, velvety voice, there was more desire to kill than to spare.
"Weeeeell… About love for His Majesty… About shirking your duties… There was also about how you accidentally threw away His Majesty's favorite mantle… Or stole it?" Dennis scratched his head.
"I'll kill him," Mayla said maliciously. "And I'll kill you even sooner…"
"And who will warm you on dark and cold nights, my love?" Dennis blinked his eyes.
Gods! He definitely knows that she likes "that business" … And that she will not tolerate anyone but Dennis himself. Not that their love resembled a romance novel, with snot and a tearful story, but she did love her husband.
"So, I'll talk to him… Grrr," Mayla left the workshop with quick steps.
"Master," the droid's voice sounded. "Next time you talk to Mistress, make sure I'm not in the line of fire of heavy, blunt objects thrown by her. Just so you know, the lifespan of the motivator has been reduced by almost half…"
"By half?" Dennis asked. "It was bought from a military droid," the quality of parts from such droids is much better, and reconfiguring it for a skilled technician is a matter of a couple of hours. "Damn it! It cost eighty percent of my salary! Gods of Wind!"
"Uncle Gadji," I called my "fitness trainer," whom my mother had found for me.
Gadzhi was a tall, slender, and mature Sefi. He wore quite loose clothing that "did not restrict movement." Figuratively speaking, he wore a size or two larger. According to him, a good warrior in shirt sleeves that are two sizes larger can carry a grenade launcher. Where he got this undoubtedly "true" information, I didn't ask him. Gadji loves to spin yarns. Externally, he resembles his sister and my grandmother — Reyra. Gadji is muscular and tall.
"I've always been bothered by the question: why do we, Sefis, live for four hundred standard years," by the way, it was very difficult to adapt to the years, days, and weeks in Star Wars.
First: there are only five days a week here. Accordingly: atunda, katunda, satunda, datunda, natunda. But there are seven weeks in a month. So, in one standard month, there are thirty-five days. But that's not all. There are also three holiday weeks, not included in the month, and three additional holiday days. Total: ten months in a standard year. That is – three hundred and fifty days, but! There are three weeks of holidays: that is – plus fifteen days. Total – three hundred and sixty-five. Plus three more days. So, the standard galactic year, measured specifically by Coruscant, is three hundred and sixty-eight standard days. And… Despite the fact that there are an incredible number of stars in the FFG (Author's note – Far Far Galaxy), years are measured precisely by Coruscant. Days, hours – can be local. But if they celebrate New Year on Coruscant, then it's celebrated throughout the Galaxy too. Surely such a system creates a lot of absurd, comical situations. For example, according to your place of birth and residence, you are ten years old, but by Coruscant standards – all fifteen. However, no one cares, and documents are kept according to Coruscant time, only in some sectors it's slightly different.
The planet Tustra, by the way, has parameters similar to Coruscant's orbit around its star, meaning – my year is equal to Coruscant's. My five years are equal to five Coruscant years.
"Have you completed the quota to ask questions?" Gadji asked.
Kha… This… Monster is tormenting me with training, I almost regret asking. After just a couple of months of training, I became the strongest physically in my "kindergarten group." Logically, this is impossible. How many people work out to become bodybuilders and bodybuilders, sweat, go on diets… How did I manage to become relatively strong? The answer is simple: The Force. It turns out, it accelerated my progress, and I didn't even have to control it. Just after training, I would sit in some kind of meditation, and the Force would fill me… It, as it turned out, stimulated muscle growth. But when Gadji realized this, he overloaded me with training. And he also started teaching me close combat training. According to the system of the Royal Guards. He would have taught me to shoot too, if he didn't know that Jedi are close-combat warriors… Although I wouldn't mind a sniper rifle, it's better than dodging shots or even catching them on a light saber. But I shouldn't worry too much… I'm learning everything, there's still a long way to go before canon scars. And I'll have to learn to fence anyway.
"I'm not talking about exercises… And yes, I'm done," I said, sighing heavily, trying to peel off my sweaty clothes stuck to my body. My arm and leg muscles ached in agony. Gadji even talks to a child like an adult.
"Hm?" he looked at me questioningly. "Yes, tomorrow will be combat training… Yes. So, what did you want to ask? Or maybe you wanted to ask for leniency, Jedi larva?"
"Don't call me that, Uncle," I pouted. "And to ask… Why do we, the Sephi, live for four hundred years, or even more,"
I recalled Fey, who, according to rumors, was almost a thousand years old… Maybe I should find her and ask: how old is she? Although no, my sense of self-preservation dangerously wailed… She can be as "kind, traveling nun" as she wants, but asking such a woman her age is a direct path to the grave. A woman is a woman, no matter how many hundreds of years old she is. I never understood them.
"But we grow up like ordinary people? Because logically – we are long-lived and should grow up longer. But we grow up like ordinary people. It's just that at a certain point, aging freezes, and we live until the end of our lifespan. Why is that?"
"Do you want to understand?" Uncle frowned. "I want to, too… Why are you asking me about this?"
"Well… You told me in such detail about the development of the Sephi body, about the close combat style of the Royal Guard, as well as our advantage in speed,"
your style doesn't matter, by the way, speed, strength, endurance. You'll have to pump muscles anyway.
"So I thought you could definitely tell me about this."
"Why don't you go to the palace doctors, or to the HoloNet?" my uncle asked.
"Well,"
I've already tried. The doctors just said "because." And the HoloNet found me a whole terabyte of Sephi, lesbian porn for this request… Who else will try to convince me that the HoloNet is not a dumpster? To the question: "why do Sephi grow up like ordinary people" – the first link led me to an archive with porn…
"I didn't find an answer."
"To be honest, it's surprising that the doctors didn't explain it to you. Although that research is actually classified… Hmm… Alright, I'll tell you: it's all about metabolism. Sephi children consume far more calories for many life processes than, for example, human children. This gives you an explosive boom in growth. Logically, which might work for other long-lived races – they should grow up longer than normally living ones. But in reality – we grow up the same way. Sephi are an exception to the rule. That's why some don't like us, all else being equal, we can gain the same skills as other races, at the same age we can learn to shoot and kill, there's no… Penalty from nature. But at the same time, we can perfect these skills for longer and, accordingly, achieve greater heights."
"And why is the research classified?" I asked. "It's a routine one,"
so that's why I ate so much! Even as a chubby adult, I didn't eat as much as I did as a Sephi child.
"It's not that it's particularly secret… Or I simply don't see a reason why this information should be classified."
"And I can't say for sure about that… Maybe you'll find out someday."
"But… You also said that since we have such a feature, then…"
"So why haven't the Sephi flooded the galaxy long ago? Well-trained, strong, and beautiful? There are several reasons for this, and the first is fertility. Physiologically – Sephi are not particularly fertile, not everything is bad. We are not a dying people, but we are not progressing much in terms of birth rate either. Second: mentality. Sephi are calm and peaceful… It was like this before His Majesty Alaric, and it is now. We prefer negotiations to war. Although, Light, this doesn't mean we don't have armed forces. The Tustra Space Forces are among the best in the sector, and this is, by the way, in a sector with Mandalore,"
indeed, Mandalore is within reach.
Although the Mandalorians have declined lately. Now it's still okay, but by the Clone Wars, the ruler of Mandalore will be Satine Kryze. The Duchess will be a pacifist to the bone and will completely neglect her country… Neglect it so much that even terrorists will be able to keep her in fear. And after that, she will be captured by two Sith. Almost without outside help… Although, I like such a Mandalore much more than the Mandalore from the period of the Mandalorian Wars, when their Code of Honor spilled seas and oceans of blood.
"Hmmmm," I scratched my head thoughtfully, trying to digest the information received.
"Therefore, Light, you are training now. I am flattered to hear that you yourself expressed a desire to become stronger. No matter what kind of Jedi you become in the end – a difficult future awaits you, Jedi is quite a tough calling. My work in the Royal Guard for seventy years is a cakewalk compared to what the Jedi have faced. So you must use every second of your incredibly long life to train yourself. Your body, your spirit… Otherwise, the Wind will not be merciful to you and will carry you to the heavens… Or, as your future comrades say: to merge with the Force, much sooner than you want. I love my niece and wouldn't want you to die and break her heart," Gadji said sadly. "Therefore, I ask you to take your training seriously. Soon a Jedi will arrive here who will take you to Coruscant. He knows about you, so be ready. And one more thing, Light. I have seen this Jedi many times, at first he may not seem dangerous to you. But he is precisely one of those about whom you cannot judge by appearance. Under no circumstances!"
Yeah, I know perfectly well what he's talking about. Until Episode II, everyone considered Yoda just a "very wise old man." But then… Seeing what tricks he pulled fighting Dooku. Dooku, who had just defeated Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. He simply humiliated them. Crushed and destroyed them in a couple of moves. And then Yoda just came and forced both the Force and the lightsaber to make Dooku retreat… And I also remember the first episodes of the cartoon "The Clone Wars." A more modern interpretation, when he humiliated Asajj Ventress, and what he did during the Battle of Coruscant… In the end, it came to the point that Yoda is one of the few who died of old age. Many lived in the Heavenly River.
Jedi, Sith, other gifted ones… Civilians and military. And many fell in wars. Secret, open… As a result of intrigues. But only a few managed to live to their natural death. Not to fall by a lightsaber, a blaster shot, a ship explosion, the influence of the Force. But from old age. Although it's bad that Yoda lost to Sidious, and it's also bad that he died in exile, but he did die, he wasn't killed. And I will prevent the future with Sidious. I have plans for this. To prevent all that hell, not so much for everyone, but also for myself. Because I have to live in this galaxy. The main thing is to plan everything correctly. Just coming and saying: "I had a Force vision, the rich banker Hego Damask is the Sith Darth Plagueis, and his student Darth Sidious is a nobleman from Naboo – Sheev Palpatine" – is not possible. Few will believe such specifics, if only because visions are ninety percent – not specific.
They only show a possible future, sometimes fragments, which is why it can be misinterpreted. For example, in the Old Republic, Padawan Zayne Carrick and his "failures." Zayne Carrick was a victim of a Force Vision. He almost became a Jedi, despite his clumsiness with the Force. He and four other Padawans, his friends. But his teacher belonged to a secret faction of the Covenant, where they tried to prevent the return of the Sith, or at that time, the Sith using prophecies. As a result, one of the members of this council saw a future where one of the Five Padawans of the five teachers would be connected with the Sith and their return. In fact, she only saw Darth Vader against the backdrop of Rakghouls and that one of their Padawans would participate in this. They couldn't even identify the Padawan, because the Padawan was in a spacesuit, and the spacesuits were the same for everyone. What did the false prophets do? They simply cut down their Padawans, four students died at the hands of their own teachers, in order to "cut off this line of future," to avoid it. Only Zayne survived, who later proved his innocence.
Roughly speaking, in an attempt to avoid a bad ending, they came to that bad ending. And if it's simpler? Please… There is such a game – Mass Effect. A series of games, to be honest. And in its third part, there is a mission where you have to decide: who will survive. On one side are synthetics, robots, who expelled the race that created them from their own homeworld. On the other – the same race that has traveled through space for centuries, deprived of its homeland. The irony is that in the Mass Effect games, there are two paths. Paragon and Renegade. Paragon corresponds to the upper dialogue options in the "dialogue circle," and Renegade – to the lower ones. And now… Choosing between Paragon and Renegade, who do you think – who is responsible for which choice, and who for which, considering that the choice for one race – completely destroys the other?
Who does Paragon save? The living, organics, or synthetics? Of course… Synthetics. But that's terrible! To save not millions of lives of living beings, but to save synthetic, robotic forms that are not even alive! That is why one should be attentive and know one thing. The choice of always heroic decisions will not always lead to a good ending. The choice to radically solve a problem will not always lead to a good ending. For me, it was terrible to witness the death of the Quarians in that choice. No matter what they were, for me, the Quarians remained an exiled race, having suffered greatly, therefore, those specific missions received only one thing from me: many save/loads.
Here the choice is much more difficult. But it has to be made… Sometimes I will have the opportunity to make it, sometimes not. Therefore, I must always be ready for only one thing – the consequences. No matter what choice I made, and no matter if I made it at all. If the universe still brings Palpatine to power – I must be ready to protect my loved ones, family, and friends. And for that, I will need to become stronger… Not just strength, because strength. But to protect them all… I had no one: no mother, no father, no friends. Here I have found all this and I do not intend to lose it.