The remaining time until my ship was checked thoroughly, I spent as Light Flaingstar would normally spend it. In training. Of course, I also went to the funeral of my mentor, he was cremated in a special, ceremonial room… How many more Jedi, who died not by violent death, will be cremated there? And how many Jedi will remain unburied according to the Order's customs? I, even with all my knowledge, am incapable of calculating this. Without a doubt, by studying what I arrogantly considered the least important part, I realized—what an idiot I was. It's not enough to know the personalities, it's not enough to know what words to say to them… The plan itself was idiotic. But what could I do? Sitting at night in bed in my chambers, I hugged my knees and thought, frantically thinking for two hours. This is not meditation… No, this is psychoanalysis, at least that's the word that came to my mind.
The Republic will inevitably fall at this rate, even the Sith are not needed. Although they will accelerate these events, they are already accelerating them. And I still can't do anything. Plagueis and Sidious are definitely acting… And what should I do? Save the agonizing colossus? And the Order that protects him? If during the day I spent a huge amount of time training, sparring with my mentor, then in the evening I studied all the data on the Republic that I could get. Yes, I knew a lot as a fan of this universe. But it's one thing to read it on Wookieepedia, in comics, books, study it in games, movies, series. And it's another thing to consider everything from the perspective of a resident of the Far, Far Away Galaxy.
Let's face the facts, I am no longer the man I was, not the resident of planet Earth… Now I am Light Flaingstar, and I should have realized this much earlier… Perhaps I wouldn't have had to pay such a price, which still makes my heart ache with pain. But… As it is… I was a worthless fool… I paid for it, losing my mentor and friend, almost a second father, or an older brother… And the woman I fell in love with… I lost all of this at once. And have I become wiser after such losses? Something has definitely changed in me, the Kyber Crystal is proof of this… But not everything. I still feel that I have room to grow.
On the other hand: what will happen next on my path? What do I want, having defined myself as a Jedi, from this Galaxy? Such losses immediately crushed all my resolve. After all, I wanted to change everything with a "soft approach," to replay it, using my advantage in knowledge… And now what? When I realized that in essence, even for this plan, I did NOTHING. Relied on my knowledge? Fool. The future is constantly in motion, and the further I immerse myself in the Galaxy, the more I can change it. Trained for strength? Fool. My training was not worth it. Until now, I have essentially only been accumulating, rarely applying my skills.
Just in case… Is this the right attitude towards the Force? Towards my talents and abilities? No… Everything I learn, everything I learn, I must apply in one way or another… What should I do? What should I do? Look for a crystal? And after? Become a Jedi Knight? So what after? What kind of Jedi will I become? So many options, so many forks in the road… I don't even know what I want from the title of Jedi Knight, I consider myself a Jedi… And everything was so simple when my mentor was alive, when Mila was alive… I didn't even think about choosing my future then. I considered it unimportant… But now I see, I don't just need to choose. I need to define everything…
One event broke everything… And now I am little different. Because now I am still the same: without purpose, devastated, having lost two dear sentient beings at once and blaming myself for my stupidity… Is it right to blame myself at all? How will it help me? Well, I'll cry at night, hugging my knees. What will that change for me? I'll abstract myself from the Galaxy. What will such behavior change for me? Isn't this the behavior of a nobody? How am I different from who I was? And would my mentor Lorm have wanted me to remain as I was? No… He taught me to be better.
But if I don't want to become better myself, then I won't become better! Yes… It's useless to cry, it's even useless to train with Kuro! The resolution of the Galaxy's issues will have to wait! I need to understand for myself what I want from myself, to become better and stronger not in terms of Force techniques! But in terms of my character! How many more times in my past life did I tell myself: stop being a doormat that everyone wipes their feet on! And what did I do? And here? What have I changed? Did I respond to insults? Did I get better? No… As I was a doormat, so I remained. I just added a couple of peculiarities…
"Become better, Light!" Yes… I slapped myself on the cheeks… How many times have I told myself this? Back there, on Earth, using my old name. And what did I change? Here I decided to live a new life, but all I changed was my body, and I remained the same idiot. I need to change not my body, no, I need to change my very essence. I perked up and went to the window… Night Coruscant was no less impressive than day. Lights burned in the distance, speeders still flew. Life on the planet rarely stops, even at night. In the window glass, I was reflected, dressed in a beige robe. A proper face, purple eyes.
"I couldn't have thought that just because I was born different from who I was, that would be enough," I said calmly. "They all tried to prove this to me. It's not enough to be born different, that's what I should have understood. Change… Even now, having understood this, I haven't finished my path yet. Am I just at the beginning? Where I was from birth! So much time has been wasted, and I have no time again. I must develop what I already have now, by leaps and bounds. I needed to do all this yesterday."
What to do? Watch, observe, analyze, learn… I must understand what kind of person, sentient being, I want to be, redefine my principles. It is precisely such a Light that should appear. Not that nobody I was.
"And we will start right now," I nodded confidently at my assertion. "Yes, now. I will study the world around me and become who I want to be. This is my true mission, which will begin with my departure to Tatooine."
Returning to bed, I got under the covers and fell asleep. I foresee radical changes, the Galaxy will be cruel to me… But this time it will be different!
"We checked the entire ship, even found that loophole that couldn't be found on Tustra," the technician reported to me. "The problem was in the ship's system itself, it was issued at the shipyard after your starship was built. I assume the client left a loophole in it."
Yes, the Sith acted cunningly. They gave their mongrel a ship, but so that if something happened, they could get admin access to it. A cunning loophole. And the point was that the virus was not a separate program, the program itself, the ship's system—was the virus. Thus, the Sith were able to break into it then, on Gizelum, which led to those consequences. Could I have changed something like this? At least guessed…
"I suppose you feel guilty?" the mentor's voice came from my right. The hangar buzzed even now, as evening fell on Coruscant. Ships took off and landed.
"Possibly, although everyone is guilty at the same time," I said thoughtfully. "And should everyone be held accountable? Foolish."
"Correct," the technician nodded, "although on Tustra they could have suspected something like this, considering where you got this ship from. In any case, we completely rewrote the system, getting rid of… unnecessary things, leaving everything necessary. We even cleaned up the search history in the HoloNet and… " he faltered, "some holovideos from your room," he looked at me with slight disapproval.
"I didn't record holovideos."
"You didn't, but the ship's system, as it turned out, did. However, it was all very cunningly arranged, the data was transmitted upon contact with a certain carrier, and since you captured the ship and did not contact that person's employers anymore, the data simply accumulated, as the carrier was not connected."
"Damn it," I cursed, guessing what holovideos might have been recorded from my cabin.
"And I think so too," the hangar technician nodded.
"Judging by all appearances—this is something interesting," Kuro grinned slyly. "Well, never mind, the past will remain in the past. What's important for us is the future. Is the ship ready for departure?"
"Yes," the technician turned to her, and then nodded at my "Star Path." "Washed, refueled, as I already said, reinstalled the system, synchronized your droid with it," I glanced at the ramp, next to it stood BB-7, "its memory was wiped, checked for the same trap as on your ship. None found. Well, and provided him with oil baths. All according to protocol."
"Then what are we waiting for, student?" Kuro asked, heading towards the ship.
"Beep! Who are you?" my droid's trill was heard.
"This is my new mentor, BB," I said with a heavy sigh.
"You're too willful for a droid," Kuro remarked, bending over BB-7.
"By the way," the technician said to me in a whisper. "In your mentor's room, we found a hiding place where his… last will was written. There was a sheet of paper, according to it, all his savings are transferred to you. And also," the technician rummaged in his clothes and pulled out a holocron for me. The kind that Yoda once gave me with recordings about Ataru. Only this time… my heart clenched.
"Is this my mentor's holocron?" I asked in surprise.
"It was stated in the will that he gives it to you. According to the rules, the holocron was checked by Masters, even Master Yoda himself. But here's the problem, they couldn't open it."
"That's because Lorm himself studied many Force techniques, and he didn't just delve into Jedi antiquities. He probably figured out how to make the holocron activate only in your hands. He was always cunning and smart when he needed to be."
I took the shimmering blue cube. Now is not the time to open it, I'll look at it when I'm alone.
"Thank you," I nodded to the technician.
"Well then, Light, it's time to fly. Tatooine, you say? We'll start with it, and then I'll introduce you to the specifics of Shadow work. We have a mission."
"Goodbye," I nodded to the man, heading towards the ship.
BB-7, seeing me heading towards the ramp, let out a joyful trill. Finally, we're moving. New adventures await us… Although the droid was more pleased with the fact that we were heading somewhere. Entering the cockpit, I started checking all the systems. The ship inside seemed unchanged. The check was passed, all systems are working normally. Sighing, I pressed the start button. A slight jolt was heard, the ship's engine started, and the ramp returned to the ship's belly.
"To Tatooine, BB-7," I addressed the droid connected to the ship's computer. "The shortest route."
"To get to Tatooine," the mentor remarked, "we should head for the Corellian Run. On Corellia, it splits into two main routes: the Corellian Run itself and the Corellian Trade Route. The first can lead to Tatooine, and the second will lead in a completely different direction. We should make a jump to Corellia, and then to Tinnel, Loronar, and Byblos."
"Yes," I nodded, having studied the presented route. "First, then, Corellia."
The ship flew into the open hangar doors. Flying out of the Temple, I directed it upwards and exited Coruscant. We have to make a jump to Corellia, and then we will have to exit hyperspace and adjust the course to get to Tatooine precisely. Stars appeared before me, next to which a huge number of ships flew to and from Coruscant.
"Course set," BB-7 chirped, "the ship is ready for hyperspace jump."
"Good," I pulled the lever, and the stars blurred, and then—the surrounding space seemed to turn into an endless, blue hyperspace path.
"And while we fly to Corellia, perhaps you want to go to your room and talk to your mentor?" Kuro remarked.
"And you?"
"Lorm was always a cunning paranoid. Perhaps in the presence of other Sentient beings, this holocron won't even work. Try it alone for now. You can ask the recording—if it will work in the presence of another sentient being. But knowing Lorm—unlikely. If he left something specifically for you, then it will be yours until the end of your days."
"Ugh," I stretched.
"And don't think for too long," Kuro advised, turning in her chair towards the cockpit window and clearly entering a meditative state. "Remember—you should think for a long time when planning. But when implementing a plan, you should always think quickly. That's all, go."
I turned around, heading to my Captain's cabin. It hadn't changed. Although work had been done on it. We have less than a day's flight to Corellia. During this time, I will be able to deal with this holocron. Sitting on the floor cross-legged, I laid out the holocron and the Lightsaber before me. Using telekinesis, I raised the sword, disassembled it, took out the Kyber Crystal, then, disassembling the holocron, I inserted the Crystal into it. A familiar procedure. I've done this a hundred times with Yoda's holocron. Only… The holocron didn't work. Why?
Returning everything to its original state, I looked at the cube with curiosity. Masters, Grand Masters couldn't activate it. They gave it to me. Why couldn't I activate it? Mentor, what did you concoct there? Hmm… A hint in the will? I opened the text on the datapad… No. Quite general words. About how everything goes either to me or to the Order. Or is this a logic puzzle?
"If I die, I ask that all my accumulations be transferred to Light Flaingstar, as my heir, even if he is not my son by blood. I understand that this is against the rules of the Order, but you know yourselves where I saw these rules!"—a mentor, such a mentor. Just to annoy Master Piell. — "Also, I have an Archive, where I recorded all my research, which I haven't had time to transfer to the Order yet. You can take them. But give the holocron to the one I named my heir, even if he is not my son by blood."
If we don't take the strange words, it's a perfectly normal will. Part to me, part to the Order. And that's all… But what does "even if he is not my son by blood" mean? If it were an ordinary phrase, but he repeated it twice in the text. At least, it made me think… By blood… Not a son… But an heir. Blood? I looked at the surface of Lorm Decera's holocron again. Perfectly smooth surface, without any flaws. But wait, what if… I repeated the activation procedure of the Holocron again. A Jedi holocron, when activated, assembles not into a cube, but into a rather unique polyhedron. In the activated state, I found one of the corners and pressed it against my finger. It was a little painful and unpleasant, as I pricked my finger until it bled…
And then what I had assumed happened. The holocron lit up, and the figure of my mentor appeared before me.
"Phew!" he announced. "This thing worked! You are indeed Light. Or someone who obtained his blood. And I really died, since my holocron was found and activated."
"Mentor," I said with sadness in my voice, looking at the blue figure of my teacher.
"Student. Unfortunately, this recording is not set up for expressing calf-like emotions, so, boy, let's better ask questions…"
"How were you able to create such an activation condition for the holocron?" I asked him.
"How-how… Silently," Lorm grumbled. "I thought that since I consider Light Flaingstar my heir and am ready to give him all my knowledge, what would happen if some scoundrel got hold of my holocron. Not a scoundrel like me, but an even more scoundrelly one. Who wouldn't even give the holocron to you. Therefore, by delving into the knowledge of some gifted individuals, I understood how to add my own activation conditions when creating a holocron. Although I didn't know it would work," the recording scratched its chin. "This was my first attempt in this field. And I didn't have time to test my guesses. But it seems to have worked. The knowledge of how to create such a holocron is also recorded here. As well as my other techniques. I will help improve your already learned ones, as well as learn new ones, including Force Lightning from the Jedi."
I closed my eyes, beginning to process the information. My mentor hadn't left me for nothing… and I, too, had to live up to his hopes. He had given me his holocron, containing all his knowledge. He had taught me much during his life. And I only became more convinced that I must continue to move forward.
"I agree," I replied. "Where do I sign in blood?"
"I don't quite understand the joke about signing in blood," came from the recording.
"Well, in one ancient religion, contracts were usually signed in blood with tempters from the evil side, who gave the signatories everything. Wealth, power, health, love, and in return demanded the soul. Here you are offering me to study the Force Techniques that you yourself studied and restored for many years, traveling across the Galaxy."
"In that case, you have already signed in blood, my young apprentice. Now all that is required of you is all your diligence, all your skills, and all your motivation of which you were capable. I can no longer influence your character. Therefore, I hope that you will not only learn these Techniques but also apply them correctly. You were supposed to become better. Have you?"
"I'm on my way," I answered.
"It's gratifying to hear that," the mentor remarked. "It's gratifying that you will try to become better. Because now I cannot judge your readiness for any technique by communicating with you. This recording will teach you everything it knows, without any additional conditions. It only remains to hope that your reason will prevail over foolishness, Light Flaingstar."
So, we arrived. The flight took almost five days. During all this time, I had been training with my mentor. Kuro accepted the fact that Lorm was still teaching me calmly. After all, she had never seen me as her student. Tatooine… the planet where it all began for "Star Wars." And I had to visit it… Isn't that symbolic? After all, for Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker – it all began right here. So let it be for me, Light Flaingstar, that it all begins here too. The spaceport of Tatooine greeted me with monotony. The architectural style, the environment… Tatooine never impressed with such things. A desert planet, nevertheless, was located not far from an important trade route — the Corellian Trade Route, and several other trade routes intersected here.
We landed at the Mos Eisley spaceport.
"And what next?" I asked my mentor when we had completed registration.
"What next? I'm not your nanny, and you are a future Jedi Knight. Learn to act on your own. Ask yourself: what is your goal?"
"To find a krayt dragon. Meditation led me to this planet."
"Next question: what do you know about krayt dragons?"
"Quite strong reptiles. One of the subspecies inhabits the deserts of Tatooine. Hmmm… The Force didn't show me a specific krayt dragon. So, any will do?"
"Are you sure about that? Although, perhaps, it is so," we found ourselves opposite a cantina, from which music was emanating. "Now I want to see what you can do. Recently, Tatooine news reported the discovery of an extremely aggressive krayt dragon. This could be useful. In such cases, a squad is always assembled for its destruction. What will you do?" Kuro asked. "Will you join the squad? Or will you go hunting the monster yourself? Whatever you decide, know that I will not interfere. As I told you, I am not your nanny. Act as you see fit, Padawan."