The Outside World
By Moriah Organa
Disclaimer: Based on characters and situations created by George Lucas,
no infringment of
his rights intended.
The souvenir stand turned out to be the first of a row of similar kiosks
and booths selling a
variety of Temple and Jedi connected goods. Towels and bedcovers in one,
dolls and models
in another, and so on.
Cathan's longer stride had put him in the lead. The sight of a tall, brown
robed figure brooding
in front of the next to last booth stopped him in his tracks causing a
three way collision of
acolytes in his wake.
Cautiously they moved closer, and realized in was just a mannequin draped
in Jedi robes. All
four breathed sighs of relief.
Obi-Wan's head turned towards the shop behind it. "That sounded like Master Yoda."
"You're hearing things." sharply from Mayri .
"No, I heard him too." Ryma insisted.
They peeked inside. This booth sold holo and vid-disks. Racks of them were
ranged around
the walls while a number of monitors all displayed the same scene; the
Jedi Council in full
session, Master Yoda apparently arguing with the tall human Jedi in the
speaker's circle.
A closer look showed it wasn't Yoda at all but a Lannik actor in green
make-up. Certainly no
real Jedi would have talked back to Master Yoda the way the Human onscreen
did!
After losing the argument with the Council the Jedi hero went down to the
Temple's prison
level and, after an exciting lightsabre battle with two apprentices stationed
as guards,
released a beautiful woman being held there. The two of them then stole
a transport, taking
out several more Jedi guards in the process, and fled into space.
Arriving at a system with a triple sun they joined a rag-tag fleet of tugs,
freighters and
personal transports then led it into battle against a squadron of sleek
black battle ships.
The improvised defence force was quickly decimated, thanks in no small
part to the incredibly
reckless tactics of their Jedi leader. A blast damaged his ship and fatally
wounded the woman
who died in the Jedi's arms while the control center burned around them.
Then, just when all seemed lost, who should arrive but Master Yoda himself
at the head of a
Jedi task force which promptly destroyed the enemy ships while Yoda himself
comforted the
grieving Jedi.
"Let's get out of here!" Ryma muttered as the credits began to roll.
"Yeah." Obi-Wan agreed, eyes slightly glazed.
"So that's who Master Bin-Oc is." Cathan said once they were safely outside.
"It was all wrong!" Obi-Wan exploded, "They got *everything* wrong!"
"Yeah," Mayri agreed. "Since when do we have a prison level?"
"Or keep spaceships in the Temple." her sister added.
"No Jedi would do the things that 'Master Bin-Oc' did." Obi-Wan insisted.
"And his battle tactics
were stupid. I'd do better."
"Even Cathan'd do better." said Ryma.
The taller boy gave her a look. "Thanks."
"Sorry, you know what I mean."
He grinned suddenly. "Can you imagine what Yoda'd really do to a Jedi Knight
who pulled a
stunt like that?"
Obi-Wan snorted. "Nobody like that Bin-Oc would get past Padawan."
"If that far." Mayri agreed.
"Why would anybody watch something so wrong?" Ryma wondered.
"Maybe they don't know it's wrong." Mayri suggested. "Maybe they think
Jedi are really like
that."
"I hope not." said Cathan.
Obi-Wan looked troubled.
Just past the holo booth they found a pedestrian overpass leading to a
neighboring roof plaza.
By now late afternoon was beginning to shade into dusk. The path beneath
their feet glowed
with a pale, pearlescent luminence and the potted trees lining the walk
twinkled with colored
lights.
They took the first turn leading to a shopping plaza. The path formed a
ring seperating a circuit
of brightly lit, glass walled shops from an oval space of grass and trees
studded with silica
fillament tables of people talking and eating beneath the lantern hung
trees.
There were more people browsing in the shops, no two dressed alike, all
in brilliant colors in
startling combinations. There were plenty of other kids in the crowd and
nobody gave the
acolytes in their plain white and beige a second glance.
The four of them kept close together moving slowly around the circuit looking
at window
displays featuring items unfamiliar, unecessary and sometimes completely
incomprehensible
to their eyes.
And the noise was astonishing, almost painful to ears accustomed to the
silence and soft
voices of the Temple. Every other person on the path seemed to be talking
and laughing for all
he or she was worth and at the tops of their voices too. Muzack from the
stores competed
with each other and the live orchestra playing in the outdoor cafe.
The black cave of the games arcade, by contrast, seemed almost familiar
with its flashing
lights and holo-displays. Somewhat reminiscent of the training simulator
room where Jedi
acolytes studied strategy and tactics. It was also much quieter dispite
electronic noises and
bursts of music from the games and mumbles, curses and occasional crows
of delight from
the intent gamers.
There was a bank of 'free' games near the entrance, meant to suck people
in by offering
prizes of game tokens if you won. Needless to say there were few winners,
the management
had naturally chosen its most difficult games for this spot. Which meant
they were just hard
enough to offer *some* challenge to a Jedi acolyte.
Obi-Wan was immediately drawn to a fleet operations game. Strategy and
tactics was his
favorite class and the problem reminded him of his last exercise. He was
required to defeat a
numerically superior enemy armada with a standard sector fleet; one battle
cruiser, two
destroyers and about thirty smaller vessels ranging from corvettes and
gunships to supply
transports and tugs.
The machine was far less sophisticated then the training simulators in
the Temple and didn't
seem to have anything like the amount of information he was used to. He
felt a little like he
was working with one hand tied behind his back and blindfolded.
Cathan was having similar problems with his personal combat game. His simulated
alter-ego
had a far more limited choice of moves and tactics than he was used to,
still some of the
simul-weapons were interesting.
Mayri's more cerebral choice, a game of political intrigue, also included
some unexpected
limitations. Designed for normal people not Jedi the game made no allowances
for truthsense
or mindtricks. Which made it that much more challenging.
Ryma also went with a strategy/tactics scenario but hers was planet bound,
a small group of
guerillas pitted against a powerful occupying force. The enemy was annoyingly
amorphous
and the whole scenario had none of the depth and detail of a Temple training
exercise. Still the
targets were fairly obvious - it was just a question of getting them.
Obi-Wan's first engagement with the enemy was only moderately successful,
his losses
were much too high, leading him to reconsider his strategy.
Mayri was now thoroughly engrossed.The complicated factional infighting
was exactly the
kind of problem Jedi in the field often had to deal with. Even without
her Force powers her
training in practical politics and diplomacy gave her a distinct advantage.
Cathan had worked his way up to eleven opponents. By now he'd accustomed
himself to the
limitations of his game-self and had identified the most effective weapons
in its arsenal.
Ryma was pleased. She'd managed to imobilize her enemy inside their defense
perimeter. The
game apparently expected her to try to penetrate the base, but she had
no intention of doing
anything so foolish. The trick was to make them come out after her...
Obi-Wan's final fleet engagement, his third, effectively destroyed the
invaders at the price of
twenty percent casualties. Still higher than he'd have liked.
Cathan disposed of the last of twenty assailants.
Mayri secured the crown for her candidate, having eliminated or won over
the various
opposing parties.
On Ryma's screen the occupation force blasted into space having been driven
right off the
planet.
Suddenly all four machines exploded into dazzling light displays, electronic
fanfares and
hosannas and spat out streams of glittering, gemlike tokens.
Alarmed Mayri backed away, wondering if she'd somehow broken it, and collided
with a solid
object behind her. Whirling she saw it was a person, one of a considerable
crowd made up
of youngsters somewhat older than themselves, all grinning and applauding.
"Wow, never seen anything like that!"
"All four of the killer games at once!"
"Where'd you kids come from anyway?"
The acolytes clumped together, appalled at having attracted so much attention
and quite
incapable of responding with anything other than wide eyed stares.
A heavyset older man wearing a strained smile pushed his way through the
crowd. It didn't
take any great Force sensitivity to realize he wasn't pleased at all. "Four
big winner, eh?" he
asked with forced joviality. "Care to try some of the paying games or maybe
you'd just like to
cash in your tokens?"
It was crystal clear he'd much prefer they did neither. Mayri glanced quickly
at her
companions, realized they weren't going to answer and stepped quickly into
the breech.
"We've got to go home now. I guess we'll just save them for next time."
Apparently that was the right thing to say. The proprietor seemed much
relieved. He bagged
the brightly colored, gemlike baubles for them and they left, unfortunately
accompanied by
several of their audience asking friendly but embarrassing questions like
what their names
were and where they lived.
"Look how late it is!" Cathan exclaimed, getting his wits back. "C'mon we'd better run."
"'Scuse us."
"Bye!"
They darted away, cutting through the garden restaurant to lose anybody
who tried to follow.
It was fully dark now. The dimlit bulk of the Temple rose above the neighboring
rooftops,
crowned by a blaze of light illuminating the plaza and five sleander spires.
They made for it in
silent but unanimous agreement, feeling a need for the security of home
after their
adventures.
Feedback to: moriah_organa@yahoo.com
