"Good evening!" a clerk greeted me at the Central Bank of Sernpidal City. "What can I do for you? Unfortunately, our bank cannot perform truly important operations right now, as there is less than an hour until closing."
The man was dressed in a black, almost shiny suit, with neatly slicked-back hair.
"If you need to make a truly serious transaction, it would be better to come tomorrow, sir," he finished his speech.
The bank of the planet's capital didn't look particularly ornate. In general, the navigator offered me about five different bank branches with the service of opening a safe deposit box. Why the central one? The calculation is that the oldest bank on the planet, with a huge reputation, won't precisely find out: who hid what in their box... Or rather – I'll have to reveal my true identity. After all – I am a perfectly official person, a member of the Jedi Order. At least minimally, every Jedi is written in the Databases. Of course, no one will write, for example, where they are specifically now, or their parents' address, or post videos of all their missions. But lying here is not desirable.
Wait until tomorrow morning? I can't risk it, because I'll return to "Star Trek," where Kuro will also be. She'll definitely sense the medallion... Sigh... And she's a beautiful woman now, in the prime of her beauty. But she clearly draws a line between us, that we are only teacher and student. On the other hand – when did I become a womanizer? Of course, flirting with all the top beauties of this universe sounds interesting. Except for Rey from the new canon, I only have a desire to run Mou-Kei over her body... And Kuro... She doesn't deviate from her canonical image – there's no special connection between teacher and student... As they say – "unpedagogical"... Although in my university, back in my first life, there was a teacher that all the male students chased after, and almost fell to their knees.
She always treated me kindly in some strange way. However, God be with her, she stayed there. And now I'm here, trying to put a Sith artifact in the bank...
"Good evening," I bowed slightly, "I'd like to know: is it still possible to open a bank safe deposit box today? Or should I come tomorrow?"
"Hmm, let me think," the man put his hand to his chin. "And how old are you? By law: sentients under eighteen standard years can only open one in the presence of a guardian... Parents, adoptive parents. Moreover, the contract is specific. First, it's written in the parents' name, but an additional owner is introduced in the form of a minor, who receives full access at eighteen."
"I'm a Jedi," I say calmly.
The man's eyes scanned me with doubled intensity: clothes, figure, face.
"A Jedi?" he asked in a surprised tone. "I heard that members of the Jedi Order arrived here to put an end to the disappearance of sentients. So, did you do it?"
"Yes, I'm one of those who arrived. A Padawan," I said calmly.
"Then that settles it. Even if you're not eighteen, you can, in principle, open a box with us."
"Hm?" I tilted my head to the side.
"What's strange about that, Jedi?" the man asked. "You're one of those who saved my niece. My family knows how to be grateful. In addition, those who have undergone Jedi training are considered adults."
I looked at him with surprise. No, he's right. A Jedi Knight is indeed considered an adult citizen of the Republic. But everyone knows that I'm a Padawan. This information cannot be hidden, if only because the status of a sentient in the Jedi Order is also displayed when accessing the system. The man abruptly closed the distance, leaning over my ear.
"I perfectly understand your surprise, but the world isn't that big, despite its apparent scale. You helped my family, albeit mostly unconsciously. I'll help you and turn a blind eye to the fact that you're still not a Knight. As a manager, I can... make some concessions. Let's go..."
The man sharply turned and walked away from me. So, he's going to help me? At other times I would have been cautious, but now I didn't feel much deception from him. The man headed to the second floor, which was no longer a huge hall with tellers and workstations for clerks. It was lined with rows of offices, probably for more senior employees. We entered one of them. "Elron Orth" read the sign... Client Relations Manager. The office was tastefully furnished. The furniture looked rich.
"So, I'll introduce myself, I suppose," the man sat in a rich armchair. "My name is Elron Orth. You saved my niece Christa Orth. My brother was beside himself with joy when you brought him his daughter from the kidnapper. I'm sure his gratitude won't be long in coming either. But truly – the providence of the Force has guided you to me. You are, after all, the Jedi who participated in rescuing my niece? A Sefii, short, with a proper face and purple eyes. Dressed in black and white clothing – I almost burst out laughing. Black and white... Purple eyes... Maybe I should change my style? I didn't think I was copying Yennefer of Vengerberg, and not just looking pompous. On the other hand – no one here knows about this woman, so no one will laugh at me? And why laugh... It's just a coincidence... Probably. "Sit down."
"Alright," I sat down and clasped my hands in front of my face. "I will use your services, Elron. However, I need complete anonymity. And guarantees that my box will not be opened by anyone."
"Even if the Grand Master Yoda, from your Order, along with the Supreme Chancellor, demands it be opened, we will first send them to court. And courts in the Republic take half a year, so don't worry. I truly want to help you..."
"Light Flyingstar," I gave my name.
The man looked at the computer on his desk and quickly typed my first and last name.
"That's right, Padawan. However, you can't fool the system that easily. A Padawan is not yet a Knight. And you need the identity of an adult for me to enter into the database. Do you want to use your mentor's name?"
"If I wanted to – I would have come with her," I said through gritted teeth. But that's suicide. To enter Kuro's name when creating a box where I intend to store a medallion, once created by a Sith. And even if the bank doesn't inform her, she might, in theory, find out about it somehow... Am I demonizing Kuro after the inspection? She humiliated me significantly... More likely, I'm afraid of her, because I perfectly understand that she can easily declare me an apostate and bury me somewhere far from Coruscant if anything happens. "Can I specify another adult?"
"Hmm... Something personal?" the man asked.
"You can't even imagine how personal. Nevertheless, I'm sure my mentor won't misunderstand me if she finds out what exactly I put in the box. This thing... It was connected to my first Master, who died in my arms. In our Order," I tried to imitate a sad tone... just to avoid overacting. "They treat this a bit differently than elsewhere in the galaxy. We must not have any special attachments..."
"I've heard of that," Elron said thoughtfully. "That's why I think you Jedi are declining lately. No offense intended: but how can you try to protect someone you don't even try to understand, imposing what is unacceptable to most?"
"Jedi are full of contradictions," I agreed. "But I didn't come to discuss the shortcomings of my Order, Mr. Elron," I reminded him.
"Alright. Do you know another adult sentient whom I could enter into the contract? No offense, but I won't act as your guardian in the contract, although I see that you are a very worthy young man."
"No offense... Enter my father, Dennis Flyingstar, from the planet Tustra. I'm sure he won't mind helping me..."
"Tustra... Tustra," the man said, looking at the computer. "It's noon there now. Specifically in the location where a sentient with that name lives. We're talking about a master mechanic from the Royal Palace, right?" I nodded. "Alright. Send a message to your father, let him give his consent and send us his fingerprint. With your consent and mine – the contract will begin. The cost of renting a bank safe deposit box is five hundred credits per year. Auridium – one and a half thousand. Unfortunately, I simply cannot give you a discount here physically."
"I didn't ask for one," I shrug. "Tell me the account number..."
"Maybe it's better if we create an account for you here and you transfer the money here? Automatic debit will be used..."
"No. Excuse me, but I don't intend to leave this thing for more than three years. So there's no need to create an account, for now," I added the last two words, seeing the man frown. Oh, these bank employees. Create an account, rent a box... And a credit card, in this case – a chip, don't you want one? Have you heard about speeder leasing? Do you want a home loan? Maybe you wouldn't mind getting another chip for installments? And if you refuse – the world's sorrow is reflected on your face, which even Palpatine would have sympathized with.
"Well... It's your right," the man said calmly. "So, which box?"
"And what's included in the 'auridium'?"
"Auridium boxes are located underground. They are protected much better. You can also set up a procedure for receiving the contents back to your liking. For example – some kind of riddle. Regular boxes use system-generated passwords. Auridium boxes – have additional client conditions added to them."
"Then I'll take an auridium one," I said. The man brought up the bank statement in front of me. "I think I'll pay for a year for now."
Your garbage... A seven percent commission? May you choke on it!
"Then," Elron clapped his hands, and a regular protocol droid entered. He brought two envelopes, a sheet of paper, and a pen. My eyes even hurt from what they brought. Obsolete things... "You need to state the essence of your trial on a sheet of paper. As well as the correct answer for accessing the box. Both envelopes will remain in the bank. The envelope with the correct answer – will be sealed in your presence. I guarantee you that the Central Bank of Sernpidal City will never open it until you arrive to retrieve your item from the box."
So, and what riddle to set? I looked at the white sheet of paper... Hmm... Exactly. Smiling, I wrote on the first sheet:
"What do we do with Disney's drivel?"
And on the second:
"We won't consider Disney's drivel as canon."
A password that's perfect. Besides me, no one will guess it. Putting the sheets into envelopes, I handed them to the droid.
"You finished quickly," the man smiled, "sometimes sentients spend hours remembering the birthdays of their third cousins, grand-nieces and grand-uncles... The rest is up to the bank. Now we'll go down, to the underground level, to a special room. It's located right before the vault of the boxes. That's where everything is handed over to the Bank and where the Bank gives back everything that is requested from it. You will hand the item over to the droid, in my presence, and you yourself will observe as he puts your item into the box, and then – we will erase his memory of the item. This is all standard procedure."
Yes, they have an impressive setup here. In the end, I left the Bank satisfied, almost by its closing time. For now, I'll have to wait to fulfill the knowledge of my ancestors. I just need to think about who to summon... For example, Valkorion, who is Vitiate and Tenebrous – I definitely won't touch. I recently read a fanfic with his participation, and I also played Knights of the Old Republic. No, screw that... I don't want to summon this super-powerful old man. I doubt that the medallion of his own servant will subjugate him. It's another matter – someone else... From the period when Valkorion lived, perhaps Revan, Satele Shan, Bastila Shan... Quite powerful Jedi. Although Revan stands out from this trio.
He was on both sides of the Force, studied many techniques, fencing. Revan was a quite successful commander. And most importantly – his ghost won't have any particular desire to subjugate me or take over my body. But that's if I summon a quite mature Revan, not his Sith version. Again – who knows how this artifact will work specifically. I've never used it myself. And, unfortunately, now is not the time to delve into the wisdom of the ancestors. Besides, you need to find at least something connected to the one you want to summon. That's how it works... Which, in principle, doesn't go beyond the canonical possibilities of the Force. Find what Revan is connected to? I don't really remember his holocron anymore, but there's HK-47. Revan created him. And I can remember where HK is – on Mustafar. The CIS will find him, and not only them. It's just that HK won't like it if anyone stumbles upon him except Revan himself.
In principle – I can try to find him. But... Will my strength be enough to pacify a droid designed for the elimination of sentients, a droid that can also bury the Gifted. Although summoning Revan and learning from him, as well as getting HK to my team – is quite interesting... But how not to merge with the Force myself. No, it's better to prepare for now. I've already gotten burned once by rushing headlong. It's better to be cautious an extra time. Than to lie around with a hole in my head. And of course, I shouldn't forget about Tulak Hord, Darth Malgus, Darth Marr, Darth Nox, Arca Jeth, Exar Kun... Many powerful Gifted with unique abilities lived in this galaxy. You need to learn from the best. And I will have enough time for all of this... As they say: "we'll definitely blow it up, not once, the whole world into dust... but later."
And Shillaj herself showed me how not to do it. She probably tried to assimilate Force Ghosts. And since her personality wasn't fragmented like mine, she couldn't fully subjugate and take their abilities. And I plan to summon not no-names, but strong personalities. No, I'd rather communicate with them like this. I can try to find common ground with Revan and Darth Marr right away. The first is, in fact, a Jedi. And the second, although a Sith, is an ideological statesman – he did everything for the sake of the country he believed in, not just to cut Jedi into pieces because he's a Sith... Not without that, but to a lesser extent. That's the impression he left.
***
The morning on Sernpidal turned out to be rainy. I returned to the ship late at night, having rested in the baths before that. I had to do this so that Kuro wouldn't suspect me too much. But, as it turned out... Kuro herself wasn't on the ship. Which surprised me greatly. She usually meditates when nothing bothers her. And no one would have bothered her now... Was she watching me? No... In that case – I would have been cruising to Coruscant with severed limbs already. Then where is she? Scary, very scary...
"I feel your fear," a voice came from behind. I turned around, my heart skipped a beat. Kuro was standing behind me. "You need to work on that. Fear prevents you from analyzing your surroundings. That's why you didn't notice me."
"I was scared I'd have to search for you all over the capital, Master," I explained, pressing the button to close the ramp. "You know – I'm not thrilled about searching the entire capital for a Jedi whose main specialization is stealth infiltration."
"And what's so strange about that?" the woman blinked. "Or is it only you who can have time for rest? I was with Senior Inspector Tsurko."
"Surely you didn't break the Code?" I asked with a smirk.
"What did I tell you about your jokes?" the woman asked threateningly. "Hold them back. The mere fact that I was Lorm's friend is what's stopping me from sending you for genital reconstruction right now. And don't think you're my equal yet. Perhaps in pure fencing – you might be something. But combat isn't always about swinging swords. Start your ship, Light. It's time for us to go to Coruscant."
I headed for the lift and through it entered the cockpit. The VV-7, which was there, greeted me, as always, joyfully.
"I don't like this pile of nuts," Kuro grumbled, settling into the co-pilot's seat. Although this ship can quite manage with a single pilot. It's perfect. Fast, maneuverable, capable of sadly upsetting someone. After all, Plagueis didn't skimp on material provisions for his close servants. Thank you, Dol Agid. Pressing the engine start buttons, I felt the ship gently lift off the ground and soar upwards. The spaceport operator guided us into orbit and wished us a happy journey. We just need to get out of the planet's gravitational shadow to make the jump. By the way… it was thanks to this that I understood why I ended up in Legends. How exactly? In Legends – there was no such crap – ships couldn't enter hyperspace within a planet's atmosphere. More precisely, physically – you could try. But in practice – nothing normal would come of it. The jump wouldn't work due to the protection… And if some unique individual decided to disable the idiocy protection, the jump would, of course, work, but the gravity of the supermassive body would throw off the coordinates, or even pull the ship into itself. The result, in ninety-nine percent of cases – is tragic for all the ship's inhabitants. Such rules are usually written in blood, just like traffic rules in my first world.
"VV is a wonderful droid," I disagreed, to the droid's approving trill.
"You say that because its personality manifest is only tied to you," the mentor retorted as we flew far enough from the planet. "Calculate the route to Coruscant already… Huh? What? Look at the scanners…"
"Three Z-95s?" I asked, noticing the Z-95 "Headhunter" fighters. "So what? That doesn't surprise me…"
"They're coming in for an attack…"
Oh, damn it… Indeed. And they're not even trying to communicate… Well, their problem.
"The main thing is don't interfere, Master," I warned, adjusting my grip on the controls. "We'll break them down to molecules now…"
Coming from behind? Ha… VV deployed the rear guns and started firing at them, making it difficult to aim. It's too late to activate stealth mode. They've noticed us anyway. And jumping into hyperspace from stealth mode is impossible. The ship swayed from side to side, which helped me avoid enemy fire, although it also hindered VV from aiming properly. Finally, one of them had enough and simply launched a missile. I spun the controls, and the ship did a full flip… The missile flew past, but then sharply turned. Yeah, homing… But it flew right into my nose guns. And my Jedi perception is far better than that of an ordinary sentient. So, two or three volleys, and the missile detonated before reaching the nose of my ship.
"Reverse thrust," I calmly said, pulling the controls towards me. VV obeyed the order, and the ship was abruptly yanked backward… Kuro even uttered something unpleasant when the seatbelts dug into her body. All three fighters didn't slow down and flew past my ship. A dangerous maneuver; if even one of them had been directly behind me – there would have been a collision. And the outcome wouldn't have been pleasant. But that's what my sensors and controls are for – to precisely position my ship and execute correct maneuvers.
"I hate it when you do that," the woman said. "At least warn me!"
The enemy fighters were in my sights… And they hadn't even figured out what happened yet. Without a doubt, I pressed the turbo-laser buttons. The fighters' shields went down quite quickly. Two pilots didn't even have time to maneuver, turning into cosmic dust. The last one tried to escape the fire, but… it was useless. I wasn't going to let him go. The pursuit ended about ten seconds later. Deprived of tactical initiative in the form of a rear attack, the pilot didn't have time to dodge, falling under my ship's fire. I caught him precisely on a turn, turning his ship into a sieve…
"And what was that?" I asked. "Pirates? Here? Near such an important hub?"
"Most likely – no," Kuro shook her head. "It looks more like a desire to eliminate us, not capture us. Does your ship have anything non-lethal at all?"
"Non-lethal?" I asked in surprise. "This isn't a pleasure yacht, Master. Although – does it really matter?" This could be a gift from Plagueis. After all – we defeated him. Shylaj is dead, an important Sith artifact is missing. Siths love revenge… Although targeting the Shadow is a bit foolish, especially Kuro. But who knows this Plagueis. Palpatine, perhaps. But it's too early to mess with them.
"You turned them into cosmic dust. Now they can't be interrogated. Alright, heading to Coruscant. You are to undergo the Trials."
"Do you believe Light is ready?" Yoda asked when we reported our successes to the Council, in person this time, not via holocomm.
"And I believe," Kuro added, "that some trials can be credited to him, namely: the Trial of Skill, the Trial of Spirit, the Trial of Courage."
"Hmm… Hmm…" Yoda mused thoughtfully. "He is too young," he sized me up.
"But does age matter?" the voice of Master Dooku was heard, who was looking at me with curiosity. "Only a Master decides if a Padawan is ready for the Trials."
"The Council decides that," Even Piell interrupted. "However… The results of his work are evident."
"Agreed," Jonnal's voice came. "He has been through a lot, despite only recently becoming a Padawan. But he is talented and strong. However – that might not be enough."
"So be it," Yoda said. "The Council grants you permission," silence fell. No one said a word against it. "You will undergo the Trials. Of Body and Perception. In a week, you are to appear in the Halls of Trials. Prove your capabilities – and you will become a Knight."
Well. The question is, it all depends on me. Of course, it's a bit unexpected. And they sent me to the trials so quickly. But what can you do? I truly worked and suffered for all of this. And now I will either prove to myself that it was all for something… Or – I really haven't changed and remained the same weak-willed nobody. No worries or hesitations. I will do everything I must, and then, whatever happens, happens!