Private A lack of respect

[Makko Vyres]

Makko at a bird that swooped down into the street for some discarded litter. There was almost no wildlife on the surface, but birds that seemed to survive off trash managed to thrive. Occasionally they crashed the odd airspeeder.

He wasn't supposed to be here, beyond the boundaries of the temple at night. He had trodden this route enough times that his feet followed it on their own. Makko was too annoyed to pay attention. His feet would take him to the lift that took him to a less reputable level beneath the surface, but not too far down.

Why they had to keep trying to teach him other stuff he didn't know. The agreement had been to learn how to control the strange power he apparently possessed, yet they spent hours trying to teach him about how stars and planets worked and how hyperspace could be used for travel. Things he had never known and didn't need to know.

The worst part was that they were kind when he acted up. They told him they wanted to understand him. He would have rather had them shout at him, or punish him.

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

Starlin came from the other direction, though he and Makko had the same goal of entering the lift. The Jedi Knight had a different destination in mind—he was on his way to visit an old friend, maybe go out for a drink and talk.

With his mind on other things, Starlin almost didn’t bother to look at his datapad when the device vibrated in his pocket. After a few moments, though, he felt compelled to at least see what the notification was about.

ALERT: Initiate VYRES, MAKKO missing. Last seen in your general vicinity. If spotted please—

Doing a double take at the image of the missing Jedi, Starlin glanced from his datapad to the only other person in the lift. If he wasn’t Makko Vyres, he sure did look a lot like him.

Just my luck. Stuffing his datapad back into his pocket, Starlin bluntly asked the boy, “Are you Makko Vyres?”

Makko Vyres​

 

[Makko Vyres]

"Nope," he replied casually.

For all he knew, the man was simply asking because he'd heard of a padawan with his description at the academy. The streak of blue hair and tattoos was something of a giveaway.

Makko watched the panel above the doors, the numbers descending slowly. He silently willed the other man to leave it at that.

 

[Starlin Rand]

“Are you sure?”

Makko Vyres​

 

[Makko Vyres]

"Am I sure who I am?" Makko replied, keeping his eye on the numbers.

He wasn't supposed to be here. He definitely wasn't supposed to be heading to any of the subsurface levels, even the more agreeable ones.

If he was going to get caught, a bit of denial wasn't going to make the punishment much worse.

 

[Starlin Rand]

"Yeah. 'Cause you sure do be looking like Makko Vyres." Starlin held up his datapad, with the holo-image of Makko on display. "Did you get knocked on the head? Suffering from amnesia? Can't remember your own name? They have t-shirts for that, you know. So you won't forget who you are."

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

Makko sighed. He didn't roll his eyes, instead he managed to roll his entire head back.

"Fine, I'll go back to the temple," Makko replied. He leaned forwards and hit the button that would take the lift back to the surface.

Makko remained hopeful that the Jedi might just accept his word and then he could sneak out another way. Most of the padawans were ludicrously honest about everything.

 

[Starlin Rand]

"A wise decision, young Padawan." Grinning, Starlin rubbed his hands together as the lift began to rise instead of fall. "Where were you running off to, anyway? To get some decent food? If that's the case, then I'm sorry. I should've just let you go." The food at the Temple wasn't that great.

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

"Yeah...food. Yes," Makko said.

He was not entirely convincing, but he latched onto the possibility.

"It's so plain there. I used to get a lot of good street food back home you see?"

His hand hovered over the bank of buttons.

"Sure I can't head on down and get something to eat?"

A jedi wouldn't linger long enough to notice Makko spending his credit chits on bootleg vodka instead of of grilled monkey-lizard.

 

[Starlin Rand]

"Well chit. I was actually planning on getting some grub myself." Starlin leaned against the side of the lift, crossing his arms. "Sure, why not? If you don't mind the company..."

The look in his eyes suggested he would not take kindly to being refused. He knew Makko wasn't being entirely truthful about his intentions, and he intended to make sure the kid held true to his word.

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

Makko let his head hang forwards. The teenager wasn't as good as he thought he was at playing his cards close to his chest. He was still at the age where it seemed impossible that anyone over thirty might have done the same thing at his age.

He pressed the button to send the lift back down.

"There's some good street food on the twenty one twenty seventh?"

Makko was starting to get a sense that he was going to get a telling off.

"So, er, who are you?" he asked. He wasn't disrespectful, but he certainly wasn't particularly respectful either.

 

[Starlin Rand]

"Oh yeah, baby. Any place between 2125 and 2130 tends to be pretty good. It's like the sweet spot for cheap food on Coruscant." Starlin was a Coruscanti native, so he ought to know.

Makko asked who he was, and he realized he hadn't introduced himself yet. "Name's Starlin Rand," he said. "You weren't really coming down here just to eat, were you?"

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

"Nice to meet you."

It wasn't.

"I didn't think Jedi Masters really came down below the surface much," he observed as the doors opened.

It was dark beyond the doors, with poor street lighting. It would get better as they moved away from the structure behind them. There were huge pillars like the one their lift was within that ran between the levels, but they also cut large shadows out of what little natural light made its way down.

"Is being honest or lying going to get me in the most trouble?"

 

[Starlin Rand]

Starlin grinned. "You too. And I'm just a Knight, not a Master."

He walked alongside the kid as they exited the lift, heading down a dark and dingy street. Starlin seemed perfectly at ease here, or at least he didn't let the environment bother him. He had his own light to guide his way.

"As long as you weren't planning to do anything twisted, I don't see why I should tell anyone what you were up to," he replied. "Either way, I'll just say you came down to get some decent food. That's what's going to happen, anyway. So be honest. Or don't. Your call."

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

"Twisted?" asked Makko. "Fething hell, I was just going to try and get a beer or two."

Makko felt uncompelled to admit that this was only because here on Coruscant he had yet to find anywhere reliable to get spice for a proper night out. He also lacked a network of friends to actually make a serious night out worthwhile. Problems that a Jedi escort were not going to help him remove.

The street turned off to a metal walkway. There was a lot of duracrete down here in the lower levels. Steel wasn't strong enough to support the weight of urban layers piled on top of one another, but it was often used for connecting roads and walkways between areas.

"What makes someone a Jedi Master anyway?" Makko asked.

 

[Starlin Rand]

The truth came out, and Starlin laughed heartily. "No chit. You're old enough to drink, aren't you? Or almost." Yeah, there had to be more to that story. Maybe the kid was an alcoholic or an addict, or something.

Starlin placed a cig between his lips, created a flame with a snap of his fingers, and lit it up. He puffed the fragrant smoke as they walked.

"If you're really good at being a Jedi, and survive all the wars and battles and chit, chances are you'll be promoted to Master," he replied with a shrug. "It's just a promotion. The final promotion, as it were. Unless you become Grandmaster, but I haven't seen one of those in this Order."

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

Makko avoided the question. His expression answered very loudly with: almost.

"Did you...just light a cigarette with your..."

This time Makko didn't avoid using words, but his expression had to speak for him again.

That was one of the coolest things he had ever seen.

"Why do the Jedi fight in wars?" he asked. It was one of the things that Makko was struggling to grasp. Becoming a holy warrior was a path he had never expected to go down.

 

[Starlin Rand]

"Did you... just light a cigarette with your..."

Starlin grinned around his cig. "With the Force, baby." Just a bit of casual pyrokinesis.

"Well, look at it this way. Some of us are basically born with magic powers, and some of those people are going to use those powers to do bad things. You know how it is, man. The Sith start fething around, conquering planets, hurting people. Your average joe can't really stand up to them, so the Jedi have to step up and put a stop to their boosh. And the cycle just keeps repeating itself, because more people keep getting born Force sensitive. So we keep fighting."

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

"Can that be taught?" he asked hopfully.

Makko was asking quite specifically. He had no interest in using fire for anything beyond lighting a cigarette to show off.

"I don't really, though. Know how it is, I mean. I never really cared what happened beyond Denon. That was just...somewhere else."

They were soon walking alongside a road for speeders. It was quiet, but as they turned into another pedestrian area they were suddenly surrounded by noise. There were bars and caf shops, restaurants and street vendors.

 

[Starlin Rand]

"Yup. Wanna learn?"

Makko claimed ignorance of galactic affairs. Starlin supposed that was par for the course for your average teenager. As well they should. Kids didn't need to be worrying about whether their homeworld would be invaded and its inhabitants slaughtered within their lifetime, right?

"I mean, didn't Denon get hit by the bad guys a few years back?" He shrugged. His memory didn't stretch back that far, but it seemed like every planet had a horror story somewhere in its recent history. "If not, it's basically just a matter of time these days before the star wars show up on your doorstep."

On that note, Starlin asked, "So, what are you in the mood for? Burgers? Noodles? Salad?"

Makko Vyres