Private Into the Deep

[Jasper Kai'el]

Into the Deep
Coruscant, Level 1342
Tags: Calix of Thyrsus ​

Jasper was back in the underbelly of Galactic City, though it wasn’t for reasons relating to anxiety this time around. Fortunately, the young duelist had managed to get back into a healthy headspace ever since his meeting with Ichika Masudo recently. Instead, he was giving a tour to one who was less familiar with greater galactic society. Jasper had met Calix at an unusual event, which some had called a “fight club” (even though most didn’t know it). The young Echani was curious about the local cuisine, and Jasper could think of no better place than his favorite: Jeck’s Miscellaneous Deli. This place made just about any good one could think of, though Jasper mostly went for the Pizza. It was a good place to start, he supposed.

As Jasper approached the restaurant, Calix in toe, a grin spread across his face.

“Alright, here we are,” Jasper told his fellow padawan. “This place is my favorite. You don’t wanna go to any big chains like they have up top. The best food is always found at local places like this.”

Jasper made his way in, writing up an order for a large Pizza before making his way over to his usual booth in the back corner. Curiosities filled Jasper’s mind. Calix was unfamiliar with a lot of things. Where had he been before this?

“So, uh, where ya from?” Jasper asked, awkwardly scratching the bridge of his nose.

 

[Calix of Thyrsus]

Jasper was a good tour guide.

Even still, the Echani boy might have only been half-listening, as his large, blue eyes seemed to grow even larger as the afro-headed boy looked at everything with all the marvel of a child. And a tourist. And a child who was a tourist.

Which was odd, considering...

"So, uh, where ya from?"

"Thyrsus," the boy chirped brightly, without giving it so much as a thought as he glanced over at the older teen. Though, then he did think about it and actually retracted that statement. "Uh, well, here, I guess,"

That was probably confusing.

It kind of confused Calix as well. "When Thyrsus fell to the Sith Empire, my parents tried to escape from the Imperials," the boy remarked. There was a certain melancholy about the story, but it was hard to be sad about people and events he couldn't even remember. "The Jedi came to their -- our -- rescue, but my parents gave me to them and then fought off the Sith so the Jedi could escape."

There was a quiet sigh.

His parents must have been great warriors. He wished he had known them. As such, the account he'd shared with Jasper Kai'el was the story that had been told to him. "I don't remember any of it," the boy recounted, looking away again as he stared at a passing vendor stall. "I was... three or something."

Adopting a smile, the boy looked back at the teen and said, "I've been in the Jedi temple ever since."

Really though, he'd spent his whole life on Coruscant without ever seeing any of it. He'd been off-world -- to Socorro, to Praesitlyn, to Susefvi -- but he'd never really ventured outside of the Jedi Temple.

Of course, he was thirteen. Unless he was with someone like Jasper, then it didn't make a lot of sense for a kid his age to be wandering the Galactic City alone.

He went to school in the Jedi Temple. He slept in the Jedi Temple. He ate in the Jedi Temple. It was kind of one stop shopping.

"What about you?" the Thyrsian asked, turning the question back on his companion.

"Where are you from?"

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Level 1342
Tags: Calix of Thyrsus ​

Born on Thyrsus but raised in the temple? Jasper couldn’t help but think about how he had spent his entire early life in the Jedi temple, no family to speak of. It was common, but one couldn’t help but feel isolated in such a situation, especially students who would up falling behind their peers like Jasper had.

"Where are you from?"

“Me?” Jasper asked, “I dunno. Well, I do, but not quite…”

Jasper raised his left arm, gesturing to the tattoos that ran along it, aurebesh numbers in a seemingly random sequence.

“I’m a clone of some kind,” he explained. “I imagine this might be a chain code referring to wherever I was made,” he sighed, shrugging. “I don’t really care to find it though. I’ll probably just find a test tube. Not the most thrilling thing in the world.”

Jasper leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. He was beginning to feel more comfortable about his origins, but there was definitely still some work he needed to do. He still had to actually meet the man who made him. The duelist’s attention shifted back to Calix.

“So, you don’t get out of the temple much, huh?” he continued, leaning forward. “I was like that too when I was younger… but then I started sneaking out and exploring the under city. Some Jedi like to pretend it doesn’t exist, even the masters. It’s plagued by crime, hard to police, and generally a hotbed for ideas that people above don’t like… but I was enthralled by it. Even now it’s kinda like stepping into a new world underneath your feet. There are people and places down here that you wouldn’t imagine.”

Jasper paused, becoming slightly red with embarrassment. He had a tendency to ramble, especially about the thinks he liked.

“Sorry,” Jasper laughed awkwardly. “I kinda got carried away… Hey, I had an idea.”

Jasper reached into his hood, pulling out a small, spherical GH05-T Spark with a blue shell. It’s eye was dark, at least until Jasper tapped on the little droid.

“Hey Pyf,” Jasper whispered to the droid. “Wake up.”

“Huh?” Pyf buzzed as he began to stir, a green light appearing in his eye. The droid began to float, scanning his surroundings. “Oh, hello,” he greeted Calix. “I don’t believe I’ve seen you before.”

“Yeah, that’s Calix,” Jasper began, turning the droid to face him. “Listen, I need you to pull up that map that we found. The one behind that broken wall on 3037.”

“You got it,” Pyf replied.

The Spark projected a map displaying the depths of Coruscant, further down than many would ever venture on the regular, let alone at all.

“Check this out,” Jasper continued with a grin. “I found this while I was wandering the Under City. It was behind three layers of durasteel. The coordinates marked on it are below level 5.”

Level 5 was the last habitable layer of the over 5000 on the planet. Everything past that was a taken over by plague and deadly chemicals. But clearly, someone had gone through the trouble of hiding something down there and felt it important enough to leave a map.

“I’m thinking about headed down there… Wanna go on an adventure?”

 

[Calix of Thyrsus]

When the older teen held up his arm, the Echani's blue eyes made note of the tattoo, but had no context for its meaning.

"I'm a clone of some kind."

"Wait, what?" Calix remarked, as though questioning if he'd heard that correctly. As his mind processed that, the boy seemed to jump straight from skeptical to excited as he blurt out, "That's AMAZING!"

No, that was not an 'inside voice'. Rather loud, in fact.

Realizing he'd just made a spectacle of himself, Calix tried to reign in his enthusiasm as he added, in a quieter tone of voice, "I've never met a clone before!"

Or had he? "...or, wait. Would I know if I have?" the boy posed aloud.

While Calix wrestled with philosophical ramblings, Jasper brought out a small droid.

"Oh, hello."

"Hi," the Thyrsian greeted the droid in reply, glancing between the two as the map was discussed.

"I'm thinking about headed down there…" Jasper was saying, as Calix leaned in to try and ascertain what part of Galactic City that was.

"Level..?" Did that say five? As in, just five? Five as in one-two-three-four-five? Looking back up at the older teen, the Thyrsian asked, "Wait, Coruscant has levels in the single digits?"

"Wanna go on an adventure?"

This was a question? "Yeah!" the boy blurt out eagerly.

He was thirteen.

Who did Jasper Kai'el think he was talking to? What thirteen-year-old wasn't going to say 'yes' to that question.

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Level 1342
Tags: Calix of Thyrsus ​

"Yeah!" the boy blurt out eagerly.

Jasper grinned.

“I figured as much,” he laughed. “Just wanted to make sure.” He leaned back, scratch the bridge of his nose. “Coruscant is a pretty big place. I’m not surprised you didn’t know it went down to 5. Not many folks are down there, and past that is an exclusion zone. The whole place has become infested with toxic gas. Luckily, I’ve got equipment for such an occasion.”

He had been working on a set of masks lately, modeled after those worn by the Temple Guards. Why that mask specifically? Mostly because they looked cool. Though it was a practical shape given the desire to cover the face. Of course, he didn’t have them on him at the moment. Jasper had left them on his work bench. For that, they would need to backtrack a little.

“I don’t have any of that stuff with me right now. We’ll need to head to my ship,” Jasper explained. “Don’t worry about the food. I ordered the Pizza to go.”

 

[Calix of Thyrsus]

"Wow," Calix uttered, as Jasper Kai'el described the plan.

"You have your own ship?" the young Thyrsian asked, obviously impressed.

The pizza was also impressive, as no boy Calix's age would ever turn down pizza. But more importantly, Jasper had his own ship! Not even Calix's first master had his own ship. Though, Master Sedaire seemed to have several.

Jasper might have his mind full of treasure and adventure, but in that moment all Calix wanted to know about was Jasper's ship. When he was older, would he have his own ship?

How old did someone have to be to get a ship license, anyway?

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Level 1342
Tags: Calix of Thyrsus ​

"You have your own ship?"

“Sure do,” Jasper replied. “Built it myself, kinda. I found it on Corellia collecting dust, so I fixed it up and now it’s kinda my home base. Come on, I’ll show ya.”

Jasper got up from his booth, grabbing their order of Pizza before leading Calix to his ship, the Philosopher, an old D-5 Mantis Patrol Craft. He left it down here most days so that he didn’t have to move it whenever he explored the lower levels. The bar inside was didn’t appear to be a bar at the moment. Jasper had converted it into a maker space while he was at the temple, making new gadgets that could potentially aid him in the future. Most importantly, it was a mess.

“Sorry bout the clutter,” Jasper apologized. “I’ve been tinkering a lot lately and haven’t gotten around to cleaning. Here, you’ll want this.”

Jasper picked up a plain white mask, which resembled that worn by the temple guards.

“It’s been outfitted with a rebreather,” Jasper explained. “It should keep all that toxic gas out of your lungs. Don’t worry, I’ve got a few of these things. So we should be fine. Any questions before we shove off?”

 

[Calix of Thyrsus]

"You've been to Corellia!?"

"Wait... your ship is Corellian!?" The boy's level of amazement was only growing deeper, even as his voice grew louder and his level of excitement was dialed up to an eleven. Not only did Jasper have a ship of his own, but he'd been to Corellia!?

Julius Sedaire had told the boy many stories about the Green Temple, but Calix hadn't been to see it yet. Instead, the pair's planned trip to his master's home planet had been waylaid by the Battle of Ilum.

When they arrived at the ship, the afro-headed Thyrian seemed to forget all about the pizza. Instead, his large blue eyes seemed to grow even larger, as he peered left and right as though trying to take in everything at once. "This is AMAZING!" the boy uttered, a giggle accompanying the declaration as a smile lit up his face.

"This has to be the best ship I've ever seen," the boy boasted, his imagination already threatening to ferry him away to distant stars.

Julius would likely take offense to that declaration, but this wasn't just a ship. It was a teenager's ship! That automatically made it better than anything that carted around a dusty ol' corpse in some green robes.

Plus, Calix was usually the one cleaning Julius' ship. Chores build character or some such, according to the man who issued said chores.

"Here, you'll want this."

A Jedi guard mask was pressed into hands. Jasper was saying something about rebreathers, but the young Echani's head was tilted to one side as the blue-eyed boy looked at the older teen with a clear expression of sheer confusion.

What had they been talking about again?

Distracted by the wonder of the ship and the many possibilities of where it could take them, it was a moment before Calix's attention span circled back to delving into the depths of Coruscant. "Oh, right," the boy uttered finally, as Jasper had continued talking and Calix eventually caught up to him.

Questions?

Calix had lots of questions. Primarily, what were they doing?

Should he be asking questions? "Nope, I'm good," the boy affirmed, committing himself to just trying to follow Jasper's lead and hopefully not embarrass himself horribly in front of the older Jedi.

Jasper Kai'el​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Level 1342
Tags: Calix of Thyrsus ​

"This has to be the best ship I've ever seen,"

"Thanks," Jasper nodded, mustering an embarrassed laugh. "I appreciate that."

When Calix confirmed that he had no further questions, Jasper began to make his way to the cockpit of the ship, gesturing for the young padawan to follow.

"Right then," he continued, "We can go by ship to level five, but from there we need to find another way down. That's the tricky part. Cause of that toxic gas I was telling you about, the lower levels of the planet have been completely sealed off. That's why there aren't many places left on Coruscant where you can still see the ground."

As he spoke, he simultaneously began prepping the ship, lifting up up off the landing pad and beginning their descent.

"I think I might know how to get by that," Jasper told him. "It's an old transit tunnel of some kind I found a while back. A few smugglers were using it as a hideout before I sent them packing. The door to the lower levels isn't as secure in the tunnel. I figure that's the perfect place for us to slip through and see where this map leads."

 

[Calix of Thyrsus]

"That's why there aren't many places left on Coruscant where you can still see the ground."

"Wait... Coruscant has a ground?" the young Thyrsian uttered, blinking as Jasper could watch in real-time as the tween's mind was blown. He supposed it made sense. Coruscant was a planet, and planet's had ground. Well, some planets had ground. Gas giants were just gas or whatever.

But Coruscant was also a city. And most planets had cities on them, but not like this. "I just thought that Coruscant was... I dunno, so many buildings that they just formed their own gravity or something."

"It's an old transit tunnel of some kind I found a while back. A few smugglers were using it as a hideout before I sent them packing."

"Wait, a treasure map and a fight!?"

Jasper had the boy's curiosity before, but now he had the Thyrsian's full and undivided attention. The Echani silvery-blue eyes were virtually dancing as thoughts of brawls and combat danced through his imagination.

Except, he wasn't really dressed for mortal combat. "Should I have grabbed my armor?" the youth mused aloud, more to himself than to Jasper, as the Thyrsian wistfully lamented the fact that if they did find themselves in battle, he'd be fighting Echani-style.

No Thyrsian ever set out to do anything Echani style.

"Did the smugglers put up a good fight?" the boy asked.

Jasper hadn't even mentioned he'd busted some heads until now. And then he just wanted to drop it and try to move on.

Come on. He was dealing with a Thyrsian. Calix wanted some deets.

Jasper Kai'el​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Descending
Tags: Calix of Thyrsus ​

"Should I have grabbed my armor?"

"Perhaps," Jasper pondered. "The tunnel was pretty clear last I went through it, but those goons could've weaseled their way back down there."

Jasper cracked a smile when Calix wanted to know about the details of the confrontation. It seemed that the boy was wrapped up in what he probably thought was the coolest thing he ever heard. Jasper didn't think of it that way, but it was nice to be thought of so highly.

"Well, they put up as good of a fight as you can with no training," he explained. "They didn't have much going for them. There were three, I believe, a couple humans and a Twi'lek. One had a light blaster, another had a pipe, and the third was on deathsticks. Stubborn, but I sent them running eventually."

His focus shifted back to Calix's question about the planet. Assuming they were buildings that grew a gravitational pull wasn't completely far fetched, given the world's appearance. Most people had no idea it had a surface.

"But yeah, there's a surface," Jasper continued about the planet. "A surface with a weird history at that. There was something along the lines of a civil war between the Coruscanti and the ancestors of the Mandalorians down there, but I'm not super well versed in the subject. Most of that stuff has been lost to time."

 

[Calix of Thyrsus]

"They didn't have much going for them."

"Awwww," the boy murmured, the disappointment was real. And one was high? "I was hoping for something exciting," the Thyrsian offered, shadow boxing an imaginary opponent for a moment.

Then Jasper dropped mention of ancient history.

"History?" the boy remarked, echoing Jasper's comment about being lost to time. "No thanks. I have to learn enough of that in school."

Which, he attended a Jedi Academy. How could that possibly be boring?

He'll tell you how it could possibly be boring, at the answer was history.

Lightsaber classes and combatives were much, much more interesting.

Well, some history was interesting. But it was the parts about the battles that were cool. Not the battles that were lame. Or the generals who were lame.

Jasper Kai'el​