The Underworld of Coruscant

The Jedi stands firm and holds a stance in Soresu. "Padawan Opal! Please surrender peacefully! This is your last warning!" The Jedi Knight in front of me is around 20 years old. He isn't a superior fighter, though. I can feel his fear. It's causing doubt to flood in him. I hold my custom stance. I slowly begin to walk forward.

Just because I know I'm more powerful doesn't mean I should take him lightly. He tenses up, and I watch him shift his feet ever so slightly. I think he just resisted the urge to run. I lunge forward and begin to use my new developments and technique. His Soresu is good but not as good as Sateles. I overwhelm him with the fast and agile strikes of Ataru. I perform an upward cut to his slightly extended wrist, and I slice his weapon hand clean off.

He looks at it in shock, and I use the practical applications of Niman and force push him into the metal wall in the alley we are in. Some of the bounty hunters that are still alive begin to wake up. I hold him there and look at the groaning men. Most are dead. Some are trying to fight through the pain and getaway. I keep holding the Jedi Knight against the wall.

Finally, I turn to him and see him on the verge of tears. "Don't take it so personally... I could have killed you if I wanted to, but I'll let you live if you answer a question for me." He looks at my face to see if I'm serious. He can't get past my mental barriers. They are too strong. His force shield is pathetic. I was easily able to break through it and pin him against the wall.

He takes a breath to calm down and tries to ignore the pain of losing half his wrist. He nods his head for me to ask. "Where can I find information regarding potential Imperial spies and moles?" I know where the safe house is. I can feel the echo of my parent's through the force. I don't, however, have a list of possible suspects. This Jedi might be able to point me in the right direction.

The safe house is located in a place that isn't far enough into the underworld of Coruscant, but it's close enough. But, again, I feel the hesitation from the Jedi. This Knight is too scared. I pull him off the wall and make him kneel right in front of me. I point my hilt at his forehead. Intimidation could work. He doesn't have the will of most Jedi Knights. How he got promoted is beyond me.

He can't budge in my grasp, totally locked in place—another one of my many force abilities. "There is a republic headquarters for special agents working the underworld... If you want to find anything regarding spies and moles, that's the place... It's located in sector L of the military district..." I let him out of my grasp, and he slumps to the ground.

He holds the stub that used to be his wrist and starts to heal it the best he can. "You know they'll know your coming... There are countless Jedi and troops already prepared for a confrontation with you... You shouldn't have stolen a Jedi's ship... It has a tracking beacon on it..." That holds no hindrance to my plan. I may not even stop at that place. It really depends on what I find in the safe house.

I place my lightsaber hilt on my belt and use force jump to stop traveling the streets. Staying away from foot traffic seems like the best option for me at the moment. My force augmentation has come even further since Taris, and the confined spaces of Coruscant are a little constraining. I reach a random balcony looking out over a random sector—the heart of the republic, what a rotten heart. I continue leaping great distances and climbing buildings.

I reach a comfortable place that isn't so full of bounty hunters and mercenaries. Someone told that Jedi I was there. It must have been one of the people I passed. I walk the path toward the echo of my parents and keep my head down. My hood does a good job of hiding my face.

I've come a long way with concealing my presence in the force. While a force-sensitive can't sense me from far away, they'll be able to if they stand close. I'm not that good yet. Powerful Masters that are talented at feeling others might be able to sniff me out from a great distance. That is unlikely, though. I look up from the ground and see republic troops patrolling this area. It's starting to get closer to the richer districts.

I keep a low profile and stay on the path after walking for around 45 minutes. I'm standing outside the building where the echo is coming from. It's not low class, but not high either. Perfectly inconspicuous. Whoever took my parents knows what they are doing. I leap up to the roof, and since it's rather close to the raised path I'm on its easy.

I walk over to the roof access and open it. I make my way down the stairs until I make it to the room I feel the echo coming from. I un-clip my lightsaber and ignite my yellow blade. The increased heat compared to normal kyber crystals melts through the door much faster. My Varpeline kyber crystal burns much hotter than others and cuts through objects faster. I make a hole my size quickly, and I step into the room.

As I do, I feel much fear in here. An imprint. It's from my mother. I turn on the light, and I see the room as a whole. There are pictures of mom and dad, as well as me, around the place. None of the pictures of me are older than the times on Tatooine. I walk over to one of the pictures, and I hold it in my grasp. This was when we had that great harvest and had enough to buy a holo-terminal.

I place the picture down, and I feel a deep foreboding feeling coming from a room to my left. I make my way to it, and I press the button on the terminal. It opens, and the light flickers one. I'm met with a room covered in blood with two chairs in the center. I see old torture tools on the table. I close my hands in anger, and I begin to shake in rage.

The building around me begins to whine and bend as I release my emotions. The window shatters, and I look out the window, and I try not to visualize what's happened. I can't stop it, though. I'm bombarded by force visions that show me what happened. My world goes deaf, and I watch the buildings outside crumble and fly as if they are paper—the images and sound flash through my head.

I unleash a scream, and the environment responds. The building explodes around me, and the skyscrapers surrounding the area are torn out of the ground and sent in all directions. Sounds return to my world, and I hear the end of my scream "-AAARRggghhh!!!" I see in the vision my parents get frozen in carbonite and taken by men that look Imperial. I stop floating and fall to a path below the one I walked on.

I look in all directions and see that the entire area is devastated and is nothing but rubble and bodies anymore. I stand up and take a breath. I know what they look like. I can hear sirens rushing the area, and I leap multiple times to make my way out of the crater I made. I make it back into the city with my final leap, making my way to sector L. Time to see if they know anything about these imperials.