Star Wars: Forgotten Heroes

Smuggled

Master Drallig paced back and forth as he spoke, eager to get the lesson over with. He was in charge of security at the Jedi Temple on the Republic Jewel of Coruscant, but since so many Jedi Masters were off world waging war, he was stuck subbing Technique for the younglings.

"You could say, to make it clearer, that the Force exhibits an attraction much like a gravitational pull. Just as Coruscant pulls the Centax moons and Hesperidium, we are all compelled by one another in this very room at this very moment. Of course, the Force is all around us no matter where we are, but it tends to be more highly concentrated in some places rather than others."

"Master Drallig, I don't understand." A student raised his hand, the oversized sleeve of his poorly wrapped robe sliding down his thin little arm.

"I think it's like on my home planet of Naboo," a classmate chimed in, "where I have seen that a single drop of water may be entirely ineffectual, whereas a flowing river cuts through rock." "Very astute, Qatar." Master Drallig nodded.

"You're not from Naboo, you're an Omwati!" the student pointed at the cerulean-skinned, white-haired youngling Qatar. It was true, Qatar was from the distant, mysterious, once technologically sophisticated outer-rim world Omwat which had only recently been rediscovered by way of becoming an unwitting battleground of the Clone Wars. And so the Omwati connected to the Republic had become scattered across Coruscant. Decentralized, they were few, and poorly represented. They were a deeply intellectual people, and for it Qatar was bullied by the younglings that didn't take as quickly to their theory, philosophy, and history lessons.

While Qatar was fiercely book-smart and intellectually advanced, his connection with the Force was weak, so he made for a particularly easy target.

"I was raised on Naboo. My earliest memories are of it. So to me, it is home." He responded gently and plainly, used to being attacked by the other students.

"Qatar is right." Drallig cut in, "did his analogy help you understand?" he asked the disgruntled student.

The student nodded reluctantly.

"Then you should thank him." Cin Drallig was genuinely thankful for Qatar's contribution, as he was deeply unaccustomed to teaching such young students. Explaining fundamentals was difficult, and his overly-complicated, adult language made it hard for the young students' comprehension. Except Qatar, of course.

The bully of a student stood there pouting. He didn't want to give Qatar the satisfaction of a compliment.

"Thank you, Qatar." Tiandra spoke up.

Well-spoken and sociable for her young age, Tiandra was psychologically sharp enough to be astutely aware of the dynamic in the classroom between the Coruscanti students and Qatar. It wasn't that he was an off-worlder that perturbed them - Coruscant was the Queen of the Core, as they called it. The hub of the entire galaxy and nearly every race documented in the Archives was represented on the capital rock. No, this was personal. This was about feeling outmatched by a peer that made all the hard work look so easy.

"You're welcome." Qatar nodded shyly.

Master Drallig smiled, "now, off to bed with you. Remotes first thing in the morning."

The younglings dispersed excitedly to their quarters. Qatar wrapped up his robes and slipped under the smooth, cold sheets of his bed. From the bunk hovering above him, the face of his bully poked out.

"Hey," he whispered. "I'm sorry."

Qatar smiled, "it's okay. You..."

His words were interrupted by a distant, guttural boom. Seconds later the shockwave reverberated through their classroom. Drallig walked into the doorway and without hesitation, pulled out a small, circular device from his robes and clicked a button on the side of it. Up popped a live hologram, too far away for Qatar to make out what it was.