The Hidden Truth

“I was shocked, with my thoughts racing to see an old Jedi standing, holding my arm in the middle of the town square. I was dying to know why she was, how long she had lived here, who had trained her, and how she managed to avoid the Empire and its thorough searches to root out all the Jedi that still remained.

She smiled and slipped an arm underneath my, if to pretend she was an old, helpless lady, relying on her strong, grown up grandson to walk her down the streets to her little apartment. The apartment appeared to be a shabby, falling apart with the thin white wash peeling off, a nearly abandon shack, suggesting the idea she was broke poor and hardly worth the trouble to give her a second look, unless you were a desperate thief. I was wrong in unconsciously accepting this idea. Inside, the building was much larger then the look from the front and much richer. The walls were paint a deep, rich green, the carpet was thick and expensive, and the tables were hand carved, decorated with objects, obvious transported from other, far off planets.

The strange, small, seemingly fragile lady took me into the elaborate kitchen, and sat me down with a plate of food. She began her tale as I ate. Her master had been knighted during the Clone Wars, shortly before order 66 had been given, destroying everything she knew. It was by the will of the Force, did she manage, during a mission, to escape from the injustice mass killing of the Jedi. For several years she laid low, running from one planet to the next, as the Empire invaded the galaxy, taking control of all local governments. She found herself amongst the lowest of beings, learning the trick of living from seedy criminals, and trading heavily on the black market. Her Jedi training had little use in a universe that had no time or care for the Jedi and their powers. She found herself one day, many years into the dark rule of the Sith, stealing from some old lady, to gain a handful of credits. She was staring greedily at the credits in her hand, when she heard the distance, but distinct voice of her former master, scolding her for decending to a level that the Jedi were suppose to fight against. In that moment she realized she had forsaken all her training and the meaning of the Jedi and swore to turn herself around and bring back some good into her life and the life of others. Using the network of lowlife, she found a pocket of resisters and underground, undercover police. She slowly joined their numbers, showing she was above the life of crime, and used the Force in subtle ways that helped the group. Being a Jedi meant being a leader, and this was true with her. She did not only do her job, but also unit and strengthen the group, earning her trust and dedication. She revealed her true identity, bringing a mixture of emotions from the rebels, but when they had time to think, they realized having a Jedi was a good thing.

She was the leader of the group for years and years, until she could no longer physically be part of them. She grew tired of her life and her body was aging far too fast for her life style. The group came to notice this and arranged for her to live comfortably, but anonymous on my home planet. She gratefully accepted the offer and lived for a few years on my planet before she spotted me. She instantly recognized me to be Force sensitive, but on this hostile planet and my strained family, it was better to leave me alone and not attract attention to either one of us. It was painful for her to watch me be bullied and picked on a regular basis, but still there was nothing she could do. It was proud day when she saw Luke Sykwalker so boldly appear with a lightsaber at his belt, saving me. She knew nothing of him, but the fact the Jedi could once again walk freely and without fear, made her complete and at peace for the first time in over thirty years.

I had finished my meal and she had finished her tale of her past, answering my many questions. Her name it turned out was Liviani and she would not give out any last name for me to research. She knew of my mission and even of Luke’s academy on Yavin 4. She saw me struggle to awkwardly try to gain support for the new Jedi order and knew there was no future in my direct path. Liviani offered to show me how to raise an unground group and how that would lead to helping out the planet. I was astounded by her generosity and humble accepted her offer.

Her plan took time and much tiring work, but within six months I had the stable beginning of a group dedicated at fighting crime, promoting peace, and changing the way the official law enforcers viewed their job. During this time I was learning a lot about the old Jedi order and what I was raising. In exchange of her stories, I supplied her with the history of Luke Skywalker and what few Jedi he had found. She was somewhat happy to learn a few of the Jedi had managed to live and she was even more pleased to find out many of the Force sensitive families had not been wiped out.

The town within a few years began to change as the children were being taught by example of the newly formed group I had started. The crime rate had dropped an evident amount. The attitude of the people was less hostile and people were more willing to help each other rather than spread harmful rumors. It was when these changes were obvious to the common towns person, did I let the group work out in the open for all to see. At first everyone was nervous about the situation, but the town saw the benefits and the group learned to listen to the town’s requests. Talk spread and soon we were asked by the planet’s government to from a world wide network of our small group and to spread the idea of peace. I was honored and Liviani was proud as could be. I worked with the government for another two years. The group did quite well and is still around today. The reason why I left was due to the death of Liviani. She died of old age, being the few of her generation of Jedi to do so. Her death touched me enough that I could no longer live on the planet and returned back to Luke’s academy for another direction to take”

Mirmo was forced to stop his tale due to a heavily and long fit of cough coming from me. He patiently waited for me to stop, handing me a glass of water, and some medicine to take. I begged him to continue the story, wanting to know every detail up to the point I came to the temple, but he insisted that I get some rest and he get some food. I sighed, lying back in my bed, knowing I would just have to wait a while for the rest of his tale.