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In the Mountain with Padawan Furia Part 2


Jimcorpus

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In the Mountain with Padawan Furia Part 2

 

Docking Bay Seven, Six, Five, Furia approached the destination with her master. Two guards stood outside the entrance of Docking Bay Three, and each possessed SC-2A carbines. She leisurely strolled towards the closer one while she pulled the cart.

 

“Hey” Furia stated as she opened up her robe for the guard to view the new mining clothes. “I need to get your measurements for your new outfit.” She let go of the cart in between herself and the guard farther away.

 

“Get. You don’t belong here.” The guard moved his right hand towards her left arm. Furia swiftly moved her left arm towards her, as she pivoted on her right foot. Her quick spin around brought her right elbow onto the temple of the guard’s head. The padawan knocked him unconscious with a concussion.

 

“What!” exclaimed the other guard. The padawan pushed the cart, and slammed it into the other guard’s legs.he ran towards the other guard. A knee from her hit him at the chin, and knocked him unconscious. She caught him as he fell, then laid him down on the ground.

 

“I didn’t give you permission to confront the guards.” Pricilli’s cowl could not hide the frown to her padawan as she moved towards the door of the docking bay.

 

"You never said I couldn't." Furia moved close to the control panel of the door, then turned towards her master, with the panel behind her.

 

"Wonder if it would make any difference. Do you ever listen to me, Furia? Did you even listen when you were in my class?"

 

The padawan stood with calm, as she blinked with her long eyelashes a couple of times to her master. Lights and sounds came from the panel, then the door opened, without the panel touched.

 

“All right, Furia. You made your point. Thank you for remembering my lessons on door locks. I’ll get the one near the door. You get the other one.”

 

Furia followed her master through the open doorway. The sound of a lightsaber came from Furia’s side, as at the edge of her vision she noticed the blue blade of her master deflected a shot, which returned to the shooter at her chest.

 

In the center of the bay, Furia’s target, an older man, stepped towards the padawan, as he grabbed his carbine. Right foot, left foot, right foot. Furia pushed off the ground, and went into the air. Before the man could aim his carbine, her left knee flew into his forehead. He fell back and hit his head on the ground of the bay, the victim of a concussion.

 

“Is he alive?” Furia glanced at her master when Pricilli asked the question. She saw the body near Pricilli, then the crates at the far end of the docking bay.

 

“Still alive, Master.” Furia moved towards the crates.

 

“The blast was on kill, Furia.” As she moved away from her master, she noticed all the crates came labeled with TIN.

 

“If I did that, you’d be criticizing me, Master.”

 

“No I wouldn’t.” The sigh from her master was not a slight one.

 

“You have before.” Furia opened one of the crates. “Now we know how they’re getting doonium off the planet.” She turned towards her master. “Only the top layer is tin. The rest of the crate is doonium.”

 

“So that’s how they do it.” Her master gazed at the dead body for a bit.

 

Furia leisurely strolled across the bay towards the unconscious man. She brought lines out from her belt, then tied up his hands and feet. The padawan noticed a small datapad on him. As she picked it up, Furia noticed something on his collar. When she turned up the collar, the insignia of a captain in the Sith Army showed. A gentle toss, she gave the datapad to her master.

 

“Oh, my head” Furia heard as he tried to move his right hand, while she stepped away from him. She moved her lightsaber, and attached it to her belt.

 

“Must be nice to take in the aroma of those ships parked here. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll get more responsibilities.” Furia kept her leisure pace towards her master.

 

“I certainly know Lord Dodir’s plan to retrieve the doonium without it being noticed. I’m in charge of loading the doonium onto the smuggler vessels in this bay.” Furia did not hear anything for a couple seconds, then listened to that familiar phrase. “Jedi witch!” She kept her facial muscles still, but the glee erupted inside Furia.

 

“How you?” Pricilli squinted her eyelids at the padawan. “Furia! You are not to do a mind trick unless instructed. I’ve told you that, young lady.”

 

“Just trying to get the info, Master. Plus, I need the practice.”

 

“That is one of the few things you don’t need practice.” Furia kept her pace towards the door. “You getting the other two?”

 

“Yes, Master. Bringing them in the docking bay. Although people might like watching it out there, I think it would be better for me to tie them up in here.” Furia did a quick spin, then beamed a quick smile to her master. The response was as expected, another sigh. She turned back around, and walked outside.

 

In a little bit of time, the two unconscious men floated into the docking bay, as Furia followed while she focused. She gently lowered the bodies onto the ground, not close to one another. She brought out more lines, then tied them up like she did the captain.

 

“I’m notifying authorities. When they arrive, we can proceed.” Furia glanced at her master touching the wrist comm, when the padawan heard something else.

 

"I shall look forward to your defeat by Lord Dodir.” Furia strolled a little closer to the tied up captain.

 

“Ya know, it wouldn’t bother you so much if you weren’t squirming, like if you were asleep.” The captain soon fell asleep.

 

“Furia!”

 

“Less irritating.” Furia strolled back to her master.

 

“Law enforcement should be here in a bit.” Voices could be heard outside. “Ahh, that’s them now.” Furia stood while her master moved towards the door.

 

“Thank you, Master Jedi. We’ll take it from here.” The man that appeared to lead the group of six law enforcement officers bowed his head to her master.

 

Furia stood, waited for the instruction from her master. She observed Pricilli went to the doorway, as her hand bumped into the edge. Perhaps it was from age, an accidental contact into the doorway. Furia knew better. The padawan also noticed the tense muscles and increased eye movement of the law enforcement members. With no effort at all, she felt the tension in the Force.

 

“Come, Padawan.” With the repetitive curling of the Togrutan’s fingers, Furia followed Pricilli out of the docking bay. She took her standard position, to the right and a little behind her master as they walked away from the docking bays and towards Solitary Mountain.

 

“Did you notice, Furia?”

 

“Without the Force, it stood out. With it, blatant tension.”

 

“We need to resolve the issue in the mountain. That right now is our primary concern. But I did secure the monitoring device.” Furia followed her master to a spot on the ground worn down from many boots. “We shall use the miners’ transportation to travel to the mountain.”

 

In a few minutes, a transport emerged, as it traveled to their position. It stopped in front of the two Jedi, then opened its doors. No one occupied the compartment. Through the side window, Furia noticed a cylindrical droid in the cab.

“At least it’s a droid driving.” Furia followed her master inside, then sat beside her.

 

“What’s wrong with sentient drivers?” Furia watched her master glanced at the back window of the cab, then to her, then back to the window.

 

“Droids don’t use stupid pickup lines.” Furia moved her eyes around, as she assessed for any potential threat.

“What?” Furia observed her master shook her head a little with the question.

 

“Sometimes sentient drivers are trying to ask us out. A few do it, even if they realize we’re padawans. A few weeks ago Dantella and I got a ride to the restaurant district after we did a test. This idiot guy was trying to ask both of us out. Dantella was ready to headbutt him with her horns.” Furia noticed they came closer to the mountain.

“Well. I’m grateful she restrained herself.”

 

The transport came to a stop. The doors opened, then the two Jedi departed. The mountain loomed in front of Furia, with its dark rock and snowcapped peak. The padawan followed her master up the short trail.

 

Once they reached the top, Furia gazed around. The lake shimmered its dark blue, as its small waves hit the beach. Nock displayed its numerous square and rectangular buildings, as its populace moved about its dirt roads like small animals.

 

The mine entrance gaped in front of them. It could have held four doors with its width. Lights inside penetrated the dark. Furia felt the two sources of cold in the Force nearby.

 

“Don’t know how long our presence will go unnoticed, Furia.” The padawan followed her master to a mine shaft elevator. “We’ll go to the next lower level, then proceed from there.” The elevator came with railing that went up to the hip, and metal at four corners that connected the floor to the roof. Furia went onto the elevator after her master, who pushed on a control panel.

 

The mine elevator went down, as Furia observed the dirt and rock sides of the elevator shaft. It stopped at a mining tunnel. She allowed her master to step out first, then the elevator suddenly dropped.

 

Furia focused with the Force. She concentrated on the four sides of the mine shaft, as if pulling up. That slowed the decent of the elevator.

 

An opening to a mining tunnel neared. As the elevator came by it, Furia jumped. She landed on the dirt floor as the elevator plunged into the mountain depths. The padawan picked herself up, then brushed off the dirt from her robe. “And Master is concerned about crumbs.”

 

At the edges of the ceiling, numerous lights illuminated the tunnel. Furia took a couple steps, then the familiar voice sounded from her wrist comm.

 

“Furia, are you there? Are you all right?”

 

“Yes Master. I’m fine. I’m in another mine tunnel.”

 

“Try to find a way up to me. I would prefer there be a passage than you climbing up the elevator shaft.”

 

“I will, Master. And I think the Sithies know we’re here.”

 

“Be careful. I will contact you to check up on you. Only contact me if needed. May the Force be with you.”

 

“Force be with ya, Master.” Furia glanced at her wrist comm, and confirmed Pricilli ended the signal. She glanced back towards the elevator shaft, then proceeded forward.

 

The cool air of the tunnel felt damp. Little dust filled the air, most likely no one traversed it lately.

 

Furia felt with the Force. She sensed her master, the two Sith, and others. Nowhere did she feel increased tension.

The Force flows. The Sith and their slave underestimates.

 

Furia found the times she conversed with herself an interesting pattern. Totally haphazard. She never found a pattern. Sometimes it reminded her of Pricilli or her mother telling her something. Nevertheless, the statement seemed correct.

 

The tunnel came to an end, and Furia viewed a large chamber. No sound came forth. Her face felt the dampness of the still air. Stalagmites pointed up from the rough floor, with a few puddles nearby. Stalactites hung from the ceiling. Rare columns of rock occupied the chamber. A light shown above an opening in the rock on the far side to illuminate the chamber, at least part of it. The Force flowed, and aided her perception of the two sentients.

 

She moved into the chamber, and avoided the stalagmites as she kept her footing. “Did you think your trespassing would go unnoticed?” The male voice came from near the light.

 

“Trespassing? I’m here to take your measurements for your new attire.” A few small steps around puddles brought Furia near a column.

 

“I seriously doubt that, considering the concussions you caused the two.”

 

She moved her hands in random directions, to her hair, her chest, her waist. She noted he mentioned two, the two outside the docking bay, but that could be him manipulating. He is not manipulating.

 

“But I am. Knocking them out simply improved their personalities. Certainly better than listening to them gabble. Now, why don’t you come down here so I can make sure your sleeve length is correct.”

 

“Why don’t you go back. A new elevator will come by, and take you to a safe place.”

 

“Your lost. Get better fitting clothes than what you have right now, and more durable.” With even breaths, Furia felt the Force in the chamber.

 

“In case you think you will proceed, you will be stopped before you get to that opening.” Furia felt the calmness in the man up on a ledge. She also felt in the Force someone else focused on her.

 

“Really? Now why would you do that? What ya hiding?” Furia made sure the column stood between herself and the man that spoke.

 

“This is a mountain. The ores one would expect.” Furia sensed the focus on her still. The thought to pull a trigger twice. “Tin, for manufacture.” The pull of the trigger twice, after she ignited one of her green blades and did a slight step.

 

Two red plasma bolts came from behind and above Furia. Aimed at her back, without effort she deflected the first back with her lightsaber at the source of the shot. An exhaled grunt notified her of success. The sniper laid dead with a plasma burn above his left eye.

 

She deflected the second shot up to the ceiling ahead of her.

 

“Nice trick, Jedi.” This time Furia noticed he did not sound happy nor smug. “I thought Jedi respected life.”

 

“Defense and knowledge.” Furia also noticed he still seemed certain of himself. “He chose to take the shot. He chose the kill setting. Even in your despot kingdom, there is individual responsibility. He could have left. He could have surrendered.”

 

“You’re not one to talk about what kingdom to serve, Jedi. You listen and follow the orders of your Senators that are easily bribed, and your out of touch Jedi Council. Come on Jedi, is it really worth it to serve your Republic? Can you actually think of something worse for your Jedi than using your talents to satisfy the whims of your bureaucrats?”

 

“Ahh, yea. Reading a bad story about Jedi with a stupid plot.”

 

A chuckle came from the man, as she sensed with the Force his focus on her, his full focus.

 

“You up there, serving the desires of your lords and ladies, working for a failed system. You shoot and kill people that can actually make this galaxy a better place. You can use your talents for a better purpose. Come down, and I will take you away from the Sith Empire. You can spend your life in better ways. A surveyor. That sounds good. Checking and measuring the land to make sure the foundation of a building is sound.”

 

“Come now, Jedi. You can do better than that. A member of special forces, and I’m to make sure land is level?” Furia noticed he still had full focus on her.

 

“Improve your life. Come down. If you surrender now, you will not be harmed. Yea, the Republic has its faults. A bunch. But it’s still better than a tyrant commanding what is best for you. Do something better. And just for you to know. I’ve seen glimpses into the future. The Sith will end, but there shall always be Jedi.”

 

“More like you had wishful thinking, Jedi.” Furia’s slight mind trick kept him focused on her, although he kept free will to leave or surrender if he wished. “And just for you to know. You might be able to deflect my shots, but that entryway you see is surrounded by explosives to prevent someone getting inside. Although you would probably perish if you went inside, perhaps you would live. I would die, but the resulting cave-in would prevent you from proceeding further.”

Although she sensed others in the mountain, including her master and the two Sith, no other close presence.

 

“Something material so valuable you would sacrifice your life for? Must be something really special to do that. But really, nothing is so valuable to do that. Just come down.”

 

“How little you know, young Jedi. And in case you think you can try the fabled Jedi mind trick, I have been trained by my lord to resist that.” Furia did not try to get him to lower his weapon. She did not try to get him to move. She simply used the Force to keep him focused on her. “So now we are at an impasse. If you go forward, Jedi, there will be the explosion. If you try to jump up here, you don’t have much room to maneuver, and before you slay me with your lightsaber, again there will be the explosion. You can wait me out, but that will be many days, and again you will not proceed. So take my advice, Jedi, just turn around and.”

 

Furia heard the sound of a crack then break in rock that distracted the man. Above him, a stalactite fell from the ceiling. A quick scream, then the sound of rock hitting rock came forth. No longer did the man lecture. No longer did he make a presence in the Force. “His choice” came from her lips as she proceeded across the chamber. She went through the opening. Furia disconnected the explosives, then took apart the switch as she broke apart a few of its pieces underneath her boot. She noticed another doorway ahead, then proceeded.

 

The open doorway gave way to a chasm, a deep chasm which the padawan could not see the bottom. The control panel to the door came with controls for operating the bridge. She touched the control panel, then nothing happened. “Wonderful. Technology at its finest.” She glanced around the chasm, then fixed her attention on a transponder above. The device was held in place above the chasm by wires that went to either side.

 

Furia studied the distance to the other side, then glanced back at the transponder. She walked back a short distance, then turned back to the chasm. The padawan sprinted a short distance then jumped. With the depths of the chasm below Furia, a line flew out from her belt, which she controlled with the Force. The metal hook at the end of the line secured itself onto the transponder, as the Jedi padawan swung across the chasm. As she came near the far end of her swing, the hook came off. Furia landed on the far side with ease, while the line retracted into her belt. She touched a control panel, then the door in front of her opened.

 

A lighted metal passageway with a doorway at the far end presented itself to her. She took a few steps through it, then suddenly the door in front and behind her closed. Yellow-green gas spewed forth, as the padawan spotted a camera on the ceiling at the far end.

 

Furia stopped her breathing as she jumped. The gas would kill anyone that breathed it after a short time, but Furia followed her training. Pricilli trained the padawan several years ago to significantly increase the amount of oxygen in her body for such situations. Furia argued many times with her master over the years, but she also listened to her. As the passageway filled with the gas, the padawan braced herself by the ceiling, as she used her hands and feet on the walls.

 

She focused on the camera with the Force. It shook for a few seconds, then made a loud sound as it yanked out of the wall, then sailed across the passageway. Furia waited a few seconds, then noticed her reward.

The far door opened. Two figures walked in, then the door slid closed. Both gazed around in their chemical suits without making the effort to look up in the yellow-green gas.

 

Furia dropped to the floor as she brought forth one of the green blades from her lightsaber. Before the two could bring up their weapons, Furia swung her blade with precision. The blade cut through the suits, and the jaws of her two targets. The two breathed in the gas meant for her, for they could not close their mouths, with their jaws burnt away from the plasma blade. Furia watched them drop to the ground, moved around a bit as they tried to cover up their exposed throats with their hands, then they ceased to move.

 

She moved her hand close to the control panel, then felt the heat from it and the door. Heat flows. Where did that thought come from? She wondered. Furia focused, and with the Force felt the heat with its vibrated molecules. She imagined a stream of heat from the door through the passageway. As she concentrated, the door cooled. She touched the control panel, now cooled to room temperature.

 

The green blade of her lightsaber followed the door as it opened. Two men stood in the blade’s way. One held a blowtorch, the other a carbine. Nothing impeded the blade as it burned through their chests, and left large cauterized wounds within their hearts and lungs. Furia strolled by them as their corpses fell to the ground.

 

“Furia, you there?” Pricilli’s voice came through the wrist comm.

 

“I’m here, Master. You doing all right?” Furia hiked up a passage towards an open doorway.

 

“Don’t worry about me. Are you all right?

 

“Yes. I’ll get up to you in a bit.” Furia kept her upward path.

 

“By chance, have you used your lightsaber?”

 

“Course I have.” Furia wondered what this next lecture would be about.

 

“I said no saber.”

 

“I don’t exactly have one of those metal gloves that can deflect plasma shots. And it be a bit difficult to float one of those by my back to deflect a sniper shot. Better a saber than me dead, Master.”

 

“Just get to me when you can.” The comm signal ended, as Furia came up to the doorway.

 

She felt the numerous sentients in the Force, then they came into sight. A squad of ten soldiers for the Sith Army stood within a large chamber. Before they brought up their carbines, her second green blade of plasma came forth.

Furia ran a few steps towards them as plasma bolts came her way. The Force flowed through her, as she deflected the bolts back with her double-bladed lightsaber. Bodies began to fell from the deflected bolts as she jumped into the air.

 

As her body spun around, her feet moved above her head in the path of a circle. The double green blades spun with her, as they deflected back any shots that came near. Furia’s feet landed on the ground on the other side of the soldiers. What few soldiers stood, they became the recipients of the green blades that blazed through their shoulders. Their bodies dropped to the ground, burned in half.

 

Crates occupied the chamber, labeled TIN. Piles of doonium occupied numerous areas of the chamber. A few pieces of another metal caught Furia’s eyes, and she moved towards them. Pieces of aurodium littered the ground. She knelt then retrieved the pieces for herself.

 

As she stood, Furia felt the conflict in the Force. Her master battled the Sith, but did not seem in distress. Nevertheless, Furia knew the sooner she could aid Pricilli, the better.

 

Up the incline she went in the chamber. She left it at the top, and entered a passage that went forward a short distance. A quick jog brought her to another chamber.

 

Some parts of the new chamber displayed a relatively smooth floor. Other parts showed rocks protruded up, the remnants of stalagmites. Numerous ores littered the chamber floor.

 

However, the geology did not occupy Furia’s attention. The saber battle her master took part did. The Togrutan faced two humans, both male, on top of a ledge twice as high as the padawan’s height. One appeared older, and a little more skilled with a lightsaber than the other. The pair protruded red lightsaber blades. They wore kaftans with black and red vertical stripes, complete with a v-neck collar; a truly dismal display of clothing taste.

 

Furia glanced at the older man, then the younger one. Naturally, she turned towards the more skilled Sith Lord.

 

She viewed with a little amusement at the Sith Lord, who appeared a little startled as his eyes darted from one green blade to another as he jumped down. He struck with his lightsaber, however she easily blocked the swing with one blade then brought the other blade forth and made contact with the outer part of his right elbow.

 

A scream came forth from the Sith Lord, then he advanced toward her, and forced her to retreat over the chamber floor where rocks protruded up.

 

So he wished. Furia with grace stepped around the rocks as she retreated. The Sith Lord did not, as he stumbled to his detriment. A swung green blade caught him at the edge of his left ankle, another burned through his shoe and right big toe. Another stumble, then another scream as Furia touched a blade to his right hand.

 

A grimace, with a stare of his yellow eyes, greeted the padawan before he stabbed forward with his red blade and gave a yell. A turn of her lightsaber, the retraction of one blade, Furia then pushed out with the remaining lightsaber blade pointed upward. No more screams, not even a sound, came from the Sith Lord, just the sound of cauterized flesh. When Furia brought back her lightsaber, she witnessed half a cylinder burnt into the Sith Lord, from the top of his head to the upper part of his chest. No nose, no mouth, no middle part of a forehead, but burnt flesh greeted the padawan. She quickly noticed the inside of the Sith’s brain. However, Furia needed to address more pressing matters than her handiwork.

 

She glanced up at the ledge. Pricilli parried attacks, then tried to catch the Sith apprentice off guard. She didn’t make contact, but did held her own. Furia focused on the Force.

 

“Hey Sithy! Time to check the want ads for a new apprentice!” The yell startled both combatants, then a stream of purple lightning shot forth from the apprentice’s right hand. With a small step to the side, Furia deflected the lightning towards her by using the Force and the aid of her double-bladed lightsaber. For several seconds the lightning coursed through the Sith Lord’s corpse on the ground.

 

Then, the lightning stopped. Furia glanced at the turn of her master’s forearms, the failed parry of the Sith apprentice, then Pricilli’s blue blade burned through the Sith’s left arm and entered his chest. She pulled back the blade as he fell lifeless onto the ground.

 

Furia knelt by the Sith Lord, concentrated on his lightsaber with the Force, then took apart the pieces until she found the kyber crystal. She floated it into the air, then placed in her hand. The padawan felt the pain of the crystal, then it lessened as the crystal broke away into fine particles and floated to the ground. Furia felt the relief as she stood up.

 

“How did you?” The padawan subsequently felt once again the anger from her master. “Furia! You! Are! Not! To use a mind trick unless I’ve commanded you to.”

 

“I didn’t want him to harm you. His master was a nice target to divert him.”

 

“I had the situation under control. He wasn’t going to harm me.” Pricilli retrieved the kyber crystal from the apprentice’s lightsaber, then allowed it to dissipate in her hand.

 

Furia tilted her head to the left, then to the right. “True. But I’d rather have him distracted than get a lucky swing.”

 

“Your concern is noted, but you didn’t need to help. And what was that about you going after the Sith Lord? You could have been killed.”

 

“Really? From Darth Doofus? I owned him.” Furia pointed at the corpse of the Sith Lord, then waved her hand near her nose. An aroma emerged from the electrocuted corpse. “Now if you said don’t get a Sith to shoot lightning at another Sith, that I’d agree. They stink.” The padawan moved away from her kill. “Own your space. I knew he wouldn’t be that good moving around the rocks. That dancing around glasses on a table is good practice.”

 

Furia didn’t have to see the scowl on her master’s face, for Pricilli projected it so well in the Force. “Furia, you manipulate with the skill of a Sith Lady.” Furia noticed her master squinted at her. “You all right?”

 

“Yes. Feel good.” The padawan took a quick glance of her body. “No injury.”

 

“Furia, it’s like you’re pulsating.”

 

“I feel fine, Master. I don’t feel it.”

 

Furia picked up the slight shakes of her master’s head. “It went away. If you ever feel different with the Force, I want you to notify me.”

 

“Ahh, yes, Master.” Furia noticed Pricilli went to inspect some boxes on the ledge, so the padawan knelt and picked up numerous pieces of aurodium.

 

Soon Furia jumped up onto the ledge. “We ready to go and notify the authorities?” She started to walk towards the opening on the ledge.

 

“I will do that. That is not your concern.”

 

“But I need to learn by watching you.”

 

“Another time, Furia. This one is a bit complicated. I will meet you back at the docking bay. Let’s say in three hours.

“Yes, Master.”

 

* * *

 

Rays of the sunset colored the sky above her. A bit of dust lingered in the air above the road, its scent mixed with the aromas she smelt from food carts to the side. Dampness refreshed her face as a slight fog made its way from the lake. The hustle and bustle of sentients, with their lively conversations, energized the dirt road. She felt the joy and energy from the populace in the Force, and again she thought herself blessed that she felt it. Furia and Pricilli no longer needed the cowls over their heads. They strolled with their Jedi robes open. The master and padawan revealed Jedi walked amongst them.

 

“Good evening, Master Jedis.” “Thank you for visiting Nock, Jedis.” “Anything you would like, Master Jedi and Master Padawan? It’s on the house.” Furia observed head nods and bows in her direction, with smiles from all around. The people of Nock beamed joy. Mission accomplished.

 

“Don’t let this get to your head, Furia.”

 

“Master, I will let it get to all of me. To feel their joy, there’s nothing like it.”

 

“True, my padawan. We are blessed to feel it.”

 

The padawan walked by more greetings with her master as they made their way back to their hotel. “You haven’t told me yet about your chat with the authorities.” Furia beamed a smile and waved at all that greeted her.

 

“I needed those three hours. My monitor picked up the most interesting conversations. Most, not all, but most of Nock’s law enforcement were on the take. They knew smuggling came out of that docking bay, not realizing the doonium was smuggled in the tin crates. They took their payments and looked the other way, not realizing the smugglers were under the command of the Sith. The ones that took the bribes are now under arrest, including their chief. I notified the Republic to send new officers.”

 

“That part I know, Master.”

 

“How did you?”

 

“Master, I’m your padawan. Unless need to know, you said I can look at your communications. I added a clothing store to your order, with a couple tailors and supporting droids.”

 

“Furia, you what? Who gave you the authority?”

 

“You did. I’m your padawan. The miners need better work clothes, you saw that. What I made works. The tailors know they’ll be employed by the Jedi. They get paid jobs, miners don’t get holes in their clothes, more joy.”

 

“I wished you would have talked to me before you did that, young lady. And what do you plan to do with the profits, more clothes for you?”

 

“Them.” Furia motioned her head in the direction of the children shelter they went by before.

 

“These are fun!” “This is the best day of my life!” “I bet that redhead space angel got them for us.” “She’s not a space angel. She’s a Jedi!” “She’s not a Jedi. We didn’t see her lightsaber. She’s a space angel.” “She’s a pretty Jedi. You can tell without her lightsaber.”

 

“I hired a droid repairer to fix their toy droids. There were a couple lying about on the street no one wanted, so he fixed those and brought them to the shelter. Children really like him. Building will get repairs. Badly needed. Especially the two leaks in the ceiling. Exterminator came by to clear out the creepy crawlies. Healthier food will be coming to them three times a day, every day.”

 

“This is going to bring that shelter some attention, maybe unwanted attention, Furia. How are they going to be safe from someone wanting to take protection money from them?”

 

“Ahh, I thought of that, Master.” Furia turned her head, as her ginger braid moved for all to see, then waved at the man in the armor. “He liked the job. Better than working for a cartel, getting money from people that took out personal loans. He got the security contract.”

 

The Mandalorian briefly glanced at the wall of the shelter, then turned to the ginger haired padawan, and nodded his head with a bow.

 

“Not to mention he liked the idea of helping the children in the shelter, he said the pay would help him get something Mandalorian armor.”

 

“You mean beskar, Furia?”

 

“That’s it. He said just having that on him will reduce the risk of the shelter getting extorted.”

 

“The payment. Is that what you did with the aurordium?”

 

“Yes, Master” the padawan replied without hesitation.

 

Furia noticed at the side of her vision the turn on her master’s head, with the movement of Pricilli’s montrals. “Wait. You knew I saw you do that.”

 

“You stalled for a second when I picked them up.”

 

Furia noted her master did not say anything for a few seconds as they got close to the hotel. “So no clothes? You always want something new after a mission.”

 

“The tin that was replaced by the doonium was hidden in another part of the mountain. Since no one had ownership, I sold it to the droid repairer at discount. He’s going to make droid parts out of it. Some parts really needed. I’ll think of something to buy back on Coruscant.”

 

“Padawan Furia Tormenta. You truly manipulate with the skill of a Sith Lady.”

 

“I’m just glad I’m not one, Master.”

 

“So am I, Furia. So am I.”

 

* * *

 

“Bless you. Good morning. Thank you for being part of this wonderful day.” Furia greeted the sentients that went by in the plaza, with the Jedi Temple behind her, as she sat crossed legged on a bench. A slight breeze, cooler than expected, swayed her ginger padawan braid a little.

 

“Blessed are all of you, for you help bring life and energy to the Force. I know these are trying times with this awful war.” Furia noticed none that walked by ignored her. Some smiled as they walked by. Some glanced at her Jedi robe, then scampered off quickly. Some stood and watched her for several seconds. A few sat there, as joy emanated from them that they could actually hear a Jedi speak.

 

“It’s not easy living in a war. In fact, it could be pretty horrible. Yet even in such bad times, joy and good can come from it. When given the opportunity, the results of the bad work of some can be used to help the needs of others. When given the chance, any of us can find someone to help. More than just Jedi can bring joy to others. And we all together can make this galaxy a better place.”

 

She may have been the only one speaking to others in the plaza, but Furia Tormenta knew she was not alone. Close by she could feel in the Force the presence of her three friends: Mecina, Dantella, and Stacy. Her fellow padawans watched and admired her for speaking to the populace.

 

Furia returned to Coruscant with her master the previous evening, after another successful mission. With no classes at the temple for a couple days, she will celebrate with her friends at nighttime by clubbing, which they always do as a tradition when one of them comes back from a mission. They will sing, and dance, and be merry to the beat of the music and the Force.

 

Yet Furia did not forget the life of the galaxy. It’s life that brought the Force she felt so blessed to be in harmony with. Her friends knew she did not take life for granted, and loved her for that. She knew that of her friends, and as much loved them back.

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Would you please mind keeping your posts consolidated to a single thread?

 

Thank you for spending the time to read this short story.

 

I tried to have In the Mountain as one thread. However, it was not accepted due to having too many characters. Because of that, it became two threads, part 1 and part 2.

 

Again, thank for for spending the time to read this fanfiction tale of Padawan Furia.

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