Keeping Peace is Our Goal

[Nikolas Faselli]

Umbara
[member="Caleb Brolen"]

---

"We want to be free!"​

​

"We're living people, not servant droids!"​

​

"We demand resign!"

Maria stood in the Umbaran Capitol and sighed. People didn't have trust in their governments anymore. They demanded more than they could have. They wanted more than they could bare. She had noticed that on Anaxes, too, mostly when people had some riots in front of the Republic Senate. All these things happened in all different levels. The whole galaxy wanted to be free, the whole galaxy wanted to have excessive rights. But nobody wanted anarchy.

Where was the line? Where was the middle ground of what people wanted?

"Caleb," Maria spoke to the boy who she thought was behind her, but she couldn't be sure. At least that's where she had wanted her to come. "I would like to know that I also served in the Republic's Senate. I have also tried to get to Umbara's government, but that's been a bit more difficult. Anyways... I have been to politics and I have seen most of that more than anything."

She sighed again.

"What do you think about that?"

 

[Caleb Brolen]

[member="Maria Natalja"]

This was such a interesting thing to experience time for me. I was excited at the prospect of going off world for the first time in months but I was also kinda distressed at how the state of the planet was. People had completely lost faith in the republic and the Jedi. I didn't really know why I was here but I knew one thing it wasn't going to go as smoothly as we wanted it to. I listened to my master as she described her past. I noticed that she always asked for my opinion in certain matters which means she does listen. I scratched my chin and said "I've always wanted to be in politics since I was young...but to see your home like this, how do you cope?" I knew that if I saw Ossus like that it would cause my great distress.

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

[member="Caleb Brolen"]

"I hardly do. That's why I spend most of my days away from the planet. I can't just understand why the people do that. Why do they have to riot? Why not just collect signatures or sign referendums?" she spoke. "I just don't understand that. Life is completely different in the Republic core and outer areas."

She turned around.

"Uhh... What do you suppose we do? I mean, we could go out and do something about it, but I want to hear about your political ideals. I want to know how you see these things. Politics is a difficult, complex matter, and it's one thing we should talk about, even though Jedi aren't necessarily politicians or diplomats." She took a moment to think. "You are learning to be a Jedi Diplomat, right?"

 

[Caleb Brolen]

"Yes Master I am learning to be a Diplomat" I looked around to see the situation the planet is in. Then I turned to back to [member="Maria Natalja"] and said "I think we should go towards the planet administration building first to see what the people want first then we work up from there". I know it wasn't the most thought out plan I have every came up with but in this situation the people matter more than the republic. If we can appeal to the senses of all parties then we can settle the problem faster. I looked at my Master to see if she agreed with my idea but since it was the only one we had it might as well be plan A,B, and C.

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

[member="Caleb Brolen"]

"I agree. We should get to know what do they actually want, but the best way to do that is to be like a rebelling citizen. I would like you to take off your robe and any other things which could hint to you being a Jedi - yes, even your Padawan braid, if you do have it - and then put on something which would look like something an Umbaran would wear," Maria spoke. She smiled to the boy and then continued, "I will do the same."

She then looked around and said, "We could go to a shop to buy us some clothes, but then I would have to tell the local government not to act before we have come back. Do you think we have any other options?"

Of course Maria knew what they should do or what could be the best solution in this case, but their main reason there that way was to train and guide Caleb on his way to becoming a Knight, a Jedi Diplomat, and so besides just trying to keep peace, she had to ask some things and opinions from her Padawan. And who knows, maybe Caleb was even smarter at these things than Maria was.

 

[Caleb Brolen]

[member="Maria Natalja"]

I was shocked when Master Natalja basically told me to strip my identity and personality. It was like the spy stories my dad used to tell me when I was little. I looked around and said "We should probably tell the government not to act until after we get dressed". I had a deeper plan in mind but I could tell her yet. Besides it should be going to plan as we speak if I did everything right. I motioned my hands towards a nearby clothing store and said "After you Master". As she walked past me I looked around one more time before following my Master. Under my breath I said "This should be fun".

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

[member="Caleb Brolen"]

Maria nodded to Caleb and then started walking to the clothes shop. She didn't know what she would be buying yet, but she thought it would be the best to cover herself with lots of clothing to eradicate any signs of her being a Jedi. The people didn't have to know they were from the Order. Citizens had lost hope in them. Now it was a lot like a job of a spy to force riots down or find a middle ground between what the rioters want and what the government does. She had shut these things down only once, and she didn't have too great memories about it.

Walking into the shop, she murmured something to herself. Something so unrecognisable that it might have been another language. And it was sounded even quieter than a whisper, softer than a flirt, more singing than speaking playfully.

It was not a spell or anything. She just cursed herself for stepping on her own foot.

Looking around, she started to see many amazing pieces of clothing she might have wanted to try on, but when she started to do that, she remembered they were in a hurry. So she contacted the government of Umbara via her holocomm, "Dear government of Umbara, I am Jedi Knight Natalja and I've got my Padawan Brolen with me. We would like you not to act on the riot before we have arrived there. It is crucial for the peace of this planet." She then ended the call suddenly and looked at the Padawan.

"Choose whatever clothes you want to. But try to hide everything which could show your identity as a Jedi. Especially important is to hide your lightsaber. I will pay for the clothing," she spoke.

 

[Caleb Brolen]

[member="Maria Natalja"]

Everything was going rather well for us in terms of pure luck factor. Any Jedi Master of course would say it was the force but I kept my opinion on that fairly quite. I remembered back to a Jedi named Dorn Tavers who wore the exact type of apparel I saw in the store. I took the right clothes off the racks and went into the fitting rooms. There I changed into a white shirt that was tucked into brown pants and some long black boots. I then put on a blue and gold coat to hide my saber in. Then I put on some black gloves to finish it all off.

After about ten or so minutes I came back out with my new clothes on. They were comfortable but weird to wear since I have been wearing padawan robes for the past year or so. As I waited for Master Natalja to return I looked around once more. Everything should be going just as I planed in a few minutes.

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

[member="Caleb Brolen"]

Maria took the time when Caleb was away, looking for clothing, to think whether she should by something new or just let somebody deliver a few pieces of clothing from her home. After about five minutes, she finally decided to spend some money and get something new. So she hurried to the women section in the shop and started looking for something awesome.

Some rather strange clothes caught the woman's attention - they had collars in unique shapes, their overall style was something she had not seen yet. But maybe she could try them? Letting her hand go over the robes, she soon understood they were not for her. They were not soft. They were like metal which couldn't bend under any circumstances.

She walked away from there and sighed. There was some time. Caleb was not back yet. So she walked to another stand of robes. One of them was white and Maria really liked it, but... she was a Jedi Knight. Wearing a robe might have showed off her true identity, so she walked away from there, to the tops section.

And so after about five minutes, Maria stood near the entrance, wearing a black shirt and a green leather jacket over it, black skinny trousers and white leather boots so that she looked rather odd. Everything had been paid for and they were ready to go.

"I have to say, you look awesome in the everyday clothing," Maria spoke. But then she turned around and continued more seriously, "Let's ho and see what we can do. I think we should go and talk to the people who riot there, but in a way that they wouldn't start suspecting anything."

"What do you suppose we do?"

 

[Caleb Brolen]

[member="Maria Natalja"]

"We wait and listen and when I give you the signal we need to disperse the crowd". If this plan was to work I needed time which was on my side for the moment. As I exited the store I noticed that the crowd was getting bigger and overall louder. A few republic soldiers and some of the security and police had set up a "DO NOT CROSS" line in front of them. Things were starting to heat up so I had to act fast or someone might do something they will regret.

I stopped behind the crowd of about fifty people, all of different race and ages, all shouting about food and house issues and raiders taking there stuff. I looked around once more to see if I could find a leader or organizer of this riot. About a minute later I smiled and said "Alright is there anyway you can get these people to clear out without it ending in a medical transport".

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"BURN THE BUILDING DOWN!"​

​

Maria heard the shout. She was out, listening to the group of people rioting. Caleb had just asked something from her, but she couldn't hear what it was. All she heard was the problems of these people, and the wants to be completely free from the "cruel" government of Umbara. Why did they want that? Why did they want to mess with their own lives?

"Destroy all!"​

​

"Let's poison them with gas!"

Maria turned to Caleb and asked, "Sorry, what did you say?" People all around them were shouting and chanting something, so it was really difficult for her to listen to anything at all. Not even the people. She thought a way to talk to Caleb could be Telepathy, but she was not sure whether the boy could use it or not. They had to try. They had to try as soon as possible. But first, she wanted to hear the Padawan repeat what he had said.

 

[Caleb Brolen]

[member="Maria Natalja"]

I hadn't noticed it a first but it was starting to get very loud out here to the point that I could not hear myself think. Then I realized that was the answer. I had only used telepathy once with Master Corvus but I got the gist of it when she used it. I closed my eyes and concentrated the force around Master Natalja. I made a sort of link around between us that was faint but still did the job. I thought my word and simply said "If you can hear me thin we need to find a way to separate this riot". A man then pushed past me braking my concentration. The process was very tiring so I probably will not be able to do it again.

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

[ [member="Caleb Brolen"] ]​

Telepathy. The boy used it. She heard Caleb's words in her head just as if they were her own thoughts. But they weren't. She couldn't control them. For a moment, the woman thought how the boy had done that as she was an Ephicanthix. Only later did she understand that Telepathy is not a mind trick, but a simple way of communication.

"I think I can find something. But, please, for the sake of the Force, stay away from me while I try to use a Power. At the same time, I would like you to go inside and tell the government what the riot is about. Tell them all you think it is, tell them how they should fix things. I trust you. They should trust us," she spoke to Caleb via Telepathy.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. It was the time to use Aura of Sleepiness again.

 

[Caleb Brolen]

[member="Maria Natalja"]

I nodded and ran towards the entrance of the building but was stopped by a female guard dressed in the usual republic officer uniform. She put her hand out and said "Stop who are you". I replied with "Jedi Padawan Brolen". Her face expression changed from serious to sarcastic in a second. She replied with "Oh yeah and I'm Jubba the Hutt" which that reference and joke was really outdated. I face palmed then I looked around for a few seconds before showing the inside of my jacket the held my lightsaber. She in turn rolled her eyes and said "Anybody can carry a lightsaber...a Jedi, a Sith, and even a very lucky pirate".

My jaw hanged open at what she just said which for one was really stupid. I then said "Come on do I look like a pirate to you". She scratched her chin in said "No but you could be a enemy infiltrator sent to assassinate the planet administrators". There was a very long sigh then a very loud curse in the air. After that I said "Alright I don't have time for this" and ran right past the officer. I heard behind me the words "Get that punk and bring him to me" followed by footsteps.

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

[ [member="Caleb Brolen"] ]​

Maria smiled before feeling something familiar inside her again. This something was a thing she had felt some time ago, but it felt just as if the day when she had first used the power had come back. The Aura of Sleepiness, most likely a thing which didn't even exist in most documents, had become one of Maria's favourite powers, even though she had so far had only one chance of using it. Now it was the need for that again. Otherwise there would be no Umbara anymore.

Some fog nobody else but Maria saw started to move away from the woman. Carefully, steadily, calmly. It moved on quite slowly, but such an aura was difficult to make move faster. Just like the name itself said, it was all about being sleepy. And when did sleepy start to mean fast?

The fog got people under its control. Some people closer to the woman started to feel tired, dizzy, until they had no earthly way of holding themselves on their feet. The aura was strong, and it was something which would come handy in a fight. But it had one minus - it was extremely difficult to control, not even speaking about making it stay for longer than a few minutes.

But this time Maria had a bit more knowledge of such things and she knew she had to walk around to get the majority of people there sleepy. She only hoped Caleb was doing good.

The thought of Caleb already made the woman lose control over her power. The fog collapsed and moved back to the woman in an extreme speed. Ugh, she thought. She had to start over again.

 

[Caleb Brolen]

[member="Maria Natalja"]

As I slammed through the doors of the administration building I ran through three halls, up 2 sets of step, and through 3 guard checkpoints. I eventually got to a big blue door with the notice of about half the Umbaran police force on my butt. I used the force to bust through a door and shoulder checked the guard stationed at it. One man in political clothing stood up with a look on his face that symbolized "What is the meaning of this". After about 3 seconds the female officer from before bust in albeit very much out of breath. She the pointed her weapon at me (hopefully on stun) and said "Get on your knees". I could have made a joke about that but I decided that this isn't the right time nor place.

I spoke really fast while at the same time catching my breath saying "My name is Caleb Brolen Padawan of the Jedi Order. My Master and here to help out the planet by stopping the riots going on outside." One man in his chair asked "And how are you supposed to do that...we don't even know who is behind this" (Cue Flashback) I smiled and said "Actually I do. All day me and my master have been to various locations and heavy hot spots throughout Umbara. In these spots, unknown to my Master, I have been using the force ability called echolocation to pinpoint possible people in the crowd that are not as angry as the rest". I paused for a second and began again.

"There was one person at all the crowds that were subtle in there maneuvers instead of being bloodthirsty. That person, using your citizen database, is actually known terrorist and anarchist Tori Todra. Age 26, Human female". The man from before then said "Good i'll send out a planet wide search for her immediately then". I slammed my hand down on the table and said "NO, we are not going to arrest her. We are going to find her and ask her some questions. Am I clear". They looked around for a second and whispered to each other. I looked out a window and thought how hard Master Natalja was working to keep the crowd at bay.

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

[member="Caleb Brolen"]

Maria started to feel like something was happening. Force Sense was her strong suit, and so she understood some things others might have not realised. And that one thing was the feeling like something great was happening. No, not the aura she was trying to cast. But she felt like inside the building Caleb had entered there was going on something that they had wanted to happen. The government of Umbara seemed to trust the two.

The government hadn't lost faith in the Republic.

Maria dropped the aura she had started casting about a few moments ago, and just walked to the administration building. She was sure her Padawan was doing great. She was sure soon the riot would be over.

Meanwhile, she heard one from the crowd saying, "The Jedi are here. They want to manipulate with the government of ours. They shall be burned down." The talk was quiet, just like a whisper, and remained calm, even though the words used were full of anger. But the person caught everybody's attention.

 

[Caleb Brolen]

As the men and various other species around the table kept mumbling as I felt something through the force. I felt that my master was in trouble and that I don't have time for this discussion. I took a deep sigh and said "I don't have time for this and I need to get moving NOW...so are you going to be the men who saved Umbara by talking or by taking action". After a few back and forth looks and nods the Planet Administrator stood and said "We are with you Jedi..For The Republic". I smiled and nodded then changed my expression back to serious. I then pointed at the officer from before.

I said "I need you to post your men out side and make sure no one gets hurt". She saluted then took her men to the elevator down stairs. I then looked at the Administrator and said "I need your best analyst to find Tori". He looked at me with a confidant smirk and replied with "Already done she is in a small store in district 3. We have a speeder bike in on the roof that can take you there. We will also monitor your progress from here". I ran to the roof as fast as I could wondering is Master [member="Maria Natalja"] is ok.

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

They knew the Jedi were there. And they started to chant a completely different phrase. Something about Jedi and the wars they bring. Many of the ones who were the closest to Maria started walking to her with quick steps. They weren't zombies, after all. With a quick swipe of a hand in the air, the huge doors a few metres behind the woman's back closed with a loud bang. She had never ever tried locking a door with simple telekinesis, but it had to be possible, so with another swipe of her hand, the door locked itself.

Phew, that was a close one.

She had lost a bit of energy at casting the aura and shutting the doors, so she walked up the stairs to the roof. She had heard they were going atop the building. Her Padawan had to be with them.

"How is it going?" she asked from Caleb via telepathy.

[ [member="Caleb Brolen"] ]​

 

[Caleb Brolen]

[member="Maria Natalja"]

As I got my gear ready on the roof I heard something in my mind that sounded like a question. I thought to myself in hopes that she will hear " I'm...working on it, but I do have a plan..well sort of". As I made my way to the roof I went over all the thing that happened in the meeting room. Then I thought "My plan is to get myself captured then led back to there safehouse, then I transmit a signal back here so that you and come and find me, after you find me we have a talk with their leader to see what the people want. If you can't find me I play dead and then place a tracker on the safehouse. Its foolproof I think". I said I think because it could totally end up with me dying.