“I was raised to become a jedi one day. I was taught to defend peace, justice, and democracy in the Galactic Republic. I believed in that myself. No, I wanted that myself!
Every single day I trained. I've passed all the trials. I went to Ilum and assembled my own lightsaber. I fought in the Apprentice Tournament, not once, but it turned out that it was still not enough to be chosen as a padawan.
When I was assigned to the AgriCorps, I was devastated. Each single day for a long time I questioned myself “Why? Why did I become a washout?”. Perhaps, I am not good enough? Perhaps, I trained less than others? Perhaps, I lack something that each padawan has? I could NEVER understand what was wrong with me, masters. NEVER!”
Shuu paused to calm down because all long ago subdued emotions of old Shuu erupted unexpectedly.
The human looked at the members of council who listened to him in complete silence. Only Mace Windu frowned.
The young jedi continued. “I calmed down with the passage of time... Or I thought so because when I learned about those smugglers on Ukio... Why did I try to capture them alone? Perhaps, I wanted to show everyone that I'm not less worthy than the “real” jedi? Perhaps, I wanted to prove myself? Choose what you like, masters.”
Yoda, looking said, uttered. “Anger and resentment speak in you, young Shuu. But not washouts, you all are. Many planets, the Agriculture Corps has saved. Many people, the Agriculture Corps has fed.”
Shuu nodded in agreement. “We have saved many planets. That's true, grandmaster. We have fed many people. That's also true. But we are not washouts? That's not true, grandmaster. You know that many jedi consider a membership in the Service Corps as a failure. Yes, no one will dare to say it openly but it is the truth, grandmaster.”
Yoda lowered his gaze, clenching his stuff. The rest of the high council also looked as if they didn't know what to say except Master Windu who stated. “But you had failed.”
“Excuse me?” Startled the initiate Tu looked at him as well as the present masters.
“You had failed to capture the smugglers.” Mace Windu clarified.
The young jedi understood what master Windu meant. You wanted to prove that you are not a washout but you had failed, then it means that you are a washout, then it means you deserve to be where you are.
Adi Gallia and Yoda were going to say something to Mace Windu but Shuu was quicker.
“Yes, I had failed.” Shuu said nonchalantly, clenching his fists for a moment.
Soon, on Geonosis, you will see that the world is much more complicated than you think, master Windu.
Then the young jedi looked at Yoda. “Do the council still require my presence or I may go?”
The grandmaster didn't answer instantly. He observed the young man for a while. “Your presence, we still require. Needs your testimony, the inspector of ROCI.”
Shuu lowered his head. “As the high council wishes.”
In about a minute the hologram of the police officer was projected in the chamber. The young jedi repeated the story that he had told to the members of the high council and then answered some questions.
The inspector said in the end. “I ask you, master jedi, to stay on Coruscant until the case will be closed officially - a bureaucracy. But I assure you it will not take a lot of time.”
Shuu looked at Yoda.
“Stay in the temple, he will.” The grandmaster uttered.
The young jedi looked at the police officer and nodded. The matter was settled and the human was allowed to go.
Outside the high council's chamber, the man came into the turbolift. It moved down. Then the initiate Tu headed to the reassignment council tower where lived and worked the governing body of the Service Corps.
Soon the young jedi was assigned as a temporary aid in the herb garden.
+
The same day. Afternoon
Shuu came into the tower of reconciliation and moved towards the turbolift that brought him to the floor where the herb garden was located. It was a large underground chamber where multiple herbs and vegetables grew to be supplied to the temple's refectories in the future.
The chamber was unofficially off-limits to most jedi because one day master Yoland Fee, a jedi responsible for maintaining the temple's gardens, stopped tolerating the disappearance of the herbs and vegetables from the herb garden. It was rumored that the younglings were responsible for that.
In the chamber Shuu could see the initiates who walked slowly along the long garden beds with open palms that were turned to the plants.
They are using consitor sato.
Old Shuu did the same often on Taanab and other planets in the past.
There were the temple's employees and the service droids who also moved along the garden beds but they were checking the plants' health.
One of the droids brought Shuu to the master Yoland Fee who was giving some instructions to the group of temple's employees.
The initiate Tu waited when the master ended giving instructions, and only then he introduced himself and told about his temporal assignment in the herb garden.
“I see.” The master said thoughtfully and then nodded at the service droid that had brought the young initiate to him. “Shuu, this droid will bring you where your help is needed.”
“Yes, master.” The young initiate nodded.
Shuu worked until the evening. He often used the Force to stimulate the plants' growth and protect them from various diseases, but the herb garden was like a big farm where an additional pair of hands was required everywhere. Fortunately, the labor droids did all the physical work themselves.
+
Shuu came into the first hall (which served as the main entrance to the library) through the open hand-carved wooden doors. He halted to look around. The place was huge. It contained thousands of holobook shelves, called “Stacks” by the jedi.
The human resumed walking. Moving through the first hall he could see a small number of JN-66 and SP-4 droids that were presented in this hall. Old Shuu knew that they were tasked to assist the jedi in the library.
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Just a small number of jedi studied at this hall. They were initiates and padawans mostly. This hall contained records on philosophy, historical books, and personal journals of many jedi.
The man passed the first hall and entered the rotunda – a large circular chamber which was connected with all halls. Here Shuu noticed the chief librarian – master Jocasta Nu. She worked with the huge database station in the center. The old woman was thin and frail, wearing her hair in a tidy bun.
Old Shuu remembered master Nu as... a difficult person. If she didn't like you, then you would realize it.
For instance, the old woman could just stay right behind you and stare at your back when you were reading a holobook or she could just refuse to give you what you looked for because “you aren't ready”.
But one thing was for sure, she loved the library.
The young jedi came into the second hall that contained a lot of data dedicated to mathematical and engineering sciences. It was what Shuu needed. He planned to read about the various droids and how they work for starters - just to stop being a layman.
This hall was connected with the two holocron vaults. They were off-limits for the initiates like Shuu.
The human sat at the table and turned on the computer. Before starting to read about the droids, the jedi decided to find the guidebook for the initiates in which was written about Mechu-deru. Quickly the man found its digital copy in the database. The holobook's title was “The Jedi Path: A manual for students of the Force”. This holobook mentioned the existence of Mechu-deru, warned that this is the Force power of the dark side that can be used carefully, and nothing else.
The initiate Tu decided to continue his search. He wanted to gather all available information about Mechu-deru but soon the man realized that this technique was restricted. The initiates couldn't read it.
My rank is so low in the Jedi Order. I am practically nobody here.
The man sighed and began to read about the droids. There was a lot of unrestricted information.
+
The same day. Late evening
Shuu stood up and stretched out. He was tired.
Studying how the droids work isn't easy but fortunately there is the recommended list.
The recommended list was a list that consisted of the selected materials about various subjects that was made by the lore keepers – the jedi knights who served in the library.
When the initiate Tu began to study, he realized quickly that he shall read the information only from the recommended list, because the main problem of many holobooks and articles (which weren't included in the recommended list) were their own authors who just couldn't write about their subject simply. They used complicated words and specific terms where they shouldn't. They wrote their sentences and paragraphs in the difficult way as if intentionally. As a result, a reader must reread each paragraph multiple times to understand what the author wished to say.
Thanks to the recommended list, Shuu saved a lot of his time and learned much new information about the droids.
Each droid is a complicated machine, even the simplest ones. A construction of a successful droid requires clear understanding why you need this machine. A composition, used materials, even a size of the future droid depends on this understanding. Plus, the process of designing a droid is an endless trade of pros and cons because it's difficult to get a perfect machine.
Take as an example the B1-series battle droids. They are flimsy but still this model is used by the Trade Federation widely. Why? The answer is their cheap price, quick production, and acceptable effectiveness. Plus, the droids don't require air, food, water, rest, and entertainment. Their upkeep must be quite low. It is a fine example of the sound mass-produced battle droid model.
In the cartoon the B1-series battle droids looked weak in comparison with the clone troopers but the clones were the elites. Every clone was an expensive product, raised from the cradle to be a good soldier.
Besides, the said droids weren't designed to fight against the clones. The clones were a surprise for the leaders of the CIS (except Dooku). The B1-series battle droids were constructed to fight against the weak organized and poorly armed planetary ground forces, because the Galactic Republic didn't have a professional army.
From the table the young jedi took the memory crystal, in which he had already downloaded all materials from the recommended list. He put the crystal in the pocket on his belt.
The initiate Tu left the second hall and entered the third one. This hall was filled with data about geography and culture of every known planet in the Galactic Republic. As well, this place contained numerous starmaps.
Shuu had decided to check out if there were still the coordinates of planet Kamino in the database - the same planet where the clones should be producing at the moment. This knowledge could be useful in the future.
The young jedi sat at the table. There is a chance that Dooku hasn't done it yet.
Frankly, the man thought that the Count had already erased the coordinates. Dooku's speech in the Raxus system showed his readiness for the war.
Indeed, Dooku has done it. Shuu thought when the computer showed a null result.
It was expected. In the cartoon Dooku was shown as a bad character but not as stupid.
Shuu remembered his recent thoughts about the territories that he should select for his future conquest. Thus, he activated the starmap of the galaxy in the form of a hologram.
The young jedi knew that the Galactic Republic consisted of about one thousand sectors that soon would be involved in the coming conflict but the Hutts and some distant regions.
The Hutts control a large territory and will stay neutral in the coming conflict. No one will allow me to wage a war against them in the CIS. Thus, the Hutts' territory is out of consideration... for now.
The core sectors, the inner and middle rim are also out of consideration. As a rule, these territories are rich and/or important enough to be considered as the desired targets by the leaders of CIS. This pie is theirs.
So what territory shall be my target? I think the distant and/or unimportant regions in the outer rim. The companies of CIS will not bother to conquer such worlds due to their poorness, distance or a small number of population.
Indeed, such regions look as a poor choice for a conquest but they don't require much force to be occupied. It means that I will not get much but also I will not lose much. Plus, the inhabitants of such planets shall be indifferent to the change of their government completely.
Anyway, it's better than nothing, and definitely better than being a dark acolyte of Dooku.
The young jedi looked at the north of the galaxy.
No, not the north. The north part of galaxy is a start point of the future invasion of Yuuzhan Vong.
Shuu knew that the Yuuzhan Vong forces were formidable opponents. The young jedi didn't want to become a shield for the galaxy. He knew human nature.
They will not be grateful for that. My neighbors will finish me off and then happily divide my territories among themselves if I have even managed to stop the invasion somehow. Thus, “no” to the north.
The man looked northeast.
Ah, there are the Corporate sector, the planet Zygerria, and Mon Calamari Space. They are not the neighbors I wish to have. The first ones are scoundrel businessmen, the second ones are slavers, the third ones are fanatical idealists. Plus, the invasion of Yuuzhan Vong. No, this part of the galaxy isn't good as well.
The initiate Tu skipped the Hutt Space and looked at the south.
This place looks much better. No Yuuzhan Vong invasion.
The young jedi yawned. Despite being tired and sleepy, he decided to study the edge of the south's territories.
The planet Kal'Shebbol wasn't too bad but it was located at the end of Rimma trade route.
It's a dead end. Besides, the sector is small.
The planet Terminus looked like a tough nut.
It is a wealthy but well-protected shadowport.
The planet Cotellier, a desert mining world, belonged to the subsidiaries of the Trade Federation.
This planet is rich but I can't touch it.
Both trade routes “Lipsec run” and “Koda spur” were short, therefore the planets there were dead ends.
There is no point in conquering anything at these trade routes.
The jedi continued his search until the large space station, “Spice Terminus”, caught Shuu's eye. It was a major hub in the spice trade. It was located near the intersection of the “Llanic Spice Run” and the “Five Veils route”.
A good location!
Plus, the space station belonged to no one!
Officially it was abandoned due to “a lack of security”. It meant that the criminals pushed the authority out of the station and since that time they ruled there. It was what Shuu needed.
I haven't to wait for the beginning of the Clone Wars to seize this station. It is a hotbed for criminals. No jedi or judicials shall be sent to recapture it back.
The human nodded to his own thoughts.
Owning such a cash cow will make my negotiation with Dooku easier. Perhaps, I will be able to get a place in the Separatist Council?
The young jedi studied the territories around the space station. Quickly he found the news about the planet Karazak – the infamous world of slavers.
Nice. Like having Zygerria as a neighbor.
Next one was the planet Pantora. In the cartoon this planet sided with the Galactic Republic in the Clone Wars.
It looks like they can become troublemakers.
Shuu yawned again. Ah, I think this is enough for today. I'm too sleepy and tired. I will continue tomorrow.
The jedi looked at his chrono. It was midnight.
It's late. I need to go.
He deactivated the starmap and stood up to move towards the exit.